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Between canceled weddings, micro weddings, and even Zoom weddings, 2020 turned this industry upside down. As the ongoing pandemic has couples debating what to do about their nuptials, hotels and resorts around the world are coming up with creative solutions. Now, lovebirds can tie the knot on cloud nine — quite literally — with a new hot-air balloon wedding package available at a luxury hotel in North Carolina. Set among the scenic Blue Ridge Mountains of Asheville, The Foundry Hotel is welcoming engaged couples to celebrate a nontraditional wedding ceremony, thanks to its new partnership with Asheville Hot Air Balloons....

Ever wondered why we have leap years? 2020 is a leap year, so next Saturday, we get an extra day — Feb. 29 — before moving on to March. We get a leap day at the end of February every four years, and while it might not seem like much, leap days actually have a massive impact on our seasons. These are the most common leap year questions, answered. More space travel and astronomy news...

On Mar. 1, 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant signed the Yellowstone National Park Protection Act, creating the first national park in North America. Hikers on Mt Washburn trail; 1987. Ed Austin/Herb Jones/Courtesy of Yellowstone National Park Lodges As the act declares, “…the tract of land in the Territories of Montana and Wyoming, lying near the headwaters of the Yellowstone River … is hereby reserved and withdrawn from settlement, occupancy, or sale … and dedicated and set apart as a public park or pleasuring-ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people....

Last year’s World’s Best Awards survey closed on Mar. 2, 2020, just before widespread stay-at-home orders were implemented as a result of COVID-19. The results reflect our readers’ experiences before the pandemic, but we hope the honorees will inspire your trips to come — whenever they may be. Not every beautiful resort town has it all. Sure, white-sand beaches are a prerequisite, but too often a jam-packed roster of activities and amenities eclipses all traces of the destination itself — the culture, the history, the nuances of cuisine....

Beginning July 1, the cost of camping below the rim of the iconic Grand Canyon will increase to $12 a person, per night. The price hike is meant to offset a government funding deficit and to cover expenses for operating backcountry information centers and permit offices at Grand Canyon National Park, The National Parks Service said this week. The current price is $8 per person, per night. The fee increase also applies to stock animals, like the mules that often accompany groups into and out of the canyon....

A hotel deal like this doesn’t come along every day — and it might be the best way to see the Windy City on a budget. Hotel Essex, a mid-century landmark hotel in Chicago, Illinois, underwent a $75 million dollar renovation last year, and it wants to celebrate its birthday with you. In honor of the hotel’s first birthday since the renovation, Hotel Essex will offer a one-night stay for only $1 to five lucky winners of its Instagram contest....

One man took his marriage proposal to brave new heights – on top of a bridge. According to theAssociated Press,Dan Del Tufo, an engineer in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, planned to propose to his girlfriend, Julia Kallmerten, also an engineer, on the Memorial Bridge. The Memorial Bridge was a particularly special place for both Del Tufo and Kallmerten, The Boston Globe reported. The couple met at the University of New Hampshire, and Del Tufo worked on the bridge for his senior thesis as part of the Living Bridge project....

Delta Air Lines has announced it will resume its flights to China after nearly five months of suspended service. “We are excited to resume our services between the U.S. and China, as economic and social activities start to recover,” Wong Hong, Delta’s President of Greater China and Singapore, said in a press release on Monday. “With a mission to connect the world, Delta is committed to getting our customers to their destinations safely and confidently, especially at this critical time....

Arrive in Quito, where your guide will take you by car to the Hotel Casa Gangotena. At this romantic property overlooking the Plaza San Francisco, you will enjoy a three-night stay in a luxury double room. Note: Breakfast is included throughout the trip, as are transfers and guides. Unless otherwise noted, all other meals and alcoholic drinks are at an additional cost. With its magnificent churches and cobblestoned streets, Quito, the capital of Ecuador, has one of the most stunningly preserved colonial centers in all of South America....

Over our 50 years, Travel + Leisure has been proud to bring you countless stories covering every corner of Earth — and beyond. Our writers, editors, photographers, and videographers are constantly on the move searching for the stories that connect us, no matter how far apart we may be physically. From travel news like hotel openings and new flight routes to first-person essays and photo journeys, it’s always been our goal to inspire and guide our readers, offer a new perspective, and at times, to just simply get lost in the beauty of this planet that we share....

Doomscrolling and social media may be addictive, but they’re no match for America’s 13,000-square-mile quiet zone, where unplugging is more than a nice idea — it’s a necessity. The National Radio Quiet Zone (NRQZ), established in 1958, limits and — in some cases — bans cell service and Wi-Fi across the eastern half of West Virginia. This quiet stretch of the Allegheny Mountains, a blend of pine-dotted peaks towering above meandering rivers, is the perfect backdrop for an unplugged getaway....

Designers Nate Berkus and Jeremiah Brent are in for an interesting Valentine’s Day — but that’s nothing new for the stylish pair. The couple, who married in 2014 after getting engaged at the top of Peru’s Machu Picchu in 2013, have opposite takes on Cupid’s biggest day. “I love me some Valentine’s Day,” Brent told Travel + Leisure. For Berkus, “It’s just not my holiday.” Just because the two fall on different ends of the Valentine’s spectrum, however, doesn’t mean there aren’t special memories for the couple....

If you saved all your working days to live the retirement of your dreams, you probably want to travel—and to experience the best hotels, meals, and adventures while you’re on the road. In fact, traveling is the number one goal of retirees, even more than spending time with friends and family, according to a poll from the TransAmerica Center for Retirement Studies. But instead of blowing the bank, you likely want to spend your money wisely to ensure many great trips to come....

Plenty of travelers visit Norway every year to admire its abundance of natural beauty, and now, the country’s newest accommodations make it even easier to do just that. Recently unveiled near the town of Odda are two new tree houses offering unobstructed views of the Hardanger Fjord. These cozy accommodations, called Woodnest, are owned and operated by husband and wife team Sally and Kjartan Aano. According to Lonely Planet, when the pair met years ago in Sydney, Australia, they compared bucket lists and realized they both had written about their hopes of living in a tree house one day....

If there’s one thing the past decade has taught us, it’s the impressive appeal of brunch. Combining the social aspects of a night out on the town with sunshine and avocado toast, the almighty brunch has become the meal of the decade. And if you’ve been put in charge of selecting the location for an upcoming brunch, you know that not just any location will do. Which is why Yelp has compiled a list of the 100 best brunches in the country....

I am somewhat famous for packing the wrong shoes to wear on vacation. This year, I finally got fed up with ruining one too many pairs of leather flats on rocky paths or sandy beaches, and decided to pick up some comfortable, weatherproof sandals before a trip to the New Hampshire woods. My husband had always spoken highly of Keens, so the brand was top of mind when I started my search....

You can now view all the treasures of the Louvre museum without having to book a trip to Paris. The Louvre has put its entire art collection online, the iconic museum announced Friday, with more than 480,000 works of art available for anyone to look through at any time for free. The museum’s most famous works of art like “Winged Victory,” “Venus de Milo” and, of course, the “Mona Lisa” are available to peruse online, along with thousands of other items like paintings, sculpture, jewelry, furniture, textiles, and historical objects....

For too long, economy seats have been built with a one-size-fits-all mindset, resulting in a one-size-fits-few reality. Innovation in economy seating has been scarce, and adjustable seating a nearly impossible dream. But a new seat design, developed through an Airbus Innovation Lab collaboration with strategic design agency LAYER, may have cracked the code on the economy seat of the future. LAYER’s Founder and Creative Director Benjamin Hubert designed the seating concept — called “Move” — around smart elements that help the seat adapt to the size and needs of each individual passenger....

There’s a new viral game spreading its green and yellow squares across the internet. Meet Worldle — and yes that extra “l” is intentional. The new geography-based game is the latest twist on the popular word-guessing game Wordle, but in this version, players must correctly guess the country of the day. And of course, there’s an easy cut-and-paste function to allow users to share their success (or failure) on social media every day....

Like every episode of Let’s Go Together — the podcast celebrating diversity in travel — this week’s episode has some very special guests. Over the course of the show we’ve introduced you to travelers of all shapes, sizes, colors, and creeds, like Glo Antanmo, a Black female blogger seeing the world on her terms, and plus-sized travelers who refuse to let stereotypes keep them off the road. This week, host Kellee Edwards — who shared her own powerful story as a Black female pilot, explorer, and TV host on a recent episode — is joined by Cory Lee and Hannah Gavios, two travelers living with physical disabilities that haven’t stopped them from maxing out the pages of their passports....