Uploaded February 2018 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Belle Mont Farm On St. Kitts is Bananas Gorgeous and This 360-Degree Video Shows You Why
Food & Wine may have called it the “Best New Caribbean Hotel” and Travel + Leisure dubbed it one of the “Best New Hotels on the Planet.” Yet anyone who works for St. Kitts’ most luxurious property will tell you that Belle Mont Farm isn’t actually a hotel. Rather, employees describe Belle Mont Farm as nothing other than what it sounds like … a working farm. Call it what you want, but this 400-acre hillside property just so happens to own and operate a hotel that is drop-dead gorgeous.
Perched in the foothills of Mount Liamuiga Volcano, Belle Mont Farm features 84 cottages, seven four-bedroom farmhouses and a destination spa hidden by giant mango trees. It’s part of the $600 million development known as Kittitian Hill and is world-renowned for its commitment to sustainability.
Fun/sad fact: Approximately 95 percent of St. Kitts’ food is imported. How messed up is that? Thankfully, Belle Mont Farm is on a mission to create a culture of sustainability, from the farm to your fork. As it stands right now, some 80 percent of Belle Mont Farm’s food is grown on property. And anything that they can’t produce themselves—such as pork, fish or dairy products—is sourced from nearby purveyors.
The property even offers one of the world’s only *organic* 18-hole golf courses, and the course is lovingly named Irie Fields. That means no pesticides nor fertilizer are ever in use. And get this, the owner of the property says the golf course is edible. But like don’t try to eat it, K?
On my visit, I was overcome by the sheer beauty of the resort. On par with Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park, Belle Mont Farm has one of the finest views of St. Kitts and is positioned at the unique point at which the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea converge. It’s a view that can’t really be properly conveyed unless you see it for yourself. So, I’ve done the next best thing and edited a 360-degree video that will give you a taste of what life is like at Belle Month Farm. And from this vantage point, life is pretty damn good.
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If you value experiences over consumerism, if you think there's more to life than the 9-5, if you want to travel to every country in the world before you die, subscribe to my channel, and let’s see where we end up next: ow.ly/Vx3Xs
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My trip to St. Kitts was made possible by the St. Kitts Tourism Authority. Views expressed are my own.
Belle Mont Farm On St. Kitts is Bananas Gorgeous and This 360-Degree Video Shows You Why
Food & Wine may have called it the “Best New Caribbean Hotel” and Travel + Leisure dubbed it one of the “Best New Hotels on the Planet.” Yet anyone who works for St. Kitts’ most luxurious property will tell you that Belle Mont Farm isn’t actually a hotel. Rather, employees describe Belle Mont Farm as nothing other than what it sounds like … a working farm. Call it what you want, but this 400-acre hillside property just so happens to own and operate a hotel that is drop-dead gorgeous.
Perched in the foothills of Mount Liamuiga Volcano, Belle Mont Farm features 84 cottages, seven four-bedroom farmhouses and a destination spa hidden by giant mango trees. It’s part of the $600 million development known as Kittitian Hill and is world-renowned for its commitment to sustainability.
Fun/sad fact: Approximately 95 percent of St. Kitts’ food is imported. How messed up is that? Thankfully, Belle Mont Farm is on a mission to create a culture of sustainability, from the farm to your fork. As it stands right now, some 80 percent of Belle Mont Farm’s food is grown on property. And anything that they can’t produce themselves—such as pork, fish or dairy products—is sourced from nearby purveyors.
The property even offers one of the world’s only *organic* 18-hole golf courses, and the course is lovingly named Irie Fields. That means no pesticides nor fertilizer are ever in use. And get this, the owner of the property says the golf course is edible. But like don’t try to eat it, K?
On my visit, I was overcome by the sheer beauty of the resort. On par with Brimstone Hill Fortress National Park, Belle Mont Farm has one of the finest views of St. Kitts and is positioned at the unique point at which the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea converge. It’s a view that can’t really be properly conveyed unless you see it for yourself. So, I’ve done the next best thing and edited a 360-degree video that will give you a taste of what life is like at Belle Month Farm. And from this vantage point, life is pretty damn good.
___
If you value experiences over consumerism, if you think there's more to life than the 9-5, if you want to travel to every country in the world before you die, subscribe to my channel, and let’s see where we end up next: ow.ly/Vx3Xs
Snapchat: JoanJetsetter
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My trip to St. Kitts was made possible by the St. Kitts Tourism Authority. Views expressed are my own.
![Northern Lights Hunt With Hurtigruten
Northern Lights hunting through the fjords of Norway with Hurtigruten.
A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to witness the Northern Lights attracts me and many others on a weeklong Norwegian coastal cruise with Hurtigruten. Guests have come all the way from China, Japan, the U.S. and Europe—united by a common goal.
So what does it take to see the Northern Lights, exactly?
“As long as we are north of the Arctic Circle, the only conditions we need to see the Northern Lights are clear skies and darkness,” said Bjørn Lemcke, assistant expedition leader on Hurtigruten’s Nordnorge. “We get many weird questions from guests about the Northern Lights. I always joke that I turn them on around midnight, and that I have a switch under my desk.”
Sometimes the activity is strongest late at night, when guests are fast asleep. If you value seeing the lights over your beauty sleep, Bjørn suggests turning on the “info” button inside your cabin so that you can hear announcements about sightings on deck.
“When the announcements are made, it’s crazy. Everyone will get up in the middle of the night if they haven’t seen it before,” he said.
Not all the excitement takes place in the middle of the night, though. You might choose to spend the day admiring the Art Nouveau architecture in Alesund or walking up some 400 odd steps to the top of Mount Aksla. Perhaps you’ll try dog sledding at dusk in Tromso or take a winter walk in Bodo, through Viking graves and an ancient village.
My favorite daytime excursion with Hurtigruten was a trip to the North Cape. A 1,000-foot cliff overlooks the northernmost point in Europe, and the untouched, barren landscape really makes you feel like you’ve reached the end of the earth.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Did you see the Northern Lights or what, lady?
Well, the conditions were not in our favor for the majority of the cruise, with rain, snow and overcast weather. However, on our very last night onboard, after much perseverance and hours spent on deck, I finally caught a glimpse of the Aurora Borealis. Though they were not shining as brightly as they could have been, I was able to get some decent photos on my digital camera thanks to some handy tips provided by Bjørn and the rest of Hurtigruten’s Expedition Team.
Whether you see the lights or not, a trip along the Norwegian coast with Hurtigruten is filled with eye-opening experiences, cultural programming and striking scenery— leaving you with a new appreciation for the way Norwegians see the world.
If you value experiences over consumerism, if you think theres more to life than the 9-5, if you want to travel to every country in the world before you die, subscribe to my channel, and let’s see where we end up next: http://ow.ly/Vx3Xs
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Executive Producer: Skye Mayring
Editor: Gerardo Jaquez Lechuga
Music courtesy of Killer Tracks [BMI]
Name of Song: Ibitza
CD Number: SA033
Track Number: 1
Name of Song: Clutching Tight
CD Number: CM 105
Track Number: T33
Name of Song: Dimensions
CD Number: ATMOS 344
Track Number: T8
Name of Song: Talk about it
CD Number: CM 107
Track Number: T11
Name of Song: Crazy Parade
CD Number: MAT 264
Track Number: T16
Name of Song: Change
CD Number: BER 1245
Track Number: T58
My trip to Norway was made possible by Visit Norway USA and Hurtigruten USA. Views expressed are my own. Northern Lights Hunt With Hurtigruten](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/mIxylUbNa1w/mqdefault.jpg)

![Art of Winemaking in Germany
People don’t usually equate great wines with Germany, but they should. Winemakers here utilize the same soil and sun as France, but they have one major advantage on their side of the border: German engineering.
It just so happens to be harvest season in Stuttgart, Germany, so I spend the day collecting grapes with local vintner Michael Warth, whose vast experience in winemaking spans several countries, including New Zealand, South Africa and the U.S.
Michael now runs the family business in Stuttgart. Remarkably, his family has been making wines in Germany for more than 800 years.
You heard that right—800 years. This is a guy who bleeds wine.
The previous night, Michael and just one other employee worked late into the night pressing grapes, and he’s back at it again this morning, working the harvest with both of his parents.
“That’s different to America,” says Michael, vintner and board member of Weinmanufaktur Untertürkheim. “We try to work in all areas, including the vineyards, the cellar and the selling. It’s the only way to see what you can sell, how to produce, what you need in the cellar. It’s end to end.”
Michael only has 10 employees, which means that the majority of people participating in the harvest are co-op members.
“The [co-op members harvest] in their free time, and it’s a tradition that they get wine in exchange for the picking the grapes. So they drink all year long for free,” he says. “All of them say, ‘each evening, when I open a bottle, I always think about the hard work I’ve done.’”
A low overhead also helps the company to keep costs down. Michael tells me that overall, wines in Germany are incredibly affordable. Most of his wines retail for around $10 a bottle—and they are really good.
“I like the white wines,” says Michael. “For me, Germany is the perfect place to produce white wines, and I think we produce Rieslings better than everywhere else in the world.”
Stuttgart’s climate of cold nights and sunny days is ideal for the Riesling grape because it creates a longer period of ripening—approximately 100 days. Harvesting the grape at just the right time not only allows apple and tree fruit notes to develop but also ensures that the winemaker is getting the right balance of acidity.
Notice, too, the lack of irrigation systems. In Germany, vineyards are positioned on hillsides to allow an even distribution of rain. Natural rainfall is thought to be the only way for the vines to retain its terroir characteristics.
Without question, winemaking in Germany is authentic and very DIY. This is the kind of craftsmanship that we just don’t see enough of in this day and age.
“We produce wines with our heart. So we don’t care if you earn one euro more or less—it’s the tradition, the heart and the family,” says Michael. “In America, and I think all overseas, it’s just a production, just a company and just the earning of money. They are interested in the interest. We are very interested in the quality.”
My trip to Stuttgart was made possible by the Germany National Tourism Board and Weinmanufaktur Untertürkheim. Views expressed are my own. Art of Winemaking in Germany](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/mezA9BqZIH4/mqdefault.jpg)







