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,...

The San Francisco Giants and the Miami Marlins before their opening day game at Oracle Park on April 8, 2022, in San Francisco.

Cubs and White Sox away games worth a weekend trip, from scenic vistas in San Francisco to the Bronx Zoo

By Tatyana Turner

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

Chicago baseball fans don't have to go far for a great game day experience —...

Zingerman's Cornman Farms, an outpost of the acclaimed Ann Arbor, Michigan, sandwich shop and bakery, offers microwedding packages for those who want a small and affordable wedding. The Dexter, Michigan, venue features a striking Greek Revival farmhouse and 27 acres of rolling fields, tree-lined drives and lush gardens.

Elopement and microweddings have never been more popular. Here are 7 destinations perfect for tying the knot.

By Jaclyn Jermyn

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

With the wedding industry still making up for lost time after the event restrictions stemming...

Elopement, microwedding destinations perfect for tying the knot.

By Contributed Content

April 6, 2022 at 8:00 p.m.

New Orleans' French Quarter Wedding Chapel and Zingerman's Cornman Farms in Dexter, Michigan, are among...

Carla Curry, of Christopher, Illinois, smokes cannabis as her friend Betty McPherson, of Morganfield, Kentucky, looks on at the Luna Lounge, a cannabis consumption lounge, in Sesser on July 15, 2021.

Green spaces and high places to explore cannabis culture in Chicago, Illinois and beyond

By A. Ellis Evans

April 4, 2022 at 7:01 p.m.

In a sad twist of fate for stoners statewide, Illinois legalized recreational marijuana just in...

Disney cast member Nicholas Maldonado protests his company's stance on LGBTQ issues, while participating in an employee walkout at Walt Disney World, Tuesday, March 22, 2022, in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

Disney employees stage walkout over Florida’s ‘don’t say gay’ bill

By Katie Rice

March 23, 2022 at 8:55 a.m.

About 100 Walt Disney Co. employees in California walked out of work Tuesday to protest...

Prentiss Harris of Chubby's Char House delivers dozens of hot dogs to the Chi-Town Soul Trolley Black Restaurant and History Tour, parked outside Chubby's Char House, Feb. 19, 2022, in Chicago.

Chicago Austin Youth Travel Adventures offers cultural tours to get kids ‘out of their heads and into the world’

By Darcel Rockett

March 11, 2022 at 1:26 p.m.

A week before a hip replacement surgery, on a February weekend, Crystal Dyer is walking...

Crystal Dyer, right, talks with friends while leading the Chi-Town Soul Trolley Black Restaurant and History Tour at Chubby's Char House on West Madison Street in Chicago, Feb. 19, 2022.

Chicago Austin Youth Travel Adventures

By Contributed Content

March 10, 2022 at 4:28 p.m.

Crystal Dyer, proprietor of Austin-based Gone Again Travel & Tours, has been offering her professional...

Perch fillets are dredged in a proprietary seasoning blend, then lightly dipped into a beer batter before they're fried at The Old Fashioned in Madison, Wisconsin. Prices start at $12.95, which includes coleslaw, fries and slice of rye.

Craving perch for your Lenten fish fry? Head to Wisconsin for the increasingly elusive fish

By Mary Bergin

March 10, 2022 at 8:59 a.m.

Eating fish on Friday is a cherished Wisconsin tradition all year, especially during Lenten season,...

A resident walks past the Henry Moore sculpture in front of the Cleo Rogers Memorial County Library in downtown Columbus, Indiana, on March 2, 2004.

8 family-friendly trips for spring within driving distance of Chicago

By Grace Wong

March 3, 2022 at 9:49 a.m.

As the snow is starting to melt, your mind may be turning to warmer days...

In this April 7, 2020, photo released by the U.S. Navy, sailors assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt move ready to eat meals for sailors who have tested negative for COVID-19 and are being taken to local hotels in an effort to implement social distancing at Naval Base Guam.

Nebraska, Ohio, Washington, D.C., removed from Chicago COVID-19 travel advisory for unvaccinated people

By Alice Yin

March 1, 2022 at 2:43 p.m.

Two states, along with Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands were removed Tuesday...