Five questions you should ask yourself before you travel in 2020

Technology may well indeed be shrinking the world around us and connecting us in myriad ways through innovations such as Skype, WhatsApp and Instagram but it’s also surprisingly large when you start to consider where you want to travel to next and there are many things to consider; not least of which is cost. Leaving cost aside though for one moment, let’s consider all the other factors that determine where we travel to? (more…)

So you think you know the Canaries?

The Canary islands and Tenerife, Lanzarote, Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura in particular are amongst the most popular destinations for Irish travelers given their year-round climate. Located just 100 kilometres at their most easterly point off the west coast of Morocco, this autonomous region of Spain is the most southerly extent of Europe. What some people may not know though is that the archipelago compromises three further islands — La Palma, El Hierro and La Gomera

Would you like to win €2,500?

The phrase, 'Lies, damned lies and statistics' is generally attributed to have been coined by Benjamin Disraeli, the famous British Prime Minister. The standard definition of statistics is 'the practice or science of collecting and analyzing numerical data in large quantities, especially for the purpose of inferring proportions in a whole from those in a representative sample' The bigger the sample, the greater the likelihood of the inferences that are drawn from that sample in

The thrill that is History!

I'm Irish and very proud to be so. I think that for such a small country, we've made a disproportionate impact on the global stage. Both our history and our mythology are extremely rich — as is our almost unique culture — some of which we share with our Celtic cousins. There are times though when I travel, that I'm reminded of how all such things are relative and that by comparison with some other

The undiscovered France!

Despite continuing to be the most visited country in the world, it is perhaps surprising that there are still huge swathes of France that your average tourist knows next to nothing about! In the same way that spending a few days in Dublin does not constitute getting to know the 'real' Ireland, so too is it with France and believe it or not, there is so much more to France than Paris, the Cote D'Azur

Heaven does exist — and it’s located in Tuscany!

I'm Irish and I've lived in Ireland all my life and I can't think of anywhere else in the world I'd rather spend the rest of my days — despite the weather, the politicians, the cute hoorism, the naked nepotism at every turn and a hundred or more other things that irritate me and cause my blood pressure to go stratospheric! We've got a great little country and our food  is second to none. We
safeness

Where should I go on my next holiday?

There are all sorts of reasons why people choose the destinations that they do. For some it’s simply price, for other’s weather is their primary concern. Some choose destinations based on their proximity whilst other travellers choose places based on their ‘safeness’. It is therefore interesting to note the results of the latest biannual report from the World Economic Forum which rates countries around the world based on a wide ranging set of metrics that

Beijing — City of contrasts

I have recently returned from my second trip to Beijing in less than three months. So what is it like to visit the third most populous city in the world? Well, the first impression is that it looks remarkably modern and western in the sense that the entire city (at least from what I saw and I criss-crossed it many, many times) is composed of large, wide boulevards containing dual carriageways with smaller, local access

How travel decisions can sometimes be based on incomplete information

Trip Advisor is celebrating its 15th anniversary this year. The global review site started out life above a Pizza shop called Kosta's in Needham, Massachusetts in February, 2000. It is a great site without question and I must admit that I have started contributing to it in recent times as I realised, belatedly, that I had a lot to contribute given the amount of travelling I do (and have done). What prompted me to write

Travel Back in Time

In case you haven't already noticed, we celebrate the centenary of the First World War this year — referred to in its time as 'The war to end all wars'. Sadly, that turned out not to be true so all the more reason that this generation should never forget the lesson that all war is ultimately futile and not — as Clausewitz once stated — 'War Is Merely the Continuation of Policy by Other Means'. If

Turkey is in the news of late — but for all the wrong reasons!

Having said that — don't always take as gospel, what you hear on the news as everything is 'spun' these days. Not from a propaganda point of view you understand. It's just TV's way of competing with the sensational headlines mentality that you often see demonstrated by certain tabloid press. Even the 'serious' news channels get caught up in this behavior. The reality(and consequence) of such spin/selective editing, was graphically demonstrated to me about 10

Stay here when you’ve hit rock bottom!

Most people's image of Turkey is not unlike most people's image of Spain — sun, sea, sand and value-for-money holidays. Turkey offers all that of course but there is another side altogether which travelers often don't get to see and that's because no one ever tells them about it and that's the Turkey of fairy chimneys, underground cities, ancient christian churches carved into the living rock and of course hospitable people who are extremely proud

The art of getting a quote that is both competitive in price and relevant to your needs starts with gathering all the right information about what you want to do (or think you want to do!).