Paris Around

Posts Tagged ‘Insider’

To visit Paris is to stay in a hotel, but to truly experience Paris as a Parisien, there’s no other choice but to stay in an apartment, something countless visitors to the City of Light have discovered over the last decade or so. 

After all, Paris is one of those rare destinations where sophistication is a way of life, regardless of budget. Who hasn’t read Hemingway’s A Moveable Feast and longed to recapture the romance of just sitting in one of the countless cafés lining the avenues and grand boulevards of the city, sipping a cup of café au lait and talking about art? Or doing more than simply visiting the postcard-ready landmarks, but really digging in and exploring the places most tourists avoid but that the locals adore?

Staying in a vacation apartment gives you access to all of that, affording you an interaction with the locals that you just can’t get when you’re staying in a hotel. Once you have the building access code, it seems as if you are afforded entry into a whole new level of Paris. 

Dick and Demaris Mills learned this during a visit a few years ago, when they inadvertently locked themselves out of their apartment. The building’s concierge wasn’t available until the next morning, leaving the Mills temporarily homeless. A neighbor, one they’d never even met before, handed them the key to her apartment and asked only that they not let the cats out.   Read more...

The last time I was in Mexico, so was everyone else, or so it seemed. But it is possible to travel to Mexico and enjoy a white sandy beach and some peace and quiet at the same time. All you need to know is where (and, in some cases, when) to go.

When to Go

November to April is widely regarded as the best time to visit. The summer months can get pretty hot. September and October is the peak of hurricane season, which actually stretches from November to June.

Keep in mind that the month of March tends to be very busy on the Mexico beaches with high school and college students on Spring Break. If it is a quiet vacation you want, you will also want to avoid the time around Christmas and Easter, as well as July and August.

Where to Go

There is a lot more to Mexico, and the Yucatan peninsula, than the city of Cancun.

Here are five favorite destinations that offer memorable Mexico vacations. Each of these spots can be reached by flying into Cancun. So if you would like to get a taste of the big city resort and then set out on the less traveled path, you will have the best of both worlds.  Read more...

Whatever the budget for a trip or vacation, most people would like to save a little – or a lot – of money when booking hotels, airfares and other trip necessities.

At Travel-like-a-pro.com, we specialize in helping people save money when booking their trips and vacations, and here are a few of our favorite tips for booking a hotel and making the reservation as smooth and affordable as possible:  Read more...

Now that you’re enjoying the comfort and convenience of your Santa Barbara vacation rental home, what’s next? How do you plan to spend your time in Santa Babrara? Where can you mix and mingle with the locals? What you need is a Santa Barbara native to give you the kind of useful insider tips only local knowledge can give.

Whether you are interested in dining, seafood, shopping, art, ocean, hiking, antiquing, wineries or farmers markets, we’ve got you covered.  And to get your custom-tailored vacation tips, contact your Santa Barbara vacation rentals concierge.

Local Area Guide for Santa Barbara Vacation Rental Guests: Insider Santa Barbara Travel Tip #1 – Sunday Treat: Every Sunday afternoon Cold Springs Tavern, a tucked away restaurant/bar on the way to wine country, features live music, a colorful assortment of characters and the best tri-tip sandwiches in town. Take Hwy. 101 to Hwy. 154, drive up the mountain to the top, then one mile down the valley side turn toward Stagecoach Road. Then take a direct onto Stagecoach Road and go down the canyon for about 1.5 miles to the Tavern.

Local Area Guide for Santa Barbara Vacation Rental Guests: Insider Santa Barbara Travel Tip #2 – Beautiful Beach Combing: Butterfly Beach in Montecito is one of the prettiest beaches in town. Take the Olive Mill exit from Hwy. 101 and take Olive Mill west toward the ocean, Olive Mill becomes Channel Drive. After you pass the Four Seasons Resort on your right, begin looking for parking.  Read more...

Get the most out of your exciting holiday in this fabulous city, pay attention to some sound travel tips from those in the know.

Arriving in Rio at Christmas time may sound like the holiday you have always longed for, but only adequate planning and some key bookings made really early on in the year will ensure you get to truly enjoy those main festive days, Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve. Whatever your budget, your age or the number in your travel group, your time, money and opportunity will be wasted if you have to spend hours in travel agents or tourism offices once you are in Rio, trying to get from A to B.

If this is your first time in Rio city and you want to spend only 2 or 3 days taking in the “must see” tourists sights before heading off to famed festive resorts outside the city such as Búzios, Petrópolis or south along the Costa Verde to Paraty, then forward booked accommodation in all resorts and pre arranged transport to and from is vital. Pressure is always on accommodation in resort towns at this time of year, some bookings are made a year in advance, for peace of mind; don’t even think about chancing it once you get there. Unless you have driven the motorways in Rio or Sao Paulo like a local, hiring a rental car and driving to your out-of-Rio destination any time from mid December to late January is a crazy idea. Traffic gridlock (for hours, really) in unaccustomed Rio summer heat, getting lost because you can’t read those vital road signs is just so easy to do. Depending on your budget, a tour package with transfers included, with English speaking driver, or a taxi and bus ride with dictionary in hand, will get you there safer and faster.  Read more...