Marie Antoinette's Private Rooms at Palace of Versailles Now Open for Tours
Posted on 06/30/2023, 7:00 AM
At the Palace of Versailles in France, members of the public may once again step behind the gilded paneling of the Queen's State Apartment and into the two-story suite of rooms used by Marie Antoinette as her private chambers starting in 1774. Overlooking an inner courtyard, the rooms include a boudoir, a library, a billiards room, and other spaces evincing the queen's signature more-is-more aest...
Site of Julius Caesar Assassination in Rome Opens to Tourists
Posted on 06/22/2023, 2:45 PM
This post, originally published April 20, 2021, has been updated with new information. The spot in Rome where Julius Caesar was assassinated has opened to the public for the first time. Located just south of the Pantheon, Largo di Torre Argentina, also known as the Area Sacra, is a large sunken square containing the ruins of four ancient temples and the Curia of Pompey. On March 15, 44 B.C....
The New African American Museum in Charleston: Opening Date, How to Go, What to See
Posted on 06/19/2023, 7:00 AM
An estimated 40% of all enslaved Africans brought to the United States as part of the international slave trade disembarked in Charleston, South Carolina. On Tuesday, June 27, the new International African American Museum will open on the very spot that was once the disembarkation point, Gadsden's Wharf. In a press release, the museum describes its mission as exploring "the history, culture, an...
The Best Nude Beaches in the World Named in New Ranking
Posted on 06/16/2023, 7:00 AM
In the 2004 sex comedy EuroTrip, one character cites Frommer's as a reliable source for info about nude beaches, in a scene we can't show you here for reasons summed up in the movie's immortal line, "There are so . . . many . . . penises." In the interest of upholding our reputation (even though most of the travel advice ascribed to Frommer's in EuroTrip was made up by the screenwriters), we feel ...
Tours of Big Ben in London Reopen to Foreigners: How to Book
Posted on 06/14/2023, 10:00 AM
Big Ben is one of the most famous bells in the world, hanging in one of the most recognizable towers in the world, high above the Houses of Parliament in central London. But since 2010, the only visitors who have been permitted to tour the landmark have been British citizens. For security's sake, a regulation required Big Ben tour-seekers to write their representatives in Parliament—and of course ...
World’s Deepest Underground Hotel Now Open 1,375 Feet Below the Surface
Posted on 06/12/2023, 6:00 AM
Talk about going down for a nap. A new lodging located inside a former Victorian-era slate mine in North Wales is being billed as the "world's deepest overnight accommodation." Aptly named Deep Sleep, the cluster of four cabins and one double bedroom (pictured above) carved from a cavern wall offer subterranean slumber at an astonishing 1,375 feet below the surface. For some context, the height...
Nonstop Flights to British Virgin Islands from U.S. Are Here at Last
Posted on 06/07/2023, 5:00 AM
For the first time in decades, you can take a commercial flight straight from the U.S. mainland to the British Virgin Islands. Up to now, U.S. travelers aiming for the archipelago's inviting beaches and yacht-dotted waters have had to fly into Puerto Rico or St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands and then take a ferry or another short flight to reach the BVI. But starting June 1, American Airlin...
Pauline Frommer: I'm Often Asked How to Become a Travel Writer, And I Suggest This Event
Posted on 06/03/2023, 9:00 AM
(Note: This post was updated June 3, 2023)Every year, I give about a dozen speeches on travel across North America. When I sign books afterwards, a familiar scenario inevitably will play out. I’ll hand back the book that I've just autographed and notice that the individual standing in front of me looks very, very nervous… and doesn’t want to move away from the table. She or he will chit-chat for a ...
How Bad Will the 2023 Hurricane Season Be? Here's What the Forecasts Say
Posted on 05/26/2023, 4:15 PM
UPDATE, May 26: The 2023 Atlantic hurricane season will be "near-normal," according to the official forecast from the U.S. government. In its annual outlook, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicts a total of 12 to 17 named storms in the region encompassing the Caribbean, the Gulf Coast, and the U.S. Atlantic coastline. Of those storms, five to nine could become hurr...
Cannabis-Friendly Hotel with Top-Optional Pool Coming to Las Vegas
Posted on 05/18/2023, 5:00 PM
This post, originally published January 18, has been updated with new information. The doors will soon open at what's being billed as the first "cannabis-inclusive" hotel in Las Vegas. The city's many motels with old curtains reeking of doob evidently don't count. Known as The Lexi, the 64-room off-Strip property will occupy the building of the former Artisan Hotel (1501 W. Sahara Ave.), which...