Travel Tips as World-First Tourist Toll Takes Effect: Venice Visitors Must Now Pay to Enter City
It’s historic travel news: in what the country’s tourism board is calling a “unique experiment,” the famous canal city of Venice, Italy, is implementing what it labels “a daily access fee.” The controversial ‘visitor’s tax’ takes effect April 25 after years of debate and delay. The move is a pilot project that officials hope will ease the pressures of “over-tourism” in one of the most popular and vulnerable historic city destinations in the world. If successful, supporters hope the tourist toll...
Beach Vacation Tip: What You Need to Know About Reef-Safe Sunscreen
Most of us are pretty careful about sun exposure when we travel on beach vacations these days. It’s hats and sunscreen all the way to protect our skin from the sun’s rays. But how about protecting the ocean we love to visit from the chemicals in our sunscreens? The rise of "reef-safe" or "reef-friendly" or “ocean-friendly” sunscreen claims has a lot of travelers puzzled about what sunscreen to pack that protects skin without harming the aquatic environment. The Origin of Reef-Safe SunscreensA...
Social Media Safety Tips for Spring Break and Beyond
Spring Break is high season for family travel, and with every member of the family more digitally connected than ever at home and away, that means posting about good times on vacation. Not so fast, warns one insurance company, which is advising travelers of the risks of ‘over-sharing.’ A new survey commissioned by the Allstate insurance company revealed that almost one-third of social media users post content about their vacation plans online. That’s before AND during, not just afterwards, and...
The Safest Countries for Solo Women Travelers - Plus Other Top Tips
Never before have more women been traveling solo! Singletons of all ages and stages in life: never-been-married, divorced, widowed… all kinds of women are deciding not to wait to be paired up or until a friend can be a travel companion to embark on dream journeys. They’re making plans to travel now. Does that sound like you? If so, you’re part of one of the top travel trends, and the great news is that the world has never been more accessible...
Top Tips to Avoid Baggage Blues
Are you worried about delayed, misplaced and missing baggage on your next trip. Don’t worry! We've got your back with essential tips to make sure your holiday isn’t ruined by baggage blues. Producer and host of BestTrip TV, Lynn Elmhirst, explains. Carry On Heroes For many people, their first solution is to not check bags at all. I suppose there are some people making rather short trips with little variation in clothing who can do that, and if you are one of...
Your First Decision to Travel Solo: Should You Stay or Should You Go?
11/11 is Single's Day, highlighting the solo lifestyle that applies to more and more uncoupled people. The decision to travel solo is among the biggest decisions a singleton makes. This year will mark the first time many people decide to travel solo. They'll be deciding whether they should stay home or go it alone. Janice Waugh of Solo Travelers explains why more and more people are taking the solo travel plunge:It’s true that the trend for solo travel has been...
Tips for Traveling with Your Pet
A survey by a North American hospitality company reveals that over half of pet owners say they plan to travel with Fido or Fluffy in the coming year.And while a surprising one-third of respondents say they have a special music playlist for their beloved animals, less than 10% have prepared for their trip by doing online research about traveling with their pets.Well, we’ve come to the rescue.If you just can’t bear to leave your animal companion at home while you...
Why 'Coming Home' is the Best Way to Discover Your Irish Ancestry
St. Patrick’s Day finds most of us rooting around in our closets for a green sweater to fulfill the ‘wearing of the green’ on a day that they say ‘everyone is a little bit Irish.’ For more and more people, it’s also about finding your roots, even right at the source in the Emerald Isle. Tourism Ireland says there are 70 million people dispersed around the world who can claim Irish ancestry. In the US and Canada, it’s one of the...
The 'FOMO' Guide To Travel in 2022
Social media has an acronym for it: FOMO, or ‘Fear of Missing Out’. Over the last year, we’ve been missing out on a lot. A lot of get togethers, events, family celebrations… and a lot of travel. Finally, it looks like there’s light at the end of the tunnel, with travel starting to pick up this year, and gaining real speed in 2022. If you’re anything like us, you feel like you have a lot of catching up to do. In addition...
4 Tips to Navigate Travel's Re-Opening Like an Expert
Recent weeks and days have seen a flurry of changes in travel restrictions and COVID status. Some countries have started declaring themselves COVID-free, while other places - like the US - continue to see spiking numbers.So re-opening rules keep changing and are different from place to place. It’s a lot for our US and Canadian readers to keep up with.Lynn Elmhirst, Producer/Host of BestTrip TV, helps you stay on top of the latest best practices for an informed traveler.Europe and...