Taylor Swift heads to Europe next summer. Hotels are already selling out.

Forget "dry January" — sober travel is becoming more than a New Year's trend; it's a movement, and hotels and airlines are finally taking notice. According to a 2023 survey by Hotels.com (shared via PRNewswire.com), "More than 40% of travelers say they are likely to book a detox trip in the next year, and half of travelers say they would be interested in staying at hotels that offer easily accessible alcohol-free options."

Tickets will be awarded via cumulative sales, with the first two winners being awarded at the end of January, then one new winner each month from February – July.

Paris to Venice. Barcelona to Amsterdam. Brussels to Bratislava, Slovakia. European cities could see a flurry of new rail connections in the next few years, as governments and private investors respond to climate concerns and strive to keep up with strong demand for cross-border passenger rail traffic.

Germany is celebrating the 250th birthday of one of its best-loved painters, the Romantic artist Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840). His work features mountains, ruins and stormy seas, often with human figures, such as Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog. There are exhibitions in Hamburg (until 1 April), Berlin (19 April to 4 August) and Dresden (24 August to 5 January 2025), where Friedrich lived for 40 years; he is buried in the city’s Trinitatis Cemetery. His birthplace, Greifswald, has a festival (31 August-1 September) and three exhibitions at the Pomeranian State Museum (from 28 April). Visitors can also follow in the artist’s footsteps – literally, as he preferred to travel on foot, sketchbook in hand – to locations in his paintings, such as Rügen Island or the Saxon Switzerland national park.germany.travel

America's national parks continue to draw big crowds. In fact, attendance has bounced back almost to pre-pandemic levels, with nearly 312 million visitors in 2022, according to the National Park Service. Visiting one of the U.S. park sites remains an incredibly popular travel choice for many people.

On January 1, 2024, more than 1,000 hikes will be available in state parks throughout the county. The distance and rigor of the hikes vary from park to park, but they all aim to create a fun experience for the whole family. Savor the beauty of our state parks’ natural, cultural, and historical resources, and be inspired to take advantage of these local treasures all year long.

More than ever, I've been skipping the airport lounge and heading straight to the gate.

Taylor Swift may be singing, “You Need to Calm Down,” but fans in Asia aren’t listening. The singer’s highly anticipated Singapore tour in March is stirring up a travel storm in Southeast Asia. 

South Korea is launching a digital nomad visa in 2024 and it will allow remote workers to stay in the country for up to two years.

Taylor Swift’s multi-continent Eras Tour is on its way to becoming the highest-grossing musical tour of all time. The “Swiftie” impact is not confined to music charts, but has also extended to the travel industry. While the travel sector is still adjusting to the aftermath of the pandemic, the Eras Tour has proved a boon for all the destinations it has graced this year.

Moving abroad can be one of the most exciting and rewarding steps in life, but it also comes with plenty of worries. If you’re dreaming of relocating to Europe, you might be struggling to decide what country or city would suit you best.

“Once upon a time, the planets and the fates and all the stars aligned..." — Taylor Swift