The Grand Canyon is one of those places that you have to see in person.  Pictures will never do it justice.

Descriptions will tell you that it is a great chasm carved over millennia… the Colorado River slicing away at the Colorado Plateau.

People will tell you that it has awe-inspiring views.  Vacationers and holiday makers will tell you it’s a great place to hike or ride the rapids.

All of that is true… but you have to see it.  An amazing fact we heard from a ranger once is that a typical stay in the park lasts five to seven hours, and most visitors stay at the rim of the Grand Canyon for less than an hour.  (We’ve even heard less than 20 minutes!)  How can you do that? (more…)

Hike into the Grand Canyon to really experience it.  It’s an unfortunate fact that most visitor see the canyon from the rim and for an hour or less.

Even if you stay on the South Rim and watch the light play on the canyon and see the colors change, you will miss the extra dimension you get when you venture down into the Grand Canyon.

If your time is short, you can take a day hike part way down either the Bright Angel Trail or the South Kaibab trail.  Even getting 3 or 4 hours down one of these trails will take you on a geologic safari back in time.

Information along the sides of the trails tells you how old the rocks are that you are hiking through.  And looking back up at the rim, you get a whole different feel for the canyon.

If you have more time to get into the Grand Canyon, plan to hike to the floor of the canyon.  If you get reservations to stay at Phantom Ranch, you can make the hike without a back country permit. (more…)

A drive through Brittany (Bretagne) from Paris does not generally come up as the first suggested driving tour of France in the tour guides, but let’s look at it here because the ancient megaliths at Carnac make Brittany worth a visit.

Bypass the Loire Valley for now.  For your drive through Brittany, head out of Paris on the E50 through Le Mans and drive to Rennes, the capital of Brittany, and on to Vannes.

Most of Brittany juts out into the Atlantic on the northwest corner of France.  It is hugged by the English Channel on the north, and the Atlantic Ocean on the west and south.  There are great beaches on the south facing part of the peninsula that attract French tourists to the area.

There are many reminders of the Breton/Celtic culture in the villages in this part of France.  Crepes and cider are traditions here, and you’ll hear Celtic music and see some traditional costumes at festivals. (more…)

If you’re a student of history, ancient or modern, a drive through Normandy makes for a great holiday.

If you want to start with some of the older history, it was from Normandy that William the Conqueror set out to take over the throne of England in 1066.  If you are into 20th century history, there are the D-Day Invasion Beaches to explore.

You’ll probably start by driving to Rouen.  Though it is a big city, there are plenty of historical sites to see in its center.  You can find a car park near the Place du Vieux Marche (the old Market Square).  It was here that Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in 1431.

Wander up the street and under the large old clock that is in a tower that straddles the street – the Gros-Horloge.  Make your way up to the Cathedrale Notre-Dame.  This gothic cathedral was the subject of several of Claude Monet’s paintings. (more…)

The Normandy beaches that are most famous are the ones between Cherbourg and Le Havre.  They are also known as the D-Day Invasion Beaches.

While Normandy beaches are great for family holidays, with miles of peaceful, sandy beaches to enjoy, the area is a special draw for those interested in the history of World War II.

Americans, Canadian, English, and some French troops stormed these beaches on June 6th, 1944.  On D-Day, the beaches were anything BUT peaceful.

The Allies gave the beaches code names…. Sword, Gold, Omaha, Utah, and Juno.  The British were assigned to Sword and Gold.

The Americans landed at Omaha and Utah. The Canadian sector beach was Juno.  The beaches are still known by these code names.  The area is dotted with museums and reminders of that historic time. (more…)

Mont Saint-Michel.  As you approach it, the abbey seems to float on the horizon… its spire glinting gold in the sun.  It has attracted pilgrims for hundreds of years.  Today it still attracts visitors… over three million tourists a year.

The legend is that a bishop in the 8th century heard the voice of the Archangel Michael tell him to build the abbey.  There had been churches on the site before, but the striking abbey of Mont Saint-Michel was what started drawing pilgrims.

The land around the island is a flood plain, and it is often surrounded by water at high tide.  There is a causeway that leads to the island.  It is no longer as isolated as it once was because the causeway itself has stopped the flow of tides around the island and much of the bay has silted up.

The Abbey church is only the top most building on this little island.  It is surrounded high on the hill by monastic buildings. (more…)

Hostels are probably the very cheapest place you can stay during your travels.  You may think… whoa, dormitory style bunk beds, backpacks, bathrooms down the hall… and starving students, but that’s not necessarily true anymore.

It is true that the average age for guests is 18-26, and you’ll run into some places that do enforce an age limit, but people of all ages and budgets stay in them these days.

Their buildings are often in good locations in towns.  They’re easily accessible by public transportation, though there are some in rural areas too.

Some provide private rooms for couples or families as well as the dormitory style rooms.  Still you have to decide if this kind of traveling is for you. (more…)

Travel Advisories and Travel Warnings are issued by several governments to tell their citizens which countries or parts of countries might be of concern.

It sounds pretty scary to say that there is an advisory or warning about going somewhere, but just because a government issues one of these, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s a bad idea to plan a trip to that country.

With terrorism all in the news today, many people get nervous, but if you want to be a traveler you need to learn to weigh the warnings and the news.

You may decide that it’s worth it to travel anyway.  Terrorism is nothing new; different areas have had unrest in the past.  Read those advisories and decide if what they are talking about will affect you and your trip.  Don’t trust them blindly.

Travel advisories are issued for a number of reasons.  Terrorism is only one of them.  They can be issued because of natural disasters, political unrest, disease outbreaks or high crime areas.  You need to read to see if these are long term warnings or short term travel advisories.

We think it’s a good idea to check with several different sources… as English speakers, we check to see what the governments of Australia, Canada, the U.K. and the U.S are saying.  They don’t always agree.  So if there are differing points of view, what should you do? (more…)

You may not have heard much about Zion National Park.  It is overshadowed by it’s bigger, more famous neighbor, the Grand Canyon which is wide and open and puts on a show for you in the changing light.

And it may seem a little staid next to it’s showy smaller neighbor, Bryce Canyon where hoodoos seem to dance and play with you and invite you in.

When you first arrive in Zion, you might even say, “How can I really see this park?”  This is a place of soaring, brooding walls… a park of hidden treasures.

As a kid exploring Zion National Park, what I remember is the winding road into the park, those towering cliffs around the lodge, and a walk under a big overhanging rock I was worried would fall on me.

I guess that rock is pretty stable because as an adult, I walked under that same rock, and my favorite new memory is a day hike in The Narrows. (more…)

You’re traveling to San Francisco.  You’ve dreamed of seeing the Golden Gate Bridge and Cable Cars, maybe Fisherman’s Wharf and Alcatraz.  How are you going to get around?

It’s a compact city sitting on a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, but even with compact cities you need a plan for getting around.

If you arrive in the city by car, be prepared for traffic no matter what time of day you are driving.  Parking is a problem as it is in most cities…. There isn’t enough of it. and it tends to be expensive.

Next you really need to think about the hills.  Sounds innocuous enough… driving on hills, and San Francisco’s hills are part of the charm and beauty of the city.  There are many streets that go up or down these hills, but a handful are truly precipitous. (more…)