Travel
Discover facts about travel. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Travel
A wine cellar so vast you need a car
If a zombie apocalypse ever hits Moldova, this is exactly where you want to be. Recognizing that sunlight is the enemy of good Pinot, the Moldovans converted…
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The painful process behind Uzbekistan's brilliant ikat silk
Fast fashion could never replicate the brutal, magnificent reality of genuine silk production. Tucked away in the Fergana Valley, the village of Margilan…
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Where dinner comes straight from a rocking boat
Health and safety inspectors would probably need a brown paper bag to breathe here. Navigating the Amphawa canals near Bangkok means buying your dinner from…
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The asteroid crater where Apollo astronauts trained
Forget the Grand Canyon's slow, billion-year geological drama; this hole in the ground was violently punched into Earth by a 50-meter asteroid in a matter of…
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Crossing the treacherous Drake Passage to Antarctica requires icebreaker ships equipped with underwater sonar mapping
It turns out the gateway to the world's most pristine continent is a notoriously violent stretch of ocean that genuinely wants to sink you. Crossing the Drake…
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London houseboats must keep moving every two weeks
Romanticizing life on a British houseboat quickly fades when you realize it legally requires you to become a highly scheduled aquatic vagabond. The urban…
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Australia's Ghan sleeper train takes three days to slice through the red dirt of the Outback from Adelaide to Darwin
Paying to be locked in an aluminum tube for three days just to cross an uninhabitable, sun-scorched desert is the crown jewel of Australian tourism. The Ghan…
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Moscow’s Cold War bunker lies 18 stories underground
Touring a facility designed to initiate global thermonuclear annihilation is definitely an eccentric way to spend an afternoon in Moscow. Hidden completely…
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The cliffside city built to hide a kingdom
Defensive architecture hit absolute peak paranoia in the twelfth century. Commissioned by Queen Tamar, this sprawling subterranean city was secretly carved…
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Why Ta Prohm comes alive in the rain
Most tourists flee the torrential downpours of Southeast Asia, completely missing the absolute best time to see the Khmer Empire's architectural masterpiece.…
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Hike past the ruins of a luxury hotel
Nature reclaimed this 19th-century luxury resort long ago. Originally built by the Canadian Pacific Railway, Glacier House was the ultimate alpine destination…
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The Swiss refuge reached across a glacier
Forget cozy woodland strolls, because reaching this Swiss alpine refuge requires navigating a literal river of ancient ice. Perched at 2,928 meters, the…
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Paris Metro entrances look like giant Art Nouveau plants
Commuting in Paris is significantly less miserable when your subway entrance was designed to look like an alien beanstalk. Hector Guimard's iconic 1900s Art…
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On Bahamian mailboats, cargo comes before comfort
If mega-cruise ships with midnight buffets and water slides are your thing, the Bahamian mailboat system will completely destroy your spirit. These rugged…
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In the Cotswolds, the hardest part of hiking is tea
Hiking is typically associated with rugged wilderness and physical suffering, but the Cotswolds subverts this by forcing you to walk off a massive…
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Sleeping in a Mongolian yurt with eagle hunters
Staying at a bed and breakfast is quaint, but paying to sleep in a felt tent with a family that commands massive birds of prey is a genuine flex. In the…
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The icebergs that can suddenly flip beside kayakers
Paddling a tiny plastic boat through freezing Icelandic waters is already a questionable life choice, but Jökulsárlón takes the peril up a notch. This glacier…
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Why Japanese hot springs are beaten with wooden planks
Boiling alive is generally considered a vacation foul, which is why the locals at Japan's Kusatsu Onsen perform the 'Yumomi' ritual. The water erupting from…
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The border where two taco cultures collide
The best culinary scenes happen when two completely different nations mash their cuisines together across a heavily militarized fence. The borderlands of El…
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Why Riga’s buildings look like they’re screaming
Walking down Alberta Street in Latvia's capital means being stared at by hundreds of screaming stone faces. Riga holds the highest concentration of Art…
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Nakasendo trail connects preserved Edo-period tea houses through the steep Kiso Valley
Trudging through mountains just to drink matcha was standard operating procedure for a 17th-century samurai. The Nakasendo was an ancient highway connecting…
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Germany's Old Salt Route follows the medieval trade path from Lüneburg to Lübeck
Riding a bicycle through northern Germany is pleasant, but it’s significantly better when you're pedaling over the ghosts of medieval billionaires. The Alte…
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Reaching Kalaupapa means descending 2,000 feet by mule
Escaping to a Hawaiian island usually involves leis, but reaching Kalaupapa historically meant you were never coming back. Isolated by the tallest sea cliffs…
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Budapest Tram 2 rattles past Art Nouveau buildings
Forget paying for an overpriced double-decker bus tour when you can just ride public transit through a living architectural museum. Budapest's Tram Line 2…
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