Tourism

A Venetian tradition is munching cicchetti—local appetizers that line the counters of little pubs all over town at the end of each workday.

Crawling Through Venice’s Cicchetti Pubs

A trip to Venice would not be complete without a giro d’ombra, or a tour through the city’s many small wine bars

St. Mark’s Square charms most visitors to Venice. Napoleon once called it “the most beautiful drawing room in Europe.”

St. Mark’s Square Walking Tour

For an overview of this grand square and the buildings that surround it, start from the west end of the square and follow along with this guide

The show still goes on in ancient Ostia’s theater.

Ostia Antica: Rome’s Ancient Port

The ruins of this one-time commercial center takes visitors back to the time when the Roman Empire ruled the seas

You can easily spend hours observing the teen scene in Naples.

Naples: Italy in the Extreme

The unpredictable Italian city always has a secret or quirky attraction hidden among its many ancient streets

All that remains of Hagi Castle are its ruins. Built in 1604, the castle is located in the peaceful Shizuki Park at the northwestern tip of the city.

Finding Serenity on Japan's San-in Coast

Far from bustling Tokyo, tradition can be found in contemplative gardens, quiet inns and old temples

Torun's many intact medieval buildings have earned it a World Heritage site designation.

The Sights and Smells of Torun

Memoirist Frances Mayes samples freshly baked gingerbread while exploring Copernicus’ hometown on a trip through Poland

Traffic whips around Paris' grandest arch while tourists savor the view from the top.

Circling in on Paris’ Arc d’Triomphe

On the eastern end of the Champs-Elysees, the iconic memorial arch is a traffic nightmare but a tourist’s lesson in French history

Though it’s one of the oldest subway systems in Europe, the Paris Métro has some sleek, 21st-century stations.

Navigating the Paris Metro

With nearly 300 stops in the underground system, the Metro takes Parisians and tourists alike from neighborhood to neighborhood

Buenos Aires' colorful Boca neighborhood.

Buenos Aires: a City's Power and Promise

The stylish and affordable capital of Argentina has become a big hit with growing numbers of foreigners

Smithsonian Secretary G. Wayne Clough (yellow hat) standing on a scaffolding with a group of Smithsonian employees outside the DuPont telescope.

Day 2: Stargazing in the Andes Mountains

Up high among wild burros and llamas, a Smithsonian astronomer observes and studies the millions of stars in the sky

The Chilean Andes

Day 1: A Stop in Santiago

Smithsonian Secretary G. Wayne Clough explores Santiago before heading to the Las Campanas Observatory in the Chilean Andes

Author of "Hola, Buenos Aires," Daniel Politi.

Daniel Politi on “Hola, Buenos Aires"

The Demeure de la Vignole Hotel has underground rooms in caves.

A Tour of France’s Cave Homes

In France’s Loire Valley, domesticated cave dwellings, known as troglodyte homes, offer a history as rich as the region’s chateaus

Pensacola, its anchorage first admired by the Spanish 450 years ago. In 1686, Spanish navigator Juan Jordán described Pensacola's bay as "the best I have ever seen."

Harboring History in Pensacola

In Florida's panhandle, vibrant Pensacola stakes its claim as the oldest European settlement in the United States

Big Sur's dramatic vistas entrance residents and day-trippers alike. In 1912 or so, watercolorist Francis McComas described the landscape as the "greatest meeting of land and water in the world."

Big Sur's California Dreamin'

Untrammeled wilderness and new age enclave, Big Sur retains its rugged beauty and quirky charm

The predominantly Mexican Pilsen neighborhood was once predominantly Czech. Across Chicago, says Juana Guzman of Pilsen's National Museum of Mexican Art, "food is an important cultural anchor."

Chicago Eats

From curried catfish to baba ghanouj, Chicago serves up what may be the finest ethnic cuisine going

After a stint as a military barracks, Hohensalzburg Fortress was opened to the public in the 1860s by Emperor Franz Josef.

Salzburg’s Hohensalzburg Fortress

One of Europe’s mightiest castles, this fortress dominates Salzburg’s skyline

Boise, says the author, is a study in paradoxes, a place "both rural and metropolitan, civilized and feral."

Boise, Idaho: Big Skies and Colorful Characters

Idaho's natural beauty is what makes novelist Anthony Doerr feel so much at home in Boise

The European Parliament, a towering complex of glass skyscrapers, has 785 members representing 28 countries and more than 450 million citizens.

Brussels: One of Europe’s Great Travel Secrets

The political center of Europe, this Belgian city is also home to art museums and delicious mussels with frites, of course

Fisherman casts off from the cliffs of Cape Sagres.

Cape Sagres

This windswept coast was once home to a navigators’ school that readied explorers for adventures in the New World

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