Will Fall Foliage Be Worth Seeing This Year in New England? Here's An Expert's Forecast
Posted on 09/03/2019, 8:15 PM
New England’s fall foliage show is right around the corner. Leaf peepers are polishing their binoculars, planning their routes, and booking their B&Bs. In preparation for this popular season, I spoke with Mel Allen, the Editor of Yankee Magazine, to get his take on what road trippers can expect in the coming months. Pauline Frommer: I need to start this interview by saying that the website of ...
You Can Now Rent Hertz Cars in Europe with a Debit Card—but Should You?
Posted on 08/08/2019, 11:45 AM
Rental car company Hertz and the two brands under its corporate umbrella—Dollar and Thrifty—have begun accepting debit cards as a payment option for car rentals in Europe. Previously, a credit card was required, but that is no longer the case at Hertz, Dollar, and Thrifty locations in Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Slovakia, mainland Spain, and ...
Living the Good Life (Affordably) In and Around Traverse City, Michigan
Posted on 07/26/2019, 1:15 AM
In some ways, the Inn at Black Star Farms recalls Tara from Gone with the Wind. Guests are greeted in a marble-floored lobby embedded with a black star (hence the name) in front of a grand curved staircase wide enough for hoopskirted damsels to make a glam entrance. The property is not, however, from that era or located in the South. It's in Michigan's Leelanau County and was built in the 1980s...
Redwoods, Beer, and Bigfoot: Exploring California’s Santa Cruz Mountains
For a serene outdoor experience near the San Francisco Bay Area, head into the Santa Cruz Mountains to discover redwood cathedrals, laid-back beach towns, and maybe even Sasquatch.
This Year is A Great Year for Memphis. Our Frommer's Guide Writer Explains
Posted on 06/07/2019, 1:00 PM
When we come out with a new guidebook at Frommer’s, we tap the best local journalists to write it. One such pro is Ashley Brantley, a native of Nashville who grew up in Memphis (and still has family there), making her the ideal person to write the newly released Frommer’s EasyGuide to Nashville and Memphis. I interviewed her on our national radio show about why 2019 is the ideal year to visit Memph...
Florida Finally Gives Tourists a Way to Avoid Rental Car Rip-Offs on Cashless Roads
After years of paying extortionate fees from rental car companies to use cashless toll booths, tourists finally have a solution—if they know about it.
Talking with Frances Mayes About Her Latest Book, 'See You in the Piazza'
Posted on 05/01/2019, 2:00 PM
Frances Mayes, author of the memoir Under the Tuscan Sun, is to Tuscan travel what ketchup is to Russian dressing. For tens of thousands of vacationers, her tale—both the book that sat on the New York Times bestseller list for two years, and the Diane Lane film that fictionalized it—was the reason they chose to go this bucolic and beautiful corner of "The Boot." Now Mayes has a new book called...
This Rolling Hotel Moves to Wherever the Surf's Up
Posted on 04/09/2019, 7:15 PM
A new hotel makes traveling among the beaches of southwestern Portugal super-easy—because it's the hotel that does the traveling. The Truck Surf Hotel is just that: a cargo truck that has been converted into a surf hotel. The double-decker B&B on wheels features a kitchen, living area, bathroom, and large sliding doors on the lower level. Upstairs, hydraulic arms extend to make space for fiv...
Superbloom! In California, Flowergeddon Approaches
Posted on 02/14/2019, 5:00 AM
Superbloom may sound like the name of a '90s rock band to you, but in Borrego Springs, California, it means millions of rare wildflowers carpeting thousands of acres of desert. And Superbloom is coming soon. In California's ecosystem, seeds might hide dormant for years until conditions are perfect, and this year, there are signs they have been awakened by recent wildfires and intense rains. Co...
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Two New Non-Travel Books May Change The Way You See the USA
Posted on 09/09/2018, 8:30 PM
You drive into a new town. It is not a famous place and it certainly isn’t a tourist magnet. But it has a certain vibe, a personality. You start to explore, stopping by a local store, walking through a park, trying the coffee joint where townspeople are congregating. It’s an interesting exercise, but the takeaways are vague: seems like a nice place, you think. But you don’t think more than that, ...
Drive to Florida in a Rental Car for Only $7.99 a Day
Posted on 09/06/2018, 12:00 AM
Winter is coming, and in Florida, so are the tourists. Each year, the major car rental companies shift their inventory to where the business is, and now that summer is ending, Hertz needs to shift its cars to Florida for the winter season. That's where you come in. Hertz wants you to do the driving. The company will let you have a car for just $7.99 a day if you agree to drive it one-way from t...
