Sandpoint, Idaho, is the kind of small town you dream about. Perched on the edge of a dazzling lake, at the foot of densely forested mountains, it’s a historic charmer with youthful energy and lively music, art, and culinary scenes. It’s also home to a historic railroad depot, Idaho’s only Amtrak stop, which welcomes the Empire Builder. Nearby, Schweitzer draws an avid crowd of skiers, snowboarders, and mountain bikers, and the 1,158-foot-deep Lake Pend Oreille attracts sailors and swimmers alike. Just watch out for the mysterious lake monster called the Pend Oreille Paddler.

“Sandpoint has a vibrant community spirit,” Olivia Caso, a fifth-generation Sandpoint resident and the executive director of the Greater Sandpoint Chamber of Commerce, tells Travel + Leisure. “This is a place where people smile, wave, and open doors for others.” Rick Evans, co-owner of Sandpoint’s Evans Brothers Coffee Roasters, agrees, adding that this is a destination “where people know each other, there are tons of quirky characters, and there’s a place here for people of all personalities and walks of life.”

I can also attest to the area’s appeal, as I recently returned from a mid-summer visit to both Sandpoint and Schweitzer, fingers purple from huckleberry picking and mind filled with happy memories of horseback riding, hiking, boating, sampling local beer, and enjoying a lakeside outdoor concert. Below, here’s how to plan your own trip to Sandpoint, one of the best places to visit in Idaho.

Best Hotels & Resorts

Humbird

With an adventure-ready location in the heart of Schweitzer’s base village, Humbird is the perfect choice for travelers who want both convenience and stylish accommodations. Designed by Portland-based Skylab Architecture, the 31-room boutique hotel offers knockout mountain and lake views—head to the rooftop hot tub for stargazing—plus the tasty Crow’s Bench restaurant and even a handy coworking space.

Dover Bay

For lakeshore lovers, Evans recommends Dover Bay. “It has a great boat launch, beautiful bike paths, and a really good restaurant in Dish at Dover Bay—waterfront, great food and cocktails.” The resort includes a beach, a marina, a park, and trails, with both lakefront and courtyard bungalows.

Best Things to Do

Play in the mountains at Schweitzer.

Idaho’s largest ski resort has 2,900 acres of skiable terrain, 10 lifts, and 92 trails for winter recreation, as well as 40-plus miles of mountain biking and hiking trails when the snow melts and wildflowers bloom. Schweitzer’s base village offers temptations like the Cambium Spa, gear and gift shops, restaurants and watering holes, and kids’ activities, from zip lines and a bungee trampoline to an old-timey mining sluice where you can search for “gemstones.”

Make a splash in Idaho’s deepest, largest lake.

Sail, cruise, fish, or paddle on Lake Pend Oreille. With 111 scenic miles of shoreline and a depth of 1,158 feet, it’s a vast, watery playground. But what about that aforementioned lake monster? “The Pend Oreille Paddler is a hotly contested subject,” says Caso. “I personally think the Paddler is a huge sturgeon.” See for yourself on one of the Lake Pend Oreille Cruises, with sightseeing jaunts that include a history cruise and a sunset and eagle watching tour. Action Water Sports also rents a variety of watercraft.

For swimmers, there’s City Beach, which Evans calls a “classic place for people of all ages.” Afterward, stop by Panhandle Cone & Coffee and sample one of the creative ice cream flavors like buttermilk huckleberry or strawberry, lime, and avocado.

Attend a summer music festival under the stars.

For two weeks each summer, The Festival at Sandpoint welcomes national touring acts to perform at War Memorial Field on the shores of Lake Pend Oreille. With a tasty lineup of local food and drink vendors and a joyful, neighborly vibe, it’s a splendid place to dance the night away.

Catch a show at a vintage theater.

Downtown Sandpoint’s Panida Theater (quirkily named after the panhandle of Idaho) opened in 1927 as a Spanish Mission-style movie palace and vaudeville house. The restored theater is on the National Register of Historic Places and hosts a lively roster of movies, concerts, comedy performances, plays, and more.

Enjoy a local libation.

Sandpoint’s beer scene includes Matchwood Brewing Company, the brewery-meets-curry-house Utara Brewing Company, and MickDuff’s Brewing Company, headquartered in the historic Sandpoint Federal Building. The Pend d’Oreille Winery is another option, with a downtown wine bar and tasting room highlighting award-winning vintages; there’s also live music on select days.

Best Shopping

Cedar Street Bridge

The Cedar Street Bridge is a kind of Panhandle Ponte Vecchio spanning Sand Creek, complete with a playful Bigfoot cutout overseeing a 400-foot-long marketplace that includes gift shops, clothing boutiques, food purveyors, family play areas, and even a ceramic studio. “There are plenty of Bigfoot cutouts all over town and our trails here,” says Caso. “See how many you can find.”

Farmers’ Market at Sandpoint

From May through mid-October, the Farmers’ Market at Sandpoint bursts into life, with a cornucopia of local vendors selling fresh produce, baked goods, and an array of handcrafted items, all to the beat of live music.

La Chic Boutique

Sandpoint has a tempting variety of antique stores and vintage shops, and both Evans and Caso mention one in particular. “La Chic Boutique has a highly curated selection of new and gently loved secondhand clothing, as well as cards, journals, and an excellent assortment of gifts,” says Caso.

Best Restaurants

Evans Brothers Coffee Roasters

To fuel your day’s adventures, stop by the Granary Arts District and Evans Brothers Coffee Roasters. The full-service, wholesale coffee roaster creates custom roasts and has a changing menu of seasonal drinks with house-made syrups, picnic-ready pastries, breakfast burritos, and sandwiches (including vegan and gluten-free options). The cafe features work by local artists, and the outdoor patio is dog-friendly.

Matchwood Brewing Company

Try an award-winning Spruce Tip Pale Ale at Matchwood Brewing Company, where handcrafted beers rotate throughout the year. If the weather’s fine, head out to the covered porch and share a messy-good plate of Idaho-inspired “Not So Hotcho Totchos,” starring, you guessed it, tater tots.

Crow’s Bench

Crow’s Bench at Schweitzer’s Humbird has indoor-outdoor dining and an elevated menu showcasing local ingredients and imaginative preparations. I’m still dreaming about the swoon-worthy huckleberry cheesecake, and Caso confesses, “I find myself returning to Crow’s Bench for their braised pork belly often.”

The Nest Bar & Restaurant

Reached by a scenic lift ride to the summit of Schweitzer, Sky House lives up to its name with jaw-dropping panoramic vistas reaching all the way to Montana, Washington, and Canada. It’s also home to The Nest Bar & Restaurant, which serves high-altitude delicacies ranging from burgers to paella to Tuscan trout.

The Bank

“The Bank is a great restaurant in town with craft cocktails, a creative, tapas-style menu, and a nice ambience,” says Evans. The restaurant also has a patio overlooking Sand Creek, so you can share the house focaccia or whipped feta while taking in incredible views.

Best Time to Visit

Sandpoint is a true year-round destination. “There is magic to be found at any time of the year in our town,” says Caso. Winter brings a flurry of skiing and snowboarding at Schweitzer, along with the community-wide Winter Carnival. “During Winter Carnival, we host something called the K-9 Keg Pull,” explains Caso. “It’s a fun spectacle—local dogs pull different sizes of kegs and even cans, depending on the size of [the] dog.”

Spring skiing wraps up in mid-April, and summer follows with endless lake activities, huckleberry picking, and fun celebrations, including Beerfest, Schweitzer’s Northwest WineFest, and the tuneful, two-week Festival at Sandpoint. Hikers, mountain bikers, and horseback riding enthusiasts can take to the trails; I saddled up with Mountain Horse Adventures. As autumn arrives, Schweitzer’s rollicking Fall Fest takes place over Labor Day weekend, and Sandpoint’s Apple Fest is a crisp October treat.

How to Get There

If you’re arriving by air, the Spokane International Airport (GEG) is roughly 80 miles from Sandpoint, and it’s a relatively easy drive by rental car or taxi. You can also reach Sandpoint by train. As Amtrak’s Empire Builder whisks passengers between Chicago and destinations in the Pacific Northwest, it makes a stop at Sandpoint’s red-brick, Gothic Revival depot, built in 1916 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

How to Get Around

SPOT is Sandpoint’s free bus system, complete with a helpful mobile app to track the location of the nearest bus. In winter, there’s a free SPOT mountain shuttle that runs up the winding road to Schweitzer from Sandpoint’s Red Barn Park & Ride lot. Each bus is also equipped with a bike rack.

Golfers mention the great golfing cities of the world and usually gravitate towards St. Andrews, Melbourne, or Pebble Beach. But anyone who has ever played golf in Nairobi knows the truth: Kenya’s capital is among the world’s finest golfing destinations.

Blessed with a temperate climate year-round, lush landscapes, and a golf heritage stretching back over a century, Nairobi is home to an extraordinary concentration of championship-level courses. Here, golf isn’t just a sport — it’s an immersive encounter with nature, history, and East African hospitality.

Whether it’s for the elusive perfect score or enjoying the stroll between shots, these are the seven golf courses in Nairobi that should be on every golfer’s bucket list.

Here’s an overview:

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Top Golf Courses in Nairobi

1. Muthaiga Golf Club – The Crown Jewel of Kenyan Golf

Locally known as “The Home of Golf” in Kenya, Muthaiga Golf Club is a scenic, tree-lined beauty that blends vintage charm with modern championship style. Home of the Kenya Open and a regular event on the European and DP World Tour schedule, Muthaiga features a test that’s every bit cerebral as it is lovely.

Fairways are faultless carpets of green, flanked by ancient trees which sway gently in the Nairobi breeze. There are water hazards in the African sun, particularly on the par-3 13th, where a well-placed tee shot must carry a craftily designed water hazard to a protected green.

Post-round, the colonial clubhouse welcomes you with comfortable, rich leather chairs, highly polished wood, and a balcony on which to watch the sunset paint the horizon over the 18th hole. It is Nairobi golf at its elegant best — refined, challenging, and full of heritage.

Related read: Visit Nairobi, Kenya: Your Travel Tips to Enjoying a Tour of the City in the Sun

2. Karen Country Club – Where Beauty Meets Championship Pedigree

Located on the historic Danish novelist Karen Blixen’s coffee plantation, Karen Country Club is straight out of Hollywood — a lush parkland layout where fairways wind through gardens that are awash with flowers, ancient fig trees, and well-trimmed water hazards.

A regular host of the Magical Kenya Open, Karen is a golfer’s intellectual paradise. A par-4 6th hole entices you to attempt a risk-and-reward shot around a fairway dogleg to set up a birdie chance. Slick, true greens reward precise approach shots.

It’s an environment where golf and countryside just get along — you might catch a glimpse of exotic birdlife along the water’s edge or notice the Ngong Hills in the distance. After your round, the terrace is the perfect spot to unwind over an after-game Tusker beer or a G&T as late afternoon sun dapples the trees.

3. Sigona Golf Club – A Highland Escape

Nestled in the rolling tea plantations of Kikuyu, Sigona Golf Club is a country retreat only 30 minutes from Nairobi city centre. The highland heat and gently undulating terrain provide ideal playing conditions, and the surrounding greenery provides an ambiance of peace of mind so rarely found on inner-city courses.

Sigona is renowned for its pristine conditioning — soft fairways and greens so slick they could be mistaken for billiard tables. The layout compensates for thinking ahead, particularly on holes such as the par-5 7th, where the approach is protected by a creek that penalizes anything short of flawless.

Between shots, you’ll breathe in the fresh scent of tea leaves and eucalyptus, a reminder that golf here is as much about the senses as the scorecard.

4. Limuru Country Club – Golf in the Clouds

Almost 7,000 feet above sea level, Limuru Country Club offers one of the continent’s most unique rounds. Up high in Kenya’s tea country, the course is endowed with cool, clean air and bird’s-eye views across emerald-green plantations that recede into the distance.

The elevation adds height to your shots and makes it fly 10% further, adding an extra thrill to every tee shot. The par-3’s are breathtaking, especially the 8th hole, a downhill shot, and your ball seems to suspend in space forever before settling on the green.

Limuru’s atmosphere is tranquil and exclusive, and the walk between holes feels almost meditative. After the round, the clubhouse veranda offers a view of the sunset melting into the mist — a sight worth the trip alone.

5. Windsor Golf & Country Club – Nairobi’s Grand Estate Course

Windsor is more than a golf course; it’s a luxurious affair. The 18-hole championship course winds through 200 acres of coffee plantations, lakes, and native bush, with fairways that bound postcard-beautiful views around every bend.

Water is everywhere in evidence here, from the peaceful ponds that guard greens to the mirror-like surface of the massive central lake. The final stretch must not be overlooked — the 17th, a wicked par-3 over water, and the 18th, where the fairway returns you in the direction of the castle-like clubhouse.

With its on-site luxury accommodation, spa, and fine dining facilities, Windsor is the kind of resort you could happily spend an entire golf vacation without ever having to step outside the grounds.

6. Royal Nairobi Golf Club – Tradition and Prestige

Started in 1906, Royal Nairobi Golf Club is as old as it is ancient, and it has no intention of abandoning the traditions of yesteryear. The course, overhauled over the years, retains a vintage parkland feel, with tight tree-lined fairways that place a premium on accuracy rather than brute force.

Royal Nairobi offers a peaceful retreat just minutes from the city center. The course has a rhythm to it — gentle doglegs, clever bunkering, and greens that demand concentration. The signature par-4 18th, with its approach over water to a green framed by the clubhouse, is as satisfying as it is photogenic, and considered one of the best finishing holes in Kenya.

Royal Nairobi is a charming club with a highly competitive vibe which has consistently produced some of the best players in the country.

7. Vet Lab Sports Club – Nairobi’s Hidden Gem

Vet Lab may not be as well known internationally as some of its rivals, but among Nairobi golfers, it’s a top favorite. Situated in the Kabete suburb, amidst verdant surroundings, the course is defined by its laid-back atmosphere, wide fairways, and rolling landscape, which challenges your clubbing.

The elevation changes make shots of sheer exhilaration, and some of the greens are just high enough to call for a soft, skimming stroke. The par-5s are particularly fun, some stretching over 600 yards — within reach of the big guy, but nicely protected by bunkers and mounds for the mere mortals among us.

Vet Lab’s atmosphere is warm and welcoming, too, with the kind of traditional Kenyan hospitality that turns strangers into friends come quitting time.

Why Nairobi Needs to Be on Every Golfer’s Bucket List

Few destinations can match the quality of courses, variety, climate, and culture of Nairobi. In a week, you can play from traditional championship layouts to Highland retreats and resort links in luxury – all within an hour of your hotel.

Off the course, you’re a short drive from world-class safari parks, vibrant markets, and a dining scene that blends African, Asian, and European flavors. And with Kenya’s year-round mild weather, every month is golf season.

For the golfer seeking not just a game, but a destination that will stir the soul and sharpen the swing, Nairobi is waiting — and it deserves a permanent place on your golfing bucket list.

A compact, comfortable pair of wireless earbuds is non-negotiable for red-eye flights, workspace concentration, or gym workouts. I have a hard time in crowded places, and I rarely leave my house without a pair of earbuds tossed in my bag, whether I’m heading to a coffee shop, on a long train ride, or hitting the gym. I’ve been testing wireless earbuds pretty consistently for the past five years to find the pairs with the best combination of battery life, comfort, sound quality, and water resistance. 

I have different pairs for different uses, and I’ve tested several earbuds on this list, including the Ozlo Sleepbuds, Apple AirPods, and Anker Soundcore Space A40. A few of my favorites didn’t make the cut, like Skullcandy’s Method 360 and Raycon’s tiny-yet-powerful Fitness Earbuds. This year, the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds took the top spot with the team’s tested earbuds thanks to their incredible sound quality, world-class noise canceling, and comfort during long wear. Read on for the rest of our top picks.