Compare prices on travel deals

Saving money is always an important concern ... after all, the more you save, the more time you can spend in traveling! Seriously though, travelers usually wish to take a number of things with them, and at the top of many of our readers' lists are their laptops. If you are in the market for a laptop, check SaveBuckets.com to find a listing of over 1,500 products along with the seller offering them for the best price. SaveBuckets doesn't sell anything ... they compare prices among hundreds of sellers to show you who offers the best price on things you want to buy.

They also have a special travel category with items such as travel cushions, sports bags, and travel-size items of various kinds. Also of special interest to our readers are the sports and leisure category, currently offering almost 150 products, and a tickets and events category, which includes concerts, theatre, sporting events, leisure parks, museums, and tourist attractions. (Click on the subcategories on the left column to get all the listings.)

We hope this service proves useful to our readers for your travel needs, as well as finding great prices on all your day-to-day purchases!

Paros Island, Greece

Paros, one of the Cyclades islands, has a rich history and is home to charming villages and features many pleasant sandy beaches. Huge rocks have eroded into sculptural shapes that appear to be seated in the sand in Kolibithres. Thousands of lovely butterflies flit amidst the thick foliage of Petaloudes during the summer months. Vinyards, citrus and olive groves adorn terraces near Lefkes. Of the many beaches, some are full of other beach-goers if you are seeking company, while others are secluded. The high winds make the local beaches a perfect spot for both wind surfing and kite surfing.

FantasticGreece.com offers a nice travel guide for Paros, with a variety of useful information. The Paros hotels section includes a photo of each hotel, detailed pricing information (including internet specials for some), information about the amenities, an area map and directions, customer reviews, and other information necessary for booking your Paros accommodation. By clicking on the name of each Paros hotel, you can also view many photos and more information for each hotel.

Detailed dining information is also included in the Paros guide. There is a discussion of local traditional cuisine. We also appreciate that both inexpensive and quick as well as pricier and more elaborate meals are included. Food recommendations, comments about the atmosphere, and cost bracket are included for each restaurant, and there are enough suggestions to offer a different location for dinner every night for more than two weeks.


There is also a sightseeing tab that includes a list of places to visit in Paros, an exhaustive contacts tab that provides telephone number for any service you might need while visiting, a map of the island, a list of area beaches and descriptions, a discussion of local nightlife, and information regarding transportation.

Enjoy!

Enjoyable vacation rental website

In our quest to bring you some of the best travel sites, we visit a lot of websites offering vacation rentals, but rarely have we enjoyed visiting a rental booking site as much as we have enjoyed this one. It would take months to fully review everything that is offered, because there are so many destinations offered, and each one we checked had a long listing of rentals. These are not your typical variety of hotels, either, but for the most part are apartments, homes, and even outright mansions available in virtually any place you might choose to visit.

Our usual method of review is to seek outstanding value-for-cost rentals, and give you the details on those particular properties within our post so that you will have a baseline to compare properties you may be considering. However, we immediately were so impressed at our visit to the page featuring Costa Rica vacation rentals that we decided to throw caution to the wind and enjoy looking for the most fabulous accommodations we could find. And find them we did ... the Casa Maravilla in Costa Rica is an incredible combination of sumptuousness and natural beauty, a true tropical paradise. The main house opens almost directly onto a large sparkling waterfall infinity pool. At sunset, the brilliant hues reflect off the ocean behind the pool, making poolside diners feel as if they are enjoying an elegant dinner on the beach. An open-style master bedroom overlooks the ocean, making you feel as if you are waking up on the beach (in air-conditioned comfort, of course!). The interior design is stunning, while outdoors lush tropical foliage soothes the senses. Lighted nightime paths throughout the property offer entrancing nocturnal adventures. A large open rancho for entertaining features dining tables, seating, a bar, and more. Not only is there a large main house, but also a more private, secluded guest house with full amenities that sleeps up to five. Overall this property is absolutely spectacular, and it is no wonder that celebrities and top executives have chosen this estate as their home away from home in Costa Rica.

We decided to view properties available in a very different destination as well, so next went to Paris vacation rentals, where we found quite spacious accommodations even in this chic city. It was difficult to select a favorite among the many choices, but we finally chose a St-Louis mansion for its unique flavor. We were enchanted with the juxtaposition of exposed beam ceilings and a crystal chandelier in one of the living areas, which is furnished in a charming French style and features a fireplace. We loved the leaded glass, the hanging copper pans, the marble countertops, and the stylish fixtures of the well-appointed kitchen. The bathrooms were lovely, with more marble and lots of mirrors, and one of the bedrooms echoed the exposed beam/crystal chandelier combination as well as the leaded glass from the kitchen. Our favorite feature were the arched stone ceilings shown in one of the bedrooms and another living area. It had an enchanting cave-transformed-to-castle feel to us, and was a unique and unexpected feature.

I have to say that this rental site is one of the most enjoyable, as well as informative, that we have had the pleasure of visiting in some time. Full descriptions of the amenities of each property are listed, as well as useful information concerning nearby attractions, restaurants, and other places of potential interest to guests. Rate schedules by season are provided. Some properties have links listed at the bottom of the page with extensive personal reviews by previous travelers of the particular property, as well. This vacation rental site is definitely worth a visit if you are planning your vacation or business travels.

Visit Lausanne, Switzerland

Lausanne, touted as an ornamental jewel in a country crowned with beauty, has much to offer travelers, no matter their specific interests. Those fortunate enough to visit Lausanne will find a picturesque city offering glimpses of sunlight sparkling on the water and purple and grey peaks of the snow-covered Savoy Alps.

The city's generous support of the arts over the years has produced a range of festivals, opera, theatre, dance, and other cultural offerings that would rival a city ten times her size. Music lovers should attend performances of Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne and the Ensemble Vocal de Lausanne. A world-famous dance competition, the Prix de Lausanne, is held each January. July offers the eight-day-long Festival de la Cité. These are supplemented by a number of film festivals and music festivals, including the Bach festival. The Béjart Ballet also makes its home in Lausanne. The city also boasts dozens of museums of every type. Visitors should plan to visit the unorthodox Collection de l'Art Brut, and the Palais de Rumine, which houses five separate museums.

Another distinction of this fine city is that it has been the headquarters of the Olympic Committee since 1915, and is home to a wide variety of world governing bodies of many types of sports. The Olympic Museum is a related attraction. Visitors can also enjoy some of the best skiing the world has to offer on the slopes near Lausanne. Other offerings include an indoor skate park, a pool park, ice skating, and the Grand Vennes Sport Centre.

November in particular is a good month to visit Lausanne. The Festival Bach continues from November 3rd through the 28th. For the first time this year, world-renowned musicians have been invited to perform interpretations of Dieterich Buxtehude's work. The Metropop Festival, which has been called "The most hip and happening contemporary music festival of the autumn," is scheduled for November 8-10. Twenty concerts will be performed during the festival. The cultural Japanese Festival will be held November 10-11. This free festival will feature an array of traditional Japanese forms of art including flower arranging, collage, calligraphy, and more.

Vacation Points Clubs

A vacation points club allows travelers to pre-purchase "points" that can be applied to annual vacations. These points sometimes represent real interest in a real estate property, or else are often linked to a "home" resort that will be your primary vacation destination. Points are generally purchased for a set amount, and then assessed an annual fee per point during the period of ownership. Usually, the number of points required will vary, depending on how many people are expected to be in your group, the season in which you usually wish to travel, the quality of accommodations you prefer, and other factors. Sometimes there are other ways to save points (and thus money) depending on the particular program. Buena Vista Exeter, for example, allows you to use only half the normally required points if you book your hotel within 30 days of your intended arrival, resulting in a substantial savings -- or even two vacations a year for the price of one!

Other factors to look for - membership in a larger body. If the club belongs to RCI, which is an exchange company, you have even more options, often being able to exchange your points for your home resort for an opportunity to stay at any resort within the RCI network. This will dramatically increase your list of possible vacation destinations if you wish to travel to a different location each year.

Another benefit with some clubs are discounts on a variety of vacation-related services. These can include auto rental, airline flights, travel insurance, and similar services.

Rollover points (or the option to borrow from next year's points) also provide the best value and allow you to keep the maximum benefit of your purchased points even if unforeseen circumstances affect your ability to travel at a particular time. If you had planned your vacation during the last month of the year, you wouldn't want to lose that year's vacation altogether (even though it was already paid for) simply because a change of plans caused you to have to put your vacation off until January.

Also, if you are interested in flexibility from year to year, make sure the program you are considering offers this option, as some are restricted to a single resort.

Hotel Booking Services

A service every traveler should take advantage of before reserving their rooms are the wide variety of hotel booking services available. Services usually offer discounted rooms at a lower rate than the hotel's specials and discounts. Sometimes the savings can be significant.

The formats of these sites, and consequently their usefulness, varies. One we especially appreciated was easytobook.com. When searching for Amsterdam hotels, for example, the landing page shows several featured specials which represent especially good values, along with photos of the featured hotels, the star rating, a review rating, and a short intro about the hotel. A number of other particularly good values are featured as well. What we especially liked was the detailed information on the city of Amsterdam itself, discussing all aspects of various locations candidly, and helping the traveler to find what they are looking for (and bypass what they might wish to avoid).

From there it is an easy matter to select a particular level of hotel, from 1-star to 5-star, and view hundreds of hotels that suit your choice. Clicking any one of these will bring up detailed information on the hotel itself, in some cases giving very detailed descriptions of particular rooms when they vary within the same establishment (especially common for Bed & Breakfast accommodations). All of the necessary information concerning amenities, dining, check in and out times, child policy, parking, and more are listed as well. A separate tab gives access to a number of additional photos, or a map of the area. You can also find a number of customer reviews and ratings for most hotels. The distance to a number of nearby attractions, landmarks, business concerns, restaurants, shopping, and transportation centers is also provided for each hotel. We were quite impressed at the thoroughness of the reviews we viewed.

Easytobook.com offers hotel booking in a number of other cities as well. If you are visiting any of the following cities, be sure to check with them before reserving your hotel!

Paris hotels
Dublin hotels
London hotels
Barcelona hotels
Rome hotels
Prague hotels

Winter Sports in the Alps!

The nip in the fall air starts some of us thinking of skiing season again, swooshing down the slopes amid the bright whiteness, breathing crisp, clean air, warming in the lodge after an exhilarating day on the slopes. Consider the ultimate ski vacation in the Alps!


One of the best features of a destination such as the Alps is that the snow is virtually guaranteed for winter visitors. A variety of slopes are available, and all styles of skiing including downhill, cross-country, night skiing, and freestyle are possible. Skijouring, being pulled by a donkey (or mule or horse) on skiis is another popular option. The Alps are also a top choice for other winter sports such as snowboarding. There are opportunities for ice climbing, and the area is a world leader in snowparks. The back country offers visitors a chance to enjoy snowshoe excursions to observe the local flora and fauna, or view magnificent glaciers. The region also boasts a number of museums and other cultural centers.

We always like to give tips to find the best vacation spots, at the best travel and hotel prices. A great way to save money is to book your hotel from a last-minute travel specialist. We searched last minute Alps hotels and found an outstanding offer at the Eurogroup Hotel Le Royal Hours Blanc, which is a luxury hotel offering breathtaking views of the Oisans mountains from every room. Guests may relax in the sauna or Turkish bath, enjoy a massage, exercise in the gym or swimming pool, or unwind in front of the fireplace. Hydro-massage and beauty treatments are also available. The onsite restaurant offers both French and international cuisine

Arts Festival - Pensacola Forida, USA

If you are anywhere near the Pensacola, Florida area on the first weekend in November, the Greater Gulf Coast Arts Festival is definitely worth a visit. This year the weather is perfect, sunny and not too hot (some years it has actually been too cold!) and the Festival features a wide variety of arts, performers, food, and more.



We visited the Festival on Friday morning and afternoon. In the main stage area, people sat in the chairs provided or along the edge of the central fountain, enjoying cajun specialty meats, tasty baked pastry treats, grilled greek foods, fresh lemonade, and other treats as they listened to the guitar stylings of Dominic Gaudious, the unique "delta bluegrass" sound of Delta Reign, and piano master Bobby Van Deusen. A number of other acts of various types are scheduled over the weekend, with two additional stages for performances on Saturday and Sunday.


Over the weekend (Saturday and Sunday) the Children's area will also be open with lots of fun hands-on crafts for kids including string painting, sand art, fish prints, clay sculpting, origami, and much more. Face painting and balloon artists add to the fun, as well as a special stage in the children's area featuring groups of children and teens from area schools and studios as well as cultural performers.


Over 200 artists will be displaying their works, competing for $25,000 in prizes over a variety of categories including mixed media, photography, ceramics, glass/jewelry, watercolors, drawing, fiber/wood/leather, sculpture, and more. The festival consistently ranks among the top fine art and fine craft shows.


Heritage arts is another must-see area at this festival. Craftspeople and artisans from around the country demonstrate skills such as blacksmithing, spinning, weaving, woodcarving, engraving, basket-making, and many more. And for a locals hint ... stop in one of the stores along the street for a cool drink much cheaper than those at the festival, sit down and relax at a game of checkers, browse the bit of Americana available, and enjoy a clean, spacious, well-appointed restroom visit without the lines at the less-than-desirable port-o-let option in the main festival area.

If you miss the festival this year, make plans to attend next year. The Greater Gulf Coast Arts Festival is a yearly event held early in November each year. See you there!