Deep within the mountains of North Carolina, steeped within Asheville, N.C. and southern wealth, stands Biltmore Estate -- a tourist attraction yet also private estate stretching nearly 7,000 acres. Writer and travel blogger Kathy Petrino urges visitors to the Blue Ridge Mountains of Appalachia to add this destination to their itineraries. Standing bold within Biltmore Estate is the largest privately owned house in the United States; an architectural masterpiece built from 1889 to 1895 in a castle-esque style by George Washington Vanderbilt II. This almost-180,000 square foot mansion is still owned by the Vanderbilt family, but welcomes visitors daily each year, including to its blooming gardens, vineyard and blossoming hotels and other attractions. This large estate is the vision of architectural genius Frederick Law Olmsted and Petrino notes a full day -- at the least -- is needed to explore the estate’s history, rooms, offerings and more.

Her readers know Kathy Petrino is a very enthusiastic travel writer. That’s because she’s also an ambitious traveler, with a strong desire to see the entire world. Kathy enjoys writing about everything and sharing everything about her experiences. That includes the pitfalls of travel, which she writes about in depth as a sort of training exercise. This way, they can have an even better trip than she. Kathy Petrino wants everyone to have the same great experiences she has had.

That includes one of Kathy Petrino’s favorite destinations, which is actually one of the world’s best purely visual tourist destinations, Big Sur. The region of Big Sur is a very mountainous and rugged section of the Central Coast of California, running on the coast, from San Simeon in the south to Carmel on the north end. This is where the Santa Lucia Mountains seem to suddenly rise out of the waters of the Pacific Ocean. The best reason to go to Big Sur is the scenery and, while the most popular way to visit Big Sur is to take in the beautiful scenery from the car, that may not be the best way to see it. The area, after all, features some of the best hiking and mountain climbing in the world, as well as some of the finest and most remote beaches anywhere.