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Visitors to the American Gothic House Center are encouraged to play the part of the famous pair from the painting.

Grab Your Pitchfork and Take an “American Gothic”-Themed Road Trip

A drive through eastern Iowa is the best way to appreciate one of the country’s most famous images

Montruex's Freddie Mercury statue

Europe

Break Free in Freddie Mercury’s Montreux

Visit the Swiss town where Queen’s frontman recorded some of his greatest hits

Flashing lights embedded in the ground make crossing and texting safer in Augsburg.

Cool Finds

A German City Installed Traffic Lights For Texters

In Augsburg, distracted smartphone users don’t have to look up to stay safe

Swiss yodeling choir Jodlerclub Echo during a competition.

Switzerland

How to Yodel Like a Local

The Swiss tradition is much more than a simple yodel-ay-ee-oooo

A rainbow can be spotted in the mists of Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. What better way to celebrate Earth Day than with an exploration of the planet's most colorful places?

Cool Finds

Celebrate Earth Day With a Rainbow of Spectacular Photos

Nature’s palette is unparalleled

The ramen shops.

Discover the Real Ramen at a Shrine to Slurpy Noodles

The iconic dish has surprising regional roots

Groggy after a night in a strange place? A night watchman in your brain may be to blame.

You Can’t Sleep While Traveling Because Your Brain Acts Like a Dolphin’s

On the first night in a new place, half your brain stays awake to watch out for danger

Switzerland

Here’s Where You Can Hike a Glacier (Before They’re Gone)

Read on for five of the world’s most stunning icecap experiences

This silk satin, lace and whalebone corset gave an 1890s lady her hourglass figure and tiny waist.

Cool Finds

A New Exhibition Is All About Underwear

From a queen’s drawers to David Beckham’s briefs, The Victoria and Albert Museum gets “Undressed”

Six miles to Racetrack, a million miles from civilization—except for the tea.

Cool Finds

Death Valley Has a Secret Shrine to…Tea

Take a kettle, leave a kettle at this remote junction

Boat or floating farm forest? Swale is both.

Cool Finds

New York’s Newest Urban Farm Floats

A barge bursting with vegetables takes to the water this summer

At least the scent of despair comes in a pretty bottle.

Cool Finds

This Perfume Smells Like the Apocalypse

Artists bottled blood and thunder to capture the heady scent of the end times

“The Danube River Project” explores the waterway using underwater equipment to show scenes—like this one of Budapest—partly above and partly below the surface.

Austria

How the Danube Became a Multinational Power Source

Spanning 1,770 miles from Germany’s Black Forest to the coast of Romania, the river takes its character from the people and places it passes

The village and vineyards of Dürnstein form part of Lower Austria's Wachau Valley.

Austria

For a Culinary Scene Steeped in Tradition, Head to Austria’s Wachau Valley

A new generation of chefs and vintners is seasoning this sleepy, vineyard-dotted valley with fresh ideas

Smithsonian Journeys Travel Quarterly: The Danube

Smithsonian Journeys Travel Quarterly: The Danube

Travel the Danube from the Black Forest of Germany to the green teardrop-shaped island of St. Margaret in Budapest

Goulash began as a humble soup-stew, cooked over an open fire by Hungarian herdsmen. The addition of refined varieties of paprika from ground red chilies made the dish an international staple.

Smithsonian Journeys Travel Quarterly: The Danube

The Humble Beginnings of Goulash

The hearty soup-stew known around the world began as the everything-goes-in meal of Hungarian herdsmen

An estimated 5.6 million people ride the New York City subway every weekday.

12 Secrets of the New York Subway

History runs deep in the legendary transit system

"Prague, Czechia" has a ring to it, doesn't it?

Trending Today

The Czech Republic Wants to Change Its Name

Welcome to “Czechia”

Cool Finds

Five Fascinating Places to Visit This Obscura Day

Atlas Obscura celebrates all things weird and wonderful worldwide this Saturday

The newly named Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument was ground zero for women's rights during the 20th century.

Trending Today

The U.S. Finally Has a National Monument That Honors Women’s History

144 Constitution Avenue is now one of the women’s movement’s most significant sites

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