Travel

Held annually on January 25th, Burns Night is Scotland’s national celebration honoring the life and contributions of the nation’s beloved poet, Robert Burns. At the end of the day, gatherings large and small unite people for Burns Suppers—lively evening feasts that feature a blend of history, music, song, and poetry alongside traditional local dishes, from cock-a-leekie soup to the iconic haggis, accompanied by Scotch whisky. This 200-year-old tradition promises a unique cultural experience for all attendees.

Here’s the thing about trains: they take you behind the façade of a place and show you fleeting, random glimpses of ordinary life, sometimes beautiful, sometimes gritty. It’s the variety pack, not the greatest hits. Traveling from Istanbul to Budapest on a luxurious private train called the Danube Express, I looked out on storybook medieval villages and gloomy Communist housing blocks, smokestacked industrial suburbs and endless fields of sunflowers. Countless anonymous homes came and went, with countless laundry-garlanded back gardens. Bystanders took phone videos of our cream-and-blue carriages, which were restored in the style of a glamorous fin de siècle sleeper train.

In Latvia, a country where over 50% of the land is covered in trees, arboreal adventures are easy to find. Moreover, northern Latvia, especially the area centered on Gauja National Park, offers eclectic, sometimes unique, experiences just waiting to entice visitors away from the capital, Rīga’s undeniable delights and into the woods. Whether you seek history, adventure like bobsleighing, or even the intriguing sport of bogshoeing, read on to learn more.

“One of the things that separates this tournament from some of the others is that we come back to the same course every year, and that’s a very nice, familiar feeling,” defending champion Rory McIlroy toldGoTravelDailyof theThe Players Championshipon the PGA Tour in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. ​​​​​The occasion was an Under the Lights Experience on the TPC Sawgrass iconic island green, a mere 137-yard shot, but the nemesis of many pros. The champion demonstrated how to hit the perfect shot as flood lights brightened the target on a chilly evening.