Travel Wonders of the World

The World's Largest Wine Barrel (Heidelberg, Germany)

2009-11-11T12:58:00.000-08:00

Deep in the bowels of Heidelberg Castle is the world’s largest wine barrel. The Heidelberg Tun or Grosses Fass holds over 220,000 litres (58,000 US gallons) and stands an impressive six metres high. To encourage partying, a staircase leads to a dance floor installed on its top so people could drink and dance all evening!With elegant deceit, the path through the castle leads past a smaller barrel

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Photo of the Week - Waratah (Australia)

2009-11-09T13:32:00.000-08:00

In the midst of spring, Sydney is awash with colourful flowers and blooms. The state floral emblem of the waratah is spectacular with its large deep red flower. The hardy waratah scrub suits the sandy soils of the area and even regenerates if burned to a crisp after a savage bushfire.

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Europe's Finest Cave? (Frasassi Cave, Italy)

2009-11-06T13:10:00.000-08:00

Only thirty years ago, two kilometres south of Venice (and a hundred kilometres south of the mosaic travel wonder of Ravenna), Italian cavers stumbled across an extraordinary wonder of the world. Considered by many to be Europe’s finest show cave (though Skocjan Cave in Slovenia is stunning), shining their torches into the first huge cavern must have taken their breath away. The cavers named the

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Castle with a Hidden Secret (Elmina, Ghana)

2009-11-03T15:19:00.000-08:00

Encrusted with chipped paint, salt, sweat and misery, the walls lead to a tiny door – the door of no return. Stepping onto the beach, captives were led across the scorching sands onto ships sailing for the Americas and the Caribbean. Elmina Castle is a powerful reminder of the abhorrent history of slavery.Approaching the tiny beachside town of Elmina, a grand white castle perches proudly over the

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Drinks Around the World: Talisker Scotch Whisky (Scotland)

2009-11-01T14:36:00.000-08:00

Every month I write about a special drink that I've had somewhere in my travels. This month's offering takes us on a tour of the Talisker Scotch Whisky Factory on the wild, wind-swept and mountainous Scottish Isle of Skye.After a guided tour through the distillery with its five gleaming copper stills and aged oak barrels, a sample of the smoky, fiery brew is offered. The first sip almost explodes

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Photo of the Week - Halloween Pumpkins (Vermont, USA)

2009-10-31T14:26:00.000-07:00

In a small rural village in north Vermont, stacks of pumpkins of all shapes and sizes await Halloween enthusiasts to carve their lanterns. Celebrated the night before All Saints or All Hallows Day, the name derives from hallow evening, shortened to halloween. Every year, this primarily American tradition sneaks further into Australia with shops adorned with witches, ghosts, bats and skeletons

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The Balcony of Love (Verona Italy)

2009-10-30T14:04:00.000-07:00

"O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy father and refuse thy name", said Juliet looking down from a balcony in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, set in the travel wonder of Verona in northern Italy. This elegant 14th century two storey stone cottage in central Verona was home to the Cappello family that Shakespeare is rumoured to have developed the family name Capulet in his famous

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Photo of the Week - Breakfast on Sydney Harbour Bridge

2009-10-28T14:54:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday, several thousand lucky people drawn from a ballot had breakfast on the Australian travel wonder of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. The bridge was closed to traffic and transformed into a parkland of fresh grass for the picnic rugs, eskies (local slang for the portable ice boxes that keep everything cool) and baskets full of tasty pastries, juices and other breakfast goodies. I wasn't one

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The Fairytale Mining Town (Goslar, Germany)

2009-10-25T14:20:00.000-07:00

The Harz mountains stand tall in the epicentre of Germany, rich in forests, rivers and historic half-timbered villages. Sliced in half by the East and West divide, this area attracts many less visitors than it warrants.At 1000 years old, the world heritage-listed travel wonder of Goslar is a medieval masterpiece of narrow cobblestone streets, small canals, a glorious historic main square, the

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Rocks and Rhinos (Matobo National Park, Zimbabwe)

2009-10-21T14:34:00.000-07:00

Matobo National Park in central Zimbabwe is a wild rock-strewn travel wonder. With small areas of dry grasslands, the park is a remarkable mix of natural gravity-defying rock formations, ancient cave art and a game park for a broad variety of African animals including the endangered white and black rhinoceros.A local ranger guided three of us around this superb park for a single day some years

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Winner - Night in a Luxury Hotel Competition

2009-10-19T14:00:00.000-07:00

The judges at Priority Club have selected a winner of the free night in a luxury hotel competition. As a reminder, an entrant had to come up with a city they'd most like to visit and the reason for visiting it.After deliberations, they have decided that the winning entry is "What is it they say about never seeing the things closest to home? Strange as it may seem, although I am a travel writer

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Photo of the Week - Chinstrap Penguin (Antarctica)

2009-10-18T16:18:00.000-07:00

In the cold icy surrounds of Antartica, the Chinstrap penguin stands strikingly with its thin black neck stripe. Parenting is a truly shared occupation with one guarding the eggs or chicks while the other heads off to feed, returning with a full belly and regurgitated feeds for the chicks. They then exchange places and the cycle starts again. As the chicks grow, both parents head out to feed

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Beyond the Bears (Churchill, Canada)

2009-10-14T12:19:00.000-07:00

The tiny population (around 500) of the desolate township of Churchill share a love-hate relationship with polar bears. Accessible only via a three-hour air flight or overnight rail journey, this northerly outpost is enthused by the dollars associated with the wildlife-loving visitors (almost everyone who visits Churchill comes to see the polar bears) but not necessarily by the bears themselves.

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Polar Bear Splendour (Churchill, Canada)

2009-10-11T16:01:00.000-07:00

Even in the relative safety of a large vehicle, a polar bear is a chilling, awe-inspiring animal. When only a pane of reinforced glass separates you from the world’s largest land-based carnivore, a strange mix of fear and excitement sets in.Every year around mid-October, migrating polar bears congregate in their hundreds for a handful of weeks in the northerly Canadian town of Churchill, awaiting

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Jewels of the Caribbean (Barbados)

2009-10-09T13:59:00.000-07:00

Guest post by Elegant ResortsBarbados (known as "the pearl of the Caribbean") is a rather small pear-shaped island which is 20 miles of soft coral. This ancient and enormous coral reef was formed approximately one million years ago and is permeated by water, which resulted in spectacular underground caverns. Its glorious beaches can be enjoyed with 340 days of sunshine a year. With abundant water

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Luxury Hotel Competition Closing

2009-10-07T15:26:00.000-07:00

A competition with the folks from Priority Club Rewards to win a night in one of IHG's 4,300 hotels including Holiday Inns, Crowne Plazas and many more (**), closes in two days time (9 October). All you need to do is:1. Add a comment to the original competition post on your select IHG Hotel in the world for a special stay and the reason why. Ensure that I can track you down if you win by leaving

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Exploring Volcanic Lanzarote (Spain)

2009-10-05T18:26:00.000-07:00

Guest post by Nick BallThe Canary Island of Lanzarote has long had a reputation as a bucket and spade beach holiday destination. Justifiably so in fact, as around 1.5 million foreign tourists visit every year.But this small speck of Spain, located just 80 miles off the coast of Morocco, offers much more than just sunshine and sun loungers alone. As Lanzarote boasts some awe-inspiring scenery –

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Book Review: Overcoming the 7 Major Obstacles to Traveling the World (Anil Polat)

2009-10-02T18:11:00.000-07:00

Anil Polat of Foxnomad has recently published an e-book titled Overcoming the 7 Major Obstacles to Traveling the World, inspiring people to not let obstacles and excuses prevent them from travelling the world. It is a book aimed at people keen to travel but finding reasons to not go. Aimed both as a one-time read and as a regular ready-reference with a collection of tips and ideas towards

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Drinks Around the World: Bloody Caesar (Canada)

2009-09-30T19:44:00.000-07:00

Each month a group of travel bloggers (including Lifecruiser and Travel Expert(a)) conduct a virtual cocktail party where writers highlight a notable drink from their travels or experiences. With a recent visit to scenic Lake Louise deep in the Rockies, this month's drinks takes us to chilly Canada.The Bloody Caesar is a Canadian adaption to the internationally renown Bloody Mary. It is made by

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The Icelandic Phonebook Surprise

2009-09-28T14:01:00.000-07:00

Look up a phonebook in Iceland and a surprise awaits you. It is listed in first name order followed by surnames, occupations and addresses.This makes good sense when you realise that everybody in Iceland is known by his or her first name and nobody uses Mr. or Ms. in any situation. Young children call their teachers and friend’s parents by their first name and Icelanders even reference their

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The Twenty Dollar View (Lake Louise, Canada)

2009-09-25T15:48:00.000-07:00

With familiar glittering scenes that grace Canadian brochures, the travel wonder of Lake Louise is sublime beauty on a large scale. Though tremendously popular in the warmer months overwhelming the tiny village, the three main natural sights of Lake Louise should be on any Rockies agenda.With the grandiose Lake Louise Château perches on its shoreline, the emerald Lake Louise offers perfect

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Photo of the Week: Cathedral (La Paz, Bolivia)

2009-09-23T15:13:00.000-07:00

The cathedral, built in 1835, stands majestically in Plaza Murillo, in the world's highest capital city of La Paz. At 3800 metres above sea level (12,000 feet), the more affluent people live below the city where there is more oxygen rather than above La Paz with its panoramic views.

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Peering from the Eagle's Nest (Berchtesgaden, Germany)

2009-09-20T15:02:00.000-07:00

Combining infamy and stunning natural beauty, the tiny town of Berchtesgaden is a German travel wonder. Surrounded by dazzling turquoise lakes, towering snow-capped mountains, brooding dark green forests, cute steep-sided churches and tumbling falls, Berchtesgaden seems unsuited to its sinister past. Perched on the appropriately named Eagle’s Nest (Kehlstein), one of Hitler’s most faithful

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Win a Night in a Luxury Hotel

2009-09-17T15:37:00.000-07:00

The friendly folks at Priority Club Rewards has kindly offered a lucky Travel Wonders reader one night in a five star hotel available across over 4,300 IHG hotels in over 100 countries (**). The IHG hotels are household names with some of the best hotels in the world in their portfolio including InterContinental Hotels and Resorts, Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo, Holiday Inn Express and Staybridge

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Top Five Skiing Holiday Resorts

2009-09-14T15:16:00.000-07:00

guest post by Thomas CookIf you are looking for the perfect ski holiday and want to stay at only the best resorts you may be wondering where you should go for your own perfect ski vacation away. Here is a guide to the top five skiing holiday resorts to consider for your ski holiday.Our first choice takes us to beautiful Sauze d'Oulx in Italy. This is a truly picturesque place with breathtaking

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