Popular Destinations

Introducing Miami:

The South Florida region had been inhabited by the Calusa and other Amerindian tribes for millennia by the time Spanish conquistador Don Ponce de Leon arrived in 1513. Ponce was looking for the fountain of youth but instead found a bay with inlets and a vast swampland. The Name Miami comes from the Calusa Indian word for ‘big water’ and their main village became what we now know as the City of Miami. The area was formally claimed for Spain in 1566 and the first Spanish Mission was built in 1557. The Spanish were never able to successfully settle in the area, beset by wars with the natives and with other European powers and sold Florida to the USA in 1821 for $5 million US dollars. The area remained a sparsely populated backwater known as the ‘Biscayne Bay area’ until the railroad was extended south to the village of Miami in 1896. The boom brought in by the railroad transformed a once sleepy village into a summer resort and by 1915 Miami Beach was founded, aided by the construction of the first bridge over Biscayne Bay. Miami’s population boomed during World War II, as the tourists were replaced by soldiers training to fight German U boats. The Second population boom started in 1959 when the Cuban revolution forced a large number of middle class Cubans into exile.

After several more waves of immigration from Cuba and Latin America, including the ‘Mariel Boatlift’ of 1980 (featured in the movie Scarface), Miami now boast a population that is 67% Spanish speaking or of Latin American descent. Only 25% of Miami residents are registered as Anglo speakers, leading Miami to be called ‘The Capital of The Americas’. Miami is currently the 3rd richest city in the USA, with a booming downtown that is rapidly getting Manhattanised with glass skyscrapers. Miami’s magnificent luxury villas on private islands attract the rich and famous, and it’s gorgeous stretches of white sandy beaches, magnificent boutique hotels and vibrant Latin culture, led by a Cuban community that brought ‘Mojito’ and ‘Cubano Sandwich’ into the American lexicon, attract tourists from the world over. Miami is also known for its ‘snowbird’ population, largely Canadians who flock south in the winter to escape the cold and a large Jewish-American population that have made Miami a haven for retirees, among the youthful exuberance of Latin dance clubs and photo shoots of bikini clad models on the sands of south beach. Miami is the place to be.

Getting Around:

Miami is served by Miami international Airport, offering nonstop flights to Europe and Latin America as well as domestic connections. Fort Lauderdale Airport, just north of Miami is convenient for travelers flying in from the New York area and other domestic USA or Canadian cities. Miami is also a world class cruise port and has both an Amtrak and a Greyhound station. The city counts with an efficient municipal bus system and downtown Miami is interconnected with the suburbs with an overhead metro system. You can rent a bike and pedal along South Beach and downtown as Florida is perfectly flat, the highest elevation in the city is only 20 feet above sea level.

Things To Do:

Miami is a beach paradise during the day and a nightlife paradise at night, with excellent restaurants and a vibrant art scene. Take an afternoon stroll along the pedestrian Lincoln Road for its bars, open air restaurants, art galleries and drag shows. South beach is nonstop fun, with art deco hotels and café’s facing a sandy beach. Downtown has great shopping and museums, including the ‘Casa Vizcaya’ a Venetian style luxury villa facing the waters of Biscayne Bay. Make time for a stop in Little Havana’s ‘Calle Ocho’ for a Cuban coffee, a Cubano sandwich and a couple of refreshing Mojitos.

If you want to explore more of Miami and the nearby places, you can rent a car. There are plenty of car rental services available. You can also check with your hotel staff as most of the hotels provide the car rental services.

Miami Climate:

Miami has a tropical monsoon climate where the climate is hot and humid in summers and mostly warm and dry winters. The humidity levels in summers are very high and they usually range between 85-90 percent, making it one of the humid cities in the United States. Miami receives rainfall during summer and early autumn.

Hotel Accommodation:

Miami Beach is one of the top tourist destinations and has plenty of hotel accommodation that ranges from luxury to mid-range to budget accommodation. Miami Beach, South Beach, Bal Harbour, Central Miami, Coral Gables, Coconut Grove and West Miami are the most popular places for lodging.

Introducing Seattle:

You can blame Seattle for the presence of a Starbucks on every street corner of the world, the very first one opened in Seattle’s Iconic Pike Place Market in 1971. It may have something to do with the fact that Seattle only gets, on average, 58 clear and sunny days per year, but don’t let this damper your enthusiasm for Seattle and do what the locals do: Have another cup of Coffee. This is a city that is mad about coffee, having given us, not only the ubiquitous Starbucks, but also a myriad of less famous coffee chains such as; Peet’s Coffee, Seattle’s Best and hundreds of locally owned coffee houses spread all over the city. Seattle, named after a local Indian Chief in 1853, remained a backwater on the edge of Puget Sound that scratched a living from lumber, fishing and coal until Boeing was founded in 1916. The city’s dependence on the aircraft industry caused it to suffer during the oil embargo of the 1970’s and it has only been during the last 25 years that Seattle has managed to outgrow its seedy reputation, powered by the Influx of Microsoft money and other IT, Internet and retail companies that have made Seattle their corporate headquarters, including: Amazon.com, Costco, Nordstrom and Nintendo of America. But perhaps it was the combination of Seattle weather and its economic bleakness during the pre-internet years that gave us one of Seattle’s greatest exports:

The Grunge Movement:

There was a time during the early 1990’s when virtually every Seattle guitar band had a recording contract. Grunge had put Seattle on the word’s musical map and local bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains and Soundgarden became household names, selling out stadia worldwide. Hollywood soon followed, making several ‘Grunge’ oriented movies, set in Seattle including “Singles” featuring several local bands.

Getting Around:

Seattle is served by Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, known locally as “Sea-Tac Airport”. The Airport is 25 minutes drive south of downtown when there is no traffic. Buses are free in the Downtown Core of Seattle from 6am to 7pm, allowing you to hop on and off. A monorail connects downtown Seattle with the Seattle Center, home of the Seattle Space needle and the Music Experience. Ferries connect Seattle the many islands and communities on Puget Sound and also offer daily connections to Vancouver and Victoria in Canada.

Things To Do:

Seattle today may be a bit less musical when compared to its ‘Grunge’ heyday, but you can still catch an alternative rock band at the Legendary Moore Theatre and many other venues around town. Don’t miss Pike Market and its famous fish throwing fishmongers, The Space Needle, the Music Experience Museum that includes the Jimmy Hendrix’s exhibit (Jimmy was a Seattle native) and also Downtown Underground, the remains of the original downtown. Seattle’s countless natural wonders include hikes up amazing snow capped strato-volcanoes, kayaking around Puget Sound’s many inlets and a long Ski season with numerous ski resorts just 40 minutes from downtown. Downtown Vancouver Canada is just two hours north of downtown Seattle and is a very popular weekend destination for shopping, bar hopping and world class skiing.

Renting a car is a perfect way to discover the city. There are plenty of car rental services in San Francisco that take you to the most exquisite tourist destinations.

Seattle Climate:

Seattle is a perfect place for those who enjoy cool and wet climate. The primary characteristic of Seattle weather is its warm and dry summers and cool and wet winters. Rains are normally mild and misty but the sky always remains overcast even when it is not raining. Summers are warm and it is characterized by dry and sunny long days and cool nights. The months of July and early parts of August are the dry periods of the city. Winter is the wettest season of the year and the temperatures seldom drop below the freezing point and little snowfall. Spring season is the perfect time to visit Seattle when the weather is pleasant with mild temperatures and greenery all around the city. Autumn in Seattle could be dry but you can expect occasional showers.

Hotel Accommodation:

Seattle has plenty of hotels that range from expensive stay to budget stay. Downtown, South Lk Union, Space Needle and Seattle Center are few of the important areas in Seattle where the hotels are located.

Introducing New York City:

Frank Sinatra was not from New York City (he was born in Hoboken, New Jersey), but he described the city best when he sung: ‘New York, New York, if you can make it there, you’ll make it anywhere.’ New York City is indeed a city that never sleeps, with a core population of over 8 million, enjoying 24 hour mass transit, entertainment, restaurants, bars, gyms and supermarkets, under a phalanx of skyscrapers that house the highest concentration of Fortune 500 companies in the world, benefiting from the density and diversity of an urban population of over 18 million people, spread over the 5 boroughs of New York City and 3 adjacent States: New York, New Jersey & Connecticut. New York is a city of ethnically diverse neighborhoods, where you can enjoy any kind of world food delivered to your door: Tibetan cuisine, Vietnamese, Cuban or just plain American Apple Pie. The locals simply put it this way: “New York is everything”. But New York City wasn’t always a world metropolis; the Dutch established a fur trading colony called “New Amsterdam” at the southern tip of the island of Manhattan in 1614, and then they purchased the rest of the island from the native Lenape Indians in 1626 for 60 Guilders. The northernmost edge of the ‘New Amsterdam’ colony was protected by a picket wall that ran along present day Wall Street, hence the name. Circa 1667, the Dutch swapped with the British crown; a small island in the Indonesian archipelago for the Island of Manhattan. As a British colony, now renamed “New York”, the city grew into an important trading port and was the location of several battles during the War of Independence of 1777-1783, when it served as the primary base of the British forces until they faced defeat and expulsion in 1783.

New York then became the nation’s first National Capital and George Washington was declared its First President at 26 Wall Street in Manhattan. The same site became the first National Capitol and sat the first American Congress. The 18th and early 20th century brought several waves of immigration that transformed New York City into a multicultural metropolis with a street grid expanded to cover the whole island of Manhattan. By 1857, the slums that had grown above 59th street were cleared for the landscaping of what would become Central Park. Ellis Island was established on New York Harbor in 1892, next to the Statue of Liberty, as a place to process the ever growing flow of impoverished immigrants arriving into New York every day. By 1954 more than 12 million immigrants had passed through Ellis Island before setting foot in New York City and dispersing trough the country. More than 100 million Americans today can trace their ancestry to Ellis island, including former New York Governor Mario Cuomo and countless American celebrities and important American political and artistic figures, giving credence to the Emma Lazarus sonnet engraved in bronze inside the Statue of Liberty: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,”. New York is indeed, everything.

Getting Around:

New York City is served by 3 main airports and countless regional airports spread over 3 States. The main international airports are JFK international, located in Queens, New York and Newark International Airport, located in Newark, New Jersey. La Guardia airport, located in Flushing Bay, is New York City’s smaller domestic airport, offering spectacular views of Manhattan during take offs and landings as the approach is directly over the Hudson river. Once on the ground, New Yorkers enjoy one of the most efficient mass transit systems in the USA, with 24 hour subway, bus, ferry and even a cable car (to Roosevelt Island) service. Get a Metrocard valid for all the MTA’s forms of transportation. Manhattan’s rail stations offer great interconnectivity, linking with the subway, long distance buses (at Port Authority Bus station) the Amtrak rail system (at Penn. Station), including the Acela Speed train from Boston to Washington DC. The Path Trains connect New Jersey with New York (also from Penn. Station). Metro North’s suburban trains run into Grand Central Station, connecting Manhattan with Connecticut and upstate New York.

Things To Do:

New York is everything but you have to start somewhere: Head to the newly pedestrian Times Square, the epicenter of New York City, with 30 stories of neon and nonstop 24 hour entertainment. The famous Broadway theatre district is next door, featuring long running musicals like ‘Spamalot’ and ‘The Lion King’. For an ethic food fix, head over to Hell’s Kitchen, just a few blocks away and then south to the trendy SOHO district, with cobblestoned streets and boutiques. Chinatown is a must, right next to Little Italy. Keep heading south until you reach Battery Park and catch the ferry to the Statue of Liberty and Elis Island (both can be visited during the same tour). For travelers on a budget: Take the Staten Island Ferry for close up views of the statue of Liberty from the bay (The Staten Island Ferry is included in the Metrocard). Then head uptown for a spectacular view of New York City from the observatories atop the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building or the Rainbow Room Bar on the top floor of Rockefeller Center.

Keep heading uptown for museum glory: The American Museum of Natural History, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Guggenheim Museum, the Jewish Museum, the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), Museo del Barrio, among others. Cap the evening with dinner at a trendy restaurant (Amsterdam Avenue offers the best value) and then hit a Salsa Club or a hotel Lounge. In the summer take the Subway to Coney Island (a nostalgic play land on the beach) and then walk along the Brighton Beach boardwalk for a taste of Little Odessa. New Yorkers like to entertain in Boutique Hotels, so don’t be surprised if your lobby becomes a nightclub after 9pm, notably the lounge at the Soho Grand, the W hotel’s Whisky Bar, The Iroquois’s James Dean Lounge or any hotel run by Mr. Ian, Schrager of Studio 54 fame. Remember that this is the City that actually lives “Sex & the City”.

To best way to explore the city’s best attractions is to rent a car. Discover the real New York City by driving around and stop over where ever you wish to. No schedules to follow!

New York Climate:

New York has a humid continental climate with hot summers and cold winters. The months i.e. from June to early September can be very hot with thunderstorms that pass quickly. Generally in the month of August and September, the city experiences tropical storms and occasional hurricane. Winter begins from December and lasts until early March where the temperature can dip up to near or below freezing point. There is a possibility of snow storms, freezing rain and bitter cold winds during the month of January. The best time to visit New York is during the autumn when the temperatures are warm and the humidity levels are low.

Hotel Accommodation:

The lively city of New York has plenty of hotel accommodation from luxury stay to mid range to budget hotels. Fifth Avenue – Midtown, Grand Central – Midtown, Times Square – Midtown, Madison Square Garden Midtown, Chelsea and Gramercy and Wall Street are the most popular places where the hotels are located.

Introducing Boston:

Boston is the largest city in New England and considered its capital. Founded by Puritan English Separatist Protestants in 1630, Boston was the epicenter of the American Revolution of the late 18th century. Several founding fathers hailed from Boston, including Samuel Adams and Paul Revere began his famous midnight ride from Boston’s Old North Church (Shouting ‘The Redcoats are coming!’) and from the same church’s steeple hung the lantern that informed the American rebels of the British Redcoats movements (‘Two if by land, one if by the sea’). The first salvoes of the American Revolution occurred in Boston, with the incidents known as the Boston Massacre (1770) and the Boston Tea Party (1773). In Addition many of the first battles for independence happened in or around Boston, including the Battle of Bunker Hill (1775). After independence, Boston grew very fast as a center for maritime trade, exporting Tobacco, Salted fish and Rum back to England. Boston today is a very important center of high education, with many world class universities located within a small radius, including Harvard University, the first in the nation and MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). Boston’s colonial charm blends well with its 20th century buildings, giving the impression of a compact, European style city of many church spires that could be called the Prague of America. Due to its compact design and efficient trolley system (called the T); Boston is a perfect city to explore by foot.

Getting Around:

Boston is served by Boston International Airport. Boston’s central train station connects the T trolley system with Amtrack and the Acela speed train to New York and Washington DC. Greyhound also serves the city. Use the T trolley system to get around; it covers all the main sites in Boston and it also crosses the Charles River into Cambridge, home of Harvard University and MIT.

Things To Do:

Boston is the epicenter of American higher education, most Hospitals in Boston are run by Universities and the city is considered a Mecca for modern western medicine. Plan a tour of one of Boston’s many colleges, including Boston University (Martin Luther King’s Alma Matter), Boston College (A Jesuit University with a beautiful New England style campus), MIT and the MIT Museum and of course Harvard University and Harvard Square. Boston is also a city of wonderful Museums; visit the Museum of Fine Arts, for the largest collection of French expressionism outside of Paris and the very New England Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, hosted inside a sumptuous villa that is full of beautiful objects d’art. Walk around Boston’s vibrant neighborhoods, including historical Bunker Hill with its cobblestoned streets, Chinatown with eateries and nightlife and the Italian North End for the best pizza in New England. Save time for Quincy Market and its Yankee style eateries and walk along Boston Commons Park for a bit of greenery inside the city center. Cap the day at Cheers, the same pub made famous by the popular TV show.

The best way to explore the city is to rent a car and drive around the city. There are plenty of car rental services which even include chauffer driven services. You can also check with the hotel staff as most of the hotels provide car rental services that take you around to the city’s most popular destinations.

Boston Climate:

Boston has a humid continental climate where the summers are warm and humid and winters are cold, breezy and hoary. July is the hottest month where the temperature can raise from 28 °C with conditions normally humid. The coldest month in Boston is January where the mercury can dip from 2 °C to −6 °C. The city receives an average of 104 cm snowfall every year. November is the wettest month

Hotel Accommodation:

Most of the major chains have hotels in Boston. The Back Bay or downtown area has most of the hotels and the city’s major tourist attractions are in these areas. Overall, Boston is not a cheap place and there are not many low budget hotels.

Introducing Washington D.C:

Washington D.C. can be a very affordable vacation treat, thanks to the Smithsonian institute and the Federal government, the areas surrounding the Mall (from Capitol hill to Pennsylvania avenue and beyond) are chock full of the most exiting museums and monuments in the nation, and they are all free! Children will learn while having fun and adults will have a great time too, as the monuments and museums will satisfy any age. Here is a rundown of the most popular:

The Air and Space Museum: Considered the jewel in the Smithsonian crown, it contains most of America’s aerospace achievements, including a model of the Wright Brothers’ plane and several original relics: Lindberg’s “The Spirit of St Lois” and the Enola Gay. A new wing of the Air and Space museum opened next to Washington Dulles Airport, with a ‘Control Tower’ that overlooks the Dulles runway and a display that includes the Space Shuttle Enterprise.

The Natural History Museum: Plenty of Dinosaur Bones and retro nature dioramas

The National Art Gallery: Portraits of all the Presidents and modern American Art

The National Museum of American History: Impressive collection of American historical artifacts, focusing on everyday items and uncommon lives, including Dorothy’s slippers from the Wizard of Oz

The Holocaust Museum: An eye opening testament of the Holocaust presented in a didactic way and a lesson for the future

Washington has many more museums and monuments, please visit the Smithsonian website for a complete list, including the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial and National Zoo.

Washington D.C. is a planned town, and some were unhappy with George Washington’s selection of this swampy piece of land on the banks of the Potomac, as the Nation’s Capital. The Location was primarily chosen due to its proximity to Mount Vernon, George Washington’s estate, rather than its suitability as a real village. With hot and humid summers and bitter cold and snowy winters, the weather in Washington can appear to be less stable than in New York or Boston, with sudden swings from warm and sunny days to driving snow, but don’t let Washington’s wild moods of weather deter you from a visit to this unique American city of wide open boulevards, beautiful neoclassical architecture and with no with no building taller than the Washington monument, Washington DC is a celebration of American democracy in action.

Getting Around:

Washington D.C. is served by 3 airports; the main international gateway is Washington Dulles, located in suburban Virginia. Washington National Airport is located inside the District of Columbia and it offers mostly domestic flights and is the airport most used by members of Congress. Baltimore Airport, located in the town of Baltimore, is just 40 minutes north of Washington, offers domestic flights. Washington DC’s Metro is one of the cleanest in the nation; it covers all the main sites within the District of Columbia and also across the Potomac River to Virginia, including the Pentagon city and Arlington National Cemetery. Washington’s Union Station offers Amtrak rail service and the Acela speed train to Boston, Philadelphia and New York City. Greyhound Bus also serves the city.

Things To Do:

Most of the attractions in Washington D.C are free. Start your trip with a tour of the White House, the FBI Building (Including a machine gun firing demonstration), Capitol Hill (amazing rotunda), The Washington Monument (monumental views), The Lincoln Memorial (of ‘I have a dream fame’), Pentagon City, Arlington Cemetery (The eternal flame, JFK’s tomb) the plethora of Smithsonian museums around the mall (You need 2 weeks to see them all), The Library of Congress, and much more. Cap your day in the Adams Morgan or DuPont Circle area for its many ethnic eateries and trendy lounges, including Thievery Corporation’s “18th Street lounge”.

The city is best explored easily by foot, but trekking around the streets may be exhausting. You can either opt for a public transport or rent a car. These car rental services take you to the most exclusive tourist destinations.

Washington D.C Climate:

Washington D.C has a humid subtropical climate and has four distinct seasons. Summers in Washington D.C are very hot and humid and can be unbearable. The city experiences heavy snowfall during winters and sudden arctic blasts or frozen rainstorms can occur during this period. The best time to visit Washington D.C is during the spring/fall when the weather is pleasant and perfect.

Hotel Accommodation:

Accommodation of all price range can be found in Washington D.C – from luxury stay to budget stay. Regardless of what area you are headed to, you are bound to find great hotels with shops and restaurants around the corner.

Introducing Manila:

Manila was a prosperous sultanate that had enjoyed close trading ties with China and other Asian trading nations for many centuries by the time the Spanish arrived in 1570. The sultan initially agreed to trade with the Spanish but declined to submit to Spanish sovereignty but by 1571 the natives were forced out and the town of Manila declared a Spanish colony. The name Manila was derived from a plentiful native scrub called Nila (Mas- Nila). Manila became a vital Spanish trading post linked to New Spain (Mexico) by the Manila-Acapulco galleon. The Spanish expanded their rule from Mania to the rest of the Philippine islands (named after King Phillip of Spain), but were beset by native and Chinese uprisings during the entire length of their reign over the islands.

The Spanish sold the Philippine islands to the Americans in 1898, following their defeat on the battle of Manila Bay. The Spanish influence can still be felt to this day, especially in the old Walled City of Intramuros with its Spanish Colonial churches and Spanish colonial architecture. The Spanish influence is also in the food (Paella, Lechon, etc) and in the Spanish contributions to the official language of the Philippines: Tagalog. The Japanese destroyed and occupied Manila during World War II, evicting the Americans for a few years during the war. The United States retook the Islands in 1944 after defeating the Japanese and returned them to self rule in 1946. Manila has grown into a thriving metropolis of over 19 million inhabitants, making it the most densely populated city on earth, with the largest shopping mall in Asia and over 100 city parks.

Getting Around:

Manila is served by Ninoy Aquino International Airport; international flights also land into Clark airport (50 Miles from Manila) and directly into the island of Cebu. Taxis are cheap and plentiful; you can also brave the colorful Jeepny local truck-bus, a symbol of the Philippines. For inter Island travel you can take one of the several domestic airlines including Cebu Air. Metro Manila also has a subway.

Things To Do:

Visit the Old Walled City of Intramuros for its Spanish Colonial architecture and Churches. Check out the Manila Hotel, a charming colonial era hotel dripping in History, this was the hotel where General Douglas MacArthur lived before World War II. Visit the Luneta (Rizal Park), home of the best museums in Manila, several upscale eateries, fountains, landscaped greenery and jogging paths. Manila’s Chinatown is the largest in the world, a great place for walking, eating and shopping. Visit the Malacañang Palace, the residence of the Presidents of the Philippines, with beautiful gardens. Manila is the largest Christian center in Asia, with a very large collection of Spanish era churches. Use Manila as a base to explore Cebu, Boracay and other beach paradises on the Philippines Islands.

Renting a car is a perfect way to explore the city. There are plenty of car rental services in Manila that take you to the most exquisite tourist destinations.

Manila Climate:

The weather in Manila is usually hot and humid throughout the year. May is the hottest month of the year where the mercury can rise up to 83 degree F/ 28 degrees C. The months of November till February, Manila experiences a very pleasant weather. The climate is normally cool and breezy and this is the best time to visit Manila.

Hotel Accommodation:

Manila has plenty of hotel accommodation options and the prices range from extremely high to mid-range to low budget. The Modern City, The Tourist Belt and The Historic City are few of the main areas in Manila, where maximum number of hotels, are located.