Utah Parks Listed Among Great Winter Travel Destinations

The Guardian out of the UK has this fun article describing some of the world's great winter travel destinations. There are no tropical beaches listed in the article, it focuses on spots where you can embrace the cold:

Some places are simply better in winter - and it's not just the lack of crowds. Get arty in Florence, steamy in Hungary or hike the canyons of the US. And you have the perfect excuse for lots of hot chocolate and other winter warmers.

When travel articles describe winter destinations they often mention Utah's famous ski resorts. But our canyons? That caught my eye because, well, Utah has some of the world's best canyons, many located in our national parks. So I read the article and found it talked about:

Tallinn, Estonia: With its Gothic spires and conical snowy roofs, cosy beer halls and vintage-look bars, Tallinn is one of the ultimate winter cities.

Budapest, Hungary: The pleasure of a hot bath takes on new meaning in the Hungarian capital, where Ottoman rule has left several splendid Turkish bath houses.

Black Forest, Germany: Winter hiking and snowshoeing trails criss-cross the low mountain areas.

Florence, Italy: ...Florence, too, can be a better bet off-season, when the hordes of sightseers disperse. The art's all still there...

Utah's national parks, US: The rock formations of Bryce Canyon are stunning at any time of year, but especially in winter when snow contrasts with red rock of the hoodoos (fairy chimneys) and the green pines. Walking trails in and around the canyon – thronged with tourists in shorts and baseball caps in summer – are almost deserted in winter. How about a guided full-moon snowshoe hike, or a tutored winter astronomy session.

The Arches and Zion national parks are worth a cold-weather trip too.

The article includes this link: See utah.com/nationalparks.

Interesting. Bryce, Arches and Zion are great winter destinations, but so are Canyonlands and Capitol Reef.

I'm getting spring fever. Must be time for a trip.

– Dave Webb