Travel insights and tips on some of the top attractions and best cities in the world

Leave it to Philadelphia to find an interesting way to amuse and inform — a city that doesn’t mind wearing its quirky heart on its sleeve. So visitors, when not checking out the famous Philadelphia sites for which the city is known, consider these interesting stops.

Atlanta is an amazing city, boasting close to 500,000 residents in the city itself, and another 5 million in the metropolitan area that surrounds it. With so much going on, it can be overwhelming to even know where to start looking for things to do in Atlanta. Be sure to check out the area's top attractions, but don't miss these local's favorites.

Just an hour north of San Francisco’s main attractions, a world away from clanging streetcars, sightseeing hordes and traffic jams, there’s Point Reyes National Seashore, where visitors can wander in solitude, view wildlife, feel the ocean’s spray, and get back to nature. Here, guests can spot migrating gray whales in the winter or hear the bugling of mating tule elk in the late summer. Plus, there’s no entry fee.

Williamsburg, a popular eastern Brooklyn neighborhood of about 125,000 inhabitants, used to be a place visitors would avoid. Now it’s an icon of hipster culture, with lots of fun shops, bars, music venues and terrific people watching. It’s almost along the lines of when tour buses would drive through San Francisco’s Haight Ashbury to gape at the hippies when I was a kid. Instead, here you sit at a sidewalk cafe, sip an espresso and enjoy the show. Definitely bring your camera.

Yes, pools still exist, but children today occupy a whole new world of water play. Known variously as splash parks, spray parks, splash pads, water playgrounds or even “spraygrounds,” these water play areas are popping up everywhere. Here are a few in some favorite cities.

I grew up in New England, and some of my best childhood memories are from summer vacations by the shore. While I’ll never get those precious sun-drenched childhood days back (don't we all wish we could!), I can help my own kids create seashore memories like these on a day trip or camping trip to the Boston Harbor Islands.