How good is your geographic knowledge?

I recently retuned from an enchanting city less than two hours flying time from Dublin which is served by direct flights three times a week by a major international carrier. The city is not large by international standards — being somewhat smaller than Belfast but almost twice that of the Province's capital when you take its greater metropolitan area into consideration. It is located approximately 15 miles inland on a river and yet will play

Some things are hard to quantify …

When people talk about destinations around the world whether they be cities, regions or indeed whole countries, their merits tend to be measured in terms of specific and tried and tested attributes such as quality, value-for-money, culture, friendliness and so on. Similarly, specific travel products such as airline catering, hotel facilities, coach bus seating also tend to be referenced against a range of generally agreed upon criteria. Well I'm here to tell you that the

The Lost Continent?

The above blog title is of course just another feeble attempt by yours truly to make a play on words. The continent that I am referring to — in case you haven't guessed — is South America and the reason I decided to give the blog that title is because, of all the continents (with the obvious exception of Antarctica), South America is still waiting to be found by many Irish holidaymakers. I'm by no

All legacy carriers are created equal — right? Wrong!

What is a legacy carrier anyway, I hear you ask? The term 'legacy' is used to differentiate the old style (usually national) airline carriers from those that espouse the low cost model. Legacy carriers traditionally charge more but also offer more for those consumers who are willing to pay for a better service or for things considered as 'extras' with carriers such as Ryanair. Some airlines (Aer Lingus for example) sit somewhere between the two

And now for something completely different!

It is an aspect of the human condition that, for the most part, people like to remain within their comfort zone. This usually means that many of us travel back to the same holiday destination year after year, especially if it ticks a lot of the boxes in terms of friendliness of the natives, things to see and do, good weather, nice food, history, culture and so on. As the saying goes: 'if it's not

Don’t forget the small guys!

We live in such a brand-obsessed world nowadays that it's all too easy to restrict our search when we're online to names that we're familiar but in doing so, we are often inadvertently shortchanging ourselves as the best on offer may not necessarily be the most familiar or famous. This applies to all consumer services and products. It also applies to travel! If you were stopped on the street tomorrow by some pollster and asked

Like your wine and looking for a new wine destination to explore?

Then how about getting yourself and your fellow connoisseurs out to Portland — Portland, Oregon that is! Yes, believe it or not the City of Roses in rain-swept Oregon located in the pacific northwest of the United States has been quietly developing a reputation for itself in recent years by wine buffs in the know. Increasingly, small craft wineries located throughout the Willamette Valley have been moving their operations to Portland, pairing on-site facilities with

Am I unique? I wouldn’t bet on it!

You've probably heard the old one-liner that goes: 'You're unique — just like everyone else'. Well, I was in Las Vegas last month for an event called PowWow which is one of the largest  events on the global travel industry calendar where supplier network with buyers etc. It was a short visit that lasted just two days but I must confess that I didn't gamble one single cent — not on the roulette or Black

Does constant travel desensitise us to each new experience?

I don't know if this is a phenomenon that any of you out there has experienced but I recently had the good fortune to see the Grand Canyon when I flew over to Boulder City from Las Vegas. I had first experienced the Grand Canyon over twenty years ago when i was visiting a relative in Phoenix, Arizona and decided — almost on the spur of the moment — to hire a car and drive

How cultured are you?

When people are asked why they travel abroad on holidays  they usually cite reasons such as weather (if you're Irish!), cuisine, history, scenery, people. The list is obviously longer and more nuanced than that but I think we would all agree that one of the single most important reasons why many people travel abroad is for a taste of that other country's culture and heritage. The Google dictionary defines the word 'culture' as 'The arts

The Lingua Franca that is English

There are tourists and there are travelers. What's the difference between the two?  One blogger has described the difference thus: ' The difference between a tourist and a traveler is that the traveler goes to a place without any preconceptions, whereas the tourist has already decided on how he’s going to experience it. The traveler has an open mind and lets the place happen to him. The tourist brings with him his own environment and expectations, thereby diluting (polluting?)

The Top 10 Destinations in the World in 2013

Let's face it, we all love lists! Compilations of the 10 fastest this, or 10 most expensive or exclusive that appear to exert a magnetic draw on our collective curiosity that has to be satiated! I cam across the following list just today and what amuses me about it is that it claims to indicate the 10 top travel destinations in the world as voted for by Facebook users. How could that be when we're

The art of getting a quote that is both competitive in price and relevant to your needs starts with gathering all the right information about what you want to do (or think you want to do!).