Smart Traveller

Here’s a quick round up of some of the best travel-related blog-posts posted this month:

• Karen Bryan at Europe a la Carte has collated some ideas about things to see and do in Manchester as part of her excellent UK Tips and Tweets series.
• Sheila at Family Travel Guide has put together some great tips for planning a road trip in the USA.
• Darren Cronian provides information to help you to spot fake travel websites at Travel Rants.
• Erica Johansson at Travel Blissful recommends 7 foods to taste whilst you are in Japan.
• Nancy D. Brown at What a Trip has put together a list of the best things to see and do in Chicago.

In the first of a new series of posts about family attractions that you can visit, we take a look at five things that you can see and do with your kids in the city of York.

1. Visit the JORVIK Viking Centre. The JORVIK Viking Centre (Coppergate, York, Yo1 9WT) opened in 1984 and is one of the city’s most popular tourist attractions, and more than 15 million people have visited the centre since it opened.

The centre was constructed in order to house and display artefacts found as during an excavation undertaken by the York Archaeological Trust between 1979 and 1981. More than 800 Viking artefacts are on display at the JORVIK Centre, but the centre is much more than just a museum. It features reconstructed houses, streets and shops, and you can experience the sights, sounds and even the smells of life in the age of the Vikings.

On your tour of JORVIK, you’ll see reconstructions of a blacksmith’s home, the interior of a Viking home and even a cesspit, and kids can also dress up as Vikings and learn to write their names in runes.

The JORVIK Viking Centre is open from 10 a.m, seven days per week. It closes at 5 p.m. during the summer and at 4 p.m during the winter. You can avoid the queues at the entrance by pre-booking your visit - telephone 01904 615505 for details (a booking fee applies).

The Jorvik Centre is due to undergo a major refurbishment between November 2009 and February 2010, but will remain open for most of this period. It will, however, be closed during January 2010.

2. Become an Archaeological Detective at DIG. Operated by the York Archaeological Trust, DIG is based at the 15th century St. Saviour’s Church in the city’s parish of St. Saviourgate.

At DIG, you can learn about archaeological techniques, meet an archaeologist and see some of the artefacts that the York Archaeological Trust has excavated, and you can also have a go at digging up some objects yourself.

Bookings must be made in advance - you can do this via the JORVIK Booking website.

3. Explore York Castle Museum. You can see a wide range of exhibits at York Castle Museum (Eye of York, York, YO1 9RY). The museum has a Costumes and Textiles collection, a Military History collection and a Social History collection, and is also known for its recreated Victorian street, Kirkgate, which includes a sweet shop, a toy shop, a tallow-dip factory and a general store, along with many other businesses.

The most recently opened area of York Castle Museum is the York Castle Prison exhibit, where you can learn more about eight of the prisoners that were held there, the most famous of which was Dick Turpin.

York Castle Museum is open daily from 9.30 a.m (10 a.m on Fridays during school term-time) until 5 p.m. It closes early on 24 December and 31 December and is closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.

4. Stop off for afternoon tea at Bettys. If you’re visiting York, afternoon tea at Bettys Cafe Tea Rooms (6 - 8 St. Helen’s Square, York, YO1 8QP) is a must. It’s extremely popular, however, so be prepared to queue.

Bettys Cafe Tea Rooms was established by Frederick Belmont, a Swiss confectioner, who opened his first cafe in Harrogate in 1919. He also opened a Craft Bakery in order to produce bread and cakes, and this then allowed him to open further tea rooms, including the tearooms in York. The York branch of Bettys has a beautiful art deco style interior, which was inspired by the decor on the Queen Mary luxury cruise-ship.

5. Take a trip on the Yorkboat. Sit back and relax whilst seeing the sights on a Yorkboat Cruise. The company operates 45-minute daytime city cruises on the River Ouse and you can board at King’s Staith or Lendal Bridge.

Charges apply for all the venues and activities mentioned above - check their websites for prices.

Image: Steve F-E-Cameron

In this post, the next in our series about Florida’s A1A Scenic and Historic Byway, we’re taking a look at St. Augustine, and some of the things that you can see and do in the city if you stop off there during your Florida car hire holiday.

St. Augustine is the oldest permanent settlement in North America. It was established by the first Governor of Florida, Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles in 1565. In 1885, Henry Flagler, who had co-founded the Standard Oil Company with John D. Rockefeller, moved to St. Augustine and began to develop the city as a luxurious holiday resort for the rich and famous.

The city is still a popular tourist destination and has many historic sites and buildings for you to visit. It also has some great hotels and restaurants, so it’s worth spending a few days exploring St. Augustine before heading back onto the A1A in your hire car.

One of the best ways in which to get your bearings when you arrive in St. Augustine is to take an organised tour of the city. There are plenty of different tours to choose from: you could take an Old Town Trolley Tour, climb aboard one of the Ripley’s  Sightseeing Trains, or even take a helicopter tour. You could also explore some of the allegedly haunted locations in St.Augustine on a ghost tour, relax on a scenic cruise or head off on a historical pub crawl.

St. Augustine’s main landmarks include the St. Augustine Lighthouse, which was constructed between 1871 and 1874. It is still a working lighthouse, and you can take a tour of it and climb the 219 steps to the observation deck. You can also visit the museum, which is situated in the old Keeper’s House and contains exhibits relating to the history of St. Augustine, the lighthouse and the US Coast Guard, as well as collections of shipwreck artifacts and old photographs.

Other historic sites in and around St. Augustine include: the Castillo de San Marcos, the only surviving 17th century fort in North America; Fort Matanzas, which was designed to block the southern approach to the city and which was completed in 1742; and Fort Mose, which was the first free community of ex-slaves to be founded in the USA.

You can also explore Old St. Augustine Village, where you can see nine historic houses and the site on which the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation was made, which resulted in all of Florida’s slaves being freed. Another of St. Augustine’s many attractions is The Oldest House Museum Complex, where you can see the oldest surviving colonial house in Florida and visit the Mauncy Museum in order to learn more about it.

Other museums in St. Augustine include the Colonial Spanish Quarter Museum and Ripley’s Believe It or Not, and you can also take a tour of the Old St. Johns County Jail.

If you’re travelling with children, head for the Ponce de Leon’s Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park (11 Magnolia Avenue, St. Augustine). You can see a landmark cross made from coquina shells, which is believed to have been placed there by Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon when he discovered Florida in 1513.

Although Ponce de Leon actually set off on his voyage in order to discover new lands on the orders of King Ferdinand II of Aragon, legend has it that the explorer discovered Florida whilst searching for the Fountain of Youth, a mythical spring. Anyone drinking from the Fountain of Youth was believed to have their youth restored. When Dr Louella Day McConnell bought the land which has now become the archaeological park in 1901, she discovered a natural spring on her property and charged people to drink the waters. You can still drink a glass of water from the spring today.

Other attractions in the Ponce de Leon’s Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park include a planetarium, a Timucua Indian Exhibit, the Discovery Globe and a model of a wrecked Spanish ship. There are also 15 acres of grounds to explore and you can park your Florida hire car in the car park free of charge.

The St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park (999 Anastasia Boulevard, St. Augustine) is another popular family attraction. It’s currently the only place in the world where you can see all of the 23 recognized species of crocodilians on display, and the park is also home to snakes, a Komodo Dragon, Albino Alligators, monkeys and exotic birds. You won’t be able to miss Maximo, the park’s largest resident, a 15 ft 3 inch long salt-water crocodile, which weighs 1250 pounds. You can also see a number of wildlife shows and watch the alligators being fed.

St. Augustine has a wide range of shops, with everything from malls, such as St. Augustine Premium Outlets, to stores selling antiques and second-hand books. You’ll also find specialist shops, such as TeepeeTown, Heavenly Presents and The Pearl Shop, and there are plenty of bars, clubs and restaurants in the city.

Once you’ve explored St. Augustine, you can continue along the A1A in your hire car. In the next post in the series, we’ll be looking at some more things that you can see and do along the way.

Image: Daniel Schwen