Venice, Italy, Tourism, Vacation Packages, Travel, Tour, Cruise

As the world’s only pedestrian city, Venice, Italy, is a charming and ancient canal-based archipelago on the country’s Northeastern coast. The grand displays of city wealth are found in everything from the architecture and massive palaces, to the art museums and waterfront osteries cooking up a gourmet feast on a single burner. Old world Italy is still quite intact in Venice, but the Venetians haven’t turned a blind eye to modernity either. Their dress boutiques are filled with bohemian-chic forward fashions and galleries with blown glass and contemporary paintings. Upon first arriving, one may think that Venice was built just for them. The truth is, there is never a time of year when visitors will not share the narrow streets and sparkling canals with countless other travelers who all share the same love-at-first-sight notion as they settle into their first gondola ride.

Piazza San Marco is the city’s largest, most-visited square, and houses the Basilica di San Marco as well as the clock tower, Doge’s Palace and Procuratie Vecchie, whose ground floor is occupied by shops and cafes. Dotted with a myriad of churches and museums, such as San Giovanni e Paolo, Museo Ebraico (Jewish Museum), Galleria dell’Accademia di Venzia and the Peggy Guggenheim Museum, Venice shines as a cultural epicenter within Europe and the world. The Venice Card and the Chorus Pass are two passes that can be purchased for discounted public transport and access to many churches and museums.

To find some local music coming from venues other than cheerful gondoliers, check out Teatro La Fenice for epic opera, Al Vapore for jazz and blues, Terrazzamare by the beach or Laboratorio Occupato Morion for local Veneto bands in a dive bar setting. Shopping is also plentiful in Venice. The narrow streets and alleyways are peppered with artisan shops selling carnival masks, Murano glass and marbled paper. Designer shops (like everywhere in Italy) are plentiful in areas around St. Mark’s Square and Calle della Mondola.

In Venice, you can have a variety of culinary experiences. There’s the quintessential candlelit dinner by the canal, the hole-in-the-wall joint serving fresh handmade pasta, the sidewalk café serving pizza or the upscale restaurant that prepares local specialties such as cuttlefish or gnocchi. While maybe not getting the most accolades for dining in Italy, Venetian cuisine is nothing to scoff at.

The closest airport is Marco Polo Airport (VCE) on the mainland near the city of Mestre. Located 16 miles from Venice is the relatively small airport, Treviso (TSF), though it mainly serves domestic flights. The transportation choices in Venice are simple ones: by foot or by water. Gondolas and water taxis (vaporetti) will take visitors up and down the canal-riddled archipelago, while the inner parts of the city are highly walkable.

Venice has a humid subtropical climate with cool winters and very warm summers. July is the year’s hottest month, and has an average high temperature of 81.5° F (27.5° C). Winters can get quite cool, with breezes coming off of the water and average lows of 42.4° F (5.8° C). The best time to visit Venice is during the spring and autumn months, though summers are quite popular as well. Chances are the better the time of year, the more people that will visit along with you. Though you might not have Venice all to yourself, the city becomes incredibly personal once your first memory is made here.

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Delhi, India, Travel, Tour, Vacation Packages, Tourism

With over 12 million residents, Delhi, India, is not only the country’s capital city, but the sixth-largest metropolis in the world by population.  Standing on the banks of the Yamuna River, Delhi is a rich blend of a past steeped in history and a vibrant, cosmopolitan present.  Due to the sheer size and constant congestion of people and traffic, Delhi can seem downright intimidating at first glance.  But sift through the gritty surface and travelers will discover that India’s capital is strewn with captivating monuments, magnificent museums, beautiful ancient dwellings, a thriving arts scene and some of the country’s most delectable and eclectic cuisine.

A veritable melting pot of language, culture, caste and religion, Delhi is a unique city with both Old and New World influences.  Visitors can easily spend time weaving back and forth from the dramatic Red Fort, Jama Masjid and medieval bazaars of Old Delhi, and in the same day hit one of New Delhi’s many trendy cafés or hip clubs.  Furthermore, Delhi travel also means diving into a world of international cuisine where everything from spicy curries and grilled kabobs, to wood-fired pizzas and fresh sushi can be found.

Delhi is not a city that can be seen in one day.  To fully appreciate the complexity and vivacity of this great city, travelers must fully immerse themselves into the many aspects of culture, history and tradition that pulses through the people and streets.  Whether it’s visiting the myriad of sights, including Akshardham Temple, Lodhi Garden, Humayun’s Tomb and the National Museum, or going shopping in one of the many bazaars and shopping districts for handmade crafts or beaded saris, Delhi is a one-of-a-kind experience not to be missed.

Famous for variety and spice, Delhi cuisine can consist of chaat (Indian tapas) and street food stalls selling homemade Tandoori chicken, or a five-star restaurant serving gourmet frontier cuisine, like Bukhara, in the Maurya Sheraton Hotel. Vegetarians will rejoice in the selection of mouth-watering restaurants like Sri Balaji, serving both North and South Indian dishes. For the Indian take on classic Italian food, check out Satoria in the south of Delhi. The authentic specials include a variety of pasta dishes, carpacchio and pizzas. For some cheap eats, Karim’s has been open since 1913 and serves up local favorites like Badam Pasanda (boneless mutton with yogurt and spices) and Chicken Noor Jahan.

The arrival point for many visitors into Delhi is Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL). The airport is large and extremely crowded. For international flights, travelers should show up at least two hours early. Travelers arriving into the city should arrange transportation from the airport to their hotel in advance to save time. Navigating around Delhi is quite an adventure, as traffic is notoriously horrible. The Delhi Metro is now open, and provides a cheap and air-conditioned option to travel around the city. Other modes of transportation are taxis, as well as auto and bicycle rickshaws.

Delhi has a subtropical climate with high variation between winter and summer precipitation and temperatures. Summers start early in the city, around April, and have an average daily temperature of 90° F (32.2° C). Winters start in November and peak in January, with an average daily temperate of 55° F (12.7° C). Monsoon season starts in late June and can late through September, bringing about 31.5 inches of rain. The best time to visit Delhi is in October and November, as well as February and March, when the days are sunny and warm, and the nights are cool and dry.

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San Francisco, California, USA: Travel, Tourism, Cruises, Air, Hotel, City Passes,Tour, Excursion Packages

At the very source of San Francisco’s charm is a bevy of eccentric neighborhoods and people so diverse that everyone fits in. As the gem of the Bay Area, San Francisco, California, is well known for its Victorian architecture, hilly terrain, fusion cuisine and rich cultural dynamism. A veritable United Nations of people, sights, and experiences to be had; the city will leave its quirky appeal lingering in your memories long after you’ve left.

This seven-by-seven mile peninsula is made up of eleven official neighborhoods that each offers something unique. Fisherman’s Wharf is a popular area on the bay that boasts a plethora of fresh seafood restaurants, attracting not only hungry tourists, but corpulent, lazy sea lions who like to sunbathe on the pier. Hang out in Haight: a once-bohemian area that is known as the birthplace of the hippie movement and which still has eclectic boutiques and small Dead Head coffee shops. Whether stopping for dim sum in Chinatown, shopping in Union Square, taking a cable car ride throughout ritzy Knob Hill or letting it all hang out in the Castro, San Fran remains a wonderfully inexplicable microcosm of the world.

Consistently voted one of the best cities in the United States, San Francisco is the perfect place to indulge in the rich essence of a west coast boomtown. With passes like the CityPass, Go San Francisco Card and the Wharf Pass, visitors gain admission (at a lower cost) to some of the city’s finest museums, like the Museum of Modern Art, California Academy of Sciences and the de Young Museum, as well as ferry rides, tours and transportation. While landmarks like the Golden Gate Bridge, Transamerica Pyramid and infamous Alcatraz Island never fail as tourist magnets, it’s attractions like Ghirardelli Square, the authentic eateries of Chinatown, cable cars of Union Square and Pier 39 that keep them coming back.

An epicurean city in every sense of the word; San Fran boils over with new and inventive cuisine, from sustainable and organic to intricate fusion and wine-plate pairings. With trendy restaurants like Greens and Millenium, not only will vegetarians never go hungry in this town; they’ll eat really well. With a seemingly unlimited surplus of great seafood restaurants, visitors need only to walk into the likes of Sotto Mare, Swan Oyster Depot or Hyde Street Seafood House and have their pick of some of the freshest selections in the Pacific Northwest. As the nation’s largest Chinatown, it becomes an absolute treat to (yet a daunting task) to pick from the bevy of authentic rice houses and tea rooms. House of Nanking, Lichee Garden and Brandy Ho’s Hunan Food are all touted as some of the very best in the city.

Located 14 miles south of the city, San Francisco International Airport (SFO) is the region’s major domestic and international gateway. The airport is connected to the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), which transports passengers throughout the San Francisco and the neighboring communities. The other forms of public transit are the San Francisco Municipal Railway, which has street and cable cars, buses and metro, as well as the Caltrain which is a regional rail to San Jose. Besides walking, there is no better way to see the city than on the world-famous cable cars, which run north-south between Market Street and Fisherman’s Wharf.

San Francisco has a mild Mediterranean climate which is heavily influenced by the cool Pacific currents and gives the city year-round mild temperatures. May through October is considered the dry period and is relatively warm, with average temperatures in the low 70° F (21° C). The rainy season tends to last from November to April, when temperatures get a bit cooler and remain around 58-64° F (14-18° C). There is no best time to visit the city, as the weather remains consistently mild and whether it be an attraction or festival or cultural event; there’s always something going on in San Francisco.

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Bora Bora, French Polynesia, Travel Tourism Vacation Packages: Ideal Romantic Destination

Romantics, you have found your ideal destination. The small island of Bora Bora is only 18 miles in circumference, but it’s home to some of the world’s most beautiful beaches and waters, and the luxurious pampering resorts with overwater bungalows and thatched roofs we dream of for our ultimate retreats. Add to that scenery the sharply rising Mount Otemanu, which reaches almost 2,400 feet above sea level, and lush tropical slopes and valleys, and you’ve got the closest thing to paradise on earth.

Your resort will be located either on the southern end of the main island or on its own motu (islet in the lagoon). The water is the key to what will keep you active when you want to venture from your lounge chair or spa treatment. The turquoise lagoon surrounded by picture-perfect white sand beaches is your playground for such unique experiences as shark feeding. You stand in the shallow lagoon far enough away but close enough to watch your guides hand-feed the sharks. Explore the lagoon via glass-bottom boat, motorboat or jet ski, or just snorkel from your bungalow or off the beach anywhere on the island. Diving is also big here with marine life galore.

Venture off the coast and to the interior roads on a hike or 4X4 accompanied by a local guide. You’ll be treated to unbelievable overlook views. And be sure to make some time to shop for local and international original art, Tahitian pearls, perfumes and oils, and precious wood handcrafts.

Most meals will be eaten at your resort, where you’ll be treated to world-class dining, complete with some of the best water views you’re ever going to see. Many of the properties also offer after-dinner Polynesian shows, incorporating the cultural flavor into your stay. Cuisine here is as you would expect -- lots of local seafood, fruits and vegetables to enjoy.

Romantic options that can be arranged include a gourmet picnic on a private beach or a sunset cruise with four-course dinner aboard a private catamaran. And of course the ultimate in romance is breakfast by outrigger canoe brought to your overwater bungalow or villa. The flower-decorated canoe brings with it fresh fruits, pastries and juices by a welcoming resort staff member.

International flights land at Faa’a Airport in Papeete on the island of Tahiti. Flight time is just under eight hours from Los Angeles and about 12 hours from New York’s JFK. Air Tahiti Nui, Tahiti’s national carrier, offers nonstop direct service from both cities. Air Tahiti has five or six flights daily to the Bora Bora Airport on Moto Mute from Tahiti (as well as from other islands). It’s about a one-hour flight.

The airport, built on a motu, is accessible only by a short ferry ride to Vaitape. Resort transport is either by private motorboats from the airport operated by some of the luxury resorts, or by shuttle from Vaitape. Public transport on the island is limited. Bicycles are a great way to get around.

Average year-round temperatures is 79° F., with water temperatures averaging 79° F. in the winter and 84° F. during the summer.

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