Eva Dilmanian

Take it from someone who’s done it. Do not attempt to visit the glorious city of Seville in the summertime. It’s not just hot. It’s that oppressive, stifling, zaps-the-pleasure-out-of-everything, how-are-people-even-breathing-in-this kind of hot. It feels like you’re walking around in a giant outdoor sauna. For someone like me, who likes to explore a whole city on foot, summertime Seville was a mistake. I’m going to need a do-over in in this town. There were just so many places that I know I would’ve enjoyed much more if it hadn’t been so prohibitively hot when I was there. Next time I go, it will be in the shoulder seasons—spring or fall—and I recommend the same to anyone who’s curious about this beautiful corner of Spain. Now, on to what to see and do in this great city when the weather is lovely.

Stockholm is lagom, a Swedish word that means "not too little and not too much, but just right.” It’s very civilized, but still has personality. It’s orderly, but still fun. It’s full of history, but plenty modern. It’s big, but very walkable. This city is a refreshing escape in a world that seems to be polarizing into all kinds of extremes. Stockholm pulls off multiple balancing acts at the same time. If you’re looking for a Scandinavian getaway, you can’t do much better than the lovely Swedish capital. Here’s your guide to having a well-balanced stay in Stockholm.

Bologna is a great part of Italy to visit in the winter. As far as I’m aware, there’s no skiing, sledding, or ice skating. But there is my favorite wintertime activity: inhaling a hearty plate of pasta. Sitting smack in the middle of Emilia-Romagna, the breadbasket region of Italy, Bologna is to pasta what Naples is to pizza. So what should you eat here and where exactly should you eat it? Here’s your quick guide to trattorias and osterias in Bologna.

The Louvre is sensational. It really is. I’ve got nothing against it. But it’s big. And overwhelming. And, if you want to see every room, it’ll easily gobble up at least one whole day of your precious Paris time. If you’re only in Paris for a few days—a city with so much art of every format coming at you (the smells wafting out of restaurants on Boulevard Saint-Germain, the musicians playing guitar in Le Marais, the stunning architecture everywhere, the street artists in Montmarte, the flavors of the brasseries), it’s just a bit of a shame to spend so much time in one place. I recommend a whole day (or even two or three) at the Louvre if you’re in Paris for two weeks or more. If you’re in Paris for a shorter stay, here are nine smaller, cuter museums and attractions for visitors with time constraints.

Are you and your team coming to Midtown Manhattan for a meeting, trade show, or conference? You’re going to need a centrally located business-class hotel where you and your colleagues can rest after long days of wheeling and dealing. A good business hotel offers free hotel-wide Wi-Fi, a meeting or conference room, and a business center equipped with printers and computers. New York business hotels come in lots of shapes and sizes for business travelers on every kind of budget. Here’s a quick guide to business hotels (and power lunch spots, happy hour bars, and transportation hubs) to help you maximize your productivity while in Midtown Manhattan!

There's Old New York, Young New York, and then there's, like, Newborn New York. The kind of place you walk by and you think, “I could swear that restaurant wasn’t there just this morning.” This city is constantly evolving at breakneck speed and, while we love our heritage here (see my earlier guide to Old New York), we also embrace the new. New York has changed A LOT in the last 25 years. Most neighborhoods are gentrified. We have new skyscrapers, a new skyline, new demographics, and probably some new values. This post-Sex and the City version of New York is less cultural and more commercial than it once was (and slightly Miami-ized). Where we used to aspire to uptown sophistication, now we value downtown trendiness. But, through all its changes, us born-and-bred New Yorkers are still madly in love with this crazy town and we can still point you to what’s new and exciting and worthwhile. As such, here’s a quick cheat sheet to the younger, trendier, hipper New York.

It’s hard to write a travel guide about London. It feels like everybody already knows about all the classic things to see and do. It somehow feels like we were all born with this knowledge. (If you weren’t born with the London tourism gene, here’s a quick run-down of the very basics of the sight-seeing circuit: the National Gallery, Tate Modern, Hyde Park, lunch on the Thames with a view of Tower Bridge, Buckingham Palace, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, the Tower of London, etc.) Instead of telling you about places and things that you likely already know about, I hope to give you some tips that’ll be useful to you this time of year: how to successfully holiday shop in London while taking in plenty of the city’s prettiness and history in the process. So, here’s a quick guide to finding some very British, very special Christmas and Hannukah gifts for your loved ones.

Munich is a magical Bavarian city. It’s all about beer, bakeries, sausages, folktales, festivities, and good times. From Oktoberfest to Christmas to summer folk festivals, Munchners know how to party hearty. Whatever time of year you visit, please be sure to take a bit of time off from partying to explore some of the city’s rich cultural history. Here are some basics for the perfect day in Munich.

If you’re a fan of grand architecture, Madrid has a bit of it all—Art Nouveau, Baroque, Neo-classical, Modernist, and much more. When in Madrid, I like to just meander around the city, taking in the sights and seeing what architectural gems I happen across. (Sometimes the most striking buildings aren’t mentioned on travel shows or in guidebooks.) If you want to have a more organized approach to exploring the grandeur of Madrid, here’s are eight buildings not to miss.

Copenhagen is for lovers of cool design. If you have any design nerds on your Christmas/Hannukah present list, this is where you’re going to find all kinds of smartly-designed things that’ll earn you the coveted Most Thoughtful Gift-Giver Prize. If you’re shopping for furniture or home décor for yourself and your vibe is minimalist, modern, highly-functional, sleek, clean lines, blonde woods, and the occasional pop of color, this town is your one-stop shop. The Danes are the Gods of modern design. And Copenhagen is the Mecca. So, let’s get into it.

In my next life, I want to be reincarnated as the driver of the Che Diecci bus line. The Che Diecci (English = C10) is a bus that drives up the western branch of Lake Como. All day long, this particular bus driver gets to gaze at some of the most stunning scenery on the planet. He takes in three of the natural wonders of the world—the pristine lake, the lush surrounding mountains, and, if he’s lucky, George Clooney’s face. Then there’s the matter of the man-made things he gets to look at—the colorful villages dotting the lakeside, the gorgeous villas, iconic hotels, chic sports cars, and fast boats zooming around all over the place. I don’t even understand how he keeps his eyes on the road while surrounded by so much exquisiteness. But I’m not entirely sure reincarnation exists. My dream of being a highly distracted bus driver may never come true. So, somehow, I have to get my fill of Lake Como in this lifetime. You’d be wise to do the same. The fall, when the mountain trees are turning colors and the air is fresh, is a wonderful time to go explore the villages of Lake Como. It’s too chilly to dive into the lake, but it’s a great time to go hiking, bike riding, and exploring.

Why? Why didn’t anyone tell me that France had villages this charming? Why does everybody only ever talk about Paris and the Riviera, when France also has all of this going on? I’m talking about the under-appreciated French region of Alsace. If I ran the world, Strasbourg, Alsace’s capital, would be the most famous city in continental Europe, and Alsace would be a must-visit region, up there with Tuscany or Provence. Culturally and architecturally, it’s a mix of the best of France and the best of Germany. (Historically, both countries have claimed this region as their own and fought a lot to make it so. It’s pretty easy to understand why. Heck, I want it as my own, too, and I’m an American with nothing to do with any of this.) There are colorful half-timbered buildings, little canals winding through towns, stunning cathedrals, at least one makes-you-weak-in-the-knees palace, and adorable outdoor cafés. From its beautiful Christmas markets in the winter to lively music festivals in the summer, Alsace is joyful year-round. If you’re looking to escape the harsh realities of 2025 and want to spend a week living in a fairy tale, Alsace is what you’re looking for. Alsace is a wine country, and much of the land is vineyards, dotted with cute little villages. These villages are the inspiration for the animated Disney film Beauty and the Beast. In reality, the villages are more vivid, colorful, and ethereal than any cartoon. While in Alsace, I recommend making Strasbourg your base and day-tripping to all the region’s towns and villages.

Ireland is for lovers of nature, music, humor and wit, language and literature, beer, French fries, and golf—it checks off every box of everything that matters in life. Ireland was my first ever international solo trip in my early 20s. I went again in my late 20s and yet again in my mid-40s. I will return to Ireland for as long as I can move. I fall madly in love with it in a new way each visit. The capital city of Dublin is bursting with culture, and the surrounding countryside—an outdoorsy person’s dream—is especially beautiful during the shoulder seasons (fall and spring). Pound-for-pound, Dublin is as great a party city as Amsterdam, albeit more wholesome—it’s an excellent place for bachelor/bachelorette parties. The city center of Dublin is a cobblestoned street district called Temple Bar, perfectly laid out for pub-hopping. Plan your Ireland visit so that you’re in Dublin on Friday and Saturday nights—that’s when locals and tourists alike pack into Temple Bar’s pubs like sardines to see the superb local cover bands. The best of these live bands can be found at Fitzsimon’s, The Temple Bar, The Auld Dubliner, and the Oliver St. John Gogarty, but keep walking into bars all night as long as you have the stamina. The party never ends. The Irish have an expression—“good craic”—that doesn’t translate to English very well, but you’ll know it when you see it in Temple Bar. It means something like “the vibes are immaculate.” Have you ever experienced a bar jam-packed with hundreds of people all doing a Beatles sing-along together at the top of their lungs? You should. Now, you ask, what about the next day? What’s the best way to shake off a Dublin-induced hangover? An excursion into the Irish countryside for some fresh Irish air and activity is the perfect antidote.

Autumn in New York is special. Okay, I am heavily biased and I think every season in New York is special. But autumn in New York is really very, extremely, especially special. Fashion Week is happening. The US Open is happening. The MTV Video Music Awards are happening. A whole crop of new Broadway shows are opening. A whole crop of new restaurants are opening. In a city full of creative people, the Halloween decorations and costumes are on point. The universities are bustling with smart young people who’ve come here from all over the world to start a four-year NYC adventure. The air is crisp and fresh. And Central Park’s trees are putting on a spectacular show of red, orange, brown, and yellow leaves for anyone lucky enough to have a view.