There are plenty of options available when you arrive in a foreign city and want to go exploring. You can wander behind a tour guide who recites facts about landmarks while holding an umbrella aloft, you can plot out your own course with Google Maps or a guidebook or you do a city escape that turns the sights into a giant escape room as you run around solving a mystery.

You're visiting a new city and you want to find a nice bar where you can grab a decent drink. Where do you go first? Close the Yelp app and hit the hotel bar, of course. Here's why.

Travelling to see the world doesn't have to mean taking risks and visiting dangerous places. There are plenty of major cities around the world that are very safe. Here are some great examples.

In the 1950s, holidaying while black in America was dangerous. The commonplace discrimination occurring during the Jim Crow era meant black travellers struggled to find a hotel room in which to stay, or a restaurant where they could grab a meal. Too often they were met with met with hostility, refused service or worse. So when a brother like me wanted to get out of town, that meant grabbing a Green Book -- a guidebook for black travellers offering tips on how to tour the country safely, as well as a directory of safe holiday destinations.

Australians have been fascinated by “Big Things” since the 1960s, when statues such as Adelaide’s Big Scotsman and the Big Banana in Coffs Harbour were opened to great fanfare. Fast-forward to the present day and Australia has a ‘big’ problem – just what are we supposed to do with all these ageing super-sized statues?

We've all seen unfortunate holiday-gone-wrong stories about someone who went on holiday and had something bad happen to them, from getting stuck in the wilderness alone to being taken in by a scam. For instance, there's the recent one about Iceland residents getting fed up with tourists who come unprepared for the nation's rugged terrain, putting themselves and risk and creating serious hassles for the locals. Some of these incidents are plain bad luck, but often, they could have been easily avoidable with a little advanced planning.

You're on holiday, and you have your camera out at a well-known tourist spot where everyone and their mother has snapped the same pic over and over. How do you make each click of the shutter count?

The rise of the selfie has driven a rift into society, bringing up a surprising number of issues over gender, class, age, religion and race. Wired's Jason Parham explores some of these in "When the Selfie Turns Sacrilegious", an essay on taking selfies in sacred or serious places such as mosques and art installations.

So you've taken the leap and decided to offer your home as a cosy place to stay for weary travellers, tourists and holidaymakers. You can list your house on Airbnb, VRBO, HomeAway, or one of a handful of other holiday rental sites, but you want to make sure that listing looks as inviting as possible to attract customers. That means taking professional, good-looking photos.

There are so many things to love about travel but street drinking has quickly become one of my favourite activities abroad. If you live in a place where it's legal (and normal) to walk down the street with a beer, maybe you can't imagine what the big deal is. For the rest of us, it's pretty great.

Street food is one of the best ways to experience a country's culture. While these makeshift stalls might look risky, street food is often just as safe -- if not safer -- than restaurants. Ask any experienced adventurer. Still, there are a few basic rules you should know to avoid any problems.

There are harder things in life than hailing a taxi, but depending on the city, it can be slightly confusing. Travel + Leisure offers a few tips for getting a taxi, depending on the destination.

Lost luggage is a traveller's nightmare, but some airlines are better than others at keeping track of your bags. If you're travelling to the US this holiday season, we've got your back. Based on data from the Department of Transportation, here are the airlines most (and least) likely to lose your luggage.

If you ever wanted to visit every interesting historical site in the U.S., this map will guide you on a tour to each one using the mathematically shortest route possible.

We've all watched movies about people who embark on a great American road trip. If you've finally committing to going on one yourself, here's a piece of advice: roadside attractions are a fun way to break up a long drive, and chances are, there's something to see along any route you take. This map from Roadside America can help you plan your stops.

iOS/Android: Google has been tiptoeing around the travel game for a while now with useful tools like Google Flights and their hotel search function. Today, they completely jumped in with a new app that manages and helps plan your trip from start to finish.

Especially when you're visiting a new, unfamiliar country, you want to be prepared for your trip. BaseTrip tells you everything you should know about travelling to your destination, from tipping etiquette to vaccinations to average internet speeds.

Once you've earned your travel rewards, it's time to cash them in for a free flight. Some rewards programs are confusing to navigate, though. AwardAce shows you how to book your rewards travel, step by step, depending on the airline.

Depending on the passport you hold, it can be a breeze to visit another country, or it can be a maddening process that takes months of paperwork, clearance, visits to consulates or embassies and the risk of getting denied anyway. Passport Map can help you figure out what you're in for before you plan a trip.