Eclipse tips

With accommodation inside the 115-mile-long path of totality surging in price and cloud scientists suggesting that Texas has the highest chance of a clear view for April 8’s total solar eclipse, planning an eclipse trip is getting tricky. The answer has been there since the start—go to an eclipse festival. If you’re OK with staying in an RV or camping, then it’s a no-brainer.

“Oh My God!” “This is crazy! “I’ll be dreaming about this for the rest of my life!” You’ve heard all about what it’s like to experience the brief moments of totality—when the moon completely blocks the sun—yet you’re having trouble convincing others to come with you on an eclipse adventure. After all, they’ll say, if there’s an 85% eclipse where we live, then what’s the point of traveling to where it’s 100%? The expense, the time, the traffic … let’s not bother.

The solar eclipse on April 8, will be a celestial event. It will be visible from 15 states across the U.S., parts of Mexico and Canada. 

Wherever you go to catch the total solar eclipse on April 8, those three or four minutes of daytime darkness — no matter how spectacular — might not be enough.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Wednesday, March 13. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

Planning an expedition to view a total solar eclipse demands an arsenal of maps of all kinds. Where is the path of totality? Are we in it yet? Is it cloudy? What began in England in 1715 with Edmond Halley’s (he of comet fame) first map predicting the time and path of a total solar eclipse has morphed into a mini-industry with all kinds of different maps that try to relay the complexities, intricacies and dynamic nature of a total solar eclipse.

A million Americans remember where they were on August 21, 2017. For most of the enlightened who made a trip into the path of totality that day—the first to go coast to coast in the U.S. For 99 years—it was their first glimpse of totality, the eclipsed sun’s glistening corona on display for a couple of minutes of darkness during the middle of the day.

One of the largest living history museums in the U.S. will transport eclipse chasers back to the 19th century on April 8 in a once-in-a-century event.

Next month’s total solar eclipse, which will pass directly over a wide swath of North America, is drawing an awful lot of interest from folks who are willing to travel to see it in all its glory. In order to do so, they need to place themselves somewhere along its path of totality—geographic locations from which the sun will appear to be entirely obstructed by the moon’s shadow passing between the Earth and its nearest star.

A total solar eclipse is not just for science geeks. Memories of April 8’s brief moments of totality—reserved only for those inside the 115-mile-wide path across North America—will live forever in the mind of anyone who experiences it, whatever the level of their scientific knowledge.

Semi-private jet company JSX is offering a luxurious way to see the total solar eclipse next month with a sweepstakes that will give 12 lucky space fans the chance to see the phenomenon from the air for free.

The total solar eclipse on April 8 is the event of spring, but with the chances of a clear sky about 50/50 it pays to make a plan to do something that goes on for longer than the few hours of celestial splendor.

On April 8, parts of Indiana will experience its first total solar eclipse since August 7, 1869, and its last until September 14, 2099. Up to 600,000 eclipse chasers could arrive on April 8, many of them heading to cities like Indianapolis, Bloomington, Muncie, Richmond & Wayne County and Terre Haute.

Theoretically, there is only one way to near-guarantee a clear sight of the totally eclipsed sun—have a window seat on the lucky side of a plane that's 30,000 feet up with the path of totality.

“All hotels for the eclipse sold out months ago—you’re too late.” It’s a common refrain from people who booked their rooms months ago and want to feel good about that, but it’s inaccurate.

If there's one honeypot location for many U.S. eclipse-chasers on Monday, April 8, it's Niagara Falls—and you don't even need a ticket. Destined to be in darkness for 3 minutes and 29 seconds at 3:18 p.m. EDT, many thousands of people are expected to be at the UNESCO World Heritage Site on the U.S.-Canada border to witness its first total solar eclipse since January 24, 1925—and its last until October 26, 2144.

For a newly minted Texan such as myself, viewing the solar eclipse in San Antonio last October was spectacular. We took a short drive to the award-winning Confluence Park, a bucolic ecosystem that features a rainwater catchment along the San Antonio River, a green roof for passive heating/cooling and a constellation of walking paths that connect to the San Antonio Missions UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Ohio will be one of the busiest U.S. states for eclipse chasers on Monday, April 8, for its first total solar eclipse since 1806.

If you’re not one of the 32 million people lucky enough to live in the path of totality for the 2024 total solar eclipse, you may be one of the millions traveling to a viewing location. It is projected that Arkansas, one of the first states to witness this April 8 marvel that only happens once every 100 years or so per area, will experience its largest tourism turnout in history, according to the Arkansas Department of Transportation.

A total solar eclipse, one of astronomy’s most magnificent events, will grace portions of the United States on Monday, April 8, 2024. It will be the last total solar eclipse visible from the contiguous United States until 2044. The eclipse is will enter the country in Texas and travel through Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine along with small parts of Tennessee and Michigan.

Over 14 million Americans will witness North America's total solar eclipse on April 8 while staying in a recreational vehicle, according to the RV Industry Association, after a surge in bookings and rentals.