The Fitness Fan
Your travel plans can incoporate your daily workout,
thanks to shipboard gyms, specialty hotel rooms and theme tours
By Brent Stoller
Cape Town Tourism
Why not enhance your daily exercise routine with a little scenery? Welcome to Carnival Cruise Lines' SkyFitness, an outdoor workout facility kissed by cooling sea winds and surrounded by miles of sparkling blue.
Offered on three ships (the Carnival Breeze, Magic and Sunshine), the setup features all the equipment you need to achieve full-body fitness. Get your heart rate going on a stationary bike, channel your inner Rocky Balboa on a punching bag and finish your routine with back-to-basics strength building on a circuit-training course.
Still need to burn some buffet calories? Head to the indoor gym for a spin on the elliptical, fortify your core in Pilates class or sign up for a pro-led boot camp.
Fitness at your fingertips
Westin Hotels & Resorts' Well-Being Movement makes fitness accessible while on vacation. Through a partnership with the New Balance gear brand, Westin's lending program delivers fresh workout shoes, shirts and shorts as well as brand-new socks right to your door, all for just $5. Leave behind everything but the socks at checkout -- those are yours to keep.
On-site fitness studios are available and feature cutting-edge equipment. If fresh air is your thing, grab a running map featuring 3- and 5-mile routes that wind through your destination's most scenic spots.
Prefer your own personal gym? Some Westin locations offer rooms outfitted with a stationary bike, weights and stability balls, along with bottled water for post-workout recovery.
Hike South Africa
Vacations can be an exercise in excess. But for those who travel to ramp up their fitness, G Adventures presents its "Cape of Good Hope Hike," a weeklong journey that begins and ends in Cape Town. Instead of accumulating calories, trekkers burn them. A lot of them.
Hiking a total of 23-plus miles over five days, sometimes as much as 10 hours per day, you'll become one with the South African countryside. Scale the 3,558-foot summit of Table Mountain and marvel in the coastline views, meander among the rugged fynbos (shrubs and heathland vegetation) along the Vlakkenberg Trail and traverse the challenging terrain of Cape Point, a nature preserve populated by zebras and more. Rates start at $999 per person, before airfare.
The information in this story was accurate at the time it was published in January/February 2015.
Please visit Vacations To Go or call (800) 338-4962 for current rates and details.
