United Airlines is dreaming of moussaka and ouzo as the airline prepares to launch a new seasonal flight from Chicago to Athens this spring.
05.01.2024 - 21:53 / nationalgeographic.com / Emerald Isle
Thanks to Alaska’s size, limited road system, and often overwhelming array of outdoor activities, mapping out a trip to the 49th state can be challenging. Cruise the Inside Passage or drive the Interior? Day trip out of Anchorage or basecamp in the backcountry? To help you plan the best trip, we asked locals—writers, adventurers, artists, museum curators—for their secret spots and favorite hangouts.
First Friday events throughout Juneau and Anchorage offer a chance to see beautiful artwork and learn about contemporary Native Alaskan artists who focus on “issues that are important to specific cultures or communities,” says artist Rico Worl, who co-owns Anchorage-based Trickster Company with his sister, Crystal Worl. To learn more about Native art, Worl recommends the Sealaska Heritage Institute in Juneau and Akela Space gallery in Anchorage.
National parks may be big draws for visitors, but they constitute a fraction of Alaska’s wilderness. At 1.6 million acres, Wood-Tikchik is the largest state park in the U.S. and “a place that I can’t get enough of,” says novelist and University of Alaska Anchorage associate professor Don Rearden, who grew up in Southwest Alaska.
Carved by rivers and dotted with lakes, the park is a boater’s dream that offers float trips ranging from mild to wild, plus hiking, caribou and bear watching, and fishing. Don’t let its remoteness deter you; guides can assist even novice adventurers. It’s worth it, says Rearden. “Get off the beaten path. Get dirty and cold. Feel the tundra beneath your bare feet.”
(These lesser known U.S. state parks are a nature lover’s dream.)
“Part of the beauty of the Kenai Peninsula is that there are so many [multiday backpacking trips] and they’re all great,” says outdoor educator Luc Mehl, who has traveled more than 10,000 miles around Alaska by foot, bike, packraft, and ice skates. For those with little multiday backpacking experience, Mehl recommends the Resurrection Pass Trail in the Chugach National Forest.
He says the trail avoids the “common mistake” that many people who haven’t logged lots of “high-skill, technical off-trail” trips make. They “go to the Brooks Range for their first trip and they have a terrible experience,” he says about the challenging hike. On the Resurrection trail, Mehl likes to start at the coast-side Hope Trailhead up to Devil’s Pass. “You get to walk through the different vegetation bands,” he says.
Ireland may be the original “Emerald Isle,” but the verdant landscape in Kodiak, in Southwest Alaska, is just as dazzling. The best way to take in the 3,670-square-mile island’s natural beauty? From atop North Sister Mountain, according to Kodiak History Museum curator Lynn Walker. She hiked the peak for the first time on
United Airlines is dreaming of moussaka and ouzo as the airline prepares to launch a new seasonal flight from Chicago to Athens this spring.
If there was any doubt about the health of the transatlantic aviation market, look no further than Phoenix. The city has just announced a new route with Air France, connecting the Arizona state capital with Paris. While air services come and go, to secure a European flag carrier on a new city pairing like this is notable.
Tequila and mezcal are drunk in a caballito, a special glass for these Mexican drinks. Pulque and tepache can be drunk in a beer mug, and aguas frescas (flavored fresh waters) in a traditional glass.
The Seven Seas just got a bit more crowded: Nine new world cruises have recently set sail, joining Royal Caribbean's ongoing Ultimate World Cruise in a quest to travel around the world in 2024.
From air traffic control strikes to extreme weather, last year saw millions of passengers face flight delays across Europe.
To hold Dolce Vita—the new silk-swathed hardcover released by luxury publisher Assouline—in my hands feels as though I am embracing the essence and sensuousness of Italy itself. Sweet Life! Written by Italy connoisseur Cesare Cunaccia, this hefty (10-by-13-inch, 6.4-pound, 320-page) coffee-table tome showcases almost 200 expressive and evocative photographs that invite lovely lingering perusal. If you’re seeking an armchair traveler’s page-turner for yourself to kick off 2024 or a Valentine’s Day gift for a dreamer of things bellissimo, thispleases aplenty. Dolce Vita is a visual joy ride, chic and engaging. Indeed, gazing at its images fuels my fantasies of sliding onto a Vespa or into an Alfa Romeo, breezily wheeling from Venice to Milan to Genoa to Florence to Rome to Naples to Sorrento and beyond, through undulating verdant landscapes and glistening seaside ports, savoring fantastic cuisine, then sailing to Sicily for more. Prego!
London, Rome, Tokyo, Cancún and Las Vegas, some of the most visited destinations in 2023, are still among the top places travelers are searching to go to this year, according to the travel sites Kayak and Hopper.
If you're ever wondering aloud where the hottest mid-winter celebrations take place, those in-the-know might quietly respond, “St. Barts.” The island's luxe air of mystery and remoteness are part of what makes it a seasonal staple for jet setters and superyachts as they follow the sun to the Caribbean in winter. The festivities rage on until the St. Barths Bucket Regatta in mid-March, but what most visitors don’t realize is that the island is practically a year-round one, since the only time hotels typically shut is at the height of hurricane season (late summer).
China is addressing the bottlenecks that have restricted outbound travel from the country. But the enthusiasm among Chinese travelers to visit the U.S. is diminishing, according to the latest survey from China Trading Desk, a marketing technology company.
Atlanta will have a new transatlantic option this summer. From June 17, SAS Scandinavian Airlines will fly nonstop daily between Copenhagen and the Georgia hub. The timing of the announcement is notable for one main reason.
The passport you hold is a powerful tool when it comes to effortlessly visiting countries around the world.And some passports provide far more access than others, according to the Henley Passport Index.The just-released 2024 index shows that for the first time in 19 years of producing the ranking, six countries are tied for the top spot of having the most powerful passports.The countries leading the ranking are France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Singapore, and Spain—meaning citizens from all of these countries are able to visit 194 destinations around the world either visa-free or by obtaining a visa-on-arrival.The Henley Passport Index is the only ranking of its kind and is developed based on exclusive data from the International Air Transport Authority (IATA). The index compares 199 different passports and 227 different travel destinations.While Japan and Singapore have made it into the number one slot for the past five years running, according to CNN, the European countries that are now also ranked number one on the list is a new development.
Debbie Owen assumed that the British Airways flight from the Ivory Coast to London Gatwick would be straightforward: seven hours non-stop, swapping the heat of Africa for the cozy pre-holiday glow of Britain. At seven months pregnant, Owen was traveling solo back to the UK with her four-year old daughter, Claire, in tow; husband Duncan was still at home in Africa, and would follow closer to the birth. But it wasn’t long after take-off that the twinges started, which soon turned into contractions. Owen knew her baby wasn’t due until Christmas, seven weeks later: She’d even visited her doctor for a check-up before the flight, and had a letter deeming her safe to travel. Still, it was clear that her second child was planning an early arrival.