Direct Flight

Six Flags in New Jersey is incorporating its Wild Safari into the Great Adventure park proper for a massive, 510-acre theme park.

When the park closes on Sept. 30 for the winter, the safari experience — with 1,200 animals — will be transformed to Safari Off Road Adventure. Rather than driving through the park themselves as they have, visitors will ride in open-air vehicles that can traverse...

TMZ, known for scooping celebrity gossip practically as it occurs, has been offering its version of star tours in Los Angeles for more than a year. Get ready for a more local version: The New York Times, quoting TMZ founder Harvey Levin, has reported that the tours are coming to New York, possibly by early next year.

How this might play out remains to be seen, but if we use the L.A. tours...

The Labor Day long weekend signifies the end of the summer, in a way. Kids are heading back to school, the nights are turning cooler the next vacation days likely aren't until Thanksgiving. Somehow, this time of year always feels like our last chance to cut loose.

So do it.

Here are five day trips that are different enough from the everyday to feel like getaways but close enough to have...

Though guidebooks abound, they rarely address the solo female traveler. Plenty of blogs exist to help empower her, but now there's a series of books, Go! Girl Guides, that puts comprehensive help in a tidy package.

Started by Kelly Lewis, a University of Arizona journalism grad with a wanderlust for places that might intimidate solo tourists, Go! Girl sees the release of two books -- Go! Girl...

A deal made in cross-promotional heaven sees JetBlue offering a 10-percent discount on New York-area flights with the purchase of a 16-ounce bag of Dunkin' Donuts coffee.

The fine print:

- The flight must be booked by Sept. 4 for travel from Sept. 5 to Nov. 7, 2012.

- Blackout dates are Oct. 5 and 8.

- Flights can originate from JFK, LaGuardia, Newark Liberty or Westchester...

As artists increasingly look to bust outside the museum, conceptual artist Tatzu Nishi is pushing us to see history from a new vantage point.

His "Discovering Columbus," for New York City's Public Art Fund, envisions a living room setting surrounding the Christopher Columbus statue in Manhattan's Columbus Circle. Opening Sept. 20, the free exhibit allows visitors to climb stairs...

A few years back, there was the man (no names, as he's been given enough ink) who slept in a New Jersey Ikea. Perhaps that's where the Scandinavian retail giant got the lightbulb burst to start a budget hotel chain?

Whatever planted the seed, the home goods monolith is doing it big, not surprisingly. Inter Ikea, owner of Ikea's intellectual property rights, has plans for 100 European hotels,...

OK, it's fantasy time. But, really, isn't that what travel is all about? I'm sticking with that, because right now I'm dreaming about going to Monterey, Calif., for the RM Auctions on Friday and Saturday.

RM offers automobile auctions around the globe, and, as usual, the one in Monterey is stocked with collectibles that would be pretty great to see in person. A number even have celebrity connections,...

Friday

JAZZ LEGENDS: CHARLIE PARKER TRIBUTE

Celebrating its 20th year, the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival is taking place at various New York City venues during the next couple of weeks. Some events are free, some aren't, but all aim to pay homage to the saxophonist known as Bird as well as the larger jazz scene he grew out of. The Sugar Hill Quartet performs 5 to 7 p.m. Friday at Whole...

VietJetAir decided its inaugural flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Nha Trang should be something special. For most travelers, that might mean an extra pack of peanuts, perhaps a heavier-than-normal pour of orange juice. For VietJet flyers, special translated to a bikini-clad dance performance.

Unfortunately for the new airline, Vietnam's Civil Aviation Administration lobbed a fine for the in-cabin...