Viator Travel Blog

Most visitors to Rome want to scratch beneath the surface of the Roman Empire, probably the most important historical aspect of Rome. That’s why an itinerary exploring Rome’s ancient past is something that should be a part of every visit to Rome. Here are a few of ancient Rome’s essential highlights.

Boston, it appears, really likes chocolate. The fact that the Beacon Hill Chocolate walking tour is one of two possible routes around chocolate shops and dessert-specialist restaurants in the city tells its own tale. Here we have a city with a serious sweet tooth and whilst you can try and fight it, you’re going to have far more fun filling your face with the best treats in town.

Even hard-core “professional” travelers like us enjoy just meandering around, seeing what pops up, with no particular goal in mind other than taking it all in. And given that our US Headquarters are right here in San Francisco, we can probably give you a clue or two on where to start that meander!

In terms of tourist attractions, Philadelphia trades heavily on its past. To all intents and purposes, it’s the city where the United States was founded – both the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were written and signed here. This means that it’s easy enough to spend a couple of days solely around the Independence National Historical Park within the Old City part of Philly.

To be honest, you could happily fill up a trip to Chicago by gawping at the architecture and poking your head into some of the most impressive buildings to look at the fabulously decorated lobbies. But let’s just assume for a second or two that you’d like to take in something other than cool skyscrapers – what does Chicago have to offer? Well, quite a lot as it happens…

Early November in Ecuador means a holiday weekend! This year All Souls Day and Cuenca’s Independence fell on a Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, so the government decided to go ahead and give the country that Monday off as well. Eager to take advantage of the time off of work and get out of Quito to explore, some girlfriends and I started brainstorming ideas and quickly came to the decision to spend some time at the beach.

Who needs to hang out with the living, when you can go and visit the dead? With Halloween just around the corner, there is a fabulous and fascinating itinerary of ghosts and gravestones, haunted histories and underground vaults to be explored – from Memphis to the Orbs of Oahu, via Vegas, Rome, Venice, Stockholm and Boston.

Washington DC isn’t really a city where you have to veer away from the well-trodden path if you don’t want to. The obvious attractions in the US capital are so good that you can quite happily spend a few days ambling around them as a blissfully happy member of the herd.

Tokyo is a wonderful place. It used to be very expensive, but 20 years of economic slowness has made it quite affordable. You can indulge yourself in history, modern culture, consumerism and lots of food. I’ve been to Tokyo many times and when people ask “what should I do in Tokyo” I can finally stop repeating myself and tell them to read this blog!

There isn’t much happening at ground level in Muir Woods, although if you visit towards the end of May you might be lucky enough to see the Ladybug migration, which really is a sight to behold. But don’t worry if you’re in San Francisco at some other time of year: Muir Woods is still an amazing attraction, although you may strain your neck looking up at the trees.