Blogs

One of the most popular day tours from San Jose, Costa Rica, is the charming artisan town of Sarchi.

Called the “cradle of Costa Rican handicrafts,” both international tourists and locals alike visit Sarchi for its more than 200 stores and small family-operated woodworking and leather workshops. It is a perfect Central Valley day tour to combine with the Poás Volcano, a coffee tour, or the Juan Castro Blanco National Park. Sarchi is also an excellent stop on the way to Volcano Arenal.

Located on t

Minutes from the City:  the Mountain Awaits

The mountains east of San Diego are oak and apple country, with century old apple trees.   

The country leading up to Julian, the former gold mining town from the 1860’s now home to apple orchards, wineries, gourmet dining, and shopping, is the dry rolling hills also seen in Paso Robles and Andalucía, Spain.  Just over an hour east of San Diego, the area is near Mt. Palomar, offering all four seasons to the Southern California traveler.  Cattle graze the

Avgas Gorge, on the western coast of Cyprus, is a magnificent fissure in the limestone cliffs. It lies in an unfrequented part of the island where tourists rarely went.

At the time of my first visit, I lived in Yorkshire. So, my first sight invited comparison with the limestone country of the Pennines. But, after the first section of the gorge, guarded by a cold, dark gap of only about 10 feet between 300-foot high cliffs, it opened out into an almost tropical treescape.

Often, a mild scramble ove

   Although it is no longer a rarely to find on a hotel bed a sign asking the guest to reuse his/her towel or to accept having sheets changed once every three days rather than once a day, many people still wonder if tourism is an environmentally friendly industry. Due to past mistakes the public often is cynical about tourism and it is not unusual to hear people wondering out loud if the desire to change sheets once every three days is more about saving the hotel money then about saving the envi

por Andrés Figueroa Vásquez

El pueblo costero de Sámara, en la provincia de Guanacaste, ha creado una marca como destino deportivo. Por ello, ha sido sede de varios eventos de atletismo en los últimos meses. Así, los pasados 18 de mayo; 1 y 2 de junio se desarrolló la segunda edición del Festival Deportivo Sámara 2013, donde se incluyó un triatlón extremo con ciclismo y carreras de montaña, además de natación en aguas abiertas. Los organizadores del Multirreto Aventura procuraron que el program

Soon the leaves will be starting to show tinges of red, orange, and yellow so now is the time to plan for a spectacular peak season drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway, a 469-mile scenic highway that connects the Shenandoah National Park in northwestern Virginia with the Great Smoky Mountain National Park in North Carolina.

Ride awhile, then stop awhile: the two-lane Parkway is designed for leisurely journeys.Turn on your favorite Bluegrass music, make sure your camera battery is fully charged, an

Why in the world should you settle for all those cheesy malls and resort gift shops, the cruise-terminal complexes and hypercommercialized downtowns clogged with cookie-cutter perfume, watch, and T-shirt shops? If you know where to look, it’s still possible to find unique local products, atmosphere, or both. There are of course various straw markets and crafts centers on various islands, of course, but here are just a few of the other favorites I’ve come across in my years covering the Caribbean

by David Paul Appell

For too many folks, Caribbean shopping in the 21st century seems to be all about duty-free malls, Rolex and Seiko shops, cheesy T-shirts, and made-in-China trinkets. Good thing there are still plenty of distinctive options where local flair and products can still be found —if you know how to smoke ‘em out. Following up on last week's Part 1, here’s my hand-picked round-up of seven more islands’ worth of goodies,from vanilla rum in St. Barts to conch pearls in Turks and Caico

Located in Ranakpur village in the Rajasthan district of Pali, Ranakpur Jain Temple Complex is one of the seven wonders of India, very famous among people of Jain communities and architecture lovers. Dedicated to Adinatha (also known as Rishabha, the founder of Jainism and the first of the 24 tirthankara. Considered to be the most spectacular of the Jain temples, because of its architectural brilliance the temple is extremely popular with tourists. The architectural beauty of the temple never f

It is a massive understatement to say that the Appenzell region of Switzerland has character. Appenzell is exactly how you hope the German part of Switzerland will be. Well-known among the Swiss as the most traditional area in the country, its inhabitants remain astoundingly true to their roots.

The residents are devoted to time-honored rituals, and the entire community supports local products from handmade leather belts to artisanal cheeses. The pride that the people take in their traditions, f

The Shaolin Temple is one of the oldest Buddhist temples in China and the home of the famous Kung Fu practicing monks. The style of Buddhism developed here centered on martial arts training and meditation. The tradition was carried on through the years from master to student. Today, Shaolin is still the focal point for Kung Fu in China and a great place for visitors to experience this ancient art form.

Located on Shaoshi Mountain just outside of Luoyang, the temple offers many different opportuni

The entire country arguably could be considered one hug outdoor classroom – filled to the brim with amazing nature and exciting adventure. For this reason, Costa Rica has become one of the top family vacation destinations in the world.

All in one small country you can find warm tropical weather, beautiful beaches along two oceans (Pacific and Caribbean), rainforest, cloud forest, volcanoes, rivers, and fascinating wildlife that is actually “in the wild.”

For families looking for a safe, educationa

Una red de montañas, parques naturales, balnearios y pueblos medievales se ha tejido a lo largo de los siglos en el centro de Europa. Y sin embargo no es nada conocida. ¿Y eso? El turismo aún no ha puesto sus ojos en Eslovaquia, un país diminuto que se separó de la República Checa en 1993. Hay que empezar por su capital, Bratislava, que es como una oda a los pequeños detalles.

Cercana a Viena, Praga y Budapest y eclipsada por la grandeza monumental de esas tres ciudades construidas para dejar

Whale sharks are sharks the size of whales, but unlike other sharks, they are not the least bit scary.  Even so, swimming with creatures as large as 60-feet is an adrenalin experience, as I found out on a recent whale shark tour in the Gulf of Mexico near Cancun.

Whale sharks are annual visitors to the area around the Maya Riviera, esspecially around and the islands of Isla Mujeres, Holbox and Contoy, between May and September. Their presence is celebrated with daily whale shark tours, and celebr

Let me get my "conspiracy theory" out here first: Imperialistic, giant players like Google, Twitter, Facebook build  social nets to ensnare us into doing their bidding by populating them to an extreme, which in turn makes big bucks for them. Are we then willing tools of their master plan to do their bidding?

But to lighten up, it may simply be that I'm on social media overload. Or maybe I'm struggling to find relevance with the travel category in Twitter.
But when I look at streams on, say, #so

I’m based in Miami, Florida these days, and both here and on my travels down to Latin America – and especially in and around the Caribbean — I regularly come across a board game that I had just a glancing acquaintance with growing up. Dominoes have been around for literally millennia, of course. Originally from China, like pasta they found their way to Europe and beyond centuries ago, and still have a worldwide following. But when was the last time you played, or even heard of anyone actually p

Village Center, Vaqueros, Salta, Argentina

Located in the foothills of the Andes at 4000'above sea level, Vaqueros is a small country village at the northern edge of the city of Salta, Argentina. With a resident population of about 4000 persons, here you will see traditional Argentina Gauchos (cowboys) on horseback making their way around the hamlet, enjoy a small town atmosphere and great low prices in restaurants or local shops.

Enjoy Local Delicacies

Visitors can experience horseback riding on

I'm in the middle of a job that I have a love-hate feeling about - filing the photographs I've shot over the past few months. I spent a lot of time travelling this year, and my purchase of a little Fujifilm S1800 point-and-shoot camera back in mid-May has probably increased my always-prolific shooting a bit because it's so handy.

In any case, just since the 16th of May I've shot 8,716 images just on the Fuji (I seldom use my Canon Digital Rebel anymore). After editing, I have just under 8,000 le