Western Europe

Map of Scotland

Scotland is like a magazine with amazing articles. You never get tired of it and only wish the end will never come. Scotland is no doubt one of the most common countries in the wide continent of Europe. Its capital city is called Edinburgh and is popular to many people around the world just as the country itself. The official language spoken in Scotland is English.

Before flying to Scotland, ensure you have enough information of the services you will need there. One of the most common services you will need is car rental services. There are numerous car rental services both in the city and outside the city. The car rental services are offered at competitive prices. To save money, visit online car rental services and compare prices. You can also book a car from any of the car rental services online and secure a nice car before you get to Scotland. You should also ensure that you have a travel insurance to take care of your stay in Scotland. This will keep you secure should you fall sick or lose your luggage. To find the best travel insurance, consult your travel agent and ask for extensive advice about the best travel insurance for a tourist.

There are numerous tourist attractions in Scotland. The most common one is the bag pipe. You will notice Scottish men playing bag pipes in Edinburgh and other cities skillfully. The bag pipe is arguably the best trade mark Scotland has. Then there are several Scottish whiskey distilleries. Wine and whiskey lovers will find the distilleries very interesting as the alcoholic drinks can be bought from their depots at amazingly reduced prices. Another great attracting is the Scottish ferries where you can take rides to islands like Aran and Shetlands. The islands are great for tourists as there is tasty seafood in all the islands. They are sold at affordable prices so you do not have to worry that you will spend too much on the seafood. For more information about all the tourist attractions in Scotland, consult your travel agent or check for any available information about Scotland online.

It is highly recommended that you know the weather you are going to find in Scotland once you get there. The country experiences the four weather season in a year; summer, autumn, winter and spring. The best time to fly to Scotland is during spring when almost everything can be done without the fear of the weather conditions. Summer is also good especially for scrubber divers or for any tourist madly in love with anything to do with the waters. Winter seasons are sometimes very cold so it is highly recommended that you carry heavy clothing to beat the cold if you intend to visit the country during winter. Note that, cheap flights are available during this season as there are fewer people flying to Scotland during this season.

When you travel Scotland, take a map of Scotland with you each time you visit any place in the country you do not know. This will come in handy should you get lost and will help you get around easily. Before you leave, take time to chat with the locals and know more about the Scottish culture. You will find that the culture has got more than just the famous kilts and the Scottish dance.

Map of Portugal

Portugal is sometimes considered Spain’s little brother. Although if you asked the Portuguese, they would hotly dispute this! However having said that, the Portuguese people have the same easy going manner as the Spanish and are friendly and generally happy to help out the lost tourist. Portugal is truly a great country to tour. A very modern country it boasts all the things you would expect from a civilised European country. Things like great roads, excellent railway network and fabulous mobile phone coverage.

Travelling Portugal can be very cheap as it tends to be overlooked compared to the bigger tourist centres such as Spain and France . This can be used to your advantage when booking hotels and flights and rental cars. As the Portuguese love to haggle. Mentioning that it was cheaper in some other country, can often fire up the competitive streak that is found in almost all Portuguese.

Lisbon is the capital of Portugal and is as cosmopolitan as any of the other cultural centres of Europe, such as Madrid, Rome or Vienna. It boasts a population of about a half a million people (545,245 population), which is small when compared to many other European capitals. It is still a big enough population base to give the city a wonderful international feel. However it is not to big to feel crowded and constricted. It is definitely one of Europe’s most liveable cities and with its growing financial centre, it is quickly becoming a city of the affluent.

Portugal being situated where it is, is one of the southern most countries in Europe and there fore experiences a very mild climate. Lisbon is known to have the warmest winters of any European capital city and the rest of the country follows Lisbon’s lead. It’s position within the European continent has often meant that rampaging armies have used it as a base to either attack northern Africa or as a staging place to attack Europe. This was especially so during the Muslim period when the Moors from northern Africa attacked Europe and reached deep into Portugal and Spain. They were eventually pushed out by the Christians however the Moors left a lot of influences on the Portuguese population that carries through to this day. This cultural heritage is wonderful and makes travelling through Portugal a joy as the food definitely has a Moroccan feel about it with lovely aromatic spices featuring heavily.

A good map of Portugal is a must when touring this country. in these days of gps units, which are fantastic! It is nice to have a paper backup just in case. Even though the mobile/cell phone network is excellent you can not always get a signal as is the case in any part of the world, so you can’t rely totally on the internet for your directions. Have a backup plan and the lack of worry will allow you to better enjoy your trip.

Map of Norway

Being known for its beautiful mountains, fjords, and midnight sun, Norway is considered to be one of the prime tourist destinations nowadays. In fact, the Nærøyfjord and Geirangerfjord are just some of the well known fjords in Norway which has been featured in UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Upon travelling, you will see beautiful and overwhelming scenarios in the country’s mountains and glaciers.

Just like any other tourist hubs in the world, Norway has a lot to offer. For nature lovers, you would surely love engaging in activities such as skiing, rock-climbing, fishing given that the country possesses a kind of weather which suits best for these kinds of activities. You could also enjoy the beautiful sceneries found in the countryside.

You could reach Norway through the major airlines present in the country which include Norwegian Air Shuttle, SAS Scandinavian Airlines, Ryanair and Widerøes Flyveselskap. Coming from London, you could reach Oslo within 2 hours and 15 minutes, Bergen in just 2 hours and 10 minutes, to Trondheim in 2 hours and 15 minutes and going to Stavenger will just take you 2 hours to travel by air. However, there is also a direct flight from New York going to Oslo which would take you 7 hours and 30 minutes to travel. You could also get to Norway by rail, by road or by water. If you are with your entire family in taking a vacation in Norway, it is best advised to acquire travel insurance for your family’s sake.

You need not to worry about car rental for they are actually rampantly available in the airports as well as in main town of Norway. Since this service is relatively expensive, you may take the bicycles for hire services.

With regard to accommodation, you could also avail of the discounts being offered by some of the first class hotels in the country during summer and weekends. However, if you opt for a nature-friendly accommodation, you could have offsite camping. For those who had been run out of slots in the hotels, they could stay in guest houses and rorbu, a cottage used by fishermen during winter season. These rorbus are often found in Lofoten Islands.

In the map of Norway, you will find lots of potential tourist destinations. The country’s wild wilderness is a great venue to engage in hiking, cycling and jet skiing. In fact, Norway is considered to be the best place to play winter sports such as alpine and cross country skiing. To travel Norway would surely be an unforgettable experience for you and you family given that you get to engage in a lot of exciting family activities.

You would also love some of the Norwegian cuisines which include lukket valnøtt, a kind of cream cake, and geitost, a goat’s cheese.
If you have gone to Norway, you should not miss attending some of Norway’s best festivals which include North Norway Festival which is a month long celebration portraying the country’s culture. It is said that the people from Norway are considered the tallest among the Europeans. Also, it is claimed that the Scandinavian countries which include Norway, Finland and Sweden are considered to have the fairest complexion in Europe. If you visit Norway, it is advised to bring large bucks of money for the services offered are relatively expensive.

Map of Netherlands

The Netherlands (Holland) has mild maritime climate, so even in winter you do not get the low harsh temperatures like you do further in land. This allows for quite a strong tourist industry. Amsterdam is definitely the center of the holiday trade in the Netherlands. History and charm are available by the bucket load in Amsterdam. You can take canal cruises, which are tourist throw back to yester-year, visit the museums including the following Van Gogh Museum, the Rijksmuseum and of course Anne Franks House. Amsterdam Walks, being Such a compact city, it is easy to walk and discover it’s heritage, Cafe Culture and much more.

Dutch history is so intertwined with the sea, that you can hardly talk about the Netherlands without in someone way touching on their seafairing past. It has been a love hate relationship with sea. The famous dykes keep the sea out are legendary and the picturesque and have often been breached by mother nature with devastating results. Rows of equally famous windmills lazily turn their massive sails ion the breeze to help keep the land dry are everywhere and are a must to see on any Dutch holiday.

However Netherlandsis a true winter wonderland. Skiing is now very established and so are most of the other winter sports. Truly experience a white Christmas, those same Alps that offer such wonderful bush walking and natural adventure during summer become some of Europes best ski resorts.

Although flights to Netherlands are cheap, you will still want to have Travel Insurance to cover any possible problems that might arise. Knowing that any eventuality will be covered by your insurance allows you to enjoy your holidays without the worry of always thinking what would happen if you lost your luggage. Being able to book a hotel if your cheap flight is cancelled is a real bonus.

Here are some facts about the Netherlands

Official name is the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is situated in North West Europe. Bordered by the countries :Belgium and Germany . It is bordered by the North Sea. The land mass is 41,848 km/squared and a population of approximately 16.6 million people. The capital city is Amsterdam The political system of the Netherlands is a Parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy and the official language is Dutch.

Map of Monaco

Quick facts about Monaco
Location: Western Europe, bordering the Mediterranean Sea on the southern coast of France, near the border with Italy
Geographic coordinates: 43 44 N, 7 24 E
Area: “total: 1.95 sq km
land: 1.95 sq km
water: 0 sq km”
Land boundaries: “total: 4.4 km
border countries: France 4.4 km”
Coastline: 4.1 km
Maritime claims: territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: Mediterranean with mild, wet winters and hot, dry summers
Terrain: hilly, rugged, rocky
Elevation extremes: “lowest point: Mediterranean Sea 0 m
highest point: Mont Agel 140 m”
Population: 36,371

Monaco Travel Guide and Destinations

If you are planning to go for a European vacation, why not spend some time to go to Monaco. It has lots of things to offer to every traveler from its multi-million pound of yachts to the bottomless flow of champagne and more. It is worth to spend your next holiday in Monaco.

Geography of Monaco

By looking at the map of Monaco, one can see that Monaco is found in Western Europe that borders the Mediterranean Sea on the Southern coast of France close to the border with Italy.

Getting to Monaco

There is no airport in Monaco, as the nearest airport is Nice-Cote d’Azur or NCE. To get there, you may travel Europe through the following:Monaco’s total population is 36,371. The ethnic groups in Monaco are the Italian, Monegasque and French. French makes the majority of its people. Their dialect includes English, Italian and French and the majority of their life and culture has been influenced by the French and Italian’s way of living.

Travel by road: Places like Cannes and Nice are 50km and 18km west of the country while the French or Italian border and Menton are 12km and 9km east of the country. There are 3 attractive roads though in between Monaco and Nice: Highway 98, Highway 7, and the Grand Corniche. Taxi can be available with a surcharge after 2200 and a usual tip of 15%.
Travel by rail: The train service includes daily and overnight trips running through the principality of all the neighboring towns.
Travel by water: Main harbors are at Condamine or Hercule portand Fontvieille. They are equipped in handling yachts of every tonnage.

Tourists Destinations

Monaco is a perfect place to explore. Located at the Southern part of the Mediterranean Sea coast, the country offers a pleasing scenic wonders. Their tourist destination brims with natural beauty and historic spots.

Monaco- Ville – This is one of the best place to visit in Monaco which offers various places to go. It is an ancient city hall which includes ruins of the ancient dynasties which ruled the region before. The region also highlights the Oceanographic Museum found in the year 1910 by Prince Albert I. Chapelle de la Misericorde is also one of the ancient buildings of the region , Prince’s Palace and Saint Nicholas Cathedral may also be found in the region
The Monte Carlo – This region is known for its cosmopolitan culture and is one of the preferred places to go in Monaco having its colorful lifestyle which includes casinos, glamour, and residence of popular people.
The Fontvieille has recently become one of the key destinations in Monaco where wonderful mix of historical findings and scenic beauty are found.

Weather and Climate in Monaco

Throughout the year, Monaco maintains a mild climate with its hottest months in July and August with the coolest in January and February. Rainfall happens during the cooler months with an average of only 60 days of rain every year.

Clothes to wear

Lightweight clothes may be worn with a wrap to warm you during cooler summer nights. Light to medium weights have to be worn during winter. The beauty and historical places in Monaco is waiting for you. Travel Monaco and experience the culture of its people and a place rich in historical value. Do not forget to check out the best deals of cheap flights for this one-of-a-kind destination.