Viator Travel Blog

I don’t know much about art but I know what I like. Actually, that’s not true. I studied art history. In Australia. Do you know how crazy it is to study the culture of places you’ve never been and write about paintings you’ve never seen? Very crazy. I learnt more in two months of travel through Paris, Venice, Florence and London, than I did in three years of antipodean university. For example, the Mona Lisa is very small.

Paris may be the city of love, but this stylish vibrant metropolis will also enchant younger travellers with a myriad of delights and adventures. This is especially true in spring and summer, when the streets of Paris come to life with street fairs, kid-friendly shows and concerts, and plenty of outdoor activities to keep young travellers entertained. Here are my top 5 picks in Paris with kids.

I was summonsed to the Tower of London. Five hundred years ago this might have made me quake in my boots. These days, it made me quite excited. In fact, I felt honoured because I’d been granted an interview with John Keohane, Chief Yeoman Warder and Gentleman Porter, the head Beefeater of the Tower of London.

Located in the southern-most tip of the Netherlands along the River Maas, Maastricht is quite literally in the heart of Europe – surrounded by Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany and only an hour from Brussels and Köln. Sure you know Maastricht as the ‘birthplace’ of the European Union and the birthplace of the European currency. But I bet you don’t know much more about this historically rich and culturally vibrant city (and one well-positioned to become European Capital of Culture in 2018).

When you envision a biking tour, the former Iron Curtain countries of eastern Europe may not be the first places that come to mind. Yet eastern Europe has some of the most scenic routes on the continent. And thanks to hard work from some forward-looking leaders (and cooperation from private and public groups), bike trails literally go for hundreds of miles. You can ride a bike from Prague to Vienna on mostly off-highway trails. The really fit can take a 254-mile trip from Budapest all the way to Krakow, Poland. Those who want a shorter trip have plenty of choices too – like a city bicycle tour in Prague or Budapest.

**Editor’s note: We have a winner! Read on for details!** We are giving away 2 free tickets to the Oberammergau Passion Play!

Actually we’re giving away much more than just 2 free tickets to the Oberammergau Passion Play – we’re giving away a complete package for 2 people that includes round-trip train tickets from Munich, two nights of accommodation, and two free Category Two tickets for the Passion Play itself. The total value here is more than US $1,500 / GBP 900 / 1,100 euros!

What is a Szekszárdi Kadarka supposed to taste like? Or a Borpalota Szürkebarát? What kind of a grape is a kéknyelű? It was in Hungary, at the Hungarian House of Wine (now closed), in the cellar of a small building a few cobblestone-blocks away from Fisherman’s Bastion in Budapest. A few signs offered clues about the various regions and a helpful cellar master swooped in to offer a life raft.

The 2010 dates for Keukenhof are now available! If you’ve got a thing about flowers, colour, beauty, history, and/or sweet smelling air, Keukenhof Gardens in the Netherlands, not far from Amsterdam, is the place for you. It’s gorgeous. So gorgeous, in fact, that no-one has ever taken a bad photograph there. Well, not of the flowers anyway.

In 2010 Viator contributors and travel writers Lara Dunston and Terence Carter are embarking on a contemporary grand tour: 24 destinations in 12 months! We are pleased to provide Lara and Terrry with unique local tours and experiences. They’ll be travelling slowly, living like locals, doing and learning things, and giving something back at each destination they visit.

Put down your scones and raise your teacups and champagne glasses in a toast. Each of us owes an enormous debt of gratitude to the Duchess of Bedford. If not for her whimsical decree back in the 1800s that a tray of tea and buttered bread be delivered to her each afternoon, the charming English afternoon tea ritual might not even exist. And where would London be then?