The Essentials

Dark Sky Tourism

Want a great travel activity that has social distancing baked right in? Try stargazing.

Dark sky tourism is growing, and by definition, it means you’ll be outside and far away from light pollution caused by urban areas.

Check out the Primland Resort in Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains. It’s got a 30-foot observatory dome.

The Montage Resort in Healdsburg, California provides a special astronomer LED night tour for guests.

And the Blueberry Pond Observatory in Pownal, Maine has a great stargazing dome as well.

Want to find a place a little further away?

Try Mount Teide on the island of Tenerife in the Canary Islands. Head up around 6,000 feet, dress warmly, and at around 8:30 p.m. each night. the sky lights up. But it’s not just with the usual array of stars and planets. You’ll even be able to clearly see the International Space Station zooming by at about 15,000 miles an hour.