Arthur Frommer's Blog, page 47

Tourism to Northern Ireland Increases as the Dispute Over Whether to Remain British or Irish Fades

For several decades, Northern Ireland has been troubled by a conflict over a Protestant desire to remain a part of Britain and a Catholic drive to join the Republic of Ireland to the south. As recently as three years ago, in a poll of the population, only 19% of Roman Catholics in Northern Ireland indicated they wanted to remain a part of Great Britain.

Last week, another poll of the Northern Ireland population showed that a surprisingly different number, some 52% of all Roman Catholics living there, now wanted their country to remain a part of Great Britain. What caused this extreme shift of opinion? The economic crisis in the Republic of Ireland that has worsened conditions in the south, is the obvious explanation. British subsidies for the Northern Ireland economy have apparently caused economic conditions there to be far better than in the Republic of Ireland. Among other things, the British Pound continues to be a stronger currency than the Euro used in the Republic. And unemployment rates are now worse in the Republic of Ireland than in Northern Ireland.

[image error] Photo Caption: Giant's Causeway in Ireland. RBK/Frommers.com Community

Much of the actual fighting in northern Ireland -- the open conflict between the I.R.A. of Roman Catholic sentiment and the "security forces" of the Protestant population -- was largely eliminated several years ago by a political settlement reached under the aegis of former British prime minister Tony Blair. A fragile peace prevails. If the current majority of the Catholic population now remains convinced that they wish to remain a part of Great Britain, then even any last remaining subtle threat to peace will be removed. According to every indication, tourism is returning there as tourists become convinced it is safe to travel in a once-troubled country. Economic improvements in Northern Ireland (as contrasted with the decline in the Republic of Ireland) will have made all the difference.

My daughter Pauline, currently traveling in Northern Ireland (and the source of the above analysis), is a a great enthusiast for vacations enjoyed in that part of the world. She and her family are presently living in a home they have rented ($700 is the total weekly rental charge) near the town of Cushendall in a glen of County Antrim near the sea. Because she very much enjoys Northern Ireland, but is less than enthusiastic about Irish food, she has been doing her own shopping in a butcher shop and grocery of Cushendall and the family then cooks breakfast and dinner in the home they have rented. After a first day there, she and her husband are now on a first-name basis with the local butcher and other merchants.

After dinner most evenings, the family walks along the sea in a country where summer daylight lasts as late as 10pm, and then they go driving the next morning in a rental car to other parts of Northern Ireland, including Belfast. They have been to the Ulster Museum in Belfast, seeing dramatic exhibits on the recent conflict, visited the ancestral home of Andrew Jackson, gone to look at the Giants' Causeway (a natural wonder that Pauline compares with our own Grand Canyon), eaten bangers and mash (sausages over mashed potatos) in various pubs, attended their first hurling match, and drunk 16-year-old Bushmills whiskey at the Bushmills Distillery nearby.

She reports that tourism in Northern Ireland is now an entirely pleasant venture, especially for families on vacation.

Remember Viator? It Surveys Sightseeing Tours and Attractions Around the World

When I first came upon Viator ( www.viator.com ) several years ago, I regarded it as a handy listing of all the sightseeing tours, excursions and visits you could enjoy in destinations around the world. But because I'm not a big fan of commercial sightseeing, I gave it slight attention.

I am still not a fan of commercial sightseeing, and always emphasize the pleasure of purely independent sightseeing, although I am frequently attracted to the provocative walking tours that certain counter-culture people offer. And I also greatly like the free-of-charge, tip-based walking tours that are increasingly available (see my recent blog post just a few days ago).

But I do owe it to Viator to point out that increasingly, this major sightseeing site has been emphasizing the discounts it can obtain for you on certain popular tours in cities around the world. It is currently claiming that it can obtain 50% discounts on popular day-trips to such places as the Grand Canyon from Las Vegas, Stonehenge from London, or Naples and Pompeii from Rome. It can enable you to purchase a city pass at a bargain rate, take advantage of kids-for-free promotions, and so on. So if you're determined to book group sightseeing on your vacation, you might give Viator a look.

Add a Website Called Vacation Home Rentals to the Services You Use to Find a Place to Stay

In listing the services that assist you to rent a vacation home or apartment, I have almost always featured the well-known HomeAway ( www.homeaway.com ) or Rentalo.com ( www.rentalo.com ), while always pointing out that certain smaller and purely local real estate agencies can also be of assistance in particular communities or resort areas. I have recently become aware, however, that a site called Vacation Home Rentals ( www.vacationhomerentals.com ) is second only to HomeAway in the popularity of its listings, and I'm chagrined that I have failed to mention it on earlier occasions. So please, add Vacation Home Rentals to the websites you consult in seeking an alternative, non-hotel accommodation. It claims to have more than 13,500 listings -- not simply in the United States but worldwide.

Two New Hotel Websites for Room Choices and Subarban Properties

With so many websites dealing with hotels, is there room for more? Apparently, some big internet investors think there is. A new site called Room77 ( www.room77.com ) lists as its sponsors a number of well-known founders or co-founders of famous travel-related websites, like Expedia. It also boasts that it has picked up millions of dollars in financing from Wall Street hedge funds and the like. And what's their brand-new discovery? The valuable service we've all been waiting for? They display the essential facts (distance from the elevator, lack of connecting doors, size, and the views they enjoy) of rooms at leading hotels. No longer need you worry about being assigned to a substandard abode, even if you've booked at a top-notch hotel. You can now demand, as a condition of booking, that you receive room 834. Or room 469. Or room 1258. Room77 actually contains photographs of the views that each such room enjoys, as well as other essential information.

Are you intrigued? Eager for that information? Room77 is very much in its initial, beta-type condition, and thus far lists information for only a small percentage of the hotels it will eventually cover. But it does cover major hotels in most of the leading cities. A single, disturbing thought (confined, maybe, to me alone): how will the hotel be able to guarantee the availability of a particular room in view of the fast changing assignment needs of that hotel?

The second new hotel website is Excellent Hotels ( www.excellenthotels.com ), sponsored by Auto Europe, of all people. In a dramatic extension of the information it normally provides, Auto Europe's ExcellentHotels.com lists discounted rates at major, luxurious hotels in many of the world's leading cities. And how does it differ from other sites? In addition to claiming that it deals only with luxury hotels (which seems odd in view of its statement that its hotels are also of either three-star, four-star, or five-star status -- with five-star properties the only ones that can really be called "luxury hotels" -- the site seems to emphasize hotels away from the center of cities. I may be guessing, because my analysis is based on a random testing of it, but it seems to me that ExcellentHotels.com features hotels that can best be used by travelers who have rented a car, hotels near airports or in the suburbs. I may be wrong, in which case your correction will be gratefully received. But this is exactly what you'd expect from the famous Auto Europe, that for sixty years has been offering auto rentals to the public.

Live Near Toronto? Canadian Charter Flights to Europe Wll Save You Hundreds of Dollars

When you add government fees and taxes to the round-trip airfares charged between mid-west cities of the U.S. and Europe, you will find that many of those round-trip flights will cost as much as $1,100 to $1,250 this summer (July and August).

By contrast, scheduled, round-trip charter flights in July and August of a prominent Canadian carrier, Sunwing Airlines (tel. 877/877-1755; www.sunwing.ca ) from Toronto are currently priced as low as $803 to Paris, $841 to London, and $718 to Rome, including all government taxes and fees -- the lower price to Rome a result of lower government taxes and fees on flights from Rome. Not all dates in July and August are priced that low, but a great many of them are.

And that means usual savings of as much as $400 to $500 per person for mid-west residents living within driving distance of Toronto airport (Buffalo, New York; Niagara Falls, New York; and Lewiston, New York, immediately come to mind as being only an hour and a half away).

Sunwing Airlines is a highly-regarded airline, and they have no difficulty in selling their seats to U.S. residents. If you can make it easily and inexpensively to Toronto (where you might also consider a vacation of a few days), you might give serious thought to visiting Europe this year the Canadian way.

To the Free Walking Tours About Which I Recently Blogged, 11 More in Europe and 2 in Israel

In a post of several days ago (simply scroll down to find it), I wrote about a new trend in sightseeing: the emergence of free-of-charge, tip-based walking tours in various large cities (Washington, D.C., Barcelona, Vancouver, Toronto). These are quite openly referred to as "tip-based" because participants are expected to tip the tour guide at least $5 to $10 at the end of the two-hour walk, which is considerably less than most travelers pay for the standard, motorcoach-based tour.

To those original four city tours you can now add thirteen others: eleven in western Europe (Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, Dublin, Edinburgh, Hamburg, London, Madrid, Munich, Paris and Prague) and two in Israel (Jerusalem and Tel Aviv). They are operated by a company called Sandeman's New Europe ( www.neweuropetours.eu ) from its headquarters in Berlin, and presumably headed by a man named Sandeman. In a sprightly new website, times and starting points for each of the thirteen tours are clearly set forth (like "11am daily from in front of the Starbucks opposite the City Hall on Rathausmarkt in Hamburg").

In other materials reaching me, Sandeman's candidly admits that the free walking tours often serve as marketing tools for several other non-free and more complex tours operated by the same company in the same city. But persons on the free tour are not pressured to buy (like at a timeshare presentation), but are simply and briefly told about the other tours.

Individuals taking a Sandeman's New Europe free-of-charge tip-based tour simply show up without advance reservations at the starting point and at the time indicated. Only if the participants are a group of 10 or more persons must they advise Sandeman's at least 24 hours in advance, and present written proof that they have been accepted.

Sandeman's New Europe is part of what appears to be a rapidly expanding group of free, tip-based tours all over the world, and I'd be grateful to receive news of more. They are not to be confused with the city-sponsored, official, "greeters programs" operated in 21 cities around the world, whose tour guides will not accept tips or any other payment for their services (but sometimes require advance notice of your desire to tour with them). And unlike the guides on the greeters' programs, who are simply residents with a love of their city but no great expertise in leading tours, the tip-based guides have considerable experience and are reputed to have each prepared a hard-hitting and entertaining commentary. Which type of guide you will prefer is a matter of each individual's choice.

One Week Air-and-Land Packages to Ireland Are Already Being Listed for $899 in the Month of November

[image error] Featuring hotel accommodations with breakfast in three Irish cities (2 nights Dublin, 2 nights Killarney, 2 nights Galway); round-trip air between New York and Dublin (other departure cities available), including fuel surcharge; and a 7-day car rental with unlimited mileage, collision damage and third party liability insurance included, this is the latest travel bargain from Gate 1 Travel (tel. 800/682-3333; www.gate1travel.com ) -- a significant offer because of the far-off departure dates when the trip can be taken: November 2, 9, 16, 23 and 30. To receive the special $899 price, you must book by end-of-the-day on June 20, citing discount code DLEFD100.

Photo Caption: Dublin, Ireland. Step dC/Frommers.com Community

The Pre-Eminent Volunteer Vacation Is An Earthwatch Expedition Assisting Research Project Scientists

Volunteer vacations are currently a major vogue in travel, and people who attend travel lectures seem intrigued by the possibility of devoting their leisure time to a worthwhile cause. They soon find that the options are limited. To enjoy a volunteer vacation in which you engage in meaningful work, and enjoy free room and board while doing it, requires in most instances that you sign up for a full year of labor in an undeveloped area of the world. It is only that kind of major commitment that can lead to free-of-charge travel for the purpose of doing valuable tasks.

As for the shorter commitment -- let's say, a period of two or three weeks or so in a third world village or rural area -- those so-called "volunteer vacations" are nearly always somewhat artificial and contrived. They involve -- with some exceptions -- a form of play-acting in which unskilled Americans purport to teach impoverished villagers how to improve their lives or agricultural production. You are given a well to dig, a creek to dam up -- as if those villagers were incapable on their own of digging such a well or damming up such a creek.

You also pay a pretty penny to engage in such play-acting. You discover that the sponsor of the volunteer vacation has heavy expenses that must be covered by the participants. In short, the volunteer vacation doesn't resemble the noble activity that you thought it would be.

Unless, that is, you engage in a research expedition sponsored by the Earthwatch Institute. Now in its 40th year of recruiting Americans to assist noted university scientists in valid, serious, research efforts or improvements in the environment, Earthwatch has an absolutely unassailable record. It is the real thing. Its participants perform valuable work assisting real-life scientists in ground-breaking projects, but usually for periods of two or three weeks at a time.

Simply to list the research trips available to you (some 61 separate projects in 2011) is to realize how important is the work done by Earthwatch's roster of eminent scientists and researchers. "Restoring Easter Island's Forests," "Saving Kenya's Black Rhinos," "Monitoring Brazil's Wildlife Corridors," "Mammal Conservation in South Africa," "Mapping the Ecology of China's Huang Cun Village," "Cheetah Conservation in Namibia," "Studying Climate Change at the Arctic's Edge," "Restoring Belize's Reef Ecosystem," "Discovering Italy's Ancient Roman Coast," "Searching Fossils of the Panama Canal," "Studying Mangroves and Reefs of the Bahamas," "Cataloguing Plant Life of California's Mountains," and so on. These are serious projects undertaken by eminent, distinguished scientists, who invite Earthwatch participants to perform the "scut work" on their projects, laboriously listing and collecting the data involved in each effort. These fall, generally, into categories dealing with Ecosystems, Climate Change, and Cultural Heritage.

Now when you participate in an Earthwatch Expedition, you pay your own airfare to the location from which the research expedition kicks off. You engage in an effort that, on average, runs 8 to 15 days, for which you pay a usual charge (to cover heavy expenses of the expedition) of about $200 a day. But because you are assisting a university professor in a serious, non-profit research effort, the $200 a day you pay is almost universally regarded as a valid tax deduction. And if you're in a combined federal/state tax category amounting to nearly 50%, your costs of the expedition are cut in half. Naturally, you'll want to consult your own tax advisor to determine whether your expenses are tax deductibe.

Tens of thousands of Americans of all ages have now engaged in Earthwatch expeditions over the past 40 years. It is the pre-eminent "volunteer vacation," a memorable, life-changing experience, that is more fully described in a major catalogue that I assume is available directly from Earthwatch, as is much additional information at www.earthwatch.org or from tel. 800/776-0188.

Nine Nights in Five Chinese Cities are Now Priced at $1,299 Per Person -- Air Included

Showing its determination to be the unchallenged leader in low-cost air-and-land packages to China, China Focus ( www.chinafocustravel.com ) has now announced a $1,299 per person price for its signature tour called "Historic China," which spends nine nights in five Chinese cities, including Beijing and Shanghai. What's more, the price includes not [image error] simply the fuel surcharge on your trans-Pacific flight from San Francisco but all government taxes and fees, as well as breakfast, lunch and dinner on every day of the trip except on one free day in Shanghai. The tour company permits you to use a credit card in paying the $200 deposit required to secure your booking. Departure dates for which the $1,299 price is valid: November 21 and 28, and January 5 and 12.

I mention this travel opportunity once again because it is really one of the great travel options for the coming winter, and something to be considered if you've never before been to China. I find it rather remarkable that the tour company is committing itself to that price as much as six and seven months in advance, confident that the Chinese currency will remain as under-valued as it is. The heavily-inclusive, nine-night, five-city tour, including round-trip airfare across the Pacific, is surely priced lower than any comparable vacation in travel today.

Photo Caption: YuYuan Gardens, Shanghai. ltatarsky/Frommers.com Community

The Outer Banks, North Carolina: A Long-Awaited Visit to the Wright Brothers National Memorial

All my life, I've had a vague desire to visit the seaside field near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, where the Wright Brothers achieved the first heavier-than-air flight in 1903. I got there last week, and it was worth the wait.

The Wright Brothers National Memorial and associated Visitors Center -- with its re-created flying machine, exhibits and paintings, and park-ranger presentations on the history of the event -- were touching, instructive and an example of what daring pioneers are able to achieve through study and self-education.
 
The Wright Brothers monument, overlooking the vast field on which they made four flights on that momentous day -- three flights of 12 seconds apiece, and then one go-for-broke effort of 59 seconds -- is actually in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, and not in Kitty Hawk to the north; Kitty Hawk was reduced in size in later years and a new municipality called Kill Devil Hills was created on the land where the flights actually took place. For an admission of $4, you enter the area, hear the rather long but fascinating and serious presentation, view the exhibits and paintings, walk to the field where everything took place, and then ascend the large rounded hill on which a marble monument to the two brothers has been erected by the United States.
 
Kill Devil Hills is in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, an almost absurdly-narrow, 150-mile-long strip of land in the Atlantic Ocean alongside the coast of North Carolina. The area is best reached by plane to Norfolk, Virginia, and then a two-hour-long drive by rental car due south.
 
Both sides of the Outer Banks are almost uninterrupted stretches of white sand beach attracting a mammoth and similarly-uninterrupted number of summer houses and resorts alongside it, making up a major vacation facility of North Carolina and nearby Virginia. The towns along those beaches -- Corolla, Carrituck, Duck, Nags Head, Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil Hills, Manteo, Hatteras, among them -- have exploded in size in the past 30 years and account for a considerable population, transforming what used to be a rough and undeveloped barrier island into something far more commercial and urban.
 
This comes as a bit of a disappointment to the first-time visitor, but once you revise your expectations and accept the Outer Banks as a typical vacation area similar to heavily-developed beaches elsewhere in the U.S., you enjoy the area's chief attractions: the wild horses near Corolla, the Wright Brothers monument and exhibits, sites commemorating the "Lost Colony" of Sir Walter Raleigh on Roanoke Island halfway off and along the Outer Banks, numerous other historic structures, the North Carolina Aquarium, and more.
 
But back to the Wright Brothers: what is most striking about their feat of flight is the meticulous planning for it. Their many handwritten notebooks on display contain page after page of mathematical calculations relating to the two propellers at the back of the craft. Other calculations (reflecting years of advance work) deal with the mathematics of weight; proper alignment; the ability to turn the aircraft, to lift or lower it in air; and the effect of wind upon the flight. The feat they performed was not simply one of determination and daring, but of education and study -- a lesson to latter-day inventors and innovators. I found the visit to the Wright Brothers site to be not simply uplifting but sobering, and believe that more Americans should make the trip.