More and more people realize that bicycles can be much more useful than cars. Bikes are cheap, environmentally friendly, keep their owners in good health and as much more fun means of transport for travellers exploring a new destination. HostelBookers, the budget accommodation specialist names the top 5 bicycle-friendly cities and hostels in the world:

Amsterdam, the bike capital of the world, is home to the famous Amsterdam Bike Ramp which holds thousand of bikes. With a safe and extensive bike route network, bountiful governmental support and promotion, it’s no wonder 40% of the city’s traffic moves on two wheels. In the heart of Amsterdam city centre, Hostel Van Gogh provides cool modern facilities at a great price – including cycle hire for guests. It is just a few steps from the Van Gogh Museum, Rijks Museum and Amsterdam City Art Museum. At Hostel Van Gogh guests can pedal to the many bars, shops, clubs and restaurants on offer. The hostel is also just a 5-minute walk from the famous clubs and open markets of Amsterdam. Dorms start at €25per person per night and private rooms at €28pppn.

Named one of the Top Ten Places to Live in Europe, according to Forbes, Copenhagen is also home to the world’s most successful bicycle community program. In Denmark, most of the population has a bike, and for many years Copenhagen has been known as The City of Bikes. Every year Copenhagen invests on bike infrastructure additions and improvements. Just a few minutes from Copenhagen’s Central Railway Station, guests will find Hotel Ansgar. With its central location guests are only a few minutes walk from Tivoli Gardens, the famous shopping street of Strøget and Town Hall Square. The quiet street is perfect for getting to grips with the hotel bike rental. There are 81 rooms to choose from, ranging from singles to quads and all are equipped with Wi-Fi. Private rooms start at €43.60pppn.

The best thing about cycling in Berlin is the wide streets – Karl Marx Allee is 90m wide – and there are no uphill struggles. The government has decreed that all new roads in Berlin must have cycle lanes, and they are dedicated to ensuring the existing ones are updated. Currently there are over 620km of cycle paths and 190km of off-road routes. The Three Little Pigs Hostel in Berlin is housed in a former 19^th century convent at famous Potsdamer Platz Square. Guests will be just a short cycle ride away from the buzzing districts of Mitte and Kreuzberg, and they can rent bikes directly from the hostel. Checkpoint Charlie, Brandenburger Tor and the Reichstag Building are just around the corner as is the best of Berlin’s nightlife. Dorms start from €11.46pppn and privates from €18.52pppn.

Cycling in Beijing, with its nine million bicycles, is something of a rite of passage. Bike rentals start from around 10 Yuan (€1) per day plus a cash deposit. In 2010 the Beijing officials launched a campaign to get people off the car-choked roads and on to the nice flat cycle routes. They believe 20 years ago, 4/5 of the city’s population cycled to work, but now just 1/5 saddle up every day.

Built on a 400-year-old historic site which once served as the home of famous artist Mr Mei Lan Fang, Beijing Si He Courtyard Hotel is just 10 minutes from the centre of Beijing. They have a free bike rental service so guests can explore Beijing the local way. Wangfujing Avenue, Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square are all nearby. There are spacious traditional guestrooms positioned around the courtyard so you have lovely views. The antique furniture and carvings of ancient symbols add to the atmosphere. Private rooms start from €39.95pppn.

Cycling in San Francisco is becoming very popular, thanks mostly to the increase and care given to the cycling infrastructure as well as it’s trendy fixed gear culture. As far as the terrain goes, the city is extreme, with famously steep hills but along long straight boulevards and wide avenues. The government has installed over 1,500 bike racks and all new car parks must provide a certain amount of bike storage space. Around 16% of San Francisco’s residents class themselves as ‘frequent cyclists’ biking on two or more days per week.  Green Tortoise Backpackers Guesthouse offers free meals, free Wi-Fi and even a free sauna. It’s located in the city by the bay and the free bike rental means guests can travel around the city in style the green way. There are private and dorm rooms with comfy beds, a lucky few have TVs and a huge selection of movies. Set out by bike, and the hostel is just a few minutes away from Chinatown, San Francisco Bay, Fisherman’s Wharf and Little Italy. Dorms and privates start at €22.96pppn.

There are, of course, plenty of reasons to visit London that have nothing to do with the monarchy – stunning collections in art galleries, spectacular cathedrals, top-notch theater offerings, countless pubs, and perhaps the world’s most famous clock, to name but a few – but a simple poll of Americans to find out how many of them got up pre-dawn to watch televised coverage of Prince William’s recent marriage (or, for that matter, his parents’ wedding) shows just how highly we still think of the British royal family.

When you’re planning a London itinerary, then, it’s likely to include plenty of royal attractions.

Travel Tip: No matter what your itinerary includes, don’t forget to plan your accommodation ahead of time – especially if you’re visiting during the summer high season. The hotels in London can book up well in advance during the city’s busiest months.

Buckingham Palace

There are the obvious ones that will probably be on your must-see list already. There’s Buckingham Palace, the royal residence, part of which you can visit when the royal family is on vacation. One of the Buckingham Palace attractions, however, is outside and year-round – the famous changing of the guard ceremony happens every day during the summer, and every other day during the rest of the year.

Tower of London

Then there’s the Tower of London, combining the monarchy with history. The Tower is an 11th century castle that’s most commonly known as a prison and the site of more than a few executions, but since many of the prisoners and those sentenced to death were members of the royal family it’s an historic site in London that’s impossible to visit without reflecting on royal history, too.

Beyond the obvious royal attractions, however, there are things like the Queen’s Walk – a lovely, tree-lined walking path along the South Bank of the Thames that was built for the Queen’s “Silver Jubilee” in 1977. Westminster Abbey has clear royal ties as the site of coronations as well as royal tombs, but don’t overlook St. Paul’s Cathedral’s royal relations – it’s the cathedral where Prince Charles married Lady Diana in 1981.

What’s your favorite royal attraction in London?

- by Jessica of BootsnAll

Download mTrip’s London Travel Guide!

photos by PhillipC, xeddix

A motion filed last month by the U.S. Department of Justice alleges Gibson Guitar knew it was trafficking in endangered timber when it was busted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in November 2009, reports the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA).

Taking place throughout July, with a diverse program of exhibitions, events, talks and workshops, activities will take place in and around King’s Cross. Chosen for its rich heritage as an industrial hub of London, King’s Cross will serve as the perfect spot to host this festival. Venues include: National Portrait Gallery, V&A, St Pancras International, the German Gymnasium and British Library. Satellite activities & exhibitions take place across London.

© Walter Joseph Collection, courtesy the British Library

What is Street Photography?

As defined by the London Street Photography Festival…

“un-posed, un-staged photography which captures, explores or questions contemporary society and the relationships between individuals and their surroundings.”

With its first year of producing this event, the organizers of LSPF are dedicated to preserving street photography as an accessible art form, important tool for communication and method to document and reflect on society and human behavior.

“The newspaper lies, the radio lies, the TV lies, the streets, they howl with the truth.” Henry Miller

London Street Photography Festival runs 1st – 31st July at various venues, http://www.londonstreetphotographyfestival.org/

Watch the video:

Images: © Mimi Mollica, Bus Stories &  © Walter Joseph Collection, courtesy the British Library   

From left to right: Gary Arndt, me, Brooks and Steve Keenan at #blogtripF1

What’s the difference anyways?

That quote comes from Gary Arndt, author of the Everything Everywhere blog. Gary has been traveling around the world since 2007. He has no permanent home. His website receives more visitors than most DMO’s. He has over 100,000 Twitter followers. Gary is the real deal.

A travel writer writes a finished piece. It has a beginning, a middle and an end. On a good travel blog one episode leads to the next and the ongoing story makes the visitor come back over and over again. People are drawn in by the ongoing story.

Awesome.

For more of Gary’s insights, listen to his podcasts about (travel) blogging.

The kick-off of Sar’Nao, the second edition of the now well-established “month of photography” was done at the lobby of the Louvre hotel last night, gathering most of the malagasy photography world (well, at least those who could make it to Antananarivo). Right before the opening at 6 PM, photo lovers started the afternoon by a walk through Antananarivo downtown, starting from Anosy lake, heading to the kilometer 0 which is at the Soarano railway station. Those happy photographers then went up to Louvre to attend the opening ceremony.

This year, photographers were challenged to produce 10 photos for an individual exhibition, and another set of 10 photos for a collective exhibition. The themes that has been selected are the following:

- “Art an-tsary”: anything photographic that is artistic-related

- “La ville dans tous ses états”: urban life

- “Nature et biodiversité”: self-explanatory

- “Proof report in photojournalism”

- “virtual reality”

The Stenop’Art-As’Art association is the organizer of this annual month of photography. As per the organizers, ”Sar’nao” has two meanings:

• “Sar’nao” AKA Sarinao in Malagasy, literally translated into “your photo”. The organizers have made a mention in their presentation book that it means “your clichés” whether you are a newbie, an amateur or professional photographer
• “Sar’nao” which is an allusion to the malagasy word “Sarona ao”, literally translated into “which covers it all” as the event covers photography and anything related to visual arts.

This year’s visual representation of Sar’Nao refers to a Baobab as a tribute to this year being the year of the forest.

So without further ado, here is the program of the month (I mainly wrote this article for those who couldn’t figure out a damn thing from the JPG program that is available on other places on the internet)

I will probably meet you at some of those exhibitions And as one of my photographic “mentor” said “you keep shooting”

This was one of the messages from John O’Nolan‘s fantastic presentation at the DMO’s and social media conference in Valancia last week.

John rightfully pointed out that when people care enough about your product, take time out of their day and go through the effort to tell you that you need to fix a problem, it probably means they care and want you to succeed.

This is a huge opportunity. Fix the problem, invite them back and you might have a customer for life, and an advocate for your business.

That’s marketing.

I can’t wait for his book ‘Designing Emotion‘ to come out.