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Travel Ideas

Article / Local Experiences

50+ Places to Find Free, Travel-Themed Virtual Backgrounds for Video Calls

The world's big destinations and attractions have posted digital wallpapers for Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and other video chat platforms—and you can download them all for…

Article / Passportable

Venice's Gondoliers Deliver Food to Isolated Locals Now

It can be difficult, as a visitor, to step off the tourist treadmill in Venice. Until recently, it was a city besieged by tourism, with 60,000 outsiders a day filling streets and…

Article / Passportable

Frank Lloyd Wright Sites Are Sharing Weekly Virtual Visits

We wouldn't mind being quarantined in a Frank Lloyd Wright house. For one thing, the famed architect was all about bringing the outdoors in, which sounds like a promising treatment for…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

It’s the Pits! The Cancellation of the National Cherry Festival Is Personally Saddening

About four years ago I learned that I was a failure. At cherry spitting, that is. No matter how much I tried—and I lined up four times to show off my non-skills to a judge—I couldn’t…

Article / Passportable

A Facebook Page for Sharing Window Views from Around the World

"If you want the people to understand you, invite them to your life and let them see the world from your window!" So wrote Turkish novelist and playwright Mehmet Murat ildan. And while…

Article / Passportable

WATCH: The Year's First Baby Bison Appear in South Dakota

A bison would make a good mascot for social distancing. Though the woolly animals may look invitingly pettable, getting too close can have disastrous consequences for humans—as the…

Article / Outdoor & Adventure

Listen to These Soothing Nature Sounds When You Can’t Explore Outdoors

Make every day Earth Day! These natural soundscapes available for free online will help calm your frazzled nerves and get you dreaming of future explorations.

Article / Passportable

A Reason to Cry in Your Beer: Germany’s Oktoberfest Canceled for 2020

This year's edition of Munich's Oktoberfest—the huge beer and folk festival that's synonymous with the Bavarian region and, in some minds, Germany as a whole—has been canceled. The…

Article / Passportable

Samantha Brown Just Made Some Terrific New Study Guides

Travel television star and all-around lovely person Samantha Brown is schooling her kids at home right now, like so many of us. So she gets it. She knows that 23 minutes off-duty time…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Stranded in Peru: A Remarkable Journey Home

In March 2020, the world shut down with surprising speed. Americans who were abroad then either got home just in time, got stuck where they were, or undertook journeys that would have…

Article / Passportable

Too Soon? Jacksonville, Florida, Already Reopening Beaches

Jacksonville, Florida, is among the first locations in the United States to loosen social distancing restrictions—the city's beaches reopened to the public Friday at 5pm. According to…

Article / Passportable

How to Celebrate Massachusetts Patriots' Day Events Online

Each year on the third Monday of April, Massachusetts commemorates the start of the American Revolutionary War with Patriots' Day. The statewide celebration includes a parade in…

Article / Slideshows

Hotel Desserts You Can Make at Home—from Sacher Torte to DoubleTree Cookies

This may surprise you, but lots of world-famous desserts originated in hotel restaurants. Boston cream pie came from the Omni Parker House in Boston, peach melba from the Savoy in…

Article / Slideshows

The Unmissable Mural Masterpieces Hidden Around New York City

Not all masterpieces are found inside museums. On walls throughout New York City —including in unexpected places—some of the most talented artists in history left us works of lasting…

Article / Miscellaneous

In an Isolation Innovation, Walking Tour Guides Mount Live Virtual "Tours" You Take from Home

Trained walking tour guides have found a new way to keep going during the emergency. They're running live, regularly scheduled webinar explorations of world attractions that anyone can…

Article / Student

Fluent Forever App Offers Two Free Months of Language Lessons for Frommer’s Readers

Start learning a new language—for free!—with this special offer. 

Article / Passportable

Team Claims to Have Set a New "Cannonball Run" Record

Earning a title that will surely go down in the annals of idiocy, a team of drivers has apparently set a new record for the so-called "Cannonball Run." The feat, based on the 1970s…

Article / Passportable

Airbnb Launches Online Experiences You Pay For

Airbnb has introduced an all-digital version of its Experiences platform for tours and activities. With the company's new Online Experiences, experts around the world can teach you…

Article / Slideshows

You Can Show Kids the World: A Disney+ Animation Watchlist for Travelers

Think about it: Many children get their very first exposure to international cultures through the movies they watch—and they watch Disney movies more than any other kind. Now that the…

Article / Arts and Culture

'EuroTrip' Revisited: The Real Arthur Frommer Reveals the Story Behind the Sex Comedy Classic

Arthur Frommer himself sets the record straight on his not-quite cameo in the 2004 comedy 'EuroTrip.' .

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

New York City Will Bounce Back

By the end of this week, many of New York's largest indoor and outdoor spaces will be transformed. Officials may need to start using city parks as temporary burial grounds, and already…

Article / Health, Insurance, Security

Coronavirus and Travel: The Latest News, Updated Daily

Advice and resources relating to how the COVID-19 outbreak is affecting travelers. Updated frequently. 

Article / Slideshows

Delicious Cocktail Recipes from Cool Hotel Bars—Taste Vacation at Home!

Hotels have been a haven for delightful beverages for centuries. Ever since the modern hotel evolved out of the tavern inns of yore, the world's greatest places to stay have cultivated…

Article / Passportable

WATCH: Penguins Run Loose in Chicago Aquarium, Meet Beluga Whales

The Shedd Aquarium in Chicago continues to host the world's most adorable quarantine. While the facility is closed to visitors during the coronavirus pandemic, staffers have been…

Article / Arts and Culture

Some of Our Favorite Travel Movies—and How to Watch Them at Home

Travel the world without getting off your couch with these films that showcase their locations especially well.