Get high on vacation

There’s more than one way to get high on vacation. You can ascend physically, spiritually or even chemically as your adrenaline levels go through the roof.

Here at Bing Travel, we’ve picked 16 destinations that allow you to physically rise above it all, which can of course lead to other kinds of ethereal heights. Our new slide show, Get High on Vacation, gives you a chance to enjoy a virtual, earthbound visit before you ascend to a higher plain.

Take Meteora in central Greece, for example. Monks have lived in monasteries atop the 1,800-foot-high rocky outcroppings here since the ninth century. In 2004, I huffed and puffed my way up the stone stairs to reach the Holy Monastery of Great Meteoron. It is the oldest and largest monastery in Meteora and provides a dazzling view of the surrounding plain.

Years ago, I drove to the top of Mauna Kea, a dormant volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii, where silvery observatories have an unobstructed view of the cosmos. It is odd indeed to be able to drive up a volcano, and your body lets you know this the minute you step out of your vehicle. If you’re not lightheaded from the sudden rise to 13,796 feet, you will surely be breathless watching the giant shadow that Mauna Kea casts on the ocean at sunset.

Piz Gloria in Switzerland is another place to elevate. This revolving restaurant at 9,744 feet on Schilthorn Mountain near Mürren starred in the James Bond movie “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.” Bond skied down the mountain to escape from his arch enemy Blofeld, but I chose instead to simply enjoy the top-of-the-world view over the Swiss Alps.

What’s your favorite place to get high on vacation? Post a comment for other travelers below.

Robin Dalmas is a travel writer, editor and producer for Bing Travel. She is the former Travel Editor for MSNBC and looks forward to getting high again soon.