Monday 30 June 2008

5 unique places to visit in Europe this summer


For all those people who are planning on visiting Europe this summer, we have selected five places that are more than worth your time. While many Europeans have already discovered these places, people from other continents often stick to the standard tourist destinations. Paris, Rome, Amsterdam, Venice and Athens are definitely great places to visit, but a trip of a few days to one of those regions will enable you to experience Europe on a different level. Even if you have already booked a holiday, finding accommodation in one of those regions will often prove to be easy. The five locations below are not in any order of importance:

1. The Lake District in Northern Italy
2. The Baltic States
3. Normandy, France
4. Prague, Czech
5. The Croatian coastline

1. The Lake District in Northern Italy is a beautiful place to visit. The Dolomite Mountains and forested hills surround most lakes, while small villages and big cities close by give you an insight in the true Italian life. While Rome is a historic and architectural landmark, the Lake District offers you the chance to cool down in one of the beautiful lakes, the hear the church bells on the other side of the water, to hike high in the Dolomite Mountains and to see a less touristy side of Italy.

2. The Baltic States are a fairly unknown place in Europe, and the same goes for the landscapes. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are not places where you go sunbathing; it are rather places where you go to relax, to explore, for a very affordable price. The former Soviet countries are not only a chance to see heritage from the USSR; the countries have developed their own national identity and offer beautiful landscapes and parks. Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, is a great place to see how Baltic people enjoy life with great music and food, and a great place to see different styles of architecture throughout the city. A visit to the Lahemaa National Park, also in Estonia, will allow you to see wildlife that is lost in most countries nowadays. The forested islands and authentic villages also draw a perfect image of nature and culture in harmony with each other.

3. Normandy is located in the northwest of France, and was the landing stage for one of the most important battles in World War II. Normandy is not as simmering hot as the Côte d'Azur, but shows you rather a rough side of the French coastline. The heritage from World War II found along the beaches in Normandy not only gives you a better prospect of the history of Europe, but also gives you the chance to see the place to which numerous movies and games have been dedicated. Dieppe and Caen are important regional and national cities of art and history, and are a great addition to a trip to Paris, which is not that far away.

4. Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic, is one of the most beautiful cities in the old Eastern Europe. Prague is another unique place in Europe, and when you find yourself crossing the Charles Bridge, surrounded by street artists and vendors, it will be hard not to feel the great vibe Prague offers. From this bridge, you will be able to see the Old Town on one hand and the Prague Castle on the other. Czech has a convenient weather during summer, and is not as hot as some of the more southern cities in Europe, The modern architecture combined with the castle and World War II Gestapo Headquarters building are only a glimpse of the variety the city has to offer, which is one of the many reasons Prague has earned its place in this list.

5. The Croatian coastline is by far not as well known as the Italian, Spanish and Greek ones. This is a shame; Croatia offers you one of the most beautiful beaches in Europe. The 1,200 km of Adriatic coastline brings more and more tourists to Croatia, with numerous landmarks such as the Dubrovnik port town as ideal places to visit when you're tired of tanning for a few hours. Even though most people probably don't know the exact location of Croatia, the country is closer to the touristy part of Europe than you may think. With Italy just across the Adriatic Sea and Greece and Austria not too far away. The Croatian coastline makes for another unique place to visit, away from the hordes of tourists.

Saturday 28 June 2008

New Information at Travel Approved

Besides checklists and all sorts of other information for a holiday by plane, Travel Approved also offers you all the information necessary for a holiday by car. This involved a small restructuring of our Information section, and we hope that you like the result.

The information in our new Holiday by car section is not complete yet, but you can expect a lot of additions to this section in the near future.

We are working hard to make Travel Approved an even better source of information than that it is already, and you can help us out! If you have any useful contribution to our website, feel free to contact us through our Advice/Contact section. We greatly appreciate help of any kind.

If you would like to advertise on Travel Approved, we advice you to follow the same procedure or send an e-mail to info@travelapproved.nl.

Happy travelling!

Friday 27 June 2008

Be prepared for your summer holiday!


As the summer holiday has arrived, I think it is important for everyone to think about what to prepare before leaving abroad. When going on a holiday, you want to avoid trouble and avoid forgetting things. This is why we came up with a reminder of the most important things to do before going on a holiday.

1. Passport: For most countries, the passport usually has to be valid for a period of 3 months after the return date.
2. Round-trip ticket: You almost always need your plane ticket to apply for a visa, preferably a round-trip or you have to show a proof of sufficient funds to come back.
3. Book your hotel and rental car if necessary, and make sure to get the rental certificate. You might need it to cross borders, or in case of accident.
4. Visa: Look up if you need a visa for the purpose of your visit. Usually, a tourist visa doesn't take long to receive, but make sure that if the visa is effective as soon as it is given to you, that you receive it as close as possible to the departure date.
5. Vaccinations and medications: If vaccinations are required for your entry at a certain destination, make sure to see your doctor or physician at least a month before departing, since most shots take about a month before they're effective. Also make sure to get the certificates to prove that you got the immunization.
6. Get the proper insurances (health, travel, car, etc.) and the certificates.
7. Plan what you are going to see, visit and do on your holiday. This way, you know approximately how much it will cost, what you will need for supply, clothes, laptop (if wireless Internet is provided in your Hotel), etc.
8. Print our checklists (carry-on and registered luggage) to make sure you don't forget anything. Since the checklists are for every circumstance, you should read it and cross what doesn't apply to you.
9. Call your credit card company to let them know when you are abroad.
10. Pack your luggage with the help of the checklists, and then weigh the suitcases.

Most important of all: don't forget your keys, passport, e-ticket, cell phone, cards and wallet.

Have a nice holiday!

Thursday 26 June 2008

What is Travel Approved?

As a first post on blogger, I think it's a good idea to tell all of you what Travel Approved is, and what we're all about.

Travel Approved is a new travel website that offers you all the information you need to go on a perfectly planned holiday. We offer advice and information for any kind of holiday, and TravelApproved.com is the only website you will need to prepare for your holiday in the best way possible. Next to all this, we also offer fully customized and personalized travel advice, where we plan your entire holiday from scratch, which is a useful service if you have bad holiday experiences or if you're short on time.

So why do we make a blog about our website? Well, we would like to give you travel updates from day to day, so that you are sure that you go on your holiday safely and fully prepared. Not only will this save you loads of money; it will also save you a lot of trouble and annoyance. If you spend hundreds or thousands of Dollars on a holiday, you want it to be perfect. That's where we come in!

We hope that you enjoy your stay at our blog and on our website, and we would like to wish you a perfect holiday!

Happy travelling