List Mania: Viator's Take on the Best in Travel

When I first visited New York City’s Lower East Side a decade ago, there was a gigantic graffitoed painting of recently murdered Mexican diva, Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, on the side wall of a building on the corner of East Houston Street. It separated the neighbourhood from its more genteel neighbour, the East Village.

Lower East Side street art

Now it’s a billboard for a lending institution.

NYC’s Lower East Side: Remembrances of things past

When visiting New York, I always stay on the Lower East Side with my Australian friend, whom I shall refer to by the name of Dee to protect the innocent. Dee lives a short walk from Chinatown on the Lower East Sire. And as I arrive in the late afternoon I usually arrange to meet Dee after her work in an uptown office megaplex at Lotus, where I can snuggle my chai (yes, dear reader, forgive me, for I am a chai-snuggler) and read for as long as it takes Dee to brave the perils of peak-hour subway.

I walk down Clinton to Lotus and enter: shock horror, an empty Lotus awaits, all darkened and reddened, the arrival of party-going hordes. The chais are gone, the tuna-salad bagels are gone, the piles of the Village Voice are gone. Lotus is now just another hipster bar, one of dozens that continue to pop up in the neighbourhood: the Lower East Side is now a beacon of Manhattan nightlife.

Later, as we eat nearby in the din at the bustlingly gorgeous Schiller’s Liquor Bar, Dee is unmoved and unsurprised. “You know, Alex, if you could see the changes that have happened to the Lower East Side since we moved in eight years ago. When we moved here, it was all Dominican.” The story is a familiar one: this neighbourhood hosted each successive wave of immigrants until the real estate boom flushed out the last corners of cheapish rent on Manhattan island. Thankfully, diversity’s fabric hasn’t been totally unthreaded. The nearby projects still remain, meaning the neighbourhood hasn’t last all of its diversity.

Sunday morning, D Train

The following day, at Soy, a Japanesey hole-in-the-wall on Suffolk between Rivington and Delancey, I meet Nicky, an artist at the Clemente Solo Velez Cultural Centre. Named after a distinguished Puerto Rican poet, it’s a former public school and an architectural landmark distinguished by early 20th-century exuberance. It houses two small theatres and a couple of dozen artist’s studios and is a stalwart of the old Lower East Side. For as long as I’ve visited the neighbourhood, its ground level has been clad in graffitoed scaffolding.

“I’ve had a studio there 16 years,” Nicky says. “At the beginning it didn’t even have locks on the doors. It was a squat, you know - this was a pretty rough neighbourbood. We had to fight the city to keep it, then we had to fight those who wanted it to be just for the Puerto Ricans. I can’t begin to tell you the troubles we’ve had keeping that building. But my rent is ridiculously cheap.” There comes a certain age in one’s life when you can’t have a conversation without talking about the price of real estate.

A scruffy, insouciant, rock ‘n’ roll guide to the Lower East Side

This is a fast-changing world, but that doesn’t mean every travel article about the Lower East Side should be a eulogy of things past. Sure there are Manhattan neighbourhoods with more and better museums, fancier restaurants, better-heeled locals and more camera-genic locales. Yet you’d be hard-pressed to find a Manhattan neighbourhood more rock’n’roll than this one.

So here follows my scruffy, insouciant, rock ‘n’ roll guide to the Lower East Side.

• Best Guitar Store. Hipsters love vintage guitars, which means that the neighbourhood boasts some wonderful purveyors of the ax. My favourite: Rivington Guitars. Thanks, Howie for giving me a demo of that 12-string Rickenbacker on that vintage Vox amp, even though you’d just driven 20 hours that weekend to pick up some axes in Ohio, and even though I had to tell you some pathetic lies about how I was “thinking about how to push my music in new directions” to get you to do it. I wish I was you.
• Best Street Art. Hipsters love graffiti, which they call ‘street art’. Check this out.
• Best Bookstore. McNally Robinson, on Prince Street. Technically in Little Italy, this place makes literature hip, and that, friends, is no easy feat.
• Best Restaurant. I am a sucker for two things: hipster women and restaurants with strange symbols in their names. I don’t know if MS Word is even going to let me type this, so let me try: ‘inoteca. Damn, how do I get that apostrophe to face the other way? Long story short: snacky Italian bar-type meals, New York bustle, Italian wine list as long as (but far more interesting than) Dante’s Paradiso. Cheese list factor: stinky (that’s good).
• Best Cinema. Two Boots, corner Avenue A and E 3rd St. Grab a slice of pepperoni pizza in the adjoining pizzeria if puckish. Also technically East Village, but within easy walking distance.
• Best Museum. You have two hours to see a museum in the Lower East Side. Which will it be – New Museum or Tenement Museum? The brand-new New Museum on the Bowery was closed on the day I went to visit, but it seemed real nice, even if New York magazine said it was “over-hyped”. Visiting the Tenement Museum (108 Orchard Street, between Delancey and Broome) is like stumbling onto the set of Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York – as well as being an invaluable reading aid to anyone with a passing interest in a certain kind of New York novel, i.e. anything written by Henry Roth or Michael Chabon.
• Best Knish. I’ve only ever had one knish in my life, and it was at Yonah Schimmel’s Knishery (“Hand Made Baked Knishes”) at 137 E Houston St. That’s a travel writer’s job: to pretend to be an expert about things he knows nothing about. But it was delicious. And it seemed very authentic.
• Best Magazine to Read About New York When In New York. On the one hand, there’s the New Yorker, magazine of choice for picking up hipster librarians on the Subway. (Here’s how you do it: read said magazine on the Subway, wearing something hip and distinctive. Go home. Look up ‘Missed Connections’ on Craigslist. Wait… Keep waiting…) On the other hand, there’s New York magazine, whose cover in the issue I picked up while there was emblazoned with the headline “Post-Crime,” about the city’s historically low crime figures.
• Safest Neighbourhood in Manhattan. According to the the aforementioned New York magazine article, definitely not the Lower East Side, which boasted in 2007 two murders, seven rapes, 215 robberies, 121 assaults and 114 burglaries. Please bear in mind: I quote these figures not to alarm but to inform. These are historically low figures. You are more likely to have your tongue scalded by a Starbuck’s coffee than to be the victim of crime in the Lower East Side (I just made that up, but it’s probably true). Incidentally, a quick perusal of the figures suggests the safest neighbourhood in Manhattan is probably Chelsea (where hipsters go to die, and where the score is 0, 8, 144, 151, 108).

Finally, here is my “Favourite Cheesy Thing to do in New York.” This has nothing to do with the Lower East Side, but the winner is the Empire State Building, hands down, for the view that really makes you understand why hipster hero Kurt Vonnegut called Manhattan ‘Skyscraper National Park’.

–Alex Landragin

Planning a trip? Browse Viator’s New York City tours & things to do in New York. And if you haven’t already entered Viator’s NYC Rock ‘n’ Walking Tour contest, then a hipster you are not.

On the hunt for hot babes & air guitars at Desyniland

When you want to find something online what do you do? You search for it. It should come as no surprise that lots of travelers do a lot of searches for destinations and activities via the search box on Viator.com (see it there in the upper right corner?).

It is surprising that the Viator.com search box had over 1.2 million searches in 2007! We’re no Google (91 million searches per day), but this number was higher than we thought. All of this searching leads to a ton of data, some of it sad, some of it funny, and all of it interesting.

In the spirit of Viator’s List Mania! I bring you the bottom 10 and top 10 searches from Viator.com’s search box for 2007.

Viator Travel Searches: The Bottom 10

We had a ton of searches that only happened once, in effect a big tie for last. I handpicked 10 favorites, your guess on why people searched for these is probably as good as mine.

1. kahn - A misspelled Chaka or Wrath of? I vote for William Shatner yelling “Khaaaaaaan!”.
2. chiquittita - As far as I can tell this is misspelled ABBA song, and not their best one at that.
3. why is the tower of pisa tipping - Good question! Apparently it tips because of some very soft soil (technically called “loose substrate”) and a very poorly built foundation.
4. desyniland - The worst misspelling I have seen in our search logs, and that’s saying something. I’m not even going to tell you the correct spelling. M-I-C-K-E-Y…
5. blackberry - Leave the pda at home! You’re on vacation!
6. finish marriage - I like to think this was supposed to be “finnish marriage” which is much happier than a finished marriage.
7. hot babe -It was only a matter of time before something like this graced the list.
8. traveling tips - Just one search for this? We offer tons of traveling tips! Check out our suggested itineraries, or sign up for our newsletter to get some.
9. air guitar - Rock on!
10. invader spices - I see a great movie concept here. The pitch could be Snakes on a Plane, but with rosemary and paprika. And maybe a soundtrack tie in with the Spice Girls?

Viator Travel Searches: The Top 10

If you’re curious about the Viator search results, you can click on the link to see them.

1. discount -Many people have figured out that this is a really easy way to see everything on sale on Viator.com, hence why its so popular. And also, who doesn’t like a good deal?
2. rome - Why does it not surprise me that Rome, our #1 destination for 2007, gets searched for a lot?
3. buckingham palace - If its good enough for the Queen, its good enough for our search list.
4. vatican - Again, what a surprise that the #1 thing to do in Europe gets a lot of searches?
5. kennedy space center - Out of this world.
6. chichen itza - Actually I am impressed this many people are spelling it correctly. I think the bottom search list skewed my view of spelling competency.
7. versailles - Another home fit for a king, and not surprising given how popular France was as a destination in 2007.
8. paris - Didn’t I just say France was popular?
9. grand canyon - A helicopter flight to the Grand Canyon was the #1 activity for the USA and Canada in 2007.
10. swim dolphin - Every year more and more people love to swim with dolphins.

–Kelly G

Thailand (Bangkok) - voted #40 in 2007

Friends, blogsters and fellow travelers, the time has come for Viator to pay our final respects to 2007 and to the travel year that was. My desk calendar proclaims ‘2008′ now, and points stubbornly ahead anticipating travels yet to come.

Yet before we say farewell to 2007, let us take a moment to honor the Top 50 destinations of the year as determined by viator.com travelers. This is our second annual “Viator Top 50″ list, and like last year, 2007 had been a great ride, full of surprises (good on ya, Rome) and some surprising absences (Mexico, we missed you).

If you’re not yet caught up on our end-of-year lists of top things to do around the world, these links will help: Europe, Asia, USA & Canada, Australia, Caribbean, Central & South America, Middle East & Africa.

Thanks again to the millions of travelers who visited us in 2007, we hope to see you again in 2008.

The Viator 50: Top Travel Destinations in 2007

50. Montreal

Mt Fuji, on a day trip from Tokyo (#10 in 2007)

49. Prague

48. Alice Springs

47. Seville

46. Port Douglas

45. Krakow

44. Perth

43. Christchurch

42. Auckland

41. Chicago

40. Bangkok

39. Boston

Sunset in Venice (#8 in 2007)

38. Miami

37. Athens

36. Salzburg

35. Granada

34. Edinburgh

33. Naples

32. Dubai

31. Vancouver

30. Costa del Sol

29. Oahu

28. Hong Kong

The Sydney Skywalk, Sydney (#7 in 2007)

27. Los Angeles

26. Zurich

25. Vienna

24. Singapore

23. Washington DC

22. The Grand Canyon

21. Munich

20. Orlando

19. Barcelona

18. Cairns & the Tropical North

17. Dublin

16. Versailles

15. Ayers Rock

14. Milan

13. Madrid

12. Amsterdam

11. Melbourne

Ahh, the wonders of Rome (#1 in 2007!)

10. Tokyo

9. San Francisco

8. Venice

7. Sydney

6. Florence

5. London

4. New York City

3. Las Vegas

2. Paris

1. Rome

So how’s your wanderlust doing after reading this entire list? For us, the Viator 50 list of top travel destinations is all about getting inspired to take that next trip. We hope this year’s list of top travel destinations on viator.com has got you thinking about your next holiday, whether it’s across town or across the globe.

We’d also like to extend our congratulations to a few destinations, notably to Rome, which jumped from #3 last year to #1 this year. And to Las Vegas, which made it into the top 3 this year.

If you’re feeling nostalgic about last year’s winners, keep on reading below. We’ve kept last year’s Viator 50 for your entertainment and traveling pleasure.

Happy travels in 2008.

–The Viator Team

(more…)

Just last month we started publishing photos over on the viator.com website. And not just any old travel photos. These are photos taken by actual Viator travelers, photos of themselves on elephant treks, helicopter tours, hot air balloon rides, private tours of the Vatican — and on hundreds of the other 5,000+ tours and things to do available on Viator.com. Our Photo Galleries have only been live for a few weeks, and already we’ve received a few thousand photos from Viator travelers doing some very cool and interesting things.

So without further ado, here are the top 10 photos submitted by travelers on Viator.com. We selected the photos below based on a simple criterion: of all the photos we’ve received so far, these are the ones that most inspired us to take that next trip!

#10. Dubai Desert 4×4 Adventure

Here’s a shot taken by Merridy in Dubai, on a 4×4 Desert Wonder Safari. Merridy’s comment: “The kids loved it. We are glowing with praise for your fantastic desert safari and your even more fantastic staff who drove, cooked and looked after my daughter, her 9 year old son, 5 year old daughter and me… the grandmother!” We chose this for our top 10 list because the kids do, very much indeed, look happy riding that camel at sunset. Who’s up for a trip to Dubai?

#9. Dive & Snorkel Cruise from Cairns, Australia

Hello Samantha! What a funny shot of you underwater on the Dive and Snorkel Cruise to Agincourt Ribbon Reef from Cairns. Samantha’s caption: “Me, trying to take a picture of my self at Agincourt Reef!” And for attempting that underwater self-portrait, we salute you Samantha.

#8. Champagne Sunset Cruise, St Lucia, the Caribbean

Here’s a postcard-perfect shot of sunset on the Caribbean island of St Lucia, taken by Angela after her St Lucia Champagne Sunset Cruise. Check out a few more of Angela’s photos of St Lucia, all of which make us want to book the next flight to St Lucia.

#7. Elephant Trek & River Rafting in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Laurie took this shot of “elephants heading back home up the river after our jungle trek,” and for us it captures the thrill of taking an elephant jungle trek in Thailand. There’s something very cool and hypnotic about that long line of elephants slowly snaking up the river. See more of Laurie’s photos of her elephant trek in Thailand.

#6. Niagara Falls, Day Trip from New York City

Say hello to Sophie, Katherine and Sean. Don’t they look happy? Don’t they look wet? Don’t they look like they’re having a blast exploring the Niagara Falls on a day trip from New York City? Yes we thought so, too. Check out more of Sean’s photos of the Niagara Falls day trip from NYC.

#5. Ayers Rock (Uluru) Camel Sunset Tour

Hmm, not sure we intended to have a camel theme to our top photos of the year. But good photos are good photos, and this snap by Gillian of her Ayers Rock Sunset Camel Tour caught our fancy. Kangaroos in Australia? Sure. Koalas and wombats, too. But camels? Mate, you better believe it. Check out more photos of the Ayers Rock camel tour.

#4. Vatican & Sistine Chapel Tour, Rome

The Vatican, the Sistine Chapel, Rome… these are some of the most stunning sites in Europe. And we liked James’ photo above because it captures the awe-inspiring beauty of the Vatican’s architecture. Check out more photos of the Vatican & Sistine Chapel walking tour.

#3. Grand Canyon Helicopter Tour, from Las Vegas

For some people, Las Vegas is all about gambling. For others it’s all about the glitz and the glamor. For others it’s about easy access to sites such as Death Valley and the one-of-a-kind Grand Canyon. We selected Katie’s photo above, on her Grand Canyon Helicopter tour, because it captures the Grand Canyon’s majestic natural beauty with the shadows of a few fleeting clouds on an otherwise crystal-clear day. Great photo, Katie.

#2. Paris City Tour in a Citroen 2CV

Fancy a private tour of Paris in an old school Citroen 2cv? Nick and Nancy (above) did, and here’s what Nick had to say: “This was a trip down memory lane - my wife and I both drove 2CVs in the 1980s. I organised the tour for my wife’s 40th birthday, and it was great to hear the familiar rumble of a 2CV as it approached the hotel. This was a brilliant way to see Paris, and we were the centre of attention wherever we went. Great fun.”

#1. Statue of Liberty at Sunset, New York City

The Big Apple, it’s our kind of town. New York City is one of the world’s most iconic destinations, and it’s a safe bet that Manhattan’s skyline is the most recognizable in the world (More recognizable than Paris? Yes. More than London? Yes.). We chose Costa’s image of the Statue of Liberty at sunset as our top photo of the year because it is, simply, a beautiful photo of one of New York’s most famous sites. Congratulations Costas. And we hope your future travels include more of Viator’s tours and things to do, if only because we hope you send us more of your great trip photos!

–The Viator Travel Team

Editor’s Note: We’ve posted these Top 10 Travel Photos of the Year over on the Viator Flickr site. So far the main question we’ve been asked about the photos on Viator.com is, “are these photos for real?” We’re happy to report that yes, yes they are. Each and every photo was taken by an actual Viator.com traveler.

Editor’s Note: The following is part of our ongoing “2007 Travel Year in Review.” So far we have announced our Top 25 Things to Do in each of the regions we cover, and we’re getting ready to announce (look for it next week) the Top 50 Travel Destinations of 2007.

Dolphin Swim: #4 Thing to Do with Kids in 2007

Got kids? Plenty of travelers do, and in 2007 they hit the road in record numbers. Family trips, vacations with kids, kid-friendly adventure holidays, all of these experienced major growth in 2007. We saw similar trends on the viator.com site, with kid-friendly and family-friendly travel growing by more than 35%. We’re also impressed by the range of kid- and family-friendly tours purchased in 2007. Sure there were plenty of holidays to Disneyland and Universal Studios, we would expect no less from two of the world’s most popular theme parks and entertainment brands.

Yet our list includes a number of non-traditional and off-beat things to do with kids, from dolphin swims to ‘duck tours’ and more.

What does it all mean? Maybe that having a kid (or three) is not the end of your travel career, but rather an opportunity to act like a kid and have a heap of fun doing it.

#1. Universal Studios, Orlando

Universal Studios Orlando: #1 Thing to Do with Kids in 2007

Universal Studios in Orlando, as well as Universal Islands of Adventure, are filled with innovative rides and attractions from high-speed roller coasters to children’s rides and groundbreaking 3-D attractions.

The studios are the #1 movie and TV based theme park in the world. And because it is a real film studio you can go behind the scenes of your favorite movies. If you’re a kid yourself, or the parent of a brood of kids, this is a no-brainer way to have an awesome family vacation.

Viator links:

• Universal Orlando 2-Park Unlimited Admission Ticket (7 Days)
• All family-friendly things to do in Orlando
• Suggested itineraries in Orlando

#2. Disneyland, Paris

Ahh, Disneyland. Every kid loves it. How could you not?? From the rides to the parades to the theme park characters, Disneyland is all about making sure the kids have a great time. Honestly, we were a little surprised that so many families are taking the kids to Paris these days, but it makes sense if you think about it. So many people want to share Europe with their children, and while they’re there why not spend a day or two having a great time at a theme park that the kids are guaranteed to love.

Viator links:

• Disneyland Paris, including transport from Paris
• All family-friendly things to do in Paris
• Suggested itineraries in Paris

#3. Singapore Zoo Jungle Breakfast (with Orangutans!), Singapore

The award-winning Singapore Zoo is one southeast Asia’s top attractions; in fact our Singapore Zoo Night Safari consistently ranks among our top 25 things to do across Asia. The jungle breakfast is becoming equally popular, as it provides a rare opportunity to interact with endangered orangutans (Singapore’s zoo is a world leader in caring for orangutans). The visit includes commentary from zoo experts and a tram ride through the hugely popular Singapore Zoo. And let’s be honest, what kid doesn’t love a good zoo?

Viator links:

• Singapore Zoo Jungle Breakfast with Orangutans
• All family-friendly things to do in Singapore
• Suggested itineraries in Singapore

#4. A Tie! Dolphin Swims in Orlando, Florida & the Dominican Republic

These two dolphin swims were so close in popularity that we decided to call it a tie. The dolphin swim and Everglades airboat adventure in Orlando is rated 4 stars (the highest possible) by Viator.com travelers, which is no small feat. The swim is in a natural ocean-water lagoon at Dolphin Plus, a marine mammal research and education facility. Dolphins Plus is committed to the conservation and protection of marine mammals through education, research, experiential learning and environmental awareness. Don’t worry it’s also plenty of fun. The dolphin swim at Ocean World in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, is another four-star-rated experience and is hugely popular with families and kids.

Viator links:

• Swim with Dolphins & Everglades Airboat Adventure, Orlando
• All family-friendly things to do in Orlando
• Dolphin swim at Ocean World, Dominican Republic
• All family-friendly things to do in the Dominican Republic
• More dolphin swims around the world

#5. Duck Tour, Boston

What? You’ve never heard of a ‘duck tour’? It doesn’t matter, there’s a good chance your children have. Duck Tours are city tours with a wacky twist: authentic, renovated World War II amphibious landing vehicles. That’s right, hop aboard a WWII landing craft for a land / water tour that will put a smile on even the most cynical parent’s face. The Boston Duck Tour covers the golden-domed State House to Bunker Hill and the Fleet Center, Boston Common and Copley Square to the Big Dig, Government Center to fashionable Newbury Street, Quincy Market to the Prudential Tower, and more. And then it’s a left turn — splashdown! — into the Charles River for a view of the Boston and Cambridge skylines.

Viator links:

• Boston Duck Tour
• All family-friendly things to do in Boston
• All Duck Tours on Viator.com

–Scott McNeely, parent of a 2-year-old

As part of Viator’s “2007 Travel Year in Review”, we have already announced our Top 25 Things to Do in each of the regions we cover, and we’re getting ready to announce (look for it next week) the Top 50 Travel Destinations of 2007.

In the meantime here’s another window into the best travel experiences of 2007. We’ve made a list of the top 3 unforgettable travel experiences in 2007. These are the three most popular tours and experiences on offer at viator.com, as determined by Viator travelers. And just to keep things interesting, we’re including some of the best traveler feedback and candid traveler photos.

#1. Grand Canyon Helicopter Tour, from Las Vegas

The All American Grand Canyon Helicopter tour is, consistently, one of our top-rated travel experiences. This year it edged out all other to become the #1 most unforgettable travel experience on Planet Earth.

Overview: Take off from the Las Vegas airport on a 3-1/2 hour tour of the USA’s most unique natural formation - the Grand Canyon. The helicopter passes over the West Rim, Lake Las Vegas, Lake Mead and Hoover Dam en route.

Recent Traveler Reviews:

• It was amazing and the pilot was excellent. The pilot was full of great information and made the trip very enjoyable as well as relaxing. I was somewhat fearful of taking a helicopter but between the great pilot and the beautiful atmosphere there is no doubt in my mind that I will do it again but a sunset flight next time.
  –Catherine C, Canada, December 2007
• This helicopter flight was exactly as advertised. A stretch limo picked us up and returned us to the hotel. The flight was great. Two other couples flew with us. The whole organization was professional and well organized. The picnic lunch in the Grand Canyon was very nice. All in all it was a very good time and a good value. I would definitely recommend this tour to my friends and family members.
  –Simon C, United Kingdom, December 2007
• Very professional and certainly first class from the limo, the limo driver, the reception area, the flight, and the pilot. Was a beautiful day and a wonderful trip.
  –Richard M, United States, October 2007

Candid Grand Canyon traveler photos on Viator.com
More Grand Canyon Helicopter Photos on the Viator Flickr site

#2. Vatican Museum & Sistine Chapel Tour, Rome

This is one of our “Skip the Line” tours, which means you get to jump to the head of the queue at the Vatican — no small advantage on a hot summer day when it can take three or four hours just to enter the Vatican. Yet it’s not just the ’skip the line’ aspect that makes this Viator’s #2 unforgettable travel experience in 2007. The frescoes, the art, the architecture, the history — that is what makes this experience truly unforgettable.

Overview: Upon arrival your guide leads you into the Vatican Museums and through the Gallery of the Tapestries and Gallery of the Geographical Maps, before arriving at the famous Sistine Chapel with its magnificent fresco of The Last Judgment by Michelangelo. All entrance fees to the Vatican Museums are included, and tours are conducted by local multilingual guides who have a proficient knowledge of history and art.

Recent Traveler Reviews:

• An absolute experience and we did not have to line up. There were so many tourists even in November and I can’t imagine what it would be like in the summer.
  –Helen M, Canada, December 2007
• AMAZING! Our tour guide was wonderful, we skipped all of the lines and got to go inside 1 hour before the general public. Worth every penny!
  –Ellen F, United States, November 2007
• Leaving early and skipping the lines is the best way to see the Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel. As the day goes on, you will be thankful as you see the crowds roll in! Our guide was EXCELLENT, with an abundance of passion and knowledge.
  –Lorraine B, United States, November 2007

Candid Vatican & Sistine Chapel traveler photos on Viator.com
More Vatican & Sistine Chapel photos on the Viator Flickr site

#3. Naples & Pompeii Day Tour, from Rome

This day trip from Rome to Naples & Pompeii is hugely popular, no doubt because Pompeii continues to capture the imagination of art, history and architecture. The two-hour guided walking tour of the ancient city of Pompeii copvers every aspect of this UNESCO World Heritage Site. Walk through the ancient ruins buried in ashes after Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD79.

Overview: During the journey from Rome you will see the Abbey of Monte Cassino, famous for its battle and complete destruction during the Second World War; as well as the Gulf of Naples. After lunch outside of Pompeii, you take a guided two-hour walking tour of the ancient city of Pompeii with a local guide.

Recent Traveler Reviews:

• Highly recommend this trip. My wife and I spent one week in Rome and made this a one-day excursion. The bus ride was a nice review of Roman farmland. I saw all of Naples I wanted to see. And the Pompeii tour was excellent, with a very interesting guide. Unless you have the time and interest to while away lots of time, this is the BEST way to go!
  –John M, United States, December 2007
• Perfect day. Our guides made it fun. The traffic jams in Naples are a sight to see in themselves!! How our driver coped was a mini miracle. Pompeii is stunning; this is a highly recommended trip.
  –William B, United Kingdom, December 2007
• I liked this trip. It’s a good way to explore the city of Naples and hear the story behind the ruin of Pompeii. The tour guide was wonderful. I really liked it. Good tour, and I recommend it for sure!! I liked the pickup service from the hotel.
  –Rosmina L T, Indonesia, November 2007

Candid Naples & Pompeii traveler photos on Viator.com
More Naples & Pompeii photos on the Viator Flickr site

–Scott McNeely

What were the year’s most popular stories on the Viator blog?

Opening Day at the Grand Canyon Skywalk: Our #3 post in 2007

We’ve run the numbers and the most popular posts from 2007 (based on page views) are below. It’s an interesting list, to be sure. Enjoy the walk down memory lane in 2007, and happy 2008 from the entire Viator Travel team.

1. Insider’s Guide to Malaysia’s Best Beaches. Kim’s post about the top beaches in Malaysia, both east coast and west coast, was the most popular post on the Viator blog. Congratulations Kim, for writing such a useful post. And congratulations to all the lucky travelers who are off to a beach in Malaysia… yes, some of us are more than a little envious.
   
2. Top 25 Things to Do in Europe. This isn’t so surprising — it’s not easy to plan a trip to Europe, there are so many options, so many choices. Our list of the top tours & things to do in Europe was intended to help de-mystify what’s cool, interesting, new, fun and popular in Europe. And it looks like we succeeded.
3. Grand Canyon Skywalk: Opening Ceremonies. Viator’s founder, Rod Cuthbert, was lucky enough to attend opening day at the Grand Canyon Skywalk. Rod reported on a few opening-day glitches, but his overall impression was that it is a very cool thing to do. And he’s not alone. In 2008 the Hualapai tribe that manages the site expects upwards of 550,000 people to visit the Skywalk. (PS: click here to see Rod’s photos of the Grand Canyon Skywalk on opening day.)
4. 1,000 Places to See Before You Die. My post about the mediocrity of the new 1,000 Places to See Before You Die television show broadcast on the Travel Channel struck a chord. Some people accused me of being a ‘hater’. Others thought I was being a snob. And me? I thought I was just being honest.
5. Suggested Itineraries: 3 Days in Rome. Shelley’s post about navigating Rome was a hit with travelers. She has useful tips for sightseeing in Rome, where to eat and drink, where to feel like a local, and where to simply enjoy yourself in the Eternal City.

–Scott McNeely

I read about a Slovakian poet who lost an entire year in a Bratislava café, like an umbrella left behind in the rain. Which sounds like quite a commitment to sloth. Yet this is exactly what I love about settling into a good local café: for the price of a latte / mélange / milchcafe / koffee verkied, you buy yourself a comfortable place in the world for a few hours, and a momentary brush with the lives of others.

Space to think, gazing out the window, reflecting on life, a step away from the responsibilities and distractions of your home or work environment, these are some of the benefits of heading down to your favourite café. The café is home to your urban family, an oasis of warmth and calm to retreat to from the world of constant movement, pressure to perform, demands and stress. And someone else does the dishes! No-one expects anything of you in a café, except that you pay the bill.

When you’re traveling, and having to negotiate language, unfamiliar streets and customs, finding a local cafe that feels welcoming is an essential part of the journey. Here are 6 of my favourites.

Café Prückel, Vienna, Austria

The authentic Viennese coffee house lends itself to long langurous conversations; even today I can see the knots of young intellectuals discussing thorny philosophical complications at Café Prückel. It’s one of the original Viennese café’s on the Ring, opened in 1903, and was renovated in the 1980s with a cool ’50s decor that enhances the suave air of conceptual nonchalance displayed by the clientele. Here it is perfectly acceptable to linger for hours alone with a newspaper, and echoes remain of the rich literary tradition, with writers and poets meeting to debate ideas, gossip, stay warm and write. The last time I was in there I overheard an earnest, slender young man with trendy black-rimmed glasses and an Australian accent making slanderous comments about his theatrical partner: “He can’t sing, he can’t dance, he can’t act; he’s nothing but a dilettante!” I looked more closely and realized that the speaker was in fact an extremely well-known director (and no, I never found out who he was talking about).

Sejuiced, Bronte Beach, Sydney, Australia

Overhearing delectable tidbits and juicy gossip is one of the many perks of a life spent watching the world go by. At Sejuiced, one of the original Bronte cafes, I once overheard a spectacularly glamorous woman at the next table complain about the difficulty of finding a man who wasn’t intimidated by her success. Glancing over at her flamboyant leopard skin coat and bright red lipstick, I recognized a young, self-made cosmetics Empress, whose romantic troubles were a refreshing perspective on the drawbacks to becoming someone who had ‘made it’ in their field. All against a backdrop of palm trees with a magnificent view of the ocean rolling into Bronte beach.

Cafes Rosal & Lil, Barcelona, Spain

The Café Rosal at the end of Passeig del Born was my local for a month in Barcelona, where I never quite found a home with the local culture or people except for these momentary smiles over the counter. I loved this place, and would never have even contemplated setting foot in the more spacious, bright ‘Sandwich and Friends’ next door. Why? Partly an emotional attachment. There is a comforting patina of age on the dark wood, all of the corners are cosy, even though the chairs aren’t the most comfortable, it feels homely. Something personal in the space, that gives it soul, is a crucial ingredient. The staff can be brusque, even rude as the infamous Marios’ waiters in Melbourne, but professional, not snobbish or unfriendly, and they need to provide efficient reliability, so that you know what kind to expect.

The gorgeous Catalan owner of Cafe Lil in Barcelona, tucked away in a side street off the Princessa Montcada, always had a twinkle in his eye, making it a treat to order the decadent hot chocolate on the menu; drinking it while perusing the arty selection of books and magazines was another. The crowd was mostly Spanish and Catalan, although it was right in the middle of the tourist area, only a few blocks from the Picasso museum, there was still the feel of a hidden treasure that you had stumbled across.

Cafes Ringo & Gagarin, Berlin, Germany

Ringo, Berlin

Sometimes, it’s the music that draws me back, like my Berlin local, Ringo, which I looked into wistfully as I walked by, broke, for weeks, until I finally ventured in and they captured my heart by playing Bob Dylan’s ‘Highway 61’ on regular occasions. The menu is basic, coffee, cake, bagels, alcoholic drinks, and the tables aren’t quite the right height for laptop tapping, but nevertheless it is constantly filled with interesting looking people, who I am sure are all local artists and musicians, and may get to know eventually.

And this evening I have just arrived home from a regular meeting in Berlin’s Russian Gagarin Cafe with the raucous writers group I joined a few months ago. The corner table is booked for us and the waitress stops by to chat, and as we settle in to catch up on the latest gossip, critique each others work and write together, there is a new community being formed of people who find a home in this spot together for a few hours every week, that will always be there, wherever our travels take us next.

–Jodi Rose

They’re creepy and they’re kooky, mysterious and spooky - welcome to the all-together ooky Top 13 Weird and Wonderful Things to do Worldwide. No offense to Scott and company, I am getting bored of all these Top 25 this and that. Bring on something a little unique!