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National geographique had done a selection of the most amazing landscapes of our planet. Of course, as any kind of ranking, it is a subjective selection done according to a particular view, even if they used as unit of measurement places’ popularity, the common image that we have of them, how they manage to captive us and tourists preferences.

The 10 most beautiful landscapes are the following:

01. Perito Moreno Glacier :

located in Patagonia, in Argentina; it’s an authentic marvelous. For its colors, for the power that it represents, for the supremacy that condenses each one of its vertical rock face of this huge ice mass.

@ sfer

02. Grand Canyon, Colorado:

it is a work of art sculpted by Colorado River’s artistic hands. An impressive parade able to cut breath to anyone. Moreover, seeing sunshine over there is an unequalled show.

@ StormeTX

03. Yunnan, in China:

It is a region located in the South of China where landscapes of the tropical forest and traditional rice fields are highlighted.

@ ecololo

04. Cliffs of Moher:

Located in Galway, in Ireland, these huge cliffs have a longitude of 5 miles and an altitude of 656 feet above the sea.
Here, waves whipping the cliffs will make a show for you.

@ Sitomon

05. Rio Iguaçu, in Argentina and in Brazil:

It invades also a part of Paraguay, but its famous parts are more in Argentina and Brazil.
This is another great wonder of our world. Waterfalls and waterfalls… more than you will never see. The water power facing up to tropical forests, giving us an exclusive landscape.

@ AnaElisa

06. Ulhuru, in Australia:

Its image is the one of a lunar landscape. Solicitude, nostalgia, sadness, but also immensity with an arid ground, dotted with blade of grass and a huge red 2.3 miles large monolith which appears alone in the geographical center of Australia.

@ Dinaiz

07. Cappadocia , Turkey:

A fairly tail: Fascinating and immortal. It is like this region is hiding between its legendary prehistoric formations and hided stories, magic and secret than no one will ever know.

@ waffle-iron

08. Cordillera Del Plaine, Chile:

Andes… another marvelous landscape we can find in South America, separating Argentina from Chile, and, in the middle, establishing, above all other highs, the famous peak “Del Plaine”.

@ * hiro008

09. Mount Cook , in New Zealand.

An ice mountain that dominates all highs of this continent. Located in the South island, it is highest peak of New Zealand.

@ Antoine Hubert

10. Banff National Park , in Canada:

it is THE perfect landscape. One of those When you see a picture of it you want to go immediately. A typical Canadian landscape made of green and blue, snow-capped mountains reflecting on crystalline lake that furrows the entire Canadian valley.

@ simsbury119

You must start thinking that there are others, but it is really difficult, to choose, between all marvels of the world, only 10 landscapes.
For my side, it would be Himalayas with the highest peak of the world, the Everest; or the Victoria falls, in Africa, or also, why not, the Amazonian forest with its fabulous exotic landscapes, in Brazil.

They are so many… You have to decide! Would you add some? Or would leave some?

Cinema has always been one of the best ways to travel without going away from our chair. Who has never dreamt about being an Indiana Jones in Petra or an Audrey Hepburn in front of Tiffany´s window on the 5th Avenue? Luckily, we don’t have to go as far as Jordan or New York to get the feeling of being in the silver screen.

Here are movies offering travels from another point of view.

Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain

Paris has always been known as THE city of love, but since this movie has come out, Paris became “Amélie’s city”.
As a result, the coffee place: Le Café des deux Moulins, Amélie’s working place, turned out to be an inevitable stopover while visiting the French capital.
M. Collignon’s grocery, where Amelie did her shopping, has kept the sign from the shooting and has become one of the most famous in France.

Life is beautiful and Tuscany

Since 1997, year of its release on the silver screen, the city of Arezzo became famous to be the place chosen to shoot this story, directed and acted by Roberto Benigni. Arezzo is a city in Tuscany, 47 miles away from Florence. You could walk around its streets and visit the church place, the theatre or the school where Guido’s mother gave classes.
But the city of Arezzo offers also other interest places, such as San Francisco Basilica, or the Plaza Mayor by Vasari.

Movies shot in Barcelona.

Before that Woody Allen chose it to shoot his last movie, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, the city of earl, a lot of movies were shot. Pedro Almodovar had chosen it as backdrop for his former works.
The beach of Barceloneta, the Park Güell, the Sagrada Familia or la Boqueria market have been protagonists on the silver screen.

@ OliBac

Even with the crisis, we wish to escape, once, twice, event three times a year from our routine.

But what’s the price of it? Nowadays, there are low cost, flights cheaper than others. We are able to go all over Europe, and sometimes more, for really low-priced.

But, once we’ve got the flights we need to find accommodation, and most of the time, this fee is not low cost anymore. Here, the home exchange for holiday steps in.

The concept is simple. For instance, you go on holiday to US to M. X. While you are there, M.X is in your house, in UK.

Lending your own home is a kind of “special”, I agree. For sure, right now, you are thinking about “Ho my God! What about if someone steals something!!!” or “What about if they do strange things in my bed”. That’s true!
But after a bit of cleanup and changing sheets, it’s fine again. Moreover, I think there is no hotel that changes mattress and bed after each client.

Above all, think about all the saving you can make, by going anywhere in the world. Funds planed for the housing will be used to enjoy, even more, your holiday.

If you are still skeptical, take a look on the websites:
-> Home exchange
-> Switch home
-> Home link

There are offers and feedbacks.

“Thanks for your help to locate an exchange for us. We did find one for Germany and spent the most relaxing holiday we ever had, in the Harz Mountains, for 3 weeks. The other couple met us there and took us for dinner with their mother who would help us out during our stay. We had a great exchange! Both couples did and it all worked perfectly!
We met and made new friends.
Home exchanging is the BEST way to go and we’ll do it again as often as possible. Even people we corresponded with and couldn’t make it work out right, have become friends through email, and it is so interesting to hear from all over the world!”
Dianne and Ed Clowes: Canada”

Nowadays, top 10, ranking, lists are about anything.
Today, surfing on internet, I have stumbled on the 10 world’s worst taxi rides; even better, the 10 worst cities to get a cap. I mean that if you decide to take a taxi in these cities, awful things could happen, according to “hearsays”.
The Top 10 was made by « Forbes Traveler »

1. Lagos, Nigeria

Tourists going to Nigeria are, most of the time, exasperated by this culture based on hush-money and shakedown.

Advise: Ask at your hotel how to get a private transport.

2. Naples, Italy

@ ZeroOne

Italy, The country where they drive Ferrari and Lamborghini like totally crazy.
Advise: Get a private vehicle and go directly to Capri.

3. Caracas, Venezuela

@ miotei

Be careful with “pirate taxis”. They can change your travel in a nightmare.

4. Moscou, Russie

@ miss_ohara

In Moscow, be careful with “gipsy taxis”.

5. Sao Paulo, Brésil

@ alvez

Getting a taxi here is a chaos. It’s the opposite of Los Angeles, for example.

Advise: If you can afford it, do like rich people, and don’t take a cap! Go around with a helicopter! I agree it can seem a little bit snobs but…

6. Mexico City

stevecadman

Warning with “express kidnapping”. They are common at this time.

7. Bagdad, Irak

No comment.

8. Bangkok, Thaïlande

@ Yan Pritzker Photography, Chicago

Here there is no matter of safety. But Bangkok is crowded, and it’s quite hard to walk around in the city with so many cars. You had better renting a small boat even if taxis are colorful.

9. Manila, Philippines

Here, I advise to rent a car directly.

10. New-York, US

@ Marionzetta

New York, New York… Maybe one of the best cities in the world, but also one of the worst to get a taxi.

Advice: If you want to go from JFK to the city center, you had better going by helicopter. The journey lasts only 8 minutes and costs 140 dollars.

Next time, I’ll tell you about another ranking: The top 10 of the best cities to get a taxi.

Thailand had to face up to many things these past years. It had been destroyed by the Tsunami in 2004, there were various politics problems, and the country was pointed out as a paradise for sexual tourism.

To attract tourists, the tourism authority has just announced that a new cocktail has been created, the Siam Sunrays. Cuba has its Caipirinya; Guadeloupe, its Ti-Punch, Thailand will get its Siam Sunrays.

@ alpha du centaure

Travelers will need time before they accepted the Siam Sunrays as an authentic and traditional drink.
Actually, a lot of traditional products were created only for tourists (such as in Québec where they invented the whisky with maple).

This cocktail will be soon available in all hotels and shops of Thailand.

Just to give you a little idea, here are the ingredients: Vodka, coconut liqueur, a piece of hot red pepper, sugar, lime juice, lemon slices and ginger.
All of this served with crushed ice and sparkling water.

Will this latest drink boost tourism in Thailand? Will it attract holidaymakers? We’ll see…

@ BastieN [M]

It’s a bit difficult to imagine a beach entirely white, but it’s much easier to see it for real, on the Hyams Beach, a village setting in the Guinness records book as the whitest beach of the world.

Agent Smith

This takes place in the state of New South Wales, between Sydney (2h30) and Canberra (3h), in the South east of Australia.

The village of Hyams Beach will surprise you with its large beach entirely white and its transparent and turquoise water. The sand color is due to eroded corals which get the beach.

goldfoot

Hyams Beach is one of the most touristic destination New South of Wales state.

Moreover, the village is surrounded of a national parks area whereof Jervis Bay National Park, Boodere National Park and botanic gardens.

Booderee is a large reserve. Its name means “abundance bay”.
The reserve is made of several virgin beaches with a lot of wildlife, perfect to move away from the city life and to get directly in contact with the nature.

In Jervis Bay, another National Park with similar virgin area, you might see kangaroos going through the beach.

This Bay offers aquatic activities. Moreover, with luck, you will also see some wheels.

In summer this area is lively. Plenty of tourists and foreigners come to enjoy the sun…

Geological factors have given us a huge quantity of natural beauties. One of them takes place in Turkey, I am talking about Pamukkale.

Pamukkale consists in a bunch of limestone-forming that gave those curious shapes (you can see it by yourself on the following picture).

@ deepgoswami

It is located in Denizli Province, about 220 miles from Istanbul. Pamukkale was declared as World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1988. Don’t miss this place if you pass by Turkey.

Moreover, the most interesting thing in this curious place is, at the top of this paradise, there are ruins of Hierapolis, which give us one more reasons to pass by this country.

@ Giant Ginkgo

The famous Bamboo forest is located in Kamakura. It is one of the main attractions in Japan.

A walk through this woodland will be unforgettable.

Bamboo is natural material; it has a peculiar beauty offering various colors and beatified feelings. This takes place nearby Kyoto.

Moreover, you can use this occasion to visit some Zen temples, such as the Tenryu-ji temple

In July 2007, after a long period dedicated to votes, the choice of the 7 new wonders of the Ancient World was done.

The celebration took place in Lisbon, where Ben Kingsley, Hillary Swan and Bipasha Basu were the announcers.

Each canditate were presented.

The winners, the new wonders of the Ancient world are:

Petra, Jordania

@ Gauis Caecilius

The Great Wall of China

@ luispabon

The Taj Mahal, India

@ saibotregeel

The Colosseum, Roma

@R.Duran

The Kukulkán temple, Mexico

@ svazquezl

The Machu Picchu, Peru

@ magnusvk

@ svenwerk

View from the The Christ the Redeemer statue

@ SlapBcn
A reminder about all the candidates:

1.-Giza pyramid complex, Cairo, Egypt
2.-Petra, Jordania
3.-Great Wall of China
4.-Moai, Chile
5.- The Taj Mahal, India
6.- The Alhambra, Granada
7.- The Colosseum, Roma
8.- The Eiffel Tower, Paris, France
9.- The Statue of Liberty, New York, US
10.- The Sydney Opera House, Sydney, Australia
11.- The C , Mexico
12.- The Machu Picchu, Peru
13.- The Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany
14.-Timbuktu, Mali
15.- Hagia Sophia, Istambul, Turkey
16.- The Saint Basil’s Cathedral, Moscow
17.- The Acropolis, Athens
18.- The Christ the Redeemer statue, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
19.- The Stonehenge, Great Britain
20.- Angkor, Cambodia
21.- The Kiyomizu-dera temple, Kyoto

@ cuellar

The Spanish capital is a cosmopolitan city and the economic, financial and administrative center of the country. But Madrid is also an amazing heritage of a huge cultural and artistic patrimony. The king Philip II named it capital of his empire. Its historical center is known as the “Habsburg Madrid”. Its spectacular Plaza mayor is a Centuries’ XVI and XVII proof and the most known place.

Madrid has got 79 museums whereof el Prado museum http://www.spanisharts.com/prado/prado.htm, el Thyssen-Bornemisza museum, la Reina Sofia museum.

The “aristocratic center” of Madrid, close to la Plaza Mayor holds the Royal Palace mixes baroque and classic era, built in the XVII Century. On the other side, at the Plaza Oriente, there is the opera and the modern cathedral of Almudena (picture below).

By fredpanassac

Madrid’s commercial area is located around “la Puerta Del Sol”. There is all kind of shops.
Don’t forget the Clock of “La casa del Correos” whereof its bell rings wish you an happy new year!

Its open spaces are also an important entertainment while visiting Madrid: Retiro Park (picture below), La “Casa Del Campo” and Juan Carlos I park. You can enjoy the sun, walk, row on a lake, and also feeding pigeons.
Without forgetting to say that Madrid is one of the capitals the most verdant in Europe.

By caribb

We have to highlight also that Madrid has a wide-ranging of nightlife: bars, pubs, clubs, and Flamenco shows unite and get involved into traditional folklore festival which are mostly in summer.

One thing is truly sure: You will always find something to do in Madrid!