Taking off Travel blog

10 Places American Tourists Should Visit in 2012

by Anna Dewinter

Travelers might think of visiting Great Britain for the Olympic Games 2012, or to experience the sights and sounds of London – one of America’s favorite destinations. However, there are other destinations that are sometimes overlooked and that definitely deserve a visit in 2012.

Whilst there, consider using hire cars to drive south to the second city and explore Cork – enjoy shopping in the English Market and ringing the Bells of Shandon. Throw in a short trip to nearby Blarney Castle where the famous Blarney Stone awaits.

From Cork, fly to the third destination: Hamburg. Packed with popular things to do and see, including the Miniature Wonderland with model railways and tiny countries, there are also fantastic parks and gardens, examples of superb architecture and wonderful museums.

A high-speed train runs between Hamburg and Amsterdam in The Netherlands, which has a laid-back ambiance and offers the wonderful Van Gogh Museum and the Royal Palace. For a countryside trip, seek out the tulip fields and windmills.

For these four European destinations tourists should always carry ID: a valid passport is needed but a visa is not required for stays of less than three months.

Two Complementary Destinations in China

Hong Kong displays a fusion of east and west influences with major Chinese temples and palaces, accessible via the iconic tram system, plus skyscrapers and Hong Kong Disneyland!

A three-hour flight from Hong Kong to Beijing takes visitors to a different, exquisite historical era; explore the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, the Ming Tombs and the Temple of Heaven.

Singular India

Delhi in India is a city in two parts: Old Delhi features historic mosques, forts and shrines, whilst New Delhi is contemporary, bustling and cosmopolitan. Be sure to view the stunning Taj Mahal in nearby Agra, the world’s finest monument to Mughal architecture and one of the seven top tourist attractions globally.

For both China and India a visa is required and a passport must have at least six months’ validity.

Three Different Choices – Abu Dhabi, St Vincent and Wellington

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates might be relatively unknown but it offers a relaxed break and a glimpse of the rich cultural heritage of the city. Explore dramatic sand dunes and mountains, and cruise along the Gulf Coast. A valid passport is sufficient if staying for up to 30 days; visas are free of charge at the port of entry.

Caribbean island destination St Vincent and the Grenadines is a great alternative to Barbados or Martinique. An English-speaking location, there are lots of tourist facilities among the tropical eco-rainforests. Snorkeling, yachting and scuba diving are on offer.

The city of Wellington provides easy access to the lovely North and South Islands of New Zealand. Besides the outstanding natural habitat, Wellington offers fabulous views from its cable cars and the Mount Victoria Lookout, and great shopping in the bohemian quarter of town. Pack a passport – visa requirements are waived for US citizens.

Whether preferred vacation choices are educational, unusual or exotic, there is a place to visit in 2012 that suits perfectly.

Image: slleong

Christmas comes but once a year, so deciding where to spend it is important. Europe’s cities are some of the most culturally significant in the world and with their snowy climates, traditional markets and lit-up architecture, they can be the perfect spot for a Christmas getaway. Follow our guide for the top European cities to consider for your Christmas break; they’re all available as last-minute hotel and flight packages, allowing you to enjoy a festive weekend away without stress.

Our first choice is an obvious one:  Paris. With its elegant Christmas lights and decorations, the already beautiful city of Paris is a real sight to behold during the festive season. Alongside the city’s already world-famous boutiques, their Christmas markets hark back to a tradition from the Northern Alsace region, where they create an outdoor village of wooden booths, offering gourmet treats, decorations, crafts and other beautiful samples of French culture. In Europe’s premier city of love, you can also view the city’s lights from the Eiffel Tower or ice-skate under the stars in one of the several free-entry, open-air ice-skating rinks that are set up around the town.

Amsterdam holds its Winterparade in the last week of December each year:  perfect timing for those looking for a last-minute weekend package. With a mix of theatre, music, film, dance and comedy, the Winterparade provides a modern, imaginative way to spend a festive day. If you want a more traditional cultural treat, Amsterdam’s museums and theatres are full of Christmas themed exhibitions, while taking a canal boat trip is the perfect way to sight-see a city renowned for its beautiful architecture.

Speaking of canals, Venice is the perfect Christmas spot for romantics both young and old. The prime location of a loved-up weekend trip, happy couples can travel by gondola on the city’s expansive and extensive system of canals. As with any European city worth it’s salt, Venice is home to a beautiful Christmas market; the Campiello dei Golosi (or Gourmands Square) offers a platform for Italy’s best fresh produce farmers to sell their wares, while streets leading off the square house stalls selling traditional wooden toys, cards, scarves, lace and soaps.

A popular destination of late, the city of Prague is a fast favourite among those looking for a weekend city break. With festive lights, fresh white snow and beautiful window displays, the people of Prague really take Christmas to heart. Wander through the tree-lined streets or drink in the beautiful architecture as you make your way through the meandering roads of the central city area. The main square houses the city’s grand Christmas tree, while the animal stable at the Old Town Square is decorated nativity-style with a petting zoo and figures of Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus and the Three Wise Kings.

The home of the original Christmas market, the German city of Cologne offers visitors an impressive backdrop to festive activities. Beneath the city’s Cathedral lie well over 160 wooden pavilions, stocked with everything from traditional toys to foods and wines. Watch the city’s artisans at work as they make traditional mulled wine, or head to the Alter Markt for nostalgic roundabouts, puppet theatres and a Santa’s Grotto.

Rachel is a freelance blogger currently on the lookout for hotels for sale.

(Images: dhaun, paulafunnell)

A guest post by Nick Ball on an island that’s worth a visit if you’re heading over to Europe.

The Canary Islands are much like a European Caribbean. These seven specks of Spain are located off the coast of West Africa – hundreds of miles south of the Iberian Peninsula – and on the same line of latitude as the Bahamas. They boast a clement climate that can be enjoyed by sun starved Northern Europeans all year round, whilst remaining little known to most American travellers.

Lanzarote is the fourth largest and one of the least spoilt of the Canaries. On larger neighbours such as Tenerife and Gran Canaria high rise hotels and apartment complexes have swallowed up some of the best scenic spots over the last twenty years. But on Lanzarote the landscapes remain much as nature intended, thanks largely to a local artist and architect called César Manrique – who campaigned tirelessly against over development.

Manrique was born in the island capital of Arrecife in 1919 and fell in love with Lanzarote during long family holidays spent on the picturesque North West coast at the huge sweeping beach at Famara. During the 1950s he was at the vanguard of the Spanish surrealist movement and in the 60s spent most of his time in New York, where he rubbed shoulders with the likes of Andy Warhol and exhibited his paintings under the patronage of the wealthy Rockefeller clan.

By the late 1960s package tourism was just starting to take off in Spain, as General Franco opened the country’s borders in an attempt to attract much needed foreign currency. Property developers and hotel chains were quick to take advantage and large swathes of the Spanish Costas were soon buried beneath a sea of concrete. This development boom was also sweeping the Canaries – so Manrique resolved to return home to preserve his birthplace from a similar fate.

Thanks to friends in high places Manrique was able to help push through legislation that banned all high rise buildings outright, whilst also outlawing advertising hoardings. And as a result Lanzarote pursued a far more ecologically friendly path than many other Spanish sunspots – the benefits of which are readily evident today.

Lanzarote’s main jewel in the crown are the volcanoes and lava fields of the Timanfaya National Park, the scene of massive eruptions during the 1730s which lasted for around six years. It transformed around one quarter of the island into a surreal and eerie moonscape. Indeed Apollo 13 astronauts were shown pictures of this region in order to help them prepare for their own lunar landings.  Numerous science fiction films have also been shot on location here.

Elsewhere on the island the pragmatic Manrique worked with this terrain in order to create environmentally friendly visitor attractions that would provide an alternative to the water parks and golf courses so common elsewhere in Spain, resulting in the creation of some truly stunning sights such as the Jameos del Agua – an enormous lava tunnel which he turned into a breathtaking auditorium and concert venue. And the Mirador del Rio, a former gun emplacement perched some 600 metres up a cliff face – but now a breathtaking look out point granting incredible views down to the neighbouring island of La Graciosa below.

The combination of Lanzarote’s lunar like landscapes and Manrique’s creations helped to earn Lanzarote UNESCO biosphere protection in 1994 – the first island in the world to enjoy such status.

Nick Ball is the editor of Lanzarote Guidebook, the in depth Lanzarote tourist guide. Visit their site to download a free Guidebook and to book Lanzarote villas and car hire in Lanzarote direct online.

Joobili is a travel planning site with a difference. Its motto is ‘you say when, we say where’ and that sums up what Joobili is all about.

Using Joobili

To use it, all you have to do is pick a range of travel dates using the home page slider and it will tell you what is going on during that time. That takes you to another page with a list of events that you can filter using:

• categories such as family, arts, food and drink, celebrations, music and (my personal favorite) unusual
• country – the site currently contains only European destinations, but it would be good to see it broadened to include more places
• tags

You can also see others who have liked the events. Read more »

Travelers are inherently fascinated with the unusual. We willfully seek it out by opening ourselves to foreign cultures and customs, getting lost in exotic places, and chasing adventure wherever it runs. We ultimately learn that the superficially unfamiliar is actually familiar, that common values such as family and celebration are shared across all cultures in some form. With this in mind, let’s take a look at some wonderfully weird festivities held across the globe:

Holi Festival of Colors – India

Image courtesy of M. Raghu (http://www.flickr.com/photos/mrprao/1499871399/)

The Holi Festival of Colors is a traditional Hindu holiday celebrated in several countries. Rooted in Hindu mythology, Holi is an exuberant celebration of the triumph of good over evil. The festivities take place over two days, generally in February or March based on the Hindu calendar. The first night kicks off with a towering bonfire of logs and dried brush, symbolizing the burning of the demoness Holika. On the second day, known as Dhuleti, the color free-for-all begins! People of all ages congregate in the streets in a playful melee of sprayed multicolored dyes, Bollywood singalongs, gift exchanges, and family get-togethers to celebrate the coming Spring and victory over evil. Read more »