Travel24

One-way airfare to four Western destinations have slipped far below the $200 mark -- making each of these cities worthy of a getaway now or through Jan.

Films about food are followed by meals as part of Culinary Cinema, part of the Berlin Film Festival.

General managers at several large hotels have been shedding formality and interacting with guests in the manner that a small-inn keeper would.

Southwest Airlines' first flights from Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport took off Sunday, with some local travelers giving the carrier a try for the first time to see how it compares with longtime Atlanta carriers Delta Air Lines and AirTran Airways.

Yosemite National Park plans to reduce the number of permits it issues to hikers seeking to climb Half Dome peak, one of its most popular destinations, because of safety concerns. The move comes as a result of the park's own environmental assessment, which also suggests that the park consider removing cables that allow relatively inexperienced climbers access to the summit.

It's a favourite for illicit liaisons and late-night drinking, but the train which crosses the Straits of Messina could be about to hit the buffers The crucial moment in one of the world's most peculiar train rides comes when the sleeper from Palermo grinds into Messina each evening and, after a series of jolts and groans, eases into the bowels of a large white ferry. Minutes later, as the ferry leaves port with the carriages on board, passengers tumble out of their bunks, drop into the hold of the ship, head round the back of the train and up to the bar where they order an arancino and watch Sicily receding as the lights of the Italian mainland approach. When I took it, the 25-minute ride across the Straits of Messina gave me just enough time to polish off the fried ball of rice, mozzarella and ragu while standing on deck sniffing the salty Mediterranean breeze. Then the ferry arrived, aligned the tracks in its innards with those on the dock, and the train rattled off into the night...

Guests of the Aruba Marriott Resort can enroll in floating yoga classes in which students use stand-up paddleboards as platforms for downward dog and table top positions.

TRAER, Iowa — It all began with a trip to the Brookfield Zoo. As she was getting ready to leave, Ruth Rasmussen eyed a salt and pepper shaker set, shaped like coffeepots, but with a bear and the zoo's name embossed on the front.

Grand vistas? Check. Funky restaurants? On the list. Wild and woolly history? You got it. Arizona marks the centennial of its statehood, so we scoured the state and found five score places for your "must" list. Western Arizona

When Arizona sought to become a state, an Indiana senator stood in its way, and President Taft vetoed the first try. To get a modern-day perspective on the euphoria Arizonans felt on Feb. 14, 1912, when they were granted statehood, try to imagine the Cardinals winning the Super Bowl. Or the Diamondbacks winning the World Series. Or the Suns at long last nailing the NBA Championship. The territory had lusted after the equal status that came with statehood much like a teenager waiting for his driver's license.

Visitors to the Grand Canyon National Park this year will find new water-bottle refilling stations, a South Rim bicycle rental and bike-tour operation is expected to open, a multiuse trail is expected to be finished, and more. Grand Canyon National Park, the 5-million or 6-million-year-old granddaddy of Arizona tourism, logged 4.3 million visitors last year.

The Arizona native is a devoted foodie and loves chasing down hole-in-the-wall joints and trendy new places. Here are a few Phoenix-area favorites. For Phoenix food tips, we turned to Andre Ethier, who summers in the right corner of Dodger Stadium and winters at his ranch in Chandler, 30 minutes south of Phoenix. The Arizona native is a devoted foodie — chasing down hole-in-the-wall joints and new, trendy places whenever he gets the chance.

Ghent is fast becoming Belgium's best city for foodies, with dynamic chefs championing fine local produce. Here are the stars of its culinary scene Volta It is well worth the 10-minute walk out of the city centre to discover Volta, a cool restaurant housed in a vast converted turbine hall. The kitchen is run by genial young chef Olly Ceulenaere, who prepares a fabulous seven-course tasting €59 menu in the evening, with surprising dishes such as crunchy white cabbage topped with smoked eel and parsley root. • 2b Nieuwe Wandeling, +32 9 324 0500, voltagent.be, mains €32-€40.Open Tues-Sat noon-2pm, 7pm-9pm JEF Newly opened JEF typifies the changes going on in Flemish cooking. Chef Jason Blanckaert abandoned the Michelin-starred cuisine of the chic but classic C-Jean restaurant to open his own casual, minimalist diner. It's what the chef calls "real food": hearty portions of slow-cooked veal and belly of pork and oven-braised cod with shellfish and pumpkin. Don't expect rich sauces – the...

To inspire you to go a bit further this Valentine's Day, our writers reveal how they met the loves of their lives in foreign lands I fell for my rescuer in Bhutan Years ago, I met some very nice Bhutanese people who were working in New York. We became friends, and they always urged me to visit their country. And so in August 1994, I found myself limping along on a mountain road in Bhutan, trying not to panic. I'd left my very agreeable guide and driver at the hotel and set off on a half-day hiking adventure through Punakha, a heavenly valley filled with poinsettia trees and orange trees and temples in the clouds. There wasn't a soul around, and I'd recklessly slipped off my boots and waded into the sparkling river that ran parallel to the road on which I'd been walking. It was fantastic until I slipped in the icy water and twisted my ankle. I climbed back up to the road and, struggling, put my boots back on. Eventually a man on a motorcycle came along. I flagged him down, and he gave...

It may be remote, but even Easter Island is adapting to the 21st century, with a new luxury hotel and a tour exploring the islanders' cultural history Easter Island's post office – a six-metre-long, breeze-block cabin – is where tourists come to get their trophy passport stamp. Like me, the elderly Germans by the counter have already gone through the Chilean immigration desk, but it seems none of us can resist this cutesy souvenir. For a dollar, we get the more attractive version, featuring the fuzzy blue outline of three moai statues. As the desk clerk, dressed in ultra-short shorts, presses the ink on to our pages, I realise that what most people know about this Polynesian island could be written in a space of roughly the same size. When I told people I was travelling here, to one of the most isolated inhabited places on earth, sitting between Chile (3,700km to the east) and Tahiti (4,000km to the west), their curiosity went into overdrive. "All I know is that it has big stone heads...

All you need to do is bypass the honeymooners and head to a lodge like Oliver's Camp in Tanzania, where your fellow guests may be even more entertaining than the animals The honeymooners in Ralph Lauren safari chic ask which national park I'm going to. Ngorongoro? Serengeti? Neither, I say, Tarangire. They look puzzled. Either it's second rate or so exclusive they've never heard of it. And on a chilly night in the arrivals hall at Tanzania's Kilimanjaro airport, I'm not sure which is correct. Next morning at Arusha airstrip for my flight to Tarangire, an American couple argue at the counter about the price of a cappuccino – $4 – and when workers in the coffee plantations next door earn a dollar a day, it does seem a bit rich. Nonetheless, you feel faintly embarrassed. A German gay couple ask if I know the exchange rate between Tanzanian pounds and euros. It gets all the more perplexing when an Italian couple start cooing next to me. They're lovely, but I'm starting to realise I'm in...

Wake up and spend! A London boutique is turning a clothes shop into a fun hotel room for Valentine's Day Love clothes? Then this could be the perfect Valentine's treat (to yourself). It comes from Traffic People, a chain of boutiques selling vintage-inspired women's clothes, which is offering one couple the chance to spend the night in one of its London stores on 14 February. A double bed will be plonked in the middle of the shop on Brushfield Street in Spitalfields, surrounded by racks of floaty dresses and playsuits, and shelves of handbags and shoes. The £200 price includes £150 in vouchers to spend in the store - and breakfast, brought to you by the shop assistant before they open to the public at 10am. With items starting at £40 and a sale on right now, you could get a whole new outfit for that. Gimmicky? Yes, but fun too, at least for anyone with an interest in shopping. It's most blokes' idea of hell, so leave the boyfriend behind, take a girlfriend, pack a bottle of wine and...

A history of Southwest and AirTran: 1967: Texas investors incorporate Air Southwest Co., a commuter airline serving that state.

Q: What flights is Southwest launching from Atlanta? A: Southwest launches its first flights from Atlanta Feb.

From an ice-cream factory in Cheshire to a cycle ride along the River Wye, here's 10 fun family days out over half-term Share your favourite family day out in the comments below or on our Been there site Cheshire Ice Cream Farm, Tattenhall, Cheshire This day out is a kid's idea of heaven – an ice-cream farm where you can take your pick from 30 different flavours, from vanilla or peaches and cream to banoffi or sticky toffee pudding (£1.70 large cone, £1.10 children's cone). If you're having trouble choosing, they'll even give you a taste of a few flavours to help you decide. When you've eaten your fill, there's plenty more to see and do, with an animal petting corner, a duck pond and an outdoor play area with slides, swings and climbing frames. Recently they have also added mini golf, a quad bike track and a gold panning feature. If it's raining, there's a Crazy Daisy soft play area (entry £3-£3.50, free for toddlers), and they're also in the process of building a viewing gallery in...

A culinary journey through Mumbai shows that there's more to South Indian food than steamed idlis and coconut chutney.

AUSTIN, Texas - Austin likes to call itself weird, but, really, it’s not any weirder than Georgia’s Athens, which is similarly laid-back, football-obsessed and imperiously proud of its music scene.

New rules announced by cruise liner industry in wake of the Costa Concordia disaster Every cruise ship passenger will be given a mandatory safety briefing, including on-ship evacuation procedure, before leaving port under new rules announced by the industry in the wake of the Costa Concordia disaster. The three major organisations representing cruise lines have agreed that the passenger safety briefing, or muster drill, must take place immediately rather than within 24 hours as currently required under maritime law. When the Costa Concordia ran aground off the Italian coast on 13 January, hundreds of passengers who had boarded earlier that day in Rome were yet to be told what to do in an emergency. At least 32 people are believed to have died in the disaster, with 17 bodies recovered and 15 recorded passengers still unaccounted for, after an evacuation that took several hours and was marked by confusion and the lack of accessible lifeboats. Many operators already carry out muster...

Berlin's annual film festival, the Berlinale, showcases a total of 395 films from around the world in its 62nd installment, which runs from Thursday through Feb. 19.

An 1870s chateau in Normandy manages to be family-friendly and easy-going, yet with a dash of opulence and glamour Walk into Le Castel, a country house in the rural west of Normandy, and the first impression is of opulence. Chandeliers hang from the double-height ceiling, with doors leading out on to a terrace and a blindingly green expanse of lawn. The period furniture is dotted with vases of flowers and candelabras. There is even a baby grand piano. Then smaller details come into focus – a half-full pack of wet wipes on a window sill; an infant seat pushed next to the dining table, the rug below decorated with a scattering of jettisoned peas. Le Castel is an attempt to answer the question posed by countless new parents as the dust settles on the immediate upheaval of their former lives: is it realistic to expect any form of luxury, let alone glamour, when holidaying with young children? It's not so much the days that are problematic. Given suitable planning, infants can be carted or...