2022's Top Travel Stories, According to Frommer's Readers
Posted on 12/22/2022, 4:45 PM
In 2022, Covid-19 finally loosened its grip on the world. Our site stats reflect that (beyond) welcome development: Of the year's 10 most viewed pages here at Frommers.com, just one has to do with the pandemic. Compare that with 2021, when Covid content hogged half of the spots on the list. That high-ranking 2022 article (#4 in popularity for the year) suggested we were at last on the mend and...
Apple Is Making It Easier for Some iPhone Users to Get Help When Lost
Posted on 12/20/2022, 4:00 PM
Nowadays we tend to rely on our cell phones to get us out of any jam—getting lost, needing a ride, needing a distraction from the creeping existential dread that otherwise accompanies being human. An unfortunate result of this is that we're often woefully unprepared when an emergency arises in an area with no cell or Wi-Fi coverage. What are you supposed to do, for instance, if you get injured or...
Hate Resort Fees? Want them Banned? Now's the Time to Tell the Government
Posted on 12/15/2022, 3:00 PM
Living in America today requires taking frequent emergency actions to avert the latest civic crisis, be it a high-stakes election, a GoFundMe for someone who slipped through the cracks, or a petition to halt something destructive. We're sorry to have to contribute to your to-do-or-die list. But if you want to be rid of sleazy hotel fees once and for all, your county needs you to write a sentence o...
It's Official: Everyone Can Go Topless on Nantucket's Beaches
Posted on 12/13/2022, 2:15 PM
Anyone of any gender expression may now go topless on the beaches of Nantucket, Massachusetts. (We'd wait for summer if we were you—New England winters are no joke.) As Frommer's reported earlier this year, residents of the island—previously known for its whaling history, cedar-shingled houses, and sky-high vacation costs—voted at their annual town meeting in May to approve a bylaw to the town cod...
Hertz to Pay $168 Million to Falsely Arrested Customers—From Its Insurance
Posted on 12/08/2022, 12:30 PM
We have an update to the ongoing scandal involving the Hertz Corporation, which was accused by hundreds of customers of reporting them to police for stealing cars that were lawfully rented. The lawsuits by onetime customers have been mounting for several years. In one typical incident that was caught on video, a Pennsylvania customer was hauled into police custody when she was accused of stealing ...
The End of Tourism in Bali? Indonesia Outlaws Sex Outside Marriage—For Visitors Too
Posted on 12/06/2022, 6:30 AM
The slow creep of religious supremacism in world government has claimed a new victim: one of the planet's most beloved tropical destinations. On Tuesday the parliament of Indonesia, the third-largest democracy on the planet, passed a raft of some 600 new laws, and under one of them, unmarried couples who have sexual relations can be jailed for up to a year. The new rules, if signed by the preside...
Auf Wiedersehen, Airplane Mode! Europe Allows Smartphone Use on Flights
Posted on 12/02/2022, 5:00 PM
Passengers on flights within the European Union will soon be able to use their cell phones with no restrictions, thanks to a decision by the European Commission, the 27-nation bloc's governing body. "Airlines will be able to provide the latest 5G technology on their planes, alongside previous mobile technology generations," a press release from the Commission states. That would mean no more hav...
In Spain, Cheap High-Speed Rail Is Now the Norm
Posted on 11/29/2022, 6:00 PM
Spain's golden age of affordable high-speed rail has arrived. Last week a new company called Iryo launched fast train service between Madrid and Barcelona, with routes to Valencia, Seville, Málaga, Córdoba, and other Spanish cities scheduled to open in the coming months. Traveling at speeds up to 360kph (224 mph), Iryo's trains can cover the roughly 600km (373 miles) between Spain's two most po...
Hilton to Evict Global Tiki Icon Trader Vic's London on Dec. 31
Posted on 11/27/2022, 7:00 PM
The London Hilton on Park Lane has reportedly notified the management of Trader Vic's, a historic icon of tiki bar culture, that its last day in business will be December 31, 2022, a few months shy of its 60th anniversary.Trader Vic's opened along with the hotel in 1963, when worldwide enthusiasm for Polynesian-inflected tiki style was at its midcentury peak. At the time, the London Hilton on Park ...
Bar Harbor, Maine, Votes to Limit Cruise Passengers, Setting Stage for a Fight
Posted on 11/21/2022, 12:45 PM
Amid all the U.S. election news earlier this month, you might have missed a development that could have a significant impact on travelers. Voters in the picturesque town of Bar Harbor, Maine, the gateway to Acadia National Park, approved a measure to cap the number of cruise passengers who can come ashore to no more than 1,000 per day. Given that, as The Points Guy observes, some ships that sto...