How to take a bikepacking adventure on Bulgaria’s Dunav Ultra

With a new year approaching and new resolutions in mind, learning a language is one of those items that often appears on many personal lists. Travel experts and language institutions regularly publish surveys on the best destinations to do so, echoing the simple fact that in our interconnected, “globalized” world, the ability to communicate in more than one language opens new opportunities, experiences and understanding.

As every skier knows, there is something more fearsome than even the iciest cliff face: the cost of a ski trip.

Southwest Airlines has been through a rough patch. But like John Belushi in Animal House after the latest fiasco at the Delta frat, the airline is bellowing “Road trip!” to its Rapid Rewards customers, with a new contest.

They’re normally the holy grail of a winter holiday, but last night people living in more southern parts of Europe were left awestruck as the Northern Lights visited them at home.

Two passengers stole $12,800 worth of sculptures from a Carnival Legend cruise in September, the FBI said in a search warrant filed in the District Court of Maryland on Tuesday. 

Imagine taking nearly three months to meander across Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America, reveling in the romantic atmosphere of first-class train travel all the while. From your individual suite on board—or a seat in a gleaming bar car—you’d soak in the unique landscapes of each continent that whoosh past your window, making stops to explore historical marvels, UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and picturesque cities.

Did you know that there are European countries that don't use the euro? Of the 27 nations that make up the European Union (EU), 20 use the euro as their official currency, in the region known as the Eurozone. While most countries that join the EU are required to adopt the euro as part of their membership, there are seven member states that have yet to adopt the currency.

Riga’s Kronvalda Park had taken on a Christmas-card look with icicles hanging from trees and the canal frozen solid. It was minus 14C so I’d lost the feeling in my hands but I ran on, crunching through the snow, avoiding black-ice patches and taking corners slowly.

For her family vacation next year, Liz Thimm has booked a 10-day trip to Bocas del Toro, Panama, in February. She requested time off from her pharmacist job a year in advance, checked out guidebooks from the library and has shared itinerary ideas with her daughter and son — who are 11 and 9 — to involve them in the planning process. One thing she has not and will not do? Schedule the trip around a school vacation.

Bolting at up to 125 mph, Brightline is the newest high-speed rail network in the US.

The rules for most people entering Europe who don't have an EU passport are changing and after several delays, the EU has confirmed when and how they will roll out the two new border controls that will impact travelers arriving into the Schengen area from 2024 onwards.

Arriving in Bansko for the first time, you might feel you've been transported back to a simpler age. Storks nest on telegraph poles, gaggles of head-scarved grandmothers gossip beneath apple trees on street corners and Roma on horse-drawn carts whip their steeds along the road. Above the red rooftops, the marble peaks of south-west Bulgaria's Pirin Mountains march over pine-clad slopes, looming over the town and its ski resort like the outstretched wings of a crouching dragon.