Tours Online

Discover Sofia

paul — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 15:54:32 +0000

According to its motto, SOFIA “grows but does not age” ( raste no ne staree ): a tribute to the mushrooming suburbs occupied by one-tenth of Bulgaria’s population, and a cryptic reference to its ancient origins. Although various Byzantine ruins and a couple of mosques attest to a long and colourful history, little else in the city is of any real vintage. Sofia’s finest architecture post-dates Bulgaria’s liberation, when the capital of the infant state was laid out on a grid pattern in imitation of Western capitals - although the peeling stucco of its turn-of-the-century buildings lends an air of Balkan dilapidation to the capital’s wide, tree-shaded boulevards. (more…)

Toledo tourist attractions

paul — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 17:25:10 +0000

Despite its reputation as one of Spain’s greatest cities, TOLEDO can, in some ways, be a bit of a disappointment. Certainly, it’s a city redolent of past glories, and is packed with sights - hence the whole city’s status as a National Monument and UNESCO Patrimony of Mankind - but the extraordinary number of day-trippers has taken the edge off what was once the most extravagant of Spanish experiences. Still, the setting is breathtaking, and if you’re an El Greco fan, you’d be mad to miss this city. (more…)

Turin City Guide

paul — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 17:05:22 +0000

“Do you know Turin?” asked Nietzsche. “It is a city after my own heart & a princely residence of the seventeenth century, which has only one taste giving commands to everything, the court and its nobility. Aristocratic calm is preserved in everything; there are no nasty suburbs.” Although Turin ’s traffic-choked streets are no longer calm, and its suburbs are as dreary as any in Italy, the city centre’s gracious Baroque thoroughfares, opulent palaces, sumptuous churches and splendid collections of Egyptian antiquities and northern European paintings are still there - a pleasant surprise to those who might have been expecting satanic factories and little else. (more…)

Pisa tourist attractions

paul — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 14:52:42 +0000

Since the beginning of tourism, PISA has been known for just one thing - the Leaning Tower , which serves around the world as a shorthand image for Italy. It is indeed a freakishly beautiful building, a sight whose impact no amount of prior knowledge can blunt. Yet it is just a single component of Pisa’s breathtaking Campo dei Miracoli , or Field of Miracles, where the Duomo, Baptistry and Camposanto complete a dazzling architectural ensemble. These, and a dozen or so churches and palazzi scattered about the historic centre, belong to Pisa’s “Golden Age”, from the eleventh to the thirteenth centuries, when the city was one of the maritime powers of the Mediterranean. The so-called “Pisan Romanesque” architecture of this period, with its black and white marble facades inspired by the Moorish designs of Andalucia, is complemented by some of the finest medieval sculpture in Italy, much of it from the workshops of Nicola and Giovanni Pisano. The city’s political zenith came late in the eleventh century with a series of victories over the Saracens : the Pisans brought back from Arab cultures long-forgotten ideas of science, architecture and philosophy. Decline set in with defeat by the Genoese in 1284, followed by the silting-up of Pisa’s harbour. From 1406 the city was governed by Florence, whose Medici rulers re-established the University of Pisa, one of the intellectual forcing houses of the Renaissance; Galileo was one of the teachers there. Subsequent centuries saw Pisa fade into provinciality.

Pisa’s big traditional event is the Gioco del Ponte , held on the last Sunday in June every year, when twelve teams from the north and south banks of the city stage a series of battles, pushing a seven-tonne carriage over the Ponte di Mezzo. The event, first mentioned in 1568, is still held in medieval costume with much ceremony. June 17 sees the Regata di San Ranieri , where four rowing teams race in costume in honour of the patron saint of Pisa; it is preceded the night before by the Luminaria di San Ranieri , when all the waterfront buildings and the Leaning Tower are illuminated. Italy’s four great maritime republics (Amalfi, Pisa, Genoa and Venice) take turns to host the Regata delle Antiche Repubbliche Marinare , which comes round to Pisa in late May or early June of 2002. Four eight-man crews from each of the cities race against each other on the Arno, in between festivities and parades.

Pisa Centrale train station (information tel 1478.88.088) is about 1km south of the Arno. Lazzi buses from Florence, Prato, Pistoia and Carrara arrive at the nearby Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II, while other buses from Volterra, Lucca and Livorno arrive at Piazza San Antonio alongside it. From here, the Leaning Tower is about 25 minutes’ walk north, or a ride on CPT city bus #1 from outside the station. Alternatively, you could take a local train five minutes to the more convenient Pisa San Rossore station, 200m west of Piazza Manin (also served by local trains from Lucca and some from Viareggio).Pisa’s Aeroporto Galileo Galilei (information tel 050.500.707, www.pisa-airport.com ) is 2km south of Centrale station. Hourly trains run from Pisa Aeroporto station to Pisa Centrale and on to Florence, 1hr 15mins away. CPT city bus #3 departs from the airport every fifteen minutes, and passes the train station, runs along the south bank of the Arno, over Ponte Solferino, to Piazza Manin and then out to the hostel. A taxi to the centre costs around L10,000/¬5.16.

Pisa’s APT tourist office is snug against the walls amidst the tangle of stalls just outside the gate of the Campo dei Miracoli, at Via Cammeo 2 off Piazza Manin (May-Sept daily 8am-8pm; Oct-April daily 8.30am-5pm; tel 050.560.464, www.pisa.turismo.toscana.it ). In the same office, the adjacent desk is staffed by the Consorzio Turistico ” Pisa è “, the city’s official hotel-booking service (Mon-Fri 9.30am-6pm, Sat 9.30am-1pm; Oct-March Mon-Fri closes 5pm; tel 050.830.253, www.pisae.com ). There’s also a small APT office at the train station (May-Sept daily 8am-6pm; Oct-April daily 9am-5pm; tel 050.42.291), and another at the airport (May-Sept daily 10am-10pm; Oct-April daily 10am-5pm; tel 050.503.700). All of these also stock information for towns such as San Miniato and Volterra that lie within the Provincia di Pisa.

Look out for concerts at the Teatro Comunale Verdi, Via Palestro 40, and for more offbeat and contemporary shows (even the odd rock concert) held in a former church at the end of Via San Zeno. The city also has an adventurous arts cinema , Cinema Nuove, in Piazza Stazione.

Since it was first laid out in the mid-eleventh century, Pisa’s ecclesiastical centre has been known as the Campo dei Miracoli (Field of Miracles; also Piazza dei Miracoli or Piazza Duomo; www.duomo.pisa.it ). The four major buildings - the Duomo , its Bell-tower (which almost immediately slipped to become the Leaning Tower ), the Baptistry and the monumental cemetery of the Camposanto - were built on a broad swathe of grassy lawn just within the northern walls of the city. Nowhere else in Italy are the key buildings of a city arrayed with such precision, and nowhere is there so beautiful a contrast of stonework and open meadow. However, the turf rests on highly unstable sandy soil, which accounts for the tower’s lean; take a look at the baptistry and you’ll see that it leans the other way from the tower.

The rest of the city centre makes for some fine wandering, through alleys that have largely retained their medieval appearance. Southeast, on the river, is the Museo Nazionale di San Matteo , a fine collection of ecclesiastical art and sculpture, while west along the Arno is the lavish Palazzo Reale mansion and the city’s huge Arsenale , the latter currently housing a display of items taken from ongoing excavations at the newly discovered site of Pisa’s ancient harbour. One of Pisa’s biggest surprises lurks in an unregarded piazza south of the river near the train station: covering one wall of an open bus station is the last-ever mural by US artist Keith Haring .

The five museums and monuments in and around Campo dei Miracoli - the Duomo, Baptistry, Museo dell’Opera, Camposanto and Museo delle Sinopie - share a complicated system of ticketing . Admission to the duomo costs L3000/¬1.55. Admission to any two sights costs L10,000/¬5.16. Admission to any three including the duomo costs L13,000/¬6.71. Admission to the four excluding the duomo costs L15,000/¬7.75. Admission to all five costs L18,000/¬9.30. Students pay L2000/¬1.03 admission to each sight.You can get tickets only from the ticket offices at the Museo delle Sinopie, the Museo dell’Opera and the Camposanto.

Restaurants in the environs of the Leaning Tower are not good value (although the many bars and cafés benefit from the views). A few blocks south, around Piazza Cavalieri and Piazza Dante, you’ll find predominantly local places, many with prices reflecting student finances. Although most kitchens serve up standard Tuscan fare, you’ll also find Pisan dishes, including baccalà alla Pisana (dried cod) and plenty of seafood.Bruno , Via Bianchi 12 (tel 050.560.818). Outside the historic centre, northeast of the Leaning Tower, this traditional antica trattoria is known for its top-notch, and pricey, Pisan cuisine. Closed Mon eve & Tues.

La Grotta , Via San Francesco 103 (tel 050.578.105). Comfortable, quiet old osteria in a cave-like setting, with the motto “wine, bread and company”. Locals crowd in at the benches to sample unfussy Tuscan nosh. Closed for lunch and all day Sun.

Mensa Universitaria , Via Martiri. Student refectory off Piazza Cavalieri; the cheapest meals in town. Closed Sat & Sun eve, and mid-July to mid-Sept.

La Mescita , Via Cavalca 2. This small restaurant in the warren of the Piazza Vettovaglie market is an academic institution, patronized by students and professors alike. Set menus (including vegetarian) from L35,000/¬18.08. Closed Mon, and Tues & Wed lunch.

Osteria dei Cavalieri , Via San Frediano 16 (tel 050.580.858, www.toscana.net/pisa/odc ). Outstanding quality, with English-speaking staff and a calm, fresh atmosphere. The fish is exquisite, Tuscan meat and game dishes are expertly prepared, and their vegetarian options are excellent. Eat à la carte or choose from a welter of set menus starting at L30,000/¬15.49. Closed Sat lunch & Sun.

Al Ristoro dei Vecchi Macelli , Via Volturno 49 (tel 050.20.424). Acclaimed as Pisa’s best restaurant, with a wide range of sophisticated, innovative takes on Tuscany’s gourmet traditions - choose from meat or fish set menus for upwards of L50,000/¬25.82. Closed Sun lunch & Wed.

Lo Schiaccianoci , Via Vespucci 104 (tel 050.21.024). Wonderful, if tiny, upper-midpriced fish and seafood restaurant in an hard-to-reach location east of the station. Closed Sun.

Taverna Kostas , Via del Borghetto 39. Longstanding local favourite, offering a mix of Greek and Mediterranean cooking, as well as Pisan seafood. Closed Sun lunch & Mon.

Il Vecchio Dado , Lungarno Pacinotti 21 (tel 050.580.900). Quality pizzeria on the waterfront with a friendly welcome, classy food (the fish dishes are excellent) and lively atmosphere. Closed Wed & Thurs lunch.

Airlines Air Dolomiti (tel 167.013.366); Alitalia (tel 1478.65.642); American (tel 02.6791.4400); British Airways (tel 1478.12.266); Continental (tel 055.476.454); Delta (tel 1678.64.114); KLM (tel 06.652.9286); Lufthansa (tel 02.8066.3025); Meridiana (tel 055.230.2416); Ryanair (tel 050.503.770); TWA (tel 055.239.6856); United (tel 1678.825.181).Books Libreria Internazionale, Via Rigattieri 33, stocks English books.

Car rental Autoeuropa (tel 050.506.883), Avis (tel 050.42.028), Europcar (tel 050.41.017), Hertz (tel 050.43.220), Liberty Rent (tel 050.48.088), National/Maggiore (tel 050.42.574), Program (tel 050.500.296), Sixt (tel 050.46.209), Thrifty (tel 050.45.490), Travelcar (tel 050.44.424). All are based at the airport.

Hospital Santa Chiara, Via Roma 67 (tel 050.992.111).

Internet access Internet Planet, Piazza Cavallotti 3 (tel 050.830.702, www.internetplanet.it ); Internet Point, Via dei Mille 3 (tel 050.830.701, www.koinepisa.it ). Both have long opening-hours and charge L3000/¬1.55 for 15min (less for students). Internet Surf, open daily until 1am at Via Carducci 5 (tel 050.830.800, www.internetsurf.it ), lets you pay by credit card.

Laundry OndaBlu, Via San Francesco 8a.

Left luggage At the airport (daily 8am-8pm; L5000/¬2.58 per piece per day).

Lost property At the airport (tel 050.849.400).

Parking There are car parks outside the Porta Nuova, just west of the Campo dei Miracoli, and west of the train station on Via Battisti. Parking in the historic centre is severely restricted: yellow spaces are off-limits, blue spaces are charged by the hour, day and night, and white spaces are free only if you display a chit from your hotel, signed, stamped and dated. The airport long-term car park P2 is free.

Police The Questura is at Via Mario Lalli 1 (tel 050.583.511).

Post office Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II (Mon-Fri 8.15am-7pm, Sat 8.15am-noon).

Taxi Radio Taxi Pisa tel 050.541.600.

Naples Travel Guide

paul — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 14:35:24 +0000

Whatever your real interest is in Campania, the chances are that you’ll wind up in NAPLES - capital of the region and, indeed, of the whole Italian south. It’s the kind of city laden with visitors’ preconceptions, and it rarely disappoints: it is filthy, it is very large and overbearing, it is crime-infested, and it is most definitely like nowhere else in Italy - something the inhabitants will be keener than anyone to tell you. In all these things lies the city’s charm. Perhaps the feeling that you’re somewhere unique makes it possible to endure the noise and harassment, perhaps it’s the feeling that in less than three hours you’ve travelled from an ordinary part of Europe to somewhere akin to an Arab bazaar. One thing, though, is certain: a couple of days here and you’re likely to be as staunch a defender of the place as its most devoted inhabitants. Few cities on earth inspire such fierce loyalties. (more…)

Milan travel guide

paul — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 15:34:02 +0000

The dynamo behind the country’s “economic miracle”, MILAN is a city like no other in Italy. It’s foggy in winter, muggy in summer, and is closer in outlook, as well as distance, to London than to Palermo. This is no city of peeling palazzi, cobbled piazzas and la dolce vita , but one in which time is money, the pace fast, and where consumerism and the work-ethic rule the lives of its power-dressed citizens. (more…)

Bucharest tourist attracctions

paul — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 15:07:28 +0000

BUCHAREST (Bucuresti), with a population of over two million, may be the largest city between Berlin and Athens, but it’s by no means the most beautiful. At first sight the city is a chaotic jumble of traffic-choked streets, ugly concrete apartment blocks and grandiose but unfinished Communist developments. Lying 64km from the Danube, Romania’s southern border, but 600km from its northern frontier, it’s also far removed from the country’s more obvious attractions. And yet, it’s Romania’s centre of government and commerce and site of its main airport, so most visitors to the country will find themselves passing through Bucharest at some point. (more…)

London Travel Guide

paul — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 14:45:24 +0000

With a population of just under eight million, London is Europe’s largest city, spreading across an area of more than 620 square miles from its core on the River Thames. Ethnically it’s also Europe’s most diverse metropolis: around two hundred languages are spoken within its confines, and more than thirty percent of the population is made up of first, second- and third-generation immigrants. Despite Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish devolution, London still dominates the national horizon, too: this is where the country’s news and money are made, it’s where the central government resides and, as far as its inhabitants are concerned, provincial life begins beyond the circuit of the city’s orbital motorway. Londoners’ sense of superiority causes enormous resentment in the regions, yet it’s undeniable that the capital has a unique aura of excitement and success - in most walks of British life, if you want to get on you’ve got to do it in London. (more…)

Brussels Travel Guide

paul — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 14:17:39 +0000

Amongst Europeans, Brussels is best known as the home of the EU, which, given recent developments, is something of a poisoned chalice. But in fact, the EU neither dominates nor defines Brussels, merely forming one layer of a city that has become, in postwar years at least, a thriving, cosmopolitan metropolis. It’s a vibrant and fascinating place, with architecture and museums to rank among the best of Europe’s capitals, not to mention a superb restaurant scene and an energetic nightlife. Moreover, most of the key attractions are crowded into a centre that is small enough to be absorbed over a few days, its boundaries largely defined by a ring of boulevards known as the “petit ring”.

All prices are given in euros , the new currency that replaced the Belgian Franc on January 1, 2002. The exchange rate is fixed at one Euro to 40.34 Belgian Francs.

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Belgium Tourist Attractions

paul — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 16:14:12 +0000

A federal country, with three official languages and an intense regional rivalry, Belgium has a cultural diversity that belies its rather dull reputation among travellers. Its population of around ten million is divided between Flemish-speakers (about sixty percent) and French-speaking Walloons (forty percent), with a few pockets of German-speakers in the east. Prosperity has shifted back and forth between the two communities over the centuries, and relations remain acrimonious. The constitution was redrawn in 1980 on a federal basis, with three separate entities: the Flemish North, Walloon South, and Brussels, which is officially bilingual (although its population is eighty percent French-speaking). (more…)