The 22 best places to visit in May

Navigating the Netherlands is a breeze. Its compact size means there are no domestic flights and the efficient, highly integrated public transport network of trains, buses and ferries covers all corners of the country.

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. . —

If you’ve ever sat in an even smaller than usual coach seat, had your flight canceled, or fought with a rude customer service agent—you know the airline you fly can make a huge difference in the pleasantness of your trip.

Beyond the Netherlands’ biggest and best-known cities, a patchwork of farmland, fields, villages and towns laced by canals, polders, dykes and windmills unfolds across the flat, low-lying Dutch landscapes.

The Netherlands is known for many things – sublime art, sustainability initiatives, glorious countryside – but low prices isn’t typically one of them (especially not in Amsterdam, with the capital ranking as one of Europe’s most expensive cities).

It’s been a dazzling spectacle of the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, since Friday, May 11, across the night sky of the U.S., Canada and Europe, high-energy particles from the sun interacting with the earth's magnetic field to cause dazzling and mesmerizing geomagnetic storms.

It’s an unfortunate truth that air travel has become an overall frustrating experience. With shrinking seats, crowded flights, and rising fees for services like checking a bag, it’s enough to make even the most savvy of travelers exasperated. But a select number of airlines continue to stand out from the rest, with refreshingly smooth operations and passenger-friendly cabins.

Airbnb execs have used the phrase “expanding beyond the core” to mean launching new products and services for guests and hosts, and also their hope to lift growth beyond the company’s main five markets: The U.S., Canada, UK, Australia, and France.

It was a sunny afternoon in February at the height of the high season on the Caribbean island of Curaçao, but my partner, Aaren, and I were far from lounging on a white-sand beach, snorkeling over a coral reef or strolling among the Easter-egg-colored buildings of Willemstad, Curaçao’s capital and a UNESCO World Heritage site — typical activities for travelers to this former Dutch colony.

Part of the and specialising in ranch holidays across the US and Canada, leading tour operator American Round-Up is thrilled to announce a fresh lineup of captivating Western adventures for 2024. The list includes Ranchlands’ new Paintrock Canyon Ranch, the stylish glamping retreat located at the base of the Big Horn Mountains in Northern Wyoming, and The True Collection’s latest Yellowstone ranch pop-up, the historic Blackwater Creek Ranch only 15 miles from the east gates of America’s first ever national park.

Searching for the safest places to travel? Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection (BHTP) recently unveiled its annual State of Travel Insurance Safest Destinations report, which ranks the world’s 15 safest cities to travel. This year, two U.S. cities made the list, with Honolulu named the safest city in the world.

The Netherlands is a treasure chest of exquisite art-filled cities and towns, canals, windmills and tulip fields, along with shiny-new sustainable urban environments, and glorious natural landscapes, coastlines and islands. While it’s one of Europe’s smaller nations (you can cross the entire country in a handful of hours), choosing where to spend your time takes planning.