What's actually changing in travel right now

Dolomites ski passes rise to €89 a day, and the Christmas markets open on 28 November

Dolomiti Superski, the pass that covers the linked ski areas across the Dolomites, has set its 2026–27 prices: €89 for an adult day pass in high season and €453 for six days, with the increase put down to inflation and running costs. New lifts open this winter, including a 10-person gondola at Kronplatz, the “Helmissimo” gondola at Versciaco and a new gondola at Buffaure in Val di Fassa. If you are going for the festive season rather than the slopes, Val Gardena's Christmas village in Ortisei runs from 28 November to 6 January, and Selva's “Mountain Christmas” from 29 November to 3 January. Plan your trip with our Dolomites guide.

Sources: Dolomiti Superski, September 30, 2026; Val Gardena tourism

The Guggenheim Abu Dhabi finally opens

Twenty years after it was first announced in 2006, the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi opens on December 11 in the Saadiyat Cultural District, beside the Louvre Abu Dhabi, the Zayed National Museum and the Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi. Designed by the late Frank Gehry, it has 30 galleries and ten sculptural cones, the tallest 88 metres high, and focuses on modern and contemporary art from 1960 onwards. Tickets are on sale now through the museum's website: Dh70 for adults, free for under-18s, UAE residents and visitors over 60. If you're in the UAE in December, it falls in the same week as the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and the start of the Dubai Shopping Festival. Plan around all three in our UAE travel guide.

Sources: Khaleej Times, July 28, 2026; The National, September 18, 2026

Your name can fly to Titan with NASA's Dragonfly

NASA is collecting names to put on a microchip aboard Dragonfly, the nuclear-powered rotorcraft it is sending to Saturn's moon Titan. Anyone can sign up free at go.nasa.gov/dragonfly-names until 11:59 p.m. EST on January 15, 2027, and receives a personalised digital boarding pass. Dragonfly is due to launch in 2028 and arrive in 2034, then fly between dozens of sites on a world with methane rain, rivers and lakes, looking for the chemistry that comes before life. More on the mission in our Titan guide.

Sources: NASA, October 29, 2026

Virgin Galactic's new spaceship, Apeiron, reaches its home base

On October 28, the first of Virgin Galactic's new Delta-class spaceships arrived at Spaceport America in New Mexico, carried under its mothership Eve from the factory in Mesa, Arizona. It is named Apeiron, Greek for “the boundless”, chosen in a public vote by people in 83 countries. Its arrival starts the run-up to flight tests. The company now expects the first commercial flight early in the second quarter of 2027, later than the February date it gave in August, with a second ship joining in mid-2027. More than 100 future astronauts are starting their first phase of preparation. Seats have been sold at $750,000. See where every operator stands in Can you book a trip to space right now?

Sources: Virgin Galactic, October 26 and 28, 2026

A free New Year's Eve concert at the falls

Country star Riley Green will headline Niagara Falls' New Year's Eve celebration in Queen Victoria Park, near the brink of the Horseshoe Falls, on December 31. The Reklaws, Tenille Townes and Sacha are also on the bill, with more acts to be announced. The concert is free and outdoors; entry details haven't been released yet. It is organised by the Canadian Country Music Association with Niagara Parks and the City of Niagara Falls, and a 90-minute special goes out live on Crave and CP24 from 10:30 p.m. ET. It falls during the free Winter Festival of Lights. More in our Niagara Falls guide.

Sources: Music Life Magazine, October 27, 2026

Melting glaciers are uncovering First World War explosives

Over summer 2026, Italian Army mountain troops from the Julia Alpine Brigade removed and defused more than 250 explosives uncovered by retreating ice at high-altitude sites in northern Italy, including in Trentino-Alto Adige and Stelvio National Park. Among them were 75 mm artillery shells and French-made mortar shells, left from the "White War" fought across these mountains between 1915 and 1918. If you hike or climb at altitude in the Dolomites, don't touch any old metal objects you find; note where they are and report them to the authorities. Some of the finds will go on show at a new White War museum in Bormio, due to open in June 2027. Planning a climb? See our via ferrata guide and Dolomites guide.

Sources: Gizmodo, citing the Italian Army and ANSA, October 27, 2026

Santorini now has four Michelin-starred restaurants

The Michelin Guide announced its 2027 selection for Greece on October 20. It covers 62 restaurants in Athens, Thessaloniki and Santorini, and gave seven restaurants their first star. Three of the seven are on Santorini: Botrini's Santorini, Lauda and Selene. The island's Lycabettus holds two stars. If you're planning an evening there, book well ahead in summer, and pair it with our Santorini sunset spots or the wider Greece travel guide.

Sources: Greek City Times, October 21, 2026

An Avatar walk-through is coming to Niagara Falls

Avatar: Guardians of Eywa, an hour-long immersive walk through the world of Pandora, will have its world premiere at the Table Rock Centre on the Niagara Parkway on May 17, 2027. It runs daily until September 2027. Niagara Parks is hosting it, with a licence from Disney Theatrical Group and James Cameron's Lightstorm Entertainment. Ticket prices haven't been released yet; there is a waitlist on Fever. Table Rock is right at the brink of the Horseshoe Falls, so it fits easily into a day at the falls. Plan the rest of your visit with our Niagara Falls guide.

Sources: Narcity, October 14, 2026

Lake Sorapis: the milky-turquoise lake is real, but you have to walk to it

Lago di Sorapis, in the Veneto Dolomites about 12 km from Cortina d'Ampezzo, sits at just under 2,000 m and gets its milky mint-turquoise colour from fine rock powder carried in glacial meltwater. There is no road. The usual route is trail 215 from Passo Tre Croci: about 11 km there and back with roughly 300 m of climbing, around two hours each way, with ladders, cables and narrow ledges. Go from June to August; early June can still have snow on the path, and the water drops from late August. Swimming is banned, with fines of up to €500, and so are camping and cycling to the lake. More on the area in our Dolomites guide.

Sources: Idealista, October 5, 2026

National Geographic's best places for 2027, and the ones you can plan here

National Geographic has published its Best of the World list for 2027: 25 places, led by Norway's Vestland, its fjords and glaciers. Five of them tie in with guides on this site. Luxor in Egypt is where the total solar eclipse of 2 August 2027 lasts longest, as our eclipse guide explains. Jaipur turns 300 in 2027; see our Amber Fort guide. Normandy is in our France guide, Maya Ka'an, the Maya community region south of Tulum, is close to the route in our Mexico guide, and Niigata, on Japan's Sea of Japan coast, is a bullet-train ride from Tokyo; plan it with our Japan guide.

Sources: National Geographic, Forbes, October 2026

Japan has launched a mission to bring back a piece of a Martian moon

On October 19, Japan's space agency JAXA launched MMX (Martian Moons eXploration) on an H3 rocket from the Tanegashima Space Center. It is the first mission designed to collect samples from one of Mars's moons and return them to Earth. The spacecraft is due to reach Mars in August 2027 and spend about 18 months studying its two moons, Phobos and Deimos. In 2029 it will drop Idefix, a small rover built by France and Germany, onto Phobos, then land itself in 2030 to collect at least 10 grams of soil. The samples are due back on Earth in 2031. Scientists hope they will show whether the moons are captured asteroids or debris from a giant impact on Mars, which could mean they carry fragments of ancient Mars itself. More on where scientists are looking for life in our Search for Alien Life section.

Sources: Space.com, CNES, October 19, 2026

Formula 1 is coming back to Africa, and it's coming to Rwanda

Formula 1 has signed a 10-year deal to race in Rwanda, with the first Formula 1 African Grand Prix planned for the early 2030s. Race dates haven't been set yet. The track will be new, built in Bugesera in the Eastern Province, about 40 km south of Kigali and next to the new international airport going up there. It's being designed by former F1 driver Alex Wurz's company with Tilke, the firm behind many of the current F1 circuits, and is meant to be used all year for other events too. It will be the first F1 race in Africa since the South African Grand Prix at Kyalami in 1993. For now there's nothing to book, but if you're already thinking about Rwanda, start with our Rwanda travel guide.

Sources: Formula 1, October 13, 2026

Perseverance is now the furthest-travelled vehicle on another world

On October 11, NASA's Perseverance rover passed 45.22 km (28.10 miles) of driving on Mars. That beats the record held since 2018 by its predecessor Opportunity, which covered 45.16 km before it fell silent. Perseverance landed in Jezero Crater in February 2021 and is still collecting rock samples, including the one NASA has called the closest it has come to a sign of ancient life. More on that in our Search for Alien Life section.

Sources: NASA Science, October 12, 2026

A major rockfall on the Tofane closes trails near Cortina

On the afternoon of Sunday, October 4, a large mass of rock broke away from the north face of the Tofana di Dentro, one of the Tofane peaks west of Cortina d'Ampezzo, falling toward the Val Travenanzes, a valley crossed by popular hiking trails. An aerial check found that no one was caught in it. Local reports say trail 401 through the valley and the Cengia Paolina area have been closed while rock continues to fall. If you're planning a late-season hike or via ferrata in the Tofane, check current closures with the Cortina tourist office or a local mountain guide before setting out. More on climbing in the area in our via ferrata guide.

Sources: LaPresse, Italian regional media

The Great Migration is turning south

The peak Mara River crossing season ran from mid-August to late September. In October the wildebeest and zebra herds begin heading back toward Tanzania's Serengeti, following the returning rains: early in the month crossings still happen, with far fewer vehicles than in August, while from mid-month numbers in the Kenyan Mara thin out. By November most of the migration has left Kenya. If you're travelling now, ask your camp where the herds are before you book. The herds return to the Mara around July each year. Full details in our Maasai Mara guide.

Sources: 2026 migration forecasts from safari operators and migration trackers

Tanzania now requires mandatory entry insurance for visitors

Starting October 1, 2026, most foreign visitors entering Tanzania by air, land, or sea — including for Serengeti safaris, Zanzibar trips, and Kilimanjaro climbs — must buy a government-mandated insurance policy under Government Notice No. 256 of 2026. It costs roughly $44 per person, is valid for 92 days with multiple entries, and covers emergency medical expenses, evacuation, repatriation, and lost or damaged luggage. Children under 3 are exempt, ages 3–17 get 50% off, and groups of 10+ get a 10% discount. Your first point of entry determines which insurer you use: mainland arrivals (Kilimanjaro or Dar es Salaam) go through the National Insurance Corporation; Zanzibar-first arrivals use a separate portal. Exemptions apply for EAC/SADC citizens, diplomats, and transit passengers. Important: this is a mandatory entry requirement, not a replacement for your own comprehensive travel insurance — most visitors will need both.

Sources: Government Notice No. 256 of 2026 (Tanzania), Upgraded Points

You can now book a Virgin Galactic flight through a travel site

Since mid-September, Trip.com's Chinese platform, Ctrip, has sold a six-day package in New Mexico built around a Virgin Galactic spaceflight, priced from 5.1 million yuan, about $760,000. It includes four days of preparation and training, the roughly 90-minute flight from Spaceport America on day five, and accommodation; flights to the US, visas and insurance cost extra. Virgin Galactic itself reopened sales this year with a limited batch of 50 seats at $750,000, and its first commercial flight with its new spaceship is now planned for February 2027. See every operator's current status in our space tourism tracker.

Sources: South China Morning Post, The Register, Space.com

The Eiffel Tower closed for a day — here's what actually happened

The Eiffel Tower shut its doors Monday, September 7, after staff walked out in protest, saying female employees had been asked to stay out of sight during a private visit by a Hindu religious group (BAPS) the previous weekend. The tower's operating company, SETE, acknowledged the conditions of the visit "should not have been accepted," and French authorities opened an investigation. The tower reopened the following day, Tuesday, September 8. In late September, SETE said an independent investigation had found a series of operational failures that led to female staff being excluded during the visit, and that its director general will step down at the end of 2026. BAPS has said the visit was arranged with the tower's team and that it never sought to keep anyone out. If you're planning a visit, the practical takeaway is simple: it's open and operating normally now, but worth checking current hours before you go, as with any major landmark that's recently had disruption.

Sources: France 24, CNN, CBS News, Euronews, Al Jazeera, Gulf News

Curiosity found holes on Mars that scientists can't explain yet

NASA's Curiosity rover, climbing through a valley on Mount Sharp called "Valle Grande," photographed a cluster of small, shallow pits unlike anything the mission has seen in its 14 years on Mars. Ordinary pits usually form when a harder pebble or mineral nodule weathers out of softer surrounding rock, leaving a visible cavity — but these pits are unusually broad and shallow, with no leftover pebbles or nodules nearby to explain them. The rover's science team used its MAHLI and Mastcam cameras to build 3D models of the pits for closer study. No explanation yet — just an open geological mystery, logged directly on NASA's own mission blog.

Sources: NASA/JPL Curiosity mission blog, ScienceAlert

The hotel inside Burj Khalifa is closed until late 2026

The Armani Hotel Dubai — occupying the concourse level through the 39th floor of the world's tallest building — closed April 1, 2026 for a full renovation of its rooms, restaurants, and spa. It's the first hotel to carry the Armani name, open since 2010, and joins several other Dubai luxury properties (including Burj Al Arab and Park Hyatt Dubai) mid-renovation this year. The reopening is now confirmed as phased: renovated ballroom and event spaces return first in January 2027, with the full hotel reopening to guests in March 2027. Worth knowing if a stay there is part of your Dubai plans — the tower's observation decks remain open and unaffected.

Sources: Gulf Business, Gulf News, hospitality trade coverage

The largest Roman mosaic ever found just opened to the public

Beneath the Baths of Trajan on Oppian Hill, a few minutes' walk from the Colosseum, archaeologists unveiled the "Painted City" fresco and "Great Mosaic" — a 1st-century AD complex discovered in the 1990s and believed to be the largest wall mosaic and fresco ever found from ancient Rome. The mosaic alone measures roughly 15 meters high. Public access started with small weekend groups of 15 in mid-September, expanding to Friday–Sunday visits from October — officials are watching how the delicate surfaces respond to visitor humidity before opening further. Worth booking ahead rather than turning up, and easy to pair with a Colosseum visit on the same day.

Sources: Associated Press, Euronews, The Art Newspaper

The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque isn't free to visit anymore

One of the UAE's most-visited landmarks has introduced an entry fee for the first time: AED5 for UAE Emirates ID holders, AED10 for international tourists, and AED8 for visitors arriving through a tour operator. Worship remains free, and entry stays free for visitors over 60, children under three, and people of determination. The mosque welcomed over 3.1 million visitors in just the first half of 2026 — 78% of them international — which is likely part of why the change came now. Free guided cultural tours (30–45 minutes) still run daily, and tickets can be booked up to a month ahead through the mosque's own website.

Sources: The National, Gulf News, Gulf Business

Six Gulf countries, one visa

The GCC Grand Tours Visa — a Schengen-style single visa covering the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Oman — entered its pilot phase in February 2026, with full public rollout confirmed for later this year by Saudi Arabia's Minister of Tourism. First approved by GCC interior ministers back in November 2023, the visa lets travelers move across all six countries under one online application instead of filing separately for each, though each country keeps its own entry rules and border checks. It's a genuine bet on multi-country Gulf itineraries becoming the norm rather than the exception.

Sources: Gulf News, Times Kuwait, Monocle

La Sagrada Família reaches its full height, 144 years on

More than 140 years after construction began in 1882, Antoni Gaudí's basilica reached its final height in 2026 with the completion of the central Tower of Jesus Christ — on the 100th anniversary of Gaudí's death. At approximately 566 feet, it's now the tallest church in the world, surpassing Germany's Ulm Minster. The basilica itself isn't finished yet: work on its main façade, the Glory façade, continues. Worth noting: this is a separate building from Barcelona's actual cathedral (La Seu, covered elsewhere on this site) — a mix-up even locals say is common.

Sources: Guinness World Records, CBS News, Afar

Rwanda just named its 460th mountain gorilla

The 21st Kwita Izina — Rwanda's annual gorilla-naming ceremony, held at the foothills of Volcanoes National Park — named 22 baby mountain gorillas this year, bringing the total named since the tradition became an official event in 2005 to 460. This year's theme, "Conservation is Life: Sustaining the Future," drew an international mix of Namers, including Shaikha Al Nuwais (incoming Secretary-General of UN Tourism, the first woman to lead the organization in its 50-year history), Rwandan filmmaker Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo (whose film Ben'Imana screened in Cannes' Un Certain Regard section this year), and Aston Villa's Francesco Calvo. The ceremony — rooted in the Rwandan tradition of naming newborn children — has grown from a local conservation initiative into one of the clearest examples of tourism revenue directly funding wildlife protection: gorilla trekking permits help fund the anti-poaching and veterinary work that brought the mountain gorilla back from the edge of extinction.

Sources: Rwanda Development Board, Visit Rwanda, Top Africa News

"Anti-tourism" is reshaping where people actually go

Two-thirds of travelers now say they'd actively avoid a destination they knew would be crowded, according to industry research. Bookings for secondary/lesser-known destinations across Asia are growing over 15% faster than traditional tourist hubs, per Agoda data — part of a broader shift toward quieter, more authentic alternatives to the usual hotspots. It's a trend UniverseTrips' own mix of major landmarks and lesser-known destinations (Nyungwe, Fasil Ghebbi, Torres del Paine) already leans into.

Sources: Virtuoso, Agoda, CNBC analysis via Vietnam Tourism

September is the new peak travel month

The share of UK travelers planning overseas trips in September has jumped from 17% in 2023 to 24% in 2025, according to ABTA's annual Holiday Habits survey — driven by good weather without summer's crowds and prices. If you're reading this in September, you're not alone: this is now one of the most popular months to travel, not the off-season it once was.

Source: ABTA Travel Trends 2026 report

The World Cup moved $17 billion in travel — but not evenly

The 2026 FIFA World Cup drew roughly 6.5 million attendees, including 2.6 million international visitors, across 16 host cities in three countries — an estimated $17.2 billion US GDP impact, with hotel RevPAR up over 20% in host cities during the tournament's early stages. But the story wasn't uniformly rosy: the American Hotel and Lodging Association reported softened demand in several host cities, with visa barriers and high costs keeping actual bookings below early projections. The clearest lesson for travelers: major sporting events reshape a region's entire travel market, but "host city" doesn't automatically mean "boom" — it depends on the city, and on factors outside sport entirely.

Sources: ABC News, Travel Market News, American Hotel and Lodging Association, Euronews

Dubai's $64 billion theme park never happened — now Disney is trying next door

In 2003, Dubai announced Dubailand: a 107-square-mile entertainment mega-complex — more than twice the size of Walt Disney World — with plans for parks from Universal, Six Flags, DreamWorks, Marvel, and Legoland, at a projected cost of $64.3 billion. The 2008 financial crisis gutted it. Universal's own piece broke ground in 2008, stalled almost immediately, and was officially scrapped in 2016 — its half-built entrance gate still stands in the desert, leading nowhere. Some fragments did get built: Legoland Dubai opened in 2016, and other Dubailand attractions followed in the years after. Now a different company is trying a version of the same bet, with a very different structure: Disney announced Disneyland Abu Dhabi in May 2025, its first Middle East park, on Yas Island in the neighboring emirate. Instead of funding it directly, Disney is licensing its name and creative direction to Abu Dhabi developer Miral, who funds, builds, and operates the park — a structure explicitly designed to avoid the financing collapse that doomed Dubailand. Disney CEO Bob Iger visited the actual building site in January 2026; the park isn't expected to open until 2030-2033.

Sources: Wikipedia, thestructuralengineer.info, The Walt Disney Company, The National, Forbes

"Set-jetting" is now an $8 billion travel trend

When HBO's The White Lotus filmed in Taormina, Sicily, Google searches for "White Lotus hotel" surged over 500% — and Expedia recorded a 300% spike in searches for the town itself. That's not an isolated case: Expedia's 2026 travel forecast values US "set-jetting" (traveling to real filming locations) at roughly $8 billion, and 53% of travelers say their interest in a film-inspired trip has grown over the past year. It's already happening again — The White Lotus's fourth season began filming in the French Riviera (Saint-Tropez, Cannes, Monaco) this spring, and travel advisors are reporting a booking surge in Provence before a single episode has aired.

Sources: Expedia 2026 Travel Trends / Unpack '26 report, Yahoo Creators