World Travel Guide

Aspen is one of the world's best-known resorts, boasting four ski areas, three separate resort developments and a glitzy reputation.

The famous ski town was a busy 19th-century silver mining district 130 years ago. Today you can stay in the original town of Aspen, or at the ever-expanding Snowmass resort 20km (12 miles) away, which recently completed a multi-billion dollar redevelopment, or at the third and smallest resort, Aspen Highlands.

The main resort of Aspen town has several faces. It has become synonymous with excess, being home to some of the world's most opulent and expensive properties, as well as a local airport full of private jets. On the other hand it has a reputation for liberal policies which seems at odds with the first - the resort famously banned fur coats at one time, and currently the Aspen Skiing Company is a leading campaigner against climate change (while simultaneously encouraging increased use of the local airport).




Snowmass is very much like a ‘normal’ ski resort, and a very good one following the huge investment in improvements recently. It also has the largest of Aspen’s four ski areas.

However, most visitors have little interest in these issues and just enjoy the superb skiing, which includes the biggest lift-served vertical in the USA, and a buzzing nightlife.


Read more: http://www.worldtravelguide.net/ski/aspen#ixzz18LPgR6Uy

Outstandingly dramatic, Botswana encompasses striking salt pans, diamond-rich deserts and fertile flood plains which teem with game. The north, in particular, offers superb wildlife-watching opportunities, making this one of southern Africa's top safari destinations.

A sizable proportion of the country - over 40% - is given over to national parks, reserves and private concessions, where tourists crane their necks out of jeeps to check out the roving animals. But Botswana's policy of favoring low-impact luxury tourism ensures that even the most famous game-viewing areas rarely feel crowded.

The jewel in Botswana's crown is, without a doubt, the Okavango Delta - the largest inland delta in the world. Its seasonal lagoons and waterways are crammed with hovering birds, while zebras and giraffes amble across vast grass flats. Northeast of here is Chobe National Park, home to gigantic elephant herds, some of them 400-strong.




Botswana is one of Africa's success stories. Since gaining independence in 1966, it has achieved steady economic growth through successful exploitation of its agricultural potential and its enviable diamond reserves. It has not escaped controversy - the HIV/AIDS pandemic and alleged maltreatment of the Kalahari Bushmen have caused international concern - but it remains a peaceful and stable nation of remarkable natural beauty.


Read more: http://www.worldtravelguide.net/botswana#ixzz18H21ASqN

From Christmas markets to New Year's Eve celebrations, check out what is happening around the country with VisitBritain's guide to the top events this December.

Westonbirt Spectacular Enchanted Christmas, 26 November-19 December

Take an enchanted trip to the UK’s most important collection of native and exotic trees this Christmas and see Westonbirt’s majestic specimens ablaze with festive colour. From 26 November to 19 December, Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings at Westonbirt Arboretum will feature the Illuminated Trail.

Nos Galan Races 2010, 31 December

The Nos Galan Races commemorate the Welsh runner Guto Nyth Bran and his legendary athletic prowess. Held annually on New Year’s Eve in Mountain Ash, in the Cynon Valley, South Wales, the Races follow a 5km route around the town. There are competitions for boys and girls, a fun run for adults and an elite race for the more serious athletes. Each year a mystery runner competes; past competitors have included Iwan Thomas and Linford Christie.

Great Little Trains of Wales – Santa Trains

The Great Little Trains of Wales are a very special way of seeing some of the most dramatic scenery in the British Isles. All are narrow gauge steam railways and some have a history spanning well over 100 years. All of them are charming old-time steam trains with plenty of polished paintwork and brass.

At Christmas these beautiful railways are extra special. Seven of the ten train lines are running special Santa Trains. Join the fun on the Welsh Highland Railway where elves will pass through the train giving out presents to the children during the journey - with plenty of laughter and jokes along the way. Adults can enjoy a glass of sherry and a mince pie during the ride.

For full details, bookings and dates check the Great Little Trains of Wales website.

Ba' Games, Orkney, 25 December 2010 & 1 January 2011

Join the crowds in Orkney this Christmas and New Year's Day for mass rugby games known as Ba's. They’re played in the streets of Kirkwall each year, have few rules and can last all day! The Ba' begins on each day with separate events for men and boys.

For more information check the Ba Game website.

York Christmas Markets, 1-19 December

York hosts an international Christmas Market every day until late from 1-19 December as Parliament Street goes global for the International Christmas Fayre bringing you goods from across the globe. Tickle your taste-buds at the food court, where liveried chefs serve global flavours, or amble through the Christmas trees to find that special gift from far away. Open daily from 9am until late. And if you like things more local get along to the ‘Made In Yorkshire' craft market from 2-12 December on St Sampson's Square.

Hogmanay, 31 December

Wherever you go in the world you’ll find people celebrating New Year’s Eve, but nowhere (and trust us on this) will you find people celebrating it quite like they do in Scotland. They even have their own name for it! Across the country Scottish people bring in the New Year with different customs and traditions but always with a great party.

In Edinburgh, Hogmanay is marked by a four-day extravaganza beginning with a torchlight procession and ending with the Hogmanay Carnival on 2 January. In between there’s a huge street party under the castle, a concert in Prince’s Street Gardens with Biffy Clyro, K T Tunstall, The Coral, The Charlatans, Billy Bragg and Roddy Woomble appearing, and as the chimes ring out at midnight a thundering fireworks display will light up the city. There’s also a New Year’s Day run, poetry events and a mini film festival celebrating Edinburgh on film.

For full listings of Hogmanay events around Scotland, check out the VisitScotland website.

New Year’s Day Parade and Festival, 1 January 2011

Join London’s New Year’s Day Parade at 12 noon outside the Ritz Hotel on Piccadilly as 10,000 performers representing 20 countries world-wide assemble for this annual celebration of the New Year. More than half a million are expected to cram London's most famous streets to see the fantastic spectacular as it weaves its way along the two-mile route that takes in Piccadilly Circus, Regent Street, Trafalgar Square and Westminster Abbey.

The parade is free to watch but if you’d rather have a seat, grandstand seating is available at Whitehall and Piccadilly. For more information and to buy tickets for the grandstand seats check the New Year’s Day Parade website.

Stonehaven Fireball Festival, 31 December

Join crowds from all over the world and head to Stonehaven, just south of Aberdeen, for the traditional Fireball Festival New Year celebration. The practice of parading through the streets swinging fireballs has been observed here since at least 1908 but it has its roots much earlier in Stonehaven’s past. Gasp as up to 60 people march up and down the High Street swinging giant, blazing fireballs weighing up to 20 pounds each!

Vail is one of the biggest ski resorts in the USA, and often voted one of the best in popularity polls. Built in the 1960s as a faux Austrian village for an upmarket clientele, Vail has broadened its appeal in recent years into a destination for everyone, while continuing to serve the well-heeled.

The traffic-free village which meanders along the slopes is mostly attractive, with smart hotels, shops and restaurants. It does have some of the most expensive lift tickets in the US if you buy in resort, but bargains are to be had by buying in advance online or through a tour operator.

There's a good choice of skiing, from the conventional pistes on the front face, to the big, open Back Bowls, to the pleasure of skiing through widely spaced trees in Blue Sky Basin.

The resort has tried to promote a greener agenda on its slopes and in its properties in recent years and has some solar panels on mountain restaurants and hybrid low-pollution buses.

Location:

Vail ski resort is located on I-70, two hours west of Denver, in Colorado's Rocky Mountains.

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http://vail.snow.com

Skip trying to build an igloo yourself. Canada's Hôtel de Glace, built exclusively of ice and snow, does it for you.


At the beginning of December each year, workers build the entire hotel's rooms and columns, furniture and sculptures out of ice and snow. For the opening this January, when the hotel celebrates its 10th anniversary, workers used 15,000 tons of snow and 500 tons of ice.



Hôtel de Glace opened Jan. 4 and will remain open until April 4 for overnight stays, public tours, corporate events, weddings, art exhibitions and film and TV productions.




The hotel is in Sainte-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier, 23 miles from Quebec City and 149 miles from Montreal. Quebec's winter temperatures can range from minus-13 degrees Fahrenheit in February to 41 degrees in March.

Worlds Travel Guide

Perched on a peninsula jutting out into the River Plate, Montevideo's mix of Old- and New-World charms has been captivating visitors for centuries.

The city’s Ciudad Vieja (Old Town) is a throwback to the past, with narrow cobblestoned streets, historic buildings and atmospheric plazas. Across the mouth of the River Plate, pavement cafés are plentiful, particularly around the pedestrianised avenue Peatonal Sarandí.

Moving east, Montevideo’s city centre boasts wide, tree-lined avenues, soaring skyscrapers and the bulk of the city's accommodations, while the long seafront promenade known as La Rambla is dotted with clean beaches either side of the upmarket neighbourhood of Carrasco.



Montevideo is a curious mixture of old-fashioned formality and laid-back South American style. Uruguayans may seem reserved at first, particularly if you're coming from Argentina where people are much more openly effusive. This thin veneer soon wears away, however, revealing a warmth and curiosity that makes the locals the highlight of many people's visit.



Read more: http://www.worldtravelguide.net/montevideo#ixzz16w41E5Ip

Samarra, about 124 km north of Baghdad, is one of the four Islamic Holy Cities of Iraq, and is considered as the largest ancient city known in the whole World with its majestic ruins which extends about 9 km horizontally and 34 km vertically along the eastern bank of the Tigris.

It was built by Caliph Al-Mu'tasim in 836 AD to replace Baghdad as the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate, and abandoned by Caliph Al-Mu'tamid in 892 AD. Despite the short sojourn of the Abbasid Caliphate in Samarra, the city's artistic, literary, and scientific splendors have remained a legend in Arab history

There are hopes that Iraq may have started on the path to stability. After all, civilisation as we know it once emerged from this region. Slowly, over the last several years, regional and national elections have been held, foreign troops have started to depart and the healing process looks to be underway. More optimistic Iraqi refugees have returned as security improves and foreign companies have begun to bid for the first post-war oil contracts.


Iraq is rebuilding slowly. Most of the country's political, social, physical and economic infrastructures were, by and large, destroyed during the war in 2003. However, national elections in December 2005 have brought increased stability to the country. In June 2009, after largely successful provincial elections earlier in the year, American and British troops withdrew from the streets of Iraqi towns and cities, though a limited number still remain in bases.


Read more: http://www.worldtravelguide.net/iraq#ixzz16pnuqFTb

The Copper is a purpose-built resort in Colorado, which in recent years has been transformed into a cosy wood and stone affair with an array of bars and restaurants.

The second biggest city in Germany, Hamburg has the cosmopolitan feel, the conspicuous consumption and most of the cultural accoutrements of a north European capital.

Culturally Hamburg is said to have more in common with its trading partners and neighbours in the Low Countries, Denmark and even England, than it does with southern Germany. Its people are famously modest, yet worldly and usually very helpful.

Visitors will find Hamburg easy to get around thanks to its compact centre and excellent transport system. There are relatively few major landmarks, and nothing of iconic status except perhaps the red-light district of St Pauli where Hamburg sailors traditionally took their R'n'R. This is a double-edged sword for the city, yet one it has handled well in recent years, bringing in new and respectable nightlife while retaining the edgy atmosphere of the district's former existence.

It is easy to forget that music (and not just sex) has always been a major part of the area (the Beatles among many other luminaries paid their musical dues in St Pauli) and on weekend nights the Reeperbahn and surrounding streets throb with activity.By contrast to the seamy port area, the city's major open space, which begins right in the very centre of town, is the Alster Lake.

On a warm summer's day do as the locals do and take a cruise from the Binnenalster (Inner Alster) to the Aussenalster and its parkland fringes. Within just a few minutes you will have swapped the steely grey metropolis for a balmy world of green and blue.



Read more: http://www.worldtravelguide.net/hamburg#ixzz15bknbglE

Reykjavik's location, set on the fringe of the Atlantic Ocean and surrounded by a lunar volcanic netherworld, with the shadowy hulk of Mount Esja in the background, is both romantic and beguiling.





Countless travel articles are published focusing on Reykjavik's nefarious nightlife and thousands of tourists a year fly to the city to seek out the legendary bars and clubs. Considering that beer prohibition only ended in 1989, this is particularly impressive but the locals seem to have made up for lost time and the scene in the city centre at weekends is one of hedonistic mayhem.

During the day, Reykjavik is a far more sedate place with trim houses, rubbish-free streets and an easygoing pace of life. There are bountiful cultural attractions, countless cafes, six geothermal swimming baths and a myriad of day trip opportunities into the stunning hinterland. Cultural festivals are also currently multiplying and maturing, as Iceland begins to establish its cultural identity.


Read more: http://www.worldtravelguide.net/reykjavik#ixzz15VqvGlB9

venice is a city in northern Italy known both for tourism and for industry, and is the capital of the region Veneto,Venice has been known as the "La Dominante", "Serenissima", "Queen of the Adriatic", "City of Water", "City of Masks", "City of Bridges", "The Floating City", and "City of Canals" Luigi Barzini, writing in The New York Times, described it as "undoubtedly the most beautiful city built by man" Venice has also been described by the Times Online as being one of Europe's most romantic cities.

THE FLOATING CITY

GONDOLA

SAN MARCO

PONTE DI RIALTO

SANTO STEFANO CHURCH

HARRY'S BAR