Two travel groups have come up with different lists of the most romantic cities in Europe for Valentine’s Day. Research by Catamaran Charter Croatia ranked Europe’s capital cities based on their number of romantic restaurants (as described on TripAdvisor) and hotels per million residents. A Canadian travel company, redtag.ca, also listed five top romantic cities in Europe and came up with somewhat different results. Here’s the top 10 from Catamaran Charter Croatia: Lisbon Monaco Paris San Marino Rome Andorra La Vella, Andorra Amsterdam Athens Prague Reykjavik, Iceland I’m not so sure about San Marino or Andorra as I’ve never been. Read more
Venice
A new study finds Americans are fond of bucket lists, and travel is their top desire. Asked by myvisiong.org what’s on their bucket list, 45% said travel, 30% said spending time with loved ones, 15% said adventurous experiences, and four per cent said academic pursuits. Here were their top ten must-see locations: 1. The Grand Canyon 2. Yellowstone National Park 3. Paris 4. The Colosseum in Rome 5. The Pyramids of Egypt 6. The Canals of Venice 7. The Great Barrier Reef, Australia 8. The Great Wall of China 9. Redwood National and State Parks, California 10. Stonehenge, England The Read more
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I know. But sometimes I can’t help but get riled up about silly travel lists. For example, there’s this that I found today on a website called mentalfloss.com. The story says a group called Online Mortgage Advisor looked at something called the Golden Ratio (yeah, I’ve never heard of it, either), which measures shapes and building sizes that are pleasing to the eye, and then ranked world cities based on that. It’s interesting, and there are some worthy candidates on the list. But simply focusing on pleasing architectural shapes warps things so Read more
Travel executives are betting that this summer will be one of the busiest yet even with soaring inflation as consumers excited to leave home will splurge on vacations – potentially going further afield and venturing back into tourist hot spots For its part, ToursByLocals, the Canadian-based company that connects discerning travellers in search of customized, private tours with handpicked tour guides in 189 countries worldwide, sees “substantial demand” for travel heading into the busy summer season after more than two years of Covid-19 restrictions. “May was an all time record month for us after nearly 14 years in business,” says Read more
WestJet is now providing refunds to customers for some international flights and U.S. flights that were cancelled due to the COVID-19 crisis. Meanwhile, some suggest the coronavirus might have helped Venice curb its overtourism problem. My Future of Travel blog, weekend edition. WestJet Improves Refund Offer WestJet now says that guests on some international flights can apply for refunds for eligible tickets cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Canadian Press says the policy is valid for flights to and from Canada and the UK, as well as flights to and from Canada and the U.S. But refunds are NOT available Read more
