33 Best Food Gifts 2023: Sweet, Savory, and Saucy Gifts

Seattle skies were glowing with color as the Space Needle rang in 2024 with a brilliant light, drone, and pyrotechnic spectacular for the West Coast—and the world—to see. The T-Mobile New Year’s at the Needle extravaganza was the longest show in the event’s 32-year history, stunning viewers with an 18-minute display. More viewers were able to tune in than ever before with the event broadcast live for the first time in Portland and Spokane, in addition to Seattle.

Germany is celebrating the 250th birthday of one of its best-loved painters, the Romantic artist Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840). His work features mountains, ruins and stormy seas, often with human figures, such as Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog. There are exhibitions in Hamburg (until 1 April), Berlin (19 April to 4 August) and Dresden (24 August to 5 January 2025), where Friedrich lived for 40 years; he is buried in the city’s Trinitatis Cemetery. His birthplace, Greifswald, has a festival (31 August-1 September) and three exhibitions at the Pomeranian State Museum (from 28 April). Visitors can also follow in the artist’s footsteps – literally, as he preferred to travel on foot, sketchbook in hand – to locations in his paintings, such as Rügen Island or the Saxon Switzerland national park.germany.travel

In 2020, after reading too many restaurant obituaries, I set out to write annual restaurant love letters instead. Now that the food world is roaring back, getting stronger—and more creative—than ever, it has become even easier to fall in love. And so, I have a new round of love letters.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is inviting everyone to the ‘Amazing Thailand Countdown 2024 Vijit Arun’ celebration that will take place on New Year’s Eve at Nagaraphirom Park against the majestic backdrop of Wat Arun or the Temple of Dawn, one of Thailand’s most-visited attractions on the mighty Chao Phraya River in Bangkok.

Toward the end of each year, I love opening my camera roll and reflecting on all the pictures and videos I took during the year.

What is the future of travel? Answering that is Skift’s editorial mission, and the release of our annual Megatrends is core to that mission.

Although it has been years since I’ve traveled in mesmerizing Tokyo, my memories are as vivid as though they had been sparked yesterday—pleasures aswirl in unique flavors and noises, creativity and ingenuity. So when luxury publisher Assouline released the new book Tokyo Chic, I dove into its 312 lush-paper-stock pages, with more than 200 photographs and illustrations, which are bound in an outsize (10-by-13-inches, 6.4-pound) format—a hefty hardcover wrapped in silk. The brainchild of Andrea Fazzari, whose deft imagery and words are love letters to the inimitable capital, Tokyo Chic showcases a massively enthralling—yet strikingly intimate—city. Currently based in Tokyo, Fazzari is a James Beard Award-winning photographer, author and restaurant maven with notable backgrounds in fashion and film. Born in New York City, she has lived in France, Hong Kong, Italy, Spain and Thailand—and speaks four languages. What a sophisticated guide to have at your armchair traveler’s fingertips! Indeed, this coffee table tome would make a treasured holiday gift for those who have already vacationed in Japan or simply dream of doing so.

Of the many conveniences that hotels offer, few are as welcome as the in-house breakfast. Whether you’re raring to go or still slumped over after that early morning wake-up, there’s no better reward for having made it out of bed at all than the sumptuous spread that awaits. Here, we’ve rounded up the most sublime hotel breakfasts our editors have enjoyed this year, comprising national dishes, pastry repasts, snow-day bread baskets, and so much more.

One summer, many years ago when I was 17, I met a Dutch girl in a pub who was backpacking around Ireland. She said she was staying in hostels and was off to Doolin in County Clare the next day. Somehow, I hadn’t realised it was that easy to strike out and see the world. The next morning I took the bus to Doolin and began a lifelong love of independent travel and the open road. I never saw the Dutch girl again despite a full search of every pub in the village.

The ancient Kingdom of Fife is steeped in rich history and dramatic scenery. The region is located on a sprawling peninsula on Scotland’s east coast, appreciated for its cinematic scale, ambience, and pure sense of drama. The name ‘Kingdom of Fife’ derives from its historical significance as one of the major Pictish kingdoms, once known as Fib. This four-day itinerary guides visitors through the region’s charming fishing villages, to iconic landmarks and across wild coastal paths. It's a place where visitors can escape, relax and unwind. Explore the historic home of Scotland’s ancient monarchs and tuck into world-class local produce — all within an easy drive from Edinburgh, Scotland’s capital city.

Blue Lagoon Iceland will reopen its geothermal spa and some restaurants to guests on December 17, it said in an statement Friday.

Finding the best walking shoes for travel can be tough. You want something comfortable enough to get you through a full day of wandering around, but not so comfortable that it screams “I'm a tourist!” And since nobody wants to tote around a bag (checked or otherwise) filled with shoes, the ones that do make the packing list cut need to be versatile enough to wear with multiple outfits.