Articles

Local Experiences

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

Better Buy a Watch: Your Travel Future Will Be Timed

Travel is still shut down, but the coronavirus has already changed it. New social distancing measures have forced attractions around the world to look at entrance procedures anew.…

Article / Arts and Culture

Hawaii Is Using the Shutdown to Transform Its Tourist Experience

Tourism has been a boon and a bane to the Aloha State for years. Many Hawaiians are trying to use the travel pause to shift the paradigm.

Article / Local Experiences

How Tourists Can Buy Marijuana in California

If you're old enough to buy a beer in California, you're old enough to buy recreational cannabis products. But that doesn't mean it's a free-for-all. Here are the rules for buying pot…

Article / Local Experiences

How Tourists Can Buy Marijuana in Colorado

Hey, it's perfectly legal. Colorado doesn't require a medical reason to purchase pot—and tourists can partake as well. But there are still rules. Here's what you need to know to…

Article / Passportable

In Acapulco and Worldwide, Bioluminescent Waters Are Back

One of the fascinating lessons from this odd era is how quickly nature can regenerate when humans get out of the way. So when the bay in the Mexican resort city of Acapulco started…

Article / Road Trips

6 Strategies for Road-Tripping in a Pandemic

Yes, driving trips are still possible, but the road rules are a little different for now.

Article / Local Experiences

50+ Places to Find Free, Travel-Themed Virtual Backgrounds for Video Calls

The world's big destinations and attractions have posted digital wallpapers for Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and other video chat platforms—and you can download them all for…

Article / Passportable

Venice's Gondoliers Deliver Food to Isolated Locals Now

It can be difficult, as a visitor, to step off the tourist treadmill in Venice. Until recently, it was a city besieged by tourism, with 60,000 outsiders a day filling streets and…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

It’s the Pits! The Cancellation of the National Cherry Festival Is Personally Saddening

About four years ago I learned that I was a failure. At cherry spitting, that is. No matter how much I tried—and I lined up four times to show off my non-skills to a judge—I couldn’t…

Article / Passportable

A Facebook Page for Sharing Window Views from Around the World

"If you want the people to understand you, invite them to your life and let them see the world from your window!" So wrote Turkish novelist and playwright Mehmet Murat ildan. And while…

Article / Slideshows

The Unmissable Mural Masterpieces Hidden Around New York City

Not all masterpieces are found inside museums. On walls throughout New York City —including in unexpected places—some of the most talented artists in history left us works of lasting…

Article / Miscellaneous

In an Isolation Innovation, Walking Tour Guides Mount Live Virtual "Tours" You Take from Home

Trained walking tour guides have found a new way to keep going during the emergency. They're running live, regularly scheduled webinar explorations of world attractions that anyone can…

Article / Passportable

Airbnb Launches Online Experiences You Pay For

Airbnb has introduced an all-digital version of its Experiences platform for tours and activities. With the company's new Online Experiences, experts around the world can teach you…

Article / Slideshows

Delicious Cocktail Recipes from Cool Hotel Bars—Taste Vacation at Home!

Hotels have been a haven for delightful beverages for centuries. Ever since the modern hotel evolved out of the tavern inns of yore, the world's greatest places to stay have cultivated…

Article / Arthur Frommer Online

In Memoriam: Walking Guide Writer William Helmreich

In my 20-plus years as a radio talk show host, I've interviewed thousands of people. I'll be honest: I don't remember most of those conversations. But although I interviewed William…

Article / Theme Park

Looking for the Forgotten Historic Artifacts Hidden Around Disneyland

From the day Disneyland opened in July of 1955, the Southern California theme park has inspired a fervent following that has only grown over time. Attendance at Disney theme parks is…

Article / Local Experiences

How Travel Changed My Life, By Arthur Frommer

In these days of national emergency, it may be appropriate to note the ways in which the eventual resumption of travel will again enlarge our lives. And surely, that resumption will…

Article / Slideshows

What to Do in the Bronx: 3 Itineraries for NYC's Boogie Down Borough

Each May, a tongue-in-cheek organization called the Great and Glorious Grand Army of The Bronx stages a mock-annexation of Manhattan’s northernmost neighborhood, Marble Hill. Wearing…

Article / Slideshows

What's Near Porto: 10 Great Places in Portugal's North

Porto has established itself as an A-list European city-trip destination for its venerable riverside wine lodges, thriving restaurant scene, and UNESCO World Heritage old town. Its…

Article / Slideshows

A First Timer's Guide to Sanibel Island, Florida's Nature Escape

Note: This gallery was published before Sanibel Island was devastated by Hurricane Ian in September, 2022. The shrimp-shaped slice of sand known as Sanibel Island floats along…

Article / Slideshows

10 Important Country Music Landmarks That Aren't Anywhere Near Nashville

Nashville , Tennessee, is considered the capital of country music, a distinction that is anchored by the famous Grand Ole Opry , but the genre wasn't born there. In fact, country music…

Article / Slideshows

Finding Temples, Hot Springs, and Snow Monsters in Quiet Northern Japan

This complete stillness Sinking into the very rocks The voice of cicadas That’s the haiku that Matsuo Bashō wrote after climbing the stone staircase to Risshakuji Temple in 1689.…

Article / Slideshows

Spain's One-of-a-Kind Festivals Worth Traveling to See

Thanks to Ernest Hemingway, the most famous festival in Spain is Pamplona’s San Fermín hubbub, known the world over for its chaotic running of the bulls. But that event is dangerous…

Article / Slideshows

How to Rose Parade: Getting Tickets, Where to Sit, What to Bring to Pasadena

UPDATED JANUARY 9, 2020 The Rose Parade is to Los Angeles what the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is to New York City: kind of a big deal. Every year on January 1st (or the next day if…

Article / Slideshows

Best Caribbean Islands for Family Vacations: Which One to Choose

Not all Caribbean islands are the same. Yes, you can water ski, parasail, and sunbathe almost anywhere there, but islands come in different flavors, and some shine in specific areas.…