Advantages of Small Ship Cruising, Goodbye on a Tropical Cruise?

It's been a long winter, and there have been so many demands made on your time this year, you feel washed out and more than ready to have your battery recharged.

How can you accomplish this? You have a need to be incommunicado for a week or so without phone calls, irksome texts or emails and above all leave your responsibilities in someone else's hands and completely unwind.

Your partner desperately needs some regeneration and pampering too. You've ruled out lengthy international flights with dodgy connections, and the associated accommodation hassles, this is hardly relaxing!

Then you hear a whisper about a Pacific island cruise - not just an ordinary cruise, you know the usual type, a huge floating hotel with another thousand or so shipmates - but a small luxurious island hopping cruiser that caters for just a few like-minded adventurers discovering the little-known islands and bays of sun-drenched places such as Vanuatu and the lovely island kingdom of Tonga.

Discover the advantages of small ship cruising

• The minute you step off the plane you will find yourself in a warm tropical paradise far away from the maddening crowds where you are welcomed by a friendly crew and transferred to your floating holiday hotel.

• Your classy stateroom will be ready and waiting with your own private bathroom and shower that includes a range of toiletries. With individual climate control, doors that open out on to spacious deck and views over the crystal clear waters, you definitely won't have any need for the television set and video entertainment program (but it's there anyway - just in case)!

• Dining on a small luxury cruise ship is a magnificent affair. The clean Pacific air will stimulate your appetite for the delicious gourmet meals prepared by some of the best chefs in the world who use the fresh local produce and seafood to present you with gastronomic delights, all served with a selection of fine wines; alfresco dining is usually the norm to take advantage of the balmy evenings.

• Your ship will set sail to explore some of the most idyllic little islands and coves the world has to offer. To further investigate places of interest a landing craft is provided and for the more intrepid, sea kayaks are great fun

• Try snorkeling over the coral reefs, swim at the deserted white sand beaches or take a long walk through lush tropical vegetation. The fishing in the islands can be spectacular with your chance to try for a trophy fish. Tuna, mahi mahi and wahoo are often landed and then prepared in a delicious manner by the chef

• Meet the smiling local villagers whose lifestyle is largely unspoiled by tourists who will often perform impromptu local cultural dances and ceremonies, and if you are exceptionally lucky, the chief will invite you to take kava with him

The choice is yours - to do as little or as much as you like - take part in all the onboard or water activities provided or just lie back in perfect peace on the sun-deck with a tropical fruit cocktail and dream your cares away.

These luxury cruises have a fully trained crew who are dedicated to making your holiday enjoyable and relaxing from embarkation to departure.

If this sounds like the holiday you deserve then choose an operator who has the experience in small ship cruising with an enviable safety record and dedication to customer satisfaction and service. On board the Island Passage you will discover the perfectly formed luxury travel experience with adventure cruises in New Zealand and the South Pacific designed to provide the glamour and exclusivity of luxury private motor-yacht cruising.

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Istanbul Attractions

Istanbul is one of the famous cities in the world, which acts as the heart for historical, cultural and economic development of the country of Turkey. The city holds the pride of being one of the largest cities in the continent of Europe and it is also one of the largest cities in the world with respect to higher population within the limits of the city.

During a survey conducted in the year 2010, it was found that about seven million foreigners visited this city just for tourism purpose and this has made the city to receive the pride name as the European Capital of culture. The city also acts as the tenth most popular tourist destination attracting more and more visitors from other nations.

When you are visiting this city on a luxury trip, do not miss out the opportunity of traveling in the luxury train of Istanbul Orient Express and some of the other attractions to be visited in the city are discussed in the content given below:

Ottoman Empire: A minimum of half-a-day is required for exploring this greatest attraction of Istanbul. Since higher entrance fee is charged, for people, who wish to get full value for the money paid by them as entrance fee, spending a whole day in the empire would be ideal. But, if time forces you to leave the place immediately, do not forget to visit the must-see features of the empire being the innermost courtyard, imperial treasury and the Harem.

Byzantine Wonders: Even if the number of days you are planning to spend in this city is lesser, do not forget to visit the Church of St. Saviour in Chora. This church is popular for its intricate wonders and it lodges frescoes and celebrated mosaics that are standing as the great examples for the art of the earlier era.

Grand Bazaar: This is a must to visit place for shopping enthusiasts and at least three hours is required for exploring the content of this shopping arena. There are more than 5000 vendors dealing with different products and some of the city's best purses, handbags and carpets can be acquired only from this place.

Tower of Christ: Galata tower, which was built in 1348, is originally called as tower of Christ. Several decades ago, it was used for housing prisoners of war and during 1960s, the tower was reinstated and nightclub was added. You can get a superior view of the entire conurbation of Istanbul from the 360 degree viewing gallery present in this place.

There are several other attractions as well to explore in the city and enjoy your trip along with your Istanbul Orient express travel.

Get the best orient express holiday travel service from Venice to Istanbul by Luxury Trains.

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Shopping Travel - Special Travel Deals

When shopping travel, and often I do, always I look for all the special travel deals. One day I realized that all those deals are strangely familiar. I became aware that the travel "pie" is one entity carved up among several of the larger vendors. Then those entities have their networks and divide their "pieces of the pie" amongst that network, larger the better. Then I understood, many of the most popular travel providers actually practice these same methods, otherwise known as affiliate marketing.

Affiliate marketers are actually just online salespeople. Some create a storefront in the form of a website, some pursue email-marketing tactics, and others may commit to the social media for their promotional methods. No matter the methods, the fact is it all is part of the same large travel pie that they all share. Considering this actuality, why might one go to the smaller website?

The reason is in the packaging. As the quality marketers present a product, they will attempt to add value. Perhaps they may provide a comparative shopping value or a more dynamic reviewing process. Some are creative in the composition and compatibility of the offers present and others will focus on just hotels or flights. Then again, there are the many travel search sites.

In this search and purchase online world in which we have become, this is the most abundant method. Search, get the prices of two or three returned results, choose, purchase, and go. Well, I have found that there is great value in looking into more than just one share of the pie. Often when you search at more than one website you will find three of four that seem to be from the same piece of pie, and they are. This is where the value comes in. Wise it is to be sure you are searching more than one primary piece of the pie. Extending searches for special travel deals may be found to hold great value.

I have often found substantial savings with this type of search continuation. I search and have found that often one piece of the pie has worked out a better deal than the other pieces were able. I find one has better travel deals on hotels and another better-priced flight. The task then becomes in finding a central location for centralized travel shopping. Once you find that website and have a good experience then stick with it, but make notes of the other sites for comparative value. Create a travel folder in you bookmarks or favorites menu and house several in it for quick reference.

Frequent travelers will find great value in a little extra search and preparation of future searches. Of course, an organized structured approach will provide the most efficient shopping experience every time. If one knows that future shopping for travel is most likely to occur, prepare yourself a special folder, as I suggested. Special travel deals are more than worth a small amount of foresight. After all, the dollars you save should stay in your pocket whenever possible.

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7 Reasons To Spend Your Money Travelling

Reason #7: Culture

Mopeds zoom up and down busy streets beside me. My head jerks back and forth. I'm looking side to side, trying to find a gap in traffic. But it seems like it won't ever come!

Traffic honks loudly, cyclers pedal fiercely, and food stall workers buzz around prepping for yet another busy night. Stand still for one moment and multiple tuk-tuk drivers are there to greet you, offering everything you may need. Move too fast and you'll miss that chance to cross the road in that gap of traffic to get to that restaurant where your newest group of friends has agreed to meet.

That's rush hour in Asia, only to be experienced by standing right in the middle of it. There's no other way to learn about a culture, but to submerge yourself in it. No books, no videos, no media back home will really show you what it's like to be part of another culture. So get out there and be part of one!

"People travel to faraway places to watch, in fascination, the kind of people they ignore at home."

-Dagobert D. Runes

Reason #6: Get Perspective

Getting tired of waiting for the newest fancy gadget to come out? The one everyone wants to be the first to get, even though, within a week, everyone will own it anyways.

Why not put all that in perspective by trying your hand at travelling somewhere different? Away from the comfort of your own vehicle, or the public transportation system you already know inside out. How about somewhere without high speed trains that easily zip you around to anywhere you'd like to go.

Try Thai time for a change. Where afternoon means any time from eight in the morning to a few hours after sunset. Here, buses are never on time, but no one is stressed or phased by it. Nothing other than the traffic seems to be urgent. Bring a deck of cards, and enjoy your hour long wait for dinner. Enjoy a good book and a few naps while waiting indefinitely for a bus that was supposed to have picked you up five hours ago.

In Asia you never know what's going to happen, so relax and live a stress-free life like the locals. Kick back, relax and enjoy it!

"The voyage of discovery lies not in discovering new lands, but in seeing with new eyes."

-Marcel Proust

Reason #5: Eat and Drink!

Ahhh, a world where food means more then a can of Alphaghettis, or a pre-packaged microwavable dinner full of chemicals. Europe has fresher tasting ingredients than North America. In Asia they're even fresher. The land where even I like to have extra vegetables in my stir fried dinner.

How about some pasta? Head down to Florence and see how the Italians really cook it up. Think that Guinness beer tastes good back home, try it fresh on tap at the Guinness factory in Dublin Ireland. Or head back to southeast Asia and get yourself a fresh fruit smoothie, with locally grown fruit!

Food and drink always tastes way better in its country of origin! Find out where your favourite food was first served, then go discover how it really tastes. As well as what other wonderful dishes they might also serve.

Eat your tripple A steak and beef back home, but save the French baguettes for Paris, Pad Thai for Thailand and Couscous for Morocco!

"Eat well, travel often."

-unknown

Reason #4: Adventure

Not getting enough from your weekend outings to visit the mountains? Time to go further than the next town down the road? Do you need to find yourself that new and better camping get-away?

Are you always looking for a bigger adventure? Then a trip around the world is the perfect thing for you! Take to the night markets of Asia, go trekking in Nepal, ride a camel at sunset in the Sahara desert, ski the swiss alps or take a boat to an island in Thailand. You'll always be about to set foot on another adventure, as soon as your finished the one your currently on!

"The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page."

-St. Augustine

Reason #3: Opportunities and Connection

If the most exciting opportunity of your daily life is getting to do that new task at work that only arises once a month, maybe its time for a change.

When you're on the road, great opportunities arise nearly daily. From that awesome day trip spending time hanging out with locals in their own village, to meeting someone new and exciting to travel with for a few days, to the chance to see your favourite band live in a foreign country with a group of new friends, you never know what's going to happen next on the road. Embrace it and make as many connections with others as you can. The rest will work itself out. Drop off your laundry to a local cleaner instead of having to do it yourself, and jump on that opportunity to rent a bike and explore a foreign land by cycle.

"The use of traveling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are."

-Samuel Johnson

Reason #2: No Frowning Faces

Don't like hopping on that same bus every Monday-Friday morning and being surrounded by hundreds of frowning faces? Are you becoming one of these frowning drones? Sadly, this is common in the Western world, but there's hope!

The rest of the world isn't like this. Take a look at the Khmer locals and they'll always be flashing a smile at each other. Right back at you too. Here, smiles are contagious! You will catch their case of the "smiles" before you have a chance to realize you're no longer frowning.

"A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step."

-Lao Tzu

The #1 Reason to spend your money travelling: No Routine, No Stress, No Worries

Wait, what's that? It's 11:30am Monday morning and I'm still in bed. Something's funny. I'm not sick. I didn't sleep through my alarm. Oh yeah! That's life on vacation. No job to attend every morning, nothing to stress about. No relationships and drama to deal with. Just me, myself and I.

So turn that frown upside down and get out there and enjoy life as a backpacker, stress free!

Backpacking is much cheaper then most people believe. Almost every backpacker destination is cheaper than home, and this will be apparent in your daily budget. Accommodation can be found for as low as one dollar a night. Prices for meals are just as low. Transportation is cheap and great activities normally range from free-$10.

Of course it's easy to splurge on everything, but if you are determined, your budget can be as low as $10 a day in Asia. A more comfortable budget will set you around $25 a day depending where you are. To compare, that means one tank of gas back home equals four days of travel!

Still not convinced? Being a world traveler also looks great on your resume!

The next opportunity you get, take that leave from your job, and go out to explore a world unknown to most Westerners. You'll meet tons of other like-minded Westerners all smiling and having an exceptional time.

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Places to Visit in France

It can be argued that France is the most romantic country in the world, or at least in Europe; what is certain is that it is a beautiful place, filled with history and culture, unsurpassed cuisine and home of the best wines in the world, including the unmistakable champagne from the region of Champagne. In what follows we are going to take a short look at some of the best places to visit in France, because it would be impossible to see all this country has to offer in just one vacation.

We cannot present any places to visit in France before mentioning Paris, the capital, where some of the country's best attractions can be found, including that romantic air tourists are hunting for when they come here. The city is filled with wonderful destinations such as the Eiffel Tower, the Pere-Lachaise cemetery where important authors and personalities are buried, including famous singer Jim Morrison, from The Doors. The Louvre, one of the most impressive art museums in the world, also hosts the legendary Mona Lisa painting, by Leonardo da Vinci. We are now just going to skip ahead otherwise this article could be filled only with information about Paris.

One of the most beautiful and romantic places to visit in France, the Loire Valley seems taken out of a fairytale; this magical natural landscape is considered to be the garden of France, yet there you will not only enjoy the luxurious and impressive vegetation, but the countless chateaus and mansions as well. Mont Saint-Michel is another French landmark that shouldn't be missed, especially the Benedictine abbey reigning over it. Furthermore, if you like to see how people lived hundreds of years ago, you will definitely enjoy taking a stroll through the small medieval village surrounding the abbey.

The sites we mentioned before are situated in the region of Normandy, an attraction in itself that could turn into a standalone holiday if you would like. Nevertheless, let us move on with our places to visit in France. If you prefer the seaside, warm temperatures and a relaxed atmosphere, take your vacation to Cȏte d'Azur; it can be a bit expensive and VIP-oriented, but the landscapes make it worthwhile.

The French are well-known for their eye for beauty and the spectacular, and their infamous queen, Marie Antoinette was no exception, having built one of the most impressive castles, the Versailles. With its lush, symmetrical gardens, its sumptuous chambers and rich tapestries, this testimony of times' past is truly a wonder of the world. France is also famous for its sparkling wine produced in the area of Champagne, so if you are interested in how and where they are made, don't miss sampling it.

There are numerous beautiful places to visit in France because this country has a long and rich history and a unique, special culture that can only be experienced if you visit other places besides Paris, such as the wonderful Versailles palace.

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