Search results for

In a square mile of West Texas, Chris Colin finds family and traces his roots back to a wilder America.

Historical Tainan is the former capital of Taiwan, the island’s oldest city, and the heart of traditional Taiwanese culture. The city is home to several of the island’s oldest and most famous temples—most notably the Confucius Temple—and is the destination of frequent pilgrimages. Tainan is also known for its deep-rooted food culture. There visitors will find some of the most traditional Taiwanese dishes, which can’t be found anywhere else.

Young artists stake their claim to the city’s open spaces.

Chris Walker and Morgan Hartley spent three months cycling through central Asia as part of an 18-month bike trip. Here is part one of five of their account, in which their trip is almost thwarted from the start.

Japan’s former imperial city offers awe-inspiring Shinto and Buddhist temples, beautiful gardens, streets lined with old wooden town houses, and narrow stone lanes where you might see modern-day geisha and stop at an izakaya for a meal.

How do you make sense of diverse, dizzying São Paolo? Talk to the people who make the sushi, spray the graffiti, and build the giant watermelons.

Seoul is a vast metropolis with an efficient public transportation system. In addition to major sites like temples, museums, and palaces, the city boasts unexpected gems including nature trails and mazes of alluring backstreets.

When the Terra Cotta Army was uncovered in Xi’an in 1974, the world took notice of the Shaanxi city. The army—filled with 8000 life-size soldiers, as well as weapons, horses, chariots, and other characters—was buried in the tomb of China’s first emperor. Visitors can discover more treasures than frozen troops in Xi’an, though: Along with its famous cuisine, the city is rich with peaceful temples and and holy mosques, hutongs that rival those in Beijing, historic palaces from the Tang Dynasty, and intact walls and fortifications that date back to the seventh century.

Shopping, the perfect pastime, in a country where fashion meets excruciatingly hot summer temperature. From traditional souks to air conditioned shopping center, many of Abu Dhabi’s most popular shopping spots offer an out-of-the-heat place to gather, dine, sit and talk over coffee...and shop. The large malls all include a supermarket along with international shops from jewelry and fashion to home goods and technology. Each place has its own speciality, whether it be a fruit, meat, and fish market, or, even, a ferris wheel.

Buddhist temples and grand palaces meet neon skylines in Seoul. The city’s hotels are just as varied, ranging from design properties with no-fuss amenities to over-the-top luxury resorts with Michelin-starred cuisine. Here are some of the highlights.

A once-impenetrable country reveals itself to writer Matt Gross one meal at a time.

The founder of White Wabbit, Taipei’s most influential indie record label and shop, KK Yeh finds inspiration in the city’s controversial art galleries, revolutionary teahouses, and red-light district temples.

Home to an ancient Roman temple, a beautiful main square and a stunning Cathedral, Vic is a Barcelona side-trip worth making. Especially since it’s only about an hour and half away from Barcelona in train.

Palermo, Sicily’s capital, is a marvelously jumbled, crumbling blend of old and new—a canvas upon which the region’s complex and ever-shifting history has been painted. Over the centuries, the port of Palermo was controlled by forces from the far corners—from Phoenicians, Greeks and Romans, to Arabs from North Africa, and then Normans from France, who oversaw a renaissance during which many of Palermo’s iconic landmarks and modern tourist attractions were built.

To see some of the vestiges of ancient empires, take a day trip from Palermo to the Valley of the Temples at Agrigento, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its Greek and Roman ruins, including the Temple of Concordia, remain wonderfully intact. Within the city itself, explore the attractions in historic neighborhoods such as the Arab district of La Kalsa, home to the finery-filled Palazzo Mirto. The Quattro Canti (Four Corners) lies in the heart of the old city, with Piazza Pretoria on the corner. From there it’s only a short distance to Palermo’s Norman Palace, another UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of Palermo’s star attractions, which houses the Palatine Chapel, famous for its intricate mosaics.

Palermo is also a perfect jumping-off point for sightseeing excursions to the idyllic beaches of Mondello, the medieval coastal town of Cefalù and the mountain village of Monreale, which is known for its exceptional Norman cathedral.

Amanzoe was one of the first ultra-luxury resorts by a global brand in Greece when it opened back in 2012 in pretty Porto Heli, on the east coast of the Peloponnese. Since then, it has become a much-loved retreat with monumental architecture, all soaring columns and vast expanses of marble that call to mind Greece’s ancient heritage sites.


The resort’s beach club has four pools, cabanas, a Japanese restaurant, and a seaside spa, and it’s from here that water sports and island-hopping cruises set sail. Lavish guest rooms are divided into either pavilion accommodations or larger villas, all with private pools. The most lavish of all is the Ed Tuttle- and Marios Angelopoulos-designed Villa 20, which doubled as Miles Bron’s island home in British murder mystery Glass Onion; it includes 9 bedrooms, 11 pools, a private spa, 2 barbecue areas, and its own Greek taverna.