Popular Destinations

Introducing Madrid:

Madrid is the largest city of the Iberian Peninsula and the third largest of the European Union. The region of Madrid had been inhabited by several Ibero - Celtic tribes by the times the Romans settled on the banks of the Manzanares River. The Romans called their settlement Matrice. The Visigoths overran the Romans in the 5th century and they were subsequently removed by the Moors in the 7th century, calling their settlement: al-Majriṭ. By the 9th century the Moors had built a citadel in the current location of the Royal Palace. The Arabic name evolved into the current spelling Madrid. The Moors were expelled during the re-conquest of 1085 and the citadel’s mosque re-consecrated as the church of the Virgin of Almudena. The Medieval coat of arms of Madrid was a bear shaking a Madroño Tree and this symbol survives to this day as the official logo of Madrid’s City Hall. During the middle ages, the Spanish court moved around the country and first settled in Madrid in 1329 to advice Alfoso XI of Castille. The ascension of Isabella of Castile and Fernando of Aragon consolidated the Spanish monarchy centered on Toledo and Aragon. It wasn’t until 1561 that Madrid became the de facto capital. Commerce with the colonies of the vast Spanish Empire continued to be run from Seville, but Madrid ruled Seville. During the 16th and 17th century, the economy of Madrid was dominated by the business of the court and did not boom with other commercial activities.

By the late 1800’s Queen Isabel II could not contain internal political tensions and the monarchy was overthrown, followed by the short lived First Spanish Republic which was followed by a return of the monarchy and another abdication that created the second Spanish Republic. This was the republic that entered into the Spanish Civil war in 1936. The civil war pitted the republicans, anarchists and communists against monarchists and fascists and Madrid became the first city to suffer an aerial bombardment courtesy of the Luftwaffe, who was allied with the fascist side. Madrid saw bitter battles inside its suburbs until the republicans abdicated and the victorious fascists named General Franco as ruler of Spain for life (Caudillo de Espana). Franco restored the monarchy with himself as Generalisimo but left the Spanish throne vacant. By 1969 Franco had ruled for 30 years and decided to designate the son of a Carlist claimant to the crown, Prince Juan Carlos de Borbón, as Prince of Spain and his legitimate heir. Franco died in 1975 at the age 82 and the new King Don Juan oversaw the transition of Spain from dictatorship to a parliamentary democracy.

Spain flourished after Franco and by the early 1980’s Madrid was going through a cultural renaissance called La Movida Madrileña, a countercultural movement based around nightlife, cinema and art that gave us the movies of Pedro Almodovar and the art-pop music of Mecano. The principal idea of the Movida was to reject all the values of the Franco generation and to adopt the look and feel of the British New Wave acts and the emerging gay culture. You can still see aspects of La Movida in the Chueca district of Madrid, considered one of the most cosmopolitan areas of Madrid and center of the city’s gay nightlife. Other happening districts of Madrid are La Latina and Lavapies near the Plaza Mayor and the more up market Castellana and Torre mayor. But Madrid is a lot more than fantastic nightlife; the food is amazing, start with tapas and a Serrano ham in Museo del Jamon. Go for tapas and Cava (Spanish bubbly) in the La Latina area or around Puerta del Sol and save some energy for a daytime stroll along La Gran Via avenue and in the beautiful El Retiro Park. Get lost inside the Museo del Prado with its amazing collection of Spanish Masters, including Goya and El Greco.

Getting Around:

Madrid is served by Madrid Barajas international airport. Madrid’s Atocha rain station is the central hub of the Spanish rail network. Eight long distance bus stations are scattered around the city and serve all of Spain and Europe. Use Madrid’s clean and efficient subway to get around the city and walk within each individual district.

Things To Do:

Madrileños do not go out to eat earlier than 9pm and are very fond of Mariscadas (Mixed Seafood Platter). The best seafood in Spain is found in Madrid and since most of the seafood comes from Galician shores, look out for Gallego style restaurants for the best Mariscada in the city. Tapas bars abound around the La Latina area and Paella is easily found around the Puerta del Sol area. Go to a Valencia style restaurant for the best Paellas. Hit the Chueca or La Latina district for wild nightlife and have the traditional deep fried Churros dipped in hot chocolate for a hangover curing breakfast at dawn. Visit Museum triangle next to el Retiro Park including the famous Museo del Prado and Reina Sofia Museum. Check out the Palacio Real and its gilded rooms. Madrid is a city of Plazas, some of them are full of bars, cafés and restaurants and offer round the clock fun; start with Plaza Mayor and its tapas bars and Spanish eateries, then hit La Puerta del Sol, under the Tio Pepe sign for more Bars and restaurants, the 16th century style Plaza de la Paja, the Plaza de Cibeles and its beautiful city hall , Plaza de España with Cervate’s statue and the Templo de Debod, a real Egyptian temple in the middle of Parque de los Rosales, the best place to watch the sunset in Madrid.

Madrid Climate:

Madrid enjoys Continental Mediterranean climate with warm summers and cool winters. The hottest months are July and August and it is not advisable for tourists to visit Madrid during these seasons. The months of May, June, September and early October experiences warm temperature. Winters in Madrid are very cold and the mercury level rarely dips below the freezing point. Rainfall in Madrid is rare, with a short rainy season in late October and a little shower in spring.

Hotel Accommodation:

Madrid offers all the tourists a full range of hotel accommodation options – from luxury five star hotels to budget hotels. The hotel packages have been designed keeping in mind the needs of the travelers. Most of the hotels also provide car rental services to important tourist destinations.

Introducing Frankfurt:

The Fort of the Franks on the Main River (Frankfurt am Main) is the financial hub of continental Europe and it has the European Union’s tallest skyscrapers and the European Central Bank, the Deutsche Bundesbank, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the Frankfurt Trade Fair. Frankfurt is also a major transportation hub, with Frankfurt Airport being the busiest airports in the World, Frankfurt’s Rail Station the busiest in Germany and the Frankfurt’s Autobahn interchange is the busiest in continental Europe. Frankfurt is one of only 3 cities in Europe to offer a skyline of skyscrapers, including two of the tallest skyscrapers in the European Union: The Commerzbank Tower and The Messeturm. Frankfurt wasn’t always at the Epicenter of Europe, during Roman Times it was at the edge of an Empire, a tiny Roman settlement marking a border with Barbarian tribes. Charlemagne included Frankfurt in his imperial assembly, becoming one of the most important cities during the Germanic Holy Roman Empire, as the place where the German Kings and Emperors were elected. From 1562, German kings and Emperors were also crowned in Frankfurt. The Frankfurt Messe or trade fair dates back to 1150 and book fares have been held in Frankfurt since 1478. Frankfurt was heavily bombed during World War II, destroying what had been the largest medieval old town in Western Europe. The city was rebuilt in a modern style, forever changing the face of Frankfurt into a skyline of tall glass buildings. An approximation of the 14th century old town was rebuilt during the early 1980’s around Römerberg square, marking the center of the city with quaint houses and most of the original 14th century church.

Getting Around:

Frankfurt is served by Frankfurt international airport, the busiest in continental Europe. Tree mayor rail stations a bus terminus and several autobahns that connect it with the rest of Germany. Once in the city take the S-Bahn metro system.

Things To Do:

Some of the main tourist attractions of Frankfurt include:

Saint Bartholomeus’ Cathedral is a Gothic architecture and one of the main churches of Frankfurt. This was built between 14th and 15th centuries and it was named as Church in the 18th century by the locals.

Roemer, the City Hall is one of the most important landmarks of the city.

Museums: The museums in Frankfurt are located on both the sides of the main river and the area is popularly known as Museumsufer (Museums Riverbank). The popular museums in this area are: Museum of Applied Arts and Stadel, Schirn Art Gallery. These museums’s exhibit a variety of decorative arts, paintings, graphical collection of drawings, sculptures. Senckenberg Museum is the largest museum in Germany and it displays a huge collection if dinosaur skeletons in Europe

You can visit the historical buildings like the Old Opera House, Frankfurt Opera House, Heidelbeg castle, Frankfurt Zoo and hundreds of old churches.

Frankfurt Climate:

You will experience moderately humid climate with rain distributed evenly throughout the year. Summers in Frankfurt are usually hot and sunny where the temperature can raise up to 32 degrees Celsius. Winters are very cold and cloudy. January is the coldest month where the temperature ranges between -10 and 10 degrees Celsius.

Hotel Accommodation:

There are plenty of hotel accommodations from luxury to mid-range to budget accommodation. Most of the hotels have tie-up with the car rental services that take you around to the city’s most popular destinations.

Introducing London:

Traces of Roman London are still clearly visible above ground by Tower Bridge Tube Station, where they have preserved a few feet of the old Roman wall that used to surround the garrison of Londinium. The old Roman wall protected its Mediterranean soldiers from Celtic barbarians that hid in the mists and bogs of a cold, alien island on the fringes of an empire. From this ancient Roman garrison, sprung a lively medieval settlement, centered in an area currently called the ‘City of London’, and today you can stand above Tower Bridge Tube Station and be literally surrounded by over 2000 years of visible history: From the Medieval rock walls of The Tower of London, to the Victorian ironworks of Tower Bridge, to the glass towers of 21rst century stock trading houses and the sleek lines of the millennium bridge, to the Renaissance styled dome of St Paul’s Cathedral and back to the old walls of the ancient Roman trading post. It’s this very center of commerce, culture and history that gives us a West End and an East End, as the rest of London takes its cue from ‘The City’: Centered between iconic Tower Bridge and the current London Bridge (the original London Bridge was sold to the Americans and now resides in the middle of the Arizona desert).

Getting Around:

London is served by 5 international airports: Heathrow, Gatwick, London City, Stansted & Luton, all connected to the city center by express rail lines. Once in town, get an Oyster card, valid in for all London Transit: The Underground, Buses, Light Rail and some boats on the Thames River.

Things To Do:

You will never get bored in London: From West End shows like ‘Mamma Mia’ & ‘Avenue Q’, to world class free museums like the British Museum and the National Gallery, to historical walks around Whitehall, the City and on its many famous lanes like Carnaby St, Bond St, Fleet St, Abbey Road, Park Lane etc. Partake in London’s multi ethnic melting pot with a visit to an Irish or Australian pub, followed by a spicy curry or a falafel and then head down to the famous Marquee Club or up to Camden Town to catch famous bands play live inside intimate venues. There is a London for everyone. The best way to explore London is to rent a car. There are plenty of car rental services available that take you to the most exclusive destinations of the city.

London Climate:

London has a moderate marine climate and it rarely experiences extremely high or low temperature. Summers are normally warm and the temperature can vary anywhere between 21 °C to 24 °C during the day time and 11 °C-14 °C during nights. Winters in London are very cold but rarely reaching below the freezing point. You will experience mild days and relatively cooler evenings during spring and unbearable cold breeze during autumns.

Hotel Accommodation:

There are five major attractions in the city: Mayfair & Marylebone, Paddington & Bayswater, Notting Hill, Knightsbridge & South Kensington, and Covent Garden & Bloomsbury. There are plenty of hotels available that range from the most expensive stay to low-budget stay.

Introducing Bangkok:

Bangkok was a small trading post on a bank of Chao Phraya River until it became the capital of old Siam in 1768 during the Ayutthaya Kingdom. The capital was destroyed during the Burmese invasion but Siamese dominance returned shortly, spearheaded by Taksin the Great, who re-conquered the previously lost lands and expanded Siamese dominance into Burma to the West and south to the Malay Peninsula. King Rama I moved the capital to the opposite side of the river in 1782. Nowadays the entire metropolitan region is known locally as Krung Thep, which means ‘City of Angels’ (the locals never refer to the entire city as Bangkok, just to the Old Town). Currently the city of Krung Thep has expanded over both banks of the river and beyond with a population of over 15 million. The city has a cosmopolitan feel, with a large influx of Westerners, Indians, Middle Easterners, Chinese and people from other Asian countries living among the native Thai population. Despite European pressure, Siam (later Thailand), was the only country in South East Asia not to be colonized, serving as a buffer zone between French Indochina and British Burma.

Independent Siam did lose territory to the European powers, chiefly the Malay Peninsula to the British (the area later became Malaysia) and other territories ceded to French Indochina and British Burma. During World War II, Thailand permitted the Japanese to travel freely through their territory in exchange for not been occupied. Since the end of the war Thailand has been solidly allied with the West and has grown into the largest tourism center of South East Asia. Bangkok is located just under 14 degrees north of the Equator, has been voted one of the most traveler-friendly cities in Asia. The first impression may be of a hot and humid concrete jungle but you will soon be taken over by its many charms, specially the friendliness of the local people, the luxury of its four & five star hotels, the bustle of its floating and night markets, and the abundance of tropical fruits.

Getting Around:

Bangkok is served by two airports, the new international Suvarnabhumi Airport and the older now mostly domestic; Don Muang Airport. The city is also served by Rail and Bus stations. The best way to get to the city from the airports is by metered taxi. Once in the city, you can use the air conditioned metro or Tuc Tuc Moped rickshaws (good for driving into small side streets called Soi). Boat taxis are perfect to navigate the canals and floating markets. Avoid the motorbike taxis as they are accident prone, but they are the fastest way to beat traffic congestion.

Things To Do:

Visit old Bangkok on Rattanakosin Island for its many temples and palaces dating to the re-founding of the capital in the 1700’s, including The Grand Palace, the former residence of the King. Cruise Bangkok’s canals for its floating markets and restaurants and get a glimpse of the former “Venice of the east”. Bangkok has the largest and most luxurious shopping malls in South East Asia and many night markets. Relax with live Jazz and drinks at the Bamboo bar in the Mandarin Oriental hotel and then hit the town for the wildest night life in Asia on Bangkok’s Silom district, including the world famous Patpong road, home to over four levels of Go-Go Bars, a Bangkok institution since the 1960’s.

Bangkok Climate:

Bangkok is known for its hot climate and sunny weather with high humidity levels which is noticed more in the months of April and May. The hottest period is from March to August and the rainy season is from June to October. The best season to visit Bangkok is during the winter months which begins in November and lasts until February.

Hotel Accommodation:

Bangkok is one of the major tourist attractions and millions of people visit every year. There are plenty of accommodation options available in Bangkok. If you are looking for big, high quality and affordable hotel, you can find them in Siam Square and Ploenchit Road which is also referred as the main hotel district of the city. There are other areas such as Banglampoo where the backpackers can find inexpensive guest houses across the river and Chinatown which is one of the most vibrant parts of Bangkok. Most of the hotels also provide car rental services to important tourist attraction.

Introducing Hong Kong:

Hong Kong means ‘Fragrant Harbor’ in the local Cantonese dialect, this collection of islands and inlets at the mouth of the Pearl River was the location of the first encounters between British sailors and Chinese fishermen. The area encompassing Hong Kong has been inhabited since Neolithic times, but a record of it been called Hong Kong did not occur until 1842 at the treaty of Nanking, signed at the end of the first Opium War between the British and the ruling Chinese Dynasty. The Brits unhappiness with Chinese trade restrictions had been a catalyst for the war and the treaty gave control of Hong Kong ‘in perpetuity’ to the British Crown as a duty free port. The British expanded their control over the Kowloon peninsula in subsequent wars and by 1898 they had obtained a 99 year lease over the ‘New Territories’ (a coastal chunk on the Chinese mainland). Hong Kong grew as a wealthy British colony, with a British educational system and a legal framework of open markets that made many colonists wealthy. The term Tai-Pan was coined for the wealthy ex-pats that ran the British trading houses and lived in palatial mansion up on Victoria peak. During the first half of the 20th century, some of the most important Tai-Pans in Hong Kong were run by men of Scottish descent (the term Tai-Pan is still used today, but it’s applied to any tycoon, regardless of nationality).

The Japanese invaded Hong Kong in 1942 during World War II and installed a brutal occupation that lasted until 1945 when the British took Hong Kong back. With the proclamation of the People’s republic of China in 1949, many foreign corporations based in Shanghai and Guangzhou moved their headquarters to Hong Kong and the heavy influx of refugees fleeing the new communist regime, helped Hong Kong recover the population that it had lost during the war and propelled it into becoming a world class manufacturing and trade hub, with one of the busiest ports in the world. In 1984 the Governments of the U.K and the People’s Republic of China signed the Sino-British declaration that would return Hong Kong to Chinese rule by 1997. Hong Kong runs as a special autonomous administrative region within the People’s Republic of China (one Country, two systems) and the ruling Communist party in Beijing has promised to maintain Hong Kong’s autonomy and its economic and political freedoms for at least 50 years. Hong Kong has evolved into a world class financial services hub as manufacturing moved to the Chinese mainland.

Getting Around:

Hong Kong is served by Hong Kong International Airport and has an airport express rail line that will drop you off in Hong Kong Island in approximately 24 minutes. Once you arrive you can take the Iconic Star Ferry for its famous dash across the bay, offering the best views of Hong Kong Harbor. The docks also offer several ferry’s to Macao and to mainland China, you can even take a Macao ferry right from the airport, bypassing Hong Kong Customs. A railway line also connects Hong Kong to Shenzhen, on the Chinese mainland, please note that most visitors need a visa to enter the People’s Republic but not Hong Kong or Macao. Take the Double Decker Trams within the city or ride the subway. Hong Kong is one of the most densely populated cities on Earth; get an Octopus card, valid in all of Hong Kong’s MTA trains and trams. Take the tram to the top of Victoria’s Peak for the best night views of the colorfully lit skyscrapers.

Things To Do:

Shop till you drop, Hong Kong has some of the most spectacular shopping malls in Asia, with prices for luxury goods that are lower than in Europe. Colorful street markets abound and Dim sun eateries are the order of the day. But Hong Kong is not all skyscrapers and shopping; it has many beautiful beaches and un-spoilt hikes, especially in Kowloon and in the south of Hong Kong Island. It even has Hong Kong Disneyland near the airport. Enjoy an evening drink in the Lan Kwai Fong and Wan Chai districts, with many bars on the top of business buildings, offering a million dollar view as well as drinks.

You can rent a car which is managed by people with extensive experience in hospitality services. They take you to the most exclusive destinations of the city and making your trip the most memorable one.

Hong Kong Climate:

Hong Kong has a sub-tropical, monsoon influenced climate. There are four distinct seasons in Hong Kong. The hottest months are from June-September where the temperature ranges anywhere between 26 °C and 34 °C with 60–70% humidity during the day and higher at nights, Hong Kong is normally hit by monsoon during summers and early autumns. Autumns are normally sunny with less rainfall and it is often considered to be the pleasant months as the weather is warm and reduced humidity. Winters are normally cool and the early winters experience dry weather but later part of the months gets very cold. It is unlikely to snow in Hong Kong as the temperatures very rarely reach the sub-zero Celsius. The chances of rainfall are higher during spring season and the humidity levels are slightly higher than in autumn.

Hotel Accommodation:

Hotel Accommodation in Hong Kong is very expensive due to the high property prices. These high prices are however compensated with impeccable hospitality services.

Introducing Los Angeles:

This sprawling Metropolis of over 11 million people, criss- crossed by aerial highways and dominated by the automobile, started life as a tiny Spanish mission within the Viceroyalty of New Spain called: El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles del Río de Porciúncula. Founded in 1781 by the Governor of Las Californias: Felipe de Neves, under the authority of Charles III, King of Spain. The mission only had 44 settlers at the time of its founding and you can still visit the original site today in Olvera Street, where some of the oldest adobe structures still survive. The town’s name was shortened to Los Angeles over time and in 1821 it reverted to Mexican rule after it gained its independence from Spain. Los Angeles became part of the United States in 1848 at the end of the Mexican-American war as part of the Mexican Session agreed in the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Los Angeles became a municipality and California received statehood in 1850. The Railroads arrived in 1876 and oil was discovered in 1892, by the early 1920’s Los Angeles was producing one-quarter of the world’s petroleum and the population had boomed and was still growing, boosted by the completion of the Los Angeles aqueduct (featured in the Movie Chinatown) and the new industries of Aviation and Motion Pictures. By 1932 the Population of Los Angeles had surpassed one million and it hosted the Summer Olympic Games.

The Post War years brought great prosperity to the city and the beginning of urban sprawl. A Mecca of entertainment since the early 1920’s, Los Angeles symbolized what was glamorous about the Movie Industry and the term Hollywood, named after a district within Los Angeles, became a synonym, the world over, with glamour and success. In 1969 Los Angeles pioneered the internet, with the first ARPNET transmission from UCLA to Menlo Park. During the 1980’s, Los Angeles became the focus, first of the Punk Rock scene and later of the Glam Rock scene, with bands like Guns & Roses and Motley Crue. The early 1990’s brought hard core political rap (known as gangster rap), earthquakes, drive by shootings and racial riots, all products of inner city blight and the collapse of the aerospace industry at the end of the cold war. But by the end of the decade the city was going through a renaissance of gentrification, fueled by waves of immigrants from Asia and Latin America, who moved into previously run down areas of Los Angeles, revitalizing the city’s new and existing districts like Koreatown, Hollywood, Echo Park and Downtown Los Angeles.

By the mid 00’s, Los Angeles boasted a world class classical music hall, a Museum of Modern art, a Theatre and Hotel Complex at Hollywood & Highland and many new businesses and shops in what had been a largely abandoned areas. Los Angeles today is a vibrant city that has a lot to offer: Almost perfect weather all year around, a brand new subway system, beautiful stretches of coastline and a classic coastal highway, the magnetic allure of Hollywood, the glamour of Beverly Hills, the fun for all of Universal Studios and the Pier and boulevards of Santa Monica and even the counter cultural eclectic mix of Venice beach. Just like Frank Sinatra used to sing: L.A. is my lady!

Getting Around:

Los Angeles is served by 6 airports, dotted around the sprawling maze of counties that surround the city. Los Angeles international or LAX is the main international airport, the other 5 are all domestic and some serve cities in Mexico.

Los Angeles International Airport: L.A.’s main international Airport and home to the space age ‘Encounter Lounge and Restaurant’.

Bob Hope Burbank Airport: Located north of Los Angeles in the San Fernando Valley, is convenient for domestic flights and close to studios in Burbank and Studio city.

Long Beach Airport: Formerly the McDonnell Douglas airfield, it serves some low cost domestic airlines, including Jet Blue.

John Wayne Orange County Airport: is located south of L.A., close to Disney and Laguna Beach. It is served by all domestic scheduled airlines.

Ontario Airport: Serving the Inland Empire and offering many low cost carriers.

Palmdale Airport: North of L.A., closest to the Mojave spaceport and the Coachella Music festival.

Los Angeles also has an Amtrak train station and a Greyhound bus station, both located Downtown. Several interstate highways connect in Los Angeles, including Highway 5. Once in L.A., most people rent a car, but now it’s possible to take the subway from downtown to Hollywood and under the Hollywood Hills to Universal studios.

Things To Do:

L.A is so glamorous that even LAX airport has a tourist site: The space age white arches of the ‘Encounter Lounge & Restaurant’, one of the most iconic buildings inside any airport. Rent a convertible car and drive with the top down, as it almost never rains in L.A. Drive to Santa Monica along P.C.H. (Pacific Coastal Highway), shop in the quirky shops around west Hollywood, ride along Hollywood Boulevard with the top down and stop in front of the iconic Man’s Chinese Theatre for a photo op. Stroll along Rodeo drive, hit downtown for a shot of culture at the Disney Concert Hall, drive up to the Griffith observatory for the best views of Los Angeles, hit Koreatown for the nightlife and don’t forget Olvera street, where it all began.

Los Angeles Climate:

Los Angeles has a Mediterranean climate and enjoys a warm and pleasant weather all round the year. The months from May to October is normally warm, hot and dry with the temperature anywhere between 24–29°C during the daytime and 14–19°C during the nighttime. The months from November to April are mild and rainy to an extent. The temperature during this season could vary anywhere between 20–23°C during the daytime and 9–12°C during the nighttime. Los Angeles receives 385 mm of rain annually which mainly occurs during winter and spring months i.e. from November to April. Snowfall within the city is extremely rare. However, the mountains within the city limits receive snowfall every winter.

Hotel Accommodation:

There are plenty of hotels in Los Angeles and the place you choose to stay will make a tremendous impact on your LA experience. Downtown, Beverly Hills, Hollywood, Pasadena, Santa Monica, West Hollywood and Westwood are some of the most recommended areas to stay.

Introducing San Francisco:

San Francisco is not a geographical location; it’s a vast social experiment in the making; the place where the future gets tested, not only technologically but also socially, or how the locals put it: ‘San Francisco is a state of mind’. Located on the end of a peninsula, at the southern edge of the Golden Gate, the City of San Francisco is just 7 x 7 square miles, but its history and influence have been felt worldwide. As the main city of the San Francisco Bay Area, it has been at or near the epicenter of several important cultural and technological revolutions, a focus point for the hippy movement during the summer of love of 1967, an emerging gay Mecca during the 1970’s and important research center that gave us Silicon Valley, personal computers and internet corporations, including Apple, Hewett Packard, Yahoo, Google, Twitter, Facebook and many more. San Francisco & the Bay Area have also been a center for innovative filmmaking with the aid of technology: Lucas films (Star Wars) and Pixar (Toy Story, UP) are both based there. The San Francisco Bay Area’s incredible ethnic diversity, progressive spirit and breathtaking natural and structural wonders have made the City of San Francisco one of the most visited tourist destinations on earth. But San Francisco wasn’t always a tourists’ paradise; founded by the Spanish as a Mission dedicated to St Francis of Assisi in 1776 located on the windswept and foggy tip of a barren peninsula of sand dunes.

The Mission remained a backwater as it changed from a Spanish rule to Mexican and then as a part of the California Republic and eventually the USA. It was the gold rush of 1848 that established San Francisco firmly on the map and set off successive waves of immigration from all over the world, particularly from Asia and Europe. 1906 saw the City of San Francisco almost totally a destroyed after a strong earthquake and subsequent fires razed most of the city. San Francisco rebuilt and by 1935 it had avoided the worst of the depression with work on its dual bridges: The Iconic Golden Gate Bridge, joining the city with Marin County and the more utilitarian but extremely important Bay Bridge, linking Downtown San Francisco with Oakland. The city suffered another strong earthquake in 1989, when entire blocks in some neighborhood were razed by fires and the city’s aerial freeway system buckled and was dismantled, bringing in positive urban renewal by opening the views along the Embarcadero and turning the ferry building into an attractive tourist area. They say that only Manhattan can compete with San Francisco’s amazing culinary variety; there is always a new trendy restaurant opening or a small ethnic eatery to discover and sometimes a walk along San Francisco feels live traveling through five different continents and cultures in one hour: From Chinatown to North Beach, from the Castro to Height Asbury, from Downtown to the Sunset District and the beach, the possibilities are endless.

Getting Around:

San Francisco is served by San Francisco International Airport, located south of the city in San Mateo County; a rail line connects the airport with San Francisco and the rest of the Bay Area Rapid Transit commuter rail system. Oakland airport, across the bay from San Francisco, serves mostly domestic flights and has a shuttle that connected to the closest BART (Fruitvale Station). Once in San Francisco, get a MUNI rail pass, valid in all the buses and MUNI rail trolleys inside San Francisco, the 7 day MUNI pass is also valid on the iconic San Francisco cable cars, a symbol of the city and a must for tourists.

Things To Do:

San Francisco’s mild winter weather makes it a perfect year round destination, most tourists first visit Fisherman’s Wharf, with its assortment of tourist traps among decent bars and eateries, don’t miss the colony of Sea Lions that live off pier 39. The Golden Gate Bridge, perhaps one of the most photographed bridges in the world, offers the best views of the majestic Golden Gate and the City of San Francisco, schedule a sunset visit for spectacular photos. Explore San Francisco’s varied ethnic and culturally unique neighborhoods, from the gay Mecca of Castro St, with its gay friendly stores and iconic old movie house: the Castro Theatre, focusing on classic Hollywood movies from the Golden Age of Cinema. The world famous Height Ashbury district was the epicenter of the summer of love and still offers a livery bohemian vive with good bars and ethnic eateries galore. Chinatown, resembling a classic old town in China, the Italian North Beach, Famous for gelato & pizza and the posh lounges and trendy restaurants of downtown, SOMA and Market street. Leave one day free to explore the Mission, San Francisco’s original neighborhood and now the center of Mexican and Central American food and culture, where you can visit the Mission Dolores, site of the original Mission of San Francis of Assisi. On longer stays head north to the Napa Valley for a taste the famous California wines.

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.

San Francisco Climate:

San Francisco experiences Mediterranean climate with cool and dry summers and mild, wet winters. May to October is a dry period when the weather is usually mild to warm. The months from November to April is usually cold with temperature ranging anywhere between 13–17°C during the daytime and during the nighttime. Snowfall is extremely rare in San Francisco.

Hotel Accommodation:

There are plenty of hotels in San Francisco and it offers a wide range of acclaimed accommodations – from luxury hotels to budget stay.