It’s almost Valentine’s Day, and that means it’s time for romance. The folks at Ubuy.com looked at TripAdvisor data to score each European capital city for romance. The criteria included the number of fine dining restaurants, 5-star hotels, and romantic tours. A romantic tour only gets one point, which I don’t understand. I also would put more emphasis on a five-star hotel than an expensive restaurant, if only because you’re likely to have more time to enjoy a hotel than a restaurant. It’s a tad arbitrary, and it doesn’t take the look or feel of a city into account. But Read more
Lisbon
A little bit of this and a little bit of that today. SAFEST EUROPEAN CITIES A story at InsiderMonkey.com lists the safest cities in the world, which is an important topic any time but seemingly more so now given global events. Using data from the Global Peace Index, they assigned cities with a safety score. In this, the lower the number the more safe the city is deemed to be. Here’s the top 25 in descending order 25. Vilnius, Lithuania, 1.671 24. Rome, 1.662 23. Bucharest, 1.649 23. Madrid, 1.649 21. Sofia, 1.643 20. Warsaw, 1.634 19. Stockholm, 1.625 (very Read more
Looking for a great winter/spring getaway? TAP Air Portugal has some terrific deals for flights to Europe. The airline is welcoming 2024 with promotional fares to Portugal and more than 35 destinations across Europe that start as low as $478 CAD from Toronto to Lisbon. The sale runs until Jan. 18, 2024 for travel from Jan. 11 to May 31, 2024. Flights are on sale from all nine US and Canadian gateways, including Boston, Chicago, Miami, Montreal, New York (JFK and Newark), San Francisco, Toronto, and Washington, DC (Dulles). Each TAP roundtrip ticket includes the option of a Portugal Stopover Read more
Air Canada today announced significantly expanded service to Europe for next summer, including a new, year-round route between Montreal and Madrid, expanded service to Italy and earlier seasonal start-up flights between Toronto and Edinburgh, Scotland. Canada’s largest airline said it plans to operate 100 per cent of its peak summer 2019 trans-Atlantic capacity next year, taking full advantage of the robust recovery in its largest international market. Air Canada will begin its seasonal flights between Toronto and Edinburgh on March 1, 2024. I’m scheduled for an AC flight from Pearson to Edinburgh a week from today, actually. “Air Canada saw Read more
I’ve been posting a series of “Canada Shorts” that provide a glimpse into great destinations for people without a lot of time on their hands. Today it’s my first “Europe Shorts” item, looking at lovely Lisbon. The city is built on a series of small hills, so you’ll find great views almost everywhere you look. There are tons of terrific cafes, many of them situated in parks overlooking the city below. You’ll also get fab views from the top of the arch in the main Comercio Square near the Tagus River. Be sure to take the city’s famous No. 28 Read more
