Jaunted

Travel News / UNESCO / Landmarks / Tours / First Class Travel / → All Tags

This Trip Costs $1.5 Million and Takes Two Years to Complete

Lately we’ve been featuring some ideas on where to spend your tax refund, but this one might just be the best option out there. However, this assumes that you pulled some shenanigans with your taxes, because we’re pretty sure no one scores this much cash back from Uncle Sam.

VeryFirstTo is a site that sells all kinds of luxury goods, experiences, and other designer niceties. While we do think their $2,400 Oliver Ruuger umbrella is worth every penny (sike!), it’s the vacation package that we have our eyes on.

more ›

Travel TIps / Australia Travel / Adventure Travel / What Not To Do In / Tourism / Tourists / Landmarks / Green Travel / UNESCO / → All Tags

What Not To Do At Uluru: The Top 5 Tourist Mistakes

Mysterious, imposing, moody, gorgeous and utterly photogenic, Uluru is one of Australia’s most visited sights. “The Rock” gets nearly half a million visitors each year, and it’s a finalist to be one of the New 7Wonders of the world. Which is why we were surprised by how few tips on what to do there we could get beforehand. So we’ve compiled this concise Jaunted guide of What Not To Do at Uluru: The Top 5 Tourist Mistakes to help you on your next visit to the land down under.

So without further ado, here is the Jaunted guide of What Not To Do at Uluru: The Top 5 Tourist Mistakes:

more ›

Ancient History Travel / Historical Travel / Italy Travel / UNESCO / Pompeii Travel / → All Tags

Go Visit Pompeii Now, Before It Crumbles Away

If you have traveling to Pompeii on your bucket list, you better book your ticket to Italy now. The ancient Roman city, which was frozen in time when Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD 79, has had several of its walls collapse.

Last month a portion of the "House of the Gladiator," where the gladiators trained, and part of a retaining wall at the "House of the Moralist," a home, as well as two other walls came down. It's been a big concern internationally, since Pompeii is one of the world's best-preserved ancient sites.

more ›

Hawaii Travel / UNESCO / Hawaii / Travel News / Island Travel / Voluntourism / Volunteer Travel / → All Tags

How to Visit Hawaii's Papahanaumokuakea, the USA's Newest UNESCO Site

There’s a new spot to add to your Hawaii itinerary, but you might not be able to visit it too easily. Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument is one of the world’s newest UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and it’s the first in the United States in around 15 years. The only downer is that it’s pretty much off limits to tourists unless you’re able to join up with an education or research group.

The area is found in and around the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, but you won't find any tiki torches or umbrella drinks here. That’s why monk seals, sharks, corals, and all kinds of other sea life are free to call it home. Papahanaumokuakea is so important that it was actually recognized by the United Nations for two reasons—for both cultural and natural significance.

more ›

Travel Tips / Peru Travel / Machu Picchu / Adventure Travel / What Not to Do In / Historical Travel / UNESCO / Lists / Tourists / → All Tags

What Not To Do In Machu Picchu: The Top 5 Tourist Mistakes

For such a well-worn travel destination, it’s surprisingly easy to make some pretty simple mistakes when planning a visit to Machu Picchu thanks to confusing transportation schedules, conflicting advice, and what we like to call “Peru time.” There’s also been a lot of misinformation out there after last summer’s devastating floods, but the UNESCO World Heritage Site is now back open for visits from the public, and rest assured that it looks as breathtaking as ever.

Based on our recent visit to the lost city of the Inca, we’ve compiled this handy Jaunted guide of What Not To Do In Machu Picchu: The Top 5 Tourist Mistakes. Buena suerte!.

more ›

Middle East Travel / Travel News / UNESCO / World Heritage Sites / → All Tags

Could Syria Become The Next Travel Hot Spot?

If you’ve already started to plan an around the world trip, you can now add Syria to the list of potential destinations. The United States recently lifted its travel advisory on the country, so you might feel a little more comfortable investigating what the place has to offer now. Syria isn’t totally cool with Washington DC just yet, as the US still considers them a country that supports terrorism. So just take it easy if you do decide to visit.

Nonetheless, the situation for travelers is getting better. The US has decided to bring back an ambassador to the country, as there hasn’t been one in like five years. Although the Syrian government is obviously happy about having the advisory lifted, they probably aren't about to start a tourism campaign quite yet.

more ›

Virtual Travel / Vizerra / Technology / UNESCO / → All Tags

Vizerra Takes You To The World's Architectural Wonders

As always, virtual tourism posts come with our strong disclaimer that real travel is infinitely preferable to virtual travel. But not all destinations are accessible to all tourists, which is why programmers have developed tools to take you to faraway places or even back in time. The newest entrant into the virtual tourism is Croatian company Vizerra, which is developing software models of World Heritage Sites and architectural treasures.

Their site currently offers downloadable models of Macchu Picchu, Angkor Vat, the Taj Mahal, and the Tatev Monastery. They're working on more locations, with Swayambhunath Stupa, the Kiev Cave Monastery, and Prague's Old Town Square slated for the next release wave.

more ›

Ecotourism / Socotra Travel / Island Travel / UNESCO / → All Tags

The Lost Island Of Socotra

The bad part about vacationing on Socotra, a four-island archipelago off the coast of the Horn of Africa: pirates. The good part about vacationing on Socotra: now that it has an airport, the island's freaky deaky biodiversity is accessible to tourists year-round.

And freaky deaky that biodiversity is. The last time the island was attached to any mainland we didn't even have real continents. It separated from the super-continent of Gondwana tens of millions of years ago and has been ecologically isolated ever since, though it's been continuously inhabited since ancient times.

Today there are over 700 endangered plants and animals on the island, a full 1/3 of them found nowhere else in the world. The island is a UNESCO recognized world heritage site. You can check out their Conservation Programme for more background.

more ›

Geneva Field Trip / Lake Geneva / UNESCO / Switzerland Travel / Wine-Tasting Travel / → All Tags

Life is Good: Wine-Tasting in The Lavaux Vineyard Terraces

In continuing our European Vacation series, (we've already gone to Rome, France, Berlin and Turkey), our newest correspondent, Kate Winick, is fresh off a trip to Geneva where she spent some time lakeside. Here's her guide to Lake Geneva.

Thirty kilometers of UNESCO World Heritage site stretch along the northern shore of Lake Geneva, from Montreux to Lausanne, and from the lake to the lower slopes of the mountains, comprised of snaking miles of stone walls, tightly nestled villages, and most importantly—vineyards. Called The Lavaux Vineyard Terraces, the neat rows of vines upon vines have been growing from grapes into wine here since the 11th century.

more ›

Vietnam Field Trip / Embedded Travel Guides / UNESCO / Fashion Travel / → All Tags

Vietnam By Train: Where To Find Ancient Ruins, Tailored Suits

All week long our roving correspondent Claire Duffett will be sending back her travel reports from Vietnam. Any questions or suggestions? Let us know and we'll have Claire answer them for you.

An hour south of Hue, Hoi An offers a brighter side of Vietnamese history. The city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site unto itself, a preserved shipping village. The entire city rests inside the low-hanging slope of scalloped, stone roofs that characterize Chinese-Viet architecture.

In town, you can watch local artisans, paint, sculpt, and embroider, visit the many gated, ornate homes dedicated to familial ancestors, or stroll across the wooden Japanese Covered Bridge. The whole place is almost too quaint, and you will be surrounded by plenty of wholesome families spending there days eating and shopping. It’s certainly a great place to do both.

more ›

Vietnam Field Trip / Embedded Travel Guides / Halong Bay / UNESCO / Kayak Travel / → All Tags

Vietnam By Train: Cruising Halong Bay

All week long our roving correspondent Claire Duffett will be sending back her travel reports from Vietnam. Any questions or suggestions? Let us know and we'll have Claire answer them for you.

From Hanoi, we headed east to Halong Bay. More than 3,000 limestone islands jut out of the Gulf of Tonkin, so it's often compared to Krabi in Southern Thailand, though I visited there in November and Halong’s landscape is far more impressive. It does, however, lack the sandy, white beaches.

Like many UNESCO sites, the beauty of Halong Bay is constantly at odds with the ugliness of heavy tourism. Its adjacent city is the worst of rapid, unchecked development, with hideous high-rises abutting massage parlors and slums. The bay itself is littered with “junk boats,” heavy wooden boats that ferry tourists through the maze of islands.

While the antique boats themselves look quite beautiful lumbering through the water, there is simply too many of them. Often, the iridescent glean of oil is visible on the water, and I floated past empty bottles and debris.

more ›

Jaunted Field Trips / Homecoming Scotland / Whisky / UNESCO / → All Tags

Five Reasons To Visit Scotland in 2009 (Or Ever, Really)

There are plenty of reasons to visit Scotland, London’s twee neighbor to the north—and by that we mean, plenty of reasons beyond the thousands of burly men in skirts with adorable Scottish accents. Just to prove it, we’ll give you five fabulous reasons to go to Scotland, and we won’t mention kilts at all.

Reason 1: 2009 is a banner year for the Scots, as it is the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert “Rabbie” Burns, and the entire country is partying all year long to celebrate. Rabbie Burns, for those who don’t know, is the famous (Scottish) poet who gave us “Auld Lang Syne,” and for whom the town of Burns, New York, was named after. The year long “Rabbie” celebration is widely called “Homecoming” and anyone with Scottish descent is invited to fly “home,” trace their ancestry, drink some whisky, and dance around with their fellow countrymen. Whether you dance in pants or “skirts,” is up to you.

More reasons after the jump

more ›