Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Travel

Over the course of more than 2,000 years, countless travel books have transformed little known places into popular destinations.

The Top Ten Most Influential Travel Books

Even before there were armchairs, voracious bookworms traveled the world just by reading

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

Corned beef and cabbage

Is Corned Beef Really Irish?

The rise and fall and rise of the traditional St. Patrick’s Day meal

None

A Photo Tour Through Ireland

In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, take a virtual tour through Ireland with these beautiful travel photos submitted to our photo contest

Since the mid to late 19th century, isinglass, a fish by-product has been used as a clarification agent in Guinness beer.

Hey Vegans! There May Be Fish Bladder in Your Guinness

Isinglass, a gelatine collected from the air-bladders of freshwater fish like the sturgeon, is used in the clarification process of some stouts

American Carl Nordeng relocated several years ago to Vilcabamba, Ecuador, where he is now making his own coconut oil.

Faces From Afar: One American’s Endeavor to Kick Ecuador’s Vegetable Oil Habit

Coconut oil is healthy. It smells and tastes like sweet tropical butter. Yet almost nobody in Ecuador uses it

The quiet highway that leads through Cotopaxi is a bike-friendly route.

Cold, Hungry and Happy in the High Andes

40 bucks in cash, a warm sleeping bag and plenty of wine carry the author through his final days in Ecuador, in the remote high country outside of Quito

Marianne Moore

Washington, D.C. Photo Collection

Our readers capture snapshots of city life in the Nation’s Capital

Lake Quilotoa is gaining a reputation as one of the most attractive destinations in Ecuador. The surrounding area, of rugged mountains and dirt roads, offers some of the most rewarding cycle touring in the Andes.

Biking Ecuador’s Spectacular Avenue of the Volcanoes

Home to a string of high peaks, including 20,564-foot Chimborazo, the area offers some of the finest cycling, hiking and adventuring country anywhere

None

The Fishy History of the McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish Sandwich

How a struggling entrepreneur in Ohio saved his burger business during Lent and changed the McDonald’s menu for good.

The dream of a gold miner—a nugget so big it can be handled like a small marble.

Hunting for Gold in the Amazonian Jungle

The author joins two American fortune-seekers on a gold-panning outing at the confluence of the Negro and Paute rivers

None

What Makes These Avocados Different From All Others?

The spectrum of the fruit here is almost as varied as the people who grow them, and for avo advocates, Ecuador is an excellent place to go tasting

From a chain of Los Angeles drive-ins in the 1940s, “good food is good health.”

10 Vintage Menus That Are a Feast for the Eyes, If Not the Stomach

From the late-19th century to the 1970s, restaurants had one surefire way of standing out

Teenagers in the West Bank hit a Volkswagen Beetle with a snowball.

A Snowball Fight in the West Bank

For the first time in their lifetimes, these teenagers got to enjoy the thrill of a fresh layer of snow

None

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

Meals in a Jar: From Pancakes to Baby Back Ribs, Just Add Water

Ready-made meals, good for months on a pantry shelf, work for busy nights, camping trips and power outages

None

Can Chemistry Make Healthy Foods More Appealing?

Making healthy foods like tomatoes more palatable may increase our desire to eat these foods while decreasing our gravitation towards sugary snacks

None

Vilcabamba: Paradise Going Bad?

Life in this legendary town in Ecuador’s Valley of Longevity may be too good—and too long—to be true

None

No Salt, No Problem: One Woman’s Life-or-Death Quest to Make “Bland” Food Delicious

The more salt we eat, the more we crave. This new approach to less-salty cooking might help you step off the treadmill

Black rum, charred orange and allspice.

How Does McCormick Pick the Top Flavors of the Year?

Ten years ago, the spice company identified chipotle as a taste on the rise. They’re back at it again with new predictions for 2013

Page 132 of 200