Here are some top vacation getaways for Pittsburgh area travelers this summer
After covid-19 forced many people to spend most of their time at home over the past year, eager travelers finally might be ready to get out and enjoy a vacation this summer. For the first time since the start of the pandemic, 63% of people plan to leave their homes...
Princess Diana’s wedding dress goes on display in London
LONDON — The dress Princess Diana wore at her 1981 wedding to Prince Charles went on public display Thursday at the late princess’s former home in London. The taffeta-ruffled white dress designed by David and Elizabeth Emanuel, with its 25 foot sequin-encrusted train, helped seal the fairytale image of the...
Weird Pennsylvania: Your guide to unique spots in the state
Beyond the immortalized battlefields, museums of science and historic collections, Pennsylvania also is home to an amazing array of weird and wacky sites and attractions. Here’s a look at 23 of those special places, including a few right here in our own backyard. Castle Halloween, Altoona Decades of Halloween and...
Party of 4? Your trail is ready. Busy parks try reservations
ST. HUBERTS, N.Y. — Nick and Matthew Golebiewski climbed to the summit of Gothics mountain in the Adirondacks with packs, water, good boots and a new must-have item: advanced reservations. The free reservation system went online recently to handle the fast-growing number of visitors to the privately owned Adirondack Mountain...
Turnpike officials expect Memorial Day traffic to nearly double from last year
What a difference a year makes. The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission project traffic on the toll highway over the Memorial Day holiday will almost double to 2.1 million motorists compared to 2020, when travelling options were severely impacted by shutdowns and safety concerns due to the coronavirus pandemic. The agency anticipates...
Whimsical new NYC waterfront park floats over Hudson River
NEW YOR — A whimsical new park that appears to float on pilings above the Hudson River opened to the public just off the Manhattan shoreline Friday, four years after a fight between media mogul Barry Diller and a billionaire real estate developer threatened to derail it. The new park,...
Disney CEO says attendance caps at parks being raised
Disney’s top executive says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s decision to ease up mask-wearing requirements for fully vaccinated people is “very big news for us.” During an earnings call on Thursday, Disney CEO Bob Chapek hinted that there could be a change to the mandatory mask requirement at...
Signs of optimism as NYC sees rise in tourism, bit by bit
NEW YORK — The once-deserted steps outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art are filling up with visitors again. Hotel lobbies are losing their desolate feel. Downtown, people are back to taking selfies with the Charging Bull statue near Wall Street. Tourists who vanished from New York City’s museums, hotels and...
TripAdvisor removes insensitive review of Auschwitz Museum
NEEDHAM, Mass. — Travel website TripAdvisor has removed an insensitive review of the Auschwitz Museum after initially saying it complied with its submission guidelines. The museum at the site of the Nazi concentration camp in Poland on Thursday tweeted that it had asked the Massachusetts-based travel website to take down...
Las Vegas hitting jackpot as pandemic-weary visitors crowd back
LAS VEGAS — To Mike Anger in Midland, Mich., a $100 round-trip airline flight and $260 for five nights at a Las Vegas hotel made it too easy to say yes. “How could I turn that down?” the 39-year-old electrician asked, holding a tall vodka drink, basking in 90-degree temperatures,...
GO Laurel Highlands office marks Travel and Tourism Week with open houses, online prizes
The destination marketing organization for Westmoreland, Fayette and Somerset counties, is spotlighting the “Power of Travel” during National Travel and Tourism Week, held during the first week of May. Ligonier-based GO Laurel Highlands also will welcome visitors during two open house events, 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday...
Find out why more than 1 million visit Ohiopyle State Park each year
One of the “must see” state parks for your bucket list is located in Fayette County. Ohiopyle State Park is a unique place to stay for a day or a week. It has everything that you could imagine being part of a natural resource. The park is a place where...
Lost frescoes to greet visitors when Italy’s Uffizi reopens
Recently discovered frescoes will greet visitors to Florence’s Uffizi Galleries when the museum reopens May 4 after the most recent covid shutdown. Workers doing restoration discovered the painted walls and ceilings dating from the 17th and 18th centuries beneath plaster in the museum’s west wing, which is where the new...
France suspends all Brazil flights due to virus variants
PARIS — France’s prime minister has announced the suspension of all flights between Brazil and France amid concerns over coronavirus variants. Prime Minister Jean Castex made the announcement Tuesday in parliament. He said: “We note that the situation is getting worse and so we have decided to suspend all flights...
2 new airlines await Americans looking to fly somewhere
Americans are traveling in the greatest numbers in more than a year, and soon they will have two new leisure-oriented airlines to consider for those trips. Both hope to draw passengers by filling in smaller strands on the spider web of airline routes crisscrossing the United States. Avelo Airlines said...
U.K. bans travel from 4 more nations over virus; 39 in all
LONDON — The British government is gearing up to ban international arrivals from four more countries — Bangladesh, Kenya, Pakistan and the Philippines — amid concerns over new virus variants but opted against including France and other European nations that are facing a resurgence of the virus. The Department for...
Celebrity Cruises to end yearlong pandemic hiatus in June
Two Royal Caribbean cruises will resume in June ending a yearlong hiatus, but passengers 18 and older must test negative for covid-19 before getting on a ship. The company’s Celebrity Cruises subsidiary said its Celebrity Millennium ship will relaunch on June 5 from St. Maarten. One itinerary will stop in...
Sheltered from virus, Kauai plans cautious return to tourism
As the coronavirus ravaged other parts of the U.S., residents of this rural Pacific island watched safely from afar. Kauai, one of the world’s most sought-after vacation destinations, has been nearly impossible to visit for most of the past year, with officials bucking pressure to ease quarantine rules as the...
Southwestern Pa. gas prices stabilizing; remain well above national average
After weeks of sharp price spikes, analysts say gasoline price increases in Southwestern Pennsylvania appear to be stabilizing. Regular unleaded gasoline increased only a penny per gallon last week following increases of 25 cents per gallon here over the last month. There were multiple factors behind the increases that drove...
Disney World workers get spit on, yelled at, and pushed trying to enforce covid safety rules
ORLANDO, Fla. — A security guard reminded a guest to put on his mask before he walked into Disney World’s Contemporary Resort near the Magic Kingdom last month. “I’m a guest,” argued the middle-aged, fedora-wearing man. He asked to be left alone. Then he spat, and some of his saliva...
Want to own an amusement park? This one comes with a lake and a roller coaster
Clementon Park and Splash World in New Jersey has thrill rides, a water park, a 23-acre lake and is for sale. It sits on 52 acres, has a 4,000-square-foot historic six-bedroom house on the property, picnic tables and concession equipment. Rides include Thunder Drop, Ring of Fire, Sea Dragon, Flying...
Allegiant Air announces flights between Pittsburgh, Key West
Allegiant Air will debut nonstop flights between Pittsburgh International Airport and Key West, Fla., beginning June 3. “From the historic sights at Dry Tortugas National Park to the Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum, Pittsburgh visitors have a lot to explore in Key West,” Drew Wells, Allegiant’s senior vice president of...
Air travelers to Canada to isolate at hotels starting Feb. 22
Air travelers to Canada will quarantine in a hotel starting on Feb. 22 as they await the result of a coronavirus test, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday. Trudeau previously announced stricter restrictions would be imposed on nonessential air travelers in response to new, likely more contagious variants. Government officials...
Canada blocks cruise ships for a year, ending Alaska tripsVideo
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The Canadian government has extended a ban on cruise ships through February 2022, which is expected to block trips from visiting Alaska this year. Transport Canada on Thursday announced the extension of the ban enacted because of the covid-19 pandemic. Canada blocked cruise ships of more than...
U.K. to begin hotel quarantine amid criticism of delay
LONDON — Everyone arriving in the U.K. from countries identified as coronavirus hotspots will have to spend 10 days in hotel quarantine starting Feb. 15 in a bid to stop new virus variants reaching the country, the government said Friday. But authorities are facing criticism for delays in implementing the...
