• Introduction
• 1. Aspen
• 2. Avalon
• 3. Fire Island
• 4. Little St. Simons Island
• 5. Lopez Island
• 6. Mackinac Island
• 7. Monhegan Island
• 8. Nags Head
• 9. Nantucket
• 10. South Padre Island

Nags Head

Leave the gas pumps behind – Nags Head Island is all about communing with nature. Cars certainly aren't needed to navigate this tiny, 6.5-square-mile barrier island on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Indeed, visitors, most of whom are lured by outdoorsy pursuits in the first place, get more out of biking and walking between the island's wildlife refuges (spot everything from wood ducks to red wolves), forests, wetlands, and beaches, than wheeling around. Explore the third largest estuary system in the world, the highest sand dunes on the East Coast at Jockey's Ridge State Park, and the remains of sunken ships (legend has it that the infamous pirate Blackbeard and his crew used to roam the more than 900 square miles of water that surround Nags Head). At the end of the day you can retire knowing that you're helping the very environment you're enjoying with your carbon-emissions-free vacation.

See Aspen Travel GuideSee Whistler Travel Guide