Score a Discounted Flight to New Zealand From NYC, Los Angeles, and More — Here's When to Book

Whether you’re traveling for business or pleasure, spending a few days in Los Angeles can often feel like a vacation, thanks in part to its many luxury hotels. The editors at Forbes Travel Guide have compiled the 29 best hotels in L.A. based on empirical data. Each property is visited by incognito inspectors, who have a three-day, two-night stay and perform hundreds of tests to exacting standards.

There’s more to Los Angeles than the glitz and glamor of Hollywood. The City of Angels boasts an array of hiking trails that offer something for everyone from first-timers to experienced hikers.

Vaughan Mabee is a mad genius. I mean this as the highest compliment. The New Zealand chef asks helicopter pilots to drop him off in the middle of nowhere so he can forage, hunt and cook. He researches the molecular structure of animal proteins. He shoots deer and pheasants from his back porch and serves them to guests. He cooks with the creativity, assurance and technique of someone who spent decades in the kitchens of Noma and Martin Berasategui. He sleeps about two hours a night.

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Low-cost Icelandic airline Play is making a fall or winter European getaway more affordable with 30 percent off flights to popular destinations across the continent.

Queenstown, New Zealand, wouldn’t be Queenstown if it weren’t far away from everything—more than three hours’ flight from the closet foreign city of Sydney, a long transpacific slog from the west coast of the U.S., a diabolically long distance from western Europe. (This part of the world is called the Antipodes for a reason.) But being tucked away in the snowy mountains at the bottom of the world is what gives it its character: It’s a cosmopolitan frontier town, full of ruggedly individualistic locals and generous transplants, ski bums and worldly chefs, shepherds and sommeliers.

In Lonely Plan-It, we take you step by step through how we planned some of the most complicated travel adventures. Here, Craig McLachlan explains how to make the most out of your biking adventure to this South Pacific paradise’s deep south.

It's an unfortunate fact that Los Angeles isn’t the most budget-friendly travel destination.

Welcome to the vibrant tapestry of Los Angeles, a city that thrives on diversity, individuality, and boundless creativity. Sure, you can (and should) visit iconic sites like the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Santa Monica Pier, but this guide is all about delving beyond the surface and experiencing LA like a true local. 

It’s getting easier (and cheaper) to jet off to Europe as the summer comes to a close, and British Airways is putting the cherry on top with a September flight sale that has roundtrip tickets starting at less than $500. 

Once you’ve made it all the way to New Zealand, you may want to ease up a little on the flying and find a more sustainable way to travel around the country. Riding New Zealand’s scenic trains is the best option in this case since it’s less harmful for the environment (train travel emits much less CO2 per passenger than flying), it’s reliable and efficient, and it will give you a front-row seat to the country’s amazing scenery. The best of Kiwi Rail’s route is the TranzAlpine train, a journey that take you right across the South Island, from the Pacific Ocean to the Tasman Sea, through the picture-perfect Southern Alps.

In November 2016, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck and ravaged the region around the town of Kaikoura on the east coast of New Zealand’s South Island. The earthquake and the ensuing landslides killed two people, and demolished homes, roads, and railway tracks. Indeed, parts of the Main North Line, one of the most scenic rail routes in the world, slid into the ocean, forcing the Coastal Pacific train to stop its operation. In 2018, the line was repaired and the magnificent train journey between Christchurch and Picton resumed. Today, the Coastal Pacific still runs along the Pacific Ocean, allowing travelers to see New Zealand’s beauty, the slow and comfortable way.