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,...

A yachting vacation in the Caribbean can be affordable with a cabin charter. Or rent the entire boat with only friends and family aboard.

You don’t have to be a billionaire to vacation on a yacht in the Caribbean. And it can be more fun than a cruise

By Tracey Teo

September 25, 2024 at 5:00 a.m.

With a charter, each passenger or couple rents one cabin and shares the common spaces...

Festival enjoy the first glasses of beer on day one of the 189th ‘Oktoberfest’ beer festival in Munich, Germany, Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader)

Beer and merriment flow at the 189th Oktoberfest in Munich

By Stefanie Dazio

September 22, 2024 at 9:30 a.m.

Revelers celebrated to mark the official opening of the world’s largest folk festival, the 189th...

A sign on the Crawford Avenue bridge over the Cal-Sag Channel on the Alsip/Robbins border was placed when the bridge was built in 1932. The bridge, pictured in 2019, is part of a Cook County effort to revitalize Pulaski Road between 127th and 159th streets. (Ted Slowik/Daily Southtown)

Landmarks: Pulaski Road cousin of Golden Gate Bridge earns historical status

By Paul Eisenberg

September 22, 2024 at 5:11 a.m.

The Crawford Avenue span over the Cal-Sag Channel was built by the same company as...

Boeing workers wave picket signs as they strike after union members voted to reject a contract offer, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, near the company’s factory in Everett, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Boeing CEO says the company will furlough a ‘large number’ of employees to preserve cash during strike

By David Koenig

September 20, 2024 at 11:18 a.m.

Boeing’s CEO says the company will begin furloughing a large number of employees to save...

In an undated photo from CanaDream RV, a rental van from the company. When rental companies need to move their vehicles, they frequently offer one-way trips at a steep discount. (CanaDream RV via The New York Times)

From Nova Scotia to Montreal: Driving solo (and on a budget) in a ‘relocation’ RV rental

By Elaine Glusac

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

Travel by RV took off during the pandemic as North Americans discovered the convenience and...

Aerial view of Old Market Place in Madison, the capital city of Wisconsin. (Getty)

6 Midwest culinary road trips for fall: Where to eat and stay, from Michigan to Iowa

By Nicole Schnitzler

September 20, 2024 at 6:46 p.m.

From college towns to beach towns, here are six spots to visit now for a...

In the heart of LaGrange is Lafayette Square, named after Gilbert du Mortier, who was known as the Marquis de Lafayette. He compared the landscape around LaGrange to that of his wife’s ancestral estate in France. (Ashley Blencoe/Visit LaGrange/TNS)

Georgia town of LaGrange preserves 2 centuries of history amid gleam of Southern charm

By Mary Ann Anderson

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

In Lafayette Square, the centerpiece of LaGrange, it is still the 1890s. As I walk...

Signs and firewood sit in front of a Boeing sign as employees picket after union members voted overwhelmingly to reject a contract offer and go on strike Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, outside the company’s factory in Renton, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

Workers who assemble Boeing planes are on strike. Will that affect flights?

By Wyatte Grantham-Philips

September 13, 2024 at 4:33 p.m.

A strike by some 33,000 Boeing machinists has halted production of the American aerospace giant's...

Alaska Airlines flight 1276, a Boeing 737-900, taxis before takeoff from Portland International Airport in Portland, Ore., Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024.

Pilots of an Alaska Airlines jet braked to avoid a possible collision with a Southwest plane

By Associated Press

September 12, 2024 at 6:00 p.m.

Pilots of an Alaska Airlines jet aborted a takeoff in Nashville to avoid a possible...

Lakegoers enjoy Switzerland's Lake Geneva at the Bains des Pâquis on Oct. 5, 2023, with Geneva's landmark fountain, Jet d’eau, in the background. (Fabrice Coffrini/Getty-AFP)

You’ve been to Lake Geneva in Wisconsin. Here’s why you should now go to Geneva, Switzerland.

By Tracey Teo

September 11, 2024 at 5:00 a.m.

The Geneva of the Midwest is like the girl next door. The one across the...