It takes about an hour to fly from Amsterdam to Newcastle in Northern England. A quick and cost effective trip, especially on one of the lowcost carriers. So why would you even want to consider taking a ferry on this route? A question that DFDS Seaways helped a group of Dutch travelbloggers answer, when travelling to Newcastle upon Tyne for the #Traverse14 travel bloggers conference in February 2014. Continue reading
Countries
Blogposts about specific countries
Citytrip to Almaty, Kazakhstan
Here is one totally off the beaten track. Literally, because the tracks that lead to the largest city of Kazakhstan are long and virtually unknown to tourists. Cramped in the south-east corner of this immense country, at the spot where the flatlands meet the outskirts of the Tian Shan Mountains, this is not your average weekend city destination by any standards. Nevertheless, it is a city well-known to many Dutch sports enthusiasts. Usually the bell starts to ring when using the old Soviet name of the city: Alma-Ata. Alma-Ata was one of the first destinations in the world offering a high altitude speed skating rink, where European top skaters broke their early world records. Today’s tourism still mostly focuses on winter sports. The ski resorts are within easy reach of city center. Almaty lost its status as the capital of Kazakhstan to the smaller, but more central and hyper modern city of Astana in 1997. Continue reading
Bern: Unesco jewel in the Swiss crown
Switzerland is without a doubt one of the most beautiful countries in Europe. Nevertheless it is not yet known as a destination for citytrips. Most tourists flock to the beautiful and lavish resorts in the high Alps for mountain walking in summer and great skiing in winter. But the country has a few additional hidden gems: its cities. Swiss business capital Zürich and United Nations city Geneva are among the most visited, mostly by business travelers. But from a cultural and historic point of view you should definitely consider visiting the ‘other’ cities in this small mountain country. These gems include Luzern, Basel and the even lesser known capital city of Bern. Continue reading
Shades of Green, Aurora Hunting in Finland
It is that time of year again. Or better said, it is that time of 11 years again. This winter marks the solar maximum, at which solar activity is at the highest point in its 11-year cycle. The astrophysics behind this phenomenum is very interesting, but the effects of solar activity here on Earth are much more interesting. At Solar Max the display of Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australis around the Arctic Circles is at its most spectacular. This magical aerial show is on many people’s bucket list, so last year I organized a special Aurora hunting trip for my social media followers, better known as #AuroraTweetup. Continue reading
Back to the Future – River cruising in Europe
River cruising is one of the fastest growing sectors in worldwide tourism, outgrowing even the expanding ocean cruise sector: “River cruise lines are having trouble keeping up with the demand,” says Julie Walsh, the director of marketing for Cruise Travel Outlet, a booking website. “We are booking most of our customers on river cruises for 2014 because space is sold out for 2013.” (Source: Marketwatch) Continue reading
Finding the City of Everett
As claimed in my previous post: I am an aviation enthusiast, or an #avgeek as we are called on Twitter. As a kid I had an aviation history book, with photos of all milestones until then. One of the last pages in that early 1970’s book showed pictures of the first flight of a revolution in passenger transport: the brand new Boeing 747. With its two-storey and double aisle design it was the first truly large capacity airliner, aptly named “Jumbo Jet”. An image that I remembered for the rest of my life. Years later I ended up flying many variants of the 747 as a passenger, from the early -100 to the stretched upper deck -300 and -400. A few years ago I had the opportunity to spend a day in Seattle, which I dedicated to finding this first Boeing 747, named “City of Everett”, after the home town of the Boeing company. Continue reading
First in Flight: Kitty Hawk NC
The United States is a great destination for history lovers. Perhaps surprising, as its modern history is not that long compared to other places in the world. Americans are masters of preservation and maintain their heritage better than in any other country. Much of modern history happened in the US, so if your interest is in the 18th, 19th or 20th centuries, there are many very well-kept must-sees. One of my areas of interest is the history of aviation. In this blog I will describe some of my expeditions to find special aviation places and objects. The first expedition is to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Continue reading
Beijing for Business
Most of the time a businesstrip doesn’t leave a lot of time for sightseeing. I spent a week at a conference in Beijing, China in September 2013. Despite a very full schedule I managed to squeeze in some time for wandering around the Northern part of town. With the conference at the 2008 Olympic Park site, most of the wandering took place there. So what does an Olympic Park look like five years after the Olympics? Continue reading
Winterhike blog – Skarvan og Roltdalen 2013
Intense Arctic Expedition III
This was the third Intense Arctic Expedition that we organized since 2011. The ‘intense’ concept means that participants have a very short, but intense arctic experience. Three nights of hiking and camping in the snow of a challenging wilderness is enough to have a lifelong impact. It is also intense because it brings you from inside your comfort zone to ‘outside your comfort zone’ – there where the magic happens – in just a few hours. Our favorite location is the rugged Skarvan and Roltdalen National Park in Central Norway. It is close to the Trondheim-Vaernes Airport, which offers several daily direct flights from Amsterdam, by KLM. It is also the northernmost destination you can fly directly from Amsterdam. Perfect for this short experience!
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Stonehenge, from the inside out
Social media have brought me to all kinds of special places around the world. I have been invited to conferences, expositions and even space launches, meeting the most wonderful and passionate people you can think of. I am really lucky to live in a vibrant online community, where my virtual friends are also my real friends. It was through one of these communities that I received an invitation to visit Stonehenge in England, several months ago. I had been to Stonehenge before and remembered it as a crowded place, where tourism had taken over from magic and history. A tourist trap, hardly recommendable to traveling friends. This invitation was different though. It was for an after hours visit in a small exclusive group of social media friends. And even more special, it was outside the season where they normally organize these VIP visits. So obviously I accepted, but still without fully realizing what this meant. Continue reading