AP Travel Columns

It's become a favorite winter destination for many "snowbird" refugees from winter-locked northern states, so why not visit Las Cruces, N.M., for yourself and enjoy some of the scenery and culture of the southcentral part of the state they call the Land of Enchantment. Full Story »

NEW YORK - Conde Nast Traveler magazine's annual ski poll named Whistler Blackcomb in British Columbia the best ski resort town in North America. Whistler Blackcomb also won for best apres-ski and activities, as well as for best local dining. Full Story »

Take a few spins on an ice rink within view of San Francisco Bay as part of your holiday celebrations this year, then warm up by shopping for presents, sampling restaurants, riding the cable cars and soaking up the scenery. Full Story »

The next time you're heading for a Florida vacation, take your car and get off the four-lane. Take A1A, the older, slower road that was there before Interstate 95, and explore the towns, beaches and parks along the Atlantic Coast. Full Story »

DAUPHIN ISLAND, Ala. - The Sand Island Lighthouse, a lonely sentinel from a faded era of shipping commerce in the Gulf of Mexico, has survived more than a century of hurricanes and violent waves, but its future is precarious. Full Story »

Palm trees, sandy beaches, warm water, nearly perfect weather. You don't need any more reasons to abandon your parka and mittens and take that vacation you've been promising yourself on Hawaii's island of Oahu. Full Story »

NEW YORK - When the economy was booming, many hotel companies began building new properties. Some of those are opening now, resulting in a 2.5 percent increase in hotel room supply this year, just as demand is dropping by around 1 percent or more, according to Jan Freitag of Smith Travel Research. Full Story »

Places that presidents call home often become major tourist attractions, from estates at Mount Vernon and Monticello, to Hodgenville, Ky., where Abe Lincoln's log cabin once stood, to Bill Clinton's boyhood home in Hope, Ark. Full Story »

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. - It takes a lot to impress here, a place where magazine models shop and $100,000 cars creep by without a batted eye. Full Story »

NEW YORK - Two new Zagat guides offer reviews of hotels in the United States and restaurants in Europe. Full Story »

NEW YORK - Looking for a ski getaway with authentic local charm? The December issue of Travel + Leisure magazines recommends five ski towns that "hold true to their local roots." Full Story »

BEIJING - In between dispatching armies to secure the empire and building China into the richest country in the world, the Qianlong Emperor commissioned a retirement home for himself in the Forbidden City palace. Full Story »

NEW YORK - Feeling bad that you can't afford a vacation? Travel books with titles like "Don't Go There!" and "I Should Have Stayed Home" may make you feel better. For $15 or so, you'll get a laugh out of vacation horrors that you'll be happy to miss. Full Story »

HONG KONG - Mobil Travel Guide's new book about Hong Kong and Macau includes more five-star rated hotels and spas than any other guide the company has ever produced. Full Story »

Europeans have long known about the benefits of spending vacation time on the Canary Islands, off the west coast of Africa. Maybe it's time to join them. Full Story »

Much of the route has been taken over by four-lane interstates, but scattered sections of U.S. 66 can still be driven between the Midwest and the Pacific Coast, and the spirit of Route 66 — the Mother Road in "The Grapes of Wrath" — lives on even in places where its pavement has disappeared. Full Story »

NEW YORK - For waves of immigrants to America, the Lower East Side was a place of first settlement. Today it's one of the city's trendiest neighborhoods. But it's easy to find history amid the hipsters. Full Story »

NEW YORK - Bon Appetit's November issue profiles 10 "culinary country inns" that the magazine describes as offering "destination-worthy food" and cozy accommodations. Full Story »