Surprising no one after the wild weather the country has been experiencing, weather experts are predicting a weak La Niña winter, according to CNN—the exact opposite of last year’s El Niño. This will develop early—maybe even in November—and influence temperatures, rain and snow across the U.S. Once La Niña arrives, it’ll stay until early spring of 2025. Get that teakettle a boilin' now.

What makes a place safe to travel? Many travelers are more concerned about rising prices for flights, hotels and activities than safety, but others still worry about crime and natural threats. Since 2018, Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection has put together an annual list of the world’s safest countries for U.S. travelers, and this year’s was just released.

While you’re sitting there contemplating your turkey, are you at home—or are you far away celebrating Thanksgiving on vacation? According to Airbnb, lots of people are electing to get away for the holiday. The company reports that nearly 20 percent of its Thanksgiving bookings are for 10 or more guests, which probably means multiple families or multigenerational groups are celebrating together (and not surprisingly, to hold all those guests, nearly half the booked listings are for homes with three or more bedrooms). Since Thanksgiving is, among other things, a food-based holiday, it’s interesting to note that nearly 90 percent of Airbnb listings feature a full kitchen, so you can get going on that feast even without your own trusty blender/food processor/crockpot or, in my case, trash compactor.

When we go away for a winter vacation, we always hope it will be scenic: either in a cabin in the woods with snowflakes drifting past the window while we sip at schnapps-laden cocoa or alternatively on a palm tree-laden beach as we walk on powder-white sand. Ahhhh. Well, let’s be realistic. Those dream destinations might be expensive, and maybe we should instead focus on cost and convenience. Thanks to a study by WalletHub that focused on those two goals rather than scenic beauty, we have a list of the best winter destinations, depending on whether you prefer warm or cold weather. The financial company looked at 70 of our largest metro areas and compared them across 37 metrics, such as their reasonable cost, the ease of getting there, what kinds of activities you can do, how safe they are, and what their weather typically looks like in winter.

Another wave of closures has hit TGI Fridays in the U.S. over the past week. The 59-year-old chain abruptly shuttered nearly 50 locations, bringing the total to nearly 100 closures so far this year. Here’s what you need to know about the sudden decline of the once-popular family restaurant chain.

The Department of Transportation’s new refund rule for air travelers has officially landed. If your domestic flight is canceled or delayed by more than three hours, or your international flight by over six, you're now entitled to a full refund automatically–no hoops, no hassle. Parts of the new...

American Airlines marked a major milestone this past Saturday. The airline completed its longest nonstop flight ever, in an 8,300-mile journey from Texas to Brisbane, Australia. The plane, a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, took off from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport at 10pm CDT on Saturday and touched down at Brisbane Airport on Monday at 4:57am AEST, 30 minutes ahead of schedule.

America’s booming travel and tourism is poised to see even more record-breaking numbers in the months to come. On Tuesday, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo remarked on the ways the two departments are working together to help people travel to and from America. The update also served as a commentary on the economic benefits of the travel and tourism industry.

In the heart of a sparsely populated Texas town lies America's least-used Amtrak station, welcoming a mere 247 passengers in a year. Amtrak spans 21,000 route miles across 46 states, operating over 300 trains daily and connecting 500 destinations nationwide. Yet some remote stations see minimal use. A new study reveals the loneliest, least-used Amtrak stations in the U.S.

The 2024 U.S. presidential election is just two weeks away. Election Day is November 5, 2024, but early voting has started in many states around the country. Here’s what you need to know about how to vote—whether early or in person on Election Day. When does early voting...

Rapper and producer Tyler, the Creator will head out on tour in 2025 in support of his upcoming album Chromakopia. Chromakopia: The World Tour kicks off in St. Paul, Minnesota in February, and will make stops across North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Chromakopia is set to be released on October 28.

Spooky season is here, and seeking out haunted destinations to explore is top of the list for many paranormally-inclined travelers. Towns like Salem, Savannah, New Orleans and Eureka Springs embrace their haunted histories, pulling out all the stops for Halloween. If you’re looking to take things a spine-chilling step further when visiting a terrifying town for the holiday, Hotels.com has gathered user review data to identify the most haunted hotels around the country.

Sad news for Denny’s fans as the company announced it will be closing a slew of locations of the beloved diner chain. By the end of next year, you’ll have to find somewhere else to get your all-day breakfast fix. The 71-year old chain may even consider changing its 24/7 operating hours.

Since ships float on copious amounts of water, it would seem just a little bit of soap would make everything clean. But that’s not the case, as the Independent reports. Some of the most grubby cruise ships out there are sailing around the U.S. Let’s look at the S.S. Grimy's report card and see which ones are passing the test.

Forbes Travel Guide (FTG)—the ultimate judge of all things luxury—has just released the winners of its inaugural Verified Air Travel Awards. The 2024 awards celebrate the crème de la crème of global air travel, from top-tier airlines to elite airports and private jet services. While the awards cover global travel—you might want to start planning a vacation around the chance to visit some of these top-notch airport winners—here are the U.S. airports and airlines that came out on top.

The annual list of The World's 50 Best Bars, sponsored by Perrier, has been revealed. Now in its 16th year, the awards recognize the bartenders, bar owners and brands at the forefront of the international cocktail scene. These bars mix up superior, unforgettable cocktails that are worth traveling the world for. While no U.S. bars made the top 10, five bars earned spots among the top 50, deservedly perched among the best in the world.

Some travelers make a last-minute spontaneous choice to throw clothes in a suitcase and get going, while others plan a year in advance to take advantage of pricing and to have an entire year of looking forward to an epic vacation. Lonely Planet’s annual Best in Travel list tries to capture those forward-thinking travelers with suggestions of amazing places to stay next year based on trends and travel predictions. The Best in Travel 2025 list covers 30 destinations, which comprise cities, countries, and regions. Three of the 30 are in the U.S. this year, with Pittsburgh the sole American city mentioned. We also have two regions on the list: the Lowcountry in South Carolina and coastal Georgia, and Mount Hood and Columbia River Gorge region in Oregon. Let’s talk about each of them!

A drugstore's a great thing. You wander in, stand in line for your prescription, and on the way out grab a candy bar, a magazine, milk and sunscreen... whatever little items you need to supplement your larger grocery store run. We all depend on outlets like CVS...but another big round of closures means that our local drugstore might not be there for us anymore.

Beautiful photos of incredible places create longing, and National Geographic is a time-honored master of making people want to journey over the world to see what those images depict in real life. To tantalize you and inspire your wanderlust, NatGeo creates an annual Best of the World list in advance so that you can start planning your 2025 destinations now. The list covers the entire world, but we’re excited to showcase the three ones (out of 25) right here in the U.S. They are the Ocala National Forest in Florida, Los Angeles and Boise, Idaho.

If you’ve ever needed a kick in the pants to do something you’ve always wanted to do, we’re here to tell you that right now an Amtrak flash sale lets you bring a companion for free if you book a roomette. That’s a huge deal because three meals a day are included with the roomette tickets.