This Fall, See Rome, Venice, and Florence by Rail for Less Than $25
Posted on 08/23/2018, 8:00 PM
Traveling by train among Italy's three most popular tourist destinations can be extremely affordable this fall, provided you buy your tickets right now. European travel booking site GoEuro has joined forces with Italo Treno, an Italian rail service operator, to offer a fare from Rome to Venice to Florence or vice versa for just €19.80 (US$23) one way. That's an incredible bargain for seeing Rome's ...
Real-Life Version of "Simpsons" Convenience Store Comes to Myrtle Beach
Posted on 08/21/2018, 5:15 PM
Fans of The Simpsons have a new place to satisfy their cravings for Buzz Cola, Squishee frozen drinks, Heat-Lamp Hot Dogs, and Lard Lad Donuts (what, no Duff beer?).A full-size, three-dimensional Kwik-E-Mart, the convenience store that frequently appears on the long-running animated sitcom, has opened in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Part of the Broadway at the Beach retail and entertainment comple...
Turkey Is Insanely Cheap for Travelers Right Now
Posted on 08/19/2018, 8:00 PM
Turkey's ongoing currency crisis, during which the Turkish lira has lost more than 40% of its value, is making a vacation in that country extremely affordable at the moment for travelers from places with stronger economies.As of this writing, one U.S. dollar equals 6.04 lira. According to USA Today, $1 got you 3.54 lira just one year ago.That means that American travelers can get a lot of bang for ...
In Late Autumn, Fly to Iceland for $99 Each Way
Posted on 08/17/2018, 8:00 AM
The following is in the nature of a “believe-it-or-not” category of travel. A scrappy budget airline of Iceland (the aptly named WOW Air) has just announced that for scattered flights to Reykjavik in August, September, and October, it will charge only $99 each way! Specifically, you’ll be able to fly to Iceland’s capital from 10 U.S. cities at that remarkable price. And these take-off locati...
Epic New Zealand Rail Line to Reopen After Quake
Posted on 08/15/2018, 8:00 AM
New Zealand's gorgeous Coastal Pacific rail service, which runs between Picton and Christchurch on the South Island's east coast, announced it will return on December 1. KiwiRail's popular five-hour, 335-km (208-mile) trip was halted in November 2016 after a major earthquake devastated the Christchurch area. For much of the journey, the route hugs the coast, with the sea on one side and the peaks...
Huge Projections and New Architecture Center Added to Chicago Riverwalk
Posted on 08/15/2018, 3:00 AM
The Chicago River has had about as strange a career as any waterway in North America, starting with its namesake city's decision in the late 19th century (enacted in the early years of the 20th) to reverse the river's course in order to keep sewage out of Lake Michigan. Of course, that just sent the sewage—including the foul runoff from the same meatpacking factories that gave Upton Sinclair the ic...
Chill with Superheroes at Air-Conditioned Theme Park in Abu Dhabi
Posted on 08/14/2018, 2:00 AM
And you thought Orlando was sweltering. Temperatures in Abu Dhabi regularly top 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.8 Celsius) during much of the year, making an outdoor theme park in the United Arab Emirates capital a sticky proposition, especially in summer. But you don't have to worry about succumbing to heat exhaustion at the new Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi—it's entirely indoors.The air-conditioned con...
National Comedy Museum Opens in New York State
Posted on 08/13/2018, 8:00 AM
Think of the word museum and you’ll probably think of old paintings. You might expect the sound of footsteps crossing a quiet gallery or guards standing watch over masterpieces. The National Comedy Center, which just opened in Jamestown, New York, shatters that lofty picture in favor of something more fun. If this museum is doing its job, attendees will be laughing their way through more than ...
A Temporary Museum of the 1980s Opens in Seattle
Posted on 08/09/2018, 5:45 PM
There's nothing like seeing cultural artifacts from your childhood in a historical exhibit to make you feel like an ancient relic.Those of us with memories of the 1980s can have that disconcerting experience at Seattle's Living Computers: Museum + Labs, where a temporary exhibit called "Total 80s Rewind" transports visitors to the world of a teenager in the Reagan years. Gather 'round, kiddies, and...
The Arctic's Most Remote Cruise Destination Gets Less Remote
Posted on 08/07/2018, 8:45 PM
Polar expedition cruises—the industry term for active voyages in remote, icy waters—are a big trend at sea right now. They appeal to contemporary travelers' taste for unique adventures, while climate change has made routes in the Arctic and Antarctica passable for longer stretches of the year (a development it's impossible not to feel ambivalent about to say the least).Even the famously faraway Nor...
