It's graduation time! Students of every age are donning tasseled caps and planning a walk down the aisle. College towns are especially bustling this time of year, and are also great destinations in their own right no matter what the season.

We've highlighted some of our favorite college towns from coast to coast, each of which holds its own special charms. Whether you have a prospective student in the family, or are just looking for a young, vibrant destination, we hope they inspire your next trip!

Boston, Massachusetts

Boston Travel Guide from Let's Go
The Boston area has the highest concentration of colleges in the nation, and is also a fascinating destination for history and culture seekers in its own right. For a long time, Boston was the United States. In the 19th century, some of America’s most influential doers and thinkers called Boston home, justifiably dubbing it the “Hub of the Universe.” Read more>

Santa Barbara, California

Santa Barbara Travel Guide from 10Best
Just two hours from LA, this once sleepy California town has been dubbed the "American Riviera." Its coastal beauty, year-round sun, mountainous backdrop, and Spanish/Mexican history attract wealthy residents and plenty of eager tourists. Read more>

Austin, Texas

Austin Travel Guide from Guidepal
Young and vibrant but with the old soul of a hippie, Austin is a red-hot creative hub in the middle of a state steeped in tradition. Yet the city, for all its quirks, is still thoroughly Texan - think of it as the liberal son of conservative parents, Houston and Dallas. Read more>

Providence, Rhode Island

A Taste of Providence: Sampling Rhode Island’s Quirky Cuisine
Providence, RI is a small city in a small state, which happens to boast a large number of colleges and universities. It's also well known for its culinary prowess and unique food offerings. Some of the names that pop up on menus across the state are downright puzzling, even for people from nearby states. Read more>

Berkeley, CA

Berkeley Travel Guide from NFT
The city of Berkeley, famous for its university and seismically-sensitive land, has a long history of positive community activism. And while the memory of radical ideas still permeates the air, as you get closer to the center and its many academic establishments (besides the UC, there are also the Graduate Theological Union, Vista Community College, and various vocational schools), you’re now more likely to encounter a Starbucks than a protest. Read more>

Tips for College Campus Visits

Rural vs. Urban College Campus Visits, from TravelMuse
Make time to get off campus and learn what a university town is really like, whether your visit is to a traditional college town like Ames, Iowa, in the heartland, or to the bustling streets of busy Boston on the East Coast. Read more>

Jetsetters and sports lovers alike are buzzing about this summer's upcoming 30th Olympic Games in London, England. Accommodations are booking up quickly and the city is preparing for a huge influx of visitors from around the world.

Depending how you feel about crowds, London may or may not be the right travel destination for you in the coming months. But you can still get inspired by visiting past -- and future -- Olympics sites this summer, and capture some of the glory of the games while satisfying your wanderlust.

London, England: Summer Olympics 2012

London, England from BootsnAll
While we all know the famous sights London has to offer, like Big Ben, the London Eye, Trafalgar Square, and Buckingham Palace, there’s also plenty of other fantastic, off-the-radar things to see and do while traveling to England’s capital. Read more>

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Summer Olympics 2016

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from Travelwolf
Rio is a portrait of all of Brazil's contradictions. The gorgeous coastline of the Atlantic rainforest drapes down the hillsides, which are covered with a vast labyrinth of favelas (shanty towns) and spill onto the loveliest urban beaches in the world, lined with the very chic apartments of Brazil's wealthiest class. Read more>

Beijing, China: Summer Olympics 2008

Beijing, China from TravelMuse
Beijing hosted the Summer Olympics in 2008. Much of the city was in upheaval as infrastructure was being frenetically constructed and sights were being renovated for the Games. Post-Olympics visitors can look forward to some modern additions to the city’s attractions, including the Water Cube and the Bird’s Nest. Read more>

Sydney, Australia: Summer Olympics 2000

Sydney, Australia from Let's Go
Australia’s unofficial capital, Sydney blends liveliness and loveliness as one of the world’s greatest cities. Home to more than one-fifth of the continent’s population, Sydney is Australia’s major urban center, and it certainly looks the part... Read more>

Barcelona, Spain: Summer Olympics 1992

Barcelona, Spain from Guidepal
Barcelona is a city for all people, made up of many disparate parts that somehow meld to form this distinct and stunning city. From its historical Roman roots that can still be touched, to the boisterous, late-night-loving party scene, to the kilometers of beaches that stretch out along the Mediterranean, there is something for everyone here. Read more>

Moscow, Russia: Summer Olympics 1980

Moscow, Russia from Rough Guides
The city is huge, surreal and exciting. After a few weeks here, the bizarre becomes normal and you realize that life is – as Russians say – bespredel (without limits). Traditionally a place for strangers to throw themselves into debauchery, leaving poorer and wiser, Read more>

Food and travel: for many travelers, you just can't have one without the other. Almost everyone who travels experiences the local culture through its food at some point during their trip, whether it's snacking on churros on the beach in Mexico, sampling weinerschnitzel in Vienna, or savoring a hot bowl of pho in Hanoi. But some of us take it a step further, and plan entire trips around enjoying the food and drink of the local culture.

Whether you're an "eat-as-you-go" traveler or a full-on culinary travel fanatic, here are some great suggestions for your next foodie adventure.

Eat Your Way Through Italy: 4 Stops on an Italian Foodie Tour
For some of us, eating great food is a major to-do item no matter where we travel (or, heck, even when we’re at home). But when one is talking about a visit to Italy, if the food isn’t one of the things you’re most excited about, you might be a little dead inside. Read more>

San Francisco: Foodie Paradise
If you're into food, The Ferry Building Marketplace in San Francisco is the place to get some of the best of the bay areas produce, artisanal local and specialty foodstuffs all in one place. Any foodie who wants to sample some of the finest artisanal treats from the N. California area owes it to themselves to make a pilgrimage here. Read more>

Gayot's Foodie Picks for St. Patrick's Day
Go green this March 17 with a trip to one of our favorite places to partake in St. Patty's Day festivities. Consult our St. Patrick's Day Top 10 lists to find the best restaurants, bars, and pubs where revelers can chow down on traditional Irish fare like corned beef hash, bangers and mash, and cabbage stew — and maybe have a pint or two! Read more>

Around the World in 20 Dishes
Paella in Spain, fish and chips in England, hamburgers in America, pizza in Italy... there are certain foods you inherently associate with a place. But there are so many lesser-known food wonders of the world to still be discovered. From tasty Cha Siu in Hong Kong and spicy Gulasch in Vienna to sweet appelgebak in Amsterdam, we're taking you around the world in 20 dishes. Read more>

Seattle: Foodie Highlights
Seattle is a city known for many things, and outstanding and innovative food is high on the list. Check out some of the best foodie picks in Seattle from Not For Tourists, and start planning your food-based itinerary around Seattle's best pies, curries, biscuits, cocktails and more. Read more>

The 84th Annual Academy Awards are almost here! And nothing inspires a great motion picture more than a beautiful, historic, tragic, or otherwise one-of-a-kind destination.

As this year's Oscar buzz builds, we're taking a look at some of the Best Picture nominees and the locations that inspired them, from the tropical sands of Honolulu to the bright lights of Paris.

The Descendants: Honolulu, Hawaii

Explore Honolulu with TravelMuse
Honolulu, on the island of Oahu, is the capital and largest city of the state of Hawaii. It is the government, transportation, and commercial center for the state, and home to its best known tourist destination, Waikiki Beach... Read more>

Midnight in Paris: Paris

ParisLogue.com from BootsnAll
Be virtually transported to the City of Lights on this fantastic website completely devoted to all things Parisian, including what to pack, where to bring the kids, and of course the all-important question: where (and what) to eat? Bon voyage! Read more>

The Help: Jackson, Mississippi

The Deep South, USA from PilotGuides.com
Down here, the life seems simplified; the big-hearted folks of the Deep South seem genuinely pleased to see you. The beer is cold, the food comes piled high on your plate. The region is a little at odds with time and life seems to have slowed down.... Read more>

Moneyball: Oakland, CA

Oakland, CA City Guide from DesignSponge
Oakland is experiencing a revival similar to Brooklyn, the alternative sister city to New York. It offers a younger, hipper underground scene and fresh, new, exciting things to see and do! Read more>

War Horse: Devon, England

Discovering Devon and Cornwall with Rough Guides
At the western extremity of England, the counties of Devon and Cornwall encompass everything from genteel, cosy villages to vast Atlantic-facing strands of golden sand and wild expanses of granite moorland. ... Read more>

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close: 9/11 Memorial & Museum, New York City

Visit the 9/11 Memorial & Museum With Viator
The defining moment of America's last decade is burned into our collective imaginations: the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, when New York's World Trade Center crashed to the ground. Ten years later, on the spot where the Twin Towers fell, a memorial to those lost that day was finally unveiled in a solemn ceremony... Read more>