Travel Stories travel tips and stories. Vacations ideas, cruises spa and resorts

Apulia is the heel of the boot, where you will bike by groves of ancient, gnarled olive trees, stare out at dramatic sea views from the walled medieval center of Polignano a Mare, peek into old cone-topped stone houses and dine on fresh seafood and ear-shaped pasta, all at prices unimaginable in Tuscany. This region is a place that Italians go on vacation. For such an extraordinary beauty, travallers will bump into relatively low prices, the olive oil is famed and the wine is delicious and inexpensive. But it seemed ignored. And it was also on the way from Naples to Dubrovnik, Croatia, to which it’s connected by ferry.

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Today the French champagne company Krug has found one of the best ways to fly in style with the “Krug Is In The Air” champagne balloon tour program. It currently stands as the world’s most expensive hot air balloon ride, with a cost of roughly $77,790 for one flight. Owned by parent company, Louis Vuitton Moet Hennesy, the Krug hot air balloon premium quality design includes a wicker basket, canopy, burners by Camerons of Bristol, and white leather lining by French upholsters Bruno Domeau & Philippe Peres. With past expeditions through the U.S. (Los Angeles, Arizona and Miami), England, Italy, Japan and Hong Kong, the balloon will fly virtually to any location in the world.

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Kungliga Djurgarden (Royal Djurgarden) is an island consisting mainly of parkland and forest, with enough to see to keep visitors busy for several days. A wonderful walk along Djurgardskanalen during the summer will get you to Skansen, for instance, an open-air museum presenting historical Sweden, and Vasamuseet(the Vasa Museum), featuring the warship Vasa, which sank in Stockholm on her maiden voyage in 1628. Younger visitors will love Junibacken with its storybook worlds of iconic Swedish children’s author, Astrid Lindgren. Thielska Galleriet (the Thielska Gallery) and Prince Eugen’s Prince Eugen’s Waldermarsudde are two outstanding art museums, housed in former private palaces and famous for their collections of Scandinavian paintings and sculptures from the period around 1900.

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Simply Bermudian in style and character, with an uncompromising emphasis on privacy and luxury, Tucker’s Point Club rivals the finest resort communities in the world. Set on 200 acres of rolling hillsides in Tucker’s Town that overlook a glorious turquoise sea, the Club offers a unique brand of comfort and sophistication for those who appreciate the special charm and lifestyle of Bermuda. The Beach Club features Bermuda’s largest private beach and boasts two freshwater swimming pools. The Horizon Pool is reserved for guests ages 13 and older, while the Fountain Pool is perfect for families with young children.

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A two-hour flight west of Santiago, this rugged isle earned its fame from the 18th-century sailor Alexander Selkirk, whose wild spell as a castaway there inspired the novel Robinson Crusoe. The aura of adventure still endures. Travelers arrive on a seven-seater plane, then take a 30-minute speedboat ride to the town of San Juan Bautista. At the new Crusoe Island Lodge, all 15 bungalows are made with recycled materials and wood from the nearby forest. Get a good rest and the attention you deserve by choosing one of the 15 lodges and suites with terrace overlooking the Bay Pangal for accommodation.

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You’ll get a dose of cognitive dissonance arriving at Jicaro Island. There are palm trees and thatched roofs, even a shadowy volcano in the distance, but the air has none of the tropical tang you’d expect, and there are no waves or powdery shores. That’s because Jicaro is located on Lake Nicaragua, a freshwater lake 10 minutes by boat from the colonial town of Granada.The island’s single acre is occupied by Jicaro Island Ecolodge, a hotel as sensitive to the environment as it is easy on the eyes.

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Guests often remark that there is something truly special about Ta’ Cenc. After all, it is an island within an island, built on Gozo’s highest point and offering stunning views over the 1.5m sqm estate, the majestic cliffs and the picturesque islands of Malta and Comino. It is the only hotel in the region to be built on a 150 hectare Natura 2000 site, with undisturbed skylines that stretch as far as the eye can see. Situated on the outskirts of a sleepy village, Hotel Ta’ Cenc & Spa with 85 stone bungalows overlooking the sea. The hotel offers an array of services, amenities and facilities which guarantee this remains one of the island’s top hotels – as it has been for decades.

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Hotel Flatey is situated in the centre of the old village on Flatey, in the very heart of Breidafjordur. The houses in the old centre are timber structures dating from the island’s former times of prosperity, and most of them have been restored in their original style. Nowhere else in Iceland can you find an urban setting where the atmosphere of the past has been so faithfully preserved. The hotel’s dining room and guest rooms are in converted warehouses flanking the old market square. Guests can savour the unique ambience of the island in cosy and welcoming accommodation and enjoy choice food with a view over the village, the coastline and the nesting grounds of the Arctic terns in Skansmyri.

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Seaside Cabanas Hotel is perched on the beach on the beautiful Island of Caye Caulker, just 22 miles from Belize city. The hotel architecture blends Belizean and Mexican styles with the use of thatch, local woods and bright colours. The interiors are cool and modern with artwork from Belize and other parts of the Caribbean. Overall the atmosphere is fun, tropical and uniquely Caye Caulker. The hotel is proud to offer one of the few freshwater swimming pools on the island, as well as 16 air-conditioned rooms, a two-story bar with beautiful thatched palapa roof, a tour and travel service and a gift shop.  All of this is just a shells throw away from the world’s second largest barrier reef.

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Phu Quoc might be hailed as the next Phuket, but those looking to get far off the grid head to this undiscovered archipelago just 110 miles off Vietnam’s southeastern coast. A 45-minute flight from Ho Chi Minh City brings you to Con Son, the largest (and only inhabited) member of the 16-island chain. There, sheer granite cliffs border deserted beaches and crystal-blue water—imagine a tropical Amalfi Coast without the crowds. Up until now, you’d have been hard-pressed to find a decent place to stay, but the arrival of the Six Senses Con Dao villas from $685 has brought a welcome dose of luxury to the island.

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