Driving

Stretching from Natchez, Mississippi, on the Mississippi River, northeast to Nashville, Tennessee, the Natchez Trace Parkway is a wonderful road maintained by the National Park Service.

Based on an ancient trail, its earliest users were buffalo, then Native Americans and then white settlers. Today it is a paved highway closed to commercial vehicles but open to other vehicles and bikers. There is no separate bike trail, but the traffic speed limit is 45. My wife, Barbara, and I drove some of it in 2020.

A 2017 road trip from Calgary to Ottawa was part of our personal celebration of Canada’s 150th anniversary. A highlight of that trip was Winnipeg, Manitoba.

My husband, Bill, and I have been to Italy many times, visiting Rome, Florence, Venice, Naples and the island of Sicily, but in the summer of 2018 we ventured to new ground in northern Italy, and it was spectacular!

After visiting Switzerland, we flew into Milan, picked up a very expensive small car from SIXT rent a car (in US, phone 888/749-8227, www.sixt.com) — paying €350 (near $425) for 10 days — and drove to beautiful Lake Como.

For anyone interested in driving around the Australian island of Tasmania, the website Lap of Tasmania (www.lapoftasmania.com.au) can help in planning an itinerary and booking lodging and a rental car. Travelers can choose a 7-, 10- or 14-day trip or a specialized trip (foodie, nature, luxury, etc.). Each trip guide includes suggestions for enhancing or extending certain sections.

13-day, 12-night motorcycle tour in NEW ZEALAND, Nov. 1-13, 2020, Jan. 16-28 & Oct. 31-Nov. 12, 2021. Group limit, 12. Highlights: Motorcycle handover in Auckland (North Island)/ride south to Coromandel Peninsula/in Rotorua, attend Maori cultural event and hangi (earth-pit oven) meal/Tongariro Nat’l Park/Greytown wineries/ferry to South Island/Nelson/cross Southern Alps for Punakaiki Rocks/Fox & Franz Josef glaciers/Mt. Cook/Christchurch. From $7,900 ppdo, including motorcycle rental. Co-rider, $5,900.