Everyone knows the “big” museums, including the Smithsonian, Museum of Modern Art or even the Louvre in Paris. Throughout America’s heartland you’ll discover a variety of quirky but family friendly and fascinating museums of enjoy, explore and learn about the country’s unique and fascinating past. Here are a few of America’s hidden treasures and the ideal spots to rest your head in-between stops.

Evansville, Indiana

The Koch Family Children’s Museum of Evansville is committed to helping children and adults of all ages to learn through play. It features several interactive exhibits and is an ideal spot to host your child’s birthday party or school event. Touted as one of the America’s premiere examples of French Second Empire architecture, the Reitz Home Museum is a well-preserved look into 19th century life in a young Evansville area. While looking for a hotel in Evansville Indiana consider staying at the Econo Lodge hotel, which is also located close to the University of Evansville and Roberts Stadium.

Farmington, New Mexico

Although many associate New Mexico with its arid, desert climate, the state is actually home to several miles of breathtaking wetlands. Learn about the wetlands that lie along the Animas River at the Riverside Nature Center Wetlands. While there, explore the terrain and the animals it supports throughout the wetland’s miles of hiking trails. The E3 Children’s Museum and Science Center in located in bustling downtown Farmington and features several hands-on science and art related exhibits. If you’re looking for a hotel in Farmington New Mexico stop your search by staying at the Rodeway Inn, which is located within miles of the Four Corners Regional Airport and Pinon Hills Golf Course.

Fayetteville, Arkansas

Learn about Arkansas’ rich and fascinating aviation history by visiting the Arkansas Air and Military Museum, which has a variety of military and civilian aircrafts on display, including an Army helicopter flown in Vietnam. Located on East Dickson Road, the headquarters house of the Washington County Historical Society is a testament to the city’s voracity and spirit, as it somehow survived the surrounding bloodshed of the Civil War. The Quality Inn Hotel is a premiere hotel in Fayetteville Arkansas that is located within miles of the University of Arkansas and the Devil’s Den State Park.

The Big Apple is New York’s nickname. However, exactly how did the city get this moniker? It all depends on what source you read. One idea is that a New York sports journalist, John J Fitz Gerald in the 1920s, coined it.
Another notion is the name appeared during the Depression of the 1930s and referred to vendors selling apples, a nightspot in Harlem, and a dance called the Big Apple.

No matter what the origin, the Big Apple is the goal of travelers who wish to visit the countless attractions that the city has to offer. The issue is deciding what to see. Perhaps the best choice is to select one of the many tours offered.

A well-informed visitor would be wise to obtain one of the New York passes that permits free admission to over 50 city venues and money off on tours. Highlights of the NYC are the traditional sites such as the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, Central Park Zoo, and the Empire State Building, just to name a few. Read the rest of this entry »

Indian Hotels with the Best American Food

Americans who travel abroad often find themselves craving the comfort of food from home. Not necessarily home-cooked meals, but the American fare of burgers and fries or regional favorites such as Tex-Mex, New York Pizza, or St. Louis Ribs.

When traveling to India, is it easy to find cheap hotels with American cuisine in their restaurants. Some of these American-style eateries simply dress up Indian food and miss the mark completely; others do a not-so-bad job of giving tourists and residents a proper American meal.

49er’s The Gold Rush

Located in the Al Diar Dana Hotel, the 49er’s The Gold Rush bar and restaurant has all the markings of an old western saloon, complete with extra-large whiskey barrels for tables. The food is a cooked-to-order mix of steaks, fried foods, bar snacks, and specialty side items. The 49er’s The Gold Rush advertises a Tex-Mex portion of their menu but their steaks are the best. The prices are Dhs200-350, open daily for lunch, dinner, and snacks from noon until 3 am.

Kennedy

Kennedy is a fine dining establishment tucked away in an unlikely place, the Armed Forces Officer’s Club and Hotel in Abu Dhabi. Visitors to the elegant eatery are not only impressed with the stylishness and the food, but the low prices. The food is first-rate in presentation and portions for their price, in addition to high quality foods from America and Europe. Prices are Dhs200-350 and they accept credit cards. This beautifully decorated restaurant is open daily for dinner from 6:30 to 11 pm. Read the rest of this entry »

May 3, 2011
Enjoy one of the most dramatic, thrilling and poignant wildlife experiences in the world with a once in a lifetime visit to the mountain gorillas of Africa with Travel Associates. Nothing can prepare you for the sheer wonder of seeing full grown silverback gorillas and their young as they eat, play and relax in their natural habitat while remaining peaceful and tolerant of human visitors.

Prices start at $3,150 for the five night journey which includes return transfers from Entebbe airport, meet and greet services, accommodation in top quality hotels and lodges and one gorilla permit. Park entry fees, meals on safari, services of driver and guide and activities on the itinerary are also included as well as an excursion to Ngamba Chimpanzee Island by boat.

Both six and eight day scheduled trips are available for gorilla tracking and may occur in either Uganda or Rwanda subject to permit availability. Read the rest of this entry »

Peru is a very diverse country and near many cultural treasures of nature is breathtaking. Well worth it to the Amazon jungle with a visit to worship. Sixty percent of Peru is covered with forests of the Amazon, which covers nine different countries. These forests are in very many ways vital to humans and the environment but they also include threatened by illegal logging, mining and oil burning for agriculture. More and more areas are now protected and there are always new nature reserves.

Peru is the ideal country to visit the tropical rain forests since by the Andes Mountains the upper stream of the Amazon protected, there is a case of many large areas with truly unspoilt nature. The diversity of plants and animals is overwhelming and you have a great chance to see many animals. The second longest river in the world, the Amazon, rises in Peru after 6868 km and flows into the Atlantic Ocean. A multi-day visit to this beautiful lush area is unforgettable.

Northern Amazon
The largest jungle city of Iquitos Peru is simply that, completely surrounded by jungle, located in northern Peru. This is a starting point for many tours. Iquitos is accessible by road and if you’re a jungle tour in the northern part of the Amazon to do, you have a choice between the aircraft or boats, the rivers through which you achieve your goals. Any travel agency offers tours to Iquitos with one or more nights in one of the many jungle lodges. Not only travel agents trying to sell you a tour, many people who accost you at the airport already. In the city itself, offer trips to many people on the street. They are driven by many travel agencies and get commission so it’s always reliable, but certainly cheaper to engage alone in a travel agency to make a choice. The choice of various lodges or tented camps, even cruises is enormous both on site and via the Internet.
If you’re still in Iquitos, you can visit the Iron House (Casa de Fierro), designed by none other than Gustav Eiffel … .. yes, the man of the Eiffel Tower. The house was a design for the World of 1898, but was a wealthy rubber baron in Paris moved to Iquitos, where on one corner of the Plaza des Armas was built. On the first floor you can enjoy a drink and the square.

Southern Amazon
The southern part of the Amazon is almost always visited from Cuzco. As in Cuzco Iquitos are also several excursions to the jungle area organized. The two largest reserves are the Tambopata National Reserve and Manu National Park, but there are still many smaller reserves, almost all have different lodges or tented camps. In this jungle area are two airports. It Aldamiz Padre International Airport to Puerto Maldonado and a chiselled strip in the jungle at Boca Manu. Depending on your choice you can take a flight from Cuzco to your destination. In either case, it is only a short flight of about half hour. The plot of Boca Manu is the most spectacular as a wooden hut, covered with thatched roof, is doing as a terminal.
The cases are (like you) weighed on scales and then people put in a wheelbarrow, waiting for the short ride to the unit, obviously a small plane.Sometimes by the incoming cold fronts would be too foggy and in that case can not be flown to and from the field. In that case, you should at your own expense if you also book a night in the jungle is. Please give them back the next day or fly. A fun alternative that is offered in this southern part is journeyed by land, obviously a longer term issue, but certainly worth the effort.

What is the best time for the jungle?
Although in a tropical rainforest can always raining, there is still one of dry and wet season. There are also slight differences between the jungle in the north and the south but in general the wet season from November to April and the dry period from May to October. Temperatures in the north are on average around 32 degrees Celsius while 3000 mm rainfall per year. In the south, average temperatures around 24 degrees Celsius (30 degrees foothills of daytime to 10 degrees at night) and there is about 5000 mm rain per year. Temperatures in the south are strongly influenced by the “friajes” cold fronts in the ocean, which can reduce the temperature to about 15 degrees Celsius. The various lodges can be visited all year round but dry season is still the best time because you then can more easily move through the jungle. It is also the period in which Peru itself can therefore best visited between May and October are the best. Read the rest of this entry »

A short visit to Orlando will be that one adventure that goes remembered for a lifetime. Any amount of time spent in Orlando is enough to change your perception of the world. Reason being, from the natural beauty to man-made attractions and landscapes, it is truly a golden paradise for both the visitors and locals. Speaking of landscapes and attractions, there are a lot of them (if not) all that are in the category of must-sees and must-dos. Read the rest of this entry »

Where can you see police on roller skates, and then look at art and design shop from some of the world’s biggest names?
Only one answer – in Paris. The French city is the ideal place for a romantic trip.

Whether it takes place on foot, in an open 2CV or any of the 20,000 bikes all over Paris orderly and easily accessible to tourists who want to combine sightseeing with fresh air.
The economic crisis strongly pushed urban development that is moving more toward free pleasures and higher quality at lower prices – whether it comes to food, fashion, literature or entertainment.

Neighborhoods in Paris can sometimes feel like entirely different countries. In the center around the Louvre and Les Halles offers a fashionable blend of exclusive fashion, airy parks and ancient royal palace, the Louvre.

To the west lies the avenue des Champs-Élysées, Concorde Square, some of Paris’ most grandiose museums, Michelin restaurants, nightclubs and luxury hotels.

To the east, the Marais and the islands mixed well-heeled foreigners and the entire judicial apparatus with Orthodox Jews, bohemians and design-conscious gay men. And east of Bastille you can explore some of the most ethnic neighborhoods of Paris with steaming Chinese dim sum concoct something, Turkish kebab stalls, Indian merchants and the beautiful Canal Saint-Martin with its numerous locks and bridges.

Far north thrones Sacre Coeur church atop Montmartre, whose intricate and cobbled streets in many places still retains the past almost village-like charm.

And south of the Seine on the Rive Gauche is located primarily Latin Quarter and Saint-Germain-des-Prés – the French capital’s hub of intellectuals and students that fill sidewalk cafes in equal parts airy discussions and dense fog of cigarette smoke.

But there is also the area around the Eiffel Tower, which is full of wide boulevards, war memorials and some of Paris’ finest examples of Art Nouveau architecture. Read the rest of this entry »

I arrived in Brisbane in late summer 2009 with several friends for a week long vacation. Our goal was to experience Australian culture and the city of Brisbane. We came for the nightlife, beaches and scuba diving. We were not disappointed.

We stayed at the Brisbane Backpacker Hostel and couldn’t have been happier with the accommodations. The hostel’s modern, friendly and spacious resort is uniquely positioned to make your visit to Brisbane a memorable, relaxing and fun time. The service was excellent and the staff was very friendly.

There were dozens of bars, cafes and restaurants within short walking distance and plenty of parks and gardens nearby. The hostel is also located on the South Bank of the Central Business District, just a few minutes from the multi-cultural and cosmopolitan West End district.

We found getting around Brisbane to be relatively easy. The city is extremely flat so walking is always an option; plus bicycles could be rented from the Brisbane City Botanic Gardens. There seemed to be a well designed public transport system although we didn’t really get much use out of it.

There is plenty to do in Brisbane. A visit to the Alma Park Zoo is a necessity. There is a train that runs from the city center to the zoo which is located about thirty minutes north. Kangaroo Point makes for a nice day trip with its breathtaking cityscape views. There was a place to rent kayaks and barbecue there as well. Brisbane is home to an incredible selection of international cuisine and you’ll have no problem finding something that fits your tastes. We visited an incredible Middle Eastern restaurant which was one of the highlights of our trip. The nightlife is nothing short of fantastic and you’ll find the Australians to be a very friendly group.

Australians are actually some of the most traveled people in the world, chances are they’ve been to your country and want to show you around theirs. If you’re planning a trip to Brisbane make sure you do your research as it is an expensive city. We had a fantastic time and would surely return for a second visit. Read the rest of this entry »

Adventure, relaxation, and superb views describe the Indonesian island of Bali. This unique land is filled with pristine beaches, crater lakes, lush tropical forests, rice terraces, and active volcanoes.  Read the rest of this entry »

Northern Territory
The harsh Outback, desolate deserts, and the ancient remnants of prehistoric mountain ranges characterize much of Australia’s Northern Territory. Almost the entire population of this sparsely settled wilderness lives in a string of towns along the central highway that winds its way across the dry interior from Darwin to Adelaide. Foreign visitors and aboriginal peoples alike flock to Ayer’s Rock, a lone sandstone mountain that has endured for centuries as the rest of its range eroded away. Tread lightly here, for it is sacred to the native people of the area.

South Australia
Out of all of Australia’s states and territories, South Australia is the only one that actually began as a planned colony rather than a convict settlement. The northern portion of the state is quite inhospitable, with vast dry lakes and arid, mountainous terrain dominating. The southern areas have a more comfortable Mediterranean climate, so this is where most of the residents live. The coastal region is well suited for agriculture and is home to many wineries in the Barossa valley and other areas. Read the rest of this entry »

No matter your age or background, you can find Melbourne shopping to feed the need to spend some dough! There’s everything from high end designer stores to small boutiques and stores that sell area crafts. If you’re heading out to Melbourne, shopping should most definitely be listed on your itinerary. This is why you should take the time to consider car hire Melbourne options. The following are some of the many reasons that such services can help make shopping in Melbourne that much easier and more enjoyable.

First off, imagine that after a long day of shopping, your arms are full of bags and boxes. Who doesn’t want to walk away from the shops only to have a car waiting for him or her? This makes shopping that much easier. Having a driver help you with your purchases makes it easier to transport your wares.

If you have an experienced driver at your service, you will be able to hit more shops. Gone are the days of getting bogged down with maps or getting lost in a new city. Investing in car hire means those days are long gone. Instead, you will have an experienced driver who knows how to move between popular shopping locations quickly and safely. The driver may even have some suggestions about places you can visit.

Really, if you want to make the most out of your Melbourne shopping excursion, it is important to invest in car hire. This means that you won’t have to stress yourself out with driving. Instead, the driver will pull the car around once you’re ready to switch locations and bring your finds back to your hotel. Invest in car hire options and you will feel like royalty while taking advantage of all the great shopping in this great city. Read the rest of this entry »

It is a man-made wonder that stretches for nearly 6,000 miles. Between the 5th century B.C. and 221 B.C., the wall went through many additions, transformations, and fortifications by the Qi, Yan, and Zhao states. The first Great Wall of China was primarily constructed of tamped earth or beaten clay as stone was not always available. The wall was built in ten years by an army of 300,000 at a rate of 25 miles a month through marshes, deserts, mountain ranges, and altitudes of up to 8,000 feet. Imagine driving from Houston, Texas to Anchorage, Alaska. It is approximately 4,300 miles, far short of the length of the Great Wall…

The Great Wall is more complex than many people may know. It consists of forts and passes as well as more than 10,000 watchtowers and beacon towers. These towers housed troops and weaponry and were used to signal enemy approaches. Much of the original wall had been torn down or destroyed by weather until the Ming Dynasty rebuilt it stronger and more elaborately by using bricks and stone. Despite this, parts of the wall today lie in ruin or are completely missing. However, in 2009, an additional 180 miles of the Great Wall from the Ming Dynasty were discovered. They had been entombed by centuries of sandstorms.

The Great Wall of China is a masterpiece of human creation and is still a marvel to behold. Years of corrosion have greatly eroded this monumental and historic attraction, but it still continues to draw 1.2 million people a year and amaze all who see it. It is a standing testament to the dedication and tenacity of the Chinese people and a symbol of enduring strength and longevity. It lives in the mythology of China and remains a tangible link between ancient history and today. Read the rest of this entry »

For many, a trip to Egypt is an experience of a lifetime. Ancient art and architecture continue to enthrall people around the world as it is surrounded by mystery and wonder to this day. Egypt offers a glimpse into the ancient past through many tour options.

See the Three Pyramids of Giza, the Great Sphinx, Valley Temple, and the Step Pyramids of Zoser in one fantastic tour of Cairo and Giza. Cairo is situated on the banks of the famous Nile River which some say is the longest river in the world, though there is argument that the Amazon may be longer.

Most of Ancient Egypt’s cultural and historical sites are located along the banks of the Nile. Taking a tour on the Nile River is a popular and relaxing way to see many of them and to visit a number of antiquities along the way. Visitors can enjoy the luxury of a hotel on the water as they move along seamlessly from one site to the next.

Luxor is another popular tourist destination for its Luxor Temple, Luxor Museum, and the nearby Temples of Karnak. To the west of Luxor, across the Nile, sit archeological sites such as Tutankhamun’s Tomb in what is called the Valley of Kings and the tomb of Queen Nefertari in the Valley of Queens.

Before visiting Egypt it is important to be prepared. It is highly recommended to get a Hepatitis A shot and for visits over three months, the Hepatitis B shot. Though Egypt is relatively safe, petty theft is common, so be sure to secure belongings to avoid being a victim.

Egypt is a wondrous place of beauty, mystery, and enchantment. It is one of the world’s treasures that beckons to be seen, enjoyed, and appreciated. The memories will last a lifetime. Read the rest of this entry »

Europe is filled with wonderful sights, all within reasonable distances from each other.Travel between many of the countries is relatively hassle-free. An automobile may be rented, or rail passes can free a traveler to add a cruise or other transportation mode to a tour. So what are the sights that shouldn’t be missed on a European vacation?

For some people, planning a trip around personal interests, such as beaches, skiing, history, art, or some other activity is most important. Yet, to sample the best of the destinations in each country will give a better sense of the continent.

Amsterdam info – Amsterdam hotels, hostels and city guide Amsterdam hotels, hostels, tours, info, tips and articles.

In France, Paris is filled with such renowned sites as the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, the Arc de Triomphe, and Louvre. Spain is known for Moorish architecture and the Alhambra palace at Granada may be the most spectacular example.

Germany’s Rhine River cruises offer views of fantastic castles. In Berlin, the Brandenburg Gate and Berlin Wall are reminders of European history, and several memorials at concentration camp sites lie throughout the countryside. In Austria, Vienna is not to be missed. Visit the museums, hear great music, and see the Lipizzaner stallions perform.

To the south, the Swiss Alps are without equal, and in Italy, Rome and Vatican City are the greatest attractions. Landmarks of the ancient Romans compete for a tourist’s time with fountains and museums. Don’t forget the Mediterranean beaches of the Riviera!

Smaller countries should not be discounted. Holland is renowned for tulips, and is the home of the International Court of Justice in The Hague. The city of Brussels in Belgium is a melting-pot of northern European cultures. Portugal and Andorra offer stunning hiking and trekking opportunities, while Lichtenstein’s mountains are popular for viewing. Croatia, hidden gem of Europe, where central European, eastern European, and Mediterranean way of life meets and gives unique and peculiar cultural flavor. Read the rest of this entry »