In 2024 US News and World Reports looked at all kinds of data: from health care and education, to the economy, infrastructure and public safety. They also took into account the state's natural environment, fiscal stability of the government, as well as the opportunity it affords its residents. Putting all those data points together, this is the ranking of all 50 states...

Discover the 20 U.S. states with the tallest and most spectacular public Christmas tree displays, including record-breaking towers, fresh-cut giants, and living evergreens that draw thousands of holiday visitors each year.

Not all destinations want your visit right now. Sounds harsh, but it's true. The very things that made these places magical are disappearing because too many people want to see them before they're gone.

When people picture the Great Wall of China, they often imagine stone fortifications snaking over mountains north of Beijing. A quiet discovery in Shandong Province has rewritten that timeline. Archaeologists uncovered a rammed earth wall predating the Qin Dynasty’s famous unification by about 300 years, reshaping how scholars understand China’s earliest defenses and who first began building them.

Nothing tests a traveler’s patience quite like the airport baggage carousel. You stand there with hope, optimism, and a growing suspicion that your suitcase has betrayed you. Then, two days later, your bag finally appears on your doorstep looking like it moonlighted as a chew toy. Your clothes are ruined, your patience is shot, and now you’re wondering whether the standard baggage refund even begins to cover this chaos. The good news is that federal rules give you more protection than many travelers realize—if you know how to use them.

The ancient site of Chersonesus in Crimea was the scene of a major breakthrough in the identification of a mysterious marble head discovered back in 2003. The find reshapes our understanding of the Black Sea frontiers of the Roman Empire.