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,...

Passengers aboard the Wilderness Legacy await the thunderous sound of icebergs calving from the Margerie Glacier.

Alaska cruise to Sitka

By Contributed Content

June 16, 2021 at 4:46 p.m.

The Wilderness Legacy at anchor in Glacier Bay. Paddlers, usually accompanied by a guide, regularly...

In Argentina, pandemic exacts a heavy toll on tango culture

By Associated Press

June 15, 2021 at 12:34 p.m.

Tango dancer and musician Nicolas Ponce poses for a portrait as he plays the bandoneon...

Travelers wait for their luggage May 28, 2021, at a baggage carousel at Miami International Airport in Miami. A rebound in travel demand coupled with flight schedules that remain below 2019 levels is pushing up trip costs for the peak summer season.

Airfare bargains vanishing as airlines seize on surging summer demand

By Bloomberg News

June 15, 2021 at 8:52 a.m.

The days of bargain basement airfares are ending as the U.S. vaccine supply unleashes a...

Ashanti Mallit, 16, a sophomore at Lane Tech College Prep High School, examines the cockpit of a North American T-6 Texan trainer aircraft at Bult Field in Monee on June 12, 2021.

Chicago native Kellee Edwards is the host of Travel + Leisure’s ‘Let’s Go Together’ podcast and an advocate for diversity in travel

By Darcel Rockett

June 17, 2021 at 8:41 a.m.

Did you know the "most interesting woman in the world" hails from Chicago's South Side?...

Pilot Kellee Edwards sits in a North American T-6 Texan trainer aircraft, flown by the Tuskegee Airmen during World War II, at Bult Field in Monee on June 12, 2021.

Chicago native Kellee Edwards hosts Travel + Leisure’s ‘Let’s Go Together’ podcast

By Contributed Content

June 14, 2021 at 1:48 p.m.

Kellee Edwards, a South Side native, is the first Black woman to helm her own...

Armed at Disney World: More tourists caught with concealed guns during pandemic

By Gabrielle Russon

June 16, 2021 at 8:06 a.m.

Planning to go to a firing range later, Mustafa Alameen, an Iraqi immigrant, said he...

Ross Kooperman, right, celebrates with Paige Viti, far left, and her mother, Kristine Viti, while attending the engagement party for Blase Viti III at Tufano's Vernon Park Tap in Chicago's Little Italy neighborhood June 4, 2021.

What are you going to do when the state reopens without restrictions? Readers reveal their plans.

By Darcel Rockett

June 10, 2021 at 12:47 p.m.

After months of restrictions, the time has come. If new coronavirus deaths, cases and hospitalizations...

Nek Chand, of India, used concrete, rocks and scraps from a dump to sculpt his mythical kingdom.

See bedazzled objects from The Original Rhinestone Cowboy, a ‘healing machine’ and a former lumberjack’s concrete sculptures at the new Art Preserve in Sheboygan

By Mary Bergin

June 10, 2021 at 5:00 a.m.

Fred Smith spent much of life as a Northwoods Wisconsin lumberjack, but during retirement used...

Gregory Van Maanen of New Jersey, a Vietnam War veteran, continues to use
art as a form of escape. He has created thousands of paintings, talismans and altars.

Art Preserve in Sheboygan, Wisconsin

By Contributed Content

June 9, 2021 at 9:18 p.m.

Timbers, concrete and river stones blend artistry with practicality at the new Art Preserve in...

A visitor waits outside O'Hare International Airport in Chicago on March 11, 2021.

Why you should consider a ‘second city’ trip in 2021

By Associated Press

June 9, 2021 at 3:50 p.m.

Even if you're fully vaccinated, you might not want your next trip — perhaps your...