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6. Even if you're renting a villa, you'll want to dine out, too -- especially on St. Barts. A short list of St. Barts' best restaurants has to include...
There's a new wrinkle, and a very nice one, regarding St. Barths. Sure, you already know that for 50 years this tiny island near St. Martin has been a Mecca for celebrities, models, and hedge-fund managers with a penchant for topless sunbathing. You also know that St. Barths, unlike many other islands, has restricted growth and maintained its ambience as a uniquely French outpost in the Caribbean.
Here's the new wrinkle, the one people aren't quite grokking: St. Barths is in the eurozone, and th
When it comes to this quintessential Alpine country deep in the heart of Europe, most people understandably think of it in terms of its Germanic and Francophone flavors. But way down in Switzerland's south, bordering Italy, the language and culture are Italian. Benvenuti (welcome) to Ticino!
Known in ancient Roman times as Ticinus, and connected to the rest of Switzerland by the Gotthard Pass tunnel through the Alps, the country's southernmost canton (equivalent to a state or province) is jus
Whether or not you can name the constellations or planets, it is always fascinating to look up at a clear night sky and get lost among the stars.
Anyone can enjoy stargazing. The best places to go, of course, are where the sky is wide open and very dark, with no distracting city lights. Up in the mountains, or in the desert, or out on the open ocean; it is breathtaking to stare upwards at night at millions and millions of twinkling stars and planets in a blue black sky.
Costa Rica is one of the
When many think of Peru outside Lima, what springs most readily to mind are the likes of the mighty Andes, Cuzco, and Machu Picchu. But nearly half the country is actually part of the great Amazon rain forest and ecosystem, with two main cities: Iquitos (considered the "capital" of the Peruvian Amazon) in the north and Puerto Maldonado in the south, near the border with Bolivia.
The latter, capital of the Madre de Dios region, is an hour and 40 minutes from Lima by air and just an hour from Cu
Of all the capitals in Central America, I’ve found perhaps the most cosmopolitan and interesting to be Panama's, a city with a greater metro population of 1.5 million (though Guatemala City is most certainly up there, too).
Partially, this is a function of wealth – thanks to industries like banking, import/export, and retain, there’s a lot of dinero sloshing around this highrise-heavy metropolis on the Pacific Ocean end of the Panama Canal, which adds up to a multitude of cultural, dining, shop
by Marita Acosta
"It´s all about choices," say the English these days. And that's pretty much how many of us visitors feel when faced with a map of London and the daunting task of figuring out what to do (and not to do in this sometimes overwhelming city on the Thames. One thing we can be sure about the European Union's largest urban area is that it has a gift for never failing to surprise us.
And besides all the wonderful traditional sightseeing, another of this urb's major allures is the e
The web is full of advice for fearful fliers. Pilots say “knowledge is power." They believe, perhaps naively, that if a people understands how safe flying is, their fear will disappear. But this view ignores that fact that any situation where a person is not in control and escape is blocked causes huge anxiety.
Mental-health professionals aren't much better. They offer CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy), a stock solution that works well for ground-based anxiety, but not for flight-based anxiety.
If you have been to the Grand Canyon I need not explain it. If you have never been to the Grand Canyon, I can’t completely explain it.
But here goes: It is beautiful. It is stunning. It is awesome. It is mesmerizing. Pictures cannot do it justice. For some, it is a spiritual - even mystical - experience. And for some, it’s just a place to check off the bucket list. Approximately five million people visit the canyon every year. A mile deep, 277 river miles long, and an average of 10 miles acro
By now, many are aware that Hungary's capital Budapest has always been linked to its thermal baths - more than one hundreds sources of different water temperatures which serve the residents, not only to warm up when the city is covered with a white blanket, but also as a place of social gathering; to have a drink, play chess, chat or flirt. But these pools also have an underground consequence. The thermal water erosion has made the subsoil of the city and its surrounding areas a real labyrinth
One of the most sought after tourist destinations in India, Jaipur, also known as the pink city, is immensely popular for its scenic beauty, historical monuments, royal history, great hospitality, camels, folk music, traditional dance, colorful clothes, lively city and hot climate. It is a perfect place to plan a vacation and spend a memorable time in a lovely city of Rajasthan.
It has a line-up of forts, havelis, and palaces which are of terracotta pink color (hence the name Pink City). There a
Beautiful Portland, Oregon has been getting a fair amount of attention in recent years for its restaurant scene. Each café and restaurant of Portland offers something special, whether it’s a special dish or the other point of interest. However, only several ones are considered to be the best in Portland, and they are included into the following list…
Pok Pok
This lovely restaurant specializing in Thai cuisine, run by its owner-chef Andy Ricker since 2005, is one of the most popular culinary es
Heading to Australia's second largest city, located in the southern state of Victoria, but not sure about what there is to see/do? An excellent place to begin is with a free drive on the Town Group Tram, which covers an oblong route around the town past many of Melbourne's major attractions, along with a dogleg into the Docklands; along the way, hop off to see whatever catches your eye. The same free Town Tourist Shuttle offers the same service of picking a different direction through the city,
From brief gusts to strong breezes to howling winds – it’s always windy during summer season on the Pacific coast of Guanacaste, Costa Rica. That means it’s time for fun wind and water sports.
Why is it so windy in Costa Rica this time of year?
These high summer winds even have a name: Papagayo winds. NASA tells us that when it's freezing cold and snowing in North America, the cold air and high-pressure weather systems move south over the Gulf of Mexico. The cold air is drawn toward the warmer,
The “Rapid” Ferry
When we planned this vacation, Lake Garda's Simio Peninsula, Sirmione, and its Roman villa ruins became a magnet, and we scheduled a day trip back into history to visit an ancient vacation site of extremely wealthy Roman citizens.
Planes, Trains, and Automobiles - But We Choose the Ferry System
About 15 minutes from our hotel is the village of Saló, the location of the ferry service docks. The ferry system offers scenic lake steamers or the more time efficient hydrofoils; all
The act of drinking wines is to literally taste specific locations across the globe. I never cease to be amazed by how wines provide such an in depth lens into a particular country and culture. By far the best way to experience them is to of course travel where they're produced and visit the vineyards in person. But lack of time and/or money sometimes make this impossible. For those times, plan for some armchair traveling by tasting some reasonably priced and increasingly available local varieta
by Tom Bunn
Anxious fliers wonder how others fly with so little trouble. Confident fliers can’t quite understand why anyone has trouble. Why the difference? Feelings of inflight anxiety, claustrophobia, and panic are caused when stress hormones build up. These hormones are released when a tiny part of the brain, the amygdala, senses something unfamiliar or unexpected, such as when turbulence causes the plane to drop.
Some of us regulate stress hormones automatically and unconsciously. Others regul
Canada‘s third largest metro area (pop. 2.3 million), on the Pacific Ocean at the southwestern corner of British Columbia, Vancouver is known for its majestic natural setting and is also frequently ranked as one of the world’s best cities in which to live – as many visitors discovered during the 2010 Winter Olympics held here, and more than 9 million others continue to experience each year.
Vancouver is divided basically into the Westside, the Eastside (aka East Van), and city center. In addit
I crammed a lot into my one day in Flagstaff. Now it was time to move on, and my reservation for the next night was at the Grand Canyon's Yavapai Lodge. I was anxious to get going, but first thing in the morning I had a good breakfast, checked out of the motel and headed over to the Riordan Mansion State Park. Being a state park, I expected it to be outside of town. To my surprise, it is just a couple of blocks off the main road, right by the university campus.
Bento Gonçalves is a slice of Italy in Brazil's far south. It's not overly well known outside of the country but a highly-regarded destination among Brazilians, who consider it a first-class tourist destination. This is because this city in Rio Grande do Sul state is one of the most beautiful and important in the Serra Gaucha mountain range, due to its landscapes full of vineyards and the expansive nature which make this place a most welcoming destination.
As you enter the city you will find a
