52 Hours Aboard the California Zephyr, the Longest Train Ride in the US

Construction is well underway on Brightline West's high-speed rail line that's expected to link Las Vegas with Southern California by 2028. Now, the private intercity rail operator is offering a glimpse inside the cars of its future trainsets.

Baja California has solidified its position as a world-class wine region, securing 32 of the 52 medals awarded to Mexico at the prestigious 2024 Bacchus International Wines and Vermouth Competition. This remarkable achievement underscores the exceptional quality of wines produced in the region.

One of the great hassles in surf travel is schlepping around a board. Long boards can be the size of a small airplane wing, and airport personnel, upon seeing a shortboard, sometimes hurl them, as if testing them for flight. Surfers know that it’s not uncommon to pay the oversized luggage fee, which is often north of $150 for one-way travel, arrive in some surfer’s paradise, and unzip their well-padded bag to find their board dinged badly or fully smashed.

I've spent the last 26 years traveling by train all along both US coasts, through the Midwest, and across the UK.

The winner of the rapidly approaching U.S. presidential election is bound to have an outsized impact on the travel industry, a topic Skift has examined in recent weeks. But that’s not the only important politics-related matter on the minds of travel executives.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Jennison Grigsby, an American mom and yoga teacher who lives in Valencia, Spain. It's been edited for length and clarity.

Every year, Condé Nast Traveler readers weigh in on their favorite hotels, airlines, cruises, islands, and more in our annual Readers’ Choice Awards. Luggage is also among the categories you voted on this year, applauding the brands you trust the most for durable, practical suitcase and bags. After all, no matter the trip—be it a safari, cruise, city escape, or weekend in the woods—you need something to carry your belongings. And for many of us, that same carry-on, duffel bag, or backpack becomes our trusty travel companion for years at a time. Below, find your fellow readers’ favorite luggage brands, plus a few of each brand’s most popular pieces of luggage, should you be looking to add a new roomy weekender or sturdy suitcase to your collection.

Aman is well known for its ultraluxury resorts and hotels found in some of the world's favorite cities, like Tokyo and Venice, Italy, as well as destinations as close as Utah and as far as Phuket, Thailand.

Since the dawn of time, the romance of railways has seduced poets, spellbound novelists, and dealt directors the perfect hand for capturing fleeting friendships, illicit affairs, and all manner of crimes and capers. A ticket is not just a permit to ride, it’s permission to trespass on the intimacies of other people’s lives. Trains bring us up close and personal—both inside and outside the carriage. On board, passengers chat politics in Finnish dining cars, clamber into couchettes above strangers on the Trans-Siberian, and share samosas on India’s many raucous mail trains. Outside, the world flashes by, a slideshow of rivers growing into oceans, deserts rising into mountains and cities sprawling then receding into darkness as the train thunders on through the night.

There are two types of train trip: The long, slow, and often luxurious train journey that takes you through beautiful scenery that you book specifically to spend time on the rails; and the speedy, no-nonsense, cheap train ride you take to get from point A to point B as quickly as possible. In the first category, you’ll find grand trips like Australia’s The Ghan, South Africa’s Blue Train, and Britain’s Caledonian Sleeper. In the second, there are trips from London to Brussels in just two hours, from Rome to Venice in four hours, and from Miami to Orlando in three hours. And if you’re a train traveler who belongs to the second category and likes getting places fast without flying, there are plenty of trains in this world that do just that at speeds previously unimaginable on land, including the fastest train in the world and its closest competitors.

It’s looking like Dominica will get an international airport by 2026, and this will be game-changer for visitors. The project, costing north of $1 billion, will welcome international flights from around the world — a stark contrast to the facilities at the current airport, Douglas-Charles Airport, which mainly handles domestic flights and around 60,000 passengers per year through the three gates. Dominica International Airport has been in the planning stages for several years. The new airport is being built on a 500-acre site. On completion, the runways will facilitate planes from local Caribbean airports and the US and Europe.

When you board Amtrak’s Auto Train, you’re doing something unique that happens on no other train within the Amtrak system. First of all, you and your vehicle (car, motorcycle, van, small trailer, or SUV if it meets the measurement limits) must both be on board. You can’t go without it and it can’t go without you.