A glorious day in Venice, on a budget of $40

For centuries, Venice has captivated travelers with an array of romantic images: gondola rides through glistening canals at sunset, homes painted in vibrant hues of periwinkle and plum. It’s also known as an expensive city. But you can see the basic sights on a budget. For a little over $40, a friend and I spent [...]

UK travel company XL goes bust

A second British vacation company has gone bust, the country’s aviation regulator said Sunday, the same week the U.K.’s No. 3 tour operator collapsed. XL Leisure Group PLC went into liquidation Friday, leaving around 50,000 of its customers stranded abroad, and the Civil Aviation Authority said it had so far managed to arrange flights home [...]

Cities target travel sites for unpaid hotel taxes

Online travel companies are facing a flurry of lawsuits from upset city officials who say they were bilked out of tens of millions of dollars in hotel and occupancy taxes. One of the stiffest challenges was outlined Monday in Georgia Supreme Court. The city of Atlanta claims in a lawsuit that Travelocity, Orbitz, Expedia and [...]

Town & Country Travel features Hudson River Valley

Looking for a place you can drive to this fall with beautiful foliage, nice places to stay and eat, and interesting towns to visit? Town & Country Travel magazine’s fall issue recommends New York’s Hudson River Valley, which starts about an hour north of the city. Recommended accommodations include Beekman Arms, doubles from $125, in [...]

Continental to charge $15 for 1st checked bag

Continental Airline Inc. said Friday it is charging some coach customers $15 for a first checked bag, matching a similar fee imposed by most other major U.S. carriers. A company spokeswoman said the fee would help offset high fuel costs, which have caused Continental and other carriers to lose money this year. The fee took [...]

2008 top 10 ‘ethical destinations’

In an effort to get travelers off the beaten path and support destinations in developing countries, a group called Ethical Traveler has published a list of the “10 best ethical destinations.” The organization said in a statement that many countries “are making noble attempts to preserve their natural assets, create a user-friendly infrastructure, and build [...]

Bus travel grows as fuel soars, airfares leap

It’s a tale of two cities: Nikita Bernstein, 29, a dyed-in-the-wool New Yorker with a business in Boston, was in need of a cheap way to travel between his two homes. And a place to plug in his laptop, store his bike and stretch his legs along the way. Bernstein is an example of a [...]