Ready to leave the Zoom rooms behind and take off this summer? UR Italian professors know the best towns in the Tuscan countryside. Looking for a domestic trip? Richmond faculty and staff are pros at state and national parks. Take a look at these Spider favorites from near and far.

Todd Lookingbill, associate professor of geography and the environment, is an expert in national parks, and loves to visit them over the summer.

“Over the years, I have had the good fortune to visit some of our most revered national parks with my classes, including Yosemite, Acadia, Shenandoah, and Death Valley,” Lookingbill said. “These have been among the most memorable experiences I’ve had at UR, and I’ve heard the same from students. There is no better way to experience wilderness and nature than with a trip to one of these treasured landscapes. As climate change is affecting everything from the geysers and wildlife at Yellowstone National Park to the namesake glaciers at Glacier National Park, there is also literally no time like the present to visit a park.”

National parks have become a welcome escape from the pandemic, he said, and are very crowded. But there are still plenty of untapped opportunities to enjoy the outdoors in relative solitude.

“Congaree National Park, outside of Columbia, South Carolina, gets only around 100,000 visitors a year,” he said. “I took a class to Congaree a few years ago and the old-growth forest in these bottomlands rivals anything I’ve seen in the West.”

Lucretia McCulley, retired librarian for Boatwright Library, is spending her first year in retirement visiting all 41 state parks in Virginia. She has a few recommendations.

“I like Douthat in the Allegheny Mountains for beautiful, peaceful wooded scenery,” McCulley said. “It’s a great place to disconnect from technology and enjoy nature. Kiptopeke is my favorite beach state park. It’s a scenic drive across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, and the park is full of beautiful beaches as well as wooded hiking trails.”

For travelers eager for a longer-term getaway, the European Union recently opened its borders to U.S. citizens, with no restrictions for those who are fully vaccinated. Full details for visiting the EU can be found on the Re-open EU site.

Lidia Radi, associate professor of French and Italian studies, is spending her summer in Italy for her research and has some advice on where to go and what to see.

“Verona is a walking museum, with the Arena, where every year there is the international opera festival, the Roman theatre, the house of Juliet, and the bridge of stone (a Roman arch bridge),” she said. “It is a real jewel of a city. Apulia has among the most beautiful beaches of Italy. If you can, visit the beautiful hills of Tuscany and walk around Siena, Arezzo, Montepulciano, Anghiari, and basically every village you find in Tuscany!”

Kasongo Kapanga, professor of French and chair of the languages, literatures, and cultures department, loves to visit the traditional tourist destinations in Paris, including the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the Orsay Museum, and Sacré-Cœur (the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Paris). He also suggests the Place de la Concorde, one of the main public squares in Paris; the Tuileries Gardens, a 17^th century formal garden along the Seine; Sainte-Chapelle, a 13^th century gothic chapel; and les Invalides, a military museum where Napoleon is buried. Outside the French capital, he recommends Strasbourg, Bordeaux, Dinan in Brittany, and Nice.

Julie Baker, director of the French intensive language program, also recommended Normandy and Giverny.

Both suggested a visit to Brussels, to see the Atomium (an iconic stainless steel sculpture in the shape of an atom), the Magritte Museum, the Museum of Cocoa and Chocolate, and Grand-Place, the city’s central square. Other cities worth visiting include Bruges and Ghent.

Kapanga also recommends Martinique, a French-speaking country in the Caribbean and suggested visits to the capital, Fort-de-France, or the town of Schœlcher.

Dieter Gunkel, assistant professor of historical linguistics, spent seven years living in Munich before coming to UR, and recommends spending a few days in the German city.

"Get an Airbnb in Schwabing or Maxvorstadt, where you can bounce from café to restaurant or stroll through Munich's main park — der Englischen Garten,” he said. Walk into the historic city center, from the Odeonsplatz square to the Marienplatz square, then stroll through the adjoining open-air market — Viktualienmarkt.”

He also recommended art lovers visit the collections at the three museums, which showcase works from the 14th century to the present.  

“Thinking about doing it with kids?” Gunkel said. “No problem! Munich is a very family-friendly city, and those same areas are well furnished with playgrounds.”

Note: The University of Richmond requires anyone participating in university-related travel this summer to report the itinerary here. All recommendations are based on fully vaccinated travelers. For more information on traveling during COVID-19, visit the CDC website.