Travel
I’ve just spent a couple of months in Melbourne catching up with family and friends. And I have to admit I’d forgotten what a fab town it is. I was born and raised there, and sometimes it’s hard to really see your hometown, but a few years away gave me fresh eyes. So here’s my Top 10 of things I did this Downunder Summer.
Melbourne in summer: Beachside in St Kilda
The iconic pier in St Kilda, Melbourne
I traveled to Egypt for the first time and enjoyed it a lot. I did not know what to expect and arrived in Cairo with some trepidation about a culture, religion and way of life I didn’t understand. I admit arriving with a touch of ignorance and a small tinge of fear. Before leaving I found it hard to find good information about what to expect so I thought I’d share a couple of the things that I would have liked to know before I got (more…)
The Racetrack, Death Valley
Editor’s Note: Be sure to read the latest traveler reviews and photos of the Death Valley day trip over on the main Viator site.
Ghost towns, mysterious moving rocks, acrid salt flats, sweeping sand dunes, chiseled canyons, surreal landscapes, and a posh desert castle. Death Valley was just the sort of quirky place I was looking to spend a few, cherished vacation days. (more…)
By Eileen Smith from Bearshapedsphere.
Watching the sun go down in Huanchaco, Peru. Photo taken by Marlis Seelos.
I sat at a table of no fewer than fifteen people on the street Pio Nono, entry to Bellavista, the down-home party section of Santiago, Chile. I’d been invited to go out for a beer after the monthly critical mass bike ride, and we stacked our bikes tidily (handlebars to rear wheel) against a nearby tree and (more…)
At Viator, our mission is to help you make the most of your travels. We believe passionately in discovering new cultures, trying new experiences, and getting beneath the surface of a destination.
In that spirit Viator is pleased to announce the launch of a new country on our website: the Republic of Bakpakhistan. Our team of travel experts has tried for three years to crack open the Bakpakhi tours and activities market. It’s (more…)
You may have suffered from the stereotypical mis-perception that Belgium is not the most interesting of places, and and that Brussels has nothing much going on beyond the European Parliament and museums filled with Old Flemish masters.
Well, like me, you’d be wrong. Brussels is a beautiful city. Unexpectedly chaotic, hilly and fragmented, it mixes sumptuous architecture with seedy waterfront districts; fancy chocolate emporiums (more…)
Editor’s note: Travel writer George Dunford is sending us the occasional trip report from the road as he makes his way from Beijing to St Petersburg on the Trans-Mongolian train. This is his second trip report, catch up on his first post here.
China seems to be behind us as we pull into Erlian, to cross the border into Mongolia. Already we’ve seen the landscape growing drier and stations have lost their grim institutional look. (more…)
What to do in Hong Kong? Simply take it all in
Hong Kong reminds me of urban landscapes from cyberpunk novels. It’s all grime and glitz with narrow, twisting alleyways the color of sepia, mile-high concrete block buildings, and mirrored office towers, all bursting from a motley skyline of a billion neon signs. It’s eclectic, fast paced, stylish and modern –- but even so, there are plenty of places to find (more…)
Where DO you go to get the best views of New York? Me, I’ve always spent most of my time on the Manhattan sidewalks, gazing upwards with my mouth open. I did wind up on the receiving end of some “Watch where you’re going!” comments, and I did get a sore neck, but I didn’t really grasp the scale of the city.
So this time I resolved to do something a bit different. I probably wouldn’t take Manhattan, but I would (more…)
We’re not going to catch the train out of Beijing. Our first leg of the Trans-Mongolian train and the cab doesn’t seem to be going fast enough to get us to Beijing West Train Station. It’s about 10 minutes before departure and I’m trying to communicate with my scraps of Mandarin – and frantic pointing – that we need to go faster. The cab driver takes this has a critique of his music and switches from the hip hop station to some fluffy (more…)
