Travel Blog

This month, English fans of ‘footy’ had lots to celebrate. Despite a heartbreaking loss in the finals of the Euros, it was England’s best performance ever in the continent’s biggest game. Soccer, that is. Britain is the birthplace of the modern sport that has traveled around the world to become the most popular in the world. It’s also morphed into versions with their own fans - for example, North America has co-opted the name ‘football’ for a different game entirely.Although kids...

Many of us have spent hours of our own childhoods or alongside our favorite kids immersed in stories like the Snow Queen, the Emperor’s New Clothes, the Princess and the Pea, the Nightingale, and the Little Mermaid, either in timeless storybooks or Disney movie incarnations.Now, the author who created these immortal works is being reinterpreted and remembered in a new museum in his birthplace of Odense in Denmark. The new attraction is one of Denmark’s largest and most ambitious museums. Hans...

It’s one of the biggest trends in cruising. Not getting bigger, but getting out there. In style. Expedition cruises used to be only for the most intrepid travelers. You would join a working research vessel on its voyage to a very distant destination, tolerating the discomfort for the once-in-a-lifetime experience of getting up close and personal with the unique and fascinating natural wonders and wildlife of a maritime region you’d never otherwise encounter. The good news is that you no longer have to...

Miami has always been one of the hottest destinations on the continent, with art, design and architecture creds, a blistering beach/ party scene, vibrant cultural scene that reflects the city’s status as a Latin American hub, and a celebrity/ jet set appeal that never seems to die down. This summer, the city’s getting even hotter, with three hotel openings set to hit the reset button on restarting travel to Miami. They’re must-stay, must-taste experiences that tap into the essence of Miami’s...

New Zealand is in celebration mode in July with the arrival of Matariki. It's a constellation of stars that rises in New Zealand skies, shining their brightest in the first week of the month. Known to astronomers as Pleiades or the Seven Sisters, Matariki is believed to have formed more than 100 million years ago, and this pre-historic cluster of stars plays a pivotal role in modern and ancient Māori mythology.The rising of Matariki marks the Māori Lunar New Year,...

They are among the Caribbean’s best kept secrets. The forty islands and cays that make up the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) are favored by travelers in the know for their pristine waters, picture-perfect white sand beaches and conch and lobster fisheries that make local dining such a joy. TCI’s archipelago is strung out along the sea at the tail-end of The Bahamas and before you get to the Dominican Republic. Bookended by two popular and busy beach destinations, this...

Every year on June 29th, eighty-one million people in 14 European countries celebrate the single river that ties them together and provides drinking water, food, power, recreation, jobs and transportation. Danube Day annually marks the signing of the Danube River Protection Convention, which facilitates collaboration between the countries of the Danube River and the rivers that flow into it to ensure that it’s clean, healthy and safe. It’s also the largest river festival in the world. Huge celebrations take place on...

It’s official. Cruising has returned to ports in the U.S. While many cruise lines have already started sailing with North American guests from offshore ports in the Caribbean and Europe, there’s been no cruising from ports we can drive to. Until now. Between the end of June and the holiday weekend, three ships have set sail from three different American homeports.And now the seal is broken, cruises from homeports from coast to coast to coast are scheduled to set sail...

On some islands, they like to tell you how many beaches they have, or days of sunshine. On Nevis, it’s how many different varieties of mangoes they have. The answer? Officially, nearly four dozen – and unofficially, it’s estimated nearly 200 different varieties of mangoes grow on this tiny Caribbean island.Nevis makes up the other part of the twin-island nation of St. Kitts & Nevis. Tucked away between Antigua and the British Virgin Islands, Nevis is off the beaten track...

 In Japan, it’s called the ‘Castle in the Sky’, but international travelers who’ve discovered historic Takeda Castle have compared it to another mountain-top historic ruin half a world away in South America. Peru’s Machu Picchu has made most intrepid travelers’ bucket lists of adventures. But Japan’s Takeda Castle (pronounced: ‘tah-kay-dah’) - that's about the same age as Peru's Machu Picchu - remains an other-worldly experience unknown to most overseas travelers. That's especially surprising considering it’s in the district next door...

Get out a sharpie – there’s a new ocean to label on your map of the world. Or globe, if you have one. You might have to update your travel bucket list, too. If you’ve already ticked off ‘visit all the oceans of the world’, you’ll have to uncheck that box. Even if you’ve seen, swum in, or sailed upon the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian and Arctic oceans, your work to ‘collect’ all the oceans of the world is not done. That’s...

It’s news that marries two of the fastest-growing styles of travel: river cruising and family heritage travel. AmaWaterways has partnered with Ancestry, the company that specializes in genomics and connecting people to their family history. The river cruise line has done family-heritage themed cruises before, but now, you’ll be able to uncover specific details about your own family. That’s because guests are given pre-cruise private ancestry consultation and family history research, while onboard, presentations and curated excursions hosted by an...

“Living well is the best revenge,” said a 16th-century poet, and that line may be the inspiration for one of the latest trends in travel. Over a year of travel shutdowns has reminded us of how precious the privilege to explore the world is – and how we can’t take for granted that the special trips we’ve been dreaming about will still be ‘there’ when we sometime, somehow get around to it. ‘Revenge Travel’ isn’t about ‘getting back’ at any...

The leaders of the world’s seven biggest democratic economies are meeting in Cornwall, England, and it’s putting the Southwest region of the country under a spotlight. Maybe you’ve heard of ‘bleisure’ travel? It’s about tacking on a leisure vacation to a business trip. We’re not sure if the leaders of the Western World have the time for a little independent fun and exploration during their packed schedules in Cornwall, but here’s what our friends at Visit Britain suggest they –...

If you’ve never put the words ‘luxury’ and ‘water park’ together in a sentence before - let alone a vacation - now’s your chance. Baha Mar is a thousand acres of Bahamian paradise on world-famous Cable Beach near Nassau. The exquisite white sands are home to not one, but three luxury beach resorts: Rosewood, SLS and Grand Hyatt. Now, in addition to over three dozen restaurants and lounges, convention center, an 18-hole Jack Nicklaus Royal Blue Golf Course, the Caribbean's...

This is something we can get on board with! A few years ago, Spain declared the third Thursday of June ‘World Tapas Day,’ which in 2021 falls on June 10. Tapas comes from the Spanish verb ‘tapar’ or to ‘cover’, and story goes that back in the day, ‘tapas’ was simply the piece of bread or maybe meat that you used to cover your wine glass so the flies didn’t drop in. Classy! That lead to actual small plates, with small bites...

 Some call them ‘sea cows.’ They belong to the family of marine mammals called ‘Sirenia’, after the ‘Sirens’ of Greek mythology: mermaid-style creatures whose irresistible beauty lured sailors to their deaths. Blubbery and be-whiskered, 10-feet long and weighing a thousand pounds, it’s hard to imagine anyone today mistaking a manatee for a seductive woman who just happens to be a fish from the waist down - even considering that definitions of beauty have changed over the centuries. Manatees’ closest cousins...

Planning travel is fun, and it even gives us a mental health boost by giving us the pleasant anticipation of experiences we love. As the world begins to open again, it’s easy to lose ourselves in the inspiration, novelty, beauty, charm, and excitement of looking forward to travel. The last year has taught us a couple of things about planning travel.First, work with a trusted travel advisor, a real human being who is an expert in navigating the in’s and out’s...

As travel restarts, for many travelers, Europe is calling. We have a lot of catching up to do, and to celebrate the true spirit of travel, luxury hotel chain Four Seasons has developed six new “Scenic Route with Four Seasons” road trips that connect 13 of its landmark European hotels in uniquely curated routes, with castles and wineries, caves and mountains, lakes and cityscapes and so much of the history, scenery, cuisine and culture we love so much about Europe. They’ve...

Three new resort destinations for the vacation of your dreams in paradise are coming to life in Jamaica. Groundbreaking has begun on a nearly half-billion dollar project that will put Ocho Rios on your ‘ultimate beach holiday’ list beginning late 2022 whether you’re looking for a getaway for grownups, or an island vacation for the family. The famous, Jamaica-based, family-owned beach resort company Sandals is transforming two properties it acquired last year plus a prime parcel of beachfront land into...