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Since the 1970s, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has operated the Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP), one of the most quietly consequential public health initiatives. Under its authority, any cruise ship carrying 13 or more passengers on an international itinerary that stops at a U.S. port is subject to twice-yearly, unannounced sanitation inspections. No heads-up. No grace period. Just a team of trained environmental health officers stepping onto the gangway, clipboards in hand, ready …

Deep in Egypt’s southernmost reaches, roughly 140 miles southwest of Aswan and barely a stone’s throw from the Sudanese border, sits one of the ancient world’s most fascinating architectural achievements. The temple of Abu Simbel rests on the western bank of Lake Nasser in Aswan Governorate, Upper Egypt, a location so remote it once required a multi-day Nile voyage to reach. Today, it draws hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.

The man behind Abu …

There is a Japan that most visitors never find, along a rugged coast where the Sea of Japan meets the shore and centuries of isolation forged some of the world’s most extraordinary craft traditions. This is Hokuriku: the three-prefecture arc of Toyama, Ishikawa, and Fukui that stretches along Honshu’s northwestern flank. Once requiring a full day’s journey to reach from Tokyo, the opening of the Hokuriku Shinkansen has redrawn the map of Japanese travel, placing …

The ferry had barely cleared the harbor mouth when the smell of Zanzibar found me bringing cloves, salt, and something ancient I could not name. Stone Town materialized through the heat haze: whitewashed coral-rag buildings stacked improbably atop one another, their facades punched through with arched windows and the most extraordinary doors I had ever seen. It was 1990, and I was quite a bit younger, and travel was everything.…

Costa Rica has plenty for the more leisure-focused traveler, with resorts and beaches galore. But another area of travel that Costa Rica absolutely shines is adventure. From canopy walks to meeting sloths, to ziplines and floating down rivers, traveling in this country can go wild. Particularly La Fortuna, with its volcanoes, rivers, and surrounding areas of dense jungle. Costa Rica, and La Fortuna especially, is a place where nature is foremost and can be embraced …

AmaWaterways is making some noticeable upgrades across its fleet this season. The line has been investing heavily in the onboard experience, with enhancements that touch everything from stateroom comforts to dining and wine.

CEO Catherine Powell says the focus is simple: continue raising the bar while staying true to what makes Ama distinct. In other words, improve the experience without losing the personality.

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It’s always the weird sights that grab my attention on holiday.

While other tourists are admiring a gaudy temple in Ho Chi Minh City, I’m fascinated by a frog. He’s supposed to be compliantly waiting for death in a metal bowl in a pavement market. But this is Adventure Frog. He suddenly springs clean out of the bowl and starts hopping for freedom down the street. The stallholder leaps up and gives chase, plonking him …

Budapest is one of the largest and most well-known cities on the Danube River in Hungary. It’s a town of many faces as it’s actually divided between “Buda” and “Pest.” You could easily fill a week in this city, but if you’re short on time, make sure you hit the highlights. You’ll quickly find out how this city played a big part in World War II and has come to be known as the “Jewel …

Last month, I sailed the Mississippi River with my friend Maddy aboard American Cruise Lines’ American Symphony. I’ve sailed with American before, so I knew what to expect – friendly service, comfortable accommodations and a well-organized trip where we always know what’s happening and where to be. It’s a fool proof vacation.

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Wrapped by the sea on three sides and claiming three millennia of continuous habitation, Cádiz stands as Western Europe’s oldest city—yet it remains one of Spain’s most underappreciated destinations. While masses descend upon Barcelona and Seville, this Andalusian port city maintains an authenticity that has become increasingly rare along heavily touristed Mediterranean coasts. Here, the Atlantic crashes against Phoenician foundations, baroque churches rise above faded colonial facades, and the smell of fried fish drifts through …

If you ever want to visit a place where geology, history, and human stubbornness have conspired to produce something improbably charming, go to Kalk Bay. Wedged—almost accidentally—between a mountain that scowls like a Victorian schoolmaster and a sea that shrugs with ancient indifference, it is a village that smells exactly as a fishing village should: salt spray, drying kelp, and—delightfully—fresh cinnamon bread. It’s the sort of place you wander into, fall hopelessly in love with, …

Situated in Norway, 217 miles above the Arctic Circle, the charming city of Tromso is the gateway to a captivating land of mountains, fjords, and legends. Whether you visit to observe the breathtaking phenomenon of the northern lights, spot magnificent killer whales in the fjords or hang out with huskies, Tromso immediately captures the heart.

I visited during the polar night – the period of time between late November and mid-January when the sun doesn’t …

Unless you’re at the beach, going anywhere on St. Vincent becomes an adventure in traveling up and down.  This is a volcanic island with extensive hilly terrain, even near its shoreline, but it also offers a contrasting impression of green interiors, black beaches, bright pastel-colored buildings, busy town waterfronts, and dramatic rocky crags on islets just offshore.  It takes a little more effort to get to St. Vincent than more accessible islands like Barbados,  Jamaica, …

The Dolomites are no doubt one of Europe’s most dramatic mountain landscapes. Beyond their UNESCO-recognized geological splendor, however, lies an equally fascinating cultural story—one in which Austrian Gemütlichkeit (snugness) meets Italian dolce vita, and an ancient Romance language you may never have known about persists in five high valleys.

The Dolomites sprawl across five provinces—Bolzano, Trento, Belluno, Udine, and Pordenone—covering approximately 350,000 acres of vertical walls, narrow valleys, and jagged peaks that reach above …