Viator Travel Blog

There is no shortage of activities to enjoy and sites to explore and there is something to suit every taste and budget. Vietnam’s largest city is surprisingly easy to navigate so all ages will find exploring this city enjoyable and easy. Here are our top 10 tips, tricks and recommendations for Ho Chi Minh City.

Nothing is quite as exciting as exciting as familiarizing yourself with one of with one of civilization’s most historic and beautiful sites, and in Athens, Greece, you are at the pinnacle.

When people plan trips, they tend to opt for the big, well-known cities … the Parises, Madrids, and Venices of the world. But, while these places are packed with history, intrigue and beauty, there are other less popular cities offering beautiful and unique experiences, often a stone’s throw away.

For your next trip, keep the big city picks, but schedule in some day or overnight trips to other cities nearby.

Need some ideas?

One hour West of Venice on the Eurostar train, lies the beautiful city of Verona, nestling on the banks of the River Adige and now given the prestige status of being a UNESCO World Heritage Centre. A visit here is a chance to step back in time, to capture the grandeur and splendor of a city steeped in history…

This February 21st, cities around the world will come to life as tourist guides commemorate International Tourist Guide Day. Harvey Paul Davidson, a leader and active member of both global and local guiding associations (as well as a top Viator Private Guide!) shared with us how International Tourist Guide Day came to be and what New York City guides will be doing this year to celebrate.

Check your bucket list, as it’s time for Mardi Gras in New Orleans – the festival of all festivals. Nothing quite captures the joie de vivre of New Orleans than this lively annual party. Two weeks of exciting street parades lead up to Fat Tuesday, which falls on February 21 this year, when revelers don lavish costumes, colorful face paint and masks, and take to the street for a final bacchanalian bash before Lent.

Founded more than 700 years ago, Thailand’s northern capital of Chiang Mai grew through history in relative isolation before a railway system was built in the 1920s. These days, Chiang Mai is a hop and skip, either through its international airport or far cheaper bus alternatives.

However, before the innovation of modernized transportation, the grueling trek required weeks-long trips both on elephant and river, making it slow to the influence of the outside world.

Rome – like most Old World cities – is notoriously difficult to navigate because of its many intertwined layers of urban design, stretching back from antiquity to today. This is part charm, part treachery, for while it is certainly a thrill to wander in a place so beautiful and rich in history, it is also common to find distraught travelers bickering in the heat over wrinkled maps.

In fact, the centro storico (historic center) is not so sprawling or unpatterned as it first appears. I found this Hop-on Hop-off Double Decker Bus Tour to be an excellent orientation guide to the city, providing a pleasurable overview of key sites, with an insightful audio commentary and fresh breeze to boot. This video gives you a taste of the many places you can see and visit easily and quickly.

So you’ve been to the Statue of Liberty, you’ve walked through Times Square, and spent an afternoon rowing around the pond in front of Bethesda Fountain in Central Park. But for those who want to get a different take on the Big Apple and, more importantly, for those into hip-hop, jump on the bus for this hip-hop tour of New York City. On this 4-hour tour, you’ll learn about hip-hop culture, see the birthplace of hip-hop, eat some of New York’s tastiest soul food, and even do a little freestyle dancing.

Meet Isabell Erdmann, one of Viator’s local experts in Rio de Janeiro (and a highly rated licensed tour guide you’ll find at Viator Private Tour Guides).