A Return to Northern Michigan With No Repeat Experiences
Posted on 06/14/2018, 12:30 PM
I’ve always taken the stance that when you return again and again to the same place for vacation, you’re only setting yourself up for ennui. I figured there were a few exceptions to this rule—namely, cities like Paris and Tokyo that are so huge and varied that you'll never exhaust the possibilities. But for the most part, I believed that vacations should be about the stimulating, the new, the un...
Polish Vodka Museum Opens in Warsaw
Posted on 06/12/2018, 8:00 AM
There's some dispute about where vodka was born. Both Poland and Russia lay claim to having produced the first batch of the transparent spirit from distilled grains or potatoes more than five centuries ago. Since the stuff has become so deeply embedded in both countries' cultures and economies—not to mention their citizens' bloodstreams—we're content to call it a tie. Poland has arguably la...
After 700 Years, Westminster Abbey Opens Secret Attic to Visitors
Posted on 06/11/2018, 12:00 AM
It took five years and $30.5 million (£22.9 million) to make it happen, but Westminster Abbey in London has just made a spectacular new addition to one of Europe's top tourist attractions. Which is to say it opened something more than 700 years old. The Triforium, a medieval attic balcony that runs around the top of the Abbey's nave from 52 feet high, has been converted into the Queen's Diamond ...
A New Book Makes a Compelling Case for Traveling Alone
Posted on 06/05/2018, 11:15 PM
Are you traveling with your spouse, your girlfriend, boyfriend, or best friend soon? What a shame. If you’d read Stephanie Rosenbloom’s new book Alone Time: Four Seasons, Four Cities, and the Pleasures of Solitude, you might have thought twice about inviting anyone along on your adventure. Rosenbloom, a travel columnist for The New York Times, makes a compelling case for vacationing alone. She...
Arthur Frommer: Experiential Travel Has Been Eclipsed by "Transformative Travel”
Posted on 06/01/2018, 2:00 PM
For several years now, conversations between travel professionals have been full of references to "experiential travel," a new variety of travel requested by more and more travelers. Unlike the standard, sightseeing-based programs, experiential travel stresses a more authentic contact with the life in various foreign locations, and it also immerses the travel passenger into those authentic experie...
"White-Collar Trickery": Arthur Frommer Blasts Las Vegas for Hidden Fees
Posted on 05/30/2018, 4:45 PM
By now, most Americans are aware of the “resort fees” that numerous greedy hotels add to their bills, even though the hotel in question is by no means a “resort.” Most of us simply groan in exasperation at this bit of white-collar trickery—and then we pay the padded bill. But would you believe that in Las Vegas nowadays, numerous hotels, restaurants and nightspots are now routinely adding...
Tips on Getting the Most Out of Your 2018 Summer Vacation
Posted on 05/30/2018, 4:00 PM
Remember when summer really meant vacation? I’m talking, of course, of the time before you were able to vote, when summer meant freedom from school and adventures at camp, a fun summer job, or long lazy days doing very little. However you did it, summer was a break from the daily routine—and a welcome one. But for most of us, summer now means the same commute, the same job, the same responsibiliti...
Bad News for the Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
Posted on 05/28/2018, 8:45 AM
Pearl Harbor's world-famous memorial (pictured above) that straddles the submerged wreck of the USS Arizona has been closed indefinitely. The trouble began May 6, when cracks were discovered in its structure at a point where it meets the loading ramp from its boat dock. Repairs were carried out, but hours after the platform reopened on May 23, the fissures were seen again, which indicated a more s...
Seattle's Space Needle Gets a Glassy Makeover
Posted on 05/26/2018, 12:00 AM
A $100 million update to Seattle's skyline-defining Space Needle is just about finished. But don't worry, purists: The 605-foot retro-futuristic tower still looks like something dreamed up by the animators for The Jetsons—or, as the Frommer's guide puts it, "like a flying saucer on a tripod." Some sprucing up here and there aside, the most dramatic changes can be found on the observation deck,...
New Ferry Links Spain with Ireland, Thanks to Brexit
Posted on 05/22/2018, 5:00 PM
Something brand-new happened this month: A new ferry service between Ireland and Spain was inaugurated. Why? Because as the United Kingdom proceeds with Brexit, its half-baked plan to secede from the European Union, the border between the UK and the Republic of Ireland, which remains in the EU, will become much harder to cross. The new ferry service allows Irish and Spanish people to pass easily b...
Bavarian Vegetarian: Germany's Sausage Central for People Who Don't Eat Meat
There's more to German dining than bratwurst. These meatless Franconian staples ensure that no vegetarian has to go hungry.
Hello Kitty Bullet Train to Make Japan Even More Adorable
Posted on 05/22/2018, 12:00 AM
We're just going to leave this right here. On June 30, 2018, a brand-new bullet shinkansen service will make its debut in Japan: a Hello Kitty train. The Hello Kitty Express, as we're calling it, will link Osaka and Fukuoka, two cities that are about 400km (250 miles) apart, but as of today, are at the center of our hearts. Everything will be pinker than a debutante, washed in the blush tones o...
What Will Be New at America's Theme Parks This Year?
Posted on 05/01/2018, 3:30 PM
Amusement park season is around the bend—and that bend could be a loop-de-loop of a high tech ride. For our weekly Frommer's Travel Show on WABC Radio, Jason Cochran and I interviewed Susie Storey, the Director of Communications for the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions to learn what new thrills, chills, and services would be available to theme park visitors in 2018. Pa...
Famous Hawaiian Mule Ride Closed Indefinitely
Posted on 04/30/2018, 9:45 PM
One of the most popular tourism experiences in Hawaii has shut down, possibly for good. Travel Weekly reports that the operators of the long-running mule rides down the cliffs of Molokai have been evicted from the location where they stable their animals and organize riders for the daylong descent to Kalaupapa National Historical Park some 2,000 feet below. That idyllic seaside spot was once a...
