California's Scenic Highway 1 Soon to Reopen in Full
Posted on 07/06/2018, 12:45 AM
For the first time in more than a year, all of California's spectacular Highway 1 from San Francisco to Los Angeles will soon reopen to drivers. Parts of the 650-mile route, famous around the world for its coastal views (particularly in Big Sur), have been closed to travelers for months due to damage caused by heavy rains and a huge landslide in 2017. Caltrans, the state's transportation depart...
Route 66 and Puerto Rico Among USA's Most Endangered Historic Sites
Posted on 06/28/2018, 3:30 AM
Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Route 66 all appear on 2018's "Most Endangered Places" list, the National Trust for Historic Preservation's annual roundup of important architectural and cultural sites in peril. The purpose of the list, the group says, is to raise awareness and spur action to protect landmarks—and in some cases landmasses—"facing a range of challenges and threats, from d...
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...
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...
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...
In New York City, Rapidly Shifting Hotel Prices, Shorter Dining Hours, and More
Posted on 04/12/2018, 5:30 PM
Every year at this time, I update the book Frommer’s EasyGuide to New York City. This involves spreadsheets of pricing, hours, and more, meaning that I’m easily able to graph the trends that shape visits to Gotham. Here’s what I’m seeing for 2018 and into 2019: Good news/bad news on hotel rates: To track hotel pricing, I use several hotel booking engines, and I test dates for the slowest travel da...
Most Visited U.S. National Parks and Monuments in 2017
Posted on 03/05/2018, 10:45 PM
The National Park Service (NPS) has released its visitor numbers for 2017. A total of 330,882,751 people spent time at American national parks, monuments, and other sites deemed worthy of federal protection. As the NPS points out, that figure is only a smidge lower than the record-setting 330,971,689 visits the agency logged in 2016—the year of its highly touted 100th birthday. The Blue Ridge ...
How Not to Do Yosemite in Winter
Posted on 02/20/2018, 9:00 AM
I sometimes think my real job as a travel writer is to be an idiot. It's my job to make mistakes and then report on them so that my readers can have fun, safe, and error-free vacations. This week, I really succeeded: I almost died twice. I just left Yosemite National Park in California. I had thought this column would be about the wonders of Yosemite in winter. And while it is wondrous, the famo...
Arthur Frommer: My Choices for the 10 Most Memorable Destinations
Posted on 02/05/2018, 3:30 PM
As a professional travel writer, I was required to travel to far more destinations than the average American does. In my youthful years, I literally lived on an airplane, in constant motion, often traveling to several countries each week. And I loved every bit of that life—especially these 10 particular destinations. Here, based on that experience, are my choices of the world’s 10 most mem...
"Three Billboards" Locations Way Outside Missouri
Posted on 01/26/2018, 12:15 AM
The titular small town in Martin McDonagh's Oscar-nominated dark comedy Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri does not exist in real life. And we're not sure we'd want to visit if it did, considering the corrupt police force, vengeful townsfolk, and flying Molotov cocktails depicted in the movie. The scenery sure is nice, though. Much of it was filmed not in Missouri but 600 miles or so to th...
U.S. Civil Rights Trail Links Dozens of Historic Sites in 14 States
Posted on 01/16/2018, 11:00 PM
Fourteen states, covering a chunk of the U.S. from Delaware to Kansas, are joining together to promote tourism to more than 100 landmarks crucial to the struggle for civil rights. The U.S. Civil Rights Trail is a first-of-its-kind effort by tourism officials to expand smaller state programs, such as the Mississippi Freedom Trail, to cover a multi-state region predominantly in the South, the setti...
Days When You Can Visit U.S. National Parks for Free in 2018
Posted on 01/04/2018, 9:00 AM
Each year, the National Park system throws open its gates for a few days and spreads the good word by admitting everyone without charging entry fees. It's a great way for low-income families, students, and seniors to experience the parks, and hundreds of thousands of Americans take advantage of the invitation annually. The Department of the Interior has announced the free days for 2018—and they'v...
Starting Oct. 13, Drive California's Highway 1 from Carmel to Big Sur Again
Posted on 10/09/2017, 2:45 AM
With the completion of the new Pfeiffer Creek Bridge in Big Sur, California, a key portion of the state's spectacularly scenic Highway 1 is set to reopen on October 13. The original bridge had to be demolished in March after damage caused by heavy rains. That cut Big Sur in two and made it impossible for drivers to complete the rugged central coast route that starts in Carmel—one of the country'...
Up-to-the-Minute Online Tool Finds Wisconsin's Best Fall Foliage
Posted on 09/11/2017, 10:45 PM
New England states get all the attention when it comes to fall foliage, but there are other leafy places worth peeping during Pumpkin Spice Latte season. One of the best in the Midwest is Wisconsin, where vivid displays in spots like the Kettle Moraine State Forest (pictured above) provide beautiful backdrops for scenic drives, waterfall hikes, and stops at orchards in small farm towns. Travel ...
