Traveling to Nice and the South of France

Nice is in the south of France. The Queen of the French Riviera, which the French call " la Cote d'Azur" (AzureCoast or Blue Coast). It is a wonderful city with lots of charm and character; a mixture of French and Italian cultures where the people are easy-going and friendly even if you don't speak French.

Although you might think it is a summer resort, you can visit Nice at any time of the year and still have a good time. If you happen to go in the winter, you will be surprised to see flowers in their numerous parks and gardens. Nice has a Mediterranean winter, so the temperature stays around 40 to 50 degrees during the coldest months but if you like skiing, ski resorts such as Valberg and Isola 2000 can be reached by car in one or two hours. If you go in the summer, get ready to share the city with lots of tourists. The popular streets where most restaurants and cafes are, can get crowded, but they can be a lot of fun if you enjoy people watching; and since most of the streets are closed to traffic, it is not hard to just walk around and enjoy the upbeat atmosphere.

Nice has a major airport and its close location to the city makes getting there a cinch.

Finding a hotel should be easy, since there are plenty of accommodations for all kinds of budgets. The author is a frequent guest of the Meridien Hotel, a 4 star hotel located on the Promenade des Anglais, facing the Bay of Angels (Baie des Anges).

Things to see in Nice:

-Promenade des Anglais. The Victorian English residents of the 1800's provided the funds to build the beautiful boulevard, hence its name. It is a wide avenue that follows the bay's coast line and it's lined with beautiful palm trees and flowers.

-Hotel Negresco. Beautiful and glamorous, it is located at 37 Promenade des Anglais and if you are not rich enough to stay there, you must go and see it.

-Old Nice. Winding narrow streets with Italianate buildings painted in earthly colors, describes this old part of the city. You will enjoy strolling. people watching and quaint little shops full of charming provencal crafts.

-Marche aux Fleurs. Located on the Cours Saleya, the flower market is Open Tuesday through Sunday, 7am-5pm, but if you decide to go, check with your hotel for the hours of operation. You can also have lunch or dinner there, where a large variety of restaurants set up tables and chairs outside where you can dine in a pleasant and fun atmosphere.

-Marc Chagall Museum. If you like modern art, you can catch a glimpse of the painter's most important collection. The hours of operation vary depending on the season so check with your hotel clerk before you go. Nice is so well located that you can take half-day and full-day trips either by car or by public transportation. Easily reached towns by car or public transportation are: Monaco, Eze, Grasse, St Paul de Vence, Cannes and St Tropez.

-Monaco- A symbol of glamour and elegance, Monaco sits on a beautiful stretch of the Mediterranean coast. Its most famous town Monte Carlo, has much to offer with its casinos, boutiques and exotic gardens. Don't forget to visit the village of Monaco, located high on "the rock" as it is affectionally called by the locals. It is a charming town with shops and cafes and a wonderful view of the sea.

-Eze- This small medieval village perched on a hill is a must see. Both tourists and artists flock to Eze during the summer months because of its picturesque setting and magnificent vues. If you are staying in Nice, you can make it a half-day trip or just stop there for lunch and continue to Monaco for a full-day trip. If you are feeling rich, have lunch at the Chevre d'Or. The restaurant offers fine cuisine and breathtaking panoramas. The restaurant is only open for lunch.

-Grasse- Considered the perfume capital of France Grasse is a small hilly town with beautiful parks and panoramic views. I you go to Grasse, you must visit the perfume factories. The biggest is Parfumerie Fragonard. An English speaking guide will show you the process of extracting the perfume from hundreds of pounds of flower petals.

-St Paul de Vence- A picture perfect medieval town, sitting on top of a hill, St Paul de Vence has been painted by many artists and photographed by thousands of tourists. It is located 19 miles from Nice. Enjoy a meal at the famous Colombe d'Or Restaurant or sip a beer at an outdoor cafe while watching a local game of petanque.

-Cannes- Cannes sits on the shores of La Napoule bay, sorrounded by a backdrop of Mediterranean hills. While Nice has the Promenade des Anglais, Cannes has la Croisette Boulevard, an elegant promenade, lined with palm trees and and gardens. Cannes hosts the famous Cannes Film Festival every year and it is most favored by celebrities. So if you go, make sure to do a lot of people watching, because you never know...

-St Tropez- Once a small fishing village, St Tropez is now a summer place for the jet set. Its setting on the southern shore of France, made it attractive to turn-of-the-century artists who were then followed by writers, poets and eventually movie stars and their fans. It is now internationally famous.

So get your tickets, book your hotel and go to the south of France. I promise you will have an unforgettable experience.

Saving Time While Booking Travel Online

Before they haul out the big suitcase, before they put a hold on the mail and before they make house- and pet-sitting arrangements, a growing number of American travelers are taking a different sort of trip: a trip online.

That's because travel arrangements have evolved, with Web sites often taking the place of travel agents in the organization and planning of family vacations, weekend getaways, business trips and more. In addition, in 2005, four out of five Americans who arranged trips on the Web also bought their tickets online, up from 70 percent in 2004.

When booking a trip, many consumers use a site such as Expedia, Travelocity or Orbitz. These sites are known as online travel agencies, or OTAs, and they work by rapidly searching through many travel suppliers, such as airlines, hotel chains, etc.

Meanwhile, a recent study conducted by MSN and Harris Interactive says that 75 percent of U.S. adults who have ever taken a vacation visit three or more Web sites when researching and booking their travel plans. The question then becomes, why do consumers search multiple sites when planning and booking travel?

Many do so hoping to find a great deal. But is it worth it to shop around? The answer is yes; no one OTA searches all of the travel suppliers in the United States, and each OTA has different arrangements giving them access to deals the others don't have.

Oftentimes, consumers miss out on finding the best deals for their trips because they don't shop around enough or they don't know where to look. One Web site, BookingBuddy.com, has all of the travel sites-from Expedia to Travelocity to JetBlue to Hertz-under one roof. While the site doesn't sell travel, it makes it easier and faster for consumers to book travel.

A site such as this lets users enter their itinerary once and then search any OTA or travel supplier without having to type in the Web address and itinerary over and over again. It's a big time savings, and because it's comprehensive, consumers won't miss out on a site just because they didn't know about it or didn't remember it.

And as with other OTAs, consumers can use BookingBuddy as a one-stop shopping portal for hotels, package deals and car rentals.

Shopping Throughout Asia: Find Hidden Treasures Among the World's Finest Clothing and Jewelry

In between climbing pagodas and snapping pictures of golden goddesses, most travelers to Asia take time to visit the shopping districts. The quality and selection of designer clothing and extravagant items found in shops across Asia will not disappoint those with a penchant for luxury goods. From China to India, great buys are available for those who know what to look for.

Mainland China is a fantastic place to find extravagant jewelry at discount prices. Jewelry markets are filled with glittering gems and beautiful jade pieces abound.

Exquisite strands of high quality, lustrous pearls are easy to find in China. When purchasing jewelry in mainland China, feel free to bargain. It's the way business is done in China, and most owners of small shops expect it.

There have been cases of shopkeepers taking advantage of tourists, and the best defense is knowledge. If buying pearls, test them against your teeth for roughness. You might want to test both a real pearl and faux pearl in advance to make sure you can recognize the difference. For gems, consider purchasing a jeweler's loupe and learning to use it. Be especially careful when buying jade, since it can be difficult to tell true jade from false.

Silk is also a good buy in China. Stores that sell lengths of fabric and silk garments are abundant, and some shops will make a shirt or dress from the silk fabric of your choosing.

Because there is no sales tax in Hong Kong and imported goods are not taxed, designer clothing can be purchased there for excellent prices. Bargains can be found on cameras and electronics, but make sure you know the going prices for these items so you'll be able to spot a good deal. Hong Kong is also an excellent place to buy watches and jewelry.

Thailand is another great source for jewelry. Unfortunately, dishonest jewelry dealers are plentiful. Never follow any "helpful" individual who offers to lead you to a jewelry store with incredible bargains - it's probably a scam. To avoid being cheated it's best to deal with a respectable jewelry firm, preferably one that is a member of the Jewel Fest Club. The Tourism Authority of Thailand founded this reputable organization, and member stores are listed in a booklet and display the Jewel Fest Club logo.

In India you can find many items made from the amazing textiles created in the country. Clothing, tablecloths, towels and other household goods are good buys here.

Jewelry is also a good buy in India, but again, beware of fakes and frauds.

Eleuthera's 5 best beaches

With all the beaches to choose from on the two, long 100-mile shorelines of Eleuthera, which ones stand out and why? You have a choice of among 50 or so, and unless you are planning on spending three to six months on the island exploring all of the pock-marked rough roads that take you to each of the hidden beaches then you'll want to know which ones to make sure you get to. Here is a list of the beaches that are the "must-sees" during your week in paradise.

#5 Twin Bay (Rainbow Bay Subdivision) – these two charming beaches win the contest hands down for the most romantic. Set below a cliff, Twin Bay offers two cozy cave beaches with space so intimate that they're really only suitable for one couple lest you invade on another's privacy. You need to get up early to claim this beach first. Both beaches are side by side on the Atlantic side and are reached by climbing down a set of rock stairs carved out of a fallen boulder. They each offer shade in the sandy cave, some sun by the water's edge, and a lot of wave action due to the nearby breaker. It is possible to have a strong current. In high tides they will flood so be prepared in case the water levels rise. Be sure to pack a picnic lunch and grab a bottle of wine to enjoy the full day at these amazing little beaches.

Pluses: Seclusion, shade, interesting terrain due to the caves, good waves.

Minuses: They may already be occupied, strong current, not a lot of sun, a steep climb down rocky stairs.

#4 Ten Bay (Ten Bay Subdivision) – with only one private home on the beach and with ½ mile of gorgeous pink sand, Ten Bay has become a favorite for everyone, young and old alike. It offers a spectacular unobstructed view onto the horizon for picturesque sunsets. The landscape is dotted with tall palm and casuarina trees for shade especially around the middle of the beach. The water is usually very serene and quite shallow with no current. This is a good beach for sunning, wading, snorkeling, and bonefishing. This is an excellent beach for toddlers because of the soft cool sand and shallow waters. It tends to be more popular so you are likely to see a few visitors on the beach from time to time. It is also a good strolling beach, and there is usually an abundance of conch shells at its northern end.

Pluses: Sunsets, extremely clean, shallow calm water, good snorkeling around the sides of the bay, lots of sun, shelling.

Minuses: Other people on the beach, no waves, shallow water.

#3 Double Bay (Double Bay Subdivision) – this beach has it all and is one of the great wide Atlantic beaches of Eleuthera. Private houses are spread far and wide up its 2 mile coastline and they are largely hidden by dunes, and lush vegetation. The beach is quite wide by Eleutheran standards with plenty of sand between the dunes and the sea. A pretty landscape is dotted by several small cays, and the southern shore juts out convincingly separating Double Bay from Savannah Sound. The sand is firm and offers a great walk due to its length. There are small pockets of reef to snorkel on and at the southern end of the beach are two shipwrecks, one partially visible, and the second larger one much further out from shore offering a more daring snorkel and spear fishing. The water is delightful, and this is an excellent swimming spot due to how quickly it gets deep. This beach has awesome ambient sound as the small waves crashing to shore offer a delightful tone to complement the magnificent view.
Pluses: Swimming, lots of beach, shipwrecks for snorkeling, interesting landscape, good walking or running, easy roads and easy access.
Minuses: Very little shade, few access spots, many private houses, ship debris.

#2 Jack's Bay (near Cotton Bay) – a very pristine spot with very few houses. Because of its remoteness you are likely to have this beach to yourself. It is a sandy half moon bay on the Atlantic, which is protected by a strong breaker at the mouth of the bay. This has the benefit of providing great crashing waves that you can see and hear offshore while providing a protected swimming area close to shore. There is lots of sun and little shade on this beach. Snorkeling can be done along the northern shoreline, although the tides can make this quite shallow. The water in the bay tends to be shallow and calm due to how well protected it is. There are lots of baby conchs in the grassy areas off of the shoreline.

Pluses: Calm protected waters, wave sound at bay entrance, pretty half moon shape.

Minuses: Little shade, no waves, few shells, some debris, bumpy access road.

#1 Lighthouse Beach (Lighthouse Sound) – few beaches match the raw beauty of what is found at the Lighthouse. With large beaches on both the Caribbean and Atlantic separated by a natural limestone outcropping that can be climbed to where the old Lighthouse still stands, these beaches offer everything a vacationer could hope for including breathtaking panoramic views, interesting limestone caves, miles and miles of pristine beaches, and fabulous swimming on both sides and in both oceans. It is possible to swim from the Atlantic to the Caribbean using the channel that runs between the rocks and feel the power or two seas colliding. The best reefs are far offshore for snorkeling and currents can run strong where the oceans meet so be careful. Bring a kayak to reach the best offshore snorkeling spots.

Pluses: Elevated views, two beaches, two oceans, miles of sand and water, good snorkeling offshore, lots of shady spots, lots of sunny spots.

Minuses: Difficult to reach and rough road, no civilization nearby, likely to have other tourists because of its unique characteristics.

Honorable Mention
Papaw Bay, Winding Bay, Deep Creek, Club Med, Savannah Sound, Airport Beach, Rainbow Bay, Windermere Island (private).

London open air events in june 2008

From the 3rd of June until the 9th of August (2008) the Holland Park Theatre (Holland Park Theatre, W8 6LU) hosts the Opera Holland Park event. This remarkable opera company, that has defied expectation and budgets to produce productions of the very highest standard, proposes Italian operas such like 'Il Trovatore', 'Tosca', Donizetti's 'La Fille du Regiment', and Ponchielli's 'La Gioconda' but also 'The Magic Flute' and Tchaikovsky's odd fairytale 'Iolanta'. The perfect scenery of the west London's prettiest park contributes to create a magical atmosphere for all the productions! All venues are hosted in the magic Holland Park Theatre and start from about 7.30 pm. The Park is easily reachable by tube, stop Holland Park. Prices are also very affordable and range from 10-52 pounds. For more information you can contact the organization at 020 7361 2295.

For something similar but probably more familiar and easy going, you should spend an evening at Kenwood House (Hampstead Heath, NW3 7JR) where every summer (this year from 28th June- 23rd August 2008)

they organize Picnic Concerts. What is this? Let's start saying that Kenwood House is a magnificent stately home on Hampstead Heath surrounded by a gorgeous green park, with its own lake, keeping the city beyond. This is certainly one of the finest settings where to cherish fine music on a mid-summer warm evening.

How to proceed? Well, first of all, organize your friends in a sort of pot luck where everybody takes in something to eat. Do not forget to take a bottle of champagne, a couple of good pillows and a blanket! It will be just perfect! The concerts usually take place at sunset. This summer programme includes Buena Vista Social Club, West End royalty Michael Ball and Lesley Garret, Beach Boys genius Brain. For all details contact the organizers directly!

If you like open air performances and events, you should take note that from 2nd June- 3rd September 2008, Regent's Park (Nearest Station: Baker Street Tube / Regent's Park Tube) organizes the 76th season for the Open Air Theatre. One of the biggest draw is 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', under a darkening summer sky, surrounded by English parkland. Probably adapted for tourists, or not an English mother-tongue audience, or teen-agers, this year they perform a new production, shortened and with some of the difficult words cut out. The other Shakespeare is an unseasonable 'Twelfth Night' and a 'Romeo and Juliet'. For details of the programme you can contact the organizers directly at 0870 601811. Prices range from £8 - £40.
Sleeping in London can cost you a fortune even if you are trusting in a last minute offer.

There are some website that compare prices and services in London hotels all in one page and are quite efficient. They offer online confirmed bookings that grant you a confirmed reservation usually up to 3 days in advance your check in date. So try searching online, using some keywords in search engines that will give you a more restrictive and focused selection. In order to better select the range of budget accommodations in London, try with keywords cheap accommodation London, cheap hostels London, cheap B&B ( Bed and Breakfast) London.

Among other bookers, we noticed that a few offer what they promise. Flashbooking.com for example is targeted for cheap young users, independent travellers, family budget accommodation and lists a consistent number of accommodations like hotels, B&B, guest houses and youth hostels starting form 15 euros per person per night. Not bad! Some other sites are more informative and can give you tips on London night life and events like Timeout. So do you best and look for a central location where to stay without spending a fortune!