If all Olympics and Jubilee festivities of London are a bit too stuffy for you, get out of the city and head to Brighton, known as a premier UK hotspot for nightlife, music, and festivals. About an hour south of London, by train (the Jurys Inn Brighton is located not too far from the station), it’s easy to pop down for a day trip. But with so much to do, you may want to make it a weekend. Here are a few Festivals in Brighton to choose from: Brighton Festival – The second largest arts festival in the UK (the largest is in Edinburgh), the festival is full of parades, fireworks, theater, music, dance, visual arts (and lots more) all staged in venues around the city. One of the unique features of the festival is the Artists’ Open House […]
Read MoreHow to Choose Your Spa Experience
Spa travel and spa visits have become an integral part of the experience for many travelers. With tons of spa deals available. it can be hard to choose, so here’s some information to help you decide if you’d like to incorporate a spa experience into your travel plans. Structured Spa A stand alone destination spa, often in a resort environment, will mean your every need is catered to. The program is often set up on a fixed schedule, meaning you need to commit to staying the required days (usually 3, 5, or 10 days), but some allow a rotating arrival and departure day. At the spa, or occasionally in advance of your arrival, you’ll fill out a profile indicating your health history, interests, and spa goals, and from that the spa will structure your activities, appointments, treatments, and food plan. […]
Read More10 Things To Do in St. Andrews, Scotland
Named for the apostle Andrew, the town of St Andrews is located on the east coast of Fife in Scotland and was originally founded as a religious settlement. Today it is widely known for its university and as the home of golf in Scotland (and the world), and is a popular spot for travelers as well as a site for conferences. Here’s a list of just a few things to see and do in St Andrews. What are you going to do first? Photo credit: Kilnburn via wikimedia Pin this to your favorite Pinterest boards.
Read MoreRoyal London: 8 Royal Parks in London
Summer holidays in London are sure to be full of hectic activities and adventures. With a calendar chock full of commemorative events and displays, you can easily find yourself wrapped up in a whirlwind of activities at a maddening pace. When you’re ready for a break, and a get back to nature moment, try visiting one of the 8 royal parks of London, most of which are an easy walk from your London location. Fair warning, they can be busy, crowded, places, but the opportunity to enjoy some beautiful grounds in the out-of-doors, can be a tonic to the traveler’s soul. The parks were originally 5,000 acres of hunting grounds for the royals. Later they became formal gardens, still for the royals however. It wasn’t until the mid-1800s that the first park was opened to commoners, er, I mean the […]
Read MoreHello 2012: Bucket List Update
Last year around this time I published my bucket list – a stream of conscious list of things I wanted to do, places to go, and things to see. I knew it was pretty ambitious; it was meant to be. Instead of having all these ideas rolling around in my head, I wanted to put them down on paper and see just how things stacked up. Despite a fair amount of traveling in 2011, I only crossed one item off my bucket list – a visit to Quebec City. So if I was traveling a lot, but didn’t cross anything else off the list, what in the heck was I up to? Here are a few details. San Francisco I’ve been a fan of the City by the Bay since my first visit back in high school, and this week […]
Read MoreThrowing Three Coins in Rome’s Trevi Fountain
Fontana di Trevi, better known to most of us as Trevi Fountain, is Rome’s most spectacular and popular fountain. In a city with so many impressive fountains, that’s a pretty big claim. The Baroque-style fountain, designed by architect Nicola Salvi and completed in 1762, is located in a busy section of the city, not far from the popular Via del Corso. To get to the fountain you walk down narrow streets, some of which seem more like alleys than streets, to the historic center of Rome. There’s signage to help you find the way, and asking for directions will help get you pointed in the right direction, but if you find the noise gets louder and louder it means you’re getting close. When I first stepped into the Piazza di Trevi, its intricate sculptures, cascading water, and faded stones wowed […]
Read MoreTourist at Home: Visiting the Seattle Aquarium
One of my favorite ways to spend a day in Seattle is to pretend I’m a tourist, giving all the attractions and sights that I usually take for granted a new lease on life. Rather than dismiss things as for tourists only, I plunge headfirst into the adventure, trying to see my city as others might see it. I try to take a few days over the New Year’s holiday to do that – it’s a perfect post-holiday stress break and the city still has a bit of holiday glow about it. This year, as is often, the Seattle Aquarium was high on my list of places to visit. The aquarium opened in 1977, with a major expansion in 2007, and is the 7th largest aquarium in the U.S. (based on attendance). In addition to its popularity with visitors, it […]
Read MoreVisiting the 8 Ivy League Campuses
The Ivies. What started out as eight private colleges and universities forming an athletic conference, is now a term used to represent eight of the most elite, prestigious, and expensive schools in the world. With the exception of one, all of the schools were founded during the Colonial era. The eight Ivy League schools are: Brown University Columbia University Cornell University Dartmouth College Harvard University Princeton University University of Pennsylvania Yale University With college visits right around the corner for many families, let’s take a look at what you can expect in a visit to the ivy league schools – besides the expected academics. Brown – Providence, Rhode Island. A small university in a small town-feel city, Brown offers guided and self-guided tours of its campus. Downtown Providence is full of architecture dating back to the 19th century, along with […]
Read MoreFlorida’s Best Beaches
While Florida has become particularly well known for its theme parks, there is so much more to this diverse, vibrant and beautiful region than roller coasters and dancing seals. Boasting a year-round tropical to sub-tropical climate, Florida is the warmest state in the U.S. and is an extremely popular destination for tourists the world over. After all, they don’t call it the Sunshine State for nothing! Check out our list of some of Florida’s best beaches: Daytona Beach Situated on the east coast, Daytona Beach is home to a 23 mile stretch of soft white sands lapped by the turquoise waters of the North Atlantic Ocean. It is a family-friendly area, however, during Spring Break hundreds of American university students descend on Daytona Beach to take a break from their studies and to party by the beach. Throughout the rest […]
Read MoreLess Seen African Beaches
Swaddled on its eastern flank by the warm touch of the Indian Ocean, and on its west edge by the grand swells of the Atlantic, Africa is more than equipped when it comes to glorious beaches. But beyond the obvious strips – along Egypt’s Red Sea coast, the well-trawled crescents of Morocco and Tunisia – other, less-discovered stretches await, their wave-dabbed curves all the more beautiful for their relative lack of fame. South Africa As the continent’s lower edge, South Africa is a beach paradise. You can find endless coastal glories within reach of Cape Town, where the Cape Of Good Hope extends a slender south-pointing finger into the Atlantic – not least of which are photogenic outposts like Muizenberg and Simon’s Town on False Bay. But those seeking a more secluded form of South African seafront should look a […]
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