Articles

Zac Thompson

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

O, Corona! Is Canada Safe or Not? U.S., EU Give Conflicting Answers

It has been exactly one month since Canada reopened its southern border to fully vaccinated Americans looking to enjoy a little "nonessential travel," which is what bureaucrats call…

Article / Photography

Atlas of Forgotten Places: Haunting Photos of the World's Abandoned Sites

Abandoned places are called ghost towns but really they’re more like ghost stories. As in any spooky tale of specters, a once-inhabited, now-forsaken spot can suggest all at once…

Article / Local Experiences

Shuck Yeah! Plan a Bivalve-Based Road Trip Along the Maine Oyster Trail

Autumn in New England isn't just for leaf-peeping. It's also prime oyster-slurping season.  Many devotees of the bivalve find that oysters "taste best in fall as they store fat and…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Puerto Rico’s Splashy New Entertainment Complex Is Corporate but Cool

If you're the type of traveler who likes to explore local culture, the idea of a multimillion-dollar, "multisensory," "tech-first" entertainment complex with a corporate sponsor in its…

Article / Passportable

Italy Adds New Travel Restrictions for Vaccinated and Unvaccinated Americans

Yesterday the European Union removed the United States from the safe travel list, recommending that the bloc's 27 member states impose new restrictions on American travelers due to the…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Here We Go Again: EU Removes U.S. from Safe Travel List, Recommends Restricting Americans

The European Union has removed the United States from its safe list of countries for nonessential travel and is once again recommending that the bloc's 27 member nations impose…

Article / Passportable

Great Smoky Mountains Adds Parking Fee to Access Beloved Waterfall

There's no entrance fee at Great Smoky Mountains National Park. In fact, when Tennessee and North Carolina turned over the land to the federal government in the 1930s, one of the…

Article / Passportable

WATCH: Italian Guy Gets Tattoo of His Vaccine Pass—and It Works

Most of us would like to forget about the Covid-19 pandemic as soon as possible. But a guy in Italy has opted for a permanent souvenir. According to Newsweek, 22-year-old economics…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

$25 to Use the Pool?! Airline-Style à la Carte Fees Land at Hotels

Airlines have perfected the art of nickel-and-diming customers with extra charges for services and amenities that were once free, from checking a bag to getting an onboard snack. The…

Article / Outdoor & Adventure

4 Tips for Staying Safe on a Solo Hike

Planning a solo hike? Here's what you need to do to stay safe on the trail.

Article / Passportable

Stay in the Home of Maker’s Mark Whiskey on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail

The Samuels family of Nelson County, Kentucky, traces its whiskey-making lineage back eight generations to an ancestral distiller who supplied liquid courage to the troops in George…

Article / Passportable

New Zealand Finally Has a Plan to Reopen Borders to International Travelers

While the rest of the world grapples with yet another coronavirus wave, this time brought on by the highly contagious Delta variant, life has pretty much returned to normal in New…

Article / Arts and Culture

Bloody Brilliant! An English Dictionary for Americans Traveling in Britain

A smashing new book helps American travelers navigate British English without going barmy.

Article / Passportable

The Sightseeing Train to the Spectacular Summit of Pikes Peak Is Back on Track

After a nearly four-year-long closure for renovations, the historic sightseeing railway that climbs Pikes Peak in Colorado is once again taking tourists to the same view that inspired…

Article / Passportable

Hikers Can Now Explore California’s Epic, Unfinished Bay Area Ridge Trail

If all goes as planned, California's ambitious Bay Area Ridge Trail will some day give hikers, bicyclists, and horseback riders an unbroken, 550-mile multiuse path along the hills and…

Article / Slideshows

Havana Blues: Photo Book Celebrates Cuba’s Vibrant Capital

Visiting Cuba remains a complicated endeavor for U.S. travelers, owing to the six decades of strained relations between the two countries. But a new coffee-table book from luxury…

Article / Passportable

34 Natural and Cultural Wonders Added to UNESCO World Heritage List

Europe's historic spa towns, a railway that crosses two Iranian mountain ranges, a prehistoric Peruvian calendar, an Indian temple, a French lighthouse, and a collection of Arabian…

Article / Slideshows

9 Ghost Towns to Explore During Road Trips Through the American West

To the triumphalist tale of America’s westward expansion, ghost towns offer a chilly rejoinder: Sometimes things don’t work out. The gold mine runs out of gold, the train begins…

Article / Passportable

Miss Mrs. Maisel? Tour the Show’s NYC Locations in a Vintage Studebaker

The Covid-19 pandemic delayed season 4 of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, but the hit Amazon Prime series is definitely returning. Star Rachel Brosnahan announced on Instagram earlier this…

Article / Passportable

Enchanted Trail Attraction Takes Would-Be Wizards Into Harry Potter’s Forbidden Forest

Harry Potter fans will soon get the chance to take a magical stroll through the Forbidden Forest, the wooded habitat for Hippogriffs, centaurs, unicorns, Nifflers, and other creatures…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Wait, a New Ranking Says the Best U.S. Airline Is . . . United?!

Lately, United Airlines has been experiencing something unusual for the Chicago-based company: good publicity. Just this week, United ranked higher than any other U.S. airline on the…

Article / Passportable

Berlin’s Huge New Cultural Museum Finally Opens After Years of Controversy and Delay

Berlin's Humboldt Forum, a massive museum complex located along the Spree river in the city's center, finally opened to the public this week. Construction delays and the Covid-19…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

This Low-Cost French Airline’s Flights to Paris from NYC Are Très Cheap

The Paris-based low-cost airline French Bee, which debuted in 2016, has launched its first route to and from the East Coast of the United States—and the fares are incroyable. (Or, to…

Article / Passportable

Vacation Sex Survey: Americans on the Mile High Club, One-Night Stands, and More

According to a newly released survey on the sex habits of vacationing Americans, almost a quarter of U.S. adults say they've gotten busy aboard some form of public transportation, be…

Article / Passportable

A Zip Line for Bikes (Yikes) Opens in Hawaii

The United States has its first bike-friendly zip line (boy, bike lanes really are popping up everywhere, huh?). A company called Kauai ATV already operates the Koloa Zipline course on…