France Travel Guide Travel


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France Travel | Guide to travelling France | Travellerspoint U sername: P assword: R emember Me Car Hire Travel Insurance Airport Parking UK Cheap Accommodation Hotel Bookings Travellerspoint Travel Community Forums Blogs Destinations Accommodation Travel Help Reunions Tools Links France Travel Guide Travel Destinations Guide France Paris, France - Paris B France Photo Gallery Sure, it's a cliché, but there's a reason why a tour of France is a must if you're planning to do the Europe thing. In the political sphere, France remains a major world power... but forget politics, French food rocks! And I'm not talking about fries. Expect excellent meals accompanied by excellent wines at excellent prices and you're starting to get the picture. France is one of the Western world's most important centres of cultured folk; names like Debussy, Maurice Ravel, Berlioz, Rousseau, Voltaire, Victor Hugo and Pablo Picasso are but a handful of the many world-renowned composers, writers and artists France has produced. It's little wonder the French are so proud of their culture, and sensational monuments such as the Eiffel Tower only emphasize French pride. But proud or not, you'll be inclined to agree with the locals after exploring France's unlimited possibilities. Quick Facts Capital: Paris Population: 59,550,000 Religions: Roman Catholic Government: Republic Official / National Languages: French Country Phone Code: +33 Map of France Flag of France Member Comments Members talk Im the one who haas very bad impression with Paris. I and my mom faced with the worse event, which was occured in the morning of 28 November, 2005. I .. Full comment beautyopal | 7th Dec 05 Just a small mail to tell travelers in Paris that I there is an nice Internet site with 40 very nice cafés or 'salon de thé' where it is wonderfull .. Full comment harryLapto | 18th Jun 05 Paris is a fabulous place. Where else can you eat grilled warm chevre on toast every day with a cafe au lait and a delicious glass of chilled wine and .. Full comment louisaf | 30th Aug 04 Become a member or login to add your comment. More comments from our members... Want some personal advice on France? The Travel Helpers are Travellerspoint volunteers willing to answer your travel questions about a country they feel they know a lot about. There are currently 25 Travel Helpers available to answer your questions about France. France Travel Helpers Travel Products Below is a collection of Travellerspoint products and services that might be of use to you while you are researching your trip to France. France Accommodation France hotels (677) France last minute hotels (918) France apartments (22) France campsites (1) France bed & breakfasts (41) France hostels (26) France budget hotels (361) Other Products Cheap travel insurance Eurail passes & Train tickets France tours (20) Around the world tickets France Travel Sites Our Pick Discover France - Very informative site on French arts & culture, history, language, literature, and travel. Definitely worth a visit if you are heading to France. Sponsor France SIM Cards & Cell Phones - Get free incoming calls with your own France prepaid SIM card and GSM cell phone. Roam France without the roaming surcharges. France for Families - A comprehensive site created by two families who have spent a lot of time travelling through France. More France links can be found in our Travel Sites Directory. The links contained in this directory are external sites and will pop up in a new window. © 2002 - 2005 Travellerspoint Travel Community | Contact | FAQ | About | Terms | Site Map
Spain Travel. How to
In-Spain.info - Spain travel information Information on Spain for Travel and Tourism You are here: Home > Useful Travel Links Search this site with Google: Web in-spain.info Tell a friend about this site Travel Links Tripadvisor.com - Read opinions and compare prices on hotels and vacations around the world. Spain Here are some sites that include some information about Spain that we do not have on our site. Spanish Fiestas - Spanish Fiestas is an exclusive travel service in Spain offering private touring vacations, day excursions and trips to sporting and cultural events nationwide. Search Iberia - A Spain Search Engine, A Portugal Search Engine Information about Spain & Portugal in categories such as Spain Travel. How to get from London to Spain by train - A great page with details on how to get to all major Spanish cities from London by train. Spain for Visitors - A comprehensive guide to Spain with great articles and features. An excellent site. Spain Exchange - A great site for organising school exchange visits with students in Spain. This is possibly the Best way to learn Spanish! Ole Online - Find information relating to travel and tourism, local events and business, and statistical information about the regions. SpainDreams - ABC for Spain. Accommodation and tourism. SpainDreams Spain4UK - Information on Spain for UK residents. Design Holidays - La Manga Club Luxury holidays as well as Marbella, Algarve, Mallorca and Sardinia. Golf Holidays in Spain - Costa del Sol golf holidays, personally organised for you by an excellent team of golfing professionals. Car hire in Spain - Great value car hire broker for locations all over Spain. Spain Student Travel Andalucia - A specialist youth & student experience organization. Our goal is to promote opportunities in Andalucia and offer an independent experience in Southern Spain to students and young people around the world. More maps of Spain Road maps of the provinces of Spain. Buzz's cheap hotels in Spain As well as bargain hotels in Portugal, Gibraltar and Andorra The Rest of the World Here are some recommended links for travelling to other countries. We hope you find them useful. Marinas around the world - A huge site of listings for marinas around the world. Properties In Europe - European property portal with a searchable database of properties to buy and rent in France, Spain, Italy and Portugal. Includes for French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese properties. Canada Travel to Canada with Trail Canada Complete guide to travelling in Canada. With thousands of photos, maps and useful advice. Canada Travel Guide Comprehensive travel guide to Canada with information on travelling to and around Canada. Includes photos and maps of Canada Canada Photos Photos of Canada from every province. Photographs feature everything from the Rockies to the Maritimes and all in between. Maps of Canada Maps of Canada to help plan you holiday or visit. England Luxury car hire London, Limousine hire London - Hire a Luxury Car or Limousine for a special event in London or the UK Cheap car hire England - Budget car hire for your holiday in England Scotland Glasgow Airport Millennium Taxis - This site is for taxis in Glasgow, but has an amazing number of pages with information on the whole of Scotland. Destination Scotland - Travel guide to Scotland including hotels, car hire, maps, attractions and activities and personal travel help and advice. A really useful site! Portugal Faro Car Hire - Low cost car hire from Faro Airport, serving the whole of the Algarve. This site features an excellent Map of Portugal Israel Israel Travel Centre - Everything you need to book your travels to Israel. Car rental in Israel - Car Rental Israel offers low priced car rental rates for varying periods. Thailand Thailand Travel Guide - Our sister site, featuring a similar range of topics to this site, including this great map of Thailand . Italy Big Italy Map is a great site to find maps of italy to help plan your travels or to use on your websites. France You can find maps of France to help plan your travels here. Ireland Ireland map provides easy to use maps of Ireland to help plan you tour of the Emerald Isle. Your Ad Here Book your holiday: Hotels in Spain Car Hire in Spain Organised Tours in Spain Popular pages Organized tours in Spain Spanish Wine & Gastronomy Skiing in Spain Photos of Spain Hotels in Spain Map of Spain Spain Tourist Attractions Spanish News Headlines Spanish News Weekday Roundup 20 Traditional Spanish Recipes Spain Travel Guides Map of Spain Spain - Home | Spain at a glance | Spain region guide | Best of Spain | Learn Spanish Phrases | Special Features | Hotels in Spain | Map of Spain All content © 2003 In-Spain.info All Rights Reserved. If you notice any errors on this site, please report them to webmaster@in-spain.info . You can add a link to this site here. Site Map - Useful Travel Links - Spain related links Looking for car hire in Malaga and Andalucia? Try Malaga car hire for great deals! Looking for hotels in Marbella and the rest of the Costa del Sol? Try Hotels in Marbella for top savings!
Mexico Travel
Mexico Travel Guide - Mexico Articles Wednesday Dec 28th, 2005 Mexico Central Time Back to Mexico Articles After many years of hard work and saving, you deserve to treat yourself. Many foreigners now look to Mexico as an ideal place to retire to. This section is designed to give you an overview of advantages and disadvantages of retirement in Mexico. Before you make the decision to move to Mexico permanently, be sure to visit several different towns and see what each has to offer. Different cities have different personalities and available activities, as well as varying amount of other retirees living there. Currently, the most popular retirement communities are in Guadalajara and the nearby Lake Chapala area, Puerto Vallarta, Guanajuato, San Miguel de Allende, Cuernavaca, Manzanillo and Oaxaca. All of these locations are along or near to the Pacific coastline of Mexico, and have mild to hot temperatures year-round. Many of the established retirement communities in these locations are well-designed resorts in themselves, featuring golf courses, tennis courts, movie and performing arts theaters, and swimming pools. Be sure to choose a community which offers all that you are looking for. Talk to the residents and ask their opinions. You can stay as long as six months on a tourist pass in Mexico, so if you choose to drive or fly down to Mexico, be sure to allow enough time to make it back across the border before this time period expires. Should you find the place that's just right for you, you can begin the process of established residency. Before moving south of the border permanently, you must weigh the advantages and disadvantages of moving to a foreign country. We'll start with the advantages. First of all, rent will be cheaper. Depending on where you choose to live, rent could be extremely cheap or extremely expensive, but you can easily rent a nice apartment or house for around $300 to $600 per month. If you're interested in buying a house or condominium, please refer to our real estate page for more information. Another great advantage of living in Mexico, especially the farther away you get from the tourist traps, is the price of groceries. By shopping in residential markets and out of the way grocery stores, two people could easily eat on a budget of $200 per month. As well as inexpensive groceries, small Mexican restaurants (not the fancy tourist restaurants mind you) serve excellent Mexican dishes for a fraction of what you would pay in any American or Canadian restaurant. In addition to cheap food and cheap rent (if you so choose...), the Mexican people are generally tremendously polite. Back to Top The more Spanish that you are able to speak, the better you will fare in Mexico, but even if you don't speak a word of Spanish, many Mexican people will still treat you very politely or at the very least, they will treat you with respect. Contrary to popular belief, the health care in Mexico is top-notch. Many practicing doctors in Mexico were themselves educated at American medical schools, and offer just as good (or sometimes better) health care as doctors in the United States. Pharmacies are always well-stocked and you should have no trouble finding any medications that you may need; and most at significantly lower prices. Another great advantage (although maybe a disadvantage to some) about Mexico is the climate. If you love year-round warm weather, lots of sun, and the always warm waters of the ocean nearby, you will love your retirement in Mexico. Before you pack your bags and move to Mexico, let's go over the disadvantages first. We'll start with weather. If you are used to cool, northern weather, the heat of Mexico during summer will likely give you some trouble. The summer season can be muggy or dry, but it is inevitably hot. Air conditioning can help, but nobody can be expected to live indoors throughout the summer season, so while researching where you may want to live, go during both the winter AND the summer season. Another disadvantage about moving to Mexico is that invariably, you will have to leave many friends behind. As nice as it sounds to have people come visit you, many retirees have had privacy problems due to old friends visiting constantly because of a free place to stay in Mexico. You will, of course, make new friends in Mexico, and you can always return to the United States to visit. It is advisable not to offer a place to stay in Mexico to many people before you leave, though. You may find many (too many?) of them taking you up on your offer! Transportation may or may not be a problem for you in Mexico. If you are used to driving your car around and dislike public transportation, you might be slightly inconvenienced. The public transit of most Mexican cities is adequate if not excellent, and will be cheaper than driving. High gas prices, difficulties with insurance, and the effects of the Mexican climate on your car are all things to consider. If the advantages of living in Mexico outweigh the disadvantages, you may want to look into retirement to Mexico further. An excellent guide to retirement in Mexico is AIM, a newsletter which costs $16 U.S. or $19 Canadian. Contact AIM, Apdo. Postal 31-70, Guadalajara 45050, Jalisco, Mexico. Back to Top Send us your comments about this article Back to Mexico Articles Acapulco | Cancun | CopperCanyon | Cozumel | Guadalajara | Huatulco | Ixtapa | Los Cabos Manzanillo | Mazatlan | Mexico City | Monterrey | Oaxaca | Puerto Vallarta © 1995 - 2005 Let's Go2Mexico ® - All Rights Reserved - Powered by ® Go2 Producciones ernesto luna sierra
Italy Travel
Rome Travel Information | Lonely Planet Destination Guide worldguide | shop | thorn tree forum | travel services | travel ticker | theme guides | on the road | postcards | travel links : Explore : Italy Rome Rome The sheer imperial scale of Rome is sure to knock you out. At a Glance Fast Facts WORLDGUIDE Introduction Background Info See Eat Sleep Night Shop Image Gallery Activities Events Transport Money General RELATED Thorn Tree Forum Postcards Travel Links View Map Click here Feature Attraction San Giovanni in Laterano Founded by Constantine in the 4th century, San Giovanni was the first Christian basilica constructed in Rome. It is Rome's cathedral and the pope's seat ... more It's hard to say what you'll find most breathtaking about the eternal city - the arrogant opulence of the Vatican, the timelessness of the Forum, the top speed of a Fiat Bambino, the millions of cats in the Colosseum, trying to cross a major intersection, or the bill for your latte. Make like the locals and souse your senses in the glut of pleasures the city has to offer, from the grandiose thrill of feeling centuries of turbulent history under your feet to the small but potent intoxication of eating chestnut gelati on a hot day. When To Go The main tourist season starts at Easter and runs until October; peak periods are in spring and autumn, when the tour buses pour in and tourists are herded around like cattle. Numerous outdoor festivals and concerts and the fact that Romans desert the city for the beaches and mountains, which means very light traffic and a less-crowded city centre, makes summer almost worth the heat. If you do visit in summer, try to hit the sights early, take a long lunch and a nap, and then head out again around 18:00 to take advantage of the cooler evening. Winters are usually mild with few tourists and some fun events around Christmas time. Factoid Thumbs Up! When in Rome, be sure to enrol in a short course in Gladiatorial Combat. Intensive three day training seminars are available. The Gladiator school is located on Via Appia. Lions supplied but please bring own trident. SPONSORED LINKS Enquire Accomodation Reviews Find Lonely Planet author reviewed places to stay * Required Fields Country * Please select Argentina Australia Austria Belgium Brazil Canada China Cuba Czech Republic Denmark Egypt England Estonia Finland France Germany Hungary Iceland India Ireland Israel & the Palestinian Territories Italy Japan Malaysia Mexico Morocco Netherlands New Zealand Poland Portugal Russia Scotland South Africa South Korea Spain Sweden Taiwan Thailand Turkey USA United Arab Emirates Vietnam City * Please select Travel Services · Flights · Hostels · Hotels · Travel Insurance More Services › Disclaimer: We've tried to make theinformation on this web site as accurate as possible, but it isprovided 'as is' and we accept no responsibility for any loss, injuryor inconvenience sustained by anyone resulting from this information.You should verify critical information (like visas, health and safety,customs and transportation) with the relevant authorities before youtravel. text & images © lonely planet 2005 about us | privacy | feedback | advertising FAQs worldguide | shop | thorn tree forum | travel services | travel ticker | theme guides | on the road | postcards | travel links
Disney Vacation Other Disney
MouseSavers.com - Ways to Save for Your Disney Vacation Great deals on all things Disney! Find out how to save on: Walt Disney World Disneyland Disney Cruise Line Transportation for Your Disney Vacation Other Disney Travel Savings Discount Disney Shopping Mall Live Disney Shows Disney Freebies Disneyland Resort Paris Disney Parks in Asia Disney's Vero Beach/Hilton Head Non-Disney Theme Parks & Attractions More information: About MouseSavers Frequently Asked Questions Trip Reports and Articles Links Testimonials Privacy Policy & Legal Stuff Contact Mary Ways to Save for Your Disney Vacation Jump to: Vacation Savings Account Other Ways to Save in Small Increments More Tips and Tricks Vacation Savings Account One of the best and smartest ways to save for a Disney vacation is to open a separate savings account specifically for your vacation fund. If at all possible, jump-start the account with a lump sum, such as a tax refund. Have a certain amount auto-debited from your paychecks and deposited directly into that savings account. That way you never see the money, so there is less temptation to spend it. And of course you'll be earning interest! If you put $25 a week into your vacation account and earn 2% interest compounded daily, you'll have $1337 in the account a year after you start saving, and $2677 in two years. If you're able to "jump start" the account with $500 and then add that $25 a week at 2% interest, you'll have $1847 in your account a year after you start saving, and $3197 in two years. By the way, it is very worthwhile to shop around for the best banking deal . The best I've found is the Orange Savings Account from ING Direct . I have one of these accounts myself. You can open one in 5 minutes or less and transfer money into it electronically. The ING account pays a variable 3.75% Annual Percentage Yield on savings with no minimum deposit and no hidden fees or service charges. (Compare this with what your bank or credit union pays on savings accounts. I predict you'll be amazed.) It's FDIC insured. You can easily set up an automatic savings plan with this account. Other Ways to Save in Small Increments Here are some additional, relatively painless tricks people use to get themselves to save. It's all about setting priorities -- and in some cases, tricking yourself into saving. What works for one person, won't work for another. Try one, or try 'em all. Remember, every penny helps! Buy US Savings Bonds You can purchase them online and spend as little as $25 each time. US Savings Bonds must be held for at least 1 year before you can cash them in. There is a 3-month interest penalty if you cash an EE or I Bond within the first five years from its issue date. There is no penalty for cashing EE or I Bonds that are at least five years old. Bonds pay very good interest compared with a regular savings account and since they are issued by the government, they are an extremely safe investment. Buy Disney Dollars Personally I would never use this method because it doesn't earn interest, but some people find it very helpful because you can't spend Disney Dollars anywhere but Disney! Disney Dollars are "cash equivalents." One Disney Dollar = one US dollar, and you can buy any even dollar amount, so for example if you have $31 saved you can buy that amount in Disney Dollars. You can also give your children Disney Dollars for birthdays and holidays, and ask relatives to do the same, so the kids will have their own spending money for the next Disney vacation. Disney Dollars can be purchased at any Disney Store or Disney theme park, or through Walt Disney World Mail Order at (407) 363-6200. The Change Jar Make a rule that you never spend coins. Save all your pocket change and throw it in a big jar. Label the jar (i.e. "Our Disney Vacation") to remind your of your goal. Periodically you can roll the coins and see how much you have. (This is a great job for kids.) Once it's rolled, put it in your vacation savings account. If you don't want to roll the change, see if your bank takes unrolled change . Some banks have change-counting machines and they'll count your coins for free or for a very small fee. There are CoinStar machines in many grocery stores that will allow you to dump in a ton of change and get a slip redeemable for bills at the cashier, but you'll pay a hefty premium (somewhere around 9%) for the service; if you do this, at least pluck out the quarters and roll those! Variations on the change jar: Never spend quarters , or never spend dollar bills . Put those in the jar. Checkbook Games When writing a check, round up your checkbook entry to the nearest dollar. For instance, if you write a check for $57.12, record it in your checkbook as $58. Not only does this help you prevent overdrafts, it also means you're accumulating a little extra in your account every time you write a check. Another good thing about this method is that you're earning interest on that extra money, assuming you have an interest-bearing checking account. Round down your deposit entries to the nearest dollar. For instance, if you deposit $300.91, record it as $300. Again, you're accumulating a little extra "ghost" money in your account. A variation on the checkbook rounding method: charge yourself a dollar every time you write a check, plus round up . So if the check was for $47.39, round it up to $48 and add a dollar, making the entry in your checkbook $49. Another variation on the checkbook rounding method: round up to the nearest five dollars . So if the check was for $52.23, round it up to $55. If it was for $9.51, round it up to $10. More Tips and Tricks If a payment ends, keep making it -- to yourself! For instance, if you pay off a car or a credit card, keep making that payment, but instead write the check to yourself and deposit it into your vacation savings account. Make a rule that "found" money goes in the vacation fund. For instance, if you get a rebate, tax refund, gift check or work bonus, deposit it in the vacation account. Give yourself an allowance for cash expenditures (i.e. groceries, gas, meals out, entertainment, etc.) and make a game of seeing how much of your allowance you can NOT spend. Anything left over at the end of the week (or month) goes into the vacation fund. Charge everything to Disney's Visa or a cash-back credit card and pay the card off each month. (Only do this if you can handle the temptation to overspend on plastic, and if you really will pay the balance off every single month. If you won't pay it off monthly, this is a bad idea.) Use the Disney Dream Reward Dollars or cash-back bonus toward your vacation. Cut out one small daily expense and put the money you're saving into your vacation fund. The savings can really add up. If you save $1 a day on something you buy at work, and you work 5 days a week x 50 weeks, that's $250 a year! For example: If you drink a cafe latte every morning, buy a travel mug and fill it with strong coffee and hot milk at home instead. If you usually eat lunch out or buy lunch at a deli, try bringing lunch from home at least 2 or 3 days a week. If you just can't get it together to make a lunch, at least try bringing a can of soda from home instead of buying one at the deli or out of a machine. Bring a snack from home instead of hitting the vending machines. Giving up smoking may save you enough money in a year to fund a family vacation. I'm not kidding! If you're smoking a pack a day, you're spending at least $800 a year on cigarettes. In places with high tobacco taxes, you're spending $1600 or more. Ask your family to help you save. Often children aren't very aware of how much small expenses can add up over time. If you point out that every nickel they can save the household will get them closer to seeing Mickey, they may surprise you! Solicit their ideas and suggestions, and then agree to put aside what you've saved for your vacation fund. Be sure you have a plan for keeping the saved money separate, so that it doesn't get spent elsewhere. That might mean writing a check for the amount of money saved and depositing it into your vacation account, or putting that amount of cash into the change jar. Whatever it is, do it consistently. Here are a few ideas your family might consider: Spend less on entertainment. Borrow videos from your public library instead of the video store: most public libraries offer this service for little or no cost. Instead of going to the movies, check the newspaper for free local family entertainment and events, or have a family game night. Eat out less. Face it, cooking every night can be tiring and a drag, and that leads to eating out, which is much more expensive. So find a way to avoid this. Think up something you can make in the crockpot one night a week instead of getting takeout. Or turn cooking into a fun project once a week -- for instance, make a pizza with the kids instead of ordering one. Use grocery store coupons. Particularly if you live in an area like Southern California, where the major supermarkets will double the value of manufacturer's coupons, you can't afford NOT to clip coupons out of the Sunday paper! I do this, combined with buying sale items and seasonal produce, and frequently save 40% or more on my grocery bill. Seriously, 15 minutes of effort and a $5 coupon organizer can save you an amazing amount of money. Kids who are old enough to use scissors can certainly cut out coupons. Older kids can also sort and file coupons in your coupon organizer. Sell your junk. Have a big garage sale. Take still-in-fashion clothes to a consignment shop. Sell unwanted books, CDs, movies and collectibles you no longer want on eBay . You'd be amazed at what your old stuff may bring. Don't assume no one wants it. (I once sold a ratty bathmat the dog had chewed up, which I was using as a rag, for a quarter. It wasn't even part of my garage sale -- someone just noticed it lying on the ground and offered me money for it!) If you are a family of recreational shoppers, start going to garage sales, consignment shops and thrift stores instead of the mall. One person's trash is another's treasure, remember? There is often good stuff to be had at these places! Take a certain amount of cash and don't spend more. You'll get the thrill of the hunt and the thrill of the bargain, but for much less than a trip to the mall. Shop around on your insurance at least once a year. It's remarkable how much you can save. Rates for an identical auto insurance policy can vary from one company to another by as much as 100%! An easy way to shop around is to use an online site such as InsureMe.com , which will get you quotes from several insurance companies. I used this site to shop for life insurance and ended up with a great deal from a top-rated company. Evaluate your spending on cable television and telephone services. Maybe you don't really need extended cable or call waiting. Check rates to be sure you're not paying more than you have to for long distance calls. I've used OPEX as my long distance carrier for several years. I have tried AT&T, Sprint, MCI and others in the past, and this company is just as good... for only 3.9 cents per minute! To compare long distance rates, you can use a site like longdistanceworld.com . Get everyone to turn out the lights when no one is in the room, and turn off TVs, radios and computer equipment when they're not in use. Fix dripping faucets and leaking toilets. These measures may only save you a buck or two a month on your utility bills, but it all adds up. Encourage "gifts of love" instead of store-bought gifts. For instance, give each other certificates for back rubs, car washes, and other kind gestures that cost you nothing but your time and effort. Or set a low limit (like $5) on gifts and see how creative you can get. Back to the home page Back to top Content of MouseSavers.com is © Mary Waring & MouseSavers 2001-2005. No part of this website may be reproduced in whole or in part without permission.