NIGHT WATCH: LAS VEGAS Las Vegas is teeming with illuminating experiences after dark. Three of the newest options topped my list -- for charisma as much as cocktails.
MONGOLIA: GOT GAME? Couldn't score tickets the Euro 2008 soccer championships this summer? A little late to be planning a trip to the summer Olympics? All is not lost, sports fan. Grab a flight to the Gobi Desert for the Naadam Festival July 11-13, centered around the Three Manly Sports -- wrestling, horse racing and archery. The event got its start with warriors out to prove their courage and prowess, but that's just so 13th century. Women and children now participate too.
Drivers have long known that slowing down on the highway means getting more miles to the gallon. Now airlines are trying it, too -- adding a few minutes to flights to save millions on fuel.
Q: I've been charged a cleaning fee for a recent hotel visit, and something doesn't seem right. I'm hoping you can help. I recently booked a few nights at the Grand Caribbean in Orange Beach, Ala., through an affiliate of Orbitz. The room was just $95 per night, which I thought was a bargain. But imagine my surprise when I saw a much larger amount had been debited to my account.
CARRYING ON WITH STEVES: Rarely does a celebrity name attached to a product add anything but cachet. That's happily not the case with Kiva's new Rick Steves luggage line. Steves, whose Europe guidebooks and public television series help independent travelers save money and experience the local flavor of destinations, had a direct hand in designing this well-thought-out collection. My favorite item is the Convertible Carry On Bag. At 21 inches by 14 inches by 9 inches deep, the bag has an impressive...
We chose the Boca Raton Resort & Club out of curiosity. Where haven't we stayed in Florida, my fiancé and I asked each other? What's close to home yet feels far away?
As soon as the plane's wheels met the runway and I looked out the window, I knew this would be the best vacation ever! First we went to our hotel; we were staying on the 25th floor! What a view! The next day we went to the San Diego Zoo, one of the biggest and most beautiful zoos in the world! We saw parrots, monkeys, polar bears and koalas! Then we went to Balboa Park and the Aerospace and Auto Museums which are located there. The following...
LONDON: THAT'S BOND, JAMES BOND James Bond fans aren't going to want to miss a new exhibit opening in London this month marking the centenary of Ian Fleming's birth. For Your Eyes Only: Ian Fleming and James Bond explores the author's life including his early work as a journalist and, no kidding, travel writer. Items on display include the blood-splattered shirt worn by Daniel Craig in Casino Royale; prototypes of Rosa Klebb's flick knife shoes in From Russia With Love; Halle Berry's bikini from...
Forget the postcards -- they're so yesterday -- and keep family and friends up to date on you vacation blog. Here are some tips on making your vacation blog easy and fun:
TRAVEL ON A BUDGET
Your next hotel might not be a hotel. It could be a condo, a rental apartment or a home. And maybe it should be. It isn't just that traditional hotels, inns and resorts turn off many travelers. There are plenty of reasons to check out of the lodge these days -- through-the-roof room rates, being nickeled and dimed for every little extra item -- and the alternatives are often roomier, less expensive and more convenient.
Q: I'm trying to get a refund for a canceled flight on Alitalia, but no one seems to be able to help me. I booked my ticket on Expedia. My connecting flight was canceled because of weather. Since my ticket was booked on Delta, which has a code-sharing agreement with Alitalia, I asked Delta how I could get on the next flight.
AIRLINES NEW FEES, SERVICE American Airlines and American Eagle will begin charging some coach passengers $25 for checking a second bag. The added fee applies to domestic economy-class tickets bought on or after May 12. Elite members of American's frequent flier program will be exempt, as will full-fare economy-class passengers.
GOT YOUR BACK BAG: Baggallini pioneered featherweight nylon bags with multiple pockets, first in basic black, then in a kaleidoscope of bright colors in an ever-growing range of styles and sizes. The Downtown Bagg is likely to become a favorite. Weighing in at less than a pound, the 12-inch by 11-inch by 3.5-inch-thick crinkle nylon bag converts from a backpack to a side-hugging sling shoulder bag when the two back straps are zipped together. Unzip the bag's main compartment and you'll find a spacious...
Cairo is third world and first world, Islamic world and pharaonic world, a teeming city that jars all the senses, all at once.
The number of visitors to New Orleans nearly doubled last year compared to 2006, and the city is hoping to attract even more tourists with a new campaign to bring people in during the slower summer season.
CRUISE BRIEFING
It's difficult to truly appreciate smoking restrictions on cruise ships until you've sat in the late-night dance club on an Italian ship packed to the ceiling with 300 chain-smoking Italian high school students.
| Arkansas: Whatcha lookin' at? The site of the new Gangster Museum of America in Hot Springs has a history as sordid as its subjects. The building, constructed at the turn of the 20th century, has housed the chamber of commerce, a drive-in mortuary and a bordello. Now, it will do time memorializing Al Capone, Lucky Luciano and other gangsters who enjoyed the area's soothing spas and once blind eye to illegal gambling and prostitution.
Q: My wife and I were overcharged for our rental car when we vacationed in Italy last summer, and we need your help getting a refund.
With the summer travel season approaching, many families will be purchasing tickets for children to fly solo to visit a parent, to see grandparents or to go to camp. Rules that all airlines share are that children younger than 5 can't fly solo, unaccompanied minors can't fly on the last flight of the day, and check-in times may be longer.
ROCK-A-BUY: Life with a newborn can be unpredictable -- who really knows what's disturbing the peace he savored for nine insulated months? Add travel to the mix of new stimuli, and baby can go ballistic. The innovators at Graco have created some calm in the storm that is infanthood with the Sweetpeace Newborn Soothing Center, a kind of swinging womb with a view. The newfangled swing, which runs on AC or battery power, rocks babies in a slow arcing cradling motion, instead of the typical back and...
NEW ZEALAND
I don't know what's more relaxing: The calming regularity of the breakers rolling in outside the window, the unfamiliar but soothing beats of world music or the smooth, deliberate strokes of the Hawaiian-style kahuna massage that I'm blissfully yielding to.
NEW YORK
Going to The Plaza Hotel for afternoon tea was never just about the food. It was about palm trees, harp music, what the ladies at the next table were wearing, and the spirit of Eloise -- that naughty little girl who lives at The Plaza in a famous fictional children's book.
It was a 2 ˝ hour ride [southeast of Oaxaca City] but the last hour was on a single lane dirt road that wound up and down the mountains. It is very isolated but worth the trip. We stopped in a tiny village where the men were making mezcal and everyone was incredibly friendly.
Opened in 2005, the 16-story, 1,020-bed Danhostel Copenhagen City trumpets itself as a ''five-star hostel.'' It's a curious boast, like ''gourmet fast-food'' or ''luxury trailer park.'' Then again, in a country that has elevated stereo speakers and sugar bowls into futuristic art forms, a style-conscious youth hostel seems almost plausible. And in a super-pricey place like Copenhagen, any new, affordable place to stay warrants attention.
CHILE: THE BIG DIPPER If you like doing laps in the swimming pool, you might want to stock up on the energy drinks before diving into this one. Acknowledged by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's largest, the saltwater pool at the San Alfonso del Mar resort at Algarrobo near Santiago is more than 1,000 yards long, covers 20 acres, has a 115-foot deep end and holds 66 million gallons of water. An Olympic size pool measures about 50 yards by 25 yards.
Q: We've been trying for almost a year to get a refund from British Airways, but we can't even get a human to talk to us, let alone get our money back.
Only if you're just back from that isolated desert island vacation could you have missed it, but the airlines have been in a bit of a dither of late:
NEW ORLEANS MUSEUM EXPANSION: The $300-million expansion of the National World War II Museum in New Orleans is under way. The project is slated for completion by 2015, but the first two buildings are scheduled to be open next year. Plans call for a 250-seat theater, restaurant and entertainment venue dubbed the ''Stage Door Canteen.''
CLEAN SHEETS: Good news for anyone who has ever had their shampoo, shaving cream or other carry-on liquids confiscated after forgetting to limit the size of each to 3 ounces crammed into a single quart-size transparent zippered plastic bag. Travelon, an innovator in helpful travel products, has introduced shampoo, hair conditioner, shaving cream and other toiletries that have been dehydrated into tiny dry sheets that metamorphise into a sudsy lather when you add water. The biodegradable sheets, which...
Like the blue Danube River that separates Castle Hill in Buda from the strollable boulevards of Pest, the Hungarian capital of Budapest has a sophisticated and hedonistic side. Old World grandeur, stunning architecture and a rich cultural heritage give Budapest its noble air. But the city also offers plenty of opportunities to cut loose, relax and overindulge on everything from opera and wine to nightlife and cool art.
