Tallinn, Estonia’s capital, is one of the gems of the Baltic states, a cluster of three small countries that also includes Latvia and Lithuania. They are all located along the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea in Northeastern Europe.

It would be easy to spend all of your time in Tallinn without venturing beyond. Its Old Town alone, with Hanseatic-era guildhalls and merchants’ houses, kept my husband, Paul, and me happily occupied for three days of our 8-day visit in May...

In the valleys 290 miles southeast of Mexico City, one of Mesoamerica’s earliest civilizations, the Zapotecs, developed. Living off the land, hunter-gatherers first appeared in these valleys about 10,000 years ago. By about 5000-4000 BC, these early settlers had begun to cultivate the land. The first important settlement identifiable as Zapotec, San José Mogote, can be dated to between 1450 and 1150 BC. By the 8th to 7th centuries BC, this settlement had expanded to include dozens of...

In the Cyclades, a group of Greek islands in the Aegean Sea, trails are called “blue paths.” With every turn, you can expect a view of the sea. How prescient of our group of 11 walkers to have signed up to explore paths on three of these islands with an organization called The Blue Walk!

Headquartered in Orlando, Florida, The Blue Walk (phone, in the US, 551/258-3955, www.thebluewalk.com) offers small-group walking vacations in Italy, Spain and France as well as the...