Ultimate Travel Experience

The first chapter of Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, brought us to Louvre Museum. The plot where Jacques Saunière, the museum curator, was murdered by Silas, the albino man, and subsequent plots around the Louvre Museum has created so much excitements to draw thousands of tourists to Paris.

The Louvre Museum was formerly the residence of the Kings of France. With its rich past and collections, it is one of the world’s greatest museums. It ranks among the best like British Museum, Vatican Museum and The Hermitage in St Petersburg. In the Lourve, its exhibition areas have eight major sections: Near Eastern Antiquities; Egyptian Antiquities; Greek, Etruscan and Roman Antiquities; Islamic Art; Sculptures; Decorative Arts, Paintings and Prints and Drawings.

The best known of the Louvre’s extensive art collection is undoubtedly its most famous painting, Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece - Mona Lisa, located in the Renaissance Italian Paintings section. There is always a huge crowd admiring the Leornado da Vinci’s masterpiece in Louvre. This is similar to the Vatican Museum, where all the tourists will end up in Sistine Chapel to see Michelangelo’s masterpiece on the ceiling of Sistine Chapel.

In the compound of Louvre Museum, there is a modern pyramid-like structure designed by I. M. Pei, a Chinese-born American architect. The former President of France, Francois Mitterrand, commissioned this modern structure 1989. This is an interesting structure that draws lots of controversies among Parisians and art lovers. Some love it and some simply do not. According a character in Da Vinci Code, Captain Bezu Fache, he described the pyramid-like structure as “A scar on the face of Paris.” You need to see it to appreciate it or hate it!

Visiting Paris is never complete without visiting the symbols of France and Paris like Eiffel Tower, Louvre Museum, Museum d’Orsay, Notre Dame Church, Arc de Triomphe, take a stroll along Champs Elysées and take a cruise down the Seine River.

The nightlife of Paris is fun and entertaining too. You can still return to Eiffel Tower for a night view of Paris or perhaps, take a dinner cruise on the Seine River. You should not miss the cabaret shows in Paris in places such as The Lido, Crazy Horse or Moulin Rouge. There are usually two shows in the evening. One is a dinner show and the other is not. You can purchase the show tickets online, from ticketing agents or any of the hotels in Paris. It is normal for hotels in France to provide excellent services such as ticket reservation for their guests.

Paris is a big city with 20 districts. District 1 is the district where Paris showcases its major attractions. A Paris hotel in District 1 is most desirable for tourists as it is closest to all the major attractions. When you make reservation for your hotel, just make sure that you stay around District 1.

Tags: Accomodations · Europe · Historical

Some times, people will go vacationing just with their backpack. Some will be contented with budget travel. There are some travelers, especially the celebrities and very important people, will travel in the most luxurious manner.

This group of travelers is not constraint by money. They are constraint by time, comfort and safety. They are prepared to fork out lots of money just to be able to reach their destination as and when they want in comfort and style with safety in mind.

A company such as Celebrity Jets provides the options for these travelers to travel in a safe, stress-free and productive environment. They provide door-to-door service for their customers. Picking them up in luxurious limousine and flying them in their quality aircraft. They provide a private jet charter service that is dependable, timely, cost-effective, luxurious, quality customer service and service that meets the highest safety standard.

Tags: Uncategorized

Aotearoa means “Land of the Long White Cloud” is the name given to New Zealand by the Maori. New Zealand is one of the most attractive places for vacation. New Zealand is known for its natural beauty with its numerous lakes, mountains and scenic landscapes for visitors to relax and enjoy them. The beauty of New Zealand is nicely portrayed in the Lord of The Ring film trilogy. With Lord of The Ring film trilogy, New Zealand is also known as the Home of Middle Earth. 

I had my honeymoon in New Zealand many years ago and the memories of the place are still fresh in my mind.

I flew to New Zealand via Singapore on Air New Zealand to Christchurch. Upon arrival, the hotel agent was already waiting for me at the airport. From there, we checked into one of the hotels in Christchurch.

We had only 1 day to spend in Christchurch. We decided on visiting the Botanical Garden, International Antarctic Center and Christchurch Art Gallery and Art Center of Christchurch. I liked Antarctic Center very much as it showcased the history of expeditions to Antarctica.

The next day we took a train to Kaikoura for whale watching. The journey passed through the beautiful New Zealand Alps. Kaikoura is famous for it’s sperm whale which can be seen very close to the shore the whole year round. After that, we are back to Christchurch.

The following day, we took a long bus journey to Queenstown, the adventure city of the world. The journey passed through many small quaint towns where the bus stopped for us to have tea. Along the way, we passed by Lake Tekapo and stopped over at the famous Church of The Good Shepherd for some photos. Then, we continued the journey to Mount Cook resort for lunch.

From Mount Cook, the journey took us passed Omarama, Lindis Pass and Cromwell before reaching Queenstown.

After checking into our hotel, it’s was time for adventure. I tried jet boat at Kuwarau River and white water rafting. But, not bungy jumping off the Kuwarau Bridge

From Queenstown, we headed for Te Anau and then, proceeded to Milford Sound for a day cruise to enjoy the scenic views at the sound. When I was in Te Anau, I learned about the famous Milford Walk which was supposedly to be one of the best hiking routes in the world. We spend a night at Te Anau,

The next day, we headed for Dunedin which was the most Edwardian and Victorian city in the southern hemisphere. Since we only had one afternoon in Dunedin, we decided to just visit the old historic Olveston house. We chose this house because we both like antique furniture and love to see nice houses. After that, it was just strolling around Dunedin visiting the Otago University and around the city center.

From Dunedin, we took a flight to Wellington. Upon arriving, we checked into one of the hotels in Wellington and we decided to take a stroll around the city center as it was a Sunday. The next day, we visited Te Papa National Museum and took the cable car up to the Botanical Garden. The cable car will pass the Kelburn Garden and Victoria University before reaching the peak where the Botanical Garden is.

The next day, we took a flight to Auckland, the City of Sail, where we planned to take an evening dinner cruise. We checked into one of the hotels in Auckland and proceeded to visit the Auckland Sky Tower which offered a breath taking view of Auckland and its surrounding areas. The Sky Tower is the tallest tower in the southern hemisphere.

In the evening, we joined a dinner cruise on a yacht that sailed in the Bay of Auckland.

The next day, it was time to say ‘Kia Ora’ to New Zealand. We flew off from Auckland airport in the afternoon and reached home the following day.

Eventhough this was a very short and rush honeymoon vacation, we are determined to return for the Milford Walk on day.

Tags: Australasia · Honeymoon · Uncategorized

I arrived from Munich in a 6-hour long train journey up north to Berlin, the capital of Germany. Reservation for hotels in Berlin was challenging due to the number of tourists arriving there during the peak season. I was lucky that I booked my accommodations three months earlier in one of the hotels in Berlin.

Since I was staying near Potsdamer Platz, I visited Potsdamer Platz first to see the reconstruction of the area between the famous Berlin Walls. I spend a few hours walking in the areas to see the new buildings like Sony Center, Daimler Chrysler Building and Kolhoff Building. Then, I slowly traced the former Berlin Wall from the markings left on the surface of the road. It was a very slow walk as I had to look out for traffic as these markings of the former Berlin Wall crossed roads and buildings.

The next day, I joined a local tour to visit a few interesting places in Berlin such as the Brandenburg gate, Memorial Church on Kurfurstendamm, The Reichstag, Museum Island, Checkpoint Charlie and the remnants of Berlin Wall.

The Berlin Wall at Muehlenstrasse is turned into the world’s largest open air art gallery known as the East Side Gallery. More than 100 artists worldwide participated in this project since 1990. Of all the murals on the wall, the most famous is “The Mortal Kiss” by Dimitrij Vrubel. “The Mortal Kiss” is a mural of Erich Honecker, leader of East Germany, and Leonid Breznev, leader of USSR, kissing mouth to mouth.

From Berlin Tegel airport, I flew to Vienna using one of Lufthansa ‘happy hour’ offers. I placed my bid online and check frequently for the latest price for the lowest possible fare. I was lucky to get my ‘happy hour’ ticket and get to fly to Vienna at a lower cost.

Upon arrival, I checked into one of the hotels in Vienna that I have booked online earlier. Reservation for hotels in Vienna was always not easy during peak season.

In Vienna, I spend 2 days visiting the famous and important architectural wonders there before I embarked for Passau to start my 7 days cycling along the famous Danube River for 300km back from Passau to Vienna.

The nice places I visited in Vienna were the Stephansdom, Peterskirche, Graben, Michaelerkirche, Karlsplatz, Gasometers complex and Postsparkasse. Then, I was off to Passau for my cycling adventure.

Tags: Accomodations · Europe · Historical · Sightseeing · Uncategorized

Many travelers like to keep a journal about their travel. Some may be in the form of a photo album and some may be a scrapbook. Personally for me, photo album is the simplest form of keeping a travel journal. Scrapbook is better. Scrapbooks contain more details about the travel with stories, photographs, entrance tickets, pamphlets, etc paste in them.

I like to maintain my travel blog online for me to share it with my friends and relatives without having got to lug along heavy albums to show off my travels to them. Sharing it with others is so easy. Just send the travel blog URL to them and they can see the world that we have just seen a week ago.

An online travel blog provides me with multiple capabilities that such as blogs, digital imaging and interactive map together. Marking the places you have visited on the interactive map can be a very interesting activity for the whole family. It’s really a fun thing to do with the family when they see when they have been in comparison to the whole world. My family uses the interactive map to check on places we have been and plan for the next vacation.

Online travel blog allows me to share my blog with other fellow travelers. This helps other travelers to make better decision in their next travel. It will benefit others as well as benefit me from reading from other travelers’ blogs.

In conclusion, online travel blog is the way to go in the internet era.

Tags: Travel Tips

Traveling is fun and exciting. In reality, the fun and excitement can turn into a nightmare if the trip is not properly planned. A lot of effort is required to source for the best travel guide about places we want to visit. It is necessary for the travel guide to provide every minute information on all the nice places to visit when we are there, including every backstreets and roadside cafe. Most importantly, the travel guide has to tell travelers how to get the most out of the place at the least possible cost.

Prior to the days on internet, we were dependant on travel books and magazines like Lonely Planet and National Geographic for travel information. However, the information in the books and magazines might not be up to date. Some magazines might contain articles written by writers paid to promote a particular place or interest. Travel deals were limited to the books and magazines on your hand. Most of the time, the deals might have expired. The travel deal opportunities were really limited compared to what internet can offer.

With internet, online travel guide became abundant and easily accessible to anyone who wants to search for information about any place or any activity they want to do. These online travel guide not only provide static information, it can also help you to plan for your trip, offers the latest information about the place, hear from people who share their travel experiences and offer travel deals as well.

With so much information on hand, one can expect to be well prepared for a very exciting and successful trip.

Tags: Travel Tips

When I was planning for my trip to Spain for a shoestring vacation specifically to visit Barcelona and Madrid, I found there were many incentives for tourists who were on shoestring budget. The Barcelona Card and Madrid Card offer the most incentives for shoestring travelers like me. They are similar to London Pass and Sydney Pass where they offered free passes or discounts to places of attractions, transportation, restaurants, theaters, etc. Barcelona Card is available for a 2, 3, 4 or 5-day pass and the prices range from 24€ to 36€. Madrid card is available for a 24, 48 or 72-hour pass and the prices range from 38€ to 58€.

Barcelona Card offers free bus, trams, metro and airport train service to its card holders. Using the free airport train can save a traveler on shoestring budget a bundle. Barcelona Card offers free passage to twelve museums in Barcelona like Museu de les Arts Decoratives, Museu Barbier-Mueller d’Art Precolombí, Museu de Ceràmica, Museu Etnològic, Museu Frederic Marès, Museu d’Història de la Ciutat, Museu Monestir de Pedralbes, Museu Tèxtil i d’Indumentària, Museu de les Ciències Naturals de la Ciutadella (Museu de Zoologia/Museu de Geologia, CosmoCaixa and Jardí Botànic. Other museums do offer discounts to Barcelona Card holders.

Somehow, Madrid Card offers more privileges compared to Barcelona Card. You can enter 40 museums for free with Madrid Card. Madrid Card comes with free Madrid Tour Bus service which covers the most important tourist attractions all over Madrid along its three routes such as Historic Madrid, Modern Madrid and Monumental Madrid. Not only can you see Madrid by hopping on and hopping off their buses, Madrid Card also offers travelers free access to all Madrid Walks.

Tickets for both Barcelona Card and Madrid Card can be purchased online or from the bus drivers. For simplicity, I booked them via the internet to ensure I have all the relevant arrangements done before I reached Spain.

Eventhough I was on a shoestring budget, I still have to check into hotels in Barcelona, or locally known in spanish as Hoteles en Barcelona, to sleep. I did my reservation via the internet to get the best possible rate. Same goes for hotels in Madrid or locally known in spanish as Hotels en Madrid.

To shuttle between the two cities, I chose to fly from Barcelona to Madrid to save time. Time was essential to me. The more time I can save, the more I can see of Spain. The flight between Madrid and Barcelona is just over an hour compared to 6 to 9 hours by train. I chose to fly with Air Europa which departed from Terminal B in Barcelona Airport and arrived at Terminal 4 in Madrid Barajas. Air Europa operates frequent flights between the two cities from 7AM till midnight. The ticket prices can vary but it’s between 94€ and 340€ return plus a 12€ service charge.

Overall, Barcelona and Madrid provided a good understanding for me about Spain. I will return for more of Spain. Perhaps, doing the famous Pamplona bull run in July or join the La Tomatino Tomato Fight in Bunol in August.

Tags: Accomodations · Europe · Sightseeing

Whenever I visit Melbourne, I always try to find time to visit a few of Melbourne’s many vineyards, among the many attractions in Melbourne. These vineyards are located in Yarra Valley which is located outside of Melbourne but not too far from Melbourne city. Yarra Valley is one of the foremost wine producing regions in the world. Wines from Yarra Valley are exported all over the world.

If I am alone, I won’t drive to these vineyards as I will get intoxicated by the time I finish visiting the vineyards. Instead, I will join a day tour organized by one of the many travel companies in Melbourne. It’s better to be a law abiding tourist than to end up on the wrong side of the law. I would prefer to spend my nights in one of the Melbourne hotels than in a police station.

A visit to any vineyard will always start of with an introduction about the particular vineyard by the owner, if it’s a small one, or by a marketing staff. You can sense the pride in them when they talk about their produce and the awards they have won. Then, they will introduce the art of wine drinking. They will teach the tourists how to swirl, sniff and slurp and you will be offered the opportunity to taste some of their wines. Usually, they will offer a few varieties of white and red wines. So, the amount consumed can be intoxicating for those who are not used to drinking wines.

Some owners may even bring you to see how they produce their wine. A short tour of the cellars is a must to appreciate the complexities in producing good quality wines.

Lunch, is usually part of the travel itinerary, in one of the vineyard with the wide selection of wines from the winery is an interesting event not to be missed.

In the evening, before the tour ends, usually tourists enjoy seeping their wine in one of the most beautiful vineyards to enjoy the scenery as the sunsets in the horizon.

Then, it’s back to Melbourne where tourists will be dropped off at their hotels regardless if they are cheap hotels or luxury hotels.

Tags: Accomodations · Australasia · Sightseeing

National Geographic Traveler has named Poipu Beach in Hawaii as the best beach in America for 2001. For National Geographic to name Poipu Beach as the best beach in America simply means that it has so much to offer. Poipu Beach is popular due to its excellent climate, nice beach, wide range of activities which cater for everyone and its many choices of accommodations there.

The abundant activities like sailing, kayaking, scuba, skiing, snorkeling and diving are among the many water sports activities tourists can do at the Poipu Beach. Tourists can easily rent these sports facilities from any of the Poipu vacation homes or hotels there.

For those who prefer land activities, there are two championship golf course to choose from, horseback riding, hiking, biking or even fishing. Poipu has a very nice 4 miles hiking trail along the coastal line of Mahaulepu Beach or go biking or hiking along the 10 mile Koloa Heritage Trail.

Poipu Beach is also an excellent place for family vacation and also, as a location of choice for honeymooning. Couples can have their wedding, honeymoon or even renew their marriage vows under the nice and sunny Poipu Beach.

Tourists who are spending their vacation in Poipu Beach can stay in one of the many Poipu condos or even rent one of the Poipu vacation rentals. These accommodations are located at the Kauai’s sunny south side along Poipu Beach and they offer various choices of homes ranging from single room to multiple rooms homes.

Tags: Accomodations · America · Beach · Honeymoon · Island

Last month, I had to make a trip to Perth, the capital of Western Australia, within a short notice. Last minute travel is a nightmare for me. I was very always worried if I will not get reservation for flights to Perth or even room in one of Perth hotels.

Left with very little options, I depended entirely on my travel agent to make the reservations for me. Luckily my travel agent was able to help me to find Perth hotel deals through Ratestogo.com at the very last minute. When it was a last minute arrangement, it did not matter to me if the travel agent booked me into cheap hotels or luxury hotels.

As soon as I touched down in Perth, I was whisked off to my hotel in Perth to get ready for my business meeting the next day. After that, with little time left, I went sightseeing in Perth.

I took a cruise along the picturesque Swan River to see the beauty of Perth. Then, I proceeded to Perth City Center to do some shopping before I rushed off to the airport to catch my returning flight.

This is just a short trip to Perth. I will return to explore more of Perth next time with my family.

Tags: Australasia · Shopping