Travel

Travel

Big tennis events, such as the French Open, the U.S. Open, and Wimbledon, tend to top travelers' dream lists. The January tournament in Australia, on the other hand, can feel out of reach. But savvy sports fans are getting wise to the fact that the annual event in Melbourne merits the long flight-not least because it happens in the Southern Hemisphere's summer. Sometimes called the Happy Slam, the Australian Open has earned a reputation for good times, cultivating a feel-good atmosphere across nearly 100 riverside acres of Melbourne Park.

For most Americans dreaming of a Mediterranean life - sipping espresso by the sea, wandering historic towns, buying fresh tomatoes at the morning market - the obstacle is always the same: how to stay legally. Tourist visas don't cut it. Schengen rules limit Americans to 90 days within any 180-day window. Anything longer sounds like a bureaucratic nightmare - language tests, bank statements, endless documents, and short-term renewals.

Between Uber rides, time at the airport, and a commercial flight, it should have taken five hours each way. With no security lines, no arduous boarding process, no taxiing, it took about two hours, meaning the seven-month-old I'd left behind was none the wiser: I was there to kiss him goodbye before he left for day care and home in time to give him a bath.

Flip-flops and open-toe shoes might be comfy, but they're a terrible idea on a plane.

A patchwork quilt of rustic reds, fiery oranges, and bright golds stretch endlessly into the horizon. From my perch atop Castle Rock, the lake sparkles, dotted with a smattering of foliage-cloaked islands. The autumn air is crisp and refreshing in one of my favorite places to explore this time of year; Blue Mountain Lake in the Adirondack Mountains. The tiny hamlet of Blue Mountain Lake might be small, but it delivers big on beauty.

I crawled out of my tent and pulled my hat down over my ears before checking the car's thermometer, which read 38 degrees Fahrenheit. It was May 25, and while much of the state had already heated up, West Virginia's Cranberry Wilderness was still chilly-perfect for the trout that glide through the area's rivers. It owes its cool weather to its high elevation; the area ranges from 2,400 to over 4,600 feet above sea level.

Travel bags take up a ton of storage space in your home when not in use. A typical full-size suitcase is 27 inches tall, 24 inches wide, and 14 inches deep, which can be hard to find a place to store, let alone the other travel bags you have, such as carry-ons, weekenders, toiletry bags, and more. To save precious space, one genius workaround is investing in collapsible travel bags that fold up to almost nothing, which means you can fit more in less space.

As a lifelong proponent of close friends and tight circles, I saw this as my opportunity to step outside my comfort zone and meet new people, whether that was in my Shakespeare class or at random cafés around the city. I'd lived in the Midwestern suburbs my whole life before moving to Syracuse (a place that didn't feel much different) for school. So, in London, I was looking forward to making friends in a new kind of cityscape.

The Catskills have always been a retreat-first for 19th-century painters and writers, later for city escapees chasing mountain air and summer swims. That legacy hasn't faded, but the region feels freshly alive these days as chefs, artists, and creative entrepreneurs put down roots. Farm-to-table restaurants, craft breweries and cideries, and design-driven boutique hotels now coexist with retro diners, antique shops, and historic inns-many of which have been newly restored.

And for the record, Japan is a lot. Despite being smaller than Texas, it's packed with things to see, do and - arguably most importantly - eat. Which is why I approached our itinerary with the kind of care most people reserve for wedding planning or moving house. I tapped industry friends, scoured reviews and cross-referenced more "best of" lists than I'd like to admit. What follows isn't just the result of that legwork - it is the legwork.

Perched above the sea in remote Achiltibuie, the Brochs of Coigach are two stunning stone dwellings that blend ancient design with modern luxury. With panoramic views of the Summer Isles, red deer grazing nearby and sea eagles overhead, it's a true escape into the wild. Visit in autumn for fiery sunsets, crisp air and a chance to see the northern lights. The midges are gone, the beach below is perfect for evening walks and the silence is unforgettable.

The swish seafront hotels and freshly planted palms on the gleaming promenade might tempt any unwary holidaymaker to book in for Mallorca's Calvia beach. But step out the back door and the resort is still firmly, as it is better known, Magaluf: boozed-up Britain in Spain, with cocktails by the pint. Mallorca gets most of the Balearics' 18 million UK visitors a year: for some residents, far too many.

I'm an attorney from Atlanta and have practiced for three decades - 25 years as a prosecutor and five in defense - but I've always had a creative side. I was always baking and entertaining, and my friends would even pay me to bake for them. Eventually, I realized I could turn it into a business - Delights by Dawn - and it blossomed. My niche became alcohol-infused cakes and cupcakes, which drew a lot of attention.

Half the battle of preparing for a big trip is ensuring you're well-equipped with the right gear for the job, and REI is the one place you can rely on for top-notch outdoor essentials from the best brands on the market. Right now, the retailer is hosting an under-the-radar fall sale with up to 50 percent off must-haves for any type of vacation you have this season-and with Patagonia, Vuori, Hoka, and more included, you won't want to let these deals go unclaimed.

The world is fascinating, with thousands of unique, magical, picturesque, and exciting places to explore. As such, millions travel the world yearly to experience its biggest delights. However, not all of the world's famous places live up to expectations. While they may look like a dream destination on Instagram, some places tell a different story when you arrive, leaving many travelers feeling cheated. To learn more, here are 12 tourist traps to avoid worldwide.

India, with its extraordinary range of natural habitats and biodiversity, is a magical country that's often underappreciated when it comes to wildlife viewing. It has more than 100 national parks and 14 biosphere reserves that are home to several rare species. I've planned tiger safaris in India for more than 18 years with Micato Safaris. For decades, Ranthambore National Park was hailed as the place to go in India, but there are so many other great sites to visit.

In the stretch of the Hudson Valley between New York City and Albany, there's a wealth of small towns that have the unique appeal of being both within easy driving distance to major cities while retaining a more rural, slow-paced charm. They range from New Paltz, New York's hippie town with a European-style shopping street, to the popular getaway of Hudson, a trendy small city called the "Downtown of Upstate."

Prague may not drink as heavily as it used to, but the country still ranks third in Europe alcohol consumption. This comes, in part, from pride in pilsner, invented in Czechia, but also the communal role pubs have played for centuries, serving as social hubs for its neighborhoods. As such, these beer, wine and cocktail bars offer an excellent window into the personalities of the capital's major districts.

Spirit Aviation Holdings, Inc., parent company of the Dania Beach-based budget carrier, announced it received approval Friday from the court in the Southern District of New York for up to $475 million in debtor-in-possesion financing from its existing bondholders. The company also won court approvals for a complex agreement with AerCap Ireland Limited, its largest aircraft lessor, to restructure an array of leases in a move that will funnel $150 million to the airline and end leases on 27 planes.

Next month, one of the 70-foot-long Clipper 70 race yachts that will set sail to circumnavigate the globe will be at St Katharine Docks Marina, and will be offering free tours. During the tours, you will be able to go below deck, check out the Nav Station, galley, bunks and stowage, and see where each of the 20 Race Crew live when not on deck.

As the air turns crisp and the leaves ignite in shades of maize and auburn, this energetic college town transforms into a living postcard-equal parts traditional and contemporary. Home to the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor is a destination that pulses with collegiate pride, intellectual spirit, and Midwestern warmth. But come autumn and winter, it's the roar of Michigan Stadium (nicknamed "the Big House") and the packed bleachers at Crisler Arena that truly define the city's rhythm.

Are you ready to be charmed? You might not have to travel far, if you live in California. HGTV recently focused its big lens on a pint-sized subject town centers in America and came away with a basketful of California recommendations. In its story, The 40 Most Charming Small Downtowns in America, the cable channel cites not one but three hidden gems in the state: Pacific Grove, Carmel-by-the-Sea and that Dutch-inspired wonder, Solvang.

My fiancé and I had planned our dream summer honeymoon: We'd explore South Africa's beautiful Cape, driving along the picturesque Garden Route, before returning through the Kalahari Desert. There was just one problem, though. First, we needed to get married - and we didn't actually have a wedding date. At the time, we were living in his hometown of Johannesburg, but we were eager to return to the United States and start our new life together as a married couple.

My jaw dropped in the backseat of a helicopter over British Columbia's Coast Mountains as we climbed toward a granite cliff edge before nosediving over its back wall, fast. To the tune of whirring rotors, pilot Bastian Fleury of operator 49 North Helicopters smiled as he leveled out over a glacial formation that looked like hundreds of giant icicles strung together.

Depending on how strictly you disseminate fact from legend, Wales is a land of witches, Neolithic burial mounds, giants, Kings and anthropomorphic beasts with heroes, from Arthur to Merlin, that seem equally at home in comic strips as they do in academic treatises. But why pick hairs about the verity of some of the legends when the landscapes are this abundantly fecund and gorgeous?

As a travel and food writer, it feels like I'm always dragging a million things with me to the airport-and I never have enough hands to carry everything. Whether I'm packing an extra bag with plane snacks, carrying a travel pillow, or lugging a laptop tote, there's always a lot to balance. Trying to stay organized on the road is hard, especially when I'm also doing my best to avoid spending extra money on travel accessories that I don't actually need.

"We are getting an influx of fraudulent claims being submitted for 'missing items' as these people are observing who is removing their luggage tags in the claim areas and using your information to submit claims for reimbursement," the person wrote in the Reddit post. "From my own personal experience in currently dealing with this it is causing issue with reimbursing the real people if they submit a legitimate claim. So please be careful and don't take your tags off at the airport. They can steal enough information from that to use your travel itinerary to get paid."