If your idea of Spain is eating paella, dancing flamenco, and improving your Spanish, Catalonia might surprise you.
30.07.2024 - 04:44 / euronews.com / Rebecca Ann Hughes
On the ponderous, three-hour train journey between Romania’s capital Bucharest and the town of Brasov, I’m reading what is probably the most famous book set in the country.
Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’ has conjured an impression of Romania in the public imagination that is at times accurate but at other points laughably melodramatic.
Brooding castles on rocky outcrops that could hide all manner of bloodsucking creatures are in plentiful supply.
But I also find pastel-painted fairytale-esque villages, a booming speciality coffee scene and impressively-stocked wine bars.
With Romania now in the Schengen Zone, it means arrivals from within the free travel area are smoother and swifter. Here’s why you should book a trip this year.
The Romanian capital Bucharest is one of the main entry points by air to the country. A 20-minute taxi or car-sharing ride takes you from the airport to the city centre, the heart of which is fully pedestrianised.
There’s an energetic nightlife scene in Bucharest - on a Monday, the music from a bar below my rental is still pumping at 6am - but there are other attractions besides the parties.
In the historic Lipscani district, I visit the minuscule, highly ornate Eastern Orthodox Stavropoleos Church and pass the Old Princely Court where Vlad the Impaler once resided.
The city is also home to the world’s second-largest administrative building (after the Pentagon) - the grandiose, multi-tiered Palace of Parliament.
I leave Bucharest for Romania’s rural attractions, making use of its very cheap but distinctly unhurried rail network.
Transylvania, a forested region ringed by the Carpathian mountains, is peppered with beautiful towns and villages.
My first stop is Brasov, an elegant, pastel-hued town with a fan-shaped main square thronged with outdoor cafes and bars.
The town boasts its own version of the Hollywood sign which you can reach via a cable car and short hike.
Another pleasant walk circumnavigates the centre passing by the fairy castle-esque Catherine Gate and the Black and White medieval watchtowers.
I try excellent Romanian wine at Terroirs Boutique du Vin with a bottle working out at around €20.
I travel on to Sighisoara, smaller in scale but equally photogenic. Narrow cobbled streets and wide squares are lined with pale blue, peach and yellow houses.
But the historic appearance belies its modern hospitality scene of stylish speciality coffee shops, juice bars and lounge bars.
At Gasthaus Altepost, I eat a Romanian feast of creamy eggplant dip, sarmale cabbage leaf rolls stuffed with minced meat, and three different varieties of grilled sausages.
Prepped by the description in Dracula and the horror film-like publicity in nearby Brasov, I find Bran Castle is very different from
If your idea of Spain is eating paella, dancing flamenco, and improving your Spanish, Catalonia might surprise you.
For almost two decades, Dubai’s beachfront was something of a graveyard. Towards Abu Dhabi, you had the partially finished Palm Jebel Ali, which had been announced in 2002. Closer to the marina area, there was the struggling “The World” Islands, which dated to 2003. And towards Sharjah, Deira Islands (the 2004 project now known as Dubai Islands), seemed abandoned.
As the days turn shorter and the world begins to cool, travelers everywhere begin to consider where they should visit next.
Tourists are flocking to Costa Rica, with visitors trying to get a taste of the Blue Zone lifestyle that promises better-than-average health and longevity.
Flyr, an airline retail platform, said Thursday that it has raised a $225 million series D round, one of the largest single raises ever for a travel tech company and the largest so far this year.
Ever dreamed of having your own secluded country house with a private lake? Where you can spend a day curled up with a book, go wild swimming, explore nearby walks and trails, take a romantic trip out on a rowing boat, or simply lay by the pool with a cocktail?
Is a grand tour of Europe on your bucket list? We bet it is.
On a particularly relaxed Friday in August, I spent the morning with my two best friends in the Tulum jungle, splashing around what I'm quite sure is the world's most entertaining pool. We were at the Conrad Tulum Riviera Maya Resort's spa pool, which comes tricked out with mystery buttons around the perimeter, each setting off a variety of jets, waterfalls, and even a surge of bubbles bursting out from a lounger submerged a foot below the water's surface.
Tourists in Venice stuff themselves through narrow bridges in mobs. They scramble through stopped groups of people posing for selfies in front of canals. They sacrifice having even an inch of personal space just to be in public.
The Caribbean is synonymous with great beaches and warm weather, but the area is also full of exciting activities for travelers.
Imagine a tropical island with unspoiled beaches. Towering palm trees dot the shore, and ornate Hindu and Buddhist temples beckon you inward.
They are scenes straight out of a travel nightmare: Airline passengers, including unaccompanied minors, stranded for days in strange cities amid a cascading wave of flight cancellations—with little hope of catching a plane home in a hurry.