Norwich features many of the old and archaic English times. It has many such illustrations including a magnificent cathedral and a 12^th century castle. If you are visiting Norwich, the best way to travel is to get your own car. Now it is not possible to drive around in your own car, so you hire one. You can drive the hired car all around the city.

Norwich comprises of a nice central area where the market is located. There are various other art stores and shopping zones. The city of Norwich is more or less a mini museum featuring various art works and relics from the Norfolk area.

Norwich City Hall (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Bickling Hall is yet another cultural symbol of Norwich. It has been designed as per the Jacobian Mansion standards. It features various paintings and tapestries. The garden outside the main structure is very pleasant and beautiful. Another recognized building is the Mansion House. This is the Royal Residence of Sandringham. These buildings are rich in culture and history of Norwich. They have housed four generations of the British Monarchy.

These places make a fantastic day trip. It can be easily reached in a car. Otherwise, you may have to change quite a few public transports to reach one destination.

Car Hire Norwich makes it very easy and convenient for you to roam around and enjoy the various traditions and sights the city has to offer. You could ride along the beautiful Norfolk country sides as per your own convenience. You can enjoy the nature as you travel and can make stops for as long as you want. From bird watching to canal barging you can enjoy all these pleasures.
The rental service is cheap and provides you the luxury of comfortably roaming around in your own vehicle. You can maintain your privacy and can visit all the places you want to explore. Norwich is a very beautiful place. It serves as a connector to the amazing Norfolk Broads. Norwich is one of the liveliest cultural capitals of East England. You can make a quick visit over the weekend or stay even longer.

Norwich is gaining its name as a tourist centre. It is quite popular for its refreshing views.  Hiring car in Norwich is much cheaper and you must explore this peaceful place and visit the nearby attractions. So when you are out there, you can hire any car from the airport itself and begin your journey around the city.

Majorca’s got plenty to offer in the way of sun, sea and sand, but if that’s all you do when you’re on the biggest of the Balearics, you’re missing a trick. Take a day trip to see some of the island’s other sights. You’ll be glad you did. Here are some of the most interesting Majorca attractions.

S’Albufera de Mallorca

Image: Mark Wiewel/Flickr

S’Albufera de Mallorca is the place to go if you want to experience nature in Mallorca. It’s a large wetland and its modern origins go back 100,000 years. This natural area has a diverse range of plants and animals, including 29 marine species and 61 species of birds. The area has been a nature reserve since 1988 and can only be entered on foot or by bicycle.

Dei?

Dei? is on Majorca’s northwestern coast. Only six square miles and with a population numbered in the hundreds, this picturesque village is built on a hill. It features many ancient mule trails, making it ideal for hikers. The village boasts an interesting architectural museum housed in a converted mill.

Castell d’ Alaro

Image: Ian Turk/Flickr

Castell d’ Alaro is in the west of the island in the town of Alaro. This ruined castle overlooks the Tramuntana mountains and gives exquisite views of the island from the mountains to the sea. This location has had a castle since the 13th centuries and at one stage it was almost impregnable. A visit to the castle makes a good walk from the city centre.

Biniaraix

Biniaraix is a good starting point for another excursion, but it’s not for the faint hearted. It takes about four hours to walk from the old public wash stand near the village church up the hill to the Cuber reservoir, but it’s well worth the trip. You will enjoy spectacular mountain views as you make the ascent and dry stone buildings and olive groves give it even more picturesque charm. Just in case you’re tempted to stray off the path, be warned that it’s the only part of the area that’s public; all the rest is private property.

Fornalutx

Image: Mark Wiewel/Flickr

Like Dei?, Fornalutx is also in the Tramuntana valley. It is a charming and beautifully preserved village which dates back to Arab times. It features ancient stone houses decorated with pots and plants and featuring some of the distinctive tile work of that era. The village has won numerous conservation awards and is the perfect way to round out your visit to Mallorca – you won’t want to miss it.

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Marian Jaime writes for Suntransfers. She recommends you get your Majorca holiday off to a great start with Majorca airport taxis.

This photo was used under the Creative Commons license curtsey of Flickr.com

http://farm1.staticflickr.com/32/62469008_aae264981a.jpg

Hey, you guys, how you doing? Oh we’ve missed you and we were wondering if you’d consider taking us back? It wasn’t you, it was us, we just needed a break but now that’s out of our system, we’re back and this time, for good.

Possibly.

Do you remember the 80’s when we loved America? Films such as Ferris Bueller, Dirty Dancing and Top Gun made us swoon and rejoice in all things starred and striped and if we weren’t trying to look like Jimmy Dean or Madonna then we were stuffing our faces with Big Macs and large fries. But then it all went a little bit dark didn’t it. A large bush-shaped cloud appeared over the pond and made us wonder whether all that posturing and warring wasn’t a bit too…well, a bit too American.

As tender British types we do have a tendency to look down our regal noses and sneer at our noisy ‘cousins’ who are always so loud and so rude and so downright obtrusive, especially when we’re on our holidays. However, things have changed. Gone are the bush-shaped clouds of oppression, gone is our contempt for coffee and gone is our quaint affection for independent stores as opposed to megalithic malls.

But what’s made us come back to the west side? What’s made us feel that it’s ok to fly the flag? What’s made us fall in love with America all over again?

Politics

Off the top of my head, I’d say that Mr Obama is probably one of the most charismatic politicians ever and from fist bumping with cleaners to shooting hoops on lunch breaks; there really isn’t anyone else that I’d want in charge of the big red button. To be fair Barrack’s predecessor wasn’t exactly a tough act to follow but having a president that looks, talks and even sings like he knows what he’s doing makes it a whole lot easier to say God Bless America.

Books

Steinbeck, Twain, Kerouac, Burroughs, Ginsberg, Roth, need I go on? These are amongst the finest writers ever to have put pen to paper and even through the dark days their work existed and resonated throughout the globe cementing the fact that we should never generalise about the intellectual property of an entire nation. America provided the benchmark for fictional works of art and if you ever find yourself talking about how much you dislike Americans then you seriously need to revisit your book collection.

TV box sets

From multiplexes to live coverage of award’s night, we’re all over Hollywood like a cheap suit on Dan Aykroyd. We’ve never stopped loving the movie business but thanks to some altogether smaller screen adaptations we now appear to have fallen in love with its little sister too. Lost, The Wire, 24, Breaking Bad, The Sopranos, Band of Brothers, Glee, Desperate Housewives, Mad Men, Homeland, the list is endless. With a succession of English actors playing American roles such as Dominic West, Damian Lewis and Tim Roth, what’s not to like?

Music

Prince, Vampire Weekend, Brandon Flowers, Death Cab for Cutie, Beyonc?, Jay-Z and Bruce Springsteen have all packed out festivals and venues across the whole of the British Isles and if ever there was a reason to confess our undying love for the States, it’s through our taste in music. Of course, we won’t let anyone in but many a group wishing to make an impact on an educated and enthusiastic audience will turn to us as a very good place to start a European tour. There’s no way that you can dislike America if you love music and from Elvis Presley to the Beach Boys, Iggy Pop to Public Enemy, we’ve never stopped loving the good-old USA.

Holidays

From the beaches and national parks of the west coast to the monuments and Blue Ridge Mountains of the east, America has got the lot. Whatever you’re into: walking holidays in Yosemite, shopping trips in New York or sailing holidays off the coast of Florida, you’re never far away from your dream location when you’re stateside.

And finally, everyone else hates us

Face the facts – America’s all we’ve got left. Get used to it. Germans, French, Poles, even the Aussies hate us. Don’t get me started on Eurovision.

USA USA USA!

Biog: Chris has been to both the east coast and the west coast of America and is eagerly planning his next walking holidays, somewhere in between.

Majorca’s best known as a great place to lie in the sun, but it’s got a lot more to offer than that. The area has been fought over by everyone from the Vandals to the Moors to the Spanish – and a lot more besides. That has given it an interesting collection of historical sites – and some modern ones have joined them too. While no trip to Majorca would be complete without Magaluf, Alcudia or Palma Nova, it’s also true to say that there are a few must-sees when you visit the capital of the Balearics. Here are some suggestions.

Soller Railway

Image: Dan Meineck/Flickr

If you want to get an overview of the island’s history, then the Soller Railway must be on your list. It claims to be “the only time machine that lets you journey into the past’. Pulled by an electric locomotive, the only one of its kind still in existence, the train retains the character it had when launched in 1912. Great views and scenery mark the 13km ride from the capital to the sleepy but charming village of Soller – and the food in the village is delicious!

La Seu Cathedral

Image: Pilgrim/Flickr

La Seu is more properly known as the Cathedral of Santa Maria do Palma. It’s a Gothic style cathedral which, as is common in these parts, was constructed on the site of a former Arab mosque. It took nearly 400 years for construction to be completed. Antoni Gaudi, famous as the designer of Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia, also worked on it for a while at the beginning of the 20th century, but this was short lived.

Basilica De Sant Francesc

Another Gothic church worth a look is the Basilica De Sant Francesc. Generally thought to be breathtaking, even by those who have visited several Gothic churches and cathedrals, it’s a haven for those who want a sense of peace. The 13th century structure holds the tomb of Catalonian mystic Ramon Llull.

Passeig des Born

If you just want to browse and people watch, then the Passeig des Born is the best place to do it. It’s got lots of shops, including top Spanish department store, El Corte Ingles, as well as plenty of cafes, bars and restaurants. A good place for lunch is at one of the many establishments overlooking the harbour.

Bellver Castle

Image: Hans Poldoja/Flickr

It’s more Gothic style architecture for our final pick, but this time it’s a castle. One of Europe’s few circular castles, Bellver Castle was constructed in the 14th century. It is truly spectacular. Originally including several features to make it impregnable, the castle became a historical museum in the 1930s. It’s also an excellent setting for the many cultural events that take place there.

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Marian Jaime writes for Suntransfers. She recommends you get your Palma, Majorca holiday off to a great start with Palma airport taxis.

Ever since Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey, man has been telling tales of brave sea voyages, often to the limit of the known world. And today people are no less spell-bound by the most mysterious and ever-changing of the elements. Here is a look at five great pieces of literature that deal with the drama and majesty of the oceans.

Photo by Steve-h on Flickr.com. Used under Creative Commons Licence.

The Old Man and the Sea, Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway’s last major novel The Old Man and the Sea was also one of his best, charting the journey of one lone fisherman as he attempts to catch and land a Marlin in dangerous, shark-infested waters. After succeeding in his catch the eponymous old man of the novel finds that he is not strong enough to bring it into his boat, and is forced to attempt the journey back with the fish drifting behind him. Yet the book is far more than a simple fishing tale, and resonates on so many different levels, whether symbolic, mythic or psychological. In fact this book won Hemingway the Pulitzer Prize in 1953, and the pinnacle of them all, the Noble Prize, just a year later. Pick it up at an airport and savour the terse, finely sculpted prose as you sail across the seas.

Moby Dick, Herman Melville

A sprawling book of some 822 pages, Melville’s Moby Dick is again far more than a tale about someone trying to catch a whale, it is a story about one man’s pursuit of the unobtainable in the face of death. Almost all of life’s savage and terrifying beauty is summed up in the confines of this epic book, and the voyage across the North Atlantic will leave readers drained and humbled by the end. Whether you are heading out on bareboat charters or circumnavigating the globe, Moby Dick is an absolute must-read for novice sailors and old sea dogs alike.

Sahara, Clive Cussler

Not all books dealing with naval themes need to be works of high literature, and Clive Cussler’s novels have done much to popularise deep-sea diving. His thriller novels, following the under-water adventures of all-action hero Dirk Pitt, have sold millions across the planet and been translated into dozens of languages. His books use romantic settings such as the Caribbean and the Aegean Seas to concoct page-turning adventures that inspire and excite. One of his finest books is Sahara, eventually turned into a film starring Matthew McConaughey, in which treasure hunters search for the buried CSS Texas. After reading a few of Cussler’s magnificent novels, you will doubtless find yourself hankering after a few deep sea adventures and sailing vacations of your own.

Master and Commander, Patrick O’Brian

The first of the Jack Aubrey novels, and widely considered the greatest, Master and Commander charts the life aboard a naval Man O’ War during the infamous Napoleonic Wars that once ravaged Europe. O’Brian brings to life a by-gone age, and everything from the smell of morning rum to the creaking of the floorboards and rush of the waves, can be sensed intimately when reading this masterpiece. Stories of death and loss, cowardice and bravery abound within the pages of this book, turned into a hit movie in 2003 starring Aussie heart-throb Russell Crowe.

Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad

The ultimate in dark, psychological terror, Conrad’s the Heart of Darkness is a journey not only into the heart of Africa, but also into the heart of the human subconscious. A deeply provocative novel ever since it was published over 100 years ago, the Heart of Darkness has influenced major works such as Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now and Chinua Achebe’s acclaimed novel Things Fall Apart.

When not enjoying sailing vacations around the Bay of Biscay, John can be found writing articles on a number of pressing travel issues.

Mumbai is a place where Indian architecture, culture and tradition are on full display. There are so many places to visit when you travel to Mumbai such as the Gateway of India, the Kala Ghoda Art Precinct as well as the bustling markets and bazaars. Though there are indeed a plenty of spots to see, going to all of them may not be possible especially if you are on a tight schedule.

Here are the top 6 places that you should be visiting during your time in Mumbai:

The Gateway of India

The name of the place itself seemingly suggests that this should be the first place that you should see when you travel to Mumbai. The Gateway of India is one of Mumbai’s most popular and recognizable monuments. The structure was completed in 1920. This structure was built to commemorate King George V and Queen Mary’s visit to the city of Mumbai.

The Haji Ali

Built in 1431, the Haji Ali is both a tomb and a mosque. This top destination contains the body of Haji Ali, a Muslim merchant who is considered to be an Indian Saint. A number of Muslims visit the place to ask for blessings from Haji Ali. The structure is only accessible during low tides.

Kala Ghoda Art Precinct

The name Kala Ghoda means “black horse”. It was named as such because of the statue that was formerly displayed there. The Kala Ghoda is Mumbai’s cultural center. Traveling to Mumbai can never be complete without visiting the Kala Ghoda and admiring the beautiful artwork of the people of India.

Markets and Bazaars

Mumbai has a very busy, thriving bazaar scene. With all of the numerous markets throughout the city, finding something to bring home to remember will be the easiest part of your vacation.

Prince Wales Museum

Mumbai has a great collection of finely built heritage buildings. To make your vacation to India really remarkable, go and see the Prince Wales Museum which is one of the most beautiful heritage buildings in Mumbai. Located at the Kala Ghoda Art precinct, the building has a rather interesting, gothic look.

Caves and National Parks

Despite the fast turning tides of time in the region, with modernity coming rapidly, Mumbai has managed to take care of their caves and national parks. These caves and national parks are a great escape and change of pace from the busy city atmosphere. Visit one of their Buddhist caves and be mesmerized by the beautifully carved volcanic rocks. Numerous caves can also be located at the Elephanta Island. These caves are said to be dedicated to Shiva.

When you travel to Mumbai, it can really be mesmerizing and fulfilling to experience the places listed above.

Images from Commons Wikimedia at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bombay-market.jpg

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mumbai_(Bombay)_Gateway_of_India.JPG 

Nicholas Martin is a travel blogger for Passport Visa Travelers Guide where you can prepare for your trip to India.

For some skiing enthusiasts, there’s nowhere they’d rather go than Sun Valley, Idaho. This resort town is nestled in the Wood River valley, and was the first destination ski resort in the United States. Before the majestic views of Aspen in the Colorado Rockies or California’s Lake Tahoe, this spot provided Americans with a taste of life in the Swiss Alps, and continues to be a popular recreation spot for people all over the country.

The spot was first developed by W. Averell Harriman, the chairman of the Union Pacific Railroad. He sought to boost ridership numbers on passenger trains heading west, and figured that a destination ski spot like those he’d seen in the Swiss Alps would be a perfect draw. In 1935, he and an Austrian Count traveled across the country to find an ideal site, and they settled on the mountains in central Idaho near the town of Ketchum. Construction of the 3,888-acre resort was completed in 1936, and named Sun Valley. Its centerpiece was a Swiss-style lodge that had heated indoor/outdoor swimming pools—a revolutionary bit of engineering at the time.

Ski runs were built on Proctor and Dollar mountains initially. The site’s biggest draw, Bald Mountain, was initially considered too advanced for American skiers, who were only just starting to enjoy the sport. However, the instructors at Sun Valley were Austrian expats who had been on slopes their entire lives, and they led the charge in developing the impressive peak into hills of varying difficulty levels.

Getting Up the Mountain

Anyone who’s been to a basic hill is familiar with ski lifts: a series of chairs attached to a loop of steel cable, which continuously rotates and carries riders to the top of a run. Sun Valley was the site of the very first chair lifts, installed on Proctor mountain in 1936 and developed by a Union Pacific engineer. It was based on a similar conveyor system used for shipping bananas.

The invention was an instant hit; prior to its installation, skiers would ascend up a hill on a J-shaped bar or by aerial cable car. Chair lifts were far more comfortable, and didn’t require the unique balancing act of the J-lift. It could also transport a greater number of people up the hill per hour. The original lift was moved to Michigan’s Boyne Mountain, where parts of it are still in use to this day.

Star Power

Sun Valley’s popularity was also boosted when celebrities began to vacation there, often invited personally by Averell Harriman himself. Ernest Hemingway finished ‘For Whom the Bell Tolls’ while staying at the lodge in 1939, and Gary Cooper, Clark Gable, Lucille Ball, Marilyn Monroe, and the Kennedy family were all frequent visitors. This trend has continued to this day; the resort has been a seasonal rest stop for the likes of Tom Hanks, Oprah Winfrey, Clint Eastwood, Justin Timberlake, and Bill Gates.

Nowadays, Sun Valley is far more than excellent skiing. It boasts an excellent golf course, a pavilion that offers free concerts in the summer, and its lively arts community. The resort has grown from one small lodge and a few trails to a multi-million dollar operation with gondolas, restaurants, bars, ice rinks, and several Olympic medalists who hail from this sleepy little community.

Jamie Matzke represents Diamond Resorts International. A leader in worldwide vacation resort destinations, they offer unparalleled vacation value. Join us in Sun Valley, Idaho at Diamond Resorts Elkhorn Resort.