The Week’s Top Travel Stories

Locations in this article:  London, England San Diego, CA San Francisco, CA

Inside the NewsHere’s a quick round-up of the travel articles we posted on our Web site this week, in case you missed any of it …

San Diego doesn’t leave visitors disappointed. In our Off the Brochure Travel Guide: San Diego, California we’ll let you in on some of the hidden treasures “America’s Finest City” has to offer.

Motorcycle tours are a great way to see a place in a way that most travelers can’t, even if you’re a novice. Watch Peter’s Motorcycle Tours video tip to learn the ropes and find out the best places to go.

In this week’s Ask Peter column, Peter tells readers how to extend a layover, where to go in Washington wine country, and whether Alitalia ticketholders are protected if the airline fails.

Alison Wright is a globe-trotting photojournalist who has covered subjects from orphans to the Dalai Lama. Click here to see a slideshow of Alison’s most fascinating portraits.

Read our hurricane update story (with map) to find out where it’s safe for travelers to go, and where repairs are being made since storms swept through the southeastern United States. Hurricane Season 2008: In Ike’s Wake.

America was stunned this week to learn that the wreckage of missing adventurer Steve Fossett’s plane had been in found in the California mountains. In Steve Fossett Mystery Solved we take a look at the chronology of events from the time Fossett went missing more than a year ago, to the discovery of his plane on Wednesday.

You already knew that some airlines are more reliable than others in terms of punctuality, baggage handling, and cancellations. But which ones are best and worst? The answer may surprise you. Read more in Which Airlines Can You Rely On?

In his weekly blog posting, Peter reminisces about the six weeks he spent traveling with the late, great actor Paul Newman. And, in light of the recent mishaps involving sleeping pilots and text-messaging train engineers, Peter discusses what the FAA and the NTSB are doing (or not doing) about safety.

London has five airports, but it’s still not enough to handle the number of passengers who pass through the city every year. In London’s Airport Mess: Plans, Problems and Solutions we analyze the proposed solutions, who supports and opposes them, and why.

In San Francisco, coffee bars double as cultural hot spots. In Grateful Traveler: Coffee Time in America author Jamie Simons tells how working in a coffee bar made one displaced European feel right at home.

If you’re curious about how things work and how they’re made, factory tours are a fun, family-friendly activity. Check out our video, Factory Tours: Watch It Made, to learn about some of the fascinating places where you can see how it’s done.

In Abducted Tourists Freed, Returned to Egypt, we recap the harrowing story of the 11 tourists who were kidnapped and ultimately freed after touring a remote area in southern Egypt.

The Leading Hotels of the World organization made headlines recently because of a splashy new discount offer in honor of its 80th anniversary. Click here to read what happened when the promotion turned out to be a little too successful.

In the rainforests of Belize, some amazing eco-lodges are doing their part to protect the unique bio-diversity by practicing sustainable tourism. Read the full story in The Eco-Lodges of Belize.

Heathrow airport in London has been undergoing massive improvements over the last couple of years to adapt to the airport’s next-generation needs, from the opening of Terminal 5 to the recently opened Sofitel London Heathrow Hotel. David Latt gives a full report in Heathrow Offerings: Terminal 5 and Sofitel Style.

In Transportation and Airline Stocks Take a Nosedive we look at how the falling fortunes of the stock market are affecting the transportation industry.

…Or, just dive right into our Travel News Analysis section.