Searching for 'Hygge' in Copenhagen - and Happiness at Home

Searching for 'Hygge' in Copenhagen - and Happiness at Home

It's a global buzzword and cultural phenomenon. And today, more and more of us are in need of Denmark's signature recipe for happiness: 'hygge'.Danish 'hygge' (pronounced 'HOOG-uh') is sweeping the world – everyone wants in on Denmark's famously convivial way of life. The Danish are the happiest people on the planet – even during the long, dark days of winter -...

Discover Dazzling Winter Evenings at Hong Kong's New Light Festival

Discover Dazzling Winter Evenings at Hong Kong's New Light Festival

For a city whose nighttime skyline overlooking Victoria Harbour is already a global icon of urban lighting and signage, a light festival might seem like overkill. But the new Hong Kong Pulse Light Festival expands the effects of Hong Kong's famous neon signs and lit-up skyscapers to a street-level playground of luminous artworks during the darkest months of the year.Debuting in...

6 Tips to Survive - and Enjoy - an 'Obli-cation'

6 Tips to Survive - and Enjoy - an 'Obli-cation'

When your 'vacation' is really an obligation, you're taking an 'obli-cation'. You've taken these trips: cross-country to the in-laws' for the holidays. A family or friend's destination wedding. The mandatory winter break or summer holiday family reunion/group vacation.When you take an oblication, the usual steps you take that ensure fun travel may no longer apply.On any of these occasions, you may find yourself...

Fact or Fiction? 3 Things You Need to Know About 'Dracula's Castle'

Fact or Fiction? 3 Things You Need to Know About 'Dracula's Castle'

Before every travel destination had a ghost tour and haunted hotels, there was Dracula's Castle.Irish author Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic horror novel 'Dracula' popularized the vampire genre of fantasy fiction that today is more popular than ever.And although the character of the undead Transylvanian Count is fictional, the Romanian national monument known all over the world as 'Dracula's Castle' is...

6 Reasons to See Sicily

6 Reasons to See Sicily

It's the largest island in the Mediterranean, with 14,000 years of history.Sicily is in the center of the Mediterranean Sea and has been central to several world-changing civilizations including the Greeks, Phoenicians and Romans. It is rich in artistic, musical, literary, culinary, and architectural heritage, and has some of the most beautiful beaches and scenery in the Med. Yet many...

Video: Get Shot Out of This World-First Bungy Catapult in New Zealand

Video: Get Shot Out of This World-First Bungy Catapult in New Zealand

Maybe it's been too long since you've been shot out of a cannon. Or dangled and bounced hundreds of feet above a ravine. Or had your head snapped back with 3 G's of force in only 1.5 seconds of acceleration. There's a new experience in New Zealand that will give you all those thrills and more. The Nevis Catapult has launched – literally...

10 Things Before You Travel to Turks and Caicos

10 Things Before You Travel to Turks and Caicos

The British Overseas Territory of Turks and Caicos has 8 main islands, 300 smaller islands, almost all virtually unpopulated. There may be fewer than 50,000 residents, but it punches above its weight as an offshore financial center and a favored Caribbean island destination for travelers by land or sea.Most people live on Providenciales (nickname: 'Provo'), in the Caicos Islands. Grand Turk...

Video: Top 5 Things You'll Do Like a VIP on a Monograms' Tour of Rio

Video: Top 5 Things You'll Do Like a VIP on a Monograms' Tour of Rio

We can't get enough of the Monograms way of travel. Have someone else do the legwork while you get to have all the fun? Count us in.All Monograms tours give guests the VIP treatment: a Monograms Local Host and driver to pick you up and drop you off when you're arriving and departing from the city (no matter how you...

5 Tips to Make a Cruise the Perfect Family Vacation

5 Tips to Make a Cruise the Perfect Family Vacation

If you're trying to come up with the perfect family vacation for the holidays, time to think about cruising.Whether you are new to cruising or a seasoned sailing family, here are 5 tips to ensure every member of the family has a fun, memorable… and relaxing holiday.By: Lynn Elmhirst, Producer/ Host and cruise expert, BestTrip.TV1. Location, location, location. Pick your...

You Can Take a Chair Lift to the Beach on this Island

You Can Take a Chair Lift to the Beach on this Island

They call it the 'Magical Flying Beach Chair' and it's probably one of the world's most memorable - and scenic - 6 minute trips to the beach. It's just like the ride you take to the top of a ski hill, except on a snowy mountain, you brace against the chilly wind. But on the tropical Honduran island of Roatan, the...

America's Tallest Monument Park Transformed in Time for One of Nation's Biggest 4th July Parties

America's Tallest Monument Park Transformed in Time for One of Nation's Biggest 4th July Parties

The view 630 feet above St. Louis from the top of its defining monument has changed after an immense, multi-year, $380-million renovation to the city's Gateway Arch National Park .The 1965 Gateway Arch became a global architectural icon and helped cement Finnish-American architect Eero Saarinen's position as one of the masters of American mid-century design. The striking, modernist monument to the...

Top 3 Souvenirs from Venice

Top 3 Souvenirs from Venice

Venice is not just the 'City of Canals'.  It's also always been a city of merchants, and modern Venice is a showcase for iconic Italian craftsmanship and uniquely Venetian works.  You'll find the cheap and touristy items right alongside more expensive items that reflect traditional craftsmanship.   The Frezzeria not only leads to St. Mark's Square, it's also the city's busiest shopping...

The World's Tallest Geyser Is At It Again

The World's Tallest Geyser Is At It Again

It's a geological mystery and a rare spectacle of Nature at the world's first National Park. Yellowstone National Park occupies over 2.2 million acres of land in Wyoming, Montana and Idaho – larger than Rhode Island and Delaware combined! The park's famously magnificent vistas include forests, lakes, waterfalls and petrified forests, all home to a treasure of American wildlife.But beneath...

Now You Can Take the Chunnel Train to a New Destination in Europe

Now You Can Take the Chunnel Train to a New Destination in Europe

London to Paris for a romantic weekend? Belgium to London for tea? Travelers have gotten used to having the option of a high-speed train connecting city centre London to mainland Europe via the tunnel under the Channel.    Brexit politics aren't slowing down travel between the British Isles and Europe, either. So now the Eurostar is revolutionizing travel from England to...

Video: The Best of Buenos Aires: A Monograms Tour with a Local Host

Video: The Best of Buenos Aires: A Monograms Tour with a Local Host

Buenos Aires ranks high on travel bucket lists: an exciting, European-influenced city in a remote country, renowned for a passionate history and punching above its weight in contributions to global culture. Argentina has given the world the breathtaking music and dance of tango, the legendary Eva Peron (immortalized in the timeless musical Evita!), some of the New World's best wines...

Shaq is the 'Chief Fun Officer' of this Cruise Line

Shaq is the 'Chief Fun Officer' of this Cruise Line

It's not the normal career path of a company CFO.  But when CFO stands for Chief Fun Officer, it takes a unique resume to fill the role.  For Carnival Cruise Line, Shaquille O'Neal's credentials as an NBA Hall of Famer and TV commentator - one with a famously fun outlook and larger-than-life personality – fit the bill. The beloved former basketball star...

7 Reasons to Go To Sea on the New MSC Seaside

7 Reasons to Go To Sea on the New MSC Seaside

MSC Cruises' new flagship launched at the end of 2017 and it's really making waves.  Designers of the MSC Seaside had a goal: to bring guests on a big ship closer to the sea.  They threw out the playbook and started fresh, creating the Seaside, a new prototype for a class of ships inspired by an elegant Miami beach condo. Here...

Video: Germany's Most Romantic Christmas Market

Video: Germany's Most Romantic Christmas Market

A night time market in the grounds of a castle. Fires and torches and twinkling lights, the smell of evergreen boughs, the best German Christmas culinary treats and artisans selling authentic German arts and crafts, Christmas decorations and cozy winter woolens. Whether you're the person who always knows exactly how many days it is until Christmas, or the 'Bah, Humbug'...