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Travel / Europe

At the height of the cold war, KGB agents spied on visitors to the Estonia Hotel in Viru. Today, the room in which they listened in on hotel guests has become a museum.

Pay No Attention to the Spies on the 23rd Floor

For years, the KGB secretly spied on visitors to the Hotel Viru in Estonia. A new museum reveals the fascinating time capsule and all the secrets within

Travelers must be accepting of all tastes and flavors encountered along the way—but it may be difficult to argue that Italian espresso is anything but superior to all other manifestations of coffee.

Coffee Here, and Coffee There: How Different People Serve the World’s Favorite Hot Drink

Coffee is black and bitter—but global travelers find a surprisingly wide range of forms of the world’s favorite hot beverage

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The Best Reasons to Go to Norway in February

It may get cold, but the trolls, bobsleds, skiing, Scandinavian delicacies and (heated) art museums make it all worthwhile

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Parisian Women Legally Allowed to Wear Pants for the First Time in 200 Years

On January 31, France’s minister of women’s rights made if officially impossible to arrest a woman for wearing pants in Paris

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Searching for the Russian Loch Ness Monster in a Frozen Siberian Lake

In a record-breaking dive, the head of the Russian Geographical Society sunk to the bottom of Lake Labynkyr in Siberia, one of the coldest lakes in the world

After purchasing Down House, he and his wife continually expanded the building and their gardens.

Evotourism ®

The House Where Darwin Lived

Home to the naturalist for 40 years, the estate near London was always evolving

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How to Tour Jane Austen’s English Countryside

Follow in the footsteps of Mr. Darcy and the Bennet sisters and take in the manors and gardens of rural England

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They Celebrate American Thanksgiving in the Netherlands

From 1609 to 1620, many of the Pilgrims who came to America lived in the Netherlands

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The History of Beaujolais Nouveau Day

There’s no better time to try this fruity red wine than today, the third Thursday in November, when the French celebrate the release of the new vintage

Delacroix’s La Liberté to be on display at the new Louvre-Lens museum in the Pas-de-Calais

The Louvre Museum Is Having a Baby!

This December the French town of Lens will be welcoming a new branch museum of the Louvre

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Spain: Of Sun, Siestas — and Salmon?

About a dozen Spanish streams support native runs of Atlantic salmon, but anglers are deeply divided about how to fish for them

Andorra makes no effort to charm those crossing the border from France. Shown here is the entry point into the commercial hub of Pas de la Casa.

Andorra: The Ugliest Country in Europe?

They had green mountains, trout streams and wildflowers; meadows and waterfalls, but Andorrans made their country the least charming in all of Europe

Follow the arrows, find the cheese. This sign led to a sheep farm in the village of Tilhouse.

On the Cheese Trail in the Pyrenees

Make a fuss in the road and someone will appear. Spit out some gibberish about “fromage a vendre,” and that should do it. You’ll get your cheese

The author, on tour in the Sauternes region of Bordeaux, loved the gold-hued sweet wine of the area but filled his bottle with local bulk red.

Tasting France’s Finest Wines

Sauternes is a village near Bordeaux that would have been cow town if dumb luck, microclimatology and royal wineries had not showered the region in fortune

The author stands at the entrance to the hilltop cave near Saint Julien de Lampon, that served in the 1940s as a wartime refuge from Nazis.

Resistance to Nazis in a Land Riddled with Caves

We wondered if the cave’s tenants peered down at the valley and if they wrapped all glassware in cloth to prevent reflective giveaways to the Nazis below

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A Medieval Castle in the Making

The construction of a medieval fortress in France is answering important questions about 13th-century building techniques

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There’s No Place Like Naples for Pizza

Forget Chicago deep-dish, Roman pizza bianca and Domino’s. For the best, most authentic pizza, go to Napoli

At 100 Euros for 100 grams, these French black truffles had better not be from China.

Truffle Trouble in Europe: The Invader Without Flavor

If it looks like a black truffle, and if it cost you $1,500 a pound like a black truffle—-it may actually be a worthless Chinese truffle

The Dordogne River flows through some of the finest country of southern France. Truffles, cep mushrooms and wild pigs occur in the woods, while huge catfish and pike lurk in the slow eddies of the river.

Off the Road in the South of France

Ernest Hemingway popularized the cosmopolitan lifestyle of Paris, but he missed out every day he wasn’t walking through the forested hills of Périgord

Gone but not forgotten, the French franc

Plus Ça Change in France

The nation says au revoir to the franc and to “mademoiselle” and bonjourto a proposed new theme park—Napoleonland

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