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Travel

Mercury Bar in Detroit

How a Revitalized Food Scene is Giving Detroit a Boost in Morale and Economic Strength

Author Bill Loomis talks about his new book and Motown’s ever-evolving gastronomic cityscape

"Peasant girls." Young Russian women offer berries to visitors in a rural area along the Sheksna River near the small town of Kirillov.

Color Photographs of Imperial Russia Reveal a World Lost to History

At Paris’ Zadkine Museum, explore vibrant photos of the pre-Soviet Russian Empire

Alps, Germany & Austria

Kilian Schönberger’s Stunning Landscapes

Despite being color blind, Schönberger creates awe-inspiring color photography

The Los Angeles That Was Never Built

Had these 13 grand architectural plans been executed, the city would look entirely different today

The Louvre is remarkable, but it's not the only museum Paris has to offer.

Five Must-See Art Museums in Paris

Of course you have to hit the Louvre, but here are a few others to add to your cultural bucket list

For Twain, the “magnificent Mississippi, rolling its mile-wide tide” was the stuff of dreams (the St. Louis waterfront today).

American South

How the Mississippi River Made Mark Twain—and Vice Versa

No novelist captured the muddy waterway and its people like the creator of Huckleberry Finn, as a journey along the river makes clear

The Forum was among the many sights in Rome that amazed Copley, who said he was “feasting my eyes.”

When Colonial America’s Greatest Painter Took His Brush to Europe

John Singleton Copley left for Europe on the eve of the American Revolution. A historian and her teenage son made the trip to see why

Kamakura Shirts owner Yoshio Sadasue opened a New York store on Madison Avenue.

How Japan Copied American Culture and Made it Better

If you’re looking for some of America’s best bourbon, denim and burgers, go to Japan, where designers are re-engineering our culture in loving detail

Fold the momo and pinch it closed.

How Manchester’s Burgeoning Bhutanese Population Is Pursuing the American Dream

An unlikely place for immigrants from central Asia, New Hampshire is an ideal adopted homeland

This 1943 large letter postcard is now a collector's item.

Smithsonian Secretary Clough on His Hometown

Post retirement, he will be spending more time in Douglas, Georgia

Smithsonian Best Small Towns 2014

The 20 Best Small Towns to Visit in 2014

From country music to herbal cocktails to horseshoe crabs to Rodin, our third annual list takes you to cultural gems worth mining

Floating glaciers in Iceland's Jökulsárlón Lagoon naturally creak and groan as they break apart.

Art Meets Science

What Are the Acoustic Wonders of the World?

Sonic engineer Trevor Cox is on a mission to find the planet’s most interesting sounds

A couple kisses near the Eiffel Tower.

Photos: A Stroll Through the City of Lights

Readers capture the spirit of Paris in beautiful photos submitted to our annual photo contest

A man looks at artwork in the Louvre.

Smithsonian Journeys Travel Quarterly: Paris

Smithsonian’s Guide to Paris

As Ernest Hemingway once wrote, "Paris is a moveable feast." Here's how to explore the City of Lights on his terms.

Europe

A Guide to Hemingway’s Paris

From writing haunts to favorite bars, follow the ex-pat author’s steps through Paris

Using hydroponics and LED, two entrepreneurs are growing produce underneath London.

Would You Eat a Salad Grown in a Bomb Shelter?

In London’s old, abandoned bomb shelters, a local food movement is taking root

Observing the center of the Milky Way at Paranal Observatory.

Top 10 Travel Destinations for An Astronomy Geek

From the world’s biggest telescopes to isolated islands, here are some of the best places to explore the cosmos

Where do you want to go? The cargo-hauling Airlander can stay aloft for three weeks.

Tech Watch

An Airship The Size of a Football Field Could Revolutionize Travel

A new fuel-efficient airship, capable of carrying up to 50 tons, can stay aloft for weeks and land just about anywhere

Art Meets Science

Aerial Views of Iceland’s Volcanic Rivers

Andre Ermolaev’s photographs of Iceland’s volcanic rivers can look more like abstract paintings

Jessica Brown Findley as Lady Sybil, Laura Carmichael as Lady Edith, Michelle Dockery as Lady Mary

The Costumes of “Downton Abbey” Now on View at Delaware’s Winterthur Museum

Step in front of the camera and enter the Grantham household in a new exhibit in Wilmington

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