Angkor Thom, Cambodia   (Photo: istockphoto)

Two Nights

Milford, Pennsylvania
Visit the nearest watery oasis with fresh trails and a city-style hotel.
It might not inspire Ken Burns– level fawning, but the Delaware Water Gap shelters one of the country’s largest networks of waterfalls and a hundred miles of underused hiking trails—and it’s only 70 miles from the city. Warm up with a hike up the Knob, a 400-foot cliff with a Frederick Law Olmsted Jr.–designed cemetery cut into its flanks. Trek through creek-fed farmlands by the mighty Delaware River on a segment of the 37-mile McDade Trail that starts at Milford Beach. Trailheads south of town access cascades like the multilevel Raymondskill Falls and the churning 130-foot Dingmans Falls, both buried deep in hemlock-filled ravines. Base yourself just north, in Milford, where the marble bathtubs at the elegant Hotel Fauchère will wash the grime away (from $170; hotelfauchere.com).

OR: Flaunt your Pan-athleticism in the Northeast’s answer to Boulder.

Burlington, Vermont
Burlington has more outdoor options than it knows what to do with. In a single weekend, you can hike a portion of the 273-mile Long Trail (the Green Mountain Club can suggest routes; greenmountainclub.org); bike the gorgeous Island Line Trail along Lake Champlain ($28 to rent for 24 hours; localmotion .com); learn to fly-fish with an expert from Schirmer’s Fly Shop ($150 per lesson; schirmersflyshop .com), and take a self-guided tour of the Mad River Valley’s swimming holes—Warren Falls, with its natural waterslides, is spectacular but gets crowded, so go early (swimmingholes.org/vt has a master list). After a bratwurst and a locally brewed Magic Hat at newly opened Das Bierhaus (dasbierhausvt.com), collapse at the antique-filled Willard Street Inn (from $140; willard streetinn.com).