Fifty-Two Weekends: Arts & Entertainment

Pizza and a Play

New Haven's grim reputation is long out of date. Located about halfway between Boston and New York, it's a great place to meet big city friends for a weekend. (They take Metro-North's New Haven line for $27 round trip; your round-trip Amtrak ticket from South Station is $98 or more, but it comes with ocean-side glimpses.) Stay cheap at the throwback Hotel Duncan (203-787-1273, from $44), and blow your cash on a show at the Yale Repertory Theatre (203-432-1234, www.yalerep.org) or the legendary try-out venue for Broadway hits, the Shubert Theater (888-736-2663, shubert.com). Wait in line for thin-crust New Haven-style pizza at Pepe's (203-865-5762) and finish up late at Louis' Lunch (203-562-5507), famed birthplace of the hamburger sandwich, where sozzled Yalies go until 2 a.m. Thursdays through Saturdays for a late-night snack. - Ann Silvio

3 Day Getaway: Mideast Meets Midwest

The ancient Egyptian treasures - including those from the tomb of King Tut - that make up the exhibit "King Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of Pharaohs" is heading to Chicago, and so should you. The show, currently on display in Los Angeles, will go to The Field Museum, a sprawling structure on the shores of Lake Michigan with a collection dedicated to natural history and anthropology, in May 2006. Why see it in the Windy City? Because the show will be displayed with the Field's own collection of 1,400 artifacts from ancient Egypt. (Tickets, $25, will be available in advance by calling 866-343-5303 or online at fieldmuseum.org.)

If you like music with your formerly buried treasure, visit during the Chicago Blues Festival (June 8 to 11) or Jazz Festival (August 31 to September 3). But the best time to go is during Taste of Chicago, a 10-day outdoor food festival (June 30 to July 9). If that's not enough excitement, you can always see those other Sox play - just close your eyes and pretend it's Fenway with bigger seats (the schedule will be posted at mlb.com).

Stay downtown at the House of Blues Hotel (312-345-1000, from $199), where entertainment includes live music every weekend and - this is the Midwest, after all - bowling. Gastronomes looking for the meal of a lifetime should head to the famed font of New American cuisine - high-style fare you couldn't make at home without a staff of 12 and a supply of dry ice - at Charlie Trotter's Restaurant (773-248-6228, charlietrotters.com, from $400 for two). For traditionalists, there's steak at Gene & Georgetti (312-527-3718, geneandgeorgetti.com, from $100 for two). Work off your meal by walking the Miracle Mile shopping district (along Michigan Avenue). - Larry Olmsted

Be Like Bjork

With only five to six hours of daylight in Reykjavik in the winter, you have just enough time to take a dip in the Blue Lagoon, a hot-spring-fed lake 15 minutes from downtown by cab or bus. The unique bathing spot is also a popular hangover cure for nightlife devotees, which is convenient, since Reykjavik has one of the hottest club scenes in the world. Start your evening with fresh seafood at Perlan (perlan.is, from about $110 for two), located in a glass-domed building that is also a distribution station for spring-heated water that's pumped to homes and buildings. Then stop for a drink at one of many cafes along or just off Laugavegur, a main street. In general, and depending on the night, cover charges are low or nonexistent, but drinks are expensive, starting at about $10. Around midnight, the all-night club scene thumps alive at Nasa (nasa.is), the city's largest club, and the bar in the 101 Hotel (101hotel.is). Icelandair, which flies direct from Boston, also owns hotels, and long-weekend packages can be found for less than $500 per person at icelandair.com or goiceland.org. Look for deals with Hotel Borg (hotelborg.is, from about $330), located in the heart of the nightlife and dining district. - Larry Olmsted

Sir Scissorhands

Already seen The Nutcracker? Then consider going to a show in London's West End instead. London, a five-hour flight from Logan, offers shopping, upscale Indian food, and, this year, a twist on the Christmas tradition: a family-friendly adaptation by acclaimed choreographer Matthew Bourne of Tim Burton's Edward Scissorhands, the story of a misunderstood boy who's a whiz at topiary and hairstyling, showing November 22 to February 5 at Sadler's Wells theater (011-44-20-7863-8000, sadlers-wells.com, from about $17). If its reception is anything like that for Bourne's Swan Lake or Mary Poppins, a classic will be born. Stay a nearby at the Jurys Inn Islington (011-44-20-7282-5500, from about $190), right off lively Upper Street. - Joe Yonan

Berkshirewood

People don't usually go to the Berkshires for the movies, but the Williams College Museum of Art in Williamstown aims to change that this fall, with its "Moving Pictures" exhibition running through December 11. With its 150 paintings, photos, and posters from 50 films produced between 1880 and 1910, the show explores how the development of filmmaking technology influenced American artists Thomas Eakins and George Bellows. Hang your hat in nearby West Stockbridge at the Williamsville Inn (413-274-6118, www.williamsvilleinn.com, from $165), a restored 1797 farmhouse with delicious German food cooked by co-owner Erhard Wendt. Admission to Williams College Museum of Art (413-597-2429, www.wcma.org) is free. - Joe Yonan

Architecture Alive

One of the nation's best collections of Georgian and Federal architecture is found in the unassuming city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Learn the difference between plinths and quoins on a stroll through Strawbery Banke (603-433-1100, strawberybanke.org, $15 for adults, $10 for ages 5 to 17), a living-history museum of 40 antique buildings on 10 downtown acres. (Days and hours are limited from November through April, so call ahead or check the website.) Then walk over to the 1758 John Paul Jones House (603-436-8420, portsmouthhistory.org, $10 for adults, $3 for ages 6 to 14) on Middle Street, now occupied by the Portsmouth Historical Society. At the 1716 Warner House (603-436-5909, warnerhouse.org, $5 for adults, $2.50 for ages 7 to 12) on Daniel Street, you'll see extraordinary murals in a former governor's mansion. Keep to the historic theme by booking a room at the 1874 hotel Wentworth by the Sea (603-422-7322, www.wentworth.com, from $259) in New Castle. - Wayne Curtis

Shuffle Up and Deal

Poker has taken the world by storm, and the eye is Las Vegas. For high rollers - paying game entry fees up to $20,000 - poker's epicenter is the Bellagio (888-987-3456, www.bellagio.com, from $200). Those on more modest budgets should try the Mirage (800-374-9000, www.mirage.com, from $150) or the Plaza (800-634-6575, www.plazahotelcasino.com, from $100, pictured), which has a standing midnight game of $50-entry no limit hold 'em. Guests of host hotels can usually call down from their rooms to reserve seats, so it's a good idea to stay where you play. Each of these poker rooms sits just steps away from a vast array of dining options, from fast food to fine French, and most major airlines, including United, American, and US Airways, offer packages of flights and lodging that usually beat the a la carte prices. - Larry Olmsted

Take My Wife, S'il Vous Plait

The Just for Laughs-Juste Pour Rire comedy festival takes over Montreal's Latin Quarter from July 13 to 23, 2006. Comics hold forth in nightclubs and theaters while mimes, jugglers, and clowns play the streets. To rub shoulders with some of the visiting talent, stay at the Delta Montreal (877-286-1986, deltamontreal.com, from about $175), where comic headliners stay and off-duty performers riff in the bar. Just for Laughs includes hundreds of free performances, but for headliner tickets (888-244-3155, hahaha.com), buy in advance to get discounts.
- Patricia Harris and David Lyon

Northern Exposure

On the north side of Philadelphia, across town from where the cheesesteak became famous, the Philadelphia Museum of Art - and its steps, the ones featured in Rocky - is the reigning cultural institution. Not to miss: one of Cezanne's last works, The Large Bathers, and the world-class Marcel Duchamp collection. From March 29 to July 16, 2006, a retrospective of 20th-century realist Andrew Wyeth's seven decades of work will be on display. Stay nearby at the Four Seasons Hotel (800-332-3442, fourseasons.com, from $250) and eat at neighborhood favorite Bridgid's (215-232-3232, bridgids.com, from $25 for two). Sorry, they don't do cheesesteak. - Stephen Jermanok

Nantucket's Festival Season

If you need an excuse to go to Nantucket before August brings crowds to the beaches, restaurants, hotels, and ferries, the year's first good one comes in late April with the island's annual Daffodil Festival, a celebration of spring in the time-honored way: eating lobster and drinking gin. Mid-May brings the Food & Wine Festival and the chance to get close to some of the first names of Boston cuisine: Ming, Jasper, Gordon. The Nantucket Film Festival comes along in mid-June, as do, most years, the actor Ben Stiller, his famous parents, and the director Peter Farrelly. Buy tickets in advance for Farrelly's Late Night Storytelling at the Rose & Crown, where directors, screenwriters, and actors share uproarious tales that often have nothing to do with filmmaking. The gray-shingled White Elephant (800-455-6574, whiteelephanthotel.com, from $150) hotel is located on the harbor, only a five-minute walk to the cobblestone streets of town. Instead of driving to Hyannis and taking the ferry (steamshipauthority.com, $115 round trip), consider the 45-minute flight from Logan with Cape Air (800-352-0714, flycapeair.com, from $180). - Stephen Jermanok

Unless otherwise noted, room rates listed are for two people staying one night in a hotel's least expensive room with a private bath. Some inns require two-night stays on weekends. All prices are in US dollars.