Get outdoors on the Great West Way®

Appalachia is a region and a mind-set. Our devotion to our place belies the fact that we’re hard to pin down on a map: a swath of highlands crossing parts of Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia and the coal country of Kentucky and West Virginia, plus a smidgen of Pennsylvania and points north. State lines make little sense here; we have more in common with other mountain communities than with the far ends of our states and their capitals. Appalachia has few large cities, our economies are land-based and, unless you live here, we’re probably not what you think.

Train travel is undoubtedly the most romantic way to explore Europe. You can sit back and soak up the continent’s most beautiful sights as they zip past, from the towering snow-cloaked mountains of Germany and the glittering fjords of Norway to the sparkling coasts of Italy and vine-carpeted fields of France. Plus, there are few greater feelings than getting from country to country in the knowledge that you are traveling more sustainably and minimizing carbon footprints. But sadly, the evolution of budget airlines has meant that aviation has become a more affordable (and at times faster) alternative for travelers. Below, we look at the ultimate travel hacks for finding cheap train tickets across Europe this summer so you can embrace slow travel – with expert advice from some of the world’s top train travel experts.

With its white-sand beaches and sparkling turquoise seas framed by palm trees, lush greenery and soaring mountains, there could hardly be a more romantic destination than the Caribbean. Whether you want to snorkel with spectacular sea life, indulge in a moonlit dinner á deux, have your cares massaged away or lounge together in a private cabana, the Caribbean offers the ultimate idyllic couples’ escape.

If you haven’t heard about the U.K.’s heated debate on cutting ties with the European Union—dubbed a “Brexit”—you certainly will this week. Britons headed to the ballot box on Thursday and made the historic decision to leave the European Union.

North American travelers looking for bargain transatlantic fares will have lots more options this summer, as European-based low-fare lines expand their reach. Three lines have announced aggressive moves:

Looking for a new museum to add to your travel to-do list? TripAdvisor (SmarterTravel’s parent company) has released the Travelers’ Choice Top 25 Museums of 2018, including the top 10 worldwide and the top 10 in the United States, with some surprising frontrunners. The findings also highlight bookable ways to see each winner—think VIP tours and scavenger hunts—with some offering the added perk of allowing you to skip the lines to get in.

The best place in the U.S. to buy a vacation home is Sevierville, Tennessee, in the foothills north of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. That’s the lead finding of a new report from Vacasa, the major vacation home rental site. The report names the top 25 locations for buying a vacation home based on capitalization, or “cap rates,” which is a ratio of home cost and the income a property can produce by being rented out.

2020 likely wasn’t anyone’s favorite year ever, but for citizens of one country, it was a little bit better, according to the United Nations.

For the sixth year in a row, Finland has claimed the top spot in the World Happiness Report. The annual report, compiled by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, surveys residents in over 150 countries to determine which nations are the happiest.

Charleston, South Carolina, may be known for its harborfront promenade lined with candy-colored, antebellum-style, million-dollar mansions. Or for its she-crab soup, shrimp and grits, fried green tomatoes, and other delicacies on the menus of the city’s famed restaurants.  

Here at Rough Guides, we’re known for our “tell it like it is” ethos, which – coupled with our in-depth knowledge of destinations, reliability, attention to detail and resourcefulness – results in the best guidebooks out there. (We’re not biased.) The current coronavirus situation means we can’t get out there researching at the moment, so we’ve instead decided to take a look back at the wealth of travel writing from the Middle Ages to see whether any of these historical authors would have what it takes to join the Rough Guides team. We’ll be considering big names in the medieval travel industry, like Marco Polo, and more obscure applicants such as Simon of St Quentin. Let’s find out who’s in with a shot!

As the Antarctic winter draws in at the end of April, Emperor Penguins begin the long march inland to their breeding grounds. There, they mate, before taking turns to insulate the egg while their partner travels up to 80km to fish. Back in the colony the penguins huddle together to protect the eggs from temperatures below -50 degrees celsius; only a small fraction of chicks survive each year.