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So, you’ve decided it’s time to take your first trip to Europe. For many Americans it seems like a rite of passage. It doesn’t matter if you’re young or old. It’s something special that first trip to Europe. You’ve finally arrived somehow.

You’ve saved the money, you’ve applied for the passport… wow, you’re practically ready to pack. But wait… just having made the decision to get a passport and go to Europe is only the first step. There are more decisions to make. Let’s think through some of this.

How much time do you have? One week will have you concentrating on an area or a city… two or more weeks lets you tour around a bit more.

What part of Europe do you want to go to? It’s not like you can just go to Europe. That’s like saying you want to see the United States. There are big areas to be covered, and you need to choose an area to see even if you have several weeks.

Do you just want to see it…? Visit the highlights like maybe London, Paris, Rome, and see the big sights? Or… do you have an agenda? Do you want to find family roots and do a little genealogy research? Is there a festival you’ve always wanted to see like the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona or The Gathering and Highland Games in Edinburgh?

Do you concentrate on one or two countries or try to do a grand circle of Europe?

Do you take a tour? Set up a Custom tour? Or do you want to take your first trip to Europe all on your own and find your own way?

So how will you answer these questions?

If you’re a student, you may be able to travel for the summer… good for you. You won’t find a better way to add to your education! If you’re retired, you can stay as long as your finances will allow… AND you can travel during shoulder seasons when there are fewer crowds.

If you only have one or two or three weeks, try for those shoulder seasons to maximize your experiences and minimize the lines. Try to limit yourself to a country a week. Even at that you’ll just be getting an overview of the area you choose to visit.

A tour can be a good idea and can take some of the anxiety out of your first trip to Europe. There are so many tours offered that you can easily choose one that goes to the area you want to visit for the length of time you want to spend, and you can even get tours that specifically go to those festivals or visit gardens or let you explore just castles. Your hotels will be taken care of and many of your meals too. It’s good way to build your confidence abroad.

If groups just aren’t your thing, being an independent traveler on your first trip to Europe is not difficult either. There is so much information on the internet that it’s easy to plan it for yourself and leave yourself more flexibility.

Just sit down with a pencil and paper and make the decisions one at a time, and that long awaited first trip to Europe will be a reality.

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Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/travel-tips-articles/your-first-trip-to-europe-important-travel-tips-979617.html

Eco-tourism or green travel is becoming a new catchword in travel. But this doesn’t mean you need to rough it. You could stay in a tent or go backpacking or canoeing, but just little everyday things can make any trip more eco-friendly. You can stay in cities or in the countryside; sleep in a big hotel or a B&B…. but you do need to think about what you can do to protect the environment. I’m talking conserving plants and wildlife but also other resources like electricity and water.

There are more and more of us traveling every year. With so many of us out there, it’s more important than ever to think about how travelers impact the environment.

Making your travel “green travel” is a great way to protect the environment for people who visit after you do and for our children. You don’t necessarily have to pay more to travel this way. You might even find that your travel will be more rewarding, more authentic… let you get closer to the people and places you travel to…. and cheaper!

So let’s list some green travel tips….

Try to choose a green hotel. See if you can find out what kind of recycling program they have. Do they use energy efficient lighting? Low flow toilets? Water saving shower heads?

Check to see if guests have the option to reuse hotel towels and sheets instead of having them laundered everyday… then reuse them! Keep your showers short.

Turn off air-conditioning, lights, heat, television, etc. when you leave the room.

Bring your own toiletries rather than using the prepackaged ones at the hotel. Leave theirs behind. All those little bottles use lots of plastic, and who needs a whole drawer full of these once you get home?

Pack a water bottle that you can reuse. (Don’t keep buying them. Most plastic water bottles don’t get recycled.)

When renting a car, get the smallest most fuel-efficient car that you can be comfortable with. (Even consider a hybrid… it’s more and more possible to rent hybrids these days.) And try driving slower. If you go 60 mph (100 Kilometers per hour-KPH) or less, you’ll use less fuel… and just maybe you’ll see more. Get maps and directions for the most direct route. No reason do drive around lost and waste gas.

Walk to use public transportation when you can. Stay at a centrally located hotel. Walk around to see the sights; in the countryside, hike or bike if possible.

If you’re walking a beach, consider picking up trash along the way. If all visitors did this, all of our beaches would be so much cleaner.

You don’t even need to follow all of these suggestions for green travel. If you just choose one or two during your trip, the earth will thank you.

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Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/travel-tips-articles/environmental-concerns-and-green-travel-tips-979619.html

Holiday parks have been UK family favourites for many years, many of the most popular and well known resorts have been going since the 1930s and have hosted millions of families vacations ever since.  With the dawning of the commercial flight industry many Britons were now able to afford to fly to other countries such as Spain and Greece as well as much further distances like America and Africa, but now it looks like the traditional British holiday park is enjoying a comeback.

For many people the current financial crisis has meant many families cannot afford the steep costs of flying and with all sorts of extra hidden charges on even the budget airlines it’s not hard to see why people are more interested in holidaying in the UK.

The UK family holiday parks tend to be built around having the entire holiday package in one place and that everything is included in the price you pay.  This means that not only are you paying for your accommodation and all your meals but all the entertainment and activities are included also.

With them being family holidays it doesn’t mean that all the activities and fun is for the kids, there is plenty of adult themed entertainment with musical acts and comedy nights as well as spas and high rope courses.  Of course there’s plenty for children to do exclusively with a wide range of sports and fun activities like bowling and laser quest.

The accommodation options are almost as diverse as the activities with many options available to people going on holiday such as luxury hotels, many with amazing seafront views.  Other options include self catered apartments or rustic log cabins, camping and caravanning are also possibilities as the options available vary between the different resorts and companies.

With all your meals arranged for you then there’s extra savings to be had as well as the assurance that you can spend all day enjoying yourself and not have to worry about sorting your dinner in the evening.  Those who wish to go self-catered are able to cook their own meals should they wish so in some self-catered accommodation too.

It’s no surprise from reading this how popular UK holiday parks have been and with many people booking summer holidays to these destinations rather than abroad this year.

This article was written by Lee Lazarus. Lee is a leading online journalist and here writes for Butlins Family Holidays. Butlins have holidays parks in the UK – two of their most popular parks are Minehead and Skegness.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/holidays-articles/all-inclusive-holiday-parks-the-new-family-favourite-966715.html

In the last 10 years, Romania recorded a huge increase in every domain. Multinational companies invested a lot of money and built headquarters in Bucharest. People travel a lot inand out of the country and now renting private cars ( alongside of the public taxis ) is a common fact. 
Genneraly rent a car companies are hired by multinationals, so they can have confidence that their employees or VIP`s will get in time in any place without having trouble. This relation between rent a car companies and multinationals is based on peer trust.

Besides multinational companies, rent a car companies are also appealed by foreigners who come to visit
Romania. There are some rent a car companies with experienced chauffeurs with advanced studies and a guide’s license who can easily give you a dream tour of tourist attractions, cities and sites in Romania. People rather preffer instead of going on a tour with a coach and other 40 people, renting a private car and make their own itineraries.

And now…
Why should you rent a car at Bucharest’s airport? 

Bucharest has 2 airports, one for both international and domestic flights and one for domestic flights only. ( Otopeni airport and Baneasa airport)
There are no means of transport from the Otopeni airport ( situated at 11 km away from the city north entrance) except public taxis. 

A few years ago, there was a big scandal between taxi drivers, which had negative results for people ariving at the airport. Many of the taxi drivers then were forced to quit their job, and they now stay “undercover” in the airport asking everybody who come out if they need a cab. They fool everybody asking a lot more than a normal price, and they are rude and unpolite. The security aren’t capable of doing anything because they’d risk another scandal.

So, you would have two choices for an airport transfers. These guys, or the company with public transfers
with forced the old taxi drivers to resort to this. ( also with very bigh prices). Also, if you somehow manage to get in the city, public means of transport are dirty and unfriendly.

If you want to avoid any trouble contact a private Rent a car in Bucharest company and a con sedan ( or limousine at your request ) will wait for you in the VIP parking space. Also the driver will wait for you at the arrival gate with a banner with your name.

Dan Dinu

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/travel-tips-articles/why-should-you-rent-a-car-for-travelling-in-romania-979579.html

For decades families have been coming to Butlins holiday parks mostly because they offer so much more for value on family holidays than the expensive flights and accommodation of a trip abroad.

The reason these holidays are so good for value is the amount of included activities, sports and entertainment on offer.  As well as all the usual summer sports like Basketball, Football and Cricket there’s adventurous activities like trampolining, archery and at one resort: a high rope course.

The entertainment though is what really makes  Butlins Family Holidays special, and this year visitors are getting a phenomenal amount of entertainment from the biggest TV talent search this year: The stars of Britain’s Got Talent!

There are eight acts from the semi finals, finals and even this year’s winning dance act Diversity.  The winners who will be performing for Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth at the Royal Variety Show will be headlining a whole series of acts from all categories.

Father and Son Greek dancers with a twist, Stavros Flatley will be bringing a hint of the Mediterranean to the UK holiday resorts as well as child prodigies like Aiden Davies and Shaheen Jafargholi which promises for an amazing line-up of recognizable stars from Simon Cowell’s talent search show.

There is an act for everyone in the family whether you want to hear the amazing singing voice of Shaun Smith or laugh and dance along with The Faces of Disco, there’s even talented ventriloquist Gareth Oliver and the cringe-inducing DJ Talent bringing his unique talent to the family favourite holiday camps.

With all the various acts appearing this year as well as many other residential and touring acts at the three resorts at Minehead, Skegness and Bognor Regis which ever resort you choose for your next family holiday will be jam packed with plenty of entertainment for all the family.

Also this year the Bognor Regis resort is opening it’s second luxury hotel, the Ocean hotel.  Designed to be ultra modern and stylish but also comfortable and practical the Ocean hotel has been purpose built for family groups; children have their own bunk beds plus flat screen TV and DVD players and there are plenty of dining options both at the hotel and at the resort in general.

This year with all the value for money it is no surprise that Butlins Family Holiday parks are becoming firm favourites yet again for family holidays without all the added hassle of passports and flight times that you’d get with other holidays.

This article was written by Lee Lazarus. Lee is a leading online journalist and here writes for Butlins UK Breaks. Butlins have a huge number of entertainment breaks available, including acts from Britains Got Talent such as Stavros Flatley, Diversity and Shaheem.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/holidays-articles/butlins-got-talent-exciting-entertainment-coming-this-summer-973313.html