Choose Your Holidays

“Zagat London Restaurants 2011″ ($14.95, Zagat, 254 pages)

The British government may be cutting back, but that doesn’t mean the London restaurant scene is in dire straits. On the contrary, the folks behind Zagat mention a few high-profile openings, including bad boy chef Gordon Ramsay’s Petrus, a modern French restaurant in upscale Belgravia.

A few midpriced ventures also are new to the scene, such as the Anthologist, which serves modern European cuisine in a former police commissioner’s office. Another trend, they report, is the proliferation of local chains.

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— Some tourist attractions can be easily experienced, by taking in a scenic view or driving down a famous byway. But other places must be explored to be appreciated, with layers revealed as you go. That’s how it is in Western Massachusetts, with sites like the Emily Dickinson Museum, the Quabbin Reservoir’s “accidental wilderness” and many other treasures — from great restaurants to unusual bookstores — waiting to be discovered.

Of course there are Walmarts, Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts here, just like everywhere else. But you can also tune into the region’s bucolic, historic side by driving for miles along winding roads past small farms, town squares, and communities founded in the 17th and 18th centuries. One o

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A few years ago, the last day of school signaled my family to pack our red Chevy Blazer and take to the road.

This annual tradition brought us to Manzanita Lake at Lassen Volcanic National Park. There we’d set up tents and chairs, drape the checkered tablecloth, hang a clothesline, prime the Coleman stove, arrange wood around the fire pit and settle in for several days of hiking, fishing, roasting marshmallows, reading by campfire light and enjoying the outdoors.

A short, early-morning walk led me to Manzanita Lake, where I’d sip coffee and wander the banks watching resident wildlife and early fishermen. Whether my day was spent visiting Loomis Museum, navigating Bumpass Hell, ascending Lassen Peak or being misted at King’s Creek Falls, late afternoon would lead me back to Manzanita Lake.

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— Perched atop a West Bank hill, the Binyamin region visitors center invites travelers to look past the military jeeps patrolling the surrounding area and enjoy nature, archaeological sites and bucolic vineyards.

Jewish settlers are promoting tourism to draw Israelis who might otherwise never set foot in the West Bank, an occupied area Palestinians want as part of a future state. P

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