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,...

Mayor Lori Lightfoot speaks June 22, 2022, after a City Council meeting at Chicago City Hall.

Mayor Lightfoot headed to Paris and London to promote Chicago businesses, economy

By Gregory Royal Pratt

July 8, 2022 at 9:27 a.m.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot will travel to Paris and London to tout the city's economic...

A view of the Grand Canyon landscape from the top of the Bright Angel Trail, in Arizona, on March 5, 2020.

Hiking down to Phantom Ranch, the Grand Canyon’s ‘destination hotel’

By The New York Times

July 6, 2022 at 5:00 a.m.

When a friend first mentioned the Grand Canyon's Phantom Ranch, I couldn't believe my ears....

Tourists walk along Broad Street in Lake Geneva on June 27, 2022.

Soaring inflation, spiking gas prices drive renewed interest in Wisconsin resort communities this summer

By Karen Ann Cullotta

July 1, 2022 at 5:00 a.m.

Longtime Lake Geneva restaurant owner Spyro Condos huddled recently with a roomful of fellow business...

Lily Perry, 11, eats a blueberry pie during the Kids Pie Eating Contest at the 2019 National Blueberry Festival in South Haven, Michigan, on Aug. 10, 2019.

Michigan’s blueberry coast is ripe for the picking

By Joanne Cleaver

June 29, 2022 at 5:00 a.m.

Blueberries needed a champion, and Tiffany Balk was more than up to the task. Fifteen...

The Grohmann Museum at Milwaukee School of Engineering is devoted to art that depicts the many forms of work. On the roof is a sculpture garden.

Lake Michigan car ferries make for fun Midwest getaways, plus 16 things to do once you land

By Mary Bergin

June 23, 2022 at 12:49 p.m.

A spin around Lake Michigan easily exceeds 1,000 miles and 18 hours of road time...

A passenger with a face mask waits for his flight at the airport in Duesseldorf, Germany, March 19, 2020.

Hold onto your hats (and bags). Travelers to Europe face chaos at airports and popular tourist destinations.

By The New York Times

June 17, 2022 at 9:45 a.m.

The summer travel season in Europe has been marred by chaos at airports and popular...

The entrance to Walt Disney Co. is seen from West Alameda Ave. in Burbank on Wednesday, June 2, 2021 in Los Angeles, CA..

Disney delays moving 2,000 jobs to Orlando amid ‘don’t say gay’ clash with DeSantis

By Katie Rice

June 16, 2022 at 10:33 a.m.

Amid the feud with Gov. Ron DeSantis over the so-called "don't say gay" law, the...

Meaghan Thomas and Thomas McGee at home in Louisville, Ky., May 9, 2022. The couple stayed home instead of traveling to London because they were worried about a rise in COVID-19 numbers.

Staycation, again? Inflation putting damper on summer travel plans, study finds

By The New York Times

June 14, 2022 at 5:00 a.m.

After two years in which many travelers stayed home, 2022 was supposed to be the...

Park visitors explore the caves at Iowa's Maquoketa Caves State Park on May, 2, 2010.

7 Midwest state, national parks worth exploring this summer

By Jaclyn Jermyn

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

When America's first national park Yellowstone was established in 1872, 2 million acres were set...

Travelers queue up at the south security checkpoint in the main terminal of Denver International Airport on May 26, 2022. Experts are expecting a flush of travelers at airports and on the nation's byways during the long Memorial Day weekend, which marks the start of the summer travel season, in spite of high fuel costs.

Prepare for sticker shock if you are traveling this summer

By Associated Press

May 27, 2022 at 10:41 a.m.

Airlines and tourist destinations are expecting monster crowds this summer as travel restrictions ease and...