Travel Dispatch: Train Stations Are for Dining, Too

April 5, 2025

Point Lobos State Natural Reserve in Carmel-by-the-Sea, Calif. Jason Henry for The New York Times

Dear Travel Fan,

This week we wrap up our train travel month with a look at the Brightline train in Florida, which has created a fast rail connection between Miami and Orlando. The company has plans to build a line between Las Vegas and Los Angeles, and the architecture critic Michael Kimmelman examines why they’ve been able to succeed where others have failed. We’ve also got a roundup of great train station dining, from hot dogs in Copenhagen to ramen in Kyoto.

Finland perennially lands atop the list of the happiest countries, and the country’s tourism agency uses that ranking to entice travelers. One anxious American decided to visit and put what she learned there to the test when she returned home. How did it turn out?

Travel to China has remained well below prepandemic levels, but foreign visitors are beginning to return. Erin Vivid Riley, a frequent visitor to Shanghai, went for her first post-Covid trip and found the city as alluring as ever, but with some new challenges.

When things go wrong, we’re there to help. This week, our Tripped Up columnist comes to the rescue of a traveler who booked the wrong date for a hotel and couldn’t get a refund. And we also offer advice for travelers who may be coming to the United States soon about navigating border control in what have become uncertain times.

Our 36 Hours column visits the storybook town of Carmel, Calif.

The big news in theme parks this spring is the May opening of Epic Universe, a new part of the Universal Orlando Resort in Florida, that has been eight years in the works. Brooks Barnes got a preview of the park, which has five lands. He says it lives up to its name.

Wishing you safe and happy travels,
Amy Virshup

OPEN UP YOUR WORLD

A photo of the counter at a stylish restaurant shows a blur of glass, lights and reflections bouncing off the copper bar. A person behind the counter hands a glass of beer to an unseen person, and a handwritten menu hangs from the ceiling with its exposed ductwork.

Dmitry Kostyukov for The New York Times

Train Stations Are for Dining, Too

We found restaurants (and one amazing sausage stand) in stations in Paris, New York, Kyoto and beyond, where travelers can eat well before or after their journeys.

Bikers are shown in motion on a roadway with a view of a river and a bridge as well as an older building with a clocktower.

Visiting Shanghai Now: It’s a Blue-Sky, App-Based Life

A longtime visitor returns to the post-pandemic city, finding it as varied and sophisticated as ever, and newly powered by digital commerce, with challenges for travelers.

By Erin Vivid Riley

An illustration of a woman wearing a red shirt and loose beige pants wheeling a rolling suitcase down a path with dark blue skyscrapers and evergreen trees to the left, a shimmering blue body of water ahead of her and purple flowers to her right. The sun is shining in a partly cloudy sky.

Rune Fisker

Finland Says It Can Teach Tourists to Be Happy. Challenge Accepted.

Can forest walks, cold plunges and talking to trees make you happier? An anxious American went to Helsinki to see if what she learned there could lift her spirits back home.

By Britta Lokting

Jason Henry for The New York Times

36 Hours

36 Hours in Carmel, Calif.

On California’s Central Coast, three storybook enclaves draw visitors with dramatic cliffs, sandy beaches, zany architecture and more.

By DANIEL SCHEFFLER

THE CHANGING WORLD OF TRAVEL

Rose Marie Cromwell for The New York Times

headway

What’s So Hard About Building Trains?

In Florida, Brightline has proved that it can operate reliable, well-designed passenger trains that people want to ride. Can the public sector do the same?

By Michael Kimmelman

Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto, via Getty Images

Tips for Travelers Entering the U.S. Now: Check Your Visa, Turn Off Your Phone

With increasing news reports of travelers being denied entry, understanding what might prompt extra scrutiny is key. Here’s what to know.

By Claire Fahy

An illustration of a person in a red shirt and blue pants peeling a red sticker that reads “Confirmed” off a giant calendar square with the number 26 printed over a snow-capped peak and the word “Wrongday” at the top of the square, where the days of the week are printed in the other squares.

Charlie Padgett

Tripped Up

Help! I Booked the Wrong Hotel Dates. Why Can’t I Get My Money Back?

If airlines must refund airfare up to 24 hours after purchase, why not hotels? A traveler finds that even two minutes is too late to cancel a botched reservation at a ski resort.

By Seth Kugel

Feedback, thoughts, tips? Email the Travel desk at travel@nytimes.com.

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