10 things you need to know before going to Barcelona

Things to avoid doing in Barcelona

Everyone gets told about the places they should visit, the food they should try, and the activities they should do. But what about the things one shouldn’t do? Here’s that list. The authors are journalists and tour guides in Barcelona, so you can suspect they know what they’re talking about when they say “Don’t treat tapas like fast food.”

51 must-see attractions in Barcelona

Planning a trip to Barcelona? Check out this comprehensive list of the city’s most iconic sites. It’s organized from most well-known to least, so if you’re pressed for time, the authors recommend concentrating on the top of the list.

A broad history of Barcelona

We gave you Barcelona’s history in under 400 words. If you’re craving more detail but still don’t want to read a textbook, check out this overview by the European Association of Archeologists. It starts with the Iberian settlements scattered across modern-day Barcelona during the Iron Age and ends with the impacts of the 2010 financial crisis.

Essential Catalan phrases you’ll need in Barcelona

When you go to a restaurant in Barcelona, you’ll probably get offered a menu in three languages: Spanish, English and Catalan. Catalan is one of the four official languages of Spain and the primary language schoolchildren learn in Barcelona. The language has become a source of pride and unity throughout the Catalonia region. So, here are some phrases you might hear and want to use in Barcelona.

A guide to the unspoken rules of British pubs

Pubs are more ingrained in British culture than in other parts of the world. This guide from CNN walks tourists through a taxonomy of the pub's many types, outlines proper etiquette, and sets realistic expectations. (Beware: Your beer might be warm.)

Dubai and Barcelona are examples of smart cities

By integrating technology into public transit, utilities, and other municipal systems, these cities aim to reduce costs and enhance the quality of life for their residents. Some of these technologies include adaptive lighting, parking sensors, and underground waste systems.

A guide to Cannes, the luxurious city on the French Riviera

Explore everything Cannes has to offer with this travel guide aimed at tourists interested in bucking the typical traps. Includes recommendations for traveling to Sainte-Marguerite, taking in the city's murals, and booking a beach club reservation.

Tips for writing time travel stories

Are you thinking of writing a story that involves time travel? You might want to read this guide first. It offers questions to consider, mistakes to avoid and strategies to employ to ensure you avoid paradoxes, plot holes and implausibilities.

Wander through an Oktoberfest celebration

Feel like you’re in the center of the action with this walk-through video of the modern Oktoberfest experience. A former Munich resident covers everything you could want to know, including how to not anger the locals with boorish behavior. She explains the layout of the grounds, what to wear (hint: not cheap, mass-produced German costumes), and a few vital German phrases. Don’t forget to say "bitte" (thank you) when ordering your next round!

How to prepare for cyberattacks

An easy-to-digest checklist on the many ways you want protect yourself from a cyberattack before it happens, if it happens, and after it happens.

One hundred ways to improve your life without really trying

Whether it’s taking fruit to work (and to the bedroom!), being polite to rude strangers or taking up skinny-dipping, here’s a century of ways to make life better, with little effort involved …

A world-famous barista's primer on coffee appreciation

If you think you can tell good coffee from bad but don’t know how to put the distinction into words, world-famous barista Nicole Battefeld-Montgomery is here to help. Her instructions for breaking down a cup of coffee rivals any sommelier’s wine-tasting guide.

How Marie Kondo packs for vacation

Marie Kondo is famous for her organizational style, a form of minimalism that emphasizes utility and practicality. It's a philosophy that translates to packing for travel. In this interview, Kondo walks through several tips, including packing a suitcase vertically, stashing spare tea bags, and keeping a notebook handy.

Five surprising things your GPS can do

You’d be surprised at all the things that GPS—the global positioning system that underlies all of modern navigation—can do. Here's a quick breakdown.

Cook’s ‘Travellers Handbooks’ were precursors to the travel guide

Long before Rick Steves or Lonely Planet, Thomas Cook’s “Travellers Handbooks” offered maps, recommendations, and tips for 19th-century tourists in unfamiliar locations.

Find out what it's like to work in the gig economy

If you’re thinking about being a gig worker—for example, an Airbnb host, Lyft driver, or DoorDash delivery person—keep this article in mind before you start. This article outlines particular concepts prospective gig workers should think about before signing up for gig work, such as upfront costs and budgeting for taxes.

Read about 'skiplagging,' a money-saving travel hack

A consumer loophole known as "skiplagging" is a travel hack where travelers purchase a cheaper flight with a layover in their destination city. The hack works when flights to other cities with layovers at your destination are cheaper than direct flights to your destination. Airlines don't like the practice, but there's no specific law forbidding it.

Machu Picchu before it was a tourist attraction

The Machu Picchu we know today is familiar thanks to its neatly manicured plazas, lovingly preserved stone buildings, and ever-present hordes of tourists. But that’s not what Hiram Bingham saw when Melchor Arteaga led him to the site in 1911. Back then, it lay covered by centuries of tropical overgrowth.

A step-by-step guide to attending the opera

Opera attendance has dwindled in recent decades, leaving some modern operagoers unaware of the traditional etiquette for attending. This how-to video instructs attendees on appreciating the music, dressing appropriately, and choosing the best seats.

10 books that get the theatre world right

The theatre world is filled with drama—both on and offstage—thanks to big egos, imagined slights, and tense interpersonal dynamics. Despite that reality, it's not easy to portray what goes on behind the scenes on the page. This list breaks down some of the exceptions, featuring 10 novels that accurately capture the insular world and fascinating personalities who populate it.

Burning Man promotes 10 core principles to live by in Black Rock City

While attendees or "burners" are living in the desert and creating a new city for themselves, they are encouraged to follow 10 principles that promote an ethos of civic responsibility, community, and individual expression.

Everything you need to know about Mars

The Lunar and Planetary Institute provides assorted resources about the red planet, Mars. Review this basic 101 level introduction and get to know our solar system neighbor. Learn about Mars' planet-wide dust storms, staggeringly high mountains (six of which dwarf Mount Everest), and whether there's water there below the surface.

Six bills experts say you shouldn't put on autopay

Autopay has plenty of benefits, such as helping to avoid late fees and streamlining your bill paying process. But some experts say there are a few types of bills that you shouldn't autopay, especially if you're not confident you can pay these bills in full each term. The list includes utility bills and annual subscriptions. Read the full list here.

The US tips more service providers and leaves larger amounts than anywhere else globally

This map shows how other countries stack up to the US in terms of tipping norms, and could be helpful if you’re planning to budget for a trip abroad. It also indicates if tips are typically included in the bill in each country.

Antimalarials must be taken before traveling to a malaria-endemic area

Malaria prevention involves avoiding getting bitten by mosquitoes (with bug spray and clothing choices) and taking malaria preventative drugs before, during, and after spending time in an area with malaria risk. The drug must be in the blood before the traveler is exposed to malaria parasites.

Stanford built a Google Maps for the Roman Empire, revealing how much it cost to travel in the ancient world

Learn how to read a prospectus, the juicy document that any company must file with the SEC before going public.

Hotels in Cannes, the glamorous city on the French Riviera, hire hawks to ward off seagulls during the city's famous film festival.

Explore a list of the 100 best novels of all time, compiled by some of the world's best living writers, including Salman Rushdie, Stephen King, and Jennifer Egan.

A century of Billboard issues documenting the evolution of popular music.

Take a 3D tour of the Hajj, Islam's annual pilgrimage to Mecca, undertaken by over 1.5 million Muslims.

Watch the cumbersome, but necessary, precautions healthcare workers must take to care for and protect themselves while caring for Ebola patients.

Lesser-known phobias include turophobia, or the fear of cheese, and nomophobia, the fear of being without your cell phone.

A Yale student wrote a profound essay about the consulting industry's influence on elite college students that was published in a book of her writing after she died in a post-graduation car accident.

Discover the catastrophic consequences of a failure of the US electrical grid—something that is more likely than many Americans think.

See photos of Meteora, a mountainous site in central Greece, home to 14th-century monasteries perched atop soaring outcroppings.

US intelligence allegedly pursued more than 600 schemes to assassinate Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro.

Use this tool to calculate the dollar value of your parental mental load, from meal planning to coordinating after-school care, then see resources that help generate solutions.

SpongeBob exemplifies Aristotle's philosophy for living well because he understands that happiness doesn't come from external factors like money, recognition, or power.

See the 25 of the best photos of auroras from around the world.

The first steps to rebuilding your credit score include getting to know exactly what's on your credit report and figuring out how far you are from the '700 club,' or 'good score' range.

Learn how your body is, scientifically, like a firework with its own slow, controlled burn.

Explore the history, structure, and species of Australia's Great Barrier Reef with this interactive journey narrated by Sir David Attenborough.

To reduce wrinkles in clothing, research recommends gentle wash cycles with more water and tumble drying with smaller loads and longer times.

This site reaches millions of visitors who are tired of AI chatbots and seeking human connection. Pretend to be an AI chatbot and ask questions, provide answers, and draw for people in real time.

Salvador Dalí believed he was his own dead brother, who had died nine months before he was born

Meet the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence—most of whom didn't put pen to paper until August 2, 1776—and see their original signatures.

Art theft is the third-largest source of criminal revenues worldwide, thanks in part to the subjective nature of valuing a work of art.

The price of gas is a composite made up of several different factors, with the federal gas tax making up less than 20% of what drivers pay at the pump.

Exploring the Larry Bird punch that almost changed March Madness