“Samantha Brown’s Places To Love” Returns To Pbs On Friday, January 6. Two-Time Emmy Winner Returns for Sixth Season, Exploring Travel Destinations from Belfast to Big Sky
Samantha Brown, host of PBS’s two-time Emmy winning series, “Samantha Brown’s Places to Love,” returns with the show’s sixth season starting airing on Friday, January 6 (check local listings for exact dates/times).
More than just a travel expert, Samantha has been a trusted guide and friend to viewers for 20+ years, helping her audience choose their next destinations by revealing the people and stories behind the places she loves to visit.
As travelers increasingly seek out sustainable travel experiences, this season Samantha highlights the people and places that are passionately committed to honoring and preserving their land, culture and proud traditions.
The show also celebrates small business owners and artisan makers across seven domestic destinations and locations in Ireland, revealing new facets and faces of cities that viewers may think they already know. Season 6 of “Samantha Brown’s Places to Love” is sponsored by Holland America Line, AmaWaterways, AAA Travel, and Rocky Mountaineer.
“This season, I was inspired by the extraordinary stories, histories and traditions in the cities I visited, and the equally extraordinary people who honor the past but are also invested in the future success of their communities,” stated Samantha Brown.
“As a traveler, I’ve always believed that the key to truly experiencing a destination is to venture beyond conventional tourist spots to explore the people, arts and design, food and drink, culture, and history of each city. This season, we amplify voices who share the richness of their own stories, making their homes some of my favorite places to love.”
The Season 6 premiere takes Samantha to Belfast, Ireland and the Antrim Coast where Billy, a charming cabbie, tours her around the city, sharing a true insider’s view on sites such as Queens University, chatting about Belfast native C.S. Lewis, and discussing what divides and unites us all at the Peace Wall.
Samantha warms up with an artisanal hot chocolate at Daisies, and then learns about another facet of history at the Titanic Memorial, where Maureen McKinney, whose grandfather worked to build the famed vessel, talks about the community’s pride and great sorrow when the ship met its ultimate fate.
From talking about Irish musical tradition in a local pub to indulging in high tea at a castle, Samantha showcases some of the attractions that make Belfast and Northern Ireland a joy to visit.
During Season 6, viewers will also join Samantha on journeys to:
Cruise on the Inside Passage of Alaska: Samantha and her family set sail on an Holland America Line Alaska cruise, learning about the Alaskan Natives who have lived on their land and sustained their culture for close to ten thousand years through fishing, language, jewelry-making, and more.
In Madison, Wisconsin, Samantha participates in a curling competition with Olympian Becca Hamilton, and heads to the University of Madison-Wisconsin to learn more about the “most archeologically rich campus” in the US. Along the way, Samantha visits her first supper club and gets her first taste of relish trays and Brandy Old Fashioneds.
In St. Augustine, Samantha takes in the wonders of the region’s wildlife and eco-system as well as its history and landmarks that date back to the Spanish conquistadors.
While in Big Sky, Samantha heads out to the Gallatin River to fly fish before hitting the slopes with Olympic skier Bode Miller.
During her trip to Savannah, Samantha enjoys a “Girls Scouts’ Tea” at The Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace, a museum honoring the namesake founder of the Girl Scouts, and is joined by graduating Girl Scouts to discuss women’s empowerment and what being a part of the organization has meant to them.
Beach hotels and vineyard wine tastings are part of Samantha’s California road trip, but she also pays a special visit to Barrio Logan, a thriving San Diego neighborhood composed of Mexican-American Chicanos, a place where the culture and flavor are a key part of the state’s identity. A highlight there includes stopping in at a sewing shop run and owned by a Chicana woman who opened during the pandemic and helped the neighborhood not just to survive, but thrive.
In Chattanooga, Samantha keeps busy going rock climbing at High Point, attends authentic fish fry with a local chef and reconnects with friend Cory Lee, an inspirational world traveler and a man whose reliance on a wheelchair never diminishes his love of a journey.
On the season finale, Samantha ventures to Limerick, Ireland to learn hurling, the 3,000-year-old Celtic sport, pops into a small, cottage perfumery in the Burren to learn more about the shop’s handmade, small batch products, learns sword play at King John’s Castle, and tries her hand at falconry and fishing at Adare Manor.
About Samantha Brown:
Known for her warm, engaging personality and her ability to convey the true character of the people and places she visits throughout the world, Samantha has been inspiring wanderlust since her television journey first began with Travel Channel’s “Great Hotels.” Since then, her career has taken her to over 250 cities in 74 countries and 44 of the United States, winning her two Emmys and multiple nominations in the process. A natural extension of her years on the road, in 2010, Samantha debuted her own stylish and practical luggage line on HSN, the Home Shopping Network. Designed from her travel expert’s perspective, blending style and utility, the line instantly became a top “customer pick” and was one of the most successful brand launches for the year. In 2019, Samantha and “Places to Love” were nominated for three Emmys, and won two, picking up awards in the categories of Outstanding Host for a Lifestyle, Children’s or Special Class Program and Outstanding Travel and Adventure Program. “Places to Love” was also nominated for multiple Emmys in 2020, 2021 and 2022.
(Holland America Line, AmaWaterways)
