Posts Tagged ‘vacation guide’

The Tourist Attractions in Boston, MA You Should Visit

Tuesday, January 1st, 2013

The most visited tourist attractions in Boston cover a number of pastimes, from leisure activities to shopping to science to history. Vacationers which have never experienced the capital before, as well as people who have been many times, will discover fresh and fascinating sights to visit. They can bring the whole family or embark by themselves to discover what the metropolitan area can offer.

Those who are in the mood to shop for healthy fruits and vegetables, prepared goodies, as well as hand crafted goods can head over to one of the many seasonal Boston open markets. Opened from early spring through late autumn (11am – 6pm according to location), these kinds of marketplaces incorporate lots of businesses from New England like Red’s Best Seafood, Baking with Joy, Red Fire Farm, Culinary Cuisine, and Seta’s Mediterranean Foods.

The Dewey Square market place is located across from South Station and is available Tuesdays as well as Thursdays. The City Hall Plaza market place is situated at the City Hall Plaza and is available most Mondays as well as Wednesdays.

The Museum of Science, Boston, located at 1 Science Park, is home to exhibits, a planetarium, IMAX theater, simulator experience, live presentations, and 3-D digital cinema experience. While some exhibits such as the butterfly garden are permanent, others change throughout the year. This top tourist attractions in Boston has something for the whole family to enjoy. The museum is open Saturday through Thursday from 9am until 5pm and on Friday from 9am until 9pm during most of the year, and from 9am until 7pm Saturday through Thursday and 9am until 9pm on Fridays during the summer. Admission is $22 for adults and $19 for children to see the exhibits or $10 for adults and $9 for kids to see the IMAX or planetarium.

One more great family tourist destination is definitely the New England Aquarium. It is the home of a great deal of critters most notably a Green Anaconda, Cownose Ray and Giant Pacific Octopus. Visitors to the aquarium will be able to view a variety of biomes including the Amazon Rainforest, Edge of the Sea, Penguin Habitat and the Shark Tank. Admission is now $17.95 for individuals and $12.95 for small children or $22.95 to check out both the aquarium and the IMAX theater.

These folks can also partake in a boat ride out to the ocean for whale watching for $44.95. The aquarium is open year round with extended summer hours. Throughout the summer months, the aquarium is open from 9 AM – 6 PM. The other parts of the year the aquarium is open only until 5 PM.

Having a great many galleries throughout the metro area, it’s not at all unpredictable that still another of the top tourist attractions in Boston is the MFA (the Museum of Fine Arts). Located in the Fenway area and open most days of the week, this gallery features modern art in addition to traditional art pieces. Sections of the museum feature permanent exhibits, but the rest swap month in and month out. Past exhibitions have included Dancing with Renoir, Manet in Black and Aphrodite and the Gods of Love. Entry is priced at $25 for individuals with children’s tickets costing $10.

Travelers and tourists hunting for something a bit different from the museums and marketplaces can head over to Cheers Boston and check out the inspiration for the famous television program “Cheers.” At this time, there are two Cheers venues – the actual one found on Beacon Street and the reproduction at Faneuil Hall. The first location turned out to be the model for the television show.

Boston is fantastic city that’s got something for everyone. With so many things to do in Boston, MA you’ll never get bored. With some light research on activities in Boston, MA you’ll soon realize that your trip into Boston just isn’t long enough to see it all.

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5 Reasons To Never Visit Venice

Friday, April 13th, 2012

In 1999, I went on a whirlwind trip around Italy through my high school. It was a very interesting trip and is what kicked off my love of travel. I mean, how could it not? It’s Italy after all!

The first weekend of our trip was in Rome/The Vatican. It was Easter Weekend, and it was quite a sight to see so many people on a religious pilgrimage. After seeing all the grand sites (and there are a lot of them) in this area, we traveled all over the rest of the country, including to my least favorite place – Venice.

I don’t care what you’ve heard about Venice and how amazing it is – I just didn’t like the place. Generally I like to write destination guides for my favorite places to tell you how good they are, but not this time. The following are five good reasons to steer clear of Venice.

1) Since smells can make a bigger impact on people than almost anything else in life, let’s start there. Try to imagine what Venice smells like…. garlic and basil? Hardly. Maybe you’re thinking it smells like the sea at least, with all it’s water? Not quite. It smells like diesel and garbage. All the boat-traffic means constant diesel fumes permeating the air, and the canals are also their sewer system. So unless you think the smell of a train-depot mixed with a septic tank is appealing, you might want to take this town off the itinerary.

2) Venice is a tourist magnet. Look up “tourist trap” on Virtual Tourist’s guide to Venice and it’ll show you a picture of the whole city. And the locals are a little tired of it all. This notion of grumpy locals who are sick of tourists cemented itself in my mind when our group was standing on the Bridge of Sighs and someone came barging through, pushing girls and boys aside and blowing a whistle. We asked our guide (after she finished yelling and waving her hands at him) if he was some form of Police Officer. Nope, just another one of the locals that was so sick of tourists they actually carry whistles on them to scare and trick people into getting out of their way. Not exactly a friendly welcome.

3) The pigeons are all over the city. Now, this might not sound so bad, but these pigeons are more annoying than seagulls. They’re quite a nuisance, and even when they’re not being annoying they still can ruin your day. The whole place is covered in pigeon guano, and you’re almost guaranteed to get some on you. Gross.

4) Traveling to a small city with a bazillion tourists means one thing – vendors. Everyone is jockeying for position on the streets to sell touristy crap to people just trying to enjoy their vacation. I don’t like it in Vegas, I don’t like it in Chicago, and I didn’t like it in Venice either. I like to avoid places that are too touristy just for this reason, and for me that means steering clear of Venice altogether.

5) High tides (acqua alta) are something that any coastal city has to deal with, but Venice’s have been getting worse and worse over the centuries. It sits on stone slabs that in turn sit on soil, and the soil has been sinking. To make matters even worse, the sea level around Venice has been rising as well. This combination has led to flooded streets anytime a decent storm blows up. And lets not forget that the canals are their sewer system. Not an ideal vacation when you’re walking through sewage-laden flooded streets.

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Iceland Tips: Five Things To Do On A Budget

Tuesday, May 3rd, 2011

Iceland is expensive, but if you are diligent, you can find cheap options. These attractions will offset costs-particularly food, alcohol and nightlife-and help keep your travel savings from dwindling. The guide below will give you a good look into Icelandic culture without blowing your budget while traveling in Reykjavik.

The National Museum of Iceland: It’s all here. Everything that our school textbooks failed to mention about Iceland is in this museum. The Making of Nation is the permanent exhibition at the museum. A combination of photography and artifacts dating from the Settlement Age to the Present, including Bjork’s first LP, the exhibition showcases Iceland’s cultural heritage. Additionally, the museum also holds temporary exhibitions. Free on Wednesdays, the museum can be completed in a few hours, but like any museum, the longer you stay the more you will take away. The complex also offers free WiFi and has a cafe.

Nautholsvik Beach: A seawall surrounding the lagoon helps to keep the cold sea water out of the swimming area. While Geothermal water is pumped into two hot pots (large Jacuzzis) and into the bay keeping the lagoon’s temperature around 68 degrees. The complex at the beach has a cafe for snacks and changing rooms. Admission is free. The beach is open from May 15 to Aug. 31.

Hallgrimskirkja Church (Church of Hallgrimur): For less than a pint of beer in a Reykjavik pub, you can experience the capital city’s version of New York’s Empire State Building. Rising 244 feet above Reykjavik, the church’s observation deck, has no competition. Views from the deck offer panoramas of the city, bay and distant mountains. The church, which boasts a minimalist concrete design with clean lines and one heck of a pipe organ, is free; however, the observation deck costs about $4.50 to visit.

Free Walk of Reykjavik Tour: The tour’s name says it all. But is it worth your time? Yes! The 90 minute guided tour through Reykjavik is a great way to get acquainted with Iceland’s capital city. Great storytelling and an insider’s look into Reykjavik’s past, present and future are all hallmarks of this easy walking tour. While the tour is free, the guides do work for tips-500 krona (less than $5) is a reasonable tip. Because the tour is sponsored by GoEcco, there is some cross promotion for the company’s other city tours, but it is nothing that cheapens the experience. The tour departs daily at 1 p.m. from My Reykjavik, Austurstrti 6, during the summer (May 1 to September 15) rain or shine with no minimum number of guests needed. Due to limited numbers, there is no longer a free winter tour.

Laugardalslaug Thermal Pool: Like the U.S. Post Office, the outdoor pool operates in all weather conditions. The complex, which borders the Reykjavik Campsite, contains a 50-meter pool, two water slides, an outdoor children’s pool, numerous hot pots, a thermal steam bath, indoor gym and, just for good measure, a mini-golf course (weather permitting). An all day pass to the complex costs approximately $2.50 (the locker rental is included in the price). Hailed as the city’s largest geothermal pool, the facility is a perfect example of why swimming is a national sport in Iceland despite its proximity to the Arctic Circle.

Looking to find the best tips on Iceland camping, then visit beersandbeans.com to find good advice to rent a car in Iceland to save your budget.

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Things to do in Dominican Republic

Friday, April 29th, 2011

Feeling adventurous? Search for an complete holiday in the Dominican Republic!

This country in located within the islands islands and has the most profitable economic system at this time there. If you are searching for that warm climate – you’ll discover it over there! However, the tropical local weather does not necessarily mean that you’re going to go ahead a plain region with soft sand beach locations and huge lands. Just on the contrary, the landscape in the Dominican Republic is usually mountainous and this means you will possess a good amount of beautiful and exclusive web pages to go to and consider images of.

The best months are January and February and the most well liked is August. Remember that the period form November to January is considered the wet period, so if you’re geared up for a vacation of sunlight, decide on another month. There are tons of mini islands over the shore of the Dominican Republic, and if you’re looking for seclusion, you will get the right chance to journey there.

You also have to pack it increase Spanish dictionary, since this is the commonest dialect there. However, despite the fact that forget that, you are going to be OK, because the Dominican Republic is bilingual and English is a subsequent language there. The Dominican Republic has a loaded history – it can be a blend of the Spanish colonies, Taino natives and African slaves and therefore makes the Dominican Republic an exceptionally colourful and unique spot for a check out. If you appreciate Spanish food, you are going to really like the Dominican cuisine. The food you will find there’s mixture of the African, Taino and Spanish and is very much like thier food in other Latin American countries. The meat enthusiasts are going to be delighted, for the reason that Dominicans have meat prevailing in their cuisine. Not to mention, you will be able to enjoy the tasty Dominican rum.

You may forget about your Spanish thesaurus, but do not neglect your dance footwear, considering that the Dominican Republic is when merengue was developed. Bachata can also be a quite popular musical type there. And now we have great news for those who enjoy rock music – this design is really very well liked there too, and you’ll appreciate many live activities of Dominican rock bands there.

This is the very interesting destination to check out, because you won’t just enjoy the beautiful shorelines, but the truth is will have access to mountain activities at the same time. And if you’re up to have an eco-tourism, the Dominican Republic typically offer this too. Book your future all inclusive holiday in the Dominican Republic!

There are a lot of all inclusive holidays . Find a cheap all inclusive holidays today.

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Get Steamy With Goggles While Snorkeling Off Akumal Beach

Thursday, February 17th, 2011

Akumal, Mexico: Let the Mayan Riviera Unfold Before Your Eyes Buried in Mexico’s Caribbean coast, approximately 62 miles south of Cancun sits Akumal, which in Mayan tongue means “place of turtles”. You can even encounter turtles during nightly walks throughout the nesting period of April to October burying their eggs in the sand, and there are many possibilities for snorkeling at Akumal Bay and Half Moon Bay. The hatching season for turtle eggs runs from June to November, which just happens to coincide with hurricane season. We’d easily assume that the storms would have an influential effect on the turtle populations, it is actually quite steady.

Normally visitors are based in Cancun before heading south for an hour and thirty minutes for the shoreline of Akumal. Referred to as the Mayan Riviera, this 160 kilometer stretch is lined with little towns, luxury resorts, in addition to numerous luxury getaways at Yucatan hotels. Vacationers should easily get a hold of countless services such as gift shops, diving equipment shops, restaurants, bars and native craft shops. This place works hard to conserve its exotic ecosystem comprising its white sandy beaches with windswept coco palms and setting a good example with their turtle conservation efforts.

Many tourists visit Akumal because it is a great destination to snorkel, with its pristine protected bays. From this spot you reach the coral reefs and absorb the magnificence of the sea in its most natural and undisturbed state. There are several approaches to actually experience this for yourself. One can find a few dive shops around town that offer guided excursions around the area. Other unofficial guides may approach you and offer to take you for a tour with their glass-bottomed boat for a fee. You can even buy or rent your own equipment.

Plus, you’ll find distinguished eating places that you can visit such as the La Buena Vida which features swings for seats rather than a standard bar stool. Almost all establishments in Akumal supply beer.

Akumal town boasts beautiful sights and experiences, plus commuting around town is effortless and inexpensive at just 20 pesos per person if you choose to use the local “colectivo” bus service. These run between Playa del Carmen and Tulum and run very frequently and are generally very busy.

Various Akumal hotels are popping up near the beach given its growing reputation as a popular tourist destination and it does pay to reserve a room early to spare any disappointments in the height of tourism, or to at least get a preferred rate that Akumal hotels offer to fill their empty guest rooms. One notable spot is the Las Casitas Akumal which offers casual elegance throughout the hotel, not to mention excellent and personalized service.

Dean Prater is a freelance travel writer living year round in Tulum, Mexico focusing in news about hotels in yucatan along with life in the Yucatan Peninsula. Feel free to get in touch with Dean directly if you want local tips as well as information for experiencing a memorable adventure within Yucatan.

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