If your next trip to Germany is going to involve visiting castles in Bavaria, you may want to consider purchasing the Bavarian Castle Pass (also known as the Bavarian Palace Pass or the Bayern Schloss Pass). These passes sold by the Bavarian Palace Department cover the admission to over 40 palaces, castles, and other sites within the region of Bavaria. While you are in the region, you can also experience Bavaria’s beer halls and festivals, from the Hofbrauhaus to Oktoberfest. This article will provide you with all the information you need to know about the sites covered by the Bavarian Castle Pass, the different types of passes, how to buy the passes, and how to decide whether or not this would be a good deal for you or not. We’ll also share our personal experience of buying and using the Bavarian Castle Pass. What Castles and Palaces are Included in… Read the rest
Afternoon Tea in San Francisco: Palace Hotel Tea at The Garden Court
Looking for a place to have afternoon tea in San Francisco? Look no further than the Palace Hotel tea which is served in a stunningly beautiful dining area called The Garden Court. If you are pairing tea with some sightseeing, Lands End offers a beautiful coastal hike on the other side of the city. I love tea and the act of indulging in the formal ritual of afternoon tea, and I have been wanting to come to the Palace Hotel tea for over three years after I got a glimpse of The Garden Court during our first visit to San Francisco. The Garden Court is located where the carriage entrance to the hotel used to be and offers magnificent turn-of-the-century grandeur and elegance. Imagine a large room with a magnificent glass atrium, glass chandeliers, the buzz of people softly talking, china clinking, adorable children wearing crowns, and a grand piano… Read the rest
Munich Greeter Program: Explore Munich with a Free Local Tour Guide
Have you heard of the Munich Greeter Program? If you are planning a trip to Munich, you should definitely check out this program which matches new visitors to the city with a local greeter that will accompany them on a walking tour of the city. If your visit lines up with the fall, do not miss Oktoberfest in Munich and the city’s historic beer halls. Greeters are local people who are passionate about their city and volunteer their time to show visitors an in-depth look at their favorite area of Munich. The idea for the Munich Greeter Program came from a similar program that was first started in New York City, and now many cities worldwide offer these types of volunteer walking tour programs to provide guests with a friendly introduction to their city. We were just in Munich for the first time in May and we used this program… Read the rest
Best Waterfalls on the Big Island of Hawaii (& Where You Can Swim)
Aloha! While all of the islands of Hawaii have waterfalls, none are perhaps as accessible as some of the ones on the Big Island of Hawaii. I’ve been lucky enough to spend about two weeks on the Big Island across two trips, and a lot of that time was spent chasing waterfalls (every photo in this article is our own). Not all of the falls are equally worth your time though, several now charge entry fees, and there are only a couple of places where I’d tell you it’s safe to get in the water. Most of the waterfalls can be seen along the northeastern coast of the island, along the Hamakua and Hilo coasts. While part of the island is a dark desert of dry volcanic rock, this part of the island is green, wet, and supports amazing lush vegetation, rainforests, and botanical gardens. And of course, some spectacular… Read the rest
Our Airbnb Review: Advice and Tips for Booking via Airbnb
Using Airbnb to book accommodations during your travels can not only help save you money, but it can also help you meet people and bring you closer to the local culture. While hotels and even hostels can offer more services than most Airbnb hosts, the chance to stay in someone’s house or apartment can lead to some wonderful conversations and experiences. We have found that it can also help us save a lot of money when compared to booking a hotel room in the same location. Sometimes it can even be cheaper than booking a hostel! While Airbnb is not for every traveler, we’ll provide a review of Airbnb that can help you decide if it is right for you. In this article, we’ll cover the basics of what is Airbnb, our personal experiences of using Airbnb, the pros and cons of using Airbnb, and tips on booking through Airbnb…. Read the rest
Galeries Lafayette Fashion Show Paris: Tickets, Tips, and Our Review
Interested in attending a fashion show in Paris? Paris is one of the Big Four cities of fashion in the world along with London, New York City, and Milan, and it is no wonder that many visitors to the City of Lights are interested in catching a glimpse of models on a catwalk showing off the latest collections. But chances are that your visit to Paris won’t coincide with the semi-annual Paris Fashion Week, and even if it did, tickets are almost impossible to obtain for those of us who are not part of the fashion industry or press world. No reason to despair though. You can attend a fashion show held regularly throughout the year at the Galeries Lafayette. The Galeries Lafayette Paris Haussmann holds a 30-minute fashion show every Friday afternoon where models show off ready-to-wear collections from brands you can buy in the store. We’ve attended the… Read the rest
Travel Research: Are Travel Guidebooks Still Useful in the Digital Age?
As more and more people use the Internet to do travel research, are travel guidebooks still useful and relevant? Do we need travel guidebooks anymore? With giant travel websites like Tripadvisor and Expedia, it made me wonder how much people use guidebooks these days. Recent research suggests that although most people are using the Internet as a source of travel information, most people still rely on travel guidebooks during their travels. Let’s take a look at a research article in the Journal of Travel Research. Research Study: A 2011 published research study collected information from 196 overseas travelers from Hong Kong. The majority of travelers were traveling for leisure purposes. Travelers completed surveys about what information sources they used to help them plan their trip prior to travel, what sources they used while traveling, and what sources they used after travel. They were also asked to rate how influential each travel… Read the rest
Our Dining Experience at The French Laundry in Napa Valley
For our fourth anniversary, Ethan surprised me with reservations at The French Laundry during an overnight trip to the Napa Valley in California. While Napa Valley is of course best known for its wonderful wines and winery visits are on most people’s to-do lists, there are lots of things to do in Napa Valley besides wine tasting. Eating at the wonderful restaurants is definitely one of them and definitely great for those who can’t or don’t drink wine like my then boyfriend. Eating at the highly-rated The French Laundry restaurant had been something that I had wanted to do. But given the cost of dining here, I had never really thought I’d get the chance to do so. But I was lucky enough to have the opportunity on our anniversary. So how was it you ask? Here’s our full The French Laundry review of our dining experience. General Information/BookIng: For… Read the rest
Missing the Boat on the Canal Saint Martin: Sometimes Things Don’t Work Out as We Planned
Sometimes our perfectly planned travel days don’t work out as we planned. Sometimes the weather, public transportation, or our own health derails a perfectly planned day. And sometimes we just get lost and miss our reservations for a boat ride down the Canal Saint Martin. This is what happened to us during our last visit to Paris. During our first trip to Paris, we had taken the obligatory boat ride on the Seine River. We saw all the major sites – the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower, the Musée d’Orsay, Notre Dame, etc.—as we plied along the famous river. So we wanted to do something a little different on our second trip to Paris together. We decided to take a boat ride down the Canal Saint-Martin, which is a 4.5 km long canal in Paris that connects the Canal de ‘Ourcq to the Seine. I am much more of a planner… Read the rest
Napa Valley Without Wine: Things to Do for Non-Drinkers
Napa Valley without wine? It sounds like a contradiction. Napa is one of the great wine regions of the world, and most guides assume a tasting-room crawl is the whole point of a visit. But I lived and worked in California for years before we began traveling full-time, and I have come back to the Napa Valley many times since, often as the travel companion of someone who does not drink, for both health and personal reasons. On those trips we always built in wine-free days, and after all of them the short version is this: there is far more to do here than swirl and sip, and a non-drinker can have a full, memorable trip. This guide is for anyone planning a Napa trip who will not be drinking. Maybe you are pregnant, sober or sober-curious, under 21, the designated driver, or skipping alcohol for health or faith reasons…. Read the rest
Travel Research: How do Locals Feel about the Practice of Slum Tourism?
Have you ever heard of slum tourism? This is a tourist practice where travelers visit poor areas of the Global South to view and learn about the impoverished conditions of local inhabitants. Organized slum tours exist around the world in cities such as Mexico City, Johannesburg, Mumbai, Cape Town, Nairobi, Cairo, and Rio de Janeiro. While the practice of slum tourism is certainly not a new concept—for instance, 19th century wealthy Londoners would sometimes go “slumming” in the poorer neighborhoods of London—there has been an increase in the number of organized tours worldwide which has fueled discussion about this controversial practice. So is slum tourism or poverty tourism harmful or helpful? We’ll examine the arguments for and against slum tourism and then discuss a research study that examined this question by interviewing slum residents and stakeholders in Cairo, Egypt. A Brief Summary of the Arguments For and Against Slum Tourism… Read the rest
Visiting the Palais Garnier: Tickets, Tours, and Attending a Performance at the Paris Opera
We’ve visited the Palais Garnier several times, both for performances (two ballets and one opera) and for a daytime look around, so we’ve seen what each one gets you. It’s Paris’s opulent 19th-century opera house, and you can experience it either as a self-guided daytime visit (tickets from €15 for EEA residents and €25 for everyone else) or by attending an opera or ballet in the evening. The one thing that decides which is right for you: a daytime ticket does not guarantee you’ll get into the auditorium, the red-and-gold room with the Chagall ceiling that most people picture when they think of the Palais Garnier. A performance does. Which one you choose comes down to what you want out of the trip. If you love architecture and history, a daytime visit lets you wander the grand staircase and gilded foyers at your own pace without spending much. If seeing… Read the rest
French Laundry Reservations: Tips and Advice on Getting a Reservation at The French Laundry
It can be very difficult to get French Laundry reservations. In fact, The French Laundry is often named among the most difficult restaurant reservations to book in the world. This 3 Michelin-starred Thomas Keller restaurant in Yountville, California is one of the most exclusive in Napa Valley. However, this article will give you the facts on how to book a reservation at The French Laundry and tips on how to increase your odds of making a reservation based on our experience and from asking the staff at The French Laundry. So normally, making a restaurant reservation involves simply calling the restaurant or making a quick online reservation request. Generally, you can do this a week or less in advance and boom you have a table. Things are not so easy at The French Laundry. It takes a bit of planning to ensure you get a reservation on your preferred date… Read the rest
Our Discovery of French Macarons: A Review of Ladurée Macarons
Ladurée is a famous pâtisserie, or pasty shop, in Paris. It has been around for over 150 years, and is most known for its delicious and colorful macarons. Ethan and I first discovered Ladurée macarons last year while in Paris. We happened to walk by their flagship store and tea salon on the Champs-Elysées after a visit to the top of the Arc de Trimophe. We were in need of some nourishment after all those stairs, and the macarons looked way too good to pass up! This would be our first taste of French macarons (very different from the coconut macaroons sold in the United States). One of the most difficult parts was selecting from the over dozen different flavors. We chose 6 flavored macarons—Rose, Red Fruits, Licorice, Caramel with Salted Butter, Pistachio, and Violet– and then brought them home for our own private tasting. Unfortunately, our Ladurée macarons got… Read the rest
An Anniversary Surprise: Crossing The French Laundry off my Bucket List
I got a really wonderful surprise this weekend. Yesterday was Ethan and I’s fourth anniversary (and Bastille Day!), and we had planned to spend a night in Napa over the weekend to celebrate. But we’ve both been very busy at work lately and the details of what we would do were pretty tentative. At least that is what I had thought! Two or three years ago, after we had moved to California, I told Ethan that someday I would like to eat at The French Laundry in Yountville, CA. It was one of the thousand things on my unwritten bucket list. To my surprise, Ethan had a viscerally negative response to this comment and said that even if he was a millionaire, he would not eat there. He made it clear that apparently he believed that it would not only be financially irresponsible, but perhaps borderline unethical to eat there… Read the rest