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

Williamsburg, a popular eastern Brooklyn neighborhood of about 125,000 inhabitants, used to be a place visitors would avoid. Now it’s an icon of hipster culture, with lots of fun shops, bars, music venues and terrific people watching. It’s almost along the lines of when tour buses would drive through San Francisco’s Haight Ashbury to gape at the hippies when I was a kid. Instead, here you sit at a sidewalk cafe, sip an espresso and enjoy the show. Definitely bring your camera.

Planning a visit to Lady Liberty? Both Liberty and Ellis Islands and the Statue herself are maintained and run by the National Park Service. However, the official concessionaire is Statue Cruises – they’re the only folks who can get you to the islands. We’re proud that New York CityPASS includes a visit to Liberty and Ellis Islands with Statue Cruises, as well as admission to the Statue of Liberty Museum and the Ellis Island Immigration Museum. Here are some details to help you plan your visit.

Yes, pools still exist, but children today occupy a whole new world of water play. Known variously as splash parks, spray parks, splash pads, water playgrounds or even “spraygrounds,” these water play areas are popping up everywhere. Here are a few in some favorite cities.

I grew up in New England, and some of my best childhood memories are from summer vacations by the shore. While I’ll never get those precious sun-drenched childhood days back (don't we all wish we could!), I can help my own kids create seashore memories like these on a day trip or camping trip to the Boston Harbor Islands.

Edgy. Alternative. Hippy. Avant-garde. Grungy. Eclectic. Indie. Funky. If that sounds like your idea of a fun place, plan to spend a day in Atlanta’s Little Five Points. (And if your tastes are firmly rooted in the conventional, consider a visit to the Botanical Gardens instead.)

Guess just what type of “guests” are checking in—and not checking out—of one of Chicago’s most prestigious places, also known the most haunted hotel on Michigan Avenue, and maybe even the most haunted space in all of the Windy City? Ghosts, that's who.