Archive for the ‘Tours’ Category

11
February
Five Hidden, Private Tours of Britain
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Online mega travel agent Viator.com has recently released its list of the five best hidden and private tours across Britain. According to a press release, Viator feels that there are some things that just can’t be gleaned from a guidebook. According to Dan Hart, the company’s UK general manager, “The best guide books in the world can tell you about some really cool secret places to visit but that doesn’t mean you will necessarily be able to get into them.”

This can often be true, and that’s why Viator has compiled a huge list of what they call “private tours” – tours that are given to single or small group travelers that take them to more in-depth places, hidden spots or behind-the-scenes where ordinary tourists might not otherwise be allowed. Though not necessarily cheap, these tours offer you the feeling that you’ve really uncovered something special, and it’s hard to put a price on that.

And Britain has numerous such tours, including these five that Viator feels are the very best in British hidden and private tours.

Private Viewing of the British Crown Jewels

Photo by Pietro & Silvia

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4
January
The Cool (and dark) Side of Los Angeles
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Photo by Omar Bárcena

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.

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12
August
Does Henry VIII Haunt Hampton Court?
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Photo by epcp

Henry VIII is known as a cruel, unusual and yet charismatic icon in the history of the British monarchy. He ruled England for nearly 40 years in the first half of the 1500s and truly left his mark on the crown. A long term resident at Hampton Court Palace southwest of London, Henry was no peach. He was sickly and obese. He slept around (including with his wife’s sister). Oh, and he had six wives, one of which he said looked like a horse and another of which he had beheaded while he went off to play a game of tennis.

Hampton Court is renowned as one of the most haunted sites in England. Many believe it is because of all the awful stuff that went on there (beheadings, deaths, adultery) that the hauntings continue, but they are so prevalent and well-documented that one corridor of the palace is officially named the Haunted Gallery. Other purported sightings have been caught by surveillance cameras.

On a visit to Hampton Court Palace, you will be transported back into Henry’s world through a reenactment of a day in the life of Henry’s court. The king holds court and marries his 6th wife everyday, and visitors also get the chance to meet the bride and hear behind-the-scenes gossip in a real royal court.

Visiting Hampton Court is quite simple. A 35-minute train ride from London’s Waterloo Station brings visitors to the sprawling, green palace grounds, which are open from 10 am to 6 pm in high season. Several outlying gardens are also open to visitors. Adult admission is £14, while discounted tickets are available for specific areas of the palace and grounds only.

If you’re visiting London, you can do one better by getting the handy London Pass, which offers free access to Hampton Court Palace, as well as a load of other sights around the city, and discounts on public transit, guidebooks, maps and other truly useful info.

If you’re spending a few days in and around London, it makes sense to purchase one of the multi-day passes (3-day/£90) with travel, which gives you unlimited free access to all of London’s public transit system. And if you’ve ever ridden the Tube before, you’ll know that this alone is a significant discount, not a mind the amount you pay into each of the sights on the London Pass list!

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26
June
7 Totally Bizarre Themed Cruises
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Picture courtesy of VideoGum

I have to admit, when I think of a cruise, I imagine hanging out on the top deck of a ship in my bathing suit and only interrupting my serial intake of pink cocktails with occasional trips to local markets to buy bags made of straw. That’s the traditional cruise, but of course, there are so many other types of cruises than just that, from corporate conventions on the high seas to floating music festivals. Here are seven of the absolutely weirdest ones I’ve come across.

Oakland Raider Cruise

I’m sorry, but you’d have to be a pretty hardcore fan of the American football team, the Oakland Raiders, to take this cruise, which is entirely themed around the team. The weeklong cruise departs from Los Angeles, opening with a cocktail party and featuring meet-and-greets with Raider Hall of Fame players, concerts, comedy showcases and chances to win Raider memorabilia. Website

Thunder in the Tropics

This white-trash-alicious motorcycle cruise seems to incorporate everything except, well, motorcycles. Essentially an excuse to round up a bunch of bearded bikers and stick ‘em on a ship for several days, the cruise holds a lottery that only allows 30 bikers to actually bring their hogs on board. Ummmm… What you do get as part of the cruise is the chance to show off your breasts or beards (whichever you have) in a series of contest

s, strut your stuff in the belly flop competition and hoot on the mud wrestling competition while stuffing your face with ribs, wings and gut-wrenching lagers from the all-you-can-stand buffet. Website


Supernatural Cruise

If you love a good mystery, you can take a cruise that explores ghosts, goblins and other spooky stuff. These cruises go all over the world, from the haunted castles of Europe to ghost hunting in Key West. What I can’t figure out is why anyone would wanted to get on a haunted cruise ship bound for the Bermunda Triangle… Website

Chess Moves 4

Could there be anything more dull than a week of doing nothing but playing, talking about and studying chess? I don’t think so, but apparently a lot of people think this is a good idea. So much so that there are entire cruises dedicated to nothing but chess. So, if you’re looking for an opportunity to catch up on your sleep, this might be just the thing. Website

Photo by mamamusings

CruiseTrek

As disgusting as this idea is, is anyone really surprised? For as long as there has been Star Trek (so, what, 40 years?), there have been Trekkies and Trek Conventions. These folks have just taken it one step further by hosting their convention aboard a ship, where no one can escape! The CruiseTrek is about what you’d expect: a whole lotta geeks wearing freaky costumes and drinking non-alcoholic foo-foo cocktails. But a word of advice: if you plan to hit the pool deck, be sure to wear some heavy duty sunglasses because there are sure to be some bleach white legs afield. Website

Scrappin’ and Stampin’ Scrapbooking Cruise

Hey housewives, here’s a chance to do exactly what you do at home, but with the added challenge of seasickness! This cruise seems to be exactly what its name suggests: 5 nights of scrapbooking through Bermuda. What do you suppose the ratio of bikinis to glue sticks is on this baby? Website

Twilight Fans Cruise

Vampire porn cruise? Where do I sign up! Okay, I admit I don’t actually know who Jodelle Ferland, Alex Meraz and Michael Welch are, but I presume if you are a Twilight fan, these names mean something and are enticing enough to spend hundreds of dollars for a few nights to hang out with them. Website

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24
June
‘Eat Pray Love’ Your Way Around the World
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Anyone that has read Elizabeth Gilbert’s best selling novel, Eat Pray Love is surely excited about the release of the film starring Julie Roberts this August 13. For those not familiar, the story chronicles the escapades of a recently-divorced woman who goes in search of herself around the world. Gilbert’s trip takes her to Italy, where she indulges in amazing food, to India where she learns the art of spirituality, and finally to Bali, where she discovers the local beauty and meets a man.

Along with the release of the film, a number of travel companies are jumping on the bandwagon by offering tours that follow Gilbert’s travels. Spirit Quest Tours is one, offering a week-long Bali adventure that takes guests to many of the same sights and spots that Gilbert visited, even introducing them to her Balinese shaman. These tours are on offer in September 2010 and June 2011.

Discount and student travel agency, STA Travel is also in the midst of organising its own version of the Gilbert world tour, with stops in all three of the Eat Pray Love countries. These three different packages, which are part of the Eat Pray Love Inspirational Travel Packages, offer the chance to eat your way through Italy, pray your way through India and love your way through Bali, and should be available for booking by the time the film releases this autumn.

The film, which was directed by Ryan Murphy of Glee fame and promises to provide lots of globe-trotting eye candy, was shot on location around the world, including in Bali, Delhi, India, Naples and Rome.

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17
June
Unique Travel Contest – “Deport Me!”
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A controversial new travel contest is inviting people to answer the question, “Why should you be deported?” to win a trip around the world. Get Rid of Me is encouraging wanderlusters everywhere to confess their worst sins and most annoying habits in order to be chosen the single person most worthy of deportation. One lucky winner will receive the trip of a lifetime for two around the world, courtesy of On the Go Tours, a travel company that specialises in adventure trips and tours.

To enter the contest, sinful individuals must create a profile on Get Rid of Me’s website, writing a full letter of confession or uploading their confessional video. The idea is to let it all loose and tell the world the worst things about yourself in the wittiest way possible. Contestants must then garner votes from friends, family and strangers to up their chances of being drawn the winner. Every vote is an entry into the draw, so the more votes you get, the better your chances of winning.

The prize? A 6-month jaunt around the world for the winner and one friend. The itinerary will include destinations like China, Kenya, Russia and Nepal, among others. All expenses for the trip, including hotels, flights, tours and meals, will be covered by On the Go Tours, and the winner will also be given a video camera and set up with a personal blog to document their round-the-world adventures.

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10
June
A Soccer Fan’s Dream at London’s Wembley Stadium
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Photo by Cushdy

Football is a religion in England and there is nowhere so revered a spot for football fans than the temple that is Wembley Stadium in London, home of England’s national football squad. Wembley has played host to some of the greatest football games ever played, including numerous FA cup finals and the never-forgotten 1966 World Cup Final won by England itself.

Wembley went through a huge renovation, with a brand new stadium built on the site of the old Wembley. The new stadium opened in 2007 and, for those not fortunate to actually witness a match here, it is open for tours. In fact, if you’re a real soccer fanatic, you’ll probably want to sign up for this tour even if you have seen a match played in Wembley. Why?

The Wembley Stadium Tour is like the ultimate fan’s in to see the stadium behind-the-scenes. You get to tour the changing rooms and see where famous England footballers warm up and prepare for games, as well as where they celebrate wins. A visit also affords the chance to walk the same halls that David Beckham once did, and run through the exciting tunnel out onto the pitch as if it were game time, and finally to raise the actual FA cup.

In addition to all this, tours of Wembley Stadium incorporate a video montage of famous moments on Wembley grass and access to a number of sweet soccer memorabilia.

Best of all? If you buy the London Pass, you can take the Wembley Tour for free. It normally costs £15 per person, so that is a huge saving.

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2
June
Palm Springs by Night
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Photo by bossco
Set in the dusty desert east of Los Angeles, Palm Springs is a California oasis virtually in the middle of nowhere. A medium-sized city of about 45,000 people, Palm Springs has long been a favourite haunt of celebrities and movie stars, who once found it to be an ideal place to retreat from the busy L.A. life. Now a city in its own right, Palm Springs is relaxed and beautiful, with a plethora of outdoor activities.

When thinking about holidays to California, the first thing that springs to mind is usually the sunshine: tanned bodies on endless beaches and surfers bobbing up and over perfect Pacific waves. But this summer, Palm Springs is offering a different take on the California adventure, thanks to its pristine nighttime skies. Several Palm Springs tour companies are offering “starry night” tours, giving guests a chance to experience the desert sky in all its celestial glory. And Palm Springs is truly a wonderful place to view the night sky, with vast open vistas and very little ambient light to disrupt star gazing.

Adventure travel company Elite Land Tours offers two star-studded tours of Palm Springs. On their “Desert to Stars” tour, visitors first explore California silver rush history in a honest-to-goodness ghost town before embarking on a guided visit to the NASA Deep Space Communication Complex (one of only 3 in the world). Their “Nocturnal Treasures” tour, meanwhile, takes you into the famed Joshua Tree National Park at night to explore the local desert flora and fauna through night vision goggles. (£80-136)

For an evening of family fun, bring the kids along to the Starry Safari at Living Desert, a conservation park and zoo located in nearby Palm Desert. You’ll be treated to a guided evening walk through the park and a campfire before tucking into Living Desert’s special tent camp for the night. (£63-84)

One of Palm Springs’ most beloved attractions, the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, is best enjoyed under a blanket of stars overlooking the twinkling city lights.

Photo by bossco

The tram carries visitors to the top of San Jacinto Peak at an altitude of almost 1800 metres. The journey takes 8 1/2 minutes and passes through a series of jagged mountainous peaks and canyon rifts before arriving at the top, where you can take in a view of the entire Coachella Valley and the lights of Palm Springs. The final car descends at 9:45 pm, leaving plenty of time to watch the sun set and the stars come out, or to enjoy a moonlit dinner at Peaks Restaurant near the tram station. (£16)

The San Andreas Fault is considered the most intense and dangerous faultline in North America and it presents a unique ecosystem of canyons, valleys and mountains in the desert. Adventure Hummer Tours allows you to get right up in the action with their San Andreas Fault Explorer tour, which brings visitors on a bouncing twilight journey through the desert each evening. You’ll experience the area’s multitude of fascinating and beautiful canyons and have a chance to walk across the fault near the third largest oasis in the world. Tours also include stops at local historical gold rush sites and plenty of chances to get out and explore the desert on your own two feet. (£67 internet special)

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8
May
Touring Britain… with Harry Potter!
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Photo by katclay

The dining room at Oxford's Christ Church College is Hogwart's Great Hall

Ever dreamed of having an owl deliver your post while imbibing butter beer under magical floating candles at Hogwart’s Great Hall while plotting how to destroy Voldemort with Harry and the gang? Well, you can. Sort of.

A number of tour companies, like HP Fan Trips and Off to London have cooked up specialised tours around Britain to show die-hard fans exactly where all of Harry’s adventures took place. With the first installment of the final film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, releasing this November, it’s high time to book your spot on the tour.

In fact, HP Fan Trips is so excited about the newest film that they have organised a special tour to celebrate its final installment, releasing in July 2011. There will be two Deathly Hallows themed trips: a 9-day tour including all of London, Scotland and Oxford, as well as a shorter 6-day trip in Scotland only, both of which will include a viewing of the final Deathly Hallows film in Edinburgh and a gala banquet at Edinburgh Castle, as well as favourite highlights from their previous tours and several new stops to show off filming locations from the most recent Harry Potter movies.

The Harry-tastic tours don’t come cheap, though, at $2,999 (including everything but airfare).

Meanwhile, Off to London’s Harry Potter tours are slightly more reasonable at £395 (appx. $580) per day for two people, or £470 for four.

Now is the time to take these tours, because, I suspect as the time draws nearer to the final two films’ release dates, the tours will fill up and simply sell out.

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