Five Places Worth Traveling to This Fall | Travel

With its cooler temperatures and smaller shoulder-season crowds, fall is an ideal time to travel. This autumn brings plenty of good reasons to take a trip. From the opening of a new Bigfoot museum in British Columbia to a festival honoring the “ring of fire” annular eclipse in Nevada, consider visiting one of these destinations in September, October or November.

Guernsey

In the fall of 1883, Impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir boarded a steamship in Normandy, France, and sailed to Guernsey, a self-governing British dependency in the English Channel. He spent five weeks on the island, gathering inspiration from the rugged landscape, the abundant plant life and the nude men and women who enjoyed Guernsey’s many beaches.

This fall, the island is celebrating the 140th anniversary of Renoir’s visit, which art historians consider to be a turning point in his career, says Jock Pettitt, curation director at Art for Guernsey, the organization spearheading the anniversary festivities.

“This was an important trip for Renoir during a period of artistic doubt,” he says. “He later told [French art dealer] Ambroise Vollard, ‘I had wrung Impressionism dry and had come to the conclusion that I knew neither how to paint nor how to draw.’”

While visiting Guernsey, Renoir painted at least 15 pieces—plus an additional 30 or so after he returned home that were inspired by his time on the island. Many depicted scenes from Moulin Huet Bay, where Renoir found “picturesque scenery and unique light and climate,” says Pettitt.

The anniversary celebration will center on an exhibition of Renoir’s works related to his time in Guernsey, including several on loan from the National Gallery in London and the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. The show, titled “Renoir in Guernsey, 1883,” will be held at the Guernsey Museum at Candie from September 30 to December 17. (It’s currently on view at the Museum of Impressionism in Giverny, France.)

Other events will take place at Art for Guernsey’s gallery and the Priaulx Library, as well as along…