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,...

Boone Finley with the small pumpkin he cut from its vine in a patch on Sept. 25, 2022, at Elegant Farmer, 1545 Main St. in Mukwonago, Wisconsin.

My son and I went pumpkin picking at 5 new-to-us places near Chicago. Here are our thoughts and tips.

By Boone Finley

October 3, 2022 at 12:18 p.m.

To me, all pumpkins are gourd-geous. Thankfully, my son feels the same way. That's why...

Max Jaranilla, 21, left, and Luciana Mercado, 18, take pictures with pumpkins for their social media at Johansen Farms Children's Zoo and Pumpkin Farm Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022, in Bolingbrook, Illinois.

Pumpkin picking near Chicago in 2022: 50 farms, patches and you-pick places within 100 miles of the city

By Kori Rumore

October 3, 2022 at 12:57 p.m.

Not far from home, you'll find some of the best varieties of pumpkins to pick,...

The boat storage facility at Black Point Marina was destroyed when Hurricane Andrew entered Biscayne Bay in 1992 before demolishing houses and trailers in an area of southwest Miami-Dade County between Kendall and Homestead in 1992. Andrew was one of just a few hurricanes known to have made landfall in the United States as Category 5.

The number of hurricanes that have hit the U.S. as Category 5s is surprisingly short

By Ron Hurtibise

September 29, 2022 at 7:31 a.m.

Hurricane Ian's flirtation with Category 5 status on Wednesday had hurricane watchers wondering how rare...

Visitors walk down Laurel Creek Road to Cades Cove after parking along the road because parking lots around the Cove were full, on June 24, 2020, in The Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Beginning March 2023, visitors to Great Smoky Mountains National Park will need to purchase a parking pass to use the facilities.

Great Smoky solitude: How to escape the crowd at the most-visited national park in Townsend

By Robert Annis

September 28, 2022 at 5:00 a.m.

National parks were meant to be places of natural beauty and quiet reflection, but at...

The Ohio State Reformatory is a historic prison in Mansfield, Ohio. Construction on the facility began around 1886 and, after much delay, it officially opened in 1896 before shuttering in 1990 on federal orders. One of its most famous inmates was Gates Brown, who served time for armed robbery and then went on to play for the Detroit Tigers from 1963 to 1975. Another athlete, Cleveland Browns running back Kevin Mack, served a month for a drug conviction. In its final years, the allegedly haunted reformatory was featured in many movies, including the 1994 drama "The Shawshank Redemption" and music videos for Godsmack and Lil Wayne.

Take a Midwestern road trip to thrills, chills and ‘Eeek’

By Grace Wong

September 22, 2022 at 2:50 p.m.

It's only a matter of time before the days are darker, the nights are longer...

In 2019, former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama purchased this seven-bedroom, 6,892-square-foot mansion on 29.3 acres in Edgartown, Massachusetts, on Martha's Vineyard for $11.75 million.

African Americans converge on Martha’s Vineyard each summer in search of Black joy

By Jenice Armstrong

September 21, 2022 at 5:00 a.m.

It was early in August when my husband and I arrived on Martha's Vineyard and...

An elevated view of the seawall path at Stanley Park, Vancouver, Canada, in 2016.

Vancouver: A northern wellness escape perfect for nature buffs and epicureans

By Amber Gibson

September 12, 2022 at 2:44 p.m.

If you're on a cruise to Alaska and only arrive in Vancouver in time to...

10 enchanting outdoor sculpture parks within driving distance of Chicago

By Jeanine Barone

September 7, 2022 at 5:00 a.m.

Outdoor sculpture gardens hold many wonders for art aficionados as well as the botanically inclined,...

A glass case holds dozens of flavorful varieties at The Donut Dude in Liberty Township, Ohio. It's one of the mom-and-pop shops featured on the Butler County Donut Trail.

Wine, doughnuts, pasties: Midwest food trails offer delicious escapes

By Jay Jones

August 24, 2022 at 9:04 a.m.

Anyone can grab a pasty during a wander through Michigan's Upper Peninsula — but for...

From lake to plate: Catching whitefish for Door County’s traditional fish boils

By Amy Bizzarri

August 23, 2022 at 5:00 a.m.

Wisconsin's 80-mile-long Door Peninsula, nicknamed the "Cape Cod of the Midwest," has a deep-rooted maritime...