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There is no graceful way to roll over on a slab of marble slippery with soap and water. Try it, you’ll quickly find out that you have to leave all your pretensions and inhibitions at the door. This, for me, was the lesson of the Turkish Hammam (Turkish bathhouse).

It was my first visit to Turkey, to Istanbul. I had been to a hammam before, and places claiming to be hammams, but this was the real deal. Visiting a building where people have been bathing for over 500 years.

It seemed to me that two of the hammams stand out as the real deal: the Cemberlitas, built in 1584, and the Cagaloglu (1741). Both were close to my hotel in Sultanhamet, Istanbul’s main historical district. Both were described and recommended in my guidebook. I decided to try the Cemberlitas, largely because it is near the Grand Bazaar and I had seen the entrance to it from the tram earlier that day – at least I knew I could find it.

The main (male) bathing area at Cagaloglu Hamami, in Istanbul

Hammam Lesson 1: Not for relaxing

Istanbul is a city of 20 million people. And it is fantastic but after only a couple of days I understood why people needed to get away to a place of relaxation. But that was my first mistake: hammams are not about relaxation. Do not expect a pampering, princess experience like in a Western spa. Hammams are about scrubbing, and gossiping. The experience is vigorous, noisy, crowded. And quite confusing.

I ventured to Cemberlitas on my birthday, suffering a head cold. Both conditions which make me a little fragile. On top of that I was assured by the guidebooks that all would be clear and English widely spoken. Well, yes and no.

The receptionist spoke good English. I went for the full package – soap scrub, oil massage, use of the hammam – and was given a scrub mitten and little plastic tokens. These gave me confidence. I could hand them over and people would know what I wanted. A good theory.

Hammam Lesson 2: Women are clearly inferior

My first disappointment is that women are clearly inferior to men. The website promised little changing cabanas but the reality for women is a narrow corridor with lockers and very little room to change. The girl taking care of this area spoke good English but was not particularly forthcoming with information. And in my weakened, blocked-nose state I probably didn’t really ask the right questions. So, operating on assumption, I changed into the cotton wrap provided and proceeded down the corridor as instructed.

I reached a marble room, with two benches. There were a couple of toilets off this room and several women sitting around who stared at me. I smiled. No response. I showed my plastic tokens and one of them waved me towards a door. I smiled thanks and went through the door. Now I was in the hammam itself.

A beautiful room, all marble with a domed ceiling with stars cut out. This was the historical epicentre; women have been bathing here for centuries. In the middle was the heated marble slab where women were being soaped and scrubbed by the attendants. Around the outside of the room were little alcoves with marble basins, battered silver bowls and running taps. The sheer amount of water washing around was decadent enough to an Australian, coming from the land of severe drought.

A few people stared as I hovered near the door but no-one came forward to help me. I was glad I knew enough to head for a basin and start washing myself with the scrubbing mitten. But I made one big mistake. Clearly the basin I chose was used by one of the hammam attendants and as soon as I put my plastic tokens down she came and chased me away, gesturing and shaking her head. I fled to the other side. She calmed down.

Hammam Lesson 3: No nude bathing

Scrubbing you since 1741 at Cagaloglu Hamami, in Istanbul

Feeling a little fragile, I washed myself down, then went to lie on the hot marble slab and relax. I took my little tokens and figured that someone would notice and come to look after me in turn.

I glanced around to see what the etiquette was for lying on my cloth or not, and then I noticed: everyone except me was wearing bikini bottoms. Then I saw the sign: No Nude Bathing. I had made a huge faux pas. I hadn’t even brought a bikini with me – I assumed that women-only bathing would be a nude experience. My spirits plunged, my coping skills were as low as my immune system.

After toying with rushing back to my locker for my underpants, I forged on, lay my cotton wrap on the slab then lay on it. And, man, was I glad because a short time later another brazen fool without bikini bottoms came in, scrubbed off then dared to sit on the marble bare-bottomed. Oh, the raucous outrage she inspired! I felt a little better.

But I have to say I wasn’t particularly relaxed. I was increasingly anxious about my soap scrub and oil massage. Should I have told someone? Was I just meant to wait? So… I got up and went over to a lady I could see was an attendant and showed her my tokens. She nodded and waved at the slab. Obviously I was meant to lie down and wait. I did… but so much for the guidebooks assurances about good English spoken. I thought about shedding a little tear – as you do when you feel physically unwell, culturally confused, inappropriately naked, and it’s your birthday just to add aging into the mix.

Finally a lady came over, took my tokens and started throwing water on me, wrap and all. Yay, I thought. Here we go. I will be clean and relaxed and this stupid cold will be steamed out of me. Then another lady came to the door and yelled and my lady got up and left. What?! NO!

Hammam Lesson 4: No husband? No wax.

I lay there a bit longer, then finally she came back. And she was really nice. A big smile and the inevitable question about where I was from. ‘Oh, Australia, so far away.’ Then it was down to business. And my realisation that, at the hammam, you are quickly snapped out of any princess pretensions and busted down to being a piece of meat.

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At Viator we’re constantly searching for new ways to experience destinations like a traveler, not just a tourist. Which is why we are pleased to offer the ground breaking, cutting edge, and profoundly yellow GPS-guided Storytelling GoCars for city touring over on the Viator website.

Huh? What’s that? What in the world are we talking about???

GPS GoCars in San Francisco

Let’s start at the beginning. Once upon time a man named Nathan Withrington (along with his business partner Alasdair Clements) had a vision. What if visitors to a city could drive around in miniature cars with the latest GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) technology, with an audio tour that was “smart” like a local? Their idea was to allow visitors to leave their guidebooks behind and instead discover a city with clever talking cars that navigate and narrate as you drive. An on-board computer and a GPS-system do the thinking so travelers can sit back and explore the destination from a completely personalized perspective.

Fast-forward to 2004, and Nathan and Alasdair offer the first-ever GoCar GPS car rentals in San Francisco and San Diego. Since then their idea has really taken off. If you live on San Francisco or San Diego, you’ve probably seen these bright-yellow minicars navigating the streets, going places that most tourists never go.

We recently caught up with Nathan and asked him a few question about tourism, GPS technology and the growing popularity of GPS GoCars.

GPS GoCars: Interview with Nathan Withrington

Viator: So Nathan, what exactly is a GoCar?

Nathan: The GoCar is a new concept in tourism. We were the first company in the world that, through GPS technology, empowered sightseers to take themselves on a guided tour. Our little cars have a personality and are you tour guide. As you drive, they navigate like a traditional GPS, but that is not all. They will crack jokes with you, recommend restaurants and tell you the stories that bring the city to life. As you drive, the car give you options of places to go and things to see. The more options you take, the longer your tour. So for the first time in history, they can not only take themselves on a guided tour, they can choose when they leave, how long they go for, where they go, when to stop and the language the tour is given in.

Viator: I live in San Francisco, and I’ve been seeing more of these GPS-enabled cars on the streets. It sounds like your idea has really caught hold and taken off.

Nathan: It all started a few weeks after we opened our doors for business. The San Francisco Chronicle wrote a full-page article on us and put it on the front page of their technology section. Before you know it, Time magazine nominated us for “one of the most amazing inventions of the year.” From that point the press has just not stopped, from Today show, Travel Channel, BBC, New York Times, USA Today… and it just keeps coming.

Viator: OK, be straight with me here. Are GoCars safe? Has anybody ever driven one into the bay?

Nathan: Occasionally, some people are intimidated by the vehicle’s small size and the fact that they are driving on city streets. The vehicles are registered as mopeds but the fact that you have three wheels, not two, makes them much more stable. Thankfully to date, with over 65,000 happy customers, we have not had any serious incidents. We take safety very seriously and make sure everyone that drives a GoCar is given a thorough safety briefing on how to operate the vehicle. With regards to driving one in to the bay, you never know, maybe we will come out with an amphibious GoCar one day!

Viator: Do you need a special license? Special training?

Nathan: All you need is a standard drivers license. The vehicles are operated 100% with hand controls very similar to a bicycle. They are fully automatic, so there is no clutch or gears to worry about. After the safety briefing, most people take to it like a duck to water. The GPS will keep people of the busy streets for the most part and will even warn you when you are entering areas where you need to be cautious.

Viator: I’ve heard the GoCar audio tours as people drive by my house. Do you offer custom voices? Can I select John Wayne to give me a tour of SF?

Yes, that really is Conan O’Brien next to a GPS GoCar in San Francisco

Nathan: We do offer custom themes. My favorite is the “MisterSF tour,” written and narrated by Mister San Francisco (of MisterSF.com) himself. This is a great tour for people that think they already know San Francisco. It does not take you to the obvious places like the Golden Gate Bridge and Lombard St, but rather it shows you the more notorious side of San Francisco, such as where a serial killer lived, where notorious murders happened and buildings that were destroyed in the 1989 earthquake.

Viator: Who’s the most famous person who’s rented a GoCar?

Nathan: You would be surprised at how many we have had. Just last week we had Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia, A Year of Wishful Drinking). We’ve also had the lead singer of Iron Maiden (Bruce Dickenson) rent one while he was here for OZ fest, Conan O’Brien and Tim Matheson to name a few. The most amazing person that rented from us may not be the most famous but I think it has to be Antonio “Tintín” Vizintín. If you don’t recognize his name, you have most likely heard his story as it was told in the 1993 movie Alive where the Uruguay rugby teams aircraft crashed in the Andes mountains. They were presumed dead but, some of them had actually survived and were forced to survive for 72 days without supplies by eating their expired team mates. Meeting someone with that amount of courage was just amazing.

Viator: Has anybody ever stolen a GoCar? Is it even possible to steal one?

Nathan: The great thing about the GoCar is that it is not exactly an inconspicuous vehicle! And it also has GPS tracking. We did have one incident where a couple stopped to have lunch and when they came out the car had gone. They called us to tell us the car had been stolen. All it took was one call to the police to say, “Yellow GoCar with the number 11 on it,” and 10 minutes later the car was recovered, given back to the customers and they were on their way!

Viator: OK, last question: What’s the fastest you’ve ever driven a GoCar?

Nathan: The fastest I’ve ever driven a GoCar? Well, firstly I need to say the cars are only designed to do 30 to 35mph. Having said that, being an engineer, I did modify one of the cars for my personal use to go faster. Much faster. I put an engine three times the size of a regular GoCar engine in it, and that particular GoCar would go over 60mph… for my personal enjoyment only.

Check it out for yourself. Rent a GPS GoCar in San Francisco or San Diego the next time you’re visiting. Or if you live in one of these cities, take your next out-of-town guests on a GPS GoCar tour.

–Scott McNeely

Planning a trip? Browse Viator’s tours and things to do in San Francisco, San Diego and coastal California.

The Others are right over those hills…

Here’s the thing, as much as I love, love, love, Viator and most of its 5,000+ products, there are some that I’d probably never consider doing. That’s not because they don’t have merit, they just don’t suit my taste. For example, I watch very little television. So the Sex in the City tour or Sopranos tour in New York City is not appealing to me (despite 80+ positive traveler reviews), I’ve never watched an episode of either show. And though I watch many movies, I’ve never really had much desire to see where things were filmed.

Recently I’ve gotten really into watching Lost. My brother gave me season one on dvd and I am now almost caught up through season three. Maybe its the endless hours of watching the survivors on the island, but I am starting to have a nearly uncontrollable urge to visit where they shoot Lost, which happens to be Oahu, Hawaii. Will I find a hatch? Can I hike through the same jungle as Sawyer and Kate? Will I run into The Others? Okay, of course not, but it seems like fun to go there. And if I just turn up in Oahu, sans a tour, how will I know where to go? Clearly it is not easy to find the village of The Others, and I don’t want to get trapped by Rousseau or zapped by the sonic security system. Admit it, you look at their beach, and really, does it seem so bad to be stranded there? Inquiring minds want to know.

*****

The famous Castro Theater

In San Francisco I live just a couple of blocks from the Castro neighborhood. Over the past few weeks the neighborhood has been turned into a set circa 1970’s for the filming of the Gus Van Sant movie currently titled Milk, a biopic on San Francisco’s first openly gay elected official, Harvey Milk, played by local celebrity Sean Penn. Its been freaky to see the Castro Theater marquee constantly playing the Poseidon Adventure, and all the store fronts are changed back to their 1970s form, though inside, they are exactly as they have been as of late, dispensing dvds or cell phones. As I was strolling to get a cookie from Hot Cookie (currently masked as a Double Rainbow ice cream parlor) I thought about how it is actually really cool to see people filming something in my neighborhood. Soon, Josh Brolin will assassinate Sean Penn, two blocks from my house! Yes, the street blocking it sometimes entails is a pain, but Milk will eventually arrive in theaters, maybe even the Castro Theater, and I will watch it and see my neighborhood on the big screen, reliving moments from its past. Some of my neighbors are extras!

Thus I made the gigantic leap in thought to realize that hey, when movies are shot in other places, the same kinds of things happen as in the Castro. And if I want to hear about those things, I should probably take a movie tour. I might run into locals who were extras, I could see how the cityscape has changed from the time of filming (or how it was changed for filming), and learn lots of movie trivia. Maybe it is to my taste after all, and happily there’s a 3.5-star rated movie tour of San Francisco just waiting for me.

*****

As much as I could wax on about my new found interest in movie and tv tours, there is another dvd of Lost waiting for me, so gotta run to see what happens next, and to get my fix of the breeze rustling through the palm trees. The dvd will have to do until I get there.

– Kelly G

 

Dying to get Lost on Oahu? Or see famous movies sites in San Francisco? Headed to another city immortalized on the silver screen? Check out more movie and tv tours on Viator.

 

If you’ve got a thing about flowers, colour, beauty, history, and/or sweet smelling air, Keukenhof Gardens in the Netherlands 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.

The tulips at Keukenhof Gardens

Keukenhof is the world’s largest flower garden, over 70 acres (around 32 hectares) of parkland filled with more than 7 million bulbs - tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, narcissi, gladioli. But mainly it’s the tulips - of course, since this is the Netherlands. Located near Haarlem, just outside Amsterdam, it’s easy to get to by train and bus or car, even bicycle – this is the Netherlands. There’s even a bus that goes there direct from Schipol Airport. And once you get there, you can’t get lost in the gardens because there is one big landmark to guide your way - yep, it’s a windmill; after all, this is the Netherlands.

Tulips, tick. Bicycles, tick. Windmills, tick. I haven’t got to clogs yet, but I will…

Keukenhof Garden Tours: Plan Ahead

The most important thing to remember about Keukenhof Gardens is that it’s only open in spring, when the bulbs are flowering. That’s about 8 weeks of the year. In 2008, they are open from 20 March to 18 May. The rest of the year, the bulbs sleep - not a bad gig. But during those 8 weeks, the flowers really deliver: over 800,000 people visited the gardens last spring.

Keukenhof Gardens: So pretty it almost hurts

The flower gardens at Keukenhof were established in 1949, the idea of Mr W J H Lambooy, the then mayor of the nearby town of Lisse. He and a few other local identities thought that an annual open-air flower exhibition would be a good thing - largely for the local growers of bulbs to be able to exhibit and sell their wares. They decided on the Keukenhof Estate, using the former herb and vegetable garden area of the 15th-century Countess of Holland, Jacoba van Beieren. Hence the name of the place: Keukenhof literally means ‘kitchen garden’.

These days the park includes 7 inspiration gardens (ideas for you to try in you own, somewhat smaller, plot at home!); bronze sculptures by Dutch artists scattered around the place; changing exhibitions of flowers; and tents or kiosks from local bulb growers where you can order your favourites, which will then be delivered around September when the bulbs are in their deepest hibernation, gathering strength for next year. Every year about three billion (that’s 3,000,000,000!!) tulip bulbs are produced in Holland.

Tulips for Beginners

One of the most amazing things about tulips is the variety and colour. Every year Dutch growers breed new strains of the flower. Which brings me to more history and the most amazing thing I discovered in my investigations of Keukenhof: tulips are not Dutch at all! Well, they are now, about 500th generation (if every year is a generation for bulb?). But they do not grow wild in the Netherlands and never have. In fact, the natural habitat of the tulip is the rocky, dry mountainous regions near the border of China and Russia. The kind of flat, below sea-level, damp earth of the Netherlands is their least favourite environment, although I’m sure by now they have adapted. And the Dutch are very good at draining soil, let’s face it.

So how did tulips get to the Netherlands? And why did they become such a national symbol?

A botanist called Carolus Clusius who worked in Vienna, met with the Austrian Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, A. G. Busbequius. Busbeq gave him some tulip bulbs, a flower he had first seen in the gardens of Constantinople (now Istanbul). In fact, they are thought to be called tulips after the Persian word for turban (toliban, which when changed into Latin became tulipa) because there was a visual similarity between the hat and the flower. Clusius then took a job at the University of Leiden in Holland and planted his tulip bulbs.

From there, tulips became the new black. Tulipmania followed, with speculation in tulips reaching such dizzy heights (and losing so many Dutch their fortunes, houses and piece of mind) that the government stepped in during 1637 to stop the tulipwindhandel (literally ‘tulip wind trade’). I’m envisaging it as a vegetarian form of the pork bellies mayhem that occurs on Wall Street these days.

Anyway, now the tulip is no less desired, or valuable, but it is more even-tempered in its trade. It is also now firmly a Dutch symbol and foundation of their economy, it’s roots in the east largely faded into history.

Keukenhof: Don’t come if you don’t like tulips

Tulips + Ukulele = Tiny Tim

But not only have tulips been so important to one country, they were crucial in the life of one short man with a high voice: Tiny Tim. His 1968 hit song, ‘Tiptoe through the Tulips’, made him a worldwide star. ,It was not an original but a cover of the song written in 1929 by Nick Lucas (the song had four other incarnations on the pop charts through the 20th century).

I think Tiny Tim was the only one to add ukulele, though, and that made him a standout! Married live on The Tonight Show surrounded by 10,000 tulips, naming his daughter Tulip, and finally being buried in a coffin full of tulips, no-one could say Tiny Tim was not grateful for the leg-up tulips gave him in life.

(A useless but fascinating fact: Tiny Tim’s televised wedding to Miss Vicky in 1969 attracted 84% of the American TV audience, coming second only to the moon landing in ratings during the 1960s. I bet producers these days wish they could match that. Perhaps if Britney surrounded herself with tulips and… but back to Keukenhof.)

So, this humble flower has an incredible history. It has made people rich and lost them their houses, it has been a basis of its adopted country’s economy, it has brought joy and been cut from its bulb to be given with love, it has inspired song and television history.

Keukenhof Garden Tours: Remember, it’s March to May Only

Keukenhof Gardens is truly beautiful. The sheer scale immerses you in colour and fragrance. But I think my favourite thing about it is that it’s only open for 8 weeks each year. There’s no theme-park style manipulation of nature here. No hothouses tricking the bulbs into thinking it’s spring all year around. The flowers bloom from March to May, so that’s when you can go and see them.

Perfect.

One final word of advice: Keukenhof Gardens is a big place. You’ll be doing a lot of walking. You probably shouldn’t wear clogs. (And you thought I’d forgotten…)

–Philippa Burne

Book a Keukenhof Garden Tour over on the Viator site, or read more than 70 reviews of the Keukenhof Garden tours. Also check out Viator’s complete list of things to do in Amsterdam and the Netherlands. Still with us? Good, then browse photos of the Keukenhof Tulip Gardens in bloom on the Viator Flickr site.

In anticipation of Valentine’s Day (or in dread of, depending on your romantic perspective), I’ve been pondering the notion of love and travel. Not as in ‘the love of travel’ or ‘love to travel’. But rather love and travel as in expressing your love through travel.

Do you follow me? Let me try explaining that again. The pairing of travel and love (often travel and sex) are commonplace in film, music, art, literature, popular culture. You’ve seen it a million times: a fling in Paris, a romance in Thailand, a chance encounter on 42nd Street. But that’s not what I mean.

What I’m after is how the people who love travel (and who love to travel) might express a token / totem / trinket / knickknack / ticket stub of their love, on Valentine’s Day, to like-minded lovers of travel.

I love travel, you love travel, I love you, ka-boom, let’s go travel together. That’s what I am after, the ‘ka-boom, let’s go travel together’ moment. So I made a list.

My list is for people who are tired of the same old Valentine’s Day gift options. Dinner for two. A bouquet of roses. A box of chocolates. There’s nothing wrong with showing your love with these things. But for those of you who travel blindly for love, or travel for love blindly, there’s got to be a better way to say “I love you”. Share your obvious and overwhelming passion for travel this Valentine’s Day with one of the following:

Write a love song about your travels

Playing the guitar is not easy. Writing a song is not easy. Skip ahead to the next bullet point if either of these sounds too intimidating. How to start? Make a list of places that rhyme with “I love you” (…Timbuktu, Kalamazoo, San Diego Zoo…). Or get inspired by musicians who know a thing or two about travel and love (Eddie Money, Berlin, Duran Duran, Edith Piaf, The Cure, Danzig). Shortcut: Buy the album 69 Love Songs and pretend your the original songwriter.

Write a book / blog / Myspace page about your romance

If you’re old school try the NaNoWriMo approach and give yourself 30 days to write An Important Novel About Love and Travel for your sweetheart. Or start a blog about love and travel, because honestly, I spent an hour searching the web for blogs about love and travel and there are none I can recommend in good conscience. If you’re under age 25 then you’ll need to create a Myspace profile about love and travel. Trust me, you’ll hit pay dirt.

Make a short video about your love

There are literally thousands of excellent role models to chose from, if you’re prepared to spend research time on Youtube. I did a search on travel love and got an excellent set of results. My personal favorite is here. It helps if you have video of yourself on the road, but it’s not required. Just remember one thing: don’t be like Tommy Lee.

Pop the question on the road

It’s possibly the most romantic way to express your travel-loving self to another person with a travel-loving mindset. Of course it’s not without pitfalls and risks. Choose the wrong venue and you’re toast. Don’t plan a helicopter wedding if your loved one is afraid of heights. It all sounds obvious, but hey, never underestimate the obvious. Your role models here? We have a few favorites from Viator.com, all from actual travelers who were engaged on one of our tours.

• “If I book a package to Medieval Times… will I be permitted to, at a reasonable fee, ask to have my fiancee Marry Me sometime during the performance/intermission??” --Barry W.
• “Our tour started with the Trevi Fountain, at which I asked my girlfriend if she would marry me. She said yes. We then saw the outside of St Peter’s Basilica and the Colosseum. We were then taken to dinner. Due to this night being the finals of the World Cup Soccer Championship the restaurant was empty. This was great. The owner and his wife both sang to us during our dinner. Very romantic. After dinner we were taken as close to our hotel as traffic would allow. The streets were full of thousands of people on their way to the Circus Maximus to see the Italy win on the big screen. We joined in the celebration. We absolutely loved the tour and would like to take it again next time we are in Rome.” –Kent B.
• “This was the best day of my life as I got engaged on the Canadian side of the falls!!! For any of you that aren’t taking this plunge I still definitely recommend this tour, as it really is one of the wonders of the world and is spectacular to see in real life. No photos ever do it justice!!” –Published anonymously

Say ‘I do’ on the road

For those of you ready to tie the knot and commit to a life of love, travel and romance, we have a few suggestions. Top of the list? That’s easy. The Loving You or Can’t Help Falling in Love Elvis wedding packages. That’s right, get married by the King himself in fabulous Las Vegas, where else? Or kick it up a notch with a Grand Canyon helicopter wedding for a cool three grand and change (it’s Vegas, baby!).

Hopefully by now you’re catching on to the fact that, come Valentine’s Day, there are dozens and dozens of ways to do something special, and different, with an emphasis on travel.

We wish you love, romance and travel this coming Valentine’s Day.

–Scott McNeely

You can say “I love you, let’s travel” with a new Valentine’s Day-themed Viator.com gift certificate, available in US and Aussie dollars, British pounds and euros. And if you love to travel, read Viator’s complete list of Valentine’s Day gifts for travelers or go the whole nine yards and book a destination wedding package.

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

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Chaos. Complete chaos. And yet with some kind of unspoken rule and unexpected courtesy. It’s the only way I can begin to describe driving around Cairo.

There are no lane markings on the roads – why bother when nobody is likely to take any notice? It’s more like a mass of angled, battered dodgem cars, ducking and weaving; no indicators, only waving hands and tooting horns which have a language of their own: one toot, three toots, a long blast. I couldn’t work out the translations apart from: ‘Coming through,’ which seemed to apply to most of them.

Cairo: Coming Through

Motorbikes carrying three people – often one a baby in arms – wove through the heaving mess of cars; buses and vans full of people stopped and started as people jumped on and off through the wide open doors, Combi vans chugged along, suspension shot and their rear bonnets open to keep the engine cool. And in the middle of it all, donkeys pulled carts loaded with carrots, melons, furniture. Flocks of sheep huddled amongst the parked cars, tempting buyers looking to break the family’s Ramadan fast in style.

Not that I was actually behind the wheel. Are you kidding? I left that up to our Egyptian driver. Apart from the high probability of an accident if I were driving in that melee, I saw very few women in the driver’s seat: Egypt is a male-dominated culture.

Cairo is one of the most alive places I have ever been. The sheer mass of people, the noise, the heat, the traffic, the yelling in the market, the foul tempered camels, the squeezing through impossibly narrow streets by wheezing tour buses, insulating their nervous occupants from the reality of it all, the dust, the sweat, the swirling voices calling out: ‘How can I take your money?’

Yes, in the Khan el Khalili market stallholders really do say that. In fact it’s their opening line: “How can I take your money?” So honest; I loved it. Sometimes it was followed by: “I do not want anything from you, I am married. I just want your money.”

Cairo: How can I take your money?

Once it was replaced with an offer of six camels to Steve in exchange for me and Violet – his two wives. Travelling with two women gave him a lot of kudos and us some protection. Selling me some fabulous red pointy, curly toed leather shoes (”smell them: leather”, as they were thrust again and again into my face), I was asked whether Steve was really my husband. I felt it safest to say yes, to discover that my shoe man was heartbroken as “already I love you.”

I got the shoes for a bargain price.

(more…)

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!

#1 and #5, the creepy Roman Catacombs

Viator’s travelers were all over the Weird and Wonderful in 2007. Everyone still seems to love a good scare or a great thrill. Though Italy tops the list, it seems like the USA is home to most things weird and wonderful, but every corner of the world has something that’s a little strange. So here’s the top picks of Viator travelers for things that were a little different to do in 2007. Boo!

Top 13 Weird and Wonderful Things to Do Worldwide: 2007

13. Ghosts and Gravestones - St Augustine, St. Augustine, USA

12. Weird Sydney History and Ghost Tour, Sydney, Australia

11. Evening Walking Tour of Edinburgh - Haunted Underground Experience, Edinburgh, Scotland

10. Vampire Tour of San Francisco, San Francisco, USA

9. Winchester Mystery House Tour, San Francisco, USA

8. Take the Controls Flight, Los Angeles, USA

7. Brisbane Story Bridge Adventure Day and Night Climbs , Brisbane, Australia

6. Late Night Walking Tour of Edinburgh - Ghost Hunter Trail, Edinburgh, Scotland

5. Catacombs and Roman Countryside Rome Walking Tour, Rome, Italy

4. The Dark Heart of Rome - Ghost and Mystery Evening Walking Tour, Rome, Italy

3. Original Venice Ghost Walking Tour, Venice, Italy

2. Boston Ghosts and Gravestones, Boston, USA

1. Crypts and Catacombs Walking Tour - The Underside of Rome, Rome, Italy

Apparently you can’t go wrong with a good ghost tour, no matter what your haunt is. Also, a shout out to all the thrill seekers who climbed the Story Bridge in Brisbane (#7) or flew a plane over LA (#8). Keep pushing the envelope in 2008!

– Kelly G

Editor’s note: If you’re tackling the streets of Melbourne in person, be sure to read John’s Melbourne pub guide and list of top Melbourne outdoor cinemas; and Jodi’s notes on living a bohemian life in Melbourne.

Melbourne’s Yarra River on a hot summer night…

Melbourne gets a bad wrap from the rest of Australia for the weather, but this summer is gearing up to be another (climate-change induced) long, hot and dry spell.

The city’s location on a bay means that evenings are often tempered by cooling breezes, so any opportunity to get outside is lapped up by locals and visitors. With weather this pleasant you must go outdoors. You have no choice. And with that in mind here are my top summer picks for things to do in Melbourne.

#1 Australian Open Tennis

Melbourne famously loves its sport, and it also loves to show off on the world stage, so the Australian Open is always popular. The competition plays out at the hottest time of the year, making it an endurance event as well as a typical tennis tournament. While last year saw players endure court temperatures in excess of 50degC (122F), new rules mean they will be allowed to retreat to the locker rooms if things get fiery. Personally, I think it’s a cop out. I’m all for seeing these people made to earn their millions in tough match conditions.

As long as I can watch from home with the air-con on and a Long Island Iced Tea, I’m fine.

#2 Big Day Out & Laneway Festival

The Big Day Out is a touring music festival that takes place in major cities in Australia and New Zealand. This year, tickets to the Melbourne event (28 January) sold out in just minutes, so unless you got lucky, or can scrape together an eBay bid (currently A$200 but rising fast), you might have to set up a folding chair outside the fence of this year’s venue, Flemington Racecourse.

This year’s handy line up includes Rage Against the Machine, Bjork, Arcade Fire (about as good as music gets at the moment), silverchair, Battles, DJs I’ve never heard of and even good old Billy Bragg. It’s likely to go off like a frog in a sock.

Way smaller and far groovier is the new-ish St Jerome’s Laneway Festival, which also tours a few Australian cities. Taking place in a Melbourne city laneway and assorted nearby venues, the day-long festival (on 24 February) features some great acts, including Broken Social Scene, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Okkervil River (how good are they!), the stunning elecronica of Dan Deacon and local wunderkind Gotye. If you haven’t heard any of Gotye’s stuff, you should track it down.

#3 Queen Victoria Night Market

On Wednesday nights through summer, the Queen Victoria Market goes all Asian with the Night Market. Hawker stalls, fresh food, licensed bars, locally made gifts and tacky tourist tat vie for the attention of the tens of thousands of people who visit this weekly event. The live performances and the friendly vibe make this a great summer outing, especially after Christmas when the gift-panic has passed. The market runs from 5.30 – 10pm.

#4 Australia Day

Australia Day (26 January) may be a day of national pride celebrating the ‘discovery’ of Australia by British explorers, but to most of us locals, it’s the laziest day of the year. Flame up the barbeque and chill the drinks. It’s an open invitation, and it goes all day. Bring your own.

While it’s the same right across the country, Melbourne has a couple of unique ways of celebrating. A picnic on the banks of the Yarra River is a great way to do nothing in the great outdoors. Also, with an international cricket match being played in Adelaide, they’re always broadcast on the TV. Sip on a beer from one of Melbourne’s great microbrews (Three Ravens, Emerald Hill or – my favourite – Mountain Goat). Doesn’t get much better than that.

#5 Tai Chi at Fed Square

While it’s not especially – or even exclusive to - summer, and not traditionally ‘Melbourne’, the free Tai Chi sessions at Federation Square every Tuesday morning are still a great highlight of city life. Starting at 7.30am and lasting one hour, these expert-led sessions are a great way to get the mind and body moving in harmony. Set yourself up for a day of sightseeing with this ancient Chinese art, regarded by those in the know as “the physiotherapy of Traditional Chinese Medicine”.

–John Ryan

Planning a trip? Check out more recommendations in Melbourne. And have a look at all of Viator’s tours and things to do in Melbourne, from Colonial Tramcar dinners to Yarra Valley Wine Tasting.

 

Statue of Liberty, New York City

If you’re already following Viator’s ‘Top 25 Things to Do’ list mania, then no explanation is needed; this is the second-to-last installment in our series of Top Things to Do in 2007, this time focusing on the USA & Canada.

And there are a few surprises. Apparently New York City was and is all the rage in 2007. New York was our most popular North American destination this past year, as evidenced by the number of NYC tours and activities that made it on the Top 25 list below.

Nipping at New York’s heals was good ol’ Las Vegas, Sin City. It’s no surprise that Las Vegas is one of the top travel destinations in the USA. But what is a little surprising is how Las Vegas is evolving into a regional hub for travelers to visit the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, even Death Valley. We were also pleased to see San Francisco represented on this year’s list.

The other big surprise in the list? Helicopter tours. You love them. Whether in New York City or the Grand Canyon or Las Vegas, helicopter tours and 2007 went together like peanut butter / Marmite / Vegemite and jelly / butter (take your pick).

Top 25 Things To Do in USA & Canada: 2007

25. Empire State Building Observatory, New York City, New York

24. West Rim Indian Country Deluxe Air and Ground Tour, Las Vegas, Nevada

#23. Everglades National Park

23. Everglades National Park, Miami City Tour and Biscayne Bay by Boat, Miami, Florida

22. Teatro ZinZanni: Love, Chaos and Dinner, San Francisco, California

21. Grand Canyon West Rim Van Tour with Optional Skywalk, Las Vegas, Nevada

20. VISITicket: Power Pass, Las Vegas, Nevada

19. Grand Canyon Helicopter Tour, Las Vegas, Nevada

18. The Phantom of the Opera On Broadway, New York City, New York

17. New York, New York Helicopter Flight, New York City, New York

16.