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Stories from the Field — Outdoor Taste & Tour Blog
Stories from the Field
Trails, backroads, shorelines, culinary finds, and gear worth carrying — dispatches from the places we explore.
36 posts in Cruises
Kayaking Shore Excursions: The Best Paddling Experiences from Cruise Ports
Sea kayaking from a cruise ship puts you at water level in some of the most beautiful places on earth -- Caribbean bays, Alaskan fjords, Mediterranean coves, and Pacific island lagoons. Here is how to find the best kayaking excursions at every major cruise destination.
Ketchikan Shore Excursions: The Best Things to Do in Alaska's First City
Ketchikan packs more into a single port day than almost anywhere else in Alaska -- totem poles, rainforest hikes, sea kayaking, and some of the best salmon fishing in the world. Here is how to spend your time well.
New Orleans Cruise Port Guide: Jazz, Creole Food, and the Mississippi Before You Sail
New Orleans is one of the most distinctive cities in the United States, and the Port of New Orleans puts you right in the middle of it. Here is how to make the most of NOLA before and after your cruise.
Port Canaveral Cruise Guide: Space Coast, Kennedy Space Center, and Atlantic Beaches
Port Canaveral is the third-busiest cruise port in the United States, and it sits on one of the most interesting stretches of coastline in the country. Here is how to make the most of the Space Coast before and after your cruise.
Port of Galveston Cruise Guide: Everything You Need Before You Sail
Galveston is the Gulf Coast's most underrated cruise port -- Victorian architecture, barrier island beaches, and some of the best Gulf seafood in Texas. Here is how to make the most of it before and after your cruise.
Sitka Sea Kayaking Guide: Paddling Alaska's Most Beautiful Port
Sitka faces the open Pacific on the west side of Baranof Island, surrounded by volcanic peaks, old-growth rainforest, and some of the richest marine habitat in Alaska. Sea kayaking here is as good as it gets in the Inside Passage.
Skagway Gold Rush Trails: Hiking History at the Top of the Inside Passage
Skagway is where the Klondike Gold Rush began in earnest -- a boomtown that went from zero to 10,000 people in a year and sent stampeders over the Chilkoot Pass into the Yukon. The trails they walked are still here, and they are extraordinary.
St. Thomas Shore Excursions: The Best Things to Do in the USVI
St. Thomas is one of the most visited cruise ports in the Caribbean — and one of the most rewarding for outdoor travelers. Here is how to spend your time ashore in the US Virgin Islands.
Alaska Cruise Guide: The Complete Outdoor Traveler's Itinerary
Alaska is the greatest cruise destination on Earth for outdoor travelers. Glaciers calving into the sea, humpback whales breaching at dawn, brown bears fishing salmon-choked rivers, and port towns where the fishing charter leaves at 5am. Here is how to do it right.
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