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,...

Lights from a building illuminate clouds as rain falls near Michigan Avenue in Chicago on Nov. 18, 2024. (Armando L. Sanchez/baiduhai)

Dreaming of a white Christmas? Chicago forecast narrows already slim chances

By Adriana Pérez

December 24, 2024 at 9:45 a.m.

The city has only experienced one white Christmas in the past six years. It was...

The Royal Caribbean's Icon of the Seas, billed as the world's largest cruise ship, heads out to sea for its second voyage from PortMiami on Feb. 3, 2024, in Miami. The 1,197-foot-long ship cost $1.79 billion to build, has 20 decks and can accommodate 7,600 passengers. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Love or hate: Travelers have fiercely strong opinions about cruises

By Danielle Braff

December 18, 2024 at 5:00 a.m.

It's no secret that travelers either passionately love cruises or hate them with actual fury....

FILE – Debris is carried at the scene of an Ethiopian Airlines flight crash near Bishoftu, or Debre Zeit, south of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on March 11, 2019. A spokesman says Ethiopian Airlines has grounded all its Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft as a safety precaution, following the crash of one of its planes in which 157 people were killed. (AP Photo/Mulugeta Ayene)

US judge rejects Boeing’s plea deal in a conspiracy case stemming from fatal plane crashes

By David Koenig

December 5, 2024 at 4:18 p.m.

A federal judge on Thursday rejected a deal that would have allowed Boeing to plead...

Cruise ship passengers return to their ships at the island of Costa Maya, Mexico. (Jerry Davich/Post-Tribune)

Mexico’s Senate votes to charge cruise ship passengers $42 per head for port calls

By Associated Press

December 5, 2024 at 10:27 a.m.

Mexico’s Senate has voted to charge cruise ship passengers $42 per head for port calls,...

Old Town Scottsdale's iconic Cowboy sign. (Analisa Shah/Experience Scottsdale)

Mixing it up in Scottsdale, where the rustic Old West meets modern-day luxury

By Patti Nickell

December 4, 2024 at 5:00 a.m.

In Old Town, where the city of Scottsdale began in the late 1800s, the Old...

FILE - A retrofitted Southwest Airlines passenger jet is shown in a hangar at Love Field on Sept. 26, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, File)

Southwest Airlines says it is ending cabin service earlier to reduce chance of injury

By Associated Press

November 30, 2024 at 5:12 p.m.

Beginning on Dec. 4, a company spokesperson said, flight attendants will begin preparing the cabin...

From Big Sur to Carmel, a culinary and wellness adventure along the California coast

By Amber Gibson

December 2, 2024 at 2:31 p.m.

With Carmel's quaint calm and Big Sur's dramatic majesty, this area makes you feel carefree,...

Varun, left, and Surbhi Arora entertain their kids Aarav, 9, and Aayra, 1, while beginning their monthlong trip to India at O’Hare International Airport on Nov. 26, 2024, as Thanksgiving holiday travel begins. (Brian Cassella/baiduhai)

Chicago’s airports prepare for nearly 2 million Thanksgiving travelers

By Rebecca Johnson

November 26, 2024 at 4:44 p.m.

Chicago’s airports are preparing to welcome more than 1.8 million travelers between Tuesday and next...

Hamburg City Hall is reflected in the river at dusk. (Alan Behr/TNS)

Exploring, contrasting the pleasures of the night in Hamburg and Heidelberg

By Alan Behr

November 20, 2024 at 5:00 a.m.

Among German cities, the former is known for its raunchy nightlife while the latter is...

FILE – Arthur Frommer, 83, and his daughter, Pauline Frommer, 46, pose among tourists in the Wall Street area in New York, May 20, 2012. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

Arthur Frommer, whose ‘Europe on 5 Dollars a Day’ guidebooks revolutionized leisure travel, is dead at 95

By Beth Harpaz

November 18, 2024 at 8:51 p.m.

Arthur Frommer, whose “Europe on 5 Dollars a Day” guidebooks revolutionized leisure travel by convincing...