Today's Travel News

Space Station Flying by the Moon.
Image credit: NASA/Lauren Harnett

The New York Times has a piece on the new future of space travel, now more accessible than ever thanks to Virgin Galactic's new tourist space program. Virgin hopes to break down the barriers to the final frontier by working with travel agents and even an insurance broker to make it easier than ever to book a ticket to outer space.

First class is nice, but sometime's economy's got to do. Check out this roundup of the airlines that do economy class best. Topping the list? Virgin Atlantic, Singapore Airlines, and JetBlue. We have to add Air New Zealand to the list. 

The return of three major cruise ships to the Port of New Orleans has resulted in a boon to the economy of the port and the city as a whole as it works to regrow its tourism industry that took a hit following Hurricane Katrina.  A projected one million cruise passengers will pass through the port this year, the largest number in history. 

Rail Europe has recently launched two new products, the Italian Thello which connects Paris, Milan and Venice in an overnight service as well as the new Rhine-Rhone high speed line in France-- improvements to the best way to see Europe. 

We're dealing with some extreme weather here in our Houston headquarters (tornadoes and such) but it's nothing compared to this list from Conde Nast Traveler of the world's hottest and coldest places. Have you been to any of these unusual destinations?