While you are in Hongkong, make sure to visit Macao, just a short ferry ride. If you have a bit more money, which I don’t. you can take a helicopter ride to Macao, faster than the ferry with nice views.
If you take the ferry and plan to return on the same day, just make sure you buy your return ticket upfront, if you are visiting on weekends. Otherwise, be prepared to wait for the next available ferry. Many Hongkongeses visit Macao for gambling in the weekend.
Pompidou. Here is the official site. But my favourite description is here (where else?). From the outside, you should guess it must be something related with arts (each colors actually represent something functional).
If you are not so artsy, being around Pompidou is fun enough. There are some free exhibits by the pond, such as La Sirene. Better, you can see tourists acting wild for photograph (i.e. me)
If you have Paris Card, do go in!
Arc de Triomphe. It looks like a Roman Arc. It is indeed. Read more at Wikipedia for more details: Arc de Triomphe.
Go to the top. You have to pay, but if you have Paris Card, it is included. Keep your visit to Arc de Triomphe as the last one, it closes very late. This allows you to maximize your Paris Card. Its locations is great, even in late evening. The metro is just at the corner. So no worry.
You can enjoy many things from the top, but Parisian traffic is sure fun to watch from the top. Arc de Triomphe was meant to be the intersection of the ten roads in Paris. A great rotunda, indeed. The problem is that it was build when human rode motorless vehicles (i.e. carriage and horses). Surely one will not build intersection for automobiles… at least not for 10 main roads.
What was so fun with watching traffic. If you look closely at the last picture, you will wonder why Parisian can survive such traffic. It looks like at any time you can expect accident. In fact, this is the place where cars are the most prone to accident in Paris. Unfortunately, tourists are number one cause of the accidents. (see picture to understand the rule of the road). If you plan to come to Paris and will rent a car, read well the fine print. You will be surprise to find that your insurance may not cover accident at Arc de Triomphe.
Of course you can see more than just Parisian traffic. You can see Eiffel from here. But WHY would you do so?
Still on Notre Dame.
Look: LINE! (Queue)
To enter Notre Dame of Paris means to stand in a line. However, don’t be anxious. As you can see from the pictures, there are usually two lines in front of the church. The left one (in the picture) is to enter the church. The line is usually longer than the other one but move at a speed 10 times faster. Go, wait in the line, and from the speed it moves you even wonder why there is a line to start with.
The other one leads to where I took the picture, the top of the church. This however is every tourist nightmare. Count approximately one hour – if not more. The strategy for those travelling with partners is of course to go into the church alternately while the other one is waiting in the line. Going to the church top (tower) costs you some money. If you are smart, you buy a Paris Card (for one day or more) that includes this attraction.
From the tower you have view of Paris and tired tourists in the line. It might not be as spectacular as the view from Eiffel but given the height you sure see much details. Having view from the top is not the only purpose of waiting in line for hours for the tower, don’t miss the gargoyles. Take your time when you are on top since it is basically a one way trip due to the narrow nature of the walkway. Just don’t tell anybody that I told you to take your time – there is a limit of how many people allowed on the tower at any given time. So, the longer you are up there, the longer the people down there stand in the line.
The beloved church in Paris: Notre Dame (Our Lady) definitely worths your visit. Centrally located in the Ile de la Cite in Paris, there is no way you miss locating this Church. Do study this church prior/during the visit. Know how it was built, read about Victor Hugo and The Hunchback of Notredame, even read a bit about gargoyles. You will definitely get more out of it then simply having your pictures in front of it.
Stand a distance away to have a good look of the church. Don’t forget to walk to the sides and behind to get a completely different views of the church. Notre Dame of Paris is one of the first Gothic Cathedrals. If you know anything about Gothic Cathedral, you will adore the architecural and the structural of this church. Don’t miss the flying butresses.
Walk close to adore the carvings. Most people simply walk through and take pictures. Rare study the meaning behind the beautifully carved figures. If you remember how the old days were, you will know that there are many biblical stories behind the art pieces. The main ones above the entrance door tells the core story of the bible. See if you can find the devil cooking a man (representing Hell). Also find out why this church is called Notre Dame (hint: find the figure representing Mary). Not all paintings are biblical stories – see the figure without head and guess what the story behind it.
If you have time and patience, climb to the top for the view of Paris. And don’t forget to say hi to our cute gargoyle friend who is continuously wondering why tourists wait in such a long line below.
Paris draws million of people each year for various reasons. Fashion, Louvre, Seine river, Eiffel, or simply being in Paris, are some to mention. There are so much to write about Paris; after all none will be bored with Paris for a week – not to mention if you only have a few days to spend in Paris.
The key to visiting Paris in such short time is to know what to visit, how to get there and be sure that you don’t miss important places. Having planned those, always – really always – make sure you see Paris from the eyes of Parisians. Parisians don’t live in Louvre, not climb Eiffel every day. There is much more in Paris than monuments and musems, there are the people. Make sure to include them in your trip.
Paris is easily reached. Either you fly in directly to Paris, which should be considered even when you don’t plan to return from Paris (round trip is not necessary cheaper), or take Thalys, or Eurolines. Consider the no-frill airlines such as RyanAir and Easyjet that fly to (smaller) airports in Paris for substantially much cheaper price. Take Thalys if time is critical. For boot-strapping, do Eurolines – there is no cheaper transportation mean that Eurolines, for exception of hitchiking, which I don’t recommend.
Dinant is one of the towns in Belgium Ardennes that most people will visit. From there on, you can visit nearby towns such as Namur (Namen), Liege (Luik) and Spa. As a base for your Ardennes exploration, Namur probably serves better due to its location and size.
Walk along the river, starting from the Cathedral (not much to see inside) with the high-rise rock background. There are quite a few restaurants along the river, with the main ones near the ticket counter for a boat cruise. The view is basically the same along the river; it was actually quite a mundane walk along the river. Luckily, the day we were there, there was some sort of festival that most children dressed in some creative clothings (see pic).
You can end your walk nearby the Cathedral where you will find the ticket counter for Citadel of Dinant(Fortress). The price is 6.50 euro/person, including the lift to the top. You can also reach the top by car, however the entrance fee is practically the same. Get the lift for the experience, if you don’t mind waiting for the lift.
There is an obligatory guided tour every 20-30 minutes to see the Fortress. Go to the meeting point (mark as #1), in front of the smal cafetaria. The tour is in Dutch/French with minimal translation to English. If you don’t speak Dutch/French, your best choice is to read the short explanations in each room and get a small leaflet (free) from your guide. Unless, of course, you come with such a large group of only English speaking tourists, which is atypical.
The tour group is rather big, ~25 tourists, per guide, making the guided tour not easily followed (not to mention the language). Each section of the fortress is rather plain, with some tools to help the imagination, but they don’t seem to work well on me. The guided tour ends with a recreated section with slanted floor, similar to those you found in carnivals. Don’t forget to tip your guide at the end.
Do the tour if you have time, but probably not worth it if you have seen other fortress during your trip.
During the high season, there is always a long line for the ticket to Colosseum. If you are standing in the line, you will see tour guide offering group ticket. The group ticket comes with guided tour and quick access to the Colosseum. This way you can enter Colosseum without spending an hour waiting in the line, which is not atypical during high season. By all means, avoid buying group ticket, unless you are really interested in the guided tour.
What you need to do instead is to head to nearby Palatine Hill. Here is the logic, the Colosseum ticket gives you free entrance for the nearby Palatine Hill, so vise versa is true. Hence you can buy your ticket for the Palatine Hill and get free access to Colosseum. Of course the Hill is much less popular, and hence alomost no line. I did that twice (I was in Rome twice) and during the highest season I have less than 5 people in front of me.
Now, you can dicth Palatine Hill and head straight to Colosseum. Skip the line and try not to wave your ticket to the exhausted tourists who will waste their hours standing in the line. Palatine Hill is just 3 minute walk from Colosseum, in the Forum area. Just follow the arrow.
As for you who are interested in the guided tour, consider that you can always eavesdrop. Just make sure that you are not too obvious 
. Think of it as free guided tour, and you can ditch your guide if you don’t like him/her and move to the next one. Smart, isn’t it?
If you are wondering what is the best way to travel within Europe, here are a few tips for you. As you probably know, rail is probably one of your best option. Definitely check out Rail Europe. Choose the appropriate Rail Passes. There are many of them, so you should invest time to find one that suits best your interest. For 26 and under, you probably should check out Youth Rail Pass. For the whirlwind backpacker, Eurail Global Pass is the way to go.
However rail is not the only way to travel. Flights and Bus are competitive enough. Be sure not to miss Ryan Air and Easy Jet, along with other no-frills and low-cost carriers. Eurolines is a good alternative if you like traveling by bus. It takes longer, but could be a cheap alternative to train. Paris-Brussels is best with Eurolines, just make sure your order your ticket early enough to benefit the promotional price.
Hongkong, you got to admire the buildings, the people and the food. There are so much to see, but so metropolitan. You got to see what a big city is, and guess, big cities are alike. Nevertheless, who won’t love Hongkong.
The tall rising towers, the lights and the hustle and bustle of constant flow of people. Spend your time in the main island, but don’t forget to visit the more secluded area. When in the main Island, don’t miss the International Finance Center (IFC 2) building, the tallest building in Hongkong. You must have noticed it from Tomb Raider: The cradle of life. You must notice the Bank of China Tower as well. If you look closely, you might think that the building next to is the box that the Bank of China Tower came with.
To travel in Hongkong, take buses and trains. Ferry is good to cross to Kowloon, to admire the city panorama. It’s best at night. Don’t forget to get your Octopus card, a smart RFID card to pay your trips. Note that you can pay your lunch in some places with the same card. Talk about cash-less society.
Take the bus to The Peak Tower; alternatively, you can take the Peak tram. You are heading to the Victoria Peak to reward yourself with the magnificent view of Hongkong skyscrapers. Taking the bus to the top can be a thrilling experience. If you do, do please take the double decker. Sit on the top level and at front seat. You sure appreciate the thrill.
For religious experience, go to Lantau and visit Tian Tan Buddha, it’s the tallest bronze Buddha in the world. Climb the stairs. At the end of your visit, don’t forget to visit the cafetaria, offering many vegetarian meals that are common to the Buddhist monks. They are delicious – being vegetables. They sure beat those raw leaves some call salads!
For remaining days/hours in Hongkong, you have choices to visit the shopping area and enjoy elbowing thousand of shoppers, or you can go rural. Do the latter. Enjoy Hongkong without the hustle. See the villages, admire the neighbors playing Mah-Jong, and be sure that you can say that you have seen the both sides of Hongkong.
