Shanghai. It sounds so exotic and glamorous. And let’s be frank, when you put those two adjectives together, you are often talking about expensive, as well. But the fact is that China has traditionally been and remains a budget traveler’s dream, as the Chinese RMB rises in value but the local way of life is cheap, cheap, cheap.
As in any place, budget travel in Shanghai is all about making the right choices. Hostel over …
Want a Halloween celebration full of fantastical costumes, throbbing music and jumping bodies? Welcome to the West Hollywood Halloween Carnaval, the world’s largest Halloween street party. It’s a Halloween celebration that’s both family-friendly and hedonistic at the same time. If you love Halloween, dressing up, or just partying with thousands in the street, then making a pilgrimage to West Hollywood for the Carnaval is a must.
West Hollywood – known to locals as WeHo – …
I suspect that if you looked up the phrase “finding paradise” in the dictionary, one of the definitions you’d be given would read like this:
“the act of spending five carefree, abundantly sunny days exploring the idyllic Hawaiian island of Oahu.”
The Hawaiian islands are legendary. The image of arcing palm trees casting shade over a fuzzy-haired surfer as he waits for the tide to come in, has become so iconic in American culture that …
Every European country seems to have one: a city that thoroughly encompasses all that the nation holds dear. Bruges is such for Belgium, sitting there all proud and pretty, epitomizing the grandeur and perfection otherwise relegated to storybooks. With canal boats, horse-drawn carriages and bicycles, the ethnic spirit swallows visitors whole.
It is difficult to sum up the magic of Bruges placid bottle-green canals with steeped-roofed medieval houses, market squares and slumbering parks in just …
Call me weird if you want to, but I know I am not the only traveller who enjoys, yes, enjoys visiting cemeteries if the opportunity to do so presents itself during my travels. Maybe it’s because I am getting older, but there is something incredibly sobering and calming about visiting the last resting place of some of our fellow planetary citizens. There is also something of a sense of satisfaction knowing that no matter how …
The term “Going Green” is one we’ve all heard. Reduce, reuse, and recycle, right? Well ,what about when you have a 20kg weight allowance and a very shallow pocket? I don’t know about you, but sorting plastic bottles and hauling old newspapers around isn’t part of my ideal backpacking trip. And then there’s the expense of being eco-friendly. Backpacking is practically a synonym for financial strain and as much as we may want to join …
America is one enormous country, no doubt about it. It covers more surface area than most people will traverse in their lifetime, and yet, has a history that takes up a relatively small part of the world’s archives. Luckily, because its story is so recent, it’s still easy for us to see just how these States came to be United.
If you hop on an Amtrak train to journey from Boston to Washington, D.C., you’ll …
Famous Historic Trail : El Camino de Santiago-
Multi-day hike
This is by far Spain’s most famous trekking trail. There are many paths leading to Santiago’s famous cathedral, which is considered to be one of the most holy sites in Christendom. There’s the English Trail, which hugs the northern coastline, the Portuguese Trail from the south, and even a water route arriving by sea and river. The most famed of the Santiago trails is El …
Sometimes you might feel an irresistible urge to see a specific European city or visit a particular continental site, and nothing short of that will do. More often than not, however, it is a certain type of trip that travelers crave. So here are three affordable Eastern European variations on classic vacation themes.
A Habsburg Holiday: Zagreb is an economical alternative for anyone who adores Vienna or Budapest. It’s geographically closer to those cities than …
A ranch stay is often the perfect way to relax and rejuvenate. Whether referred to as a “dude ranch”, a “cattle ranch vacation” or a “ranch stay”, (our preferred term), here is the opportunity to get back to nature and to interact with animals and physical activity in a very special way. There are ranch stays of every variety, from family vacations to singles, from those that focus on actual ranch work to those that …
Aruba is best known for its spectacular beaches and surf side sun and fun, but there are many cool and offbeat activities well worth seeking out that you’ll rarely find anywhere. Here are a few of them…
Adopt a Donkey
Donkey Sanctuary Aruba (www.arubandonkey.org ), on the skirts of Arikok National Park, is a non-profit, fully volunteer foundation dedicated to providing a safe haven for wild, injured, and unwanted donkeys on the island. You can …
Sand…sun…sea; the checklist to the perfect summer break. The trouble with settling on which beach to choose is that usually everyone else has discovered it as well. If you prefer your slice of sandy heaven to come without being sandwiched in by the sun lounger crowds, plan a beach break with a difference in one of the forgotten corners of coastline below.
Ninety Mile Beach – New Zealand
It may be famous in New Zealand …
Zone 1 — Did you now that seven out of ten diamonds come from Antwerp, the world’s largest diamond centre for more than 700 years? Diamonds from numerous mines all over the world are skilfully cut and polished, praised and appraised, bought and sold in Antwerp. Antwerp and diamond are two categories that have been closely related for over 500 years, yet the world’s largest diamond centre covers less than one square kilometre.
Opposite Central …
I KNEW I’d had too much to drink when everyone in the room began to look attractive — all 5,000 of them.
That tall, blond Germanic look can quiver my heart even when it’s perfectly sober. Yet perhaps sinking a bottle and a half of wine single-handedly was bordering on the excessive. But what’s a girl to do when the waiter refuses to prance around delivering one pathetic glass of wine at a time because …
