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Smart News / Smart News Travel

Photographed in 1979, the late Elizabeth II loved to spend time at Balmoral Castle.

Northern Europe and the British Isles

The Royal Family Is Opening Balmoral Castle to the Public For the First Time in History

The special interior tours of the royal family’s Scottish retreat sold out in less than a day

Tens of millions of people watched Monday's total solar eclipse.

When Are the Next Solar Eclipses? 2026 Promises Totality in Europe, While Much of America Has a Decades-Long Wait

The next total solar eclipse visible from the contiguous U.S. won’t take place until August 23, 2044—but eclipse chasers will have other opportunities to experience totality before that

The diamond ring effect is seen as the moon eclipses the sun over Fort Worth on April 8.

These 15 Photos Show How the 2024 Total Solar Eclipse Captivated the Nation

From Texas to Maine, millions of Americans looked up and were spellbound by the spectacular phenomenon

The island's goat population used to be around 100, but it recently ballooned to 600.

This Tiny Italian Island Is Giving Away Goats to Anyone Who Can Catch Them

An estimated 600 of the hoofed intruders are wreaking havoc on the two-square-mile island of Alicudi

Traffic backed up on Interstate 57 near Johnston City, Illinois, after the total solar eclipse on August 21, 2017.

Planning a Road Trip for the Total Solar Eclipse? Here’s Why You Should Drive Extra Carefully

Scientists found a 31 percent increase in fatal car crashes around the 2017 total solar eclipse, akin to spikes in traffic risk on busy holiday weekends

Air pollution can obscure miles of scenery at Joshua Tree National Park in California and other sites.

These Are the Most Polluted National Parks

Five California sites made the top ten list for unhealthiest air, according to a new report

Officials have been working toward the designation for four years.

Oregon Is Now Home to the World’s Largest Dark Sky Sanctuary

The Oregon Outback International Dark Sky Sanctuary covers 2.5 million acres in the southeastern part of the state

The three-panel artwork depicts a javelin thrower, a skateboarder and a break dancer.

The Paris Olympics

See a Tapestry Commissioned to Celebrate the Paris Summer Olympics

Designed by artist Marjane Satrapi, the enormous triptych depicts athletes competing around the Eiffel Tower

Penguins surround the post office at Port Lockroy, a British outpost on Goudier Island.

You Could Run a ‘Penguin Post Office’ in Antarctica

Three new hires will spend five months living among gentoo penguins and sorting postcards at the world’s southernmost post office

Completed in 1709, the library has more than 22,000 books.

You Can Spend the Night in the Secret Library Tucked Inside St. Paul’s Cathedral

Airbnb is offering two guests the chance to sleep amongst 22,000 books in an area normally off-limits to visitors

A yellow-billed loon was spotted hanging out on the Las Vegas Strip this week, far from its usual habitat in Alaska and the high Arctic.

Very Rare Yellow-Billed Loon Visits the Las Vegas Strip, Hangs Out in the Bellagio Fountains

The out-of-place bird prompted the hotel to put its famed fountain show on hold before biologists captured and moved the bird—one of the country’s ten rarest—to better habitat

Cherry blossom trees around the Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C. on March 22, 2023

This Is When Washington, D.C.’s Cherry Trees Are Predicted to Bloom This Year

“Peak bloom,” which typically falls in late March or early April, refers to the day when at least 70 percent of the trees have blossomed

Researchers have pieced together a 26-foot-tall statue of Atlas originally built some 2,500 years ago.

A Towering Statue of Atlas Emerges From the Ruins of Sicily’s Ancient Temple of Zeus

In the fifth century B.C.E., 38 looming sculptures of the Titan stood guard at the structure

Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which stretches across North Carolina and Tennessee, was the most-visited park of 2023.

These Were the Most—and Least—Popular National Parks in 2023

The National Park Service recorded 325,498,646 recreation visits across 400 sites, which is close to pre-pandemic levels

Sandhill cranes fly over Nebraska's Platte River, where they gather each year during their spring migration, in 2009.

38,000 Sandhill Cranes Flock to Nebraska in a Record-Breaking Start to Spring Migration

Wildlife biologists counted the birds—likely lured by the region’s mild winter temperatures—during their first aerial survey of the season

Flights typically soar above the clouds, which means passengers should have an unobstructed view of the total solar eclipse on April 8—regardless of the weather on the ground.

You Can Watch the Solar Eclipse From These Flights Through the Path of Totality

Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines are operating flights on April 8 that could give passengers unobstructed views of the rare celestial spectacle

African gray parrots are highly intelligent birds that can learn to closely mimic human voices.

These Parrots Won’t Stop Swearing. Will They Learn to Behave—or Corrupt the Entire Flock?

A British zoo hopes the good manners of a larger group will rub off on the eight misbehaving birds

The 7.46-carat brown diamond is about the size of a gumdrop.

French Tourist Finds 7.46-Carat Diamond at Arkansas State Park

Julien Navas plans to have the brown gem split into two pieces so he can give half to his fiancée and half to his daughter

Turkey’s government hopes the new policies will help protect the 1,500-year-old landmark in Istanbul.

Hagia Sophia Introduces Entry Fee for Foreign Tourists

Worshippers will be able to use a separate entrance to gain free access to the 1,500-year-old landmark in Istanbul

The new street sign in Paris' 13th arrondissement

You Can Now Walk Down ‘Rue David Bowie’ in Paris

The city’s 13th arrondissement honored the British musical legend on what would have been his 77th birthday

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