Welcome 2024 in the outdoors on a First Day Hike in America’s State Parks

From southeast Florida to northwest Washington to Hawaii, Lonely Planet editors have picked the top 12 beaches in the USA.

Snowy and frigid weather swept the country over the holiday weekend from Texas and the Midwest to the Northeast, canceling and delaying thousands of flights.

Thousands of flights across the U.S. were canceled or delayed Tuesday morning as a winter storm swept across the nation for the second day in a row.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Sundance Film Festival. It’s a big milestone for the festival, which takes place January 18-28 in Park City, Utah. The years following COVID have been muted, with parts of the festival taking place virtually. This, of course, impacted party attendance and the overall festival vibe, which traditionally does a full takeover of Park City’s historic Main Street corridor. The sense is that 2024 will restore Sundance to its full capacity, which also means Hollywood will truly bring the party to Park City this year.

Nevada is getting a brand-new state park this month. It’s one every would-be Indiana Jones (or maybe more like the Ross Gellers among us) will love, and as a bonus, it’s within a quick driving distance to The Strip. 

The 2023-24 ski season is off to a rocky start in much of the U.S., despite an El Nino weather pattern having promised another snowy winter.

Obsessed with visiting national parks in the US?

When Disney World reopened in July 2020 after a brief closure during the pandemic, the Central Florida resort did so with a lengthy list of procedures intended to control and monitor crowds for health and safety purposes. Most were done away with long ago, like temperature checks at the front gate and six-foot distance markers in ride queues. But a few have stuck around since the park reopened...until now.

Orlando, the Theme Park Capital of the World and No. 1 Travel Destination in the U.S., continues to embrace new and returning visitors in 2024 with more than two dozen new experiences. The destination — where winter doesn’t exist — is brimming with new possibilities for dream vacations, from movie-inspired attractions and a launch coaster with snowmobile-style cars to a cabaret-style music venue tucked inside a stunning performing arts center and a luxury beach-like resort with an 8-acre crystal lagoon.

Scoring free entry into America's national parks like Yellowstone and Grand Canyon might just be one of the best deals in travel—after all, America’s great outdoors are home to some of the country’s most stunning scenery and significant historical and cultural sites. Entrance fees, ranging from $10 per person to $35 per vehicle, are typically charged at 109 of the nation's 400 national parks to help fund the government's maintenance of the spaces for millions of annual visitors. But in an effort to ensure accessibility for everyone, there are a number of programs that allow visitors free entry to national parks, and state-run sites too.

It was 2:38 p.m. on August 21, 2017, when day turned to night. That was the precise moment in Greenville, South Carolina, when the moon, passing between the sun and Earth, fully blocked our view of the sun.

Throughout 2024, ECA will also be introducing new advocacy capabilities that will allow industry leaders and advocates to share their stories and make their voices heard in the political and policymaking processes.