Destinations Archives

Visiting the Olympic Museum, Lausanne: practical guide for first-time visitors

The Olympic Museum is the official home of the International Olympic Committee's collection, situated on the Ouchy lakeside in Lausanne — the self-styled Olympic capital of the world. This guide was updated in May 2026. One important correction to most current third-party guides: the adult…

The Gornergrat Railway in the shadow of the Matterhorn, Switzerland.

Visiting the Gornergrat Railway, Zermatt: practical guide for first-time visitors

The Gornergrat Railway is Switzerland's first electric cogwheel railway, opened in 1898, carrying passengers from Zermatt at 1,604 metres up to the Gornergrat summit at 3,089 metres. Two things that most guides get wrong: first, the railway is completely out of service from 2 to…

Lindt Home of Chocolate in Kilchberg, Switzerland.

Visiting Lindt Home of Chocolate, Kilchberg: practical guide for first-timers

The Lindt Home of Chocolate is Switzerland's largest chocolate museum, housed in an award-winning building by architects Christ & Gantenbein in Kilchberg — a lakeside village roughly 20 minutes from central Zürich. The museum now sells out regularly. Walk-up entry is no longer a reliable…

Visiting the United States Botanic Garden, Washington DC: practical guide for first-timers

The United States Botanic Garden (USBG) is a free, federally funded living plant museum located at 100 Maryland Avenue SW, Washington DC, adjacent to the US Capitol, with a collection of more than 44,000 plants and over 200 years of history. This guide covers opening…

Fort McHenry National Monument in Baltimore, Maryland.

Visiting Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine, Baltimore: practical guide for first-timers

Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine is a 43-acre National Park Service site in the Locust Point neighbourhood of Baltimore, Maryland. It's where the 1814 Battle of Baltimore inspired the writing of the US national anthem. This guide covers opening hours, ticket prices, transport…

Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet in Sheffield, Yorkshire.

Visiting Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet, Sheffield: Family travel guide

The Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet preserves the cottages, waterwheel and machinery of a metalworking village that sold scythes around the world. Why visit Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet? Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet is a well-preserved former metalworking village in the southwest of Sheffield. The Abbeydale Works closed down in…

Visiting Felicity Plantation, Vacherie, Louisiana: practical guide for first-time visitors

Felicity Plantation is a working sugarcane plantation and historic house museum in Vacherie, Louisiana, on the west bank of the Mississippi River. A sister property to St. Joseph Plantation — both owned by the Waguespack family — Felicity offers a distinct guided house tour in…

Visiting Laura Plantation, Vacherie, Louisiana: practical guide for first-time visitors

Laura Plantation is a Creole heritage site in Vacherie, Louisiana. It's on the west bank of the Mississippi River, approximately 60 miles west of New Orleans. It is built around four generations of documented first-person accounts from the Duparc-Locoul family — owners and enslaved alike…

Visiting the Old Ursuline Convent Museum, New Orleans: practical guide for first-time visitors

The Old Ursuline Convent Museum is a historic museum occupying the oldest building in the Mississippi River Valley. It's located at 1100 Chartres Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. Built between 1745 and 1752 under French colonial authority, the convent has served…

Visiting St. Joseph Plantation, Vacherie, Louisiana: practical guide for first-time visitors

St. Joseph Plantation is a working sugarcane plantation and living history museum in Vacherie, Louisiana. It's located on the west bank of the Mississippi River, approximately 50 miles west of New Orleans. It is one of the few fully intact antebellum sugarcane plantations in Louisiana…