Travel
Discover facts about travel. Small discoveries that change the way you see familiar things.
Travel
Why tourists collected Cold War border stamps
Western tourists collected passport stamps at checkpoints such as Checkpoint Charlie, turning tense Cold War border crossings into souvenirs to show off back…
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The route to India once included a desert transfer
Before the Suez Canal, travelers and mail could cross Egypt between Mediterranean and Red Sea journeys. Services organized by operators such as Thomas Waghorn…
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The guidebook for people who wanted to suffer through art
Introduced in the 1910s, Blue Guides were dense, no-frills travel books focused on architecture and art history rather than food or fun. Carrying one signaled…
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The club where travelers collect countries
Members of the Travellers’ Century Club aim to visit 100 countries, and some count places as small as an airport transit lounge or a disputed guano island.
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The hippie trail made the road to India part of the destination
Travelers crossed Europe and Asia in buses, vans, and other improvised transport, passing through places such as Turkey, Iran, and Afghanistan. The overland…
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Isabella Bird's travels defied her life as an invalid
The Victorian writer experienced recurring ill health at home but undertook demanding journeys through places including Hawaii and the Rocky Mountains. Her…
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Meiji treaty ports invented the tourist quarantine trap
Foreigners were restricted to designated treaty ports, where they bought mass-produced imitation samurai swords and staged photos marketed as 'authentic' Japan.
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Miklouho-Maclay challenged racial hierarchy by living in New Guinea
The Russian naturalist arrived on New Guinea's northeastern coast in 1871 and lived among local communities. His observations challenged European claims that…
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A hotel check-in could leave a trail for the police
Nineteenth-century Lausanne hotel registers recorded details such as occupation, origin, and where guests were traveling from and to. Historians have studied…
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An abandoned hotel above a waterfall became a biodiversity museum
Colombia's Casa Museo Salto del Tequendama occupies a former hotel beside the dramatic falls southwest of Bogotá. Restoring the building gave it a new…
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The ski resort that lost its glacier
By 2009, the 18,000-year-old glacier had melted completely; the road reopened anyway, drawing climate-grief tourists to the lodge at 17,000 feet.
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Two small planes rescued survivors from an Alpine glacier
After an American transport aircraft became stranded on Switzerland's Gauli Glacier in 1946, Swiss pilots landed two Fieseler Storch planes on the snow.…
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Ashgabat's airport terminal takes the shape of a falcon
The main passenger terminal in Turkmenistan's capital uses sweeping forms to evoke an enormous bird. Its silhouette turns a transport building into a national…
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The Wilhelm Gustloff wreck is a grave, not a dive attraction
The ship sank in the Baltic in January 1945 while carrying civilians and military personnel. Poland protects the wreck as a war grave, with diving prohibited…
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Somaliland built state institutions before winning recognition
After declaring independence in 1991, Somaliland developed its own currency, elections, and security forces while remaining largely unrecognized…
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Tallinn's Linnahall puts a public landscape on a building's roof
Opened in 1980, the broad, low complex was designed with terraces and monumental stairs instead of a conventional tower. Its roof can read like an extension…
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Chilean saltpeter ghost towns are rusted monuments
Humberstone and Santa Laura were saltpeter-mining towns in Chile’s Atacama Desert, abandoned after synthetic alternatives undercut the industry. The desert’s…
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The abandoned resort frozen in the 1970s
Once a glamorous Cyprus resort where Elizabeth Taylor sunbathed, Varosha was cordoned off by the Turkish military in 1974. Parts are now open to visitors, who…
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The dangerous walkway rebuilt over Spain’s gorge
The Caminito del Rey was built for hydroelectric workers, then became notorious as its path deteriorated. It reopened with a modern wooden walkway laid over…
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The golden dome where visitors must not speak
Visitors must book days ahead, watch an orientation video, and remain silent inside the Matrimandir, where they can view a large crystal.
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Yongma Land lets you pay to explore its ruins
The owner of Seoul’s abandoned Yongma Land charges visitors to explore its rusting rides. K-pop directors and tourists come for the eerie amusement-park…
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Biosphere 2 used giant lungs to regulate air pressure
Their heavy rubber membranes rose and fell inside the geodesic chambers as air pressure changed, helping keep the glass habitat from bursting in the desert…
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The railway that survived sabotage but not war
Built by the Ottomans to carry pilgrims to Mecca, the Hejaz Railway was repeatedly sabotaged by Lawrence during World War I, yet surviving sections in Syria…
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Japan digs through 60 feet of snow each spring
At Japan's Tateyama Snow Corridor, crews reopen a mountain road by cutting through winter snow that can tower above visitors. The route becomes a narrow…
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