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Travel

It took many, many long sea voyages and much tedious charting to produce the first crude maps of the world. Today, travelers are increasingly abandoning even the best maps in favor of electronic navigation devices.

Have GPS Devices Taken the Fun out of Navigation?

With the rise of the digital age, the fascinating skills of map reading and celestial navigation are becoming lost arts

Panama is the ideal site for the BioMuseo (Museum of Biodiversity), due to open next summer.

Frank Gehry’s BioMuseo, New Science Museum in Panama

Over 43,000 square feet of exhibit space will tell the story of the isthmus and the diverse species who live there

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Ask Smithsonian 2017

Why Does the Durian Fruit Smell So Terrible?

Scientists examine what chemicals make the Asian fruit smell like “turpentine and onions, garnished with a gym sock”

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The Meals That Starving Travelers Dream Of

Daydreaming of food is a tradition as old as the saga of man versus wild. What would you wish to eat if you were starving in a tent or a dinghy at sea?

Your guests might chase you out of the house if this appears on the table on “Turkey Day,” but cooking a duck as the main course might also be seen as a sophisticated Thanksgiving homage to the cuisine of France—or China.

Exotic Dishes to Spice Up Your Thanksgiving Feast

Add some global flair to your banquet with these savory variations on your favorite “Turkey Day” fare

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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

Ed Heseltine, a British traveler currently living in the Dordogne, shows the first of two beers that he found stashed months earlier by the author of “Off the Road.”

Breaking News From France: My Hidden Beers Discovered!

Six containers of lager remain hidden in remote crevices and crannies in the French countryside. If you wish to find them, read these instructions

Thailand’s dreamy James Bond Island was featured in the 1974 film The Man with the Golden Gun and first brought fame to what is now a popular tourist destination.

Marking 50 Years of Luxurious Travel With James Bond

Since 1962, the films have introduced the world to all sorts of exotic, jaw-dropping destinations

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The Long and Grueling Journey on the Presidential Campaign Trail

A look at each candidate’s long, long journey that ends at the polling booth

Oregon travelers Lindsay Gasik and Rob Culclasure, shown here in Penang, Malaysia, are currently in Southeast Asia on a nonstop year-long hunt for fresh durians.

Faces From Afar: Two Oregonians on the Hunt for Exotic Durians

Meet Lindsay Gasik and Rob Culclasure, who are spending a year of their lives in Southeast Asia feasting on the bizarre fruit

Water and sediment flowing from Malibu Creek and Lagoon impact the waves at Surfrider, especially after winter rains.

Malibu’s Epic Battle of Surfers Vs. Environmentalists

Local politics take a dramatic turn in southern California over a plan to clean up an iconic American playground

The emerging Dongdaemun Design Plaza will blend a new cultural center with a park memorializing a section of Seoul's ancient wall.

Welcome to Seoul, the City of the Future

The once poor South Korean city has bloomed into a cultural capital with high-profile architecture, top museums and an influential arts scene

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The Haunted and the Haunting: Best Places to Visit on Halloween

This Halloween, indulge in the the electric, nerve-zapping thrill of fear, and consider visiting real destinations of creepy history and ghostly legends

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Should Americans Travel to the Middle East?

Today the area is often perceived as a murky and dangerous blur on the map. But how unsafe, really, is this area for tourists?

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Volcanoes: The Top Hotspots of the World

Volcanic landscapes draw countless tourists to rumbling mountains, rivers of lava and boiling geysers. Here are a few of the hottest destinations

As prim and tidy as hedges at the Queen’s palace, a vineyard in England reminds us that rising temperatures are now allowing for wine production in the world’s higher latitudes.

More Wines from Unexpected Places

Good, locally made wines can now be found in such unlikely locales as equatorial Kenya, the Texas Hill Country, and temperate and rainy Japan

Vineyards are nothing new to the desert landscape of Baja California, where the Spanish missionaries left their viticultural legacy three centuries ago. This image shows the acclaimed Guadalupe Valley.

Four Surprising Places Where Local Wines Thrive

Almost everywhere European explorers went, vineyards grew behind them. Here are a few places tourists might never have known there was wine to taste

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Where Travelers Go to Pay Their Respects

The Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum is not a fun place to go, yet tourists flock here, and toother somber sites around the world

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Snakes: The Good, the Bad and the Deadly

With venom so potent it can kill a person in 30 minutes, the black mamba is a snake to avoid—while others are worth learning about before you cast judgment

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The Mooncake: A Treat, a Bribe or a Tradition Whose Time Has Passed?

Is the mooncake just going through a phase or are these new variations on the Chinese treat here to stay?

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