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Smart News / Smart News Travel

During the 2017 solar eclipse, the path of totality was just 71 miles wide. In 2024, it's expected to be 125 miles wide.

Cleveland Is Giving Away a Free Trip to See the 2024 Solar Eclipse

The city is within the 125-mile-wide path of totality and will experience a total eclipse for nearly four minutes on April 8, 2024

Hawaiian monk seal Kaiwi and her pup lie face-to-face in the sand on Kaimana Beach in Honolulu, Hawaii, on April 20.

Newborn Monk Seal Pup and Mother Get 24/7 Police Protection

Wildlife officials closed down a popular Hawaiian beach to protect the pair of endangered mammals

Park-goers hoping to catch a glimpse of the synchronized flashing of fireflies can soon enter a lottery.

How You Can See Tens of Thousands of Fireflies Flash in Unison

The lottery for viewing these bioluminescent bugs at Great Smoky Mountains National Park opens Friday

This photograph taken on January 21, 2022, shows the Princess Rita Boncompagni Ludovisi in front of a painting of Pope Gregorio XV at the Casino dell'Aurora inside the Villa Boncompagni Ludovisi in Rome.

Texas-Born Italian Noble Evicted From Her 16th-Century Villa

Rita Boncompagni Ludovisi has lived in the home for 20 years, battling with the family of her deceased husband

More than 2.9 million people visited the Pompeii Archaeological Park last year.

High-Speed Train Will Connect Rome to Pompeii

The new route will make the ruins of the ancient city more accessible for visitors

Murphy with his new charge

Eagle Who Thought Rock Was an Egg Finally Gets to Be a Dad

A lucky coincidence has given Murphy the opportunity to nurture an eaglet of his own

Colorful murals help brighten up the windowless tunnel.

See Inside the World’s Longest Purpose-Built Cycling Tunnel

The 1.8-mile-long tunnel in Norway is part of a broader effort to encourage residents to ditch their cars

Zooplankton help clean Lake Tahoe by eating tiny particles that can make the water cloudy.

Why Lake Tahoe Is the Clearest It’s Been in 40 Years

Thanks to a “natural clean-up crew” of zooplankton, the large freshwater alpine lake is looking especially pristine

Austen lived at Steventon House in Hampshire, England, until she was 26.

You Can Now Buy the Estate Where Jane Austen Wrote ‘Pride and Prejudice’

The writer spent more than half her life on the property, where she drafted some of her most famous novels

Parisians voted to ban for-rent electric scooters.

Parisians Vote to Ban For-Rent Electric Scooters

In a referendum on Sunday, city residents overwhelmingly opted to do away with the iconic mode of transportation

While Crystal Pepsi and New Coke failed, both PepsiCo and Coca-Cola are still thriving.

The Museum of Failure Celebrates Some of the World’s Biggest Flops

Now on view in New York City, the traveling exhibition presents failure as a critical learning opportunity

Amid a multi-year drought, record winter rainfall has led to conditions perfect for fungi.

Winter Rains Bring Mushroom Boom in California

Fungi are popping up in numbers the West Coast may not see again for years

A sunet behind the mountains in what is now the Avi Kwa Ame National Monument in Nevada

Biden Designates Two New National Monuments

In total, the protected areas across Nevada and Texas encompass 514,000 acres of public lands

Aspen Mountain and Aspen Highlands in Colorado extended their seasons this winter.

Ski Resorts in the Western U.S. Will Stay Open Into the Spring and Summer

Slopes in California, Utah and Colorado are extending their seasons after record-breaking snowfall

The new logo's font is adapted from the city's subway signs.

The Love-Hate Relationship With New York City’s New Logo

Milton Glaser’s iconic “I Love NY” design gets an update—and not everybody loves it

More than two million people visit Chichén Itzá in Mexico each year.

Mexico’s Chichén Itzá Is Getting a New Museum

Officials hope the new facility will attract an influx of tourists arriving on the controversial Maya Train

Rome's Pantheon was built around 27 B.C.E.

Rome’s Pantheon Will Start Charging an Entrance Fee

The 2,000-year-old structure is Italy’s most visited cultural site, attracting millions of tourists each year

Since the pandemic began, the country has implemented strict zero-Covid poicies.

China Fully Reopens to Travelers After Three Years of Closures

Hoping to boost its tourism industry, the country is now issuing all types of visas

The aurora borealis, or Northern Lights, over a lake in eastern central Finland

You Can Apply for Free ‘Masterclass of Happiness’ in Finland

For the fifth year in a row, Finland ranked as the happiest nation in the world

An aerial view of the Vjosa River near the city of Permet taken on March 14, 2023.

One of Europe’s Last Free-Flowing Rivers Declared a National Park

Albania will protect more than 31,000 acres of land, including the undammed Vjosa River

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