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Article / Passportable

Meow! It's Japan's New Covid-Fighting Kitty Cat Mascot

Japan is putting the cat in catastrophe with its new pandemic mascot, a coronavirus-combatting kitty named Koronon. On most days, the mascot can be spotted in busy parts of Tokyo such…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

For Flyers Who Want Vacant Middle Seats, Only One Airline Will Qualify Now

For Americans who would rather fly with an empty seat beside them, there is only one choice now. One by one, all the other airlines have peeled away from their commitment to leave…

Article / Passportable

Princess Diana Hotel Package Obsessively Retraces Her Stay in Chicago

Just in time for the release of The Crown's fourth season on Netflix, the Drake hotel in Chicago has put together a royal package that takes our still-burning cultural obsession with…

Article / Passportable

Royal Caribbean Calls for Volunteers for Test Sailings

As Frommer's reported a few weeks ago, the Centers for Disease Control has stipulated some changes for the giant cruise lines. If they want to start regular U.S. sailings again, they…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Holiday Travel in 2020: Safer Places to Go, Places to Stay, Road Trips

It sometimes feels like Covid-19 stripped us of the most precious parts of our humanity. Thanks to the virus, theater, dance, and music performances are too dangerous to attend, as are…

Article / Passportable

Lego's Epic Colosseum Set Is Company’s Largest Ever

The biggest Lego set ever created goes on sale on Black Friday. The Danish toy company's plastic-brick replica of Rome's Colosseum contains an anxiety-sparking 9,036 pieces. Can you…

Article / Passportable

Iconic Shakespeare & Co. Bookstore in Paris Fights for Survival

The bookstore beloved by the Lost Generation is now in danger of being lost itself. Shakespeare and Company was founded in Paris by Sylvia Beach just after World War I. Specializing in…

Article / Passportable

Move Over, Monkey Christ: The Potato Head of Palencia Is Spain’s Newest Botched Restoration

The restoration of another artwork in Spain has gone hilariously awry. As you'll see in the before-and-after photo above, the sculpture of a smiling woman on the facade of a bank in…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Holiday Air Travel in 2020: Safety, Finding Cheap Fares, and More

If you plan to fly over the holiday season, let’s start with the good news: Your airplane ride may be the safest part of your trip. To be frank, I'm not convinced that holiday travel…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Celebrity Cruises Goes All-Inclusive: Drinks, Wi-Fi Now Included in Fare

When travel collapsed, one of the first things that happened was the airlines stopped playing some of their petty pricing games with customers. Suddenly, when they realized they…

Article / Passportable

New Museum Honors Recipients of the U.S. Military’s Medal of Honor

Since it was established in 1861, only 3,525 U.S. service members have received the Medal of Honor, the military's highest decoration for valor. A new museum in Chattanooga,…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Is Holiday Travel Safe in 2020?

Our headline is the question thousands of families are asking themselves in the run-up to the end of the year. Depending on where you live in the United States, you may have already…

Article / Passportable

Ski Free If You Fly Alaska Airlines to the Slopes

Airlines and ski resorts have something in common: They're desperate to take customers to high altitudes this winter. Like all the major carriers, Alaska Airlines is doing everything…

Article / Passportable

Curious About Delaware? New Driving Trail Shows Off Joe Biden’s Home State

As the home state of Joe Biden, Delaware was talked about more than usual during the 2020 election season. But many of us still don't know much about the second-smallest U.S. state…

Article / Passportable

One of the World's Oldest Travel Bookstores Needs Your Help

There may be no travel bookstore in the English-speaking world that is more venerable than the great Stanfords. The London-based stalwart, packed with books, maps, globes,…

Article / Passportable

The 50 Best Bars In The World Revealed—But Where's the USA?

Being a barfly is part of my job. Every year, for roughly a month, I become a nocturnal creature, staying out until 3am most nights, researching my city’s nightlife for the next…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Why Key West's Ban on Big Ships Will Change Caribbean Cruises

Once a quiet fishing village and quirky haven for writers, artists, and free spirits, the Florida Straits city of Key West veered toward tourist-trap territory starting in the…

Article / Passportable

New York Changes Entry Rules, Making Holiday Visits Easier

New York State, which used to mandate a vacation-unfriendly quarantine period of 14 days, has changed its entry requirements. The shift brings the state's system in line with what many…

Article / Passportable

Merriam-Webster Creates a Fun Online Word Game for Travelers

Every time we speak, we travel. English is a polyglot language derived from many tongues and made of an ever-expanding lexicon of borrowed words picked up like souvenirs from all…

Article / Passportable

Free Entry to the U.S. National Parks For Students, Veterans—and Everyone Else

The U.S. National Parks had big plans for little people this year. But like so many things, they went awry. Long story short: 2020 was supposed to have been another year when all of…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Cruise Lines Need Guinea Pigs to Try Out Virus Safety Protocols on Voyages

The Centers for Disease Control, guided by watching European cruising restart and by reviewing recommendations from the major lines, has finally dropped its ban on cruises and released…

Article / Passportable

A Delightful New Book About Countries That Have "Fallen Off the Map"

In this time of not being able to travel almost anywhere, one of the most intriguing new travel books is a volume that takes readers to places that no longer exist. I’m talking about…

Article / Passportable

Iconic Neon Cowgirl "Vegas Vickie" Kicking It Again at New Casino

Circa Resort & Casino, which opened this week on Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas, is the city's first casino built from the ground up in four decades. But not everything on…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Disney Will Never Be the Same: A Litany of Layoff Devastation

This week, there was an employment cataclysm at Walt Disney World and Disneyland. In one day, the company axed nearly every worker with a speaking role in its U.S. parks. As part of…

Article / Passportable

New Rules Transform New York City Into a Wonderful, Open-Air Bazaar

What's the top reason people visit New York City? If you guessed Broadway shows, museums, or even restaurants, you'd be wrong, wrong, and wrong. Year after year, shopping is cited as…