online booking for hostels and budget hotels

Home > Tourist Info

Tourist Info

General Information about Venice

Venice is situated in the Veneta Lagoon, on an archipelago of 120 islands, separated by 160 canals,which in their turn are spanned by 400 bridges. The city, connected to the mainland by both a rail and road bridge, is divided into six districts ("sestieri"): San Marco, Dorsoduro, Cannaregio, Castello, Santa Croce and San Polo. These zones are divided up by a dense network of canals ("rii") and an ...

Means of transportation in Venice

Whichever way you reach Venice, whether it be by train, car or airplane, when you're there you'll have to use one of the following means of transportation:Your legsThe cheapest of the lot, very convenient because they take you exactly where you want to go, do not cost anything and keep you fit. Since Venice isn't that big, you can get anywhere in at most one hour and a half. If you go to Venice ...

Things to Avoid in Venice

Avoid the main routesThere are basically two main tourist routes in Venice, both conncecting the train station Santa Lucia to Piazza San Marco. The first one is called Strada Nuova, and is a broader road that can be taken by going left and then straight ahead after having exited the station. The Strada Nuova leads you to San Marco almost directly (in spite of several twists and turns), with fewer ...

General Information

Prague is situated on the Bohemian Plain, on the river Moldava, and is rightfully considered one of the most fascinating European Cities. The historic centre of the city stands on both banks of the river and is divided into 6 parts, which in the past were considered 6 separate towns, and were unified during the 17th century. The six zones include: Staré Mesto ( the Old Town), Josefov ( the ex- ...

Means of transportation

On footPrague is quite small, and just walking around is the best part. You will be able to enjoy all of the views of the streets, and you will find out that the places are not so far apart from one another. Public transport The city has a first rate public transport system. The underground has three lines, identified by the letters A (Skalka- Dejvicka), B (Cerny Most- Zlicin) and C ...

Things to avoid

Prague is probably the only place where it can be dangerous for men to walk alone not protected by a woman at their side (sometimes things change...). In Prague prostitution, and promotion of prostitution, are both legal if the prostitute is over 18. There are a number of prostitutes in Wenceslas square, in the Old Town, and elsewhere, who promote themselves with a lot of determination. Guys who ...

General Info about Italy

Population : 57. 728, 714 inhabitants Surface Area : 301, 337 square km Capital : Rome Administration : 20 regions ( 5 of which have special status); 95 provinces(2 of which are autonomous); 8,092 councils Currency : Euro Official language : Italian National borders : borders with France in the west and continental part of the country, north with Switzerland and Austria, east with Slovenia, the ...

Getting around in Italy

The best means of travelling around Italy is by train. Planes can be quite expensive, and unless you're travelling from the North to the South they don't save you so much time.The Italian public train system (the company is called Trenitalia) has been improving a lot in the last decade, and while still much cheaper than, say, German and British trains, it is quite efficient and functional.You ...

Italian food

Italy is a real paradise for food lovers: no other country in the world has a similar variety of recipes, such a high quality of “traditional” food and such a love and care for food preparation and consumption. While in many Northern European countries eating is often considered more or less as a bodily function, in Italy it is one of the most important aspects of life. For Italians, a meal is no ...

Italy: art and culture

Italy's worldwide fame for arts and cultural visits has no equals in the world: from Roman and Greek ruins to medieval churches, from Renaissance palaces and paintings to Baroque masterpieces. If you're into things ancient, there's no better place in the world to go to.The highlight of a cultural visit in Italy are certainly the main cities: Rome, Florence and Venice especially. Each of these ...

General Information

Amsterdam was originally established as a fishing village at the mouth of the Amstel River during the 13th century. In 1579 Amsterdam along with seven other provinces was declared an independent republic that was led by William of Orange, the forefather of today's royal family. Soon after throughout the 17th century Amsterdam flourished in what was known as the 'Golden Age'. Many have no doubt ...

Means of Transportation

Public transport is the perfect way to visit all attractions and explore the city of Amsterdam. Visitors who arrive by car are advised to park the car and use public transport systems as most places in the city have been designated paid parking places to ensure that Amsterdam's city center remains attractive and easy to reach. With 17 tramlines, over 40 bus lines, 4 ferry connections and 4 ...

Things to Avoid

- Pedestrians beware, Amsterdam is a city built for two wheels not two legs. You will notice most of the city has separate walking and cycling lanes and crossing these boundaries is a high risk activity.- Amsterdam's Red Light District is Europe's highest concentration of brothels, sex shops and various other businesses involved in the sex industry. Although relatively safe throughout the day, ...

An Introduction to Barcelona

BARCELONA! (BARTHELONA) to the locals, try not to spit on the person opposite you whilst saying it. This is a wonderful city, full of colour, excitement, tradition and tourists. Visit Barcelona and capture the real essence of Spain. This city has truly amazing architecture, of course led by Gaudì, great bars, culture round every corner and beautiful beaches nearby. Staying in Barcelona was an ...

Means of transportation

Discount PassesThere are several types of discount passes, most of them are good for the metro and buses. There is a 3 day pass for euro 14 and a 5 day version for euro 18. A 10 day trip pass, costing euro 5,60, can be shared by two or more people. Passes can be bought from most metro stations, tourist offices, news stands and lottery shops.Underground/Metro The Barcelona Metro is one of the ...

Things to Avoid in Barcelona

Barcelona is generally a safe city. But the radical increase in the number of tourists visiting it has obviously attracted a lot of thieves and robbers. The usual precautions apply: keep an eye on your gear wherever you go, and if you want to stay on the safe side do not carry expensive cameras and don't wear expensive jewellery – this way you will not attract too much attention from r ...

Do's and don'ts in Berlin

Berlin is a big European capital, very tolerant and inhabited by people who are generally very disciplined. So there are not many recommendations to make to tourist who want to visit it, apart from being generally polite.SafetyBerlin is a fairly safe city; the only areas that are best avoided at night are the areas around the Zoo and the big dormitory-type districts of former East ...

General information

Berlin stands in the middle of the region that has been known since medieval times as Brandenburg, and which is now the federal state of Brandenburg, with the River Spree running through the middle of it. After a long slumber lasting fifty years, it is now once again the capital of a unified Germany, and is newly considered to be one of the most important European metropolis. After the Second ...

Means of transportation

Berlin is a fairly big city, so going on foot only is not advisable. In spite of the size of the city, the traffic is not to heavy, also due to the fact that the streets tend to be wide and the traffic is very well organized.Public TransportationThe system of public transport in Berlin comprises underground, buses, trams and local trains. It takes you anywhere at almost any time of day, but it is ...

General Information

History:For centuries, Budapest was not one but two cities: Buda on one side of the Danube, on the hill, and Pest on the other side, on the plains. The area that is now Buda has been occupied by Celtic population since before Christ, and was then occupied by the Romans in the first century AD - the city was christened Aquincum, due to its many thermal springs, and became the capital of the Roman ...

Means of transportation

Public transportationBudapest has a very well-organized public transportation system, with buses, metro, trams, suburban railways, and 18 night bus routes. It is very easy to travel around Budapest with public services. For more info, you can visit the BKVrt site, which has a lot of information, including ticket prices, timetables and routes. It might be a good idea to purchase the Budapest Card, ...

Things to avoid

Illegal money changers: if someone offers you to change money for an apparently very convenient rate, beware! Very often this people will sneak worthless foreign or old notes in the roll they give you, or play sleight-of-hand tricks like counting the same banknotes twice, giving you the lump of money and running away before you can count them yourself. It is advisable to change money in banks and ...

General Information

Buenos Aires is the third largest city in South America and is made up of 47 districts, inhabited by approximately 3 million people. These people referred to as Porteños, (Port People) are strongly characterized by their neo-latin language. This complex,energetic and seductive sea-port city was, for centuries, the gateway to Argentina. Favoured for its geographical position, at the mouth of a ...

Means of transportation

The best way to go around the city is on foot, a district at a time. Buses and the underground are useful to reach more distant areas of the city. The underground has 5 lines (from A to E). Tickets cost approximately $0.70 and can be bought in the stations or from booths. There are buses which run at night, and there are a large number of black and yellow taxis which can be hailed along the ...

Things to avoid in Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is a safe city, overall, and in spite of poverty caused by the recent economic crises. To be safe, you should follow the usual general advice: - don't go in dark places at night - beware of pickpockets in the tourist and overcrowded areas - don't carry too much valuable stuff with you, and if you are robbed don't react, it can be dangerous.You should also be careful if there are ...

Dos and don'ts in Florence

There is little specific advice to give about Florence. The people from Tuscany are often the kindest of Italy, always ready to give advice, if they understand your language or you speak even the most basic Italian. Some, especially in the countryside and in smaller cities, might not like you too much if you're a foreign tourist since there's an epidemic of foreigners buying mansions in the ...

General Information

Florence is the capital city of both the Florence Province and the region of Tuscany. It is situated 50 metres above sea level and stands on both banks of the river Arno. To the north and north-east the city stretches along the foothills of the Careggi, Fiesole and Settignano hills, to the south along the Arcetri and Bellosguardo Hills. Florence dates back to the Pre-.Roman age, has a regular ...

Means of transportation

On foot The historic centre of Florence is not too big, so travelling on foot is a good option. This way, you won't miss all of the beautiful palaces that maybe aren't featured in the guide you'll probably be holding. By bus There's plenty of buses to go around Florence. It is a good option if you have to travel long distances. You can find a fully informative site in English, complete with ...

General Information

The sights of London embrace 2,000 years of history from the tread of Roman legions, intrusions of barbaric Vikings and Saxons, players in the age of Shakespeare, plagues, the great fire, the architectural heritage of the Georgian era and Victoria's era of railways and trade.Before the Romans arrived in England, there was a Celtic community revolving around a ford on the river Thames, but it was ...

Means of transportation

The London UndergroundThe Underground, or Tube as called by locals, is a subway system that connects most of central London and its outskirts. Coded by colour and names the tube can be easily followed, even by those of us who have never had to rely on public transport in our lives. Tickets are quite reasonable: you can pick up a day pass ‘Travelcard’, which also includes buses, from £4.10, or a si ...

Things to avoid

It is better for any traveller or holiday maker not to take a bus tour, this is not how you explore any big city, let alone London. There will always be too much to see, even for those who live there, so don’t even begin to try. Instead buy a day ‘Travelcard’ for the tubes and buses which costs around €4,50, and spend the day exploring the city your own way. Although London is a 24 hour city and u ...

General Information

Los Angeles, situated on the Pacific Ocean coast, surrounded by the San Bernardino mountain range, is the largest city in California. Los Angeles, the States' second most populated city after New York, is a major industrial and commercial centre. The city’s worldwide fame is linked to the film-making and television industry, however Los Angeles, with its mild winters and warm summers is also a p ...

Means of transportation

With a surface of 1200 square km (465 square miles) in the city alone, county excluded, Los Angeles is a huge city. This means that, whatever means of transportation you choose, you must accept the fact that it can take long to get where you want to go.On footMakes almost no sense, unless you want to stay in a very restricted area and visit that only; LA is huge and the places you might want to ...

General Information

Madrid is both the capital of Spain and of the autonomous region of the same name.The city is situated on the Meseta plateau in the Castillan region. Madrid lies along the Manzaneres river and at 655 metres, is the highest capital in Europe. Madrid is a large European city (5 million inhabitants) of great cultural and artistic interest, and with a night life few other cities can rival. ...

Means of transportation

The underground and public transportAfter the fall of Franco's dictatorship in the 1980s, the city has undergone a long, huge renovation process, one of the best results of which is its transport system. You won't feel the need for a car in Madrid: the underground takes you everywhere in the city in less than half an hour, all the stations are new, the trains are new, there are 12 lines that ...

Things to avoid

Pick pocketsBeware: if you go to places that are full of tourists, there are thieves around. Don't carry all of your money with you, and if you have to don't put it all in your wallet or your bag. The most dangerous places in this respect are probably Puerta del Sol and the El Rastro flea market, but all overcrowded places are dangerous in this respect.Just don't go around with a city map open ...

General Information

Since its origins, the history of Paris has been a series of ups and downs: sieges, sacks, epidemics, plots, revolts, expansions... We will mention the most symbolic events that contributed to create the character and looks of the present city.Lutetia Parisiorum was just a little Gallic port on the Seine River when Caesar conquered the region (Asterix and Obelix did not live here), a small ...

Means of Transportation

On footGoing on foot is the ideal option if you want to visit the most characteristic areas of the city one by one (Ile de la Cité - Ile Saint Louis, Les Halles - Beaubourg - Marais, Saint Germain - Saint Michel - Luxembourg, Montmartre...), but the centre of the city is huge, and it's much wiser to other means of transportation if you have to visit places that are a little far apart.By bike: ...

Dos and don'ts in Rome

Lines, queues and the likeMost Italians tend to think they're smarter than the rest (fellow Italian and foreigners alike). So any form of queue in Italy, instead of assuming the shape of a straight or curved line, tends to fill all of the space available, just like a gas would do in a vessel, as everyone tries to gain the two inches that will mean they will have to wait less than the others. To ...

General Information about Rome

Rome stands 20 metres above sea level, about twenty kilometres from the Tyrrhenian coast, in the middle of the Roman countryside where the river Tiber winds itself among the sloping hills. It is the capital of the ancient world, of Christianity and of the Italian State, a large open-air museum with its wonderful open spaces and wide-reaching views, a true metropolis with 18 "quartieri" and 22 ...

Means of transportation in Rome

Public TransportationHighly advised, since it is the most practical and fairly cheap. In Rome there are two subway lines, A and B, which cross over at Termini Station. Trains start running at 5.30 am and end at 11.30 pm (00.30 on Saturdays). Tourist routes and itineraries can be organised from various stations on the A line, linking visits to noteworthy monuments with shopping in the famous ...

General Info

San Francisco, California’s second largest city, is located on the Pacific coast, at the extreme northern point of the San Matteo Peninsula. The San Francisco area stretches southwards along the peninsula and comprises nearly 40 hills. The city and its hills form an incredibly scenic back-drop, home to Victorian houses, suspension bridges and the famous cable-cars straining to climb the steep r ...

Means of Transportation

Cable cars and public transportCable cars are one of the most typical public means of transportation in San Francisco, and although they are often full and not very fast, they're very useful to go up and down the steep hills of the city, and a great chance to have a quiet look at the city while travelling around. They are also cheaper than taxis. There are three cable car lines in San Francisco, ...

Things to avoid

Due to its peninsula location, San Francisco has had a fairly anomalous urban growth. Often, very stylish and expensive areas are right next block to very poor areas. The usual precautions apply: when you go to touristic areas, watch your purse and don't flaunt your valuable items: keep cameras hidden from view when you're not using them, etc... There are some areas which should be avoided at ...

General information

Sydney is a valued site by the oldest civilisation in the world. For at least 50,000 years its indigenous people from the Cadigal band of nomads used this area to fish, hunt and gather food. When they were originally asked the name of Sydney, they replied 'Warran' which literally translates as 'this place'. Similarly when asked about the name of their people they replied 'Eura' meaning people ...

Practical Information / Public Transport

The centre of Sydney is on the south shore of the harbour. Skyscrapers in the Central Business District (CBD) are linked by the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the harbour tunnel to the suburbs of the North Shore. The Harbour Bridge -completed in 1932- is affectionately nick named the 'Coat Hanger'.The Kingford Smith Airport is Sydney's link to the world, and is located approximately 10km south west of ...

Things to avoid

Many people visit the overpopulated beaches of Manly, Cronulla and Bondi. These tourist meccas, while nice enough, are nothing in comparison to the coastal extravaganzas that Australia has to offer. If the beach is what you are after, a simple one hour drive south to the Northern Illawarra Suburbs, or a two hour drive to the South Coast and you will find some of the quietest and most ...

General information Austria

Vienna, Austria’s capital city, has 1,533,000 inhabitants and stands on the right bank of the Danube, at the foot of the Wienervald hills. Originally referred to as Vindobona, the city had already gained noteable importance by the period of the Roman Empire. From the 13th century to the end of the First World War, the country was under the rule of the Habsburgs family. Nearly all the ...

Means of transportation

Public transportVienna has four underground lines, a bus and tram service, together with an express tram service (Schnellbahn), that connects the centre to the suburbs. Thirty tram lines in total, cross the city. It is advisable to purchase a travel pass (Dreitagekarte), which allows unlimited travel on any public transport. On foot - by bikeMost of the interesting things are in the centre of the ...

Things to avoid

Carriage tours of ViennaThere are plenty of carriages complete with horse that will wait for you at every tourist-heavy place and try and take you for a ride around town. Our advice is not to go, since it's not particularly interesting, will make you look a bit silly and will probably cost you a fortune. If you really feel the urge to have a ride, make sure to ask the price beforehand.General ...