AP Travel Columns

It used to be best known as the Steel City, but today Pittsburgh is a popular city that draws visitors to enjoy its scenery, visit its museums and browse through neighborhoods of shops and restaurants.

Q: How do I prepare for a vacation from work?

NEW YORK - Talk to taxi drivers and hotel maids. Fly on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. And think twice before you drink from that glass in your hotel room.

NEW YORK - San Francisco once again took the No. 1 spot among best U.S. cities in Conde Nast Traveler magazine's annual Readers' Choice Awards.

NEW YORK - Some people love the romance of long-distance railroad travel. Some like to step off the curb and hail a cab. But others prefer the screech and rumble of subways - and the more arcane and exotic the system, the better.

Veterans Day is coming up, with parades and solemn observances you can attend in Washington and elsewhere around the nation. You just have time to make your travel plans with a little help from the Internet.

Q: I'm driving to the Poconos for Thanksgiving and flying to Paris for Christmas. Should I buy travel insurance for both trips?

NEW YORK - The bellhop in Madrid had a confused look on his face when I handed him a bag with a black hoof sticking out it.

NEW YORK - Autumn leaves are just starting to turn color in most parts of the country. But if you love to ski, you're already looking ahead to the arrival of winter, planning your visits to snowy slopes and shopping around for preseason offers.

SEATTLE, Wash. - Here are some tips on booking airfares for the holidays from the crystal ball at Farecast.com, which uses past airfare data to predict future airfare patterns.

NEW YORK - Whether you're a world traveler or an armchair traveler, you'll find inspiration in several big, beautifully illustrated new books out this month showcasing destinations around the globe.

NEW YORK - More than half of those who've never taken a cruise would like to do so, according to a 2006 survey by the Cruise Lines International Association.

DES MOINES, Iowa - When is the right time to book a cruise? Should you reserve way ahead, or wait until the last minute?

The weather is getting chilly on the East Coast and it's time to get out and enjoy the season.

Visitors to the San Francisco Bay Area will no doubt stroll through Fisherman's Wharf, climb Coit Tower atop Telegraph Hill and view the Pacific Ocean from Cliff House.

You could stay home on Halloween and hand out candy, but you could have more fun by turning it into a short vacation to take in a monstrous parade or a holiday festival. Or maybe you could just spend a few nights jumping at every creak, groan and rattle in a haunted inn.

It's almost that time of year again, time to head for the mountains of West Virginia for the fall foliage and for watching people parachute into the New River in the annual celebration called Bridge Day. And while you're there, you can hike forest trails, see a couple of the wildest whitewater rivers east of the Rockies or find a place to just relax.

Beat writer Jack Kerouac usually set out without a map, plan or even a purpose. So tracking exactly where the author stopped off in his travels wouldn't be encouraged by the man who disliked the title "King of the Beats."

You've never seen bison outside a zoo, thundering across open range? Now's your opportunity, and it will take you to a scenic area on the edge of South Dakota's Black Hills where you can hike, explore caves, see mountains turned into sculpture or just drive around and take in the mountain scenery.

Summer heat is winding down on the Lake Michigan lakefront and winter's cold wind is still months away, making this a great time to visit Chicago. And a few minutes on the Internet will show you there's more than enough going on to keep you entertained.

It's time to head for Nebraska for your next vacation, just in time for a harvest festival celebrating an important crop other than the state's corn or wheat.

OAKLAND, Calif. - A new edition of the Lonely Planet book on "Israel & the Palestinian Territories" can help you plan a trip to the area - and can even help you explain to others why you're going.

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. - This photo shows the Ponce Festival at the St. Augustine City Gates during the April 1924 Ponca de Leon Festival. The festival took place in April each year from the mid-19th century until 1929.

NEW YORK - Need a passport in a hurry? Good luck!

NEW YORK - In the past nine months, passengers have been kicked off airplanes or detained at airports for uncontrolled coughing, joking about hijacking, breast-feeding a baby, kissing and other amorous activities, cursing at flight attendants who denied them alcohol, failing to get a screaming child buckled in for takeoff, and carrying a sippy cup of water.

NEW YORK - Christine Louise Hohlbaum and her husband took their children to Venice when they were 2 and 4 years old. Looking back, she wishes she'd waited until they were a little older.

NEEDHAM, Mass. - Can't get the family to an Orlando theme-park this year?

The next time you're packing for a vacation, stop to fire up your computer and dig around the Internet for some podcasts to load into your preferred MP3 player. No, not those podcasts. Travel guides.

I'm on a Delta flight from Richmond to JFK Airport which is running 20-30 minutes late. The flight attendant goes through the cabin to ask about our connecting flights.

NEW YORK - Italy was named the No. 1 honeymoon destination in Modern Bride magazine's annual "World's Best Honeymoons" survey.