The tradition of celebrating the New Year on January 1 was spread around the world by the Roman Empire and European colonial powers, but in many cultures, the beginning of the new year is tied to the phases of the moon. The Lunar New Year goes by many names – Chūnjié (Spring Festival) in China, Losar …
The three main gateway cities to Great Smoky Mountains National Park – Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg and Sevierville – share an abiding love for the patron saint of East Tennessee: Dolly Parton. As the country music superstar once joked, it takes a lot of money to look this cheap, so go ahead and dive into the …
Puerto Rico’s coastline covers roughly 300 miles, decorated with nearly as many beaches. Stick to the tropical north, anchored by San Juan, for a mix of lively shorelines and rocky Atlantic coves. Head to the cloudless south to dip your toes in calm Caribbean bays protected by mangrove cays. You can also zip west to …
Santa Fe is one of those places that experiences all four seasons as if they were crafted with a painter’s brush. There is no bad time to visit – just different color palettes. At an altitude of 7000ft, winters are white but summers are hot – not hellishly hot – making this the perfect get-up-and-go destination …
For most, Arizona conjures up images of sweeping painted deserts, towering saguaro cacti, isolated winding highways and endless sunshine. Yet that’s just one piece of this tremendous and remarkably diverse state. Home to the fifth-largest city in the US, one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World, three national parks and nearly 21 million …
Isla Holbox (pronounced “holl-bosh”) still retains the feel of the Yucatán Peninsula’s coastline before the arrival of mass tourism in the 1970s. Until a couple of decades ago, only a handful of local fishing families inhabited the island. And while there has been a noticeable rash of development in recent years, it remains a sand-streets, …
No country has it all. Switzerland comes pretty close. Here, almost every drive, train journey, boat trip or cable car ride can take on epic proportions – next to thundering falls, across dramatic gorges, through valleys hidden deep in the mountains or across rolling vineyards. Cities with medieval old towns, world-class contemporary architecture and extraordinary …
Springtime in Japan means one thing: cherry blossoms. The whole country watches and waits for the first sakura (cherry) trees to burst into bloom. Once they do, people flock to parks and squares for hanami or flower viewing. The romance is passionate but fleeting, lasting only a week or two. Cherry blossom viewing has been …