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Travelers throughout the world celebrated on Monday as the United States reopened its borders to vaccinated travelers from all over the globe for the first time in nearly two years. Airlines took to social media to mark the occasion, tweeting messages of excitement and hope as travelers started to stream into U.S. ports. “The British are coming! The British are coming!” JetBlue tweeted on Monday, after launching its own flights from New York to London earlier this year....

Southerners know what to serve to comfort and satisfy your cravings. Fried chicken, crab cakes, and shrimp and grits are the kinds of food that do much more than just solve hunger. And according to a new ranking, you don’t always have to go directly to the South to get the best Southern food. OpenTable on Tuesday released its list of the 50 Best Southern Restaurants in America for 2018. The reservation platform determined the list based on diner reviews for more than 27,000 restaurants in all 50 states and Washington, D....

The 15 Best Winter Coats for Women, According to Thousands of Customer Reviews The Merokeety Women’s Winter Fleece Jacket is made from ultra-soft faux-shearling that offers a plush look and feel. It features a snap button-down closure, two front slip pockets, and ribbed cuffs and hem. A stand-up collar can be worn up or down and provides extra warmth and wind protection when worn fully buttoned. The jacket is available in 17 colors, including neutrals like camel and olive green, as well as bolder options like wine red and light purple....

If there’s one lesson we’ve learned from TSA security checkpoint confiscations, it’s that you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone. Whether it’s souvenir lighters, bottles of wine or multi-finger rings that look questionably like iron knuckles, TSA agents have seized some of our most prized possessions when passing through security. But one company is giving you a way to save your banned items. ROBYN BECK/Getty Images Airport Mailers says its mission is “to provide the easiest, most convenient and cost-efficient manner for travelers to keep their possessions by mailing them home....

“Fragrance has the power to create a motionless journey,” says Cécile Matton. “When you travel, everything you see, feel, and smell gets intertwined. Olfactive memories are some of the strongest.” Matton is one of five expert perfumers commissioned by the luxury fragrance house Diptyque to help celebrate its 60th anniversary in style. For the travel-themed Le Grand Tour collection, launched this week, each scent artist created a custom fragrance inspired by one of the Diptyque founders’ favorite places....

Barbados has launched a new way for travelers to complete their COVID-19 test before jetting off to the Caribbean. In partnership with U.S.-based lab StageZero Life Sciences, travelers can schedule an appointment to have a healthcare professional come to their home to administer a COVID-19 test, ensuring they’ll receive their results within Barbados’ mandated testing time of 72 hours before arrival. “We’re very pleased that we’re able to open up this transformational initiative in partnership with StageZero that allows persons to travel to Barbados with their test within the time frame,” Sen....

Summer is almost here, and with the season comes planning for trips to the beach, mountains, city, or countryside. Road trips are a popular summer vacation choice, especially among families, and this summer is the perfect time to embark on your own great American road trip, even if it’s just for a weekend. This list of the best weekend road trips has options leaving from several major cities across the country, including New York City, Atlanta, and San Diego, so you can find a quick trip near you....

A road trip up to Mount Desert Island (M.D.I.) is an essential part of any summer visit to Maine, as the massive island is home to a range of quintessential must-sees: Acadia National Park, the only national park in the northeast; the charming town of Bar Harbor; Cadillac Mountain, the tallest seaside mountain on the eastern seaboard north of Rio de Janeiro; Somes Sound, the only fjord on the east coast; as well as all the usual Maine attractions, namely, lobster, ice cream, and whoopie pies....

We here at T+L have been reading a lot about Bitcoins lately. The virtual currency—unaffiliated with national institutions and easily traded anonymously—has seen its value skyrocket to over $1,000 per “coin.” Whispers abound of a potential bubble (remember Tulipmania?). Today those whispers turned to full on warnings, when Chinese banks instructed financial institutions not to trade in the digital money. Yet while the news briefly caused the prices to tumble, they’re once again on the rise....

A long-haul flight from the U.S. to Asia can mean cramped leg room and not-so-great food for many travelers who are typically squeezed into too-small seats in economy. But that’s not the case for Bei Bei, the giant panda who was born at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington D.C. For this fluffy panda, flying to Asia means getting your own private jet. Bei Bei the giant panda was born at the zoo in 2015, according to CNN, and will return to China on Tuesday per an agreement that requires all giant pandas born at the zoo go to China when they turn 4 years old....

More than a dozen destinations were added to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s highest travel advisory on Monday as the agency warns against traveling to even more locations around the world. Several popular Caribbean islands were among the new additions, including Saint Barthelemy, Saint Martin, Jamaica, and the Dominican Republic. Additionally, Fiji (a bucket list destination for many), Costa Rica, Guadeloupe, Kuwait, Mongolia, Niger, Peru, Romania, the United Arab Emirates, and Tunisia were also raised to “Level 4....

The glittering cities of North Africa and the Middle East offer more to see and do with each passing year. Qatar’s capital city, Doha, just unveiled a Jean Nouvel–designed National Museum, made to resemble the “desert rose” crystals that are commonly found in the country. It joins the region’s satellite branch of Paris’s Louvre Museum, which opened in Abu Dhabi in 2017. Cairo is making a big statement with next year’s unveiling of the Grand Egyptian Museum (at a reported cost of $1 billion)....

While social distancing and sheltering in place has become somewhat of a norm as coronavirus continues to have a worldwide impact, local businesses — that rely on their communities to keep them up and running — are looking for ways to stay afloat. Julia Keim Loyal customers have shown their support by buying gift cards, shopping online, or ordering takeout to give local spots an extra boost, however some have taken their contributions to the next level by implementing their own creativity and skills....

Since its humble beginnings as a crop-dusting outfit founded in Macon, Georgia in 1925, Delta has grown into one of the largest airlines on the planet. In a typical year, the carrier flies as many as 200 million passengers to 300 destinations in over 50 countries around the globe on its fleet of nearly 800 aircraft. Delta also partners with other international carriers like Air France-KLM, Korean Air, and Virgin Atlantic....

International travel has been complicated amid the COVID-19 pandemic, to say the least. On Sept. 1, 2021, the EU removed the U.S. from its list of safe countries, but stricter entry requirements haven’t stopped American travelers from taking advantage of a vacation in Italy. Italy lost an estimated $140 billion over the course of 2020, due to the pandemic and travel and tourism restrictions, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council....

You may be able to make that winter visit to the Taj Mahal this year after all. India, once an epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, is once again ready to begin welcoming international tourists. Beginning this week, vaccinated visitors on commercial flights are allowed to reenter the country for the first time since March 2020, according to the U.S. Embassy. Travelers will be required to show proof of vaccination and a negative COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours of their flight....

This year’s World’s Best Awards survey was open for voting January 11 through May 10, 2021, as destinations around the world were lifting COVID-19 restrictions. Survey rules have always allowed readers to reflect on their travel experiences over a three-year period. We hope that this year’s honorees will inspire your own travels as you get back out into the world. Travel + Leisure readers love the Caribbean, the Bahamas, and Bermuda — and really, who can blame them?...

Now that marijuana tourism is well and truly active in states like Colorado and Washington, the opening of the nation’s first legal Ayahuasca retreat, which happens next month in Washington state, seems somewhat, well, inevitable. Ayahuasca Healings has held retreats in Peru for years, aimed at travelers interested in exploring what the website describes as “a doorway to inner worlds that allows us access to higher states of consciousness and the experience of spiritual awakening....

Travel is evolving and we’re here to celebrate it. After spending more than a year at home, we are ready to get back out and explore the world once again. And when we do, we want everyone to be prepared to do it alongside us. We’re celebrating the return to travel and preparing globetrotters everywhere with all-new episodes of our podcast, Let’s Go Together, which highlights how travel changes the way we see ourselves and the world....

While it’s safe to say most McDonald’s fans head in for staple items like a Big Mac and French fries, the fast-food chain’s locations around the world keep it interesting with unique offerings to cater to specific tastes around the world. On Monday, McDonald’s in China introduced a “Lunchmeat Burger” — a concoction made of Spam and topped with crumbled Oreo cookies. The sandwich consists of two slices of Spam, Oreo cookie crumbles and is topped with a smear of mayonnaise, The Associated Press reported....