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Day scuba diving offers the Grand Central Station view of a reef or wreck, bustling in a Technicolor blaze. But reefs hardly close for business when the sun sets. There’s something inherently mysterious about venturing into the deep with only a dive light and a sense of adventure. Here’s where…
Before you go off the grid camping and hiking, tap the latest apps that will help you plan your trip, your trails, and where to pitch your tent. Even if you don’t have service, many of these apps will remain handy. AllTrails | (AllTrails, Inc.) A catalog of hiking…
When you visit Italy, you want to see Italy—not other tourists. But the country is a pretty popular destination for pizza-loving jet-setters. In fact, tens of millions of visitors descend on the boot-shaped Mediterranean country every year. Here are a few places you should go to avoid most of them.
Europe has a secret. It's called Albania—a Maryland-size playground of rugged peaks, emerald seas, and ripping rivers. The only catch? It's really poor, graft is rampant, and there's little environmental regulation. Pack your bribe money for a warts-and-all jaunt through the wildest post-Communist state on earth.
The captain has turned off the fasten seatbelt sign and you may now walk freely around the cabin
Last September, a trekking company's guided trip through the wilds of Papua New Guinea was shattered when machete-wielding men attacked the native porters, killing two on the spot and injuring many more. The motive appeared to be robbery, but Carl Hoffman knew something else was at work—ancient tribal patterns of violence that, he knew, would inevitably be avenged
It seems like the list of natural wonders withering under the ravages of climate change gets longer every day—from the shrinking snow atop Mount Kilimanjaro to the dying Great Barrier Reef. Many will be gone, or nearly extinct, within the coming decades, so the clock is ticking on…
Gone are the days of lugging around travel tomes with dog-eared pages. In the digital era, all that info is jammed in a Smartphone-size package. And sure, you can still download entire guidebooks in app form—such as Fodor’s City Guides or Rick Steves’ audio tours—but those…
In the rugged eastern provinces of Afghanistan, American troops are engaged in a kind of alpine warfare not seen for decades.
A 36-hour door-to-door adventure in Carbondale, Colorado with one simple goal: Bike from town, hike up a mountain, float the river home. Nothing crazy, just a weekend spent enjoying life. From Carl Zoch and Sarah Uhl.
When you’re in Miami for 48 hours, you’re only limited by the amount of sleep you need to grab. This tropical city of long, crystalline beaches on the Atlantic Ocean can be a near-endless playground for outdoor sports on land and sea during the day—if you know where to…
It’s a new golden era for outdoor baseball—one in which Major League ballparks go out of their way to evoke a sense of place. Some do this by bringing the outside in. Safeco Field, home to the Seattle Mariners, features exposed steelwork—a nod to the freight trains that rumble nearby.
While traveling throughout Indonesia, filmmaker Nhi Dang captured amazing footage that will make you want to jump on a plane as soon as possible.
Photographer and filmmakers Brett Lyon and Craig Brede set out to explore the American Southwest in April of 2014, and brought their DJI S1000 drone along for the ride. They came away with specatcular footage from Zion and Bryce National Parks, Antelope Canyon, Horseshoe…
Portland, Denver, San Francisco, Seattle, and Milwaukee might be the U.S.’s most widely acknowledged beer cities, but don’t discount the underdogs. Here are five unexpected brewery towns worth rooting for. Albuquerque, New Mexico Marble (Alejandro de la Cruz/Flickr) With two dozen breweries in this southwestern hub of…
Yosemite National Park offers arguably the most scenic hiking in the country. The only challenge? Picking which trail to hike.
Terlingua, Texas, is a magnet for drifters, dropouts, and raft guides—but not murderers. So when a popular bar owner turned up dead after a night of hard drinking, the tiny town found itself facing some very tough questions.
If you want to run in the footsteps of Sir Roger Bannister, who famously ran the world’s first sub-four-minute mile, Oxford University is the place to go. Sixty years ago, on May 6, 1954, the then-25–year-old medical student broke through the tape at 3 minutes, 59.4 seconds on the campus’s…
Space might not yet be the final frontier, but it’s an intriguing one. The International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) recommends places for Earthlings to stargaze—especially places absent the yellow haze of light pollution. The association’s Dark Sky Places program sets a high bar for national and international communities,…
Are we trolling here? Of course we are. But that’s not all we’re doing. As anyone who has ever downed a High Life in the shower knows, nude drinking is an excellent way to exercise free will while toasting our birthday-suited ancestors who drank fermented stag blood by moonlight. But…
Outdoor music festivals are becoming as much a part of the American summer as baseball games, barbecues, and mosquito bites. At them, you can enjoy space to move (and sometimes pitch a tent), natural scenery, tastes of the local food vendors, Frisbees flying, and the wafting…
While planning your trip in your pajamas in the comfort of your home, travel insurance might seem unnecessary—and an easy cast off from your trip budget. But in certain circumstances, coverage could save you thousands of dollars and perhaps even your life. It’s an individual choice, so here’s what to…
An Introduction to Fly-Fishing for Brown Trout in Colorado by Will Rice
In the winter of 2014, three friends set out on a self supported ride, looking for nothing more than a truly genuine experience. The goal: to circumnavigate one of the most wonderful and wicked mountain ranges in the world, the Huayhuash, by bicycle. An Official Selection from the…
Believe it or not, the question isn’t as crazy as it seems. There are actually a few different options for budding space tourists—though none are easy, or cheap. Here are the ways to do it, some of them conventional, others not so much. Get a Job…
Car travel is completely possible—and even fun—with young kids. However, a successful trip requires planning, flexibility, and a sense of humor. Follow these tips and you’re sure to enjoy the ride. Plan Ahead Throw spontaneity to the wind, and plan ahead. Sorry, but you’re no longer that happy-go-lucky couple that…
Plant-power yourself to your next destination.
It used to be, you could get tasered for riding your bike to the airport. Thankfully, the great urban two-wheel boom has seen dedicated lanes and other cycling infrastructure added to airports worldwide. Thus, it’s no longer that strange (or seemingly suspicious—sheesh!) for a cyclist to pedal…
You might be one of those who people who doesn’t “get” Vegas. The charms of Sin City are completely lost on you, but there’s a conference at Caesar’s, and your company has sent you. Or maybe it’s the location for your buddy’s bachelor party. So you reluctantly…
Perth was thrust into the public consciousness recently for being the home base of the search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 in the Indian Ocean. But this city of 1.7 million people with a Mediterranean climate on the remote southwestern corner of Australia has hardly been a secret…
The border between Afghanistan and Pakistan is a lawless no-man's-land where violence and suffering rage, and no one has it harder than the region's 21 million Pashtun women. Their mode of rebellion? Short-verse poems called landays.
The Grand Budapest Hotel is no more real than Willie Wonka’s chocolate factory. And there’s no alpine country called the Republic of Zubrowka—where Wes Anderson’s new movie is set—either. But don’t worry: you can still find hotels that share many of the same features as the…
“Portland is a haven for professional distance runners.”
Caroline Ciavaldini and James Pearson—The North Face’s premiere rock climbing couple—met on a rock face in Antalya, Turkey; they named their story Once Upon A Climb.
Visitors flock to Grand Canyon National Park for awe-inspiring views. But if a quick peek over the edge isn’t enough, here are a few places to camp on the South and North Rims: On the popular South Rim, where most visitors venture, Ruby Hill sits 30 miles from…
The Internet should make booking a trip easier. If only. Let’s not forget that today’s web is first and foremost a marketplace—and the market for travel-booking and search sites is crowded, which can make planning your next journey a little daunting. On one side, you have online travel agencies such…
The climbing season may not be closed for business just yet this season, but it may be tough to convince the mountain's most important climbers to carry on.
It’s true that Costa Rica stopped being a traveler’s secret sometime during the Reagan Administration. But who cares? Its relative popularity doesn’t diminish the untouched beauty and adventure that this Central American country offers travelers—especially if you go off the beaten path. Follow these tips for planning…
The volcanic remains at the heart of Aniakchak National Monument—the least visited site in the national park system—are a trippy mishmash of postapocalyptic cinder cones, hardened lava, and flame-colored walls. The only catch? Doing it right involves days of trekking and rafting through some of the planet’s toughest, most bear-heavy terrain.
Sometimes family vacations aren’t complete unless all the members—even the four-legged ones—are there. Preparing the documentation to travel internationally with your dog can take months, so it’s valuable to begin your research as soon as you make your plans. Here’s what to know if you want Rover to come on…
The only thing better than adventuring in one of our country's national parks is doing so for free. And, it just so happens that as part of the annual National Park Week, put on by the National Park Service and the National Park Foundation, admission to all these wilderness areas and historic sites will be on the house this weekend. Many parks will even offer free entrance for the week's festivities, which run from April 19-27.
Tuareg nomads have stormed out of the desert again, threatening a return to culture war in the Sahara’s legendary lost city. Patrick Symmes on the rebel alliance, and the fire next time.
Tough question. That’s like asking someone to choose between a Ferrari and Lamborghini (served on a bun). And to be fair, South Carolina should be added to the list—because their pork barbecue differs a bit from North Carolina’s, and enjoys the same cultlike following. As for which is…
You might know Nick Symmonds as the 5-time USATF 800-meter champion. Or as the 2013 world champion who dedicated his silver medal to his gay and lesbian friends as a protest against Russian laws. Or as the runner who posted a nude photo on Twitter.
For the first time, armed police will patrol Everest Base Camp. just don’t expect them to curb the growing conflicts.
With nearly 30,000 miles of well-marked and maintained trails, Switzerland is a mecca for hikers. From late June to early September, walkers can explore alpine peaks, wildflower meadows, and crystalline lakes. Although day hikes abound, it’s also possible to string inn-to-inn treks into multi-day, budget-friendly trips. Although routes are graded…
Whether you’re hoping to PR or party over 26.2 miles, consider these 10 events.
Istanbul is the world’s top travel destination according to TripAdvisor’s 2014 Traveler’s Choice awards. It’s also a very large city of more than 2,000 square miles and somewhere in the realm of 14.1 million people. Never has continent-hopping been so easy. The Bosporus Strait separates Istanbul’s western…
A stunning collection of timelpases from Martin Heck and Timestorm Films shot across New Zealand. The crew traveled New Zealand for four months and hit spots like Fjordland NP, Mount Cook NP and Arthurs Pass NP, Mavora Lakes and Lake Ohau.
World-renowned mountaineer Conrad Anker‘s specialty is climbing the most challenging terrain in the world, a quest that has taken him from the mountains of Alaska and Antartica to the big walls of Patagonia, to multiple ascents of Mount Everest. In this video from the National Park Foundation, Conrad…
Ray Barbee is a legendary professional skateboarder from San Jose, California. He made his first appearance in the skate film “Public Domain” and followed it up with his most iconic video part in the movie “Ban This.” Barbee’s passion for music and photography was made accessible through skateboarding. This short…
The Rhaetian Railway gives access to some of the best singletrack in the Swiss Alps. This short from Film von Draussen gives a new perspective on mountain biking. …
The business of skiing looks a lot like the music industry these days, with giants such as Vail Resorts buying up ma-and-pa operations, and independent outfits joining forces to fight the bigs—all driven by a strength-in-numbers mentality that seeks to sell more tickets (often at discounted rates) to…
Looking for a metropolis with ample green space, abundant bike shops, and progressive environmental initiatives? Then these outdoor-challenged locales are definitely not for you.
Salvation Mountain and its creator Leonard Knight have appeared in several movies and maybe most notably in Into The Wild. For more than 30 years, Knight poured his soul and his passion into Salvation Mountain, which stands tall in the desert outside Niland, California. A tribute to the man and…
Getting around the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is no easy task. Not only is the airport humongous, it’s also crowded—very crowded. Last year, the airport saw 94 million passengers depart and arrive, making it the busiest airport in the world. That’s a whole lot of harried…
Growing up in Hollywood prepared Torres for the biggest red carpet event of all: the Olympics.
Fat Bikes aren’t just for snow! These riders rip through Moab, Utah and Fruita, Colorado on the all new carbon Borealis Echo—a truly year-round fat bike. A short film from Borealis Bikes.
On a truly round-the-world journey over the course of a year, Jurian Gravett captured some stunning moments. A great travel edit that will surely make you want to pack the bags and grab your camera!…
Montego Bay, Jamaica: Sand, sun, and horses that have been trained to swim in the sea. Sparked by horse trainer Trina DeLisser started teaching steeds to tread water some thirty years ago. Like humans, horses aren’t born swimmers, but their extremely powerful legs make them good at it. A film…
A series from Vans, Down Days with the Gudauskas Brothers follows pro surfers Pat, Dane and Tanner Gudauskas as they travel the world in search of great waves and adventure. In Episode 6, the brothers head to the mountains for some paragliding in the Alps. …
The Southeast is brimming with spectacular places to camp, along the spine of the Appalachian Mountains, hugging the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts, and many points in-between. What set the sites below apart are their location within a prize recreation area, seclusion, pristine surroundings—or some combination of the three.
Restroom. Food. Gate. Outlet. Chair. Repeat. Most airport layovers have a Groundhog Day familiarity to them and are boring to boot. Some airports, however, are worth planning time to enjoy. Skytrax World Airport Awards recently named Singapore Changi Airport the best overall airport and the best airport for…
Paying for your vacation is fraught with potential pitfalls. Here are a few tips about what form of payment to use when, how to get the best exchange rates and avoid conversion fees, and other things to know before you go: Cash Travel with a handful of local currency for…