Their best method for success, it seems, is to communicate via polite, concise email queries rather than phone calls or online chat or web forms. Those customer service email addresses are sometimes harder to find, but that means they may receive faster attention or better service. Plus, they make for a clean, written record you…
It was a year that was to mark the post-pandemic recovery of travel, bringing economic relief to local communities that had been hit hard by the prolonged loss of tourism revenue. Borders fully reopened, pandemic restrictions were lifted and traveler bookings surged, sparking a social media trend called “revenge travel.” But even as demand in…
After weeks of anticipation, a volcanic eruption in Iceland’s most populated area sent lava spewing into the night sky late Monday and pushed the authorities into action mode Tuesday. The eruption, which was larger than volcanologists had predicted, happened not far from an evacuated town and a power plant. Iceland is no stranger to volcanic…
Driving west out of Austin toward Fredericksburg, the road narrows to one-lane blacktop, and the edges of the city’s suburbs gradually give way to a different kind of Texas, one of ranches, old wooden churches, farm stands and wineries. This is the Texas Hill Country, a 31,000-square-mile area of rocky karst hills considered the threshold…
In Strasbourg, France, throughout the holiday season, Santa-capped teddy bears festoon a restaurant’s facade. Stuffed polar bears adorn another. In a Yuletide arms race, buildings are affixed with giant, gift-wrapped packages, glittering white deer and oversize gingerbread men. Turning the central medieval quarter into a Christmas maze, curtains of lights glow above cobblestone lanes lined…
By Alexander Lobrano Outside the tiny town of Simon in Romania’s Carpathian Mountains, an NGO called Foundation Conservation Carpathia is creating a 66,000-acre national park. It’s against that backdrop that the hotelier Bogdan Calulanu opened Matca, a 16-room hotel with 10 private villas. Matca is the Romanian word for “queen bee,” the name a reference…
Three hours into my latest visit to Key West, Fla., I listened as a mermaid explained why islanders are called “Conchs.” “We had a tradition a long time ago where, when a baby was born — because, back then, your baby was born at home — you would put a stick in the yard and…
Since my first trip to Waikiki Beach in 1977, I have traveled all around the Hawaiian Islands. And I’ve loved each one. But I love Waikiki, too. Not the hordes of tourists, of course, or the high-end shopping malls that have taken over Kalākaua Avenue and earned it the nickname, Vegas on the Beach. What…
As winter sets in, cruise lines are offering a variety of warm weather escapes to the Caribbean, Mexico and far-flung destinations in the South Pacific and the Persian Gulf. This winter will see the launches of new ships and itineraries aimed at attracting a broad demographic of cruisers, particularly young first-timers. Here are some of…
Last April, Chris Kotchick, a Scranton, Pa., oral surgeon, and his family spent a week on a chartered catamaran in the calm, clear waters off the British Virgin Islands. A crew of two — part of the deal — ran the show. Until then, Dr. Kotchick said, the sum total of his nautical experience had…