Hotels are putting a premium on quiet by adding double-paned windows and thicker walls.

  The king?s birthday is always a grand event, but this year?s yearlong, nationwide celebration promises to take the proverbial (birthday) cake.

  Travelers in search of the soul of Long Beach will find it in the three-block collection of a dozen-plus vintage shops, known as Retro Row.

  Away from the crowded beaches of this popular Central American country is a lush interior, thick with rain forests, Mayan ruins and intricate cave systems that can be explored on an inner tube.

  Despite its few flaws, this hotel clearly ranks among Toronto?s best, with a staff that is nothing if not attentive.

  Inside the premier food market of Vienna, which specializes in fine vinegars and oils made from fruits and seeds.

  This month, Palace Resorts, a line of all-inclusive luxury resorts, opened its 10th property on Isla Mujeres.

  Even though we spend about $5 billion a year on airport security, why do airport checkpoints still look like garage sales?

  Even with the utter misery of modern air travel, I still find it possible to engage fellow travelers in conversations that may, if I?m lucky, lead to new friendships.

  There?s hope brewing in Japan. The country has produced craft brewers that can hold their own with the best that the United States and Europe have to offer.

  Modern Pittsburgh may be unimaginable without Carnegie, and the steel tycoon?s imprint on the city of three rivers goes deeper than buildings and bequests.

  Why not extend the weekend by taking Monday off? Some ways to spend your extra evening in the city.

  With stunning Art Deco architecture, a vibrant night life and varied and inventive restaurants, the city?s Soviet gloom has been replaced with a sense of Baltic optimism.

  Manitou Springs has been a gold-rush-era resort, a tuberculosis treatment center and a hippie haven.