I spent $317 a night to stay at the Taj Cape Town. The mountain views weren't even the best part of the 5-star hotel.

Plotting your first trip to Las Vegas probably looks something like eating, drinking, beach club, casino, and repeat, right? Las Vegas isn’t called Sin City for nothing; it really is one of the best places in the country to let your hair down and have fun.

An hour north of Cape Town, the Swartland, one of the largest wine-producing areas in the Western Cape, doesn’t receive nearly the same attention as its polished neighbors in the Cape Winelands; the clean-cut vineyards of Stellenbosch, Paarl, and Franschhoek, where a hop-on, hop-off wine tram runs through the valley. Instead, the Swartland is the opposite of a wine tourism hub, with dirt roads carving through golden wheat fields that form a pattern of stripes along the foothills of Paardeberg mountain. Along the highway, carefully stacked hay bales form a makeshift café—one of the sole roadside stops—and the only pop of color punctuating the blonde, desert-like expanse (which could double as a backdrop for a Clint Eastwood film) comes from the patchwork of old-bush vines and olive groves. After the winter rains, the native rhinoceros bush takes on an inky hue, which is how the Swartland (Afrikaans for “black land”) earned its name.

Richard Branson has added a new safari experience to his Virgin Limited Edition portfolio—the award-winning Finch Hattons Luxury Safari Camp in Kenya. Located in Africa's only Shetani lava flow, Finch Hattons features 17 tented suites and offers stunning views of Mount Kilimanjaro. The camp joins other African destinations in Virgin Limited Edition's collection, including Mahali Mzuri (also in Kenya), South Africa’s Ulusaba Private Game Reserve and Mont Rochelle hotel and vineyard, and Kasbah Tamadot in Morocco.

American Airlines is getting even bigger in the Caribbean and Latin America.

When Delta Air Lines opened its Sky Club at LaGuardia Airport a couple years ago, it was the largest in its network. Now, it’s even bigger.

Last year, when Micha Pycke, 40, and Albane Paret, 39, bought an apartment in Ostend — a once run-down Belgian seaside town that, in recent years, has become a favorite of artists and designers — they knew they wanted the place to be, says Pycke, “something more than an Airbnb or holiday home.” Instead, the couple, who co-own the Ghent-based arts- and design-focused communications agency Club Paradis, envisioned what he calls “a new kind of space”: essentially, a gallery where guests could stay overnight. To that end, they’ve filled the 1,000-square-foot two-bedroom, which is on the eighth floor of a ’60s-era building overlooking the North Sea, with works by some of their favorite artists and designers, many of whom are also their clients. In the living room, a lacquered wood coffee table by the Dutch designer Linde Freya Tangelder’s studio, Destroyers/Builders, sits atop a limited-edition rug by the Swiss textile artist Christoph Hefti woven with images of foxes. In one of the bedrooms, a copper-colored, ruched-felt tapestry by Rooms Studio — a women-led company from Tbilisi, Georgia — hangs above a Duo seat by the Belgian team Muller Van Severen for Valerie Objects. And if you like something, you can probably take it with you; most of the pieces are for sale, and Pycke and Paret are also happy to connect guests directly with designers. . —

Etihad Airways is making it easier to visit Abu Dhabi with a new stopover program that offers a free hotel stay for travelers.

Princess Cruises is offering a unique new cruisetour celebrating the upcoming 250th anniversary of America, which is in 2026, for travelers embarking on a Canada & New England cruise starting in 2025. 

"Where locals go" is our series featuring under-the-radar holiday destinations that are often overlooked by visitors but cherished by locals. In this edition, our NYC experts showcase their favorite holiday spots at home.

When planning a recent weekend trip from my home in New York City to Washington, D.C., I was delighted by the many transportation options to choose from. But the more I looked at the options, the more I began to wonder which option was the best. With many different ways to get between the two cities — planes, trains and automobiles — I decided to put two of them to the test.

The world’s top 10 cleanest airports have been announced - and only one hub in Europe features on the list.

It’s already spring, which means summer is just around the corner. Not only does summer mean beach vacations and hot weather, but it also means celebrating Pride. The Stonewall Uprising began on June 28, 1969, in response to a police raid at the Stonewall Inn, a popular gay bar in New York City's Greenwich Village. Queer people fought back against the police, and the subsequent uprising lasted for six days. One year later, thousands marched from the Stonewall Inn to Central Park in what we now know was the first Pride parade in the United States.