We have stayed a while at Budapest, before pushing on along the Danube and what better way to convey to you the majesty of this great twin city with the River Danube flowing through its heart, than this travel video with Hungarian music, brought to you by the new Budapest Pocket Guide.
With Strictly Come Dancing about to hit the airways for another season, the salsa beat will be getting our feet tapping and creating a desire for warm sunshine to chase away winter blues. Latin America meets the Caribbean in Cuba and what better destination is there than Cuba to escape the winter weather in the UK. Culture vultures will love the tours of Cuba organised by the Adventure Company, their tours combine fascinating culture and history with stunning scenery and tropical beaches. The adventure starts in Havana, a city full of classic American cars, echoes of Hemingway and yes, the sound of salsa beats drifting in the streets. Salsa Cubana is a 16-day trip, which takes travellers on to a walk through the tobacco fields of Viñales, explores the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Trinidad, visit colonial towns and even includes relaxation on the beaches at Baracoa. A slightly briefer tour called Viva Cuba is available, with the needs of families in mind.
December to April are good months to travel to Cuba, this period is after the hurricane season, but before the scorching summer. Prices for the 2009/10 winter, which include flights, transportation, B&B accommodation, activities as per the itinerary and the services of a local guide, start from £1,499 plus £155 local payment per person.
For full details of the Salsa Cubana trip and to reserve your place, click here.
For full details of the Viva Cuba trip and to reserve your place on this tour, click here.
Looking for an affordable adventure in 2009? For many years, the Activity Holidays Guide has been offering inspiration for great escapes and now we have teamed up with leading adventure company G.A.P Adventures.
With more than 1250 small group adventures around the world to choose from, your bound to find an affordable adventure holiday bargain that won't break the bank. Typical of their adventures have been an Egyptian Civilization tour from £209, an Adventure in Nepal from £299 or Roaming Thailand from £300.
Visit G.A.P Adventures to look at their extensive range of trips and if you cannot find the exact adventure holiday that you are looking for, try their Custom Tours service. All the best adventures start with a single dream and the motto is "If you can dream it, we can take you there". An expert Adventure Specialists team is on hand to help you arrange worldwide travel for between 1 and 7 passengers with a minimum 4-day stay, even six months! Groups of eight or more are looked after by the groups department.
Custom Tours can be almost anything you want; you can even specify the accommodation style, basic, standard, comfort and for those with the budget, superior.
G.A.P Adventures are truly the Great Adventure People; more than 85,000 travellers, from 18 to 80, book with them each year, so if its an adventure holiday bargain your after, make sure that you visit their site now and check out their award-winning trips focusing on cultural experiences, active adventure and wildlife encounters. Did I mention, no compulsory single supplement on any adventure? Better start dreaming. Plus they have some last minute bargains that are the real deal.
There's something for everyone, take a look at this very small sample.
Fancy a Harley Davidson motorbike sightseeing joyride around Melbourne? Enjoy this sampler video sent to me by John (jdkarmch) from HD Chauffeur Rides.
Tourists with a taste for recreating the golden age of steam travel can journey in style across the UK, on board the legendary British Pullman Orient Express. Tickets cost a fair bit more than economy class but usually include a three course meal, accompanied by champagne and cocktails.
The Orient Express offers an incredible way to arrive in romantic destinations like Oxford, Stratford on Avon, Bath, Canterbury and Chester, and their 2009 brochure contains a host of day trips, special interest breaks and luxury weekend escapes.
Four year's ago I confessed my liking for Barolo and Italian food, drawing attention to the annual Alba White Truffle Festival. This year's festival runs 4 October through 9 November, 2008 and you can download the festival program as a PDF document (in Italian).
As usual, the month is packed full of diverse events and attractions, including Barolo, Barbaresco and Tartufo (Truffle) tours and treks.
Turkey is one of the oldest wine regions in the world and a new travel company, Vinotolia is specialising in wine-themed history and culture tours. I always reckon that history and culture go down better with a glass or two of good wine and legendary physicist Richard Feynman, once said that all of physics was to be found in a glass of wine; little wonder that his classes were always full of eager students.
Murat Yankı, founder of Vinotolia says that the company's tours are designed for small groups of guests staying at boutique hotels, touring Anatolia's wine estates and sampling products. I wonder if there are any grants going for study tours.
Here is a is a sample track from the walkdigital.com Tour of Oxford, it features Christchurch College, which has formed the subject of a number of posts in this blog and is notable for literary associations with Alice in Wonderland and Harry Potter.
And here is a video excerpt about the Bodleian Library and the benefactors who have supported it over the years, produced by The Virtual Experience Company.
I have recently been chatting to author and ex-race car driver Peter Schindler, who received a great deal of international press attention last year when he undertook a 21,000 km driving journey in China. Peter now organizes driving holidays and road journeys in China and he maintains that a journey through China by private car is by far the best way to meet the people and explore the most beautiful regions of China, adding that their holidays include many more activities than just sitting in a car. The trips offer the opportunity to really enjoy the culture and cuisine of the country. Take a look at his website, which is quite an inspiration in itself.
You can take a free virtual tour of almost any cultural and natural world-heritage site; 299 sites have been visited, 244 are already available and 55 will soon be uploaded to the WHTour.org website. This really is a quite extra-ordinary effort and a brilliantly executed website.
Here is an interesting video for the end of the week, brought to us from Off The Map Tours. They also do motorcycle, train, horseriding, camel and walking tours, together with many cultural tours. The soundtrack is hypnotic.
Americans have been really creative in satisfying tourists' latest desire for culture tours. New York City, the city that already offers a 'Sex and the City' tour, takes tourists on a 'TV and movie' trek and provides the opportunity of a 'Harlem gospel' expedition, now offers the ultimate gourmet experience, the Pizza tour.
Learn more about these tours in the NY Daily News.
Canada's National History Society has recognised that special interest tourism is one of the most rapidly growing segments of the travel industry and Deborah Morrison describes on their website, how the society is now offering unique historical travel tours to satisfy their members' desire for trips with a history, or culture related activity.
Launched with the name, Beaver Travel Tours, the brand will offer tours having a strong historical focus and special guest appearances by experts. Participants will also receive a tour package that includes carefully selected reading materials from the society's archives pertinent to the tour. Initial tours will explore destinations in northern Ontario and Manitoba, in partnership with travel operators Heartland Travel International and Rail Travel Tours.
Further to Monday's post about European Cultural Routes, here is a nice slide show of the botanical garden of Villa Hanbury in Ventimiglia, Liguria, Italy, posted by fraste2. The garden was created by Sir Thomas Hanbury, who later donated land that was to become Wisley Gardens, the showpiece of the UK's Royal Horticultural Society.
Liguria is a great, unspoilt, region of Italy, check out Walking Liguria featured in our guide.
A short tour of Budapest provided by Gabrilu (gabrilu06)to a Brahms soundtrack. It includes shots of the Great Synagogue, Elizabeth bridge, Heroes Square and the Museum of Applied Arts.
The Waterfront Trail is a waymarked trail following the shore of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River in Ontario, Canada. It connects 41 communities, 182 parks and natural areas, 152 arts and culture heritage attractions and 170 marinas and yacht clubs.
37 waterfront festivals are held annually along the trail and this year sees the first End-to-End Bike Tour, the Great Waterfront Trail Adventure. 680 km in 8 days, July 4th-11th, 2008, starting at Niagara-on-the-Lake and ending at the Quebec border.
You can register on the Great Waterfront Trail Adventure website, for the whole eight days tour, or just a part. Everyone is welcome, experienced cyclists, occasional cylists, lapsed riders, families, groups and single bikers; kids are encouraged to be a part of the adventure as well. Maps of the entire Trail, from Niagara-on-the-Lake to Brockville, are available for download.
Between now and December 31, 2007 Trusted Tours and Attractions, a division of Historic Tours of America, is running a promotion and giving away an iPod Nano to one subscriber of their online travel newsletter. All you have to do is to subscribe to the Trusted Tours and Attractions monthly newsletter from the company's homepage at http://www.trustedtours.com/newsletter.aspx. The travel newsletter offers interesting stories, travel tips, travel articles, and money saving deals on sightseeing tours and other attractions.
Historic Tours of America, owns and operates numerous sightseeing tours, museums and attractions in 6 different U.S. cities.
Eric Millirons, has written an article in WC Exchange about an alternative to the herd mentality of touring Europe on one big bus ride. For many Americans, Eric alleges that the European Tour means "traveling in buses with 40 other Americans, staying in hotels frequented by Americans, eating in restaurants that cater to Americans and seeing only those sights that all Americans seem to love."
The alternative, enjoyed by Eric Millirons and his family is Untours European Vacation Rentals. Untours was founded in 1975 by Hal Taussig and his wife Norma and grew from a desire to introduce Americans to a deeper way of experiencing Europe than the standard superficial bus tour. Norma & Hal Taussig, believe in living simply and in sharing the profits of their business to create a better world; something that they have been creatively working at through their Untours Foundation, which provides Microcredit to create jobs, build low-income housing, and support Fair Trade products, all through the most environmentally friendly means possible. If you read Eric's article, you will see that they also provide great alternative European tours.
Nova Scotia Department of Tourism, Culture, and Heritage is reminding vacationers of the beauty of Nova Scotia in the fall. From golfing in the fresh, clear air of the East Coast, to plenty of exciting Halloween activities and fairs for the whole family.
Nova Scotia boasts around four million hectares of woodland rich with maple, birch, oak and mountain ash and in the fall they burst into an explosion of brilliant colour, For leaf peepers the Department of Tourism's website provides a Leaf Watch service, operational between mid September and the end of October.
The Department of Tourism website includes leaf reports, to assist in planning fall foliage outings, and new web cams which provide a sneak peek of the scenery at a number of locations throughout the province. Visitor Information Centres also offer pocket-size Leaf Watch brochures which include maps for 85 locations around Nova Scotia where fall colours are displayed at their finest, as well as a quick reference of tree types and their leaves, helping leaf watchers identify the most vibrant trees.
Active outdoor enthusiasts, might enjoy a guided 'easy walking' tour of the Annapolis Valley and South Shore which covers not only forest trails and coastal hikes, but also includes a Nova Scotia wine tour, tasting and dinner at an award-winning valley vineyard; that's my kind of hike. A more strenuous adventure, that lends a whole new perspective to leaf watching, is a six-hour kayak tour along the coastline of Cape Chignecto in mid to late October. Alternatively, Kejimkujik National Park and National Historic Site, offers visitors great hiking, biking, canoeing and camping, while viewing fall foliage. A final recommendation for that outdoor autumn adventure, is the incomparable Cape Breton Island, it is said that the Nova Scotia Cabot Trail and Cape Breton Highland offer tourists some of the best leaf watching look-outs available.
Visitors seeking accommodation for an autumn getaway in Nova Scotia, will find a complete listing of inns, cottages, resorts, and bed and breakfasts at the Nova Scotia Department of Tourism website.
40 Years ago San Francisco, USA, became synonymous with the 'Summer of Love'. Today this spirit of friendship lives on in the city and one group who reflect this is City Guides. Founded 30 years ago, City Guides is a non-profit organization with more than 200 trained volunteers who lead free, yes free, history and architectural walking tours in San Francisco. Their motivation is to preserve and perpetuate the history and folklore of San Francisco and to celebrate its rich history of cultural diversity. They are all volunteers who love their city, and enjoy sharing it, so if you're going to San Francisco, be sure to contact the City Guides.
Tours are offered all year, rain or shine. In May and October, they organise additional walks and this October feature some of San Francisco's lesser known neighborhoods. Naturally, there are special Ghost Walks arranged for October 30 and 31, when visitors can enjoy other spirits which are said to pervade the city.
Champagne is arguably the world's most glamorous sparkling wine and visitors from all over the world visit the region to discover the secrets and traditions of champagne. Reims and Epernay are the most famous towns in the region and therefore the most natural places to visit for a Champagne break. But it is worth following the 'Route Touristique du Champagne' to discover tiny towns and villages nestling in the hills, where numerous small growers produce their own champagnes. During the grape harvest in September, several vineyard owners organise grape picking days for visitors. It will usually begin with a hearty breakfast before setting to work picking the grapes, work that is rewarded with lunch, followed by a tour of the cellars and a well deserved tasting. A small charge is made for these grape picking lessons of between €30 and €50 per person.
Passengers arriving at Roissy Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris can take a TGV (High Speed Train) for for a quick, 30 minute ride to the heart of the Champagne-Ardenne region.
Summer tourists to France often take the opportunity to learn more about wine and many head for the beautiful Haut-Médoc region. Every year, more than 10,000 visitors tour the winery and the cellars of Domaines Bouteiller, which is just 45 minutes from Bordeaux on the Route des Châteaux, between Cussac-Fort-Médoc and Saint-Julien.
Several educational and gourmet tours are offered, and the estate also caters for children. Another award winning attraction to be found on the estate is the superb Horse Museum, with horsedrawn carriages, a wash-house, tack room and truly luxurious stables. It is regarded as one of France's finest museums. École Internationale d'Attelage in Bordeaux will take you on a horsedrawn carriage tour of the Domaines Bouteiller vineyards and the layout of the estates, where naturally, you will be offered a tasting.
Two species of butterfly have been identified which take part in mass migration. Tens of thousands of Monarch butterflies travel about 5,000km from Canada and the US to over-winter in Mexico. From November to March, the hibernation point at Mariposa Monarca (Special Biosphere Reserve) encourages visitors to follow trails through the forests where the butterfly spends the winter months. In Taiwan, when the winter monsoon comes down from the Northeast, tens of thousands of Purple Milkweed Butterflies make a migration south to take shelter in the warm valleys at the foot of Dawu Mountain. Come the spring, they return to their breeding ground in the north which involves passing over some 600m of busy freeway and this year, the Taiwanese authorities are to close one lane of a major highway to protect them. The authorities are also installing special netting and ultra violet lights, in an effort to raise the flight path of the butterflies, and thereby avoid them being sucked into the down-draught created by the cars.
An Italian expedition led by Piero Lapiana, plans to retrace the Silk Road.route that Marco Polo took to China, using the same type of horses; veterinarians from Perugia University will be on hand to monitor the horses condition and to study how they perform.
Lapiana's expedition is expected to take about 15 months but modern travellers can enjoy retracing the 4,000 year old route, established by migrant Buddhist monks and trader-merchants, in just 13 days with a Silk Road tour organized by LetsTravelChina.com. The tour begins in Beijing and includes the Forbidden City, visits centuries-old Xi’an, once China's capital and home to the Terracotta Warriors, and also visits the highest natural arch in the world, Shiptonj's Arch, before concluding in Kashgar, where travelers can roam the bustling Sunday market, still teeming today with thousands of merchants selling their wares and livestock.
It seems that California and New York remain the destination of choice for U.S. tourists seeking food and wine related travel themes. Culinary activities participated in while traveling include cooking classes, dining out for a unique and memorable experience, visiting farmers markets, gourmet food shopping and attending food festivals. Wine activities included participating in winery tours, driving a wine trail, tasting locally made wines and attending wine festivals. Within the past three years, 17% of American leisure travelers (27 million travelers), engaged in culinary or wine-related activities while traveling; based on a new report from the Travel Industry Association (TIA), in partnership with Gourmet and the International Culinary Tourism Association.
The top 3 destinations for food-related travel were California (14%), Florida (10%) and New York (7%). While Florida barely makes a showing in the poll for wine-related travel, the top 2 destinations are again California out in front with 31% followed by New York with 10%. However, I bet Florida would fair better in a comparison of wine consumption!
Culture vultures will love the tours of Cuba organised by the Adventure Company, their tours combine fascinating culture and history with stunning scenery and tropical beaches. The adventure starts in Havana, a city full of classic American cars, echoes of Hemingway and yes, the sound of salsa beats drifting in the streets. Salsa Cubana is a 16-day trip, which takes travellers on to a walk through the tobacco fields of Viñales, explores the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Trinidad, visit colonial towns and even includes relaxation on the beaches at Baracoa. A slightly briefer tour called Viva Cuba is available, with the needs of families in mind.
Peter now organizes 
In Taiwan, when the winter monsoon comes down from the Northeast, tens of thousands of 
The tour begins in Beijing and includes the Forbidden City, visits centuries-old Xi’an, once China's capital and home to the Terracotta Warriors, and also visits the highest natural arch in the world, Shiptonj's Arch, before concluding in Kashgar, where travelers can roam the bustling Sunday market, still teeming today with thousands of merchants selling their wares and livestock.
