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Iceland: The Favorite Place Of Active Tourist
January 17th, 2010 by Isabella Olsen, under Travel and Leisure. No Comments
Iceland is famous because of its wide variety of tourist attractions. Some trips involve traveling quite a bit into the interior of island, while others focus on smaller areas on the coastline. Iceland has something for everyone: for those who are interested in more traditional vacations and those who like extreme sports. Tours range from a few days to a whole holiday. Nature tours will delight visitors with breathtaking landscapes, fresh lava fields, roaring waterfalls and beautiful ice caps.
In July and August tourists can visit the interior of Iceland. Winter tours can be trickier and need special organization. Skiers will find Iceland as an ideal spot for practicing their skiing skills, and there is also the possibility of ice fishing and touring the glaciers on a snowmobile.
Iceland is the best destination for an active tourist. There are plenty of opportunities for an adventurous vacation cross the island: hiking, fishing, swimming, horseback riding, glacier tours, whale watching or bot tours.
Glacier tours are made regardless of season, either with snowmobiles, or with super-jeeps. Those who prefer walking have also a wide choice. The biggest part of Iceland is over 400 m above sea level, and a considerable part of the island is covered by lava, lakes, sand or glaciers. Hiking is extremely popular in Iceland despite the fact that there are few marked walking paths.
Other popular activities are the water sports: enthusiasts can choose from kayaking on inland rivers, gentle bays or wild shores. Those who prefer river rafting, can have a lot of thrills in swirling glacial waters. Swimming is also very popular in Iceland. There are outdoor or indoor swimming pools everywhere, filled with the water of natural hot springs. The water temperature is about 29 degrees Celsius, and in many places there are jacuzzis, saunas, solariums and hot spots with temperature between 36 to 44 degrees Celsius.
Fishing is also great in Iceland: salmon and trout are particularly popular. Those who are interested in salmon fishing should schedule their trip from June to mid September, and they must know permits have to be arranged in advance. Trout season is from April/May until late September/October, and tourists can have their permits on the spot. In the winter, ice fishing is popular, and those who are seeking for more extreme adventure, can go sea angling. The season for sea angling begins in late May and ends at the end of August. At the end of the season, tournaments are organized all across Iceland.
There are also various sizes and species of whales in the North Atlantic. Whale watching is another big hit with the tourists, and one can choose from quite a few whale watching ports all around the coastline.
Bird watchers are also welcome, because there is no larger birdcliff than Ltrabjarg in the West Fjords. A wide variety of cliff nesting species can be watched here, along with the largest razorbill colony in the world. A wide variety of seabirds and the largest puffin population in Iceland can be found in Westman Islands.
Isabella is a travel writer who has toured major destinations worldwide. Isabelle lives in Nerja Spain and runs a car hire website. To book your car hire Iceland or learn more about car hire worldwide, visit Zencarhire.com.
Visit Greece Today – Five Reasons Why You Should Make Greece Your Next Holiday Destination
December 2nd, 2009 by Isabella Olsen, under Vacations. No Comments
Greece is known as a romantic country with many beautiful people. It also has a wealth of historical and cultural heritage, with contributions such as democracy and the Olympic games and famous citizens such as Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, Hippocrates, Archimedes, Euripedes and Herodotus. These should be enough reasons to visit Greece but if you want more, here are five great reasons why you should make Greece your next holiday destination.
1. Greek Archaeology
Greece is synonymous with archaeology, with many ancient temples and other monuments, which is one of the main reasons to visit Greece. Many of these monuments can be found in the Acropolis of Athens, like the world-famous Parthenon, the largest Doric temple in the world and the most important monument of classical Greece still remaining, as well as the Temple of Athena Nike and the Erectheion, although you can find some in other parts of the city, too, like the Temple of Poseidon in Sounion and the Temple of Olympian Zeus, the largest temple in ancient Greece. The archaeological sites of Kerameikos and Ancient Agora are worth visiting, too.
Aside from the ancient monuments in Athens, you will also find equally interesting ones in other cities, like the Temple of Demeter at Naxos, the Temple of Apollo at Gortyna and Delphi and the Knossos Palace in Crete. In fact, wherever you go in Greece, you are sure to see a remarkable archaeological site just nearby.
There are many excellent archaeological museums all over Greece, too, to help you learn more about its ancient history and culture, like the Athens National Archaeological Museum, which is the largest museum in Greece, the Delphi Museum, the Thera Prehistoric Museum and the Heraklion Museum, which contain artifacts, particularly sculptures and statues, from its archaeological sites.
2. Idyllic Beaches
As a country surrounded by the Mediterranean on most sides, Greece has no shortage of idyllic beaches of all types and sizes, the most famous of which is Myrtos Beach on the island of Kefalonia, which is also considered one of the best in the world. There are plenty of other Blue Flag beaches on the Greek islands, too, along with several nudist beaches and remarkable sea caves to explore.
3. Greek Cuisine
Greek cuisine is one of the healthiest in the world, with olive oil, wine, feta cheese and vegetables like eggplant and zucchini as the most popular ingredients, although seafood, meat and poultry dishes are abundant, too. Popular Greek specialties include Gyros (roasted meat), Souvlaki (meat on skewers), Baklava (phyllo pastry dessert), oven-baked lamb with potatoes and Greek Salad, which is basically a tomato salad with feta cheese, olives, red onions, cucumber and olive oil dressing, while wine and beer are common drinks – all of which you can sample at various restaurants when you visit Greece.
4. Greece by Night
Greece is a country that comes to life at night, as you will see when you visit Greece. This is especially true in Athens, Corfu, Skiathos and Mykonos, which have a large concentration of night clubs and bars that play all types of music – whether pop, rock, jazz, trance or the traditional music of the bouzouki – up until dawn or even seven in the morning. In the summer, you will find many seaside parties, too, which start right after sunset and go on until sunrise.
5. Reliving the Movies in Greece
Zorba the Greek. Shirley Valentine. For Your Eyes Only. Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin. These are just movies which has scenes filmed in various Greek locations like Santorini, Meteora, Kefalonia and Mykonos, and you can even visit the exact places where they were shot when you visit Greece. After all, there is quite nothing like reliving your favorite film or imagining yourself in one.
Isabella Olsen is a writer for various travel magazines who has been to world wide tourist destinations like Greece. To book your car hire in Greece or learn more about cheap car hire worldwide, visit Zencarhire.com.