Travel Features - AP

NEW YORK - Travelers have been able to score decent deals on hotel rooms and airfares over the last year. But car rental prices have increased dramatically despite the weak economy.

ST. LOUIS - The shimmering Gateway Arch on the banks of the Mississippi River is St. Louis' calling card. But the iconic monument set off from the rest of the city is, well, set off from the rest of the city.

Happy first birthday, world traveler.

ROTORUA, New Zealand - As I tumbled down the mountainside in a gigantic beach ball filled with water, feeling somewhat like I was in a washing machine, it occurred to me that there had to be a better way to experience New Zealand.

NEW YORK - In November, I'll be quitting my job and heading out on one of the last true adventures left on earth: Driving around the world.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Wade Johnson has plopped down in plenty of hotels, but the business consultant ranks his stays at 21c Museum Hotel in downtown Louisville as a one-of-a-kind experience.

NEW YORK - Last spring thousands of travelers canceled trips to Mexico after a swine flu outbreak there emptied beaches and resorts.

SAVANNAH, Ga. - Savannah was founded in 1733 and was one of America's first planned cities, with a series of squares and parks that can still be enjoyed today.

ATLANTA - Curtis Richardson hops around the front parlor of the 140-year-old house, animatedly recounting the enchanting tales of Brer Rabbit and Brer Wolf.

HOPE, Ark. - The Bill Clinton First Home Museum will soon be a part of the National Park system, a designation that will give the modest structure on a busy street more visibility as a tourist destination.

VIENNA - Sachertorte. Magnificent palaces. Splendid museums. When Phillip Kalantirsky had his fill of Vienna the Opulent, he stayed on for a taste of Vienna Noir — in a walking tour built around the cult film "The Third Man."

NEW ORLEANS - There's an old story in New Orleans about a society matron who heard about a friend's death. Grief-stricken but practical, the matron immediately wondered if the waiter at Antoine's whom her friend had relied on for years was up for grabs, or if someone had already claimed him.

NEW ORLEANS - New Orleans' most famous street is a nightly swirl of bright neon and happy tourists strolling with a beverage in hand.

LYNCH, Ky. - Joseph Marzelli is glad for the cheerful canary singing in the darkness of an Appalachian coal mine.

ELGIN, Ariz. - Grapes aren't supposed to grow in the desert. But here in this southern Arizona town, surrounded by endless, rolling green and amber hills, the Callaghan family is de-stemming gigantic bins of grapes that will eventually produce a nice Petit Verdot.

BERLIN - When the East German government built the Berlin Wall in 1961 to prevent its citizens from leaving, the regime failed to account for the ingenuity and creativity of those willing to risk anything to escape the communist system.

TIRASPOL, Moldova - Soaring statues of Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin, portraits of the city's most productive workers adorning a square, red flags fluttering in the wind during a Communist demonstration.

WASHINGTON - On a Christian pilgrimage with her church group, Kristin Toorop looks up to Calvary and her eyes open wide.

MOSCOW - Tourists at the souvenir stands on the edge of Red Square smirk and chuckle as they buy T-shirts emblazoned with Lenin's glowering visage and Soviet propaganda posters. But 20 years ago, the Soviet Union was no joke.

NEW YORK - Even if you don't believe in ghosts, walking through a graveyard can be a little spooky — especially in autumn as the trees lose their leaves, flowers wither away and light fades in the late afternoon.

GENEVA - It's dinnertime and farmers are dipping bread cubes into a molten pot of melted cheese, an image of Switzerland's rustic mountainsides and garrets as iconic as Heidi at her chalet or men in embroidered vests playing 10-foot-long Alphorns.

Haunted house attractions and ghost tours can be a lot of fun. But some things are naturally spooky, with no fake blood or recorded howls required.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - The plan was to march up the Rio Grande, capture the city of Santa Fe and seize the thousands of rifles, dozens of cannons and other supplies at Fort Union for a campaign that would expand the Confederacy's borders all the way to the California Coast.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - The "World of the Pharaohs" exhibition in Little Rock does more than depict the lives of kings during the 3,000 years of pharaoic rule. The items on display also illustrate what daily life was like in the rich Nile delta.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - With 100 days to the opening of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, the athletes village was handed over to the Games organizers.

PARIS - Airbus will deliver the first of its new freight cargo aircraft in the summer of 2010, the company said Thursday after the plane took off on its maiden test flight.

PARIS - Forget the lions, tigers and bears. Paris' Pompidou Center plans to fill a colorful circus big top with Picassos, Matisses and Calders instead, creating a roving museum to take its masterpieces of modern art to France's culturally deprived rural regions and rough suburbs.

DALLAS - Airlines are cutting money-losing flights during the current travel slump, and that can cause headaches for passengers who bought tickets on those trips.