The Land Down Under is a traveller favourite thanks to its warm weather, stunning beaches, exciting cities, and diverse landscapes. And if you´re visiting from the Northern Hemisphere, keep in mind that the seasons are reversed. So this month through November is spring, and December through February is summer - which is an especially fantastic time to visit - including these iconic destinations:
No trip to Australia is complete without a
"Nature's Grace" along the Maine Sculpture Trail. Photo by Alan Stubbs
Some people are traipsing through lovely landscapes as others explore history from days of North America's earliest tribal peoples to the present. Avid birders use binoculars to spot colorful feathered friends in flight while canoers and kayakers dip paddles into the water. At the end of the day, many of these visitors to Panama City, Florida, belly up to an oyster bar to enjoy freshly shucked bivalves prepared in a variety
We have read hundreds of road trip itineraries, motorcycle diaries, car trips and what not. It is still unbelievable why these road trips are lifting our hearts up. Be it the views, the thrill hidden, the bends and ascends, the food cafes, historical buildings, farms and landscapes, everything on a road trip creates pleasure and most of the time, bliss. Find some of the most exemplary road trips around the world one should have on his bucket list.
Iceland’s Ring Road
On a road trip through the
Road trips can be a lot of fun and a great way to travel with flexibility and convenience. But they can also quickly turn into a never-ending string of "are we there yet" enquires. When planning your road trip, there's a number of things you should include in your packing list in order to ensure everything goes smoothly.
Mix CD- Most essential item on any self-respecting road trip. You want a mix CD with up-beat songs, which you can sing along to. You can never go wrong with the classics. This wi
Portugal is a popular summer destination, mostly due to its great weather and amazing beaches. It also doesn't hurt that this southern European country makes for a relatively economical holiday. If you are driving in the Algarve this summer, there are a few things you should know about the A22, the highway which runs across the region, connecting most main cities.
The A22 is also known as "Via Infante de Sagres", or more commonly as "Via do Infante". It was originally built as part of the country
Italy is a great summer destination, bringing together amazing weather, world-famous food, and countless cultural treasures. If you hire a car in Italy for the summer, there are some things you should know, the most important of which is that there's a thing called the ZTL that you should keep an eye out for. Nothing gets foreign drivers fined more quickly in Italy than accidentally wandering into a ZTL.
ZTL stands for Zona a Traffico Limitato, and it's an area in the centre of the city in whi
So you are finally on vacation. You left the office. Your automated email is in full swing. Your voice mail informs callers to dial reception or the poor soul who is left with your calls while you are away.
You’ve packed the car. You still aren’t’ sure if you brought enough clothes for the hot days or the cooler nights. You know you forgot something but can’t remember what. You couldn’t decide whether to wear your flip flops in the car or your running shoes so you took both.
You are 10 minute
For folks of a certain age, “See the USA in your Chevrolet” and “Get Your Kicks on Route 66” were anthems inspiring us to experience the thrill of zipping along the nation’s highways, seeing new sights, eating new foods, and venturing from our home turf – in short, go road tripping!
It was 1961. For me, high school graduation was past, college was months away, and the ink was barely dry on my new driver’s license. I had saved for years to buy my first car – a magic carpet that would take me to p
For travellers bound for the Emerald Isle, picking up a car hire in Ireland can be a great way to explore, particularly if you wish to go out into the countryside and not be confined to a single location. Now, driving in Ireland can seem like a no brainer. After all, how different can it possibly be from driving in the UK? The main language spoken is the same, people drive on the same side of the road (the left!), and there's no reason to suppose that driving in Ireland would be any more difficu
Road trips the perfect travel format as far as I'm concerned. They give you flexibility and a glorious sense of independence and freedom. Whether you're driving across America like someone out of a Kerouac novel or touring Europe, driving is the way to go. But no road trip is ever complete without a matching soundtrack. A mix CD is the heart and soul of any half decent road trip. Here are some songs that need to be in any mix cd.
1. 500 Miles, The Proclaimers - The ultimate road trip song. It's
The rising cost of fuel is a topic that we are all familiar with and it can affect us both in our daily life plus our holiday travel plans. It is not just the UK that is facing this problem; it is a common factor all over the world and with many of us choosing to book holidays that involve a car hire it helps if we know a few ways of conserving the fuel we have and getting the most from it.
Before you depart on your journey you need to make sure your vehicle is in an overall good condition. It’
Travel as we know it has changed in the last few years. We now get our trip recommendations from travel social networks, and upload our holiday snapshots in real-time. When renting a car to drive in the U.S., there are plenty of apps designed to help you make the best of your trip. Feel free to add your favorites in the comments section!
Gas Buddy: This community-based free app promises to find the cheapeast and closest gas stations. Gas Buddy rewards users who report gas prices and gets great re
Driving seems like a straightforward enough business. You get behind the wheel, turn on the car, and then proceed to go places. Most driving laws, while varying slightly from place to place, are no more than common sense, and most people will have no difficulty driving in countries other than their own. However, there are some obscure (and some not so much) corners of legislation where common sense goes to die. Here are some of the world's most bizarre driving laws.
Here a whale, there a whale, e
If you have ever driven to any main European city, you should be well aware of all the dangers facing the unaware driver. Not the least of which that you often can't find parking without pulling a Faustus (and even then, no guarantees...). Lisbon is no exception.
Popular knowledge dictates that the best way to visit a city is by using public transportation, and that's sensible enough. But Portugal is a relatively small country, so having a car available does have its advantages, and you'll be abl
From quirky museums to must-see oddities, the Americana road side experience has become so popular that it even got its own smartphone app and a website with tips and stories from travelers. If you're booking a car rental in the U.S., planning your road trip should get a lot more exciting with some of these attractions:
Biosphere 2, Oracle (Arizona): located at the base of the Santa Catalina Mountains, this spaceship-like glass facility was named by Time Life Books as one of the 50 must-see Wonde
In 1975, German band Kraftwerk tried to capture the feel of driving on a motorway with the chorus Wir fahren, fahren, fahren auf der Autobahn ("We drive, drive, drive on the Autobahn"), often misheard as "Fun fun fun on the Autobahn." In fact, this nationally coordinated motorway system earned reputation for being one of the best places to drive in Europe and the ultimate pinnacle of the German driving experience, mostly because of its design and maintenance.
There's no general speed limit, but
There have recently been some changes to the way toll roads work in Portugal, with roads that were previously toll-free suddenly becoming paid. Travellers headed for Portugal will come across three different types of roads: national roads, highways and SCUTs.
National roads have no tolls and they're tolerably well-maintained, particularly stretches of road connecting main cities. They have the disadvantage of having lower speed limits than highways or SCUTs. Furthermore, they aren't as direct a r
Travelling with children can be a great experience for the whole family, but it can also be an exhausting experience for everyone involved. Children are more prone to boredom than adults (or at the very least are more vocal about it), so having a game plan to keep them entertained is of the utmost importance for the sanity of everyone in the car. Here are a few tips to keep your kids entertained in long car trips.
1. Embrace the 21st century - We live in the digital age. Finding a way to keep you
When travelling, it's always important to take every necessary precaution in order to ensure your safety and that of family. Driving is no exception. Whether your touring the Costal del Sol, or visiting the colourful city of Cape Town, here are some tips to stay safe.
1. Never leave valuables in the car. If for some reason you must leave valuables in the car, don't leave them where they can be seen from the outside. Put them in the trunk, or lock them in the glove compartment. Never leave your do
One of my favorite ways to travel while home in the States is to do some half-way planning, hop in the car, and hope for the best. This is how my friend, Andy, and I took two and a half weeks of our summer in 2009. We crammed two surfboards and what we thought would be enough clothing for two or so weeks in my Jeep.
We planned out our trip to be as cheap as possible so the first stop came from Andy’s acceptance as a guest at his mom’s high school reunion. So that meant the first le
