World Travellers

Bruges is an historic city located in the West Flanders region of Belgium. It is one of the best preserved and most beautiful medieval cities in Europe. With a population of 255,000 as of 2008, Bruges has a significant economic importance, especially due to its strategic port. In fact, at one time Bruges was known as the “chief commercial city” of the world.

Bruges is a city of canals, and is sometimes referred to as “the Venice of the North”. There are many crisscrossing canals lined with cobbled streets and pretty gabled houses in Bruges, as well as the more stately and architecturally diverse large buildings lining the canals.

The city’s most famous landmark is the 13th century belfry, which houses a municipal carillon comprising 48 bells. The city still employs a full-time bell-ringer who gives free concerts on a regular basis. Another building that Bruges is famous for is the medieval Church of our Lady, which has the highest brick tower in Europe, one of the world’s highest brick towers. It also houses the Michelangelo sculpture Madonna and Child, which is believed to be the only sculpture that left Italy within Michelangelo’s lifetime.

Mechelen is a Dutch speaking city in the Flanders region of Belgium. With a population of 78,000 as of 2006, Mechelen is one of Flanders’ Six Art Cities. Featuring office complexes on the north and industry to the south, the center of Mechelen is a cobbled medieval charmer.

Dominating the city center is the tower of St. Rumbold’s Cathedral, where if you’re up for it, you can climb the 514 steps to the top for a magnificent view of the old town. Mechelen was an important city in the Middle Ages, and much evidence of this remains. There are over 300 listed monuments, which includes some fabulous architectural specimens, among them eight historical Church buildings.

There are also many great and offbeat museums in Mechelen. The Toy Museum is for the whole family, as is the Technopolis, which is a hands-on science and technology Museum. St. Peter and St. Paul is a Church containing wonderful wood carvings as well as a collection of 17th century paintings. The Court of the Busleyden is an awesomely imposing 18th-century structure.

It is hard to believe in this day and age that a successful business can be run as a one man or family operation especially if the business in question is the ultra competitive travel industry. Add to the equation that this business is run from home from Ireland’s oldest two storey thatched cottage and it makes the storey all the more fascinating.

Promoting a tourism product or website is a daunting and difficult challenge at the best of times given the vast array of resources and finances available to larger companies. Competing from a home base as a small husband and wife team makes such a challenge even more precarious. However as in life nothing is impossible given sufficient drive, motivation and the necessary passion that inspires.

Ireland is a changing place. It is fast emerging as a top 3 world economy with many large multinationals choosing to located their workforce in Dublin or other Irish cities. The country has also become a haven for foreign visitors eager to catch a little bit of that famous Irish hospitality. Providing guests with what they want is the new challenge facing the Irish tourism market. The days of thatched cottages and friendly service are well and truly gone. Or are they?

Munich Germany is a city in the state Bavaria. Would you like to know what the real interesting sights in Munich Germany are? I will tell you 10 of my good ones.

If you would like to know something about the city and its history, visit my website for information about that. In this article I will let you know of 10 insider tips of this German city -– short and sweet –- so that you can print them out and easily scour the sights.

First, once you arrive in the city, go to the tourist information office. It is located at Munich Germany main station (outside) or at Marienplatz (downtown).

Also, since you already know that this city is venue of the well-known Oktoberfest, there is actually no need for me to tell you anything about that, right?

Now, shall we get started? Great!

TOP 10 Bars and Restaurants

1. An absolute must-see and must-experience is the “Hundskugel” (Dogs Ball) located in Hotterstrasse in old town. This is Munich’s oldest house which has the perfect ambience for original Bavarian food (e.g. “Schweinshaxe” — knuckle of pork). Quite frankly, once you were here, your friends will become envious you were there without them.

Those who thrive on their neighbors across the Channel coming over on European tours to France are seeing decreases in hotel lodgings, tours, and camping reservations. The Hotel Windsor in Dieppe, Normandy, has even cut their room rate down by ten Euro per night in an attempt to attract more visitors.

How does this affect Americans? European tours that were once prohibitively expensive are now far more affordable. Worries about terrorists and the recession have resulted in hotel vacancy rates of over fifty percent in many countries where tourism was once a booming business. The number of Americans going on European vacations has gone down dramatically in just the past two years and European tourist destinations are being hit hard. France is not the only country being affected.

Similar reports have been coming in from Germany and the Netherlands. British and American tourist money is sorely missed in both locations as English speaking European tourists seem to be non-existent. Some are blaming the decline on the exchange rate. Both the dollar and the British pound have gone down in value against the Euro. Others simply point at the worldwide recession and the lack of disposable income as an obvious reason why travel numbers are done.

As history goes, this island was named Iceland to drive people away from settling there and send them to Greenland instead, which was named incorrectly in the hope to attract people to settle there. Iceland is one of Europe’s most sparsely populated nations and the last country to be inhabited. Most of the land is barren, rural and uninhabitable. The culture, language and people are mostly influenced by the Scandinavian countries with a combination of Celtic appearances. I was prepared for a relatively small town feel during our stay at Reykjavik and mostly countryside tourism and hiking, but was extremely taken aback to find how isolated, barren, unique, exotic and how extremely beautiful this place actually is!

From black sand beaches to white ice caps, glaciers to volcanoes, hot spring baths to exploding sulphur geysers, from cliffs to dual folding waterfalls, from dog sledging to whale watching, white water rafting to mountain hiking, the possibilities are not only endless, but fascinating!!! Nowhere in the world can I imagine seeing the ocean on one side while standing atop an ice covered glacier, with volcanic activity causing ridges and ravines in the mountainside!

There’s more to Holland than windmills, tulips, canals and cheese.  The country has many lesser-known attractions such as North Sea beaches, wild heathland, dense forests…and even hills and caves. Vast landscapes, where a huge sky hangs over flat farmland, stretches far into the distance. Here are 10 aspects of a holiday in Holland  to help start your holiday planning and further research.

Cities: Amsterdam is small enough to explore on foot, taking time out from must-see attractions such as the Anne Frank House to wander among the maze of canals and charming side streets.  Other cities such as The Hague, Delft and Utrecht are also rich in history.

Flowers: The countryside around Amsterdam is a vibrant patchwork of colourful bulb fields in spring.  Visit the gardens at Keukenhof, near Leiden, for spectacular displays of tulips, narcissi, hyacinths and other flowers.

Cycling: Saddle up and join the Dutch in their favourite means of transport.  Bikes can be hired throughout the country.  The flat-as-a-pancake countryside and well-marked bike lanes make cycling in Holland easy and fun.

Water: The Dutch landscape is governed by water, from dams holding back the North Sea to dykes protecting the low-lying countryside.  Enjoy the scenery with a boat trip on Amsterdam’s canals or a sailing holiday on the giant Ijsselmeer.

Estonia is a lowland country situated in North Eastern Europe. It borders on the Baltic Sea, and the gulf of Finland in the north, Latvia to the south and Russia in the east. Estonia has a flat, unharmed landscape with more than one thousand lakes and has over seven thousand rivers and streams. Nearly half of its landscape is covered by woodland and forest.

For someone who enjoys skating or ice fishing, Estonia in the winter can be a great place to visit. Its winters can get very cold, but thanks to the North Atlantic Gulf Stream the summers remain quite mild. The best time to visit Estonia is during the months of May through to September, July usually being the warmest month of the year.

Tallinn is the capital of Estonia and is well suited to all travellers needs. Tallinn is situated on the north coast of Estonia along the Gulf of Finland. It the largest city in Estonia and is an important industrial, political and cultural centre. It is also an extremely busy seaport with regular ferries to the Scandinavian countries.

Sweden is situated in the north of Europe and forms the eastern part of the Scandinavian Peninsula. Only two countries border Sweden - Norway lies west of its borders with Finland to the northeast.

Sweden is an excellent place for a weekend break and has many places to visit - here are some of the best.

Gothenburg: is a city on the west coast of Sweden, in the province Vastergotland and is the second largest city after Stockholm. There are many great places to visit in this stunning city, with the most popular situated in the south of the city called the Archipelago. These are a group of island within the city borders that and you can travel to them by boat.

Gothenburg also boasts the largest amusement park in Scandinavia, called the Liseberg, located in the central part of the city. Not far away from the Liseberg is the Science discovery centre called the Universeum.

When travelling around Gothenburg the tram is very efficient and is the largest light rail in northern Europe. Other means of transport through the city include a good bus service and the ferry.