From the outside, the three-story redwood building with the attractive gabled roof blends with its surroundings at conifer-dotted Sierra Nevada College in Incline Village. But it's not a redwood building, and the roof is not merely decorative; it contains a...

Leave it to an economic slowdown to create bargains in travel - so many of them that the mind reels. Here are four samples out of hundreds made available by anxious airlines, cruise lines, hotel chains and tour operators: 1. Club Med leads the way. In the...

"Last of the California beach towns" has become the unofficial slogan of this often-overlooked Central Coast enclave overlooking Estero Bay, between Cambria and Morro Bay. It's not actually the last, of course, but it has a justifiable claim to being the...

Traveler: Lindsey Abrams, San Francisco I went: To see the incredible wildlife and beautiful geography of Botswana. Don't miss: A walking safari on one of the many islands. It's a nice change from the many game drives and seeing the animals on foot is an...

Q: I paid $15 for an International Driving Permit from AAA for a recent trip to Grenada. According to the travel agency, it should have been recognized as a valid document for driving. Unfortunately, when I arrived in Grenada, I was required to purchase a...

Pick a major East Coast city at random, and you're likely to find a 200th birthday celebration for Edgar Allan Poe. The peripatetic Poe - author of "The Raven," "The Tell-Tale Heart" and other poems and tales of the macabre - was born in Boston on Jan. 19,...

Cheers to the tour that ends in brew One of Amsterdam's most popular attractions among young adults, the Heineken Experience, has reopened after a year of renovations. Long gone are the days when the tour, located on the site of Heineken's former brewery in...

So it turns out chickens in Japan don't go "cluck cluck." Who knew? But the ideal time to discover this - and I can say this with some authority - is not when you're standing on the crowded floor of an Osaka department store with your hands tucked under your...

Tarzan-caliber vines dangle through a tangle of palm trees and acacias dripping cascades of pink orchids. Our small group is quietly stalking through the rain forest, listening for a repeat of a sound we could not believe we just heard. Sweat trickles between...

The Inn at Southbridge Let's just make this point from the get-go: In the Napa Valley, $300 doesn't set you down in the lap of luxury; it nudges you into the arms of just above average. Having said that, the Inn at Southbridge is a nice place to stay set in...

Ambling past leafy Depot Park and the 1907 La Rose Hotel in Santa Rosa's historic Railroad Square feels like returning to another era. The charming downtown commercial district dates back to the late 1800s, and is dotted with statues depicting Charles M....

Don't look for Russians here; you won't find any unless they are modern-day tourists. According to legend, Russian Hill got its name from Russian fur trappers who came here to hunt sea otters and were later buried on the hill. Today only the hill's name...

Miserable winter weather left holiday travelers delayed or stranded at airports from coast to coast. Although the holidays are now just about over, bad weather probably isn't. So for travel in the next few months, the question again arises: Just what are...

While the future of the economy may be hard to predict, Hawaii-bound bargain hunters can take advantage of new and existing trends that make Aloha State vacations more affordable — and more appealing than ever. Here are five ways to experience the...

Travelers: Kathy and Jim Prescott, San Bruno We went because: To see the city of lights, Paris, during the fall with all its night lights. Don't miss: Seeing the Eiffel Tower lit blue at night to celebrate France leading the EU for the next six months. Every...

The first time I took my son, Alex, to Maui, he was happy to splash around at the edge of the water, eat the pineapple out of my mai tais, and stuff sand down the front of his bathing suit (for whatever reason 4-year-old boys do that kind of thing). Now that...

On a muggy March afternoon three years ago, I sat at a desk in the sheltered silence of the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower and looked for lessons, not from the energetic embrace of Mumbai, just beyond the window of my room, but from an elusive idea more distant. I...

Q: Can you help me get my money back for a rental car? I recently prepaid for a car in Vancouver through Priceline using my debit card. But when I checked in at the Avis counter, I was told that I couldn't get a car because I didn't have a credit card. I had...

If you ignore the fact that Question 31 just vanished into the ether, rendering it a 49-question quiz rather than the advertised 50, this year's geography quiz was remarkably free of the mistakes and muddled thinking that are its traditional hallmarks. A few...

Because many Americans make their charitable contributions during the holiday season, I pause each year at this time to recall (often in nearly the same language as last year) several nonprofit organizations that perform services for our fellow human beings...