12 things every Dubrovnik local knows

For all its tropical charms, Havana isn’t the world’s most straightforward city for travelers.

To a first-time traveler, Cuba can seem like a confusing jigsaw puzzle, particularly if you’re breaking free of the resorts and traveling around on your own.

Reducing queue times and improving airport security with face recognition technology.

If you have a particular outdoor or travel passion, be it hiking, biking, golf or skiing, there’s a Bucket List trip for you to experience this year. These are all topics I have specialized in for three decades, and I continuously try new outfitters and new destinations to find the best trips on earth, so I figured I’d kick off the New Year by sharing some of that expertise.

“When I was at home I was in a better place,” Mr. Shakespeare wrote in As You Like It. I wonder which home of his inspired that line, if any. It’s possible he had given thought to the home of his birth, where also lived in his youth. Amazingly, all these hundreds of years later, that home still exists and, not surprisingly, it’s a museum.

Sporting a descriptive and undeniably epic name, Death Valley National Park is a unique location with an absolutely stunning landscape. Not just flat plains, but towering mountains, remarkable rock formations, and more. While you can visit in the summer if you’ve never experienced ultra-hot temperatures before, it’s far more beautiful and hospitable in the winter, early spring, and late autumn.

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Of Arizona’s three national parks, Petrified Forest is the least visited. That’s a shame, since it is absolutely stunning. Though named after the fields of petrified wood, that’s only one reason to visit. Vibrant multi-layered and colorful sedimentary rocks look like few other places on earth.

Situated in the German Alps, Kehlsteinhaus, aka the Eagle’s Nest, offers incredible views of the surrounding mountains and valleys. It’s a strange sight, this squat stone building perched on the edge of a cliff. It was liberated at the end of WWII by Easy Company, made famous by the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers. Today, it’s predominantly a restaurant, its dark history mostly obscured by modern kitchens and dining rooms.

I moved from a small town of roughly 8,000 residents to New York City over four years ago.

Sometimes traveling with your family or young children in tow requires a different set of needs from your hotel. For example, if staying on budget is important, you may value free parking more than room service. And on the other hand, if you're looking to splurge on spa or babysitting services, you'll find yourself looking for accommodations with those amenities instead.

From a Texas-shaped lazy river that glows with holiday lights to bare trees swaddled in colorful lights at botanic gardens, unexpected destinations around the country turn into illuminated winter wonderlands this time of year. If you’re looking to see some of the most magnificent holiday lights displays between now and the New Year, a new study from SmokyMountains.com shows the top-rated lights in the country as well as the highest-rated lights attractions broken down by state.