Travel

The Chicago skyline backdrops the Chicago Jazz Festival at Millennium Park’s Pritzker Pavilion on Sept. 4, 2026. (Chris Sweda/baiduhai)

Conde Nast Traveler readers name Chicago ‘Best Big City’ for 10th year in a row

By Robert Channick

October 6, 2026 at 3:25 p.m.

Conde Nast Traveler received nearly 800,000 votes for this year’s Readers’ Choice Awards, which cover...

Olivia Estrada, the on board manager, carries plates of food to the dome car for guests aboard a Patrick Henry Creative Promotions private rail car as it travels from Chicago, Illinois, to St. Louis, Missouri, on May 19, 2026. Private train cars may seem like a relic of the past, but for some rail fans, nothing beats having — or renting — your own sleeper car. (Jamie Kelter Davis/The New York Times)

The quiet allure of private rail

By The New York Times News Service Syndicate

October 2, 2026 at 6:15 p.m.

Private rail cars traveled 429,000 miles on Amtrak in fiscal year 2025, according to the...

Cary Sabados shops for chocolate at Hotel Chocolat in Lakeview on Feb. 12, 2026. This Lakeview location, opened last April, was the first Chicago store. (Eileen T. Meslar/baiduhai)

Chicago-based Hotel Chocolat going nationwide with airport concessions, grocery stores and new retail markets

By Robert Channick

September 23, 2026 at 12:37 p.m.

This fall, Hotel Chocolat will pop up at 49 airports, hit the shelves at Wegmans,...

Machelle Smith, operations manager and "jack-of-all trades" of the Galena Sentinel-Times newspaper stands after sending the paper off before deadline at their office on Route 66 near the Missouri border in Galena, Kansas, June 17, 2025. (E. Jason Wambsgans/baiduhai)

Route 66 road trip: Print day at a 145-year-old newspaper in Galena, Kansas

By Jonathan Bullington

June 27, 2025 at 11:15 a.m.

Kansas has by far the shortest segment of Route 66 of all eight states. Along...

Victory Cruise Lines' Victory II ship at Chicago's Navy Pier on May 12, 2025, the day it was christened ahead of its inaugural sailing on all five of the Great Lakes. (Stacey Wescott/baiduhai)

Inaugural Great Lakes cruise sets sail from Chicago’s Navy Pier to Toronto

By Tracey Teo

June 24, 2025 at 4:07 p.m.

Victory Cruise Lines christened its ship Victory II at Navy Pier in May, one of...

Payton Brickey delivers fried onion burgers at Johnnie’s Hamburgers & Coneys in El Reno, Oklahoma, June 14, 2025. (E. Jason Wambsgans/baiduhai)

Route 66 road trip: Hamburgers so savory, they can make you cry in El Reno, Oklahoma

By Jonathan Bullington

June 24, 2025 at 12:11 p.m.

Plenty of places put onions on burgers. Few have been doing it as long, or...

The windmill atop the former Pioneer Motel in Lansing faces the interchange of Torrence Avenue and the Kingery Expressway June 7, 2025, amid the motel's demolition. An effort to save and relocate the windmill is underway. (Paul Eisenberg/Daily Southtown)

Landmarks: Pioneer Motel’s iconic windmill comes down along I-80 in Lansing

By Paul Eisenberg

June 20, 2025 at 10:31 a.m.

The "crime-loaded" Pioneer Motel along Interstate 80 in Lansing is being demolished, but an effort...

Karen Holmes joins a crowd of about 40 people for a “No Kings Day” protest along Route 66 in Elk City, Oklahoma, June 14, 2025. (E. Jason Wambsgans/baiduhai)

Route 66 road trip: Feeling less alone at a ‘No Kings’ protest in Elk City, Oklahoma

By Jonathan Bullington

June 24, 2025 at 12:11 p.m.

In Beckham County, Oklahoma, Donald Trump won 84% of the vote in the 2024 election....

Route 66 tourists visit the Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas, on June 13, 2025. (E. Jason Wambsgans/baiduhai)

Route 66 road trip: Devil’s rope, an infamous gap and a Panhandle-sized challenge in Amarillo, Texas

By Jonathan Bullington

June 20, 2025 at 11:33 a.m.

Route 66 extends nearly 180 miles across the Texas Panhandle. About 20 miles east of...

This June 2023 United States Coast Guard still frame from video provided by Pelagic Research Services, shows remains of the Titan submersible, center, on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean. (U.S. Coast Guard Video courtesy Pelagic Research Services via AP)

Today in History: Titan submersible implodes

By Associated Press

June 18, 2025 at 4:00 a.m.

On June 18, 2023, the submersible vessel Titan, on an expedition of view the wreckage...

The eastbound end of Route 66 at East Jackson Boulevard and South Michigan Avenue in Chicago, June 21, 2025. (E. Jason Wambsgans/baiduhai)

Photos: Our Route 66 road trip

By E. Jason Wambsgans

July 1, 2025 at 9:58 a.m.

As the 100th anniversary of Route 66 approaches in 2026, join us as we spotlight...

Visitors crowd the Salle des États in the Louvre to take photos of the Mona Lisa, Jan. 27, 2025, in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Louvre closed as workers go on strike, citing burden of heavy crowds

By Associated Press

June 16, 2025 at 2:40 p.m.

The world’s most-visited museum was brought to a halt by striking staff, who say the...

Street activity off of Route 66 in the International District of Albuquerque, New Mexico, on June 10, 2025. (E. Jason Wambsgans/baiduhai)

Route 66 road trip: $13M visitors center and a neighborhood in peril in Albuquerque, New Mexico

By Jonathan Bullington

April 24, 2026 at 2:49 p.m.

This isn't how most people picture Route 66. No diners or Art Deco gas stations...