The year's top stories for travelers

Rio and Cuba. The Pope's Year of Mercy and artist Christo's walk on water. Philadelphia, Cleveland and the next US president. Super Bowl in California and the Indy 500 at 100. A centennial for America's National Park Service, 400 years since Shakespeare died and 500 years of pure German beer. These are among the places and events driving travel in 2016.

Rio and the Olympics: Rio de Janeiro hosts the Summer Olympics, Aug 5-21.

Super Bowl 50: America's most important football game takes place Feb. 7 at the San Francisco 49ers' stadium in Santa Clara, California. San Francisco hosts a free public fan village, Super Bowl City, and other pre-game events beginning Jan 30.