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Alicante – a Jewel in Spain’s Crown

Alicante or Alicant (Valencian Catalan) is the largest city in the Costa Blanca region of Spain and is one of the most beautiful places you could wish to travel to if you take the time and the effort to explore the region and some of it’s sheer beauty.

Located between Murcia and Valencia, Alicante has some of the best beaches in Spain with San Juan, Muchavista and Campello beaches being real gems with beautiful, clean sea and sand which appeal to both families, couples and surfers alike with calm days and days when the waves can be quite high due to strong winds of late.

Amongst the many varied and more popular attractions are the Castillo de Santa Barbara (Alicante City), Terra Natura (Benidorm), Terra Mitica (Benidorm) and Mundomar (Benidorm). There are also areas of outstanding beauty such as the mountains of Busot village situated just outside of Campello (also known as El Campello). Not only does Busot have it’s popular attraction Cuevas de Canelobre (Canelobre Caves) but it also has vast amounts of stunning scenery in complete tranquillity. To get to these spots you need to do some investigating, but it is well worth it because you will find yourself all alone on some breath-taking trails overlooking Campello and surrounding villages.

To see all that is on offer, you have to arrange car hire in Alicante from either the airport or from a local town or city and prices start at €10 per day for a small car and reserving before your visit is essential in busy periods of the year.

Where else but Alicante can you find such a diverse amount of activities, places of interest and things to do. In the morning you could travel to the Sierra Nevadas (Grenada) and be snowboarding and in the afternoon soaking up the sun, sea and sand on a beautiful, spacious beach. Not only this, but you can also get ferries to Majorca, Ibiza and Tabarca Island from Alicante harbour, so you will never have a lack of options available to you.

Real estate property in Alicante is another reason for visitors to come and like the rest of Costa Blanca, is a popular place where expats come to invest or to emigrate to. Property prices have rapidly increased over the years due to demand and the Euro being introduced, but if you are prepared to move inland slightly, or away from popular areas such as Benidorm and Javea, you can find some real bargains in comparison to the UK property market. Purchasing property in Spain is more expensive tax and legal-wise but it is still worthwhile as long as the Euro is weaker than the Pound.

Alicante’s hotels are varied and you have a wide variety of choice when coming to this region of Spain and if you do some research you will get a hotel to suit your budget and requirements, just remember to book early in high-seasons to ensure a beach-side location.
Getting cheap flights to Alicante has never been easier thanks to Alicante airport being such a popular international destination and it is expanding continuously with new airlines operating from there.

You can view this and more articles at: Alicante

Alicante – a Jewel in Spain’s Crown / Lee Smith

Lee Smith writes articles for many businesses and websites and has a passion for the hotels, travel, flight and the holiday industry.
You can view this and more articles at: Alicante

New England Regional Travel Tips, by Alice Gregory

New Englanders are proud of their region and of the abundance of attractions which highlight the history and culture unique to this area. But they do not just sit back and enjoy it. Museums and attractions are constantly working to enhance the visitor experience, continuing restoration work, adding exhibits or offering a tour with a new twist in a popular destination. Another thing New Englanders are passionate about is food. Lobster is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of New England’s cuisine. But Maine potatoes have found their way out of the fryer and into premium vodka, and the sea breezes along the south coast of Rhode Island and Connecticut help produce award-winning wines. In New England, there is always something new!

Connecticut

Mystic Seaport, the Museum of America and the Sea, is the nations most important maritime museum, but its also the most delightful way to learn about our seafaring history-whaling, fishing, boat building and life in a 19th-century coastal village. Because Mystic Seaport is also a research center, your group has the opportunity to watch as important historic vessels undergo restoration. In 2007, the Charles W. Morgan, the last wooden whaling vessel from the great days of sail, will be put in dry dock on-site and visitors will still be able to visit the Morgan and observe this preservation project first-hand. A very popular special exhibit through 2006 is Black Hands, Blue Seas, which chronicles the maritime heritage of African-Americans. In 2007, a special exhibition on Tugboats and their influence on maritime history is being planned.

Rhode Island

The newest addition to the Ocean States attractions is the Majestic, a 149-passenger yacht-style vessel that just launched its first season on Narragansett Bay at the end of April. Your groups will be able to enjoy a one-hour narrated cruise of Newports scenic harbor, a lunch cruise or an elegant dinner cruise.

Massachusetts

Historic Tours of America is diligently acquiring artifacts regarding the Boston Tea Party for the new Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum when it opens in 2007. The museum will be dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of the event in Boston Harbor on December 16, 1773, which sparked the revolution. The recently acquired Robinson Tea Chest is one of only two known surviving crates from the event and will be a centerpiece of the new museum.

Other news for 2006 at Historic Tours of America is that your clients taking an Old Town Trolley tour will enjoy a walking tour of Beacon Hill with a costumed guide as part of their package. If your group is looking for something fun to do in the evening, they have introduced a Ghosts andGravestones tour. Half the tour is on Old Town Trolleys, but these trolleys are black with purple fluorescent lights. Guides use keys to let the group into the historic cemeteries where they are met by a gravedigger in costume.

At the western end of the state, the Berkshires offers an abundance of great sightseeing opportunities. At The Mount, the magnificent estate of the author Edith Wharton, groups can take a 45-minute guided tour of the house, including the recently restored formal areas. The freshly planted gardens are spectacular and can be combined with the tour of the house.

Tanglewood is the summer home of the Boston Symphony, but the Berkshires have an abundance of theatre and music. This summer, the newly restored Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield will reopen after a comprehensive restoration project to bring it back to its turn-of-the-century elegance. It is one of Americas finest theaters to have survived the years intact. Attend a performance if possible, but groups can book tours of the facility to see this architectural treasure.

Source: www.leisuregrouptravel.com

other links:

www.grouptravelblog.com

www.grouptraveldirectory.com

New England Regional Travel Tips, by Alice Gregory / Rajinder Dogra

we are in travel business and wants to provide information about the different travel destinations of united states of america.

Scuba Diving – More Accessible than you thought!

Since the early 20th century, SCUBA diving has gone from an incredibly risky undertaking well out of reach for all but the fabulously wealthy to a relatively safe sport with a rapidly growing participant community.

SCUBA stands for Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus, so named for the tanks and other gear which divers carry on their backs allowing them to breathe underwater. Although this gear termed “life-support equipment” and a commitment of real training is necessary in order to become safe and proficient enough with it to dive even in a small lake or quarry, technological advancements and improvements in science and engineering have enabled longer times underwater, deeper dives, and reduced danger in this exhilarating activity enjoyed by athletes and nature lovers.

Having originally been popularized by Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Emile Gagnan, who built the Aqualung (a name still used in Britain to describe Scuba equipment today), Scuba is now enjoyed by millions of people worldwide ranging from locations as temperate tropical waters to under-ice sub-arctic diving for scientific purposes or by adventure seekers.

Many people are unaware of the length of time necessary to attain Scuba proficiency and certification – in the United States, the two major certification bodies are National Association of Underwater Instructors (NAUI) and Professional Association of Dive Instructors (PADI). Depending on the course, new divers can get certified in as little as three to four days of actual instruction – since the courses are based on performance standards and not on hours of instruction, this number can be higher or lower. Also, if a diver wishes to do more technical and dangerous dives or to use more advanced equipment, more training would be necessary in order to ensure safety.

Anyone who enjoys vacations to tropical areas or who appreciates nature and enjoys the water can now consider Scuba diving, thanks to the advances mentioned in science and engineering, as well as the establishment of standardized certification and training programs worldwide. If you’ve never considered it, much more information is available online to help you decide if Scuba makes sense for you.

Scuba Diving – More Accessible than you thought! / Ian Scott

Ian Scott is an experienced diver, and he loves to travel. When he is not searching for long lost treasures, he writes for thescubaguide.com – a phenomenal resource for anyone interested in cave diving, scuba gear, dive skins and more.