Japan: A singular destination
As a frequent traveler there (and a one-time resident), I have a real affection for the country and its people. As we mark this grim...
Get the full story >>A long weekend in Iceland
You have a three-day weekend coming up and you want to get away for a little shopping and nightlife, or maybe just a change of scenery.
Get the full story >>Bali: Have drum, will travel ... and meditate, and snorkel
Delve more deeply into Bali's cultural side on a 12-day tour that emphasizes drumming, meditation, spiritual ceremonies and more. Tribal...
Get the full story >>Swept away by Down Under's West coast
This is for those who don't mind traveling to Earth's edge to get somewhere extraordinary.
Get the full story >>Logging some time on Vancouver Island
In the cab of Alberni Pacific Railway's No. 7, a small, tough logging locomotive that has spent its 82 years on Vancouver Island, Canada,...
Get the full story >>Industry award recognizes France's Puy du Fou as a theme park classic
What do you get when you cross a Renaissance fair with a Las Vegas spectacle and a few hundred Roman gladiators, swashbuckling musketeers...
Get the full story >>All things Art Deco in Napier, New Zealand
At 10:47 a.m. on Feb. 3, 1931, an earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale shook the town of Napier, onNew Zealand'sNorth Island,...
Get the full story >>3 top-notch hotels that let Barcelona really show off
The 1992 Olympics transformed this into a world-class city with a bold mix of ancient and contemporary art, architecture and gastronomy....
Get the full story >>Getting the timing right for Capri, Italy
"Don't go there," a well-traveled friend said when I mentioned my plans to visit Capri, a sunny island off southern Italy. Why? "You're...
Get the full story >>Brittania rules the eaves? Ship-shape hotel adorns London rooftop
Along with the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and the Summer Olympics, this year also brings a quirky landmark to London: a little boat-shaped...
Get the full story >>Carnival around the world
While New Orleans is the epicenter of Carnival in the United States with Mardi Gras, the rest of the world shows they know how to party as...
Get the full story >>Water an integral part of Sydney's striking design
Sydney, Australia, is what Los Angeles wants to be.
Get the full story >>Castaways on Fiji: Notes from the Coral Kingdom
QUALITO ISLAND, Fiji — We were dozing on the sand at the edge of the bluest lagoon I'd ever seen when suddenly I remembered. The...
Get the full story >>France: Bicycling around Provence, at your own pace
A cycling tour through Provence doesn't have to be all about the bike. France-based Cyclomundo offers a self-guided bicycling trip through...
Get the full story >>Taking the kids to Hong Kong
I can't believe I'm here. Hong Kong's famous Victoria Harbor watches as I try to follow William Ng, a 75-year-old Tai Chi master, as he...
Get the full story >>Plunging into Paradise
My daughter circled the sun, bobbing around the yellow mosaic tile work at the bottom of the pool. Everywhere in the Royal Baths, the...
Get the full story >>Australia: Cross-country train trip offers premium class discount
Take a train ride across Australia from Perth to Sydney (or the other way around) to see the massive Outback and everything in between....
Get the full story >>Blue Ivy Carter, put these travel spots on your bucket list
Baby girl Blue Ivy Carter was welcomed to the world Sunday by parents Beyonce and Jay-Z — and an avalanche of tweets about her unusual...
Get the full story >>In Indonesia, watching the sun rise with 504 Buddhas
Four a.m. is a terrible time of day, too late for night owls, too early for early risers. The exception is 4 a.m. at Borobudur, waiting...
Get the full story >>Drink to Mafia's bad health at Rome's dolce vita cafe
During the heady days of la dolce vita in the 1960s, Rome's Cafe de Paris was one of the preferred watering holes of starlets and sultans.
Get the full story >>Around the world in 23 days
Phileas Fogg went around the world in 80 days. I did it in 23. And I bet I visited more amazing sites than he — India's Taj Mahal,...
Get the full story >>Close-up Galapagos
ISABELA ISLAND, Galapagos Islands — Hundreds of blue-footed boobies form a swirling mass in the air just offshore. They circle, they...
Get the full story >>Beyond Cophenhagen lies fairy tale Denmark
Copenhagen is a thriving metropolis and the main attraction in Denmark. But a trip here isn't complete without a swing through the cute...
Get the full story >>Cook Islands: The glorious middle of nowhere
AITUTAKI, Cook Islands — "Where is that?"
Get the full story >>Berlin's booming bar scene
If you're Berlin-bound, I sure hope you're well rested, because you might not get much sleep while you're there.
Get the full story >>Greek for a day
The Greeks started filing into church about 8 a.m., but I'm neither Greek nor churchgoing, so I spent the morning walking.
Get the full story >>British college towns won't leave you bored
Ever since the first homework was assigned at the University of Oxford in 1167, the stellar graduates of British universities have...
Get the full story >>Ways to see the liquid world
Three-quarters of the world's surface is water, but nearly all of our vacations are based on land. Luckily there are fantastic ways to see...
Get the full story >>15 hotels to stay in before you die
Whether it's balanced on the rim of a volcano or made of crystallized salt, the right hotel can provide you with a good year's worth of...
Get the full story >>Vanuatu islands: Get happy, get a little wild
We are in the Yakel Village on the South Pacific island chain of Vanuatu. To be specific, we are on the southern island of Tanna, and the...
Get the full story >>PortAventura to debut Europe's tallest coaster in 2012
PortAventura theme park in Spain plans to debut a record-setting $35-million mountain climbing-themed roller coaster in spring 2012...
Get the full story >>Contributing to the Gross National Happiness in Bhutan
Bhutan? Just telling people I was coming to Bhutan evoked wonder. Some extolled it as "the true Shangri-La" and the home of "pure Buddhism,"...
Get the full story >>Olive harvesting in Umbria, Italy, drips with tradition
The anonymous stone building on the outskirts of Civitella, my Umbrian hilltop village, was a mystery to me. Every time I drove past, it was...
Get the full story >>Istria: It's Italy without the price
ISTRIA, Croatia — Most of my friends drew a blank when I told them that autumn is when Istria does a dead-on imitation of Italy....
Get the full story >>Riding a bike in the Netherlands is a gas
Why do so many in the Netherlands ride bicycles? Because its land is flat, its climate mild, its population dense and its gas expensive...
Get the full story >>On the top of the world in western Norway
Rugged is putting it mildly when it comes to 80 percent of Norway. Historically, it was a challenge to live here. That's why Vikings...
Get the full story >>Choose these Plan B's for Caribbean beaches
So many Caribbean beaches, so little time. So as winter approaches, why do we tend to gravitate to the most popular, the most famous...
Get the full story >>See why France produced those masterpieces
Which came first: Giverny or Monet? Certain artists are so identified with particular places that it's hard to pry them apart. France,...
Get the full story >>Offbeat Traveler: Ale's Stones in southern Sweden
During a trip to southern Sweden in early September, Allegro visited Ale's Stones, a megalith monument in the country's Scania province.
Get the full story >>2 cities stuck in a Tuscan time warp
I'm in Volterra, my favorite small town in Tuscany, sitting under rustic, noble stones at the base of a palace that made commoners feel...
Get the full story >>Belfast shows both sides of 'the Troubles'
A visit to the Emerald Isle is not complete without including Northern Ireland. It offers the tourist a very different but still very...
Get the full story >>Bonn, Germany: Embracing its musical genius
Ever since my mom gave me the complete works of Ludwig van Beethoven — the best birthday present I ever got — I'd wanted to make...
Get the full story >>Try Copenhagen's water view — and grab a beer
Canals define and divide Copenhagen, Denmark. Much of the spectacular Danish architecture, both historic and modern, lies within sight of...
Get the full story >>'Best' time to visit Dubai
Question: I would like to know when is the best time to go to Dubai and when it's best to get tickets for a vacation like...
Get the full story >>The grand castles of Mad King Ludwig
Touristic, glorious and romantic, some of Germany's best attractions are in Bavaria. My favorites are three of King Ludwig II's castles:...
Get the full story >>Namibia: Desert, ghost town and the Skeleton Coast
Griddle-hot deserts, time-forsaken ghost towns, prismatic canyons and endless ribbons of lonely highway: There's nothing quite like a road...
Get the full story >>In Peru's Colca Valley, a birdwatcher's paradise
Some people head to Peru to climb Incan ruins; some go to sip pisco sours. Me, I went for the birds. The very big birds.
Get the full story >>New museums to marvel over in Amsterdam, Rome and Paris
In a wide-ranging trip to Europe this year, I found three major new museums to love: in Amsterdam, the first satellite branch of Russia's...
Get the full story >>A modernizing Turkey won't give up its charm
Turkey is changing fast. And it's modernizing fast. For my vacation this year, I hit the road in there, with romantic memories (a few...
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