Archive for February, 2007

It’s a paradise for sports fanatics, foodies, wine snobs, animal lovers and shopaholics. Straddling the curvy, lazy Yarra River, Melbourne is Australia’s second largest city but, some would say, its best. Get lost in its narrow, cobblestone laneways, stumble on a cozy little cafe or bar, take in a major art exhibition or join 100,000 other rabid fans at a footy match. It’s got all the big-city perks, and you can get from the big smoke to the rainforest, wine country or ocean in less than two hours’ drive.

There are many ways to explore Melbourne and if you’re not sure where to begin, read our suggested itineraries in Melbourne. Highlights include:

Day 1: The City & Inner Suburbs. Start your first day in Melbourne at the crack of dawn for a bird’s eye view of the city on a Melbourne hot air balloon ride. Or if heights aren’t your thing (and you like sleeping in a bit) take a Melbourne Full Day tour of the major sights. Once you’ve got your bearings it’s a good time to get out on your feet. There’s a lot to see downtown - or in ‘the City’, or CBD (central business district), as the locals call it. There are several excellent museums, including the National Gallery of Victoria’s twin sites, the International (with art and antiquities from around the globe) and the Ian Potter Centre, which houses a superb collection of Australian art. The latter is housed within the award-winning architectural centerpiece, Federation Square, which is packed with restaurants and bars.

For a good bargain, check out the Melbourne Smartvisit Card, which comes in 2-, 3-, or 7-day options and gets you into over 60 attractions and tours and saves you heaps.

Day 2: Outer Suburbs. Once you’ve made the rounds of the CBD and the inner suburbs, it’s time to range a bit farther. From the city, take the ferry to Williamstown, where you can grab a hearty pub lunch and some gourmet ice cream. Also north of the city is the Melbourne Zoo, where they’ve recently opened an orangutan sanctuary.

Melbournians are mad for sport. They invented Australian Rules Football (’footy’), and they lay claim to the first Test Cricket Match, played here in 1877 at the local temple of sport, the ‘G’ (Melbourne Cricket Ground), which can hold over 100,000 people. There’s no shortage of other sports - Formula One car racing (the race is in mid-March this year), tennis (Melbourne hosts the Australian Open each January), swimming, rugby, soccer. And horse racing: the Spring Racing Carnival lasts nearly two months, while the Melbourne Cup (a.k.a. The Race That Stops a Nation) is an official public holiday in Victoria!
Locals are also food-obsessed. A unique way to sup and sight-see at the same time is to take the Colonial Tramcar Restaurant, a beautifully restored 1920s tram that does a lazy circle around the CBD. Or take a leisurely dinner cruise on the Yarra River. For a towering view, book lunch or dinner on the 55th floor of Melbourne’s tallest office building.

Day 3: Country Victoria. There’s another world out there beyond the suburbs, ranging from rugged beaches to tropical rainforests to high country scrub, teeming with wildlife and lots to do. Kids tend to go gaga over the 16-inch (40 cm) fairy penguins that roost on Phillip Island, as well as the koalas, kangaroos, platypi and other local fauna at Healesville Wildlife Sanctuary. There are still more kangaroos - along with waterfalls, fern gullies, Aboriginal rock art and breathtaking views - in the rugged, lush mountains of the Grampians National Park. You’ll find more natural splendor along the tight curves of the Great Ocean Road, where you can surf or sunbathe to your heart’s content, or in the Dandenong Mountains.

Melbourne is situated amongst some of the finest wine country in the world, located just a short drive from the Yarra Valley. For the novice seeking to develop a better palate, the wine lover who likes to pair fine dining with his swirls, or the seriously dedicated foodie looking for an award-winning gastronomic experience accompanied by some of the best vintages, there are numerous options. Not to be forgotten, the Mornington Peninsula also has some outstanding wine, producing some cold-climate beauts like pinot noir and chardonnay.

This is just a sample of our recommendations. Read the complete set of Suggested Itineraries in Melbourne, or browse all of our tours, activities and things to do in Melbourne.

-Bruce Melendy

On my last business trip to Sydney I stayed an extra Saturday with the objective of exploring a new part of the city on my day off. I know Surry Hills like the back of my hand, and have a pretty good grasp of the CBD and Haymarket, but for all I knew aliens lived across the Harbour Bridge. And I hadn’t really even been to Darling Harbour, which is just embarrassing (one bar doesn’t count right?).

I poked around Viator’s Sydney tours to find the perfect new neighborhood excursion. My only requirement besides newness was that it needed to be a walking or biking tour, so I would be out in the lovely summer sunshine. I was tempted by the Crimes and Passions Walking Tour of Kings Cross, but I wanted a tour that started in the morning. Ultimately it was Terry M of Australia’s 4-star review that convinced me the Sydney Cycling tour was the one for me.

There are four options for a cycling tour in Sydney, and I opted for Terry’s choice which involved riding across the Harbour Bridge, through Kirribilli, Lavender Bay, Darling Harbour and a walk through Sydney’s Royal Botanic Gardens, all places I hadn’t even scratched the surface. I got lucky and was the only person on the tour — normally I think there are more people, but the heat had been intense that week and rain was called for, which I think scared some folks away. There was no rain, just a fantastic day of sun, breeze and biking.

Having the guide all to myself, I have to say I got a little demanding about stopping for photo ops, and I asked a lot more questions than I normally would. I started to realize how great private tours must be, and noted to myself that if I have a choice, I’ll spoil myself with private tours every time.

The guide and I chatted a lot during the five hours we biked through Sydney, and he mentioned that this was his last tour, he was moving to Buenos Aires in two weeks. I was honored to be his farewell bike tour, and I can confidently say he went out like a pro. It was an awesome bike tour! From the traveler reviews it sounds like all the guides are as good as he, but it’s a loss to the Sydney cycling scene nonetheless.

So in the end, mission accomplished, I know even more Sydney history than before, have biked over the Harbour Bridge, seen the North of Sydney, coasted through Hyde Park, poked around Darling Harbour, and saw the bats in the Botanic Garden.

And to my bike guide, buena suerte in Buenos Aires!

– Kelly G

The Sydney Cycling tour - 4 options from 2-5 hours, every day of the week.

Not up for cycling? Find 100+ other Sydney tours and activities.

If you’re planning on bringing the kids to New York, there are plenty of options, including things interesting for the grown-ups as well.

The #1 choice is probably the American Museum of Natural History. From dinosaurs and dodos to live butterflies and the planetarium space show, this museum is good for all ages. The cafeteria in the basement should do you for lunch, and you can expect to spend almost all day here. If you’re coming with more than one child and plan to see the special exhibits and an IMAX show, consider buying a museum membership even for the day because it comes with lots of discounts and lets you skip the entrance line.

Across the street from the Natural History Museum sits Central Park. It’s a great spot to let the kids get their ya-yas out after the museum, with rocks to climb on and much space to run around.

Central Park has many other kids’ options, including the Carousel, ice rinks, the Balto and Alice in Wonderland statues, and dozens of playgrounds.

Some of the city’s major tourist attractions are very kid-friendly, such as the Empire State Building, Top of the Rock, Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island tours, or a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and a free ride on the Staten Island Ferry.

Most kids are also fascinated with the subway. If you go, try to ride in the very first or very last car of the train whenever possible, because half the time you get one with a big window that lets you look down on the tracks and watch the stations coming or going, depending which direction you’re facing. The key tip with the kids in the subway is to make sure they’re holding your hand in a crowded station and board right next to you so you don’t get separated by closing doors. Then make sure they’re holding onto something when the train’s entering or leaving a station.

As for other museums, there are plenty of options. The Metropolitan Museum of Art does a great Met for Kids guide, which should get you in and out before ennui sets in. I’m not a big fan of the kids’ food options here or immediately around the museum, so you may want to plan your visit accordingly. The Museum of Modern Art has equally poor kids’ food choices, but it does have an outstanding roster of kids’ events. You usually need to plan in advance for those as they book up fast.

A lot of other cultural institutions have events targeted just for kids, including Carnegie Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center and the New York Philharmonic. Broadway of course wants your love (browse Viator’s list of Broadway show tickets), but this is a harder call than it looks. Producers sometimes set a recommended age limit, though obviously it will depend on your kid: ‘Mary Poppins,’ for example, has been too scary for some children.

As for shopping, the two biggies are the flagship FAO Schwarz near the southeast corner of Central Park and Toys R Us on Times Square. Both have amazing things to look at even if you don’t intend to shop, including massive Lego displays, the Ferris Wheel at Toys R Us, and the dance-on piano and a baby-doll nursery (with live ‘nurse’) at FAO Schwarz that fascinates children (and grown men).

As for where to stay, many hotels have packages aimed at children, including Hilton’s Build-A-Bear special and Ritz Kids at the Ritz Carlton. Remember that, as a rule, NYC hotel rooms are extremely small; don’t assume you’ll have a mini-fridge.

That’s a natural segue to the problem with food. You know and I know that kids know what they like, and they’d like it now. And while this may be the greatest restaurant city in the world, it’s always a challenge to know who’s got a kid-friendly menu within a block of where you are. If you’re tech savvy, you may want to load an electronic food guide onto your cell phone or PDA before you go (such as Vindigo or Zagat) that lets you type in your location and will tell you the closest kids’ restaurants. Alternatively, before you leave home, identify a few picks near locations you know you’ll be. Most restaurants put their menus online, so check them in advance and make sure their definition of a kids menu meets with yours. That said, you can usually buy pizza by the slice on most blocks or a perfectly good hot dog from the street vendors. If you’re going to hit some of the city’s most famous pizza shops (Patsy’s, Ray’s, Grimaldi’s, Lombardi’s, etc.) most don’t do by-the-slice but they are all kid-friendly - just be warned that many do have lines for seats.

Just a few other quick kids’ options: the Nintendo store at Rockefeller Center, the American Girl Place, Dylan’s Candy Bar, helicopter and boat rides, and the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory, located on the dock just south of the Brooklyn Bridge.

That should get you started planning your trip to NYC with the kids. For more ideas see Viator’s complete list of 100+ things to do in New York City.

–Amy Langfield

Very few countries have a history free of involvement in war, be it civil war or at the global scale. It is therefore not surprising that many places which have witnessed extraordinary occurences of war are of increasing interest to the weary traveler looking for a more meaningful experience than plastic Eiffel Towers and “I Love New York” t-shirts.

Europe is full of battle sites from World War I and II ranging from the battlefields of Flanders and the D-Day landing beaches of Normandy, to the Nazi Concentration Camp of Auschwitz - Birkenau in Poland. A popular pilgrimage for Australians and New Zealanders is Gallipoli’s ANZAC cove in Turkey, where on April 25 thousands converge to pay their respects to the fallen soldiers of the bloodbath at the site in 1915.

The most visited attraction in Hawaii for Americans is the Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor, while in Singapore a visit to the Changi Museum where POW’s were held during the Japanese occupation is a sobering experience. Most visitors to Thailand include a trip to the Bridge on the River Kwai. For me a visit to the JEATH war museum and the Allied Forces cemeteries on the way to see the “Death Railway” was an incredibly moving experience. The beauty and tranquility of the area hides unimaginable past horrors and torment.

Possibly the most confronting of all war sites is Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Japan. Built to commemorate the atomic bomb blast of 1945, the memorial stands as a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and as a constant reminder of the need for vigilance in a rapidly developing world.

It’s not just about the world wars though, many nations preserve the site of civil battles in order to honor those who gave their lives in the quest for freedom. The Zulu’s first took on the British Empire on Natal Battlefields of South Africa, and in the United States tours to Gettysburg are available from Washington DC and Pennsylvania, while any visitor to San Antonio is bound to stop for a visit of The Alamo.

Be it global conflict or domestic dispute, for anyone who does visit these historic places, be warned, it can be an emotional experience that leaves you physically, emotionally and mentally drained by the end of the day. These are not the places you come back from with a bag full of souvenirs and a hundred funny stories to tell, but you will bring home a renewed sense of patriotism and respect for the past generations who have courageously put lives on the line to defend their nation and our future.

- Kerrie O’Mahony

Flying to or from San Francisco’s International Airport (SFO) just got a whole lot easier. According to the SF Convention & Visitors Bureau there are some new airlines flying from SFO, not to mention existing carriers offering new routes.

This is great news for travelers heading to or from San Francisco, especially when it comes to finding low-cost and budget airfares. In the travel industry competition is a very healthy thing for consumers.

Here’s a quick summary of the new routes and services from SFO:

• Southwest Airlines resumes SFO service in the fall of 2007! This pioneering low-cost airline will start with 14 daily departures with a mix of short, medium and long-distance flights and a promise of cheap introductory fares. This is great news for travelers of all budgets.
  
• Air China is increasing the number of daily non-stop flights from SFO to Beijing, China.
• Alaska Airlines has added four new daily flights to San Diego, one daily flight to Los Angeles, and three new weekly flights to Cancun, Mexico.
• Frontier Airlines, in addition to its five daily Los Angeles flights, will add a second daily flight to Las Vegas effective April 14, 2007.
  
• JetBlue Airways will begin a new service on May 3 from SFO to New York’s JFK airport, with four daily non-stop flights in addition to one daily non-stop flight to Boston.
• Qantas Airways will add two additional services (on Mondays and Saturdays) starting March 26 to Sydney, Australia, for a total of five weekly non-stop options.
  
• United Airlines will add more service to Asia effective April 1, with reinstated daily non-stop flights to Taipei, Taiwan, and an additional three flights (on Wednesday, Friday & Sunday) to Hong Kong, for a total of 10 weekly non-stop flights to Asia.

Sydney, the Harbour City - sunny, welcoming familiar - and why wouldn’t it be with all those famous icons. The Opera House, the Harbour Bridge, that soaring skyline. Breathtaking views, world-class shopping, cutting-edge dining, and vibrant nightlife - there’s no shortage of things to see and do in Sydney.

If you’re not sure how to spend your time in Sydney, read our Suggested Itineraries in Sydney. Highlights include:

Day 1: The Heart of the City. You can cover much of Sydney’s core, Circular Quay, in a day and you have several options for getting around. It’s eminently walkable, though you may want to let someone else do the work. One of the most popular modes is the Sydney hop-on/hop-off bus tour, which from the open top of a double-decker bus gives you a nice panorama. For a different perspective, try a Sydney cycling tour (those hills should give you a workout) or sailing on the Sydney Harbour - the views from the harbor are unsurpassed. Or just splurge and circle the city by helicopter.

Perhaps the city’s most famous icon is the Opera House. There are lots of ways to see the Opera House - your basic walking tour of the Sydney Opera House, which takes you to places you’d normally need a ticket for; then there’s the more exclusive backstage tour of the Sydney Opera House, which starts early before the places fills up with stagehands and prima donnas, and includes breakfast. Finally, when the ballet is in season, you can combine a guided tour with dinner and a dance (by ballerinas, that is).

You may not have thought of Sydney as an adventure-travel destination but there is a surprising number of options for thrill-seekers. Try the Sydney Harbour Bridgeclimb or Sydney Skywalk at Sydney Tower. Why not do high-speed doughnuts in a jet boat on Sydney Harbour? And if that isn’t enough for you, combine it with a seaplane ride over Sydney. Or simply cheat death and dive with the sharks.

Day 2: Exploring Sydney. Radiating outward from the Circular Quay are Sydney’s suburbs and beaches. You can go bargain hunting in Paddington, dining in Darlinghurst, or surfing in Bondi. Or you can get the ferry to Manly where you can start with a tour, and watch the surfers on the ocean beach while tucking into some fish and chips. Get up close and personal with the local fauna. The Taronga Zoo is minutes from downtown by ferry. If you prefer your creatures wet, slimy and/or scaly, check out the Sydney Darling Harbour Aquarium and Oceanworld Manly.

One thing you will not want for in Sydney is good food. When dinner rolls around you’ve got no shortage of restaurants, though you might consider taking advantage of Sydney’s fine waterfront location and take a dinner cruise on the Sydney Harbour. Or, if you don’t mind going in (slow) circles while you eat, admire the view from the Sydney Tower Restaurant. For after dinner, there are hip bars and pubs all over town, though perhaps the most unique is the Minus5 Ice Lounge, which is as frigidly cool as it sounds.

Sydney is rife with ghosts and the echoes of deviance. A walking tour of Kings Cross recounts some of the city’s more infamous residents and their deeds. A hearse can take you to some of Sydney’s most haunted nooks and crannies on the Weird Sydney History and Ghost tour. You can stalk the ghosts of Bushranger ‘Mad Dog’ Morgan on the Campbelltown History and Ghost tour and the twice-hanged man on the Parramatta History and Ghost tour.

Day 3: Excursions. As strong as Sydney’s pull may be, there are many places beyond the city limits to tempt you. One of the most beautiful of these is the Blue Mountains. Heavily forested and teeming with wildlife, a Blue Mountains Day Trip is an excellent way to spend your time. You can also visit the Jenolan Caves, or tool around on a four-wheel drive explorer trek.

Australia is justly famous around the world for its wine, and one of its best regions is the Hunter Valley. You can do a Hunter Valley Day Trip to a few local wineries, or spend some time soaking up the local history on the Hunter Valley Wine and Wilderness tour. If you’re pressed for time and have the cash, why not take a helicopter to luncheon in the Hunter Valley?

This is just a sample of our recommendations. Read the complete set of Suggested Itineraries in Sydney, or browse all of our tours, activities and things to do in Sydney. If you want to extend your trip to other parts of Australia, it’s a big country, so you’ve got lots of choices. You could go north to Brisbane and the Gold Coast and find out why it’s called ‘BrisVegas’. Or keep going to Far North Queensland and test your mettle with the crocodiles and cassuaries.

-Bruce Melendy

Experiences like Backstage Tours, Location Visits, Shopping Excursions and Private Soirées Get Travelers Ready for the 79th Annual Academy Awards

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (February 13, 2007) - Since only a handful of Oscars will be awarded during the 79th Annual Academy Awards on February 25, most people won’t be getting up close and personal with the world’s most famous gold statuette. But there can be plenty of Hollywood winners with blockbuster tours and activities in and around (and above and below) Tinsel Town and other ‘on location’ cities, available at Viator.com. With more than 100 tours and activities boasting the Hollywood theme among a selection of more than 5,000 activities in 450 destinations around the world, Viator helps every traveler experience their “15 minutes of fame,” as well as their destination, during every trip.

That’s a Wrap
Stargazers can visit the studio that produced two of the Oscar nominees for Best Picture – The Departed and Letters from Iwo Jima - during The Warner Bros. Studio Tour and Santa Monica Private Tour, starting at $179.00, including full VIP access to the studio back lot, lunch in Beverly Hills and shopping on Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica. The VIP Experience at Universal Studios, starting at $159.00, includes exclusive access to the studio’s movie and production facilities, a visit to the prop warehouse, front-of-the-line and reserved seating for theme park attractions and shows, and access to a relaxing VIP lounge. The Hollywood Movie Stars Experience, starting at $62.00 offers the trifecta of chances for travelers to catch a glimpse of an Oscar nominee during the Sony Pictures Studios Highlight Tour, the Movie Stars’ Homes Tour, and Inside the “Heart of Hollywood” Walking Tour, which features the Kodak Theater, home of the Academy Awards.

Be Seen at the Scene
Travelers don’t just get behind the scenes with Viator, but they become “part of the scene” during the Los Angeles Soiree - Private Tour starting at $141.00. Travelers are picked up at their hotel by their personal guide for a night on the town in West Hollywood and Beverly Hills, including dining with the rich and famous at a popular venue like the Polo Lounge in the Beverly Hills Hotel or Massimo Beverly Hills just off of Rodeo Drive. Culture and the Hollywood scene are combined during the Private Luxury Los Angeles Tour, starting at $123.00. A visit to The J. Paul Getty Museum features paintings, drawings, sculpture, illuminated manuscripts, decorative arts, and European and American photographs, followed by lunch at “Bon Appetit” Restaurant, and shopping on fashionable Rodeo Drive.

Getting Above and Below (far below) the L.A. Surface
The Hollywood Skies Helicopter Tour, starting at $167.00, hovers high above the City of Angels and soars over Marina del Rey, Venice and Santa Monica beaches, the mansions of Bel Air, Beverly Hills and Pacific Palisades, as well as the rock & roll glamour of the Sunset Strip and the glitter of Hollywood Boulevard. To really dig deep and get below the surface, the Director of Undertakings, who maintains “a scary amount of knowledge about all things Hollywood” (according to a recent independent Viator user review), narrates travelers through decades of death, murder, and just plain fun during the Dearly Departed Tour, starting at $35.00. Scenes frequented by the famous and infamous are explored, as well as the ‘final scene’ for many an actor including Frank Sinatra, River Phoenix, Bela Lugosi and Mae West. The Movie Stars’ Homes and Celebrity Grave Site Tour, starting at $47.00 visits Beverly Hills’ stately streets where some of the world’s best known celebrities reside like Nicolas Cage, Harrison Ford and Eddie Murphy, as well as Hef and the “Girls Next Door” at the Playboy Mansion. Travelers take in Rodeo Drive on the way to the final resting places of many of Hollywood’s legends - Hollywood Forever and Westwood Memorial.

Hollywood on Location
For travelers who can’t get to Los Angeles, they can do what all actors do - go on location. The house from The Exorcist, the bar from St. Elmo’s Fire and other locations from Wedding Crashers, Forrest Gump and All the Presidents Men are explored during the On Location Tours: Washington DC TV and Movie Sites, starting at $34.00. Clips from such movies as Vertigo, Dirty Harry and Basic Instinct are viewed during a cinematic retrospective in the ‘Theater-on-Wheels’ during the San Francisco Movie Tour starting at $47.00. Travelers visit more than 100 locations including the “homes” of famous TV twosomes Will and Grace, Ross and Rachel (Friends), and Jerry and George (Seinfeld) during the On Location Tours: New York TV and Movie Sites starting at $34.00.

* All prices listed are per person and are accurate at the time of posting.

On March 18th, Sydney’s Harbour Bridge turns 75 years old. If you haven’t been to Sydney, you might wonder why this is interesting. Like the Tower Bridge in London, or San Francisco’s Golden Gate, the Harbour Bridge is the famous bridge of Sydney, probably the most famous bridge in Australia. Every New Year’s a message is posted on the bridge (this year’s message was 75th birthday themed), so if you’ve ever watched the New Year’s Eve celebrations from around the world on tv, no doubt you’ve seen it.

Spanning Sydney Harbour, the bridge is undeniably scenic to look at. I like the view from the Opera House or alternatively from the bridge’s base on the Kirribilli side. It’s also nice to look out at Sydney from. No trip to Sydney is complete until you cruise under, ride over or bike across the Harbour Bridge. You can also arrange to climb up it (not for the faint at heart or wallet).

If you are planning to be in Sydney this March 18th, the bridge will be closed to traffic to allow people to walk across it in commemoration of the big day. The only catch is, in an effort to control crowds, you need to register for a walking time in advance. I have biked across the bridge, and I highly recommend giving the walk a go if you are in town.

If you’d prefer to avoid the crowds on the bridge, celebrate on a special 75th anniversary cruise. Cruise near it, walk over it, or just admire it from afar, but take a moment to salute the Harbour Bridge on it’s 75th Birthday!

–Kelly G

Read more about the Harbour Bridge history and celebration plans here.

Browse all of Viator’s Sydney Harbour tours and activities.

What is the world buzzing about this week?

Costa Mesa (in Orange County - you know, the ‘O.C.’) has become a cultural mecca - well for Southern California at least - according to the New York Times travel section. Heading further south, Buenos Aires’ thriving 24-hour party-people scene and up-and-coming neighborhoods get the spotlight. (And the UK Guardian runs down vegetarian options in this land o’steaks). For the sophisticated thirst, London is shaking up a bevy of new cocktails. There’s a handy collection of articles and info on what do see and do in the American state of Georgia; and there are articles on Strasbourg, Iceland, and religious tourism in Cuba.

The San Francisco Chronicle tells why Mardi Gras in New Orleans is a good holiday option for kids, and explains how to avoid the crowds on Mexico’s Nayarit Coast.

The UK Guardian has discovered how to travel on much of South Africa’s famous Blue Train route for about a fifth of the price. What’s the secret? Leave from Johannesburg. They also give tips renting cottages, castles and other unusual accommodation in Ireland, as well has how to join the mile-high club on your own private (and oh-so discrete) flight.

The Sydney Morning Herald’s travel blog reports that the debut of in-flight mobile (cell) phone use has been delayed till May at the earliest. And British Airways has ’simplified’ the carry-on baggage situation for travelers by lowering the weight limit from 32kg to 23kg per bag. On the Herald’s main travel page, find articles on France (which has retained its number-one ranking as the world’s most popular travel destination), the Zambezi River (which offers more than just Victoria Falls), and New Zealand (there’s excellent cycling in Central Otago).

Elsewhere, check out the LA Times’ don’t-miss destinations. Things are moving again: Expedia has resumed selling first-class seats on Expedia; and the bigger planes are flying again in and out of Brazil’s Sao Paulo, where a legal ban has been reversed. It’s Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands versus their regional neighbors in the travel stakes as new passport regulations take effect. And travelers are finding Crawford, Texas, as popular as the town’s favorite son, George W Bush.

The travel news round-up finishes this week in Prague, where the English-language Prague Post newspaper has kicked off its annual ‘Best of Prague’ reader survey. We’re looking forward to the results. So exactly which are Prague’s best beer hall, pub and cafe? We’ll keep you posted.

- Bruce Melendy

Finland may not be on the travel radar of most Americans or Australians. But it’s definitely on the travel radar of the Brits. According to the Finnish Tourist Board there’s been a 10% jump in international arrivals to Finland, with much of that growth coming from London and the UK. The most popular destinations in Finland? Helsinki, followed by Oulu, Tampere-Pirkkala and Rovaniemi.

Now your travel friends at Viator aren’t going to take all the credit for this jump in international arrivals. But it may not be a total coincidence that Viator recently launched a new destination: Arctic Finland & Lapland. This is in addition to our collection of tours and things to do in Helsinki. So yeah, we’ve seen this whole ‘Finland is getting popular’ bandwagon rolling along for a while now. That’s our job, and we’re happy to be doing it.

So what’s popular in Finland this season? Here’s our Top 5 things to do in Finland this winter.

1. Ice fishing in Levi. It’s not too late to cut a hole in the ice and spend a few hours contemplating the natural beauty of Levi, Finland. If you get a catch, you can cook it over the campfire. This winter tour ends April 15, so grab your fuzzy warm coat and see you on the ice in Levi.
2. Husky dog sledding in Levi. Practice your mush skills on this 10-kilometer (6-mile) dog sledding trek through the wilderness. And yes, you can cuddle with a husky dog if you like. If that sounds a bit too adventurous for you, try a reindeer sleigh ride instead.
3. Cross-country skiing in Rovaniemi. You don’t have to be an expert at cross-country skiing to enjoy a day out in Rovaniemi. This three-hour tour includes all the gear, instruction from an expert, plus a guided cross-country ski journey… not to mention coffee and a warm fire in a Lappish tent when you need a break.
4. Overnight Igloo experience. This two day, one night tour from Helsinki includes all flights. You’ll fly from Helsinki airport to Ivalo, then it’s off to your cosy home base in Saariselkä: the Kakslauttanen Igloo Village with 20 igloos plus a honeymoon igloo suite! There’s even a sauna. The location of the Igloo Village is excellent for seeing the Northern Lights (until the end of April).
5. Audio tour of Helsinki. On your way to / from Lapland you’ll want to spend quality time in Finland’s capital, Helsinki. This audio city tour is a good way to see the city and get your bearings.

–Scott McNeely

Postscript: If you’re heading to Finland you can now book airport transfers to / from the Helsinki airport. We also recommend the Helsinki Card, which gets you discounts and free admissions to sights in Helsinki, plus free local transport.