With St. Valentine’s Day just around the corner, you might be searching for a few last-minute activities to occupy your evening. Whether with your honey or flying solo, there is nothing better than a good old fashioned rom-com to make Valentine’s Day feel just right (either gooily romantic or something to scoff at). And for the travel addict in you, these six films should do just the trick.
Author Archive
Read the rest of this entry »
8
February
February
Read the rest of this entry »
It might sound cheesy: you settle into your flight and spy a beautiful set of clouds below, so you pop out your digital camera and begin snapping. Inevitably, the pictures turn out murky from the scratches or ice on the window, the view is mired by dust in the air or you are simply too far away for a camera lens to appreciate what you can see with your eyes.
Is it even possible to take an amazing photo out of an airplane? These wonderful Flickr users prove that it is.
4
February
February
Read the rest of this entry »
If the winter blues have got you down, it’s a good time of year to head out for some sunny snow in the Austrian Alps. airberlin is making that possible with a new limited-time deal: fly from London Stanstead to Salzburg and check your skis in for free!
With airberlin’s basic London-Salzburg one-way fares starting at around £40, you can really get away on the cheap. Typically, the airline charges for extra baggage. On a normal short-haul airberlin flight, you are looking at a fee of £21 per way for skis or a snowboard including boots and poles, so this special deal represents excellent value.
Austria is home to several hundred ski resorts in its western Alpine region, several of which are located just a short drive from Salzburg. The highly-regarded St. Johann/Alpendorf area, for example, is only 37 mi south of Salzburg in the Pongau district and boasts a huge area of snowy goodness across two towns and spanning several resorts that, together, feature 270 ski lifts!
A basic double in the deliciously modern Sporthotel Alpina won’t set you back more than £110 per night, on average.
To reach the St. Johann/Alpendorf area, you can take an intercity train from Salzburg, or opt to hire a car and drive for a little more freedom.
1
February
February
Read the rest of this entry »
On a recent trip to Rome, my husband and I decided to upgrade ourselves from “budget chic” to an actual boutique hotel, since the difference in price between most of Rome’s hotels was fairly minimal (at least at the time we were there). After much searching through the slogs of Rome’s vastly uninteresting and dated hotel selection, we came across the Franklin “Feel the Sound” (Map | Book) a boutique hotel with a musical theme.
After perusing the list of amenities on offer, which included a top-of-the-line Bang & Olufsen stereo system in-room, which we’d both always wanted to try out, a selection of CDs to take upstairs in the lobby, and a generally cool-looking ambiance, plus the location, which is not far from the Vatican, we were sold. Music lovers at heart, we are. (more…)
Read the rest of this entry »
We all know Los Angeles, right? It’s L.A. The City of Angels. Hometown to the stars. Hollywood Boulevard and the Walk of Fame. Sun tans and bikinis. Palm trees and botox. That’s the L.A. we know and love. But have we forgotten what L.A. is, underneath all the fake bake and bad breakups? Perhaps.
But the folks at Esotouric haven’t, and they are in the business of keeping the deeper, darker side of Los Angeles alive and well. With a lineup of seriously cool tours of the city, Esotouric lives up to its name with tours that explore some of L.A.’s truly dark and downright dirty sides, its unusual past, and even its literary history. Yes, Los Angeles has a literary history.
Among their more popular and definitely dark offerings is “The Real Black Dahlia Tour“, a bus trip that explores the unsolved heinous murder of Elizabeth Short in the 1940s. We all saw the movie, didn’t we?
Or how about a trip through Tom Waits’ L.A.? The rather odd crooner is from the City of Angels and this trip takes us down the gin-soaked alleys of his early days, writing songs and having run-ins with the L.A.P.D.
These tours are among numerous others on offer in Esotouric’s program, from bus trips themed around Raymond Chandler to an actual “L.A. Noir Crime Tour” that explores the back alleys of Los Angeles, those that have shaped such novelists and film-makers who spurned the film noir genre in the United States.
Each of Esotouric’s trips last from 3.5 to 4 hours and are given aboard what they call a “luxury bus”, presumably a kitted out coach on which you are toured to various sites. Unfortunately, they don’t come cheap at a whopping $58 per person, but because Esotouric doesn’t really advertise itself, most of the people that take these tours are the truly inquisitive sort with a flair for the dark side, meaning you won’t be stuck with the fat tourists from down at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.
Read the rest of this entry »
All of this manic weather across the U.K., Europe and the U.S. has left literally thousands of travellers either stranded on holidays (how terrible!) or stuck in their hometowns trying to get away for the holidays. Well, the weather might not be easing up anytime soon, but thanks to Lonely Planet, none of us have to have a miserable Christmas.
For 48 hours only, Lonely Planet has made 13 of their iPhone city guide apps available free from the iTunes store! Normally offered for a price of $5.99 (£3.80), the thirteen guides will be downloadable for free until Thursday, December 23 at 6pm GMT.
Among the cities offered for free are a number of destinations being heavily affected by snow and wintery weather conditions this week, including:
· Amsterdam
· Berlin
· Copenhagen
· Dublin
· London
· Moscow
· Munich
· Paris
· Prague
· St Petersburg
· Stockholm
· Vienna
· Warsaw
Users with an iPad can also access the apps, which are designed for iPhone but can also be used on Apple’s newest gadget, as well.
The apps themselves consist of lists of attractions, dining options, nightlife and shopping paired with GPS-enabled maps that make navigating a snowy city much easier. The listings also feature reviews, as well as transport information and linked websites for more information.
10
December
December
Read the rest of this entry »
It’s been a long while since I stayed in a hotel in Prague. Four and a half months, to be exact, and regular readers will remember my review of the 987 Prague Hotel from back in July. Furthermore, I’ve never had the chance to stay at a Jurys Inn (Map | Book), the bright and beaming little Irish hotel chain that is dotted all over the Emerald Isle and the U.K., so I was delighted when the General Manager of Jurys Inn Prague invited me for a behind-the-scenes tour of his 4-star property.
30
November
November
Read the rest of this entry »
Cologne, Germany is home to the world's only floating Christmas market
As the holidays approach, you might be considering a short weekend away to escape the madness of High Street and the throngs of shoppers that have already descended upon London. And while that’s certainly not a bad idea, sometimes the thought of the masses at the discount airline queues in the airport aren’t much better.
That’s where RailEurope comes in. This unique travel agency website is aimed at Brits who want to get far from the maddening crowd, both at home and while traveling. In part, RailEurope is essentially a booking agency for train trips from England to the Continent, and they specialise in destinations all over Europe, from Germany to Portugal. But the site does a whole lot more than just help you get train tickets – they help you design your perfect holiday and show you how to get there by train. In fact, if you don’t have a specific destination in mind, you’ll probably find some inspiration by just browsing through their website.
I personally cannot advocate rail travel enough, and there is no reason not to travel by train in Europe anymore, given the numbers of high speed trains, which have reduced travel time to just two to four hours for many nearby destinations in France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Read the rest of this entry »
The gorgeous luxury resort, One Ski Hill Place, is the first ski resort in Breckenridge, Colorado to receive a Green Globes rating. Set on an immaculate hillside next to Peak 8, where skiers can swoop in and out directly from the slopes, One Ski Hill Place does not, at first glance, seem like the type of property to be eco-friendly.
The resort opened under the RockResort name (a subsidiary of Vail Resorts) in June of 2010, but didn’t host its official grand opening until this month, as the ski season has now gotten underway in Breckenridge. With ski-in, ski-out condos and luxury rooms, a gorgeous indoor pool, a huge lobby with elegant wood fixtures and a three-sided fireplace, two movie lounges, a game room and a bowling alley, I think it’s safe to say that “eco-friendly” is no longer synonymous with “bare-bones”.
The resort received three Green Globes ratings based on its sustainable practices, energy efficiency, use of Energy Star appliances and even in-room recycling, which is still rare in most hotels.
It is surprising to me that there weren’t already Green Globes certified Breckenridge hotels, given that the little town in Western Colorado is one of the state’s most hippy dippy paradises. Nonetheless, it is a welcome addition to the Breckenridge slopes to have a resort of this caliber also certified for environmental friendliness.
One Ski Hill Place
Ski Hill Road
Breckenridge, Colorado
USA
+1 (877) 354-6747
www.oneskihillplace.com
26
October
October
Read the rest of this entry »
Commercial space travel is one step closer to becoming a reality with the official completion of Spaceport America. Set to become the world’s first “purpose built commercial space port”, Spaceport America, which has been in the works since its inception in 1990, is set to open with its first commercial flights into space in 2011. Tickets cost a whopping $200,000 apiece.
Construction began on Spaceport America, which is located just south of the tiny town of Truth or Consequences in southern New Mexico, in 2006 with the partnership of Virgin Galactic, an outerspace enterprise owned by the mega-millionaire Sir Richard Branson, and the State of New Mexico, led by its gallant governor, Bill Richardson.
The spaceport’s location is pretty far from everything. The town of Truth or Consequences, which is little more than a few dusty 1960s motels, some sludgy hot springs and a strip of fast-food joints, is sure to blossom in the coming years as trade and industry are in the area to stay. The spaceport itself is located about 20 miles from the town, out in the middle of the desert off of Interstate 25, north of the cities of Las Cruces, New Mexico and El Paso, Texas.
Concept image of the Spaceport America lobby
Virgin Galactic will initially operate four aircraft out of the spaceport: two SpaceShipTwos and two WhiteKnightTwos, both of which have been designed specifically to take passengers on suborbital flights. The WhiteKnightTwo is a captive carry craft that will be used to help launch the SpaceShipTwo and will also be used to carry passengers in practice runs so that they can get the feel of weightlessness before going into suborbit.
What strikes me now is that, within a year’s time, we as humankind will reach a new watershed moment in our collective history. Perhaps it sounds trite to say, but these moments deserved to be recognised and taken in! And the opening of Spaceport America is akin to the opening of the Sydney Airport – which claims to be the world’s first commercial airport – in 1920.
This single event may be the catalyst that changes the face of travel forever.
WhiteKnightTwo flies over the Spaceport America runway
UKHotelMap Home
