Travel insights and tips on some of the top attractions and best cities in the world

Just steps from the famous sea lions of PIER 39, Aquarium of the Bay brings you nose to nose with the animals living beneath the surface of San Francisco Bay. Walk through 300 feet of clear acrylic tunnels while sharks and bat rays glide overhead, meet sea stars, anemones, and juvenile swell sharks in the touch pools, and watch North American river otters tumble through their Watershed Creek habitat.

New York's history is richer than 5th Avenue. The harbor still holds the island where millions of new arrivals first set foot on American soil, and the skyline still carries the tower that announced the modern age.

A trip to New York City in fall reveals what the locals love about their hometown. The Big Apple shines when summer crowds wane and crisp autumn air refreshes the streets. In these months before winter's chill sends people hurrying indoors, neighborhoods hum with activity and seemingly every corner leads to a new discovery.

If a first visit is on your calendar, this Epic Universe guide walks you through the park's layout, each of its worlds, and the planning strategies that help you fit the most into your day, plus how the park connects to a larger Universal Orlando Resort vacation.

Few travel experiences compare to the moment a whale breaks the surface of the Pacific, exhaling a plume of mist against an endless backdrop of blue. Thanks to its position along one of the busiest marine migration corridors on Earth, San Diego delivers that moment more reliably than almost any other city in the country.

When the sun drops behind the skyline, Chicago doesn't wind down so much as change character. The street grid lights up in straight lines, the river turns into a mirror of glowing towers, and the lakefront glitters all the way out to the horizon.