The World's Best Bars, United's New JetBlue Partnership And More Travel News
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Spending a day on a boat is the ultimate upgrade for almost any European vacation. But what are the best spots to charter a motorboat or charter a yacht? The boat rental site GetMyBoat.com recently released its list of Europe's top destinations for 2025 based on its internal booking data. From Lake Como to Ibiza, here are Europe's top 10 boating destinations this summer.
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United Airlines and JetBlue announced a new partnership this month that's set to launch this fall. While JetBlue isn't joining the Star Alliance network, under the new Blue Sky program, United's MileagePlus members will be able to earn and redeem miles on most JetBlue flights, and vice versa. Flights will be bookable through the airlines' respective sites with cross-carrier connections, mileage availability and connecting flight options. Here's what you need to know about United and JetBlue's new Blue Sky program.
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Hotel bars have become travel destinations in their own right. The finest examples are familiar yet transporting, offering a welcome respite for weary travelers, a launching pad for an exciting night out or the elegance of a perfectly crafted cocktail. The inaugural Forbes Travel Guide Star Bars for 2025 honors the world's most exceptional hotel bar experiences. From San Francisco to Seoul, these 58 extraordinary watering holes serve up exceptional cocktails, stunning design and world-class service.
This is the published version of Forbes' Passport newsletter, which offers a first-class guide to luxury travel. Click here to get it delivered to your inbox every Friday.
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Taking a pet on vacation can be a joy—especially with so many hotels offering perks and specials for four-legged family members—but it's always best to be prepared. From finding the pet-friendly accommodations to navigating air travel, here are veterinarian-approved tips for traveling with animals.
'Don't drink in the hotel bar. That's where I do my drinking.'
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There were likely a few of drinks on the house this week at the best bars in the world when the Tales of the Cocktail Foundation announced its nominees for the 2025 Spirited Awards. Launched in 2007 and considered to be among the hospitality industry's highest honors, the Spirited Awards are part of the annual Tales of the Cocktail festival held in New Orleans in July, honoring the top bars, bartenders, brand ambassadors, and spirits journalists from around the world. The winners will be announced on July 24.
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Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
On its 2,500th anniversary, Naples grapples with the benefits and burdens of a tourism boom
When I visited Naples almost a decade ago, guidebooks, hoteliers, and well-meaning locals all warned me of the foolhardiness of being a lone foreign woman in the city. Most adamantly, they urged me not to set foot in the Quartieri Spagnoli, a neighbourhood then notorious for crime and violence. Fast forward to 2025, the 2,500th anniversary of the city's founding, and Naples' metamorphosis is hard to keep up with. When I asked my taxi driver for recommendations for where to eat that evening, his first suggestion was 'anywhere in the Quartieri Spagnoli'. Over the last decade, the endeavours of tourists to discover 'authentic' areas and the entrepreneurship of residents have aided the opening up of the quarter. It is representative of what is happening all over the city, with both positive and negative knock-on effects. 2,500 years after its birth, Naples is revelling in a tourism boom while simultaneously experiencing accelerated downsides that most cities learn decades later. Naples' moment in the spotlight is long deserved. As the city is justly celebrating, it is a palimpsest of 2,500 years of history that comes together in a heady, alluring, theatrical concoction. Within the grid plan centro storico - the city's historic centre - alone, 2nd-century catacombs lie beneath your feet as you walk shaded alleys lined with decadent 16th-century palazzos. Heavy stone-carved churches hide 4th-century mosaics and 17th-century Caravaggio paintings. Throughout the year, there are various events to celebrate the anniversary. The lavishly gilded 18th-century Teatro San Carlo has a rich programme of performances. A new section of the prestigious Archaeological Museum of Naples (MANN) opens in early June, and the Museo di Capodimonte will inaugurate a new exhibition space dedicated to porcelain in November. Guidebook descriptions of Naples have condemned the city to be forever associated with the adjective 'gritty'. It's true that, where destinations like the Tuscany countryside, the Amalfi Coast and Cinque Terre are curated to the point of becoming spurious, Naples delivers authenticity in droves. But 'gritty' has also been a euphemistic way to nod to Naples' long-standing problems with waste management and crime. The city is now working hard to address these problems. Last year, the council announced new strategies for keeping the streets clean. 'We announce the arrival of important news for the improvement of collection services,' the director of Naples' waste management services ASIA Napoli said. 'Among these are a new website, the updating of communication services with citizens, and the progressive installation of technological infrastructures for waste disposal and collection monitoring in the city.' Crime rates are also decreasing, with thefts down 6 per cent in 2024 compared to 2023 and robberies down 17.75 per cent. Coupled with the city's clean up is a change in the kind of tourism it's welcoming. From the Krug-branded rooftop terrace of the five-star Romeo Hotel Napoli, champagne-sipping guests have a sweeping view of the bay of Naples, shadowy Mount Vesuvius, and the day's cruise ship arrivals. In summer, an average of three liners dock in the city a day, disgorging tens of thousands of tourists into its streets. But unlike Venice or Santorini, Naples' size can more easily digest the influx, and even benefit from it. According to my taxi driver, cruise passengers are a big earner for private transport companies, tour groups and souvenir shops. Another relatively new market for Naples is the luxury traveller. Currently, there are only a handful of five-star hotels in the city, compared to over 50 in Rome and nearly the same number in Florence. But several more big chain openings are in the pipeline, including a Radisson, a Roccoforte and a Marriott. Romeo Hotel seems to have foreseen this emerging market. Opened in 2008, its cutting-edge glass and steel structure, packed with avant-garde artworks from the owner's collection, still feels very on trend. The hotel is now upgrading its amenities to cater for the developing luxury market, with a vast Sisley Paris spa, a cigar room, an infinity pool with glass sides, and a haute-cuisine Alain Ducasse-inspired restaurant. The improvements have proved popular. The property now sees many more international guests and recently hosted footballer Scott McTominay and family during his championship final (and win) for the city's Serie A club Napoli. Tourist arrivals have been increasing in Naples (up 15 per cent from 2023 to 2024), and the visitors are becoming more diverse. 'We've definitely seen a wider mix of nationalities,' says Inès Sellami, owner of the art gallery-cum-guesthouse Atelier Inès. 'A few years ago, it was mostly Italians, Germans, and maybe the occasional French couple. Now we get Americans, Brits, Koreans, Australians, even solo travellers from South America or India.' 'Now people are coming for Naples. It's still not a polished city, but I think that's part of the appeal.' Visitors are also taking more time to see the city. 'People used to come for just one or two nights. Now they're staying 4 or 5 nights, using Naples as a base but also diving deeper into the city itself,' says Sellami. 'More guests are interested in local art, cooking experiences, and the stories behind things, not just ticking off monuments.' The tourism boom has been a boon in some ways. 'It's brought a lot of energy and opportunities. Some areas that were run-down have new life now, new cafés, art spaces, boutique hotels, young people opening businesses,' explains Sellami. 'It's created work, especially for younger generations who wanted to stay in Naples but didn't see a future here. And there's a new sense of pride, locals see that visitors appreciate our traditions, our food, our creativity.' However, the city council needs to get a firm grip on the situation to halt the already pervasive adverse effects the tourism influx is having. Rising visitor numbers are fuelling growth in the short-term rental market, which in turn has sparked a housing crisis similar to those experienced by hotspot destinations like the Canary Islands and Barcelona. A study from 2023 found that platform-mediated short-term rentals are displacing low-income inhabitants from the historic centre of Naples. It said that Airbnb listings between 2015 and 2019 in Naples increased by 553 per cent, and they are concentrated in the neighbourhoods suffering the highest economic hardship. According to Tourism Review, renting an apartment in the historic centre cost between €550 and €600 ten years ago. Today, those prices range from €1,200 to €1,400, effectively doubling in a decade. This is a particularly worrying trend because, despite increased job opportunities from tourism, wages are not seeing a substantial increase. The city has one of the highest rates of youth unemployment in Italy at 43 per cent. For Sellami, a crucial strategy for easing the strain of tourism is to spread it out more and encourage visitors to explore beyond the usual spots. Instagram and TikTok's tunnel vision view of the city - Diego Maradona murals, pizzerie and seaview spritz - means visitors crowd the centro storico and waterside Lungomare. 'There are amazing neighbourhoods that still don't see many tourists,' she says. She also suggests that better transport connections and clearer signage would help, too, especially in English. Related Planning a holiday in Europe this year? All of 2025's tourist taxes, bans and restrictions explained This new night train is promising travel to 100 European cities for less than the price of a flight 'Most of all, I think we should focus on quality tourism, people who come with curiosity and respect,' she adds. 'If we welcome them properly and share the real Naples, everyone benefits.' The onus is on the tourists themselves, too. Sellami says it is not unusual to find visitors who treat the city like a theme park, making loud noise at night and disrespecting churches or monuments. A common theme in overtourism complaints across Europe. But in general, she is optimistic about the city's development. 'It's been quite a transformation,' she says. 'Now people are coming for Naples, they're discovering the food, the art, the raw beauty of the city. It's still not a polished city, but I think that's part of the appeal.'
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Tim Dowling: Why are my friends erasing me from their holiday memories?
After a sometimes fraught four-hour car journey, my wife and I and three friends arrive at a remote, sea-facing house in Greece. I've been here once before, a couple of years ago, but my memory of the place is fragmentary. I've remembered, for example, that you can't get the car anywhere near the house – you have to lug your stuff across a beach and over some rocks – and have packed accordingly. But the view from the top of the rocks still comes as a disheartening surprise. 'I forgot about the second beach,' I say, looking at the house in the distance. 'I didn't,' my wife says. 'Press on.' As we trudge along the sand, I think: how could I not remember this? Along with my bag I am carrying my wife's suitcase – whose wheels have never been less use – just as I did two years ago. It's precisely the sort of personal hardship I pride myself on being able to relate in numbing detail. Once we're in the house my brain serves me no better: I've retained a memory of the layout, which turns out to be back-to-front. This will cause me to lose my way over and over again in the course of the coming week: seeking a terrace, I will end up on a balcony, and vice versa. 'It's not that I don't remember it,' I say to my wife the next morning. 'It's that I'm remembering it wrong.' 'Do you remember getting up in the middle of the night to stand in the cupboard?' she says. 'Yes, I do remember that,' I say. 'And I wasn't trying to stand in the cupboard, I just thought it was the bedroom door.' A few days later more friends arrive. We have all been on holiday together many times before, in varying configurations, with and without children. These memories form the basis of a lot of the conversation. One evening I walk into the kitchen where a few people are preparing supper. They're talking about an Easter weekend in Dorset long ago, and laughing about egg-rolling in terrible weather. 'I was there,' I say. Everyone stops talking and turns to look at me. 'Were you?' says Mary, dubiously. 'Yeah,' I say. 'The weather was bad, as you say, and we went egg-rolling.' I try to think of another detail from the weekend that will convince them of my presence, but absolutely nothing comes to mind. Maybe, I think, I wasn't there. My wife walks in. 'What are we talking about?' she says. 'Easter in Dorset,' says Chiara. 'I remember that,' my wife says. 'Egg-rolling in the rain.' 'That's right!' says Mary. 'Your recollection is remarkably accurate,' I say to my wife. 'Which is weird, because you weren't there' 'When I said that, everybody looked at me as if I had dementia,' I say. Everybody looks at me again, in a way that makes me want to go and stand in a cupboard. I recently read that to retrieve a memory is also, in some way, to rewrite it. Frequently recalled episodes are particularly fragile – the more you remember them, the more fictionalised they become. But to be honest, I'm not even sure I'm remembering this correctly. The next day everyone spends the afternoon reading on the terrace. At some point I fall asleep. When I wake, my book is resting on my face, the sun has set, and I am alone. I find everyone else in the kitchen, cooking. I open a beer and listen as my wife tells a story about a holiday in Portugal from 20 years ago. She is recounting the part about the hired van getting a flat tyre while going down a hill. This, at least, I remember. 'The tyre came right off the wheel and started rolling ahead of us,' she says. 'We watched as it rolled all the way down, and halfway up the next hill, till it slowed and stopped. Then it started rolling back down towards us.' Related: Tim Dowling: I need to drop everything so I can get back to doing nothing – and quickly 'Well, almost,' I say. 'What?' she says. 'Am I telling it wrong?' 'No, you're being remarkably accurate,' I say. 'Which is weird, because you weren't there.' 'Yes I was,' she says. 'No, it was just me and him,' I say, pointing to a friend whom I'll call Paul, because his real name is Piers. 'Yeah, it was just us,' says Paul. 'But I remember the wheel coming off,' she says. 'I can see it.' 'It's because he's told you the story so many times,' says Paul. 'My memory has infiltrated your brain to become your memory,' I say. 'That's so sweet,' says Paul. 'If you've got any more of mine,' I say, 'I'd quite like them back.'
CNET
14 hours ago
- CNET
Traveling This Summer? An AirTag Can Give You Peace of Mind
Summer is here, delivering soaring temperatures, bright sunny days and the temptation to take off for a vacation. Summer is peak travel season for a reason, with camping trips and beach weekends being popular getaways. However, traveling anywhere also comes with stress. Keeping track of your luggage during flights, or remembering where you set up your tent can leave you feeling overwhelmed when you're supposed to be relaxing. Thankfully, Apple AirTags are here to help. These tiny gadgets are small enough to be discreet, but they're powerful enough to help you keep track of items like a bag, purse, suitcase or a set of keys. They're fairly easy to set up, and once they're connected to your phone, you don't have to do much else. Here are some ways to get the most out of AirTags. Sarah Tew/CNET How do AirTags work? Generally, you need to be within Bluetooth range to find your AirTag, but you can use Apple's Find My service to locate Apple's tiny tracker if it's farther away, as long as it's still in range of another Apple device. (Here's how the Find My network works.) To do so, just put your AirTag into Lost Mode and you'll get a notification once it's within range of the Find My network. For more details, here's how to tell if an AirTag is tracking your location on Android and a deep dive into AirTags. 5 uncommon places to put your AirTags 🏕️ Put an AirTag in your tent for camping If you're setting up camp in a location you've never visited, it could be useful to place an AirTag inside your tent so you can easily find your campsite. For instance, if you decide to hike several miles one day, you can use Find My to look up the AirTag's last location (your tent) and get directions back to the campsite. Remember, it'll need to be within range of someone else's device, so don't rely on this out in the wilderness. (This is also why Apple advises you not to use AirTags on pets.) Read more: AirTags Are Not the Best Way to Find Lost Pets 🧥 Put a tracker in your jacket pocket How often have you left your coat behind in a restaurant, bar or friend's house? Forgetting to grab your jacket when you head out is easy to do, especially if the weather is warmer than you expected or your hands are full of leftovers and to-go cups. If you know you'll be hanging your jacket on a coat rack or the back of a chair when you arrive, place an AirTag inside the pocket so you know where you left it. This can help prevent yet another favorite jacket from getting lost, and less money out of your wallet to replace it. 🧳 Stash an AirTag inside your luggage Airports can be tricky to navigate, and can be especially difficult when you're trying to find the correct luggage pickup. Sometimes you wait 30 minutes until your bags finally roll out on the conveyor belt, and sometimes they get lost. To relieve the stress of trying to locate your suitcase, you can put an AirTag tracker inside so you can track its whereabouts. This can help you find out if your bags were left on the airplane, if they're on the conveyor belt but you haven't spotted them yet or if someone mistakenly grabbed your luggage. Once you find out where your bags are, you can remedy the situation and continue on to where you're going. Don't worry, AirTags are TSA-approved so there's shouldn't be any issues with placing them in your luggage. Read more: 7 Google Maps Travel Tips for a Stress-Free Holiday Experience Place an AirTag inside your laptop bag so you stop misplacing it. Sarah Tew/CNET 🎒 Stick a tracker inside your laptop bag Laptop bags can be easily left behind at a cafe when you're picking up coffee for everyone at the office. When your hands are full and you're distracted wondering how you're going to open your car door, it's hard to remember to grab your bag from the booth you were sitting in. That's why it's a good idea to place an AirTag inside one of the pockets. You will be able to locate your expensive laptop and save any confidential company or personal information in your bag. 🚲 Hide an AirTag on your bicycle If it hasn't happened to you, you probably know someone who has had this experience. You get home from a bike ride, go inside to grab water and something to eat and completely forget about the bike you left outside. Or maybe you went to the store, didn't lock your bike up and when you came back it was gone. If you place an AirTag in a hidden place on the bike, you can easily locate it. We don't recommend tracking the bicycle down on your own. It's best to notify the police and let them retrieve your bike so you can avoid any dangerous situations. This method also works on your car if it's been stolen or towed, or if you can't remember where you parked it. If you have an iPhone and it's connected to your car via Bluetooth, your phone can locate where you last left it. Your iPhone can find your AirTag. Sarah Tew/CNET More common areas to put an AirTag AirTag is commonly used to locate these items. Your keychain. Your purse or wallet. Your phone or tablet. The remote to your TV. Anything valuable that you leave outside your home. For more Apple information, read how to make Siri glow and turn off Apple Intelligence.
