These days, you’re probably not planning a trip to Iraq or Afghanistan — the United States and other developed nations are currently advising citizens against all non-essential travel to these countries. But a government travel warning doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s a bad idea to plan a trip to a particular part of the world. In fact, within the past ...

A key part of planning your Italian vacation is deciding how you are going to get to Italy and, even more importantly, how you are going to get around. The way you travel will color your daily experiences of Italy. Trains can be one of the most affordable options. Renting a car will help you see Italy from an entirely ...

As an independent traveler, I’ve never been too interested in cruising as a vacation option. Hairy chest contests? Not for me. Casinos and cheesy stage shows? I’ll pass. For me, traveling is about experiencing a destination, not cruise ship bells and whistles. And I’ve never felt comfortable descending upon a tiny island port with a teeming crowd of 2,500 other ...

We asked you, our well-traveled readers, to divulge your worst packing disaster stories. And it turns out most of you have experienced a packing setback or two while traveling the world, from airplanes running over luggage strewn on the tarmac to suitcases filled with invading iguanas. While it’s unfortunate that so many of you had problems with lost bags, suspicious ...

England is a place that takes looking after its visitors seriously; as the saying goes, “an Englishman’s home is his castle.” As such, England is a welcoming place for travelers, with a range of accommodation options available to suit all budgets and tastes. Most major international hotel chains have operations here, and there are a number of British hotel and ...

Once upon a time, the guy who booked his plane ticket early was the lucky chap who laid claim to the window seat in the exit row. But today, first-come, first-served plane seats have gone the way of stewardesses, cabin smoking sections and paper tickets. In the past few years, we’ve rolled our eyes as airline after airline rolled out ...

Getting where you need to go isn’t always half the fun, but in England, at least, the country’s vast transportation resources make traveling relatively painless. Whether you’re nipping about London in one of its red double-decker buses or heading off into the countryside via motorcoach, rental car or train, getting around England is reasonably easy. Still, visitors should plot their ...

Throughout history, millions of vacations have gone askew for variety of reasons. Remember the Griswold family’s cross-country drive to Walley World? (Fiction, yes, but no doubt representative of many real family road trips.) Naturally, attacks from crazy relatives can’t be stopped by any measure of good planning — but more common travel mishaps, like busted trip budgets or overpriced flights, ...