I’m happy to announce the launch of TravelAdda – a website focused on bringing the best travel deals in India. Bookmark it and make sure you visit it regularly if you are serious about getting the best travel deals in town!

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If you’re based out of the United Kingdom, you might want to check out the great collection of cheap holidays available from DirectLine Holidays. They have been operating for over 14 years helping customers find great value city breaks, flights and holidays for our customers.

Directline Holidays provides a simple yet comprehensive UI that enables you to search for competitive rates for holidays globally. What I liked about the website was the fact that they list out the “Top Summer Holidays” and “Top Winter Holidays” on the front page to choose from. This provides quick inputs in terms of how much it would cost to visit one of the popular destinations this year.

This winter, if you planning to go skiing, they provide a great list of ski holidays to choose from. Once again, at a glance, you get to see the Top European and US destination sites for ski holidays. You get upto 50 pounds off for the 2008/09 ski season if you book now!

If a full blown holiday is beyond reach, but you still want to plan for short breaks and book cheap flights to visit for places, Directline is the place for you.

I carried out some sample searches to see the quality of results and the response time. The search clearly mentions the sites it queries, and then provides a list of results sorted by the best price available.

The search query response time seemed quite good.

I loved their RSS feeds feature. Most travel sites do not take advantage of feeds. This can be a great way for individuals like us to be aware of the latest offers that are available. Never miss out on a great deal. Just subscribe to their feed.

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Nicaragua is a representative democratic republic and the largest nation in Central America. It is also the least densely populated with a demographic similar in size to its smaller neighbors. Tourism in Nicaragua is booming. It is currently the second largest industry in the nation.

The Pacific Coast of Nicaragua has hundreds of miles of beaches identical to the California Coastline. It is also one of the fastest growing investment opportunities in real estate today. Imagine if you could purchase some Nicaragua land today! Wouldn’t it be a gold mine years from now, just like what has happened in San Diego or Malibu?

If you are interested in Nicaragua Beach Property, have a look at Northern Nicaragua as it offers some of the region’s most beautiful cities, beaches and resorts. Details on Nicaragua real estate can be obtained at the Century 21 Gold Coast Realty website and their offices in Nicaragua.

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London offers probably the best shopping experience of any city in the world, after Paris and New York. London’s main shopping areas tend to center around Oxford Street and Regent Street, while Knightsbridge is home to stores stocking even more upmarket goods.

Oxford Street has over 600 stores – 150 international brands , 200 bars, cafes and restaurants all within a short walk to London’s famous parks, museums, theatres, and art galleries. What a lovely place to shop!

If you are into Arts & Entertainment, London has great many options for you. From Art Galleries, Museums, Parks & Gardens, Theatre, Clubs, Cinemas, and Live Music, London has it all.

If you are traveling to London on business or on a vacation and need to save up on your hotel accommodation expensse, so that you can spend it all on shopping and entertainment, check out CheaperThanHotels for great deals on London Hotels, Kensington Hotels, Knightsbridge Hotels, and Oxford Street Hotels.

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The interface is quite good. The main screen for their Flights section looks like this:

The interesting bit on this page is a section called “Dare to Compare” and “Expiring this week”. This is something that I’ve not seen in too many websites and it provides at quick glance some of the great deals available. A snapshot of what was shown when I visited the site is shown below.

So, if you’re looking for Cheap flights to LA, or Cheap flights to London, or for Cheap flights to Fiji ensure that you check out Travel.com.au before you make your decision. You could get some great deals.

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Paris is a place not only popular amongst businessmen but tourists from all over the world.

If you happen to travel to Paris any time soon, have a look at the great deals available for hotels in that region – Paris Hôtels (French); París Hoteles (Spanish); Paris Hotels (German); Paris Hotels (English).

A quote from the Lonely Planet:

From romance along the Seine to landscapes on bus-sized canvases to the pick-an-ism types in cafes monologuing on the use of garlic or the finer points of Jerry Lewis, Paris is the essence of all things French.

This beautifully summaries what you can expect from the City of Paris.

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If you are planning a trip to Germany the best place to find your accommodation is at: CheaperThanHotels – (Germany Hotels / Berlin Hotels). The same sites in the German language can be viewed at HotelsDeutsche.com (Berlin Hotels / Wien Hotels).

Located at the heart of Europe, Germany has a temperate climate with regional variations. The best weather is from May to October. Winter is freezing and wet.

Berlin is a dynamic and creative city with abundant theatre and music with imposing public buildings, splendid museums, sophisticated restaurants, and a host of pubs and clubs. Getting there and getting around Berlin is not well served with direct flights. Connections are usually made through hubs like Frankfurt or Amsterdam. You can reach Berlin by bus from most European cities and German trains run like clockwork. Berlin is walker and cyclist friendly and its underground system, the U/S Bahn is efficient. There is a new tram system in the eastern parts of the city.

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Prudential Douglas Elliman is the largest New York real estate broker with 60 offices serving 350 communities from Manhattan to Montauk, guaranteeing the continuity of one company helping each purchaser explore housing throughout New York City, Long Island and the Hamptons.

The website is nicely designed to enable you to find the necessary information as quickly as possible. Contact details for various services are provided to ensure that human touch is always there for their services.

You can locate properties based on regions, check out mortgage rates, and even get an estimate for your property. Several market reports have been made available on the website as well.

So, if you are staying in one of the above mentioned regions, or are planning to relocate there, this is one company you can get in touch with to make the transition easier.

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A set of 36 photographs taken by me during a visit to Goa is available at Flickr. Some of them are shown below:

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There are several places you can visit in Australia. Some places you can consider including in your visit includes Gold Coast, Noosa, and Cairns. You can look for some great options for cheap Hotels in Australia here. The CheaperThanHotels websites also has a good listing of Gold Coast Hotels, Noosa Hotels, and Cairns Hotels.

If you’re planning to rent a vehicle and drive on your own in Australia, the following information could be valuable.

The most important thing to remember should you decide to go “off Road” (off a sealed road) in the Outback is to seek local advice on your intended route as well as ensuring someone locally knows of your travel plans. If your vehicle does break down in a remote area stay with it do not attempt to walk. Generally people who stay with their vehicles are located quickly and easily. Please note, that some rental suppliers do have conditions that limit the operation of their vehicles in the outback. Should you plan to go off road we suggest that you discuss your intended route with the rental company beforehand.

It is a legal requirement that any gates opened to allow your vehicle to pass through are closed afterwards. Any travel across designated Aboriginal Land will require permission from the owners beforehand. As the permit process varies from state to state (and can take up to six weeks to obtain). It is best to contact the national parks’ controlling body in each state prior to your journey.

Image courtesy: Queensland Holidays Photo Gallery

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