Laura Ratliff

Planning your travels for the new year? You should absolutely factor in those long-standing bucket list entries, but if you’re looking for some fresh inspiration, 2026 promises a world of brand-new travel experiences.  From sleeping over in an open-air museum to journeying through ancient landscapes on e-bikes, ziplining over glorious wildlife reserves and partying through a solar eclipse – yes, really – there’s a shedload of off-the-beaten-track, out-of-the-box stuff happening over the next 12 months. Scroll on for our handpicked selection of the 26 coolest, weirdest and most exciting things to do in 2026.  RECOMMENDED:🛍️ The coolest streets in the world🏘️ The coolest neighbourhoods in the world🌃 The best cities in the world right now Stay in the loop: sign up to our free Time Out Travel newsletter for all the latest travel news and best stuff happening across the world.

In between the occasional deluge, it would seem that Miami has finally entered its brief but beautiful autumnal window. These breezier, less humid afternoons are the reminder we need that winter is around the corner, and that's really when this city hits its stride. For now, the palm trees are twinkling in their holiday looks, we're in the thick of another action-packed Art Week, and there is officially way too much to do between now and the new year. This weekend, the Tribeca Festival, Art With Me, the Complex Family Style Food Fest and Pinecrest Gardens’ Nights of Lights are all on our agenda. If it's a touch too chilly for that beach day you had planned, perhaps a fabulous Miami spa day is in order. If the sun's out but you'd rather avoid getting your toes sandy, sunset vibes at a Miami waterfront bar could be the move. There's a free art installation, bustling vintage market, festive holiday-pop-up or raunchy drag show for every stripe of weekend warrior. Ready to have some fun in the 305? Here are the best things to do in Miami this weekend.  RECOMMENDED: Things to do in Miami

South Florida doesn’t do winter. At least, not the frosty, scarf-necessary, hot-cocoa-as-survival-fuel kind. Which is why the return of real-ice skating to downtown West Palm Beach feels like a minor miracle powered by equal parts holiday spirit and serious refrigeration tech. Winter Wonderland is back at The Ben Hotel starting November 1, transforming the waterfront lawn into a glittering holiday playground with twinkling trees, Aspen-style chalets and, of course, a 50-by-66-foot rink made of the real stuff. Yes, ice. In Palm Beach. Again. Last year’s debut drew more than 30,000 skaters, proving locals are more than ready to trade sand for snowflakes, at least in theory. Around the rink, expect plenty of festive distractions: chalet vendors slinging gifts and sweets; a holiday bar for hot chocolate, s’mores, grown-up toddies and the debut of a Holiday Tree Forest created in partnership with local nonprofits, including Habitat for Humanity and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Palm Beach County. There will also be themed events like Live Music Saturdays and Santa Sundays, ornament-making workshops and an opening-day curling exhibition (yes, Palm Beach now has curling athletes and, no, the tropics do not care about your winter stereotypes). When is Winter Wonderland at The Ben Hotel? Skating runs daily from November 1 through January 4 from 10am to 9pm. How much are tickets? Entry is free unless you’re lacing up, in which case tickets start at $25 for adults and $10 for kids 11 and

Talking Heads frontman, Broadway innovator and all-around creative polymath David Byrne is once again blurring the line between art and science, this time in the middle of downtown Chicago. “Theater of the Mind” is Byrne’s latest experiment in perception, identity and theatrical immersion—and it’s happening inside a real office space. Created with writer and philanthropist Mala Gaonkar, the 15,000-square-foot experience invites audiences of just 16 at a time to explore a series of rooms designed to mess with your senses and make you question, well, yourself.

Prospect Park has a new role: a giant, climate-fighting sponge. Mayor Eric Adams just unveiled a $68 million plan to curb the flash flooding that has plagued the park and its surrounding neighborhoods and the fix is surprisingly old school: let nature do its job. The heart of the plan is the borough’s first-ever Bluebelt, a system that uses wetlands, ponds and natural drainage to capture and filter stormwater before it can flood Ditmas Park, Kensington, Prospect Park South and Windsor Terrace. Staten Island has been perfecting this approach for years, but now it’s Brooklyn’s turn to employ the water-management glow-up.  “By using Prospect Park to manage stormwater, we’re turning one of Brooklyn’s most cherished public spaces into a powerful tool for climate resilience,” DEP commissioner Rohit T. Aggarwala said in a release. As a result of a year-long study, city engineers found that during intense storms, rainwater often sheets across the park rather than flowing into the 60-acre lake. When water does reach the lake, the 150-year-old waterway fills up too fast and can overflow, which ultimately pushes water into nearby streets and strains the sewer system. The Bluebelt’s job is to flip that script. The plan involves upgrading the lake’s drainage so that water levels can drop in under 36 hours (right now, it can take up to three weeks), along with a lineup of new features designed to catch water before it poses a problem. Along West Drive, the city will install a chain of rain

Wine Enthusiast, the decades-old magazine-turned-ratings authority, has done something a little unexpected for 2025: it’s opened a physical, brick-and-mortar store in SoHo. Yes, a real shop with shelves and humans. At a time when the wine industry is tightening its belt and plenty of retailers are quietly downsizing, the brand is leaning in with a flagship at 27 Greene Street. The new space brings nearly 50 years of wine-world expertise in a design-friendly corner of SoHo. Instead of feeling like a techy showroom or your grandad’s dank cellar, the shop is built to look like a warm, modern home—with terracotta arches, natural wood and soft lighting. There’s also a consultation nook where staff can walk through everything from picking out perfect wine glasses to selecting a bottle for a party that won’t embarrass you in front of your oenophile friends. The store stocks the brand’s complete range of wine accessories and glassware, but its “sipping and shopping” setup is where the real fun starts. Every month, the shop will pour a featured wine selected by its editorial team. For December, that’s 2023 Method Cabernet Sauvignon, the magazine’s #1 Best Buy of 2025. The shop will also double as an event space, hosting tastings and partner-driven programming.  “Whether it’s grabbing a house-warming gift for friends, holiday shopping for family, or adding something special to your home, we invite everyone to check out the new beautiful store in bustling SoHo,” said Erika Strum Silbers

New Yorkers with celiac disease are about to get a rare thing in this city: a full restaurant where everything is safe to eat—no cross-contamination caveats, no worries about fryer oil and no ingredient detective work necessary. KIMMI, the latest project from the team behind the much-missed Tiger Lily Kitchen and TLK, opened last week at 125 Canal Street, right where the Lower East Side meets Chinatown near the Manhattan Bridge. The 47-seat spot is entirely gluten-free—right down to sourcing ingredients from gluten-free facilities—while leaning into flavors from across Asia and its neighborhood surroundings. That means dishes like grilled head-on prawns in chili tomato sauce with Thai basil oil, roasted cauliflower dressed in miso aji amarillo and a vermicelli bowl with baby bok choy, snap peas and a chili-ginger-cilantro sauce. Heartier plates include a pan-seared market fish with green chili garlic sauce, grilled pork belly skewers finished with green papaya chutney and a five-spice braised short rib set over miso sweet potato purée and crisped Chinese broccoli. Photograph: Michael Tulipan The drinks list is just as low-key as it is flavor-forward. Wine director Olivier Filograsso keeps things tight with natural and sustainable wines by the glass (starting at $13) or bottle. Cocktails lean low-ABV, made with vermouths, aperitifs and soju: try the Orient Express with cardamom-infused Method dry vermouth and Thai tea coconut cream or the Seoul Crusher with mango soju and li

If you’ve ever wished you could do something more meaningful at O’Hare than jog between Terminals 1 and 3 with a lukewarm latte, good news: Chicago’s airports have opened express service to the North Pole. The Chicago Department of Aviation has rolled out its annual Letters to Santa program at both O’Hare and Midway, inviting travelers to leave a postcard for the big guy through December 19. And yes, Santa actually writes back—provided you leave your contact info and not just a list of “vibes” and “surprises.” The setup is surprisingly charming for two of the country’s busiest transit hubs. At Midway, you’ll find the mailbox at the information desk near the Central Market. O’Hare, meanwhile, went all in with four drop points: Terminal 1 (post-security, next to that famous Brachiosaurus), Terminal 2 (near the Family Lounge), Terminal 3 (in the Rotunda) and Terminal 5 (near Gate M8). So whether you’re boarding a 6am flight to Phoenix or killing time before an international connection, a direct route to Santa HQ is never out of reach. Airport Ambassadors, who are cheerily suited up in CDA holiday gear, will sweep through twice a day to collect the letters and send them onward. Families can scribble down a wish, adults can channel their inner child and anyone stuck in a delay can take comfort in knowing at least someone hears their pleas. Chicago is deep in its busiest travel stretch of the year, with both airports bracing for another surge after Thanksgiving. Airlines estimate t

If your holiday spirit needs a little supersizing, point yourself toward Delray Beach, where a 100-foot-tall Christmas tree is now glowing over Old School Square. And yes, it’s so big you can actually walk inside it. Downtown Delray’s towering holiday centerpiece flipped on the lights during Tuesday night’s lighting and Yuletide Street Festival, with Santa himself hitting the switch at 7pm. The Avenue shut down to cars so crowds could roam Atlantic, Old School Square and Pineapple Grove, shop from more than 60 vendors, hit food trucks along Swinton Avenue and dance at a silent disco under the lights. The tree is a full-on mini attraction in Delray Beach. The tradition dates back to the early ’90s, when the Delray Beach Downtown Development Authority installed a 50-foot tree to help revive a sleepy downtown. A few years later, it was extended to 100 feet in honor of the city’s centennial—100 feet for 100 years—and the rest is very festive history. Today’s version still nods to those roots: step through the door at the base to find animated scenes that tell the story of the “Village by the Sea,” plus vignettes styled by local cultural institutions. Surrounding it is Santa’s Holiday Village, open on select days through December 28. You’ll find a carousel, ice skating rink and mini golf, all ticketed from $6 per activity or $20 for an all-day wristband, with the last tickets sold at 8:30pm. The walk-through tree itself is free and the carousel spins for free on December 24 and 25

If you find yourself in the Oculus today staring at a set of gleaming mirrored monoliths, you’re not imagining things.  Kim Kardashian has stepped into the public-art arena (naturally) to tease her forthcoming MasterClass and her “Kimmandments” (the actual rules she swears by) are now literally engraved onto human-height slabs for all of New York to read. The installation appears today, December 4, and marks the first IRL preview of The New Rules of Business: The Kimmandments, Kardashian’s debut MasterClass. The course will launch today and pull from the playbook she used to build Skims, turn early notoriety into a billion-dollar empire, navigate scandals and figure out when to listen, when to pivot and when to be unapologetically loud. The monoliths operate as a kind of outdoor syllabus: 10 succinct commandments on how she approaches brand-building, confidence, crisis management and “being the feed,” not following it. Photograph: Courtesy of MasterClass Each structure has its own QR code that unlocks short video clips from the class. Scan one and you’ll hear Kardashian talk about lessons that didn’t fit into the reality-TV era: Skims fabric testing, beauty-lab wear trials, the early days of selling accessories at Fred Segal and even her missteps. The monoliths themselves are styled like sleek, mirrored minimalist sculptures—and also just reflective enough that you’ll catch yourself standing next to a line like “Know your worth and add tax.” It’s a clever bit of staging tha

New Yorkers may soon hear a new question during their commute—and it will sound a little more Berlin than Bronx: “Can you show me your phone or your OMNY card?” The MTA has announced plans to roll out a “European-style” fare inspection system aboard city buses, replacing NYPD enforcement with civilian agents, in its latest effort to curb fare evasion. Janno Lieber, the MTA’s chair and CEO, announced the shift this week, calling it a practical response to a long-running issue: the NYPD doesn’t assign enough officers to patrol buses. The subway system already commands most of that staffing, leaving buses with what amounts to an honor system—one that’s cost the agency dearly. According to the Citizens Budget Commission, the MTA lost $568 million to unpaid bus fares last year. If you've ever watched riders slip in through the back door while the bus idles at a stop or just saunter past a bus driver in the boarding flurry, you know exactly where that number comes from. The problem accelerated during the pandemic, when the MTA temporarily asked riders to board through rear doors to protect drivers. “We never put the toothpaste back in the tube,” Lieber said during a press conference on Tuesday. Under the new model, which is common in cities like Paris, Vienna and Stockholm, fare inspectors will board, ask passengers to present proof of payment and validate their tap. No turnstiles, no paper slips to flash at the front, no police involvement. The whole system hinges on OMNY being fu

If December has felt unusually icy already, we’re about to get another rude awakening. An arctic air mass, the same system that’s been shattering records across the Midwest, will slide into the metro area Thursday night, dropping temperatures into the upper 20s and low 30s and making the city feel like the teens by Friday morning. The National Weather Service says wind chill will be the real headline. “Be prepared — just bundle up,” NWS meteorologist John Cristantello told Gothamist. “Try not to leave any exposed skin, if possible. Stay indoors, you don't wanna be outside for extended periods of time if you don't have to be.”  The city may even break a few records. At LaGuardia, the record low for December 5 is 21 degrees Fahrenheit and the forecast is 20 degrees Fahrenheit. JFK’s record low for the day is 20 degrees Fahrenheit, with forecasters expecting 21 degrees Fahrenheit. Central Park’s historic low of 11 degrees Fahrenheit in 1926 is safe, but Friday will still mark the city’s coldest morning since early March. What’s arriving here has already gutted temperatures across the country. Double-digit subzero lows hit northern Iowa today, with places like Aberdeen, South Dakota, tying -18 degrees Fahrenheit. Chicago is flirting with a plunge below its long-standing record of 4 degrees Fahrenheit. For New Yorkers, the extreme Midwest numbers mainly serve as a preview, since the same air mass is simply marching east. After a quick warm-up over the weekend, another cold blast f

A bagel upgrade is coming to Greenwich Village—specifically, one stuffed with things we never knew bagels could contain, yet somehow absolutely should. Moonrise Bagels, the Hudson Valley favorite known for baking full-on comfort foods into its hand-rolled dough, will open its first New York City outpost this Friday, December 5, at 58 West 8th Street. Moonrise has been quietly dominating upstate’s breakfast culture since 2021, when founders Jeremy Rhodes and Ali Chetkof Rhodes turned a pandemic kitchen hobby into Woodstock’s most-talked-about carb. The idea began on New Year’s Eve 2020, when the duo considered putting pizza inside a bagel. After months of trial, error and tinkering, they cracked the formula—and locals got hooked fast. Photograph: Photo Memory NYC Now, after expanding to Kingston and Poughkeepsie, the brand’s Original Stuffed Bagel finally lands in Manhattan. Each is hand-rolled and filled with house-made fillings like Buffalo chicken, pastrami and bacon, egg and cheese. Jeremy, a Long Island native with a background in hospitality, and Ali, a Woodstocker with a public relations resume, met in New York City over a decade ago. They both left career paths that were going “exactly to plan” the moment Jeremy perfected his classic pizza bagel. The rest is Catskills culinary lore. The new West 8th Street shop brings the full lineup to the city, along with the same everything-from-scratch approach that made the bagels such a smash hit upstate. If you’ve ever wished

If you’ve ever been to Stockholm and debated which sour, foamy, cola-shaped or licorice-laden candy miracle to scoop into your bag, today’s news might hit you right in the nostalgia.  CandyKing, the Swedish pick-and-mix giant that practically invented the modern bulk-candy wall, is officially opening its first U.S. store and it’s landing in the West Village. The shop at 306 Bleecker Street opens on Saturday, December 6, giving New Yorkers their first true taste of Sweden’s pick-and-mix tradition without a passport or duty-free layover. CandyKing was founded in 1984 and quickly turned European grocery stores and cinemas into candy playgrounds with technicolor walls and neatly sorted bins of sweet, sour, chewy and chocolatey classics. The brand has since become Europe’s leading pick-and-mix provider, with a cult following that spans airports, amusement parks and grocery chains. Photograph: Rachel Cabitt The West Village outpost keeps all the spirit of the European originals intact. The centerpiece is a 27-foot-wide, six-foot-tall wall packed with what the brand says is the largest assortment of Swedish candy available in the U.S. Expect heavy hitters like Kexchoklad, Big Cola Bottles, Foam Mushroom, “Lakrifun,” Sockerbitar, Chocolate Roman Arches and a rotating cast of new hits pulled straight from Sweden’s current candy obsessions. One of the first limited-edition drops is the Swedish Zoo Monkey Foam, previously unavailable in the U.S. The store is also leaning into New York

Tomorrow night, the moon will go all out for its final big moment of 2025: the cold supermoon. Not only is it the last supermoon of the year, but it’s also the highest full moon of the season and maybe the one most likely to lure you outside, despite, well, the “cold” part.  Here’s your guide to catching the show: What is the cold supermoon? December’s full moon has long been called the cold moon, a nod to the frostier weather that usually arrives with it. This year, it’s also a supermoon, meaning the moon hits its full phase while sitting unusually close to Earth in its orbit. This makes it appear brighter and slightly larger—that’s up to 14% bigger and 30% brighter than the faintest full moon of the year, according to NASA. It’s also the last of a three-moon streak, following supermoons in October and November. When is the best time to see the cold supermoon? Timing is on your side tomorrow evening. The moon reaches peak illumination at 6:14pm Eastern time on Thursday, December 4, just after sunset in most places. While you’ll get a great view all night, the prime moment is moonrise when the so-called “moon illusion” kicks in. It’s a strange visual trick that makes the moon look comically huge as it hovers near the horizon. No one fully knows why this happens, which somehow makes it even better. Cloud cover could be an issue in parts of the Northwest, Northern plains and Southeast, according to early forecasts, but a vast stretch from the Southwest to the Northeast appears

If you’ve ever watched the confetti storm over Times Square on New Year’s Eve and wondered, “What’s the deal with all that paper?” This is your year: The Times Square Alliance and One Times Square have reopened the annual Wishing Wall, the very place where hopes and resolutions get turned into official confetti that fall over the crowd when the ball drops at midnight. The ritual is simple and extremely New York: head to the Broadway plazas between 45th and 47th Street, grab a colorful slip of paper, write down your 2026 wish and stick it to the wall. Every piece collected in person or online before December 29 gets printed onto real confetti that will be part of the roughly 3,000 pounds released on New Year’s Eve. (That’s about the weight of a small car, reborn as aspirations, for reference.) The wall is open every day from 11am to 8pm through December 29, but closed for Christmas. If you’re not here in person, you can join the chaos from afar by submitting your wish at TSQ.org/Wish or through Planet Fitness, this year’s presenting sponsor, at PlanetFitness.com/confettiwishes. Anything sent after December 28 will roll into next year’s celebration. Organizers say the tradition has grown into something bigger than a cute pre-midnight pastime. “The New Year is a moment of reflection and renewal, and each wish placed on the Wishing Wall represents optimism for what lies ahead,” said Tom Harris, president of the Times Square Alliance, in an official statement. “The confetti of wis