In addition, there are villas available for rent in Croatia (Split, Istria and Dubrovnik) and Portugal (The Minho).

The booking service is ABTA and ATOL backed.

Resort Description:

The hotel has 42 guest rooms and three guest suites, and is located at a 15 minutes drive from Chiang Mai airport.

Facilities and services of the resort: a restaurant with outdoor pool terrace and indoor seating, concierge desk, baby sitting service, laundry service, dry cleaning.

Leisure activities and things to do in the area: excursions to temples, elephant riding, jungle walks, white water rafting, cookery classes for Thai food etc.

Each travel group consists of 20-25 people including 2 experienced group leaders.

Their latest offer is a 2 night mini break starting at £109 per person for the 2 nights. This mini break offer comprises of:

- double room;
- 4 Course candlelit dinner on the first evening, with Coffee (worth £32.10 per person);
- £10 dining voucher, if you dine on the second evening (per person – min 2 courses pp);
- full Lakeland breakfast on each morning;
- a Pre-dinner glass of Sparkling wine (worth £7.50 per person);
- a Box of chocolates in the bedroom (worth £8).

To celebrate this award, from the 12th to 24th April 2013, for any stay of 2 or more nights, customers can enjoy a meal at Côté Mas Restaurant, located outside Montagnac, at about 15 minutes from Pézenas (where the hotel is located).

The offer consists of a meal for two from the lunchtime menu, any day from Tuesday to Friday and includes start, main, dessert, wine and coffee (supplements are not included).

Please mention the reference HDV2CPM2013 when you make your booking.

Numerous Mexican and Spanish restaurants, bars and pubs, as well as duty free shops can be found along the central avenue in Puerto del Carmen.

The villa has 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a private pool (electrically heated during winter months) with open poolside shower.

Amenities include: dining facilities, washing machine, dishwasher, microwave, oven, fridge/freezer, portable barbecue, satellite TV, flat screen TV, DVD player and patio doors.

The Christmas markets stalls from Speyer offer enticingly aromatic treats, choirs and music groups, storytellers and actors, while the local attractions include places such as Speyer Imperial Cathedral (the largest preserved Roman church in Europe), the Holy Trinity Church, the historical City Hall and the Alte Münze.
Opening times of the Christmas markets are from November 26, 2012 to January 6, 2013, and the markets are closed during 25th and 26th of December. On the 24th and 31st of December 2012 opening times are from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
On the 1st of January 2013 opening times are from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m.

- 2 nights at Ngoma Safari Lodge, Chobe, Botswana;
- 2 nights at Victoria Falls Safari Lodge;
- 2 nights at The Hide Safari Camp in Hwange.

- A candlelit dinner at Waves  (Italian-inspired bar & restaurant),
- A £30 treatment voucher to be used at Elemis Premier Spa,
- 10% discount for spa products,
- Unlimited acces to indoor swimming pool, hot tub, sauna, fitness suite, tennis courts and golf course,
- 3 night break (if the break is taken from Friday to Monday) or 4 night break (if the break is taken from Monday to Friday).

The offer includes:

- hotel for 3 nights with breakfast, dinner and welcome drink on arrival,
- 60’s bingo and themed quiz with prizes,
- 60’s themed entertainment and themed games with prizes,
- included excursions to Salisbury and Poole.

Ports of call include the following: Venice (Italy), Dubrovnik (Croatia), Corfu (Greece), Kefalonia / Argostoli (Greece), Athens / Piraeus (Greece), Navplion (Greece), Mykonos (Greece), Kusadasi (Turkey), Istanbul (Turkey).

Places to visit in the area: Heads Of Ayr Farm Park, Culzean Castle, Burns National Heritage Park, Isle Of Arran.

Activities / facilities: water activities (pool complex, aqua jets, aqua gliders, fun inflatables etc.), lounge-bar-café, restaurant, bakery, fast-food etc.

*Further conditions and fees apply. Please visit the operator’s website for details.
**Image is for presentation only.

The park has a heated outdoor pool, multi-sports court and is located around a well-stocked fishing lake.

*The price is per person, for a Bronze Caravan type of accommodation. Visit operator’s website for details.

See multitudes  of zebras, antelopes and wildebeest seeking for water and pasture throughout the Serengeti plain.
Visit the Ngorongoro crater to discover the fascinating place where a wealth of different species form a unique ecosystem.
The tour also includes places like Lake Manyara, Tarangire National Park and Olduvai Gorge.

ISLAND OF BORA BORA
- 4 nights at the Hotel Maitai Polynesia (3*)  – Standard Garden Room
- American breakfast free

Example of what you can get: 25% off all available merchandise at reception from The Flying Pig Uptown Hostel in Amsterdam.

Other freebies are avilable from hostels in Athens, Barcelona, Berlin, Copenhagen, Granada, Interlaken, Lisbon, Paris, Rome, Vienna and other European cities.

Includes flight from LJU (Ljubljana) airport and accommodation for 18.3.2012 – 21.3.2012.

Price is for one person and is subject to availability. Price is valid for travel on a specific date, for one person, if two persons are traveling. Prices can not be guaranteed untill final reservation.

Stag House and Clock Tower, in the central square of Sighişoara.

Currently a hotel and hosting the Romanian-German Cultural Center, the Stag House from Sighişoara is a historical monument located in the central square of the town, very close to the Clock Tower.

A stag is painted on both façades of the hotel, with it’s head placed on the corner of the building.

The house is over eight centuries old and the last restoration was finished in 2001.

View of the Sighişoara Clock Tower from inside the citadel.

The six-and-a-half-centuries-old Clock Tower of Sighişoara is the most important landmark of this fortified medieval town (and one of the few still-inhabited medieval citadels in Europe – located in Mureş County, Romania, at 117km from Braşov) and houses a history museum.

Top of the Clock Tower seen from inside the citadel.

The last reconstruction of the roof (a Baroque-style work) was made in 17th century after a fire destroyed the original roof.

Sighişoara Clock Tower close-up.

Sighişoara Clock Tower facade.

The Clock Tower, together with the 12th century Sighişoara Citadel, is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999.

Wooden figurines and clock on the exterior side of the tower.

A mechanism consisting of two clock displays and two sets of wooden figurines that mark the hours and days of the week, can be seen on both facades of the tower.

Stairways to the Clock Tower.

Narrow cobblestone streets and stairways surround the tower making it accessible on foot from every corner of the town.

Silent moment on the narrow streets of the citadel.

A nun, standing next to a souvenir shop inside the medieval citadel of  Sighişoara (in Mureş County, the heart of the historic region of Transylvania, Romania), on a windy Sunday afternoon.

City Hall and Roman Catholic Parish Church in Sibiu's Big Square.

Update – April 2nd 2013: Sibiu has won the Best City To Visit in 2013 Travel Tournament! This is a great victory for both Romanian cities that competed in the final round – Sibiu and Bucharest – and, as Romanians, we couldn’t be happier! Thank you for your votes! Well done, Romania!

Update – March 26th 2013: Sibiu is in the Final Round of the Best City To Visit in 2013 Travel Tournament, fighting for the title with the other Romanian city in the tournament – the capital city, Bucharest.
Romania will have a winner at the end of this year’s tournament, thanks to fellow Romanian bloggers who have put an admirable effort into showing people the beauties of these two cities and convinced them that Sibiu and Bucharest deserve to be in the final.
We invite you to go to the voting page here and vote for your favorite city.
Our vote goes to our own nominee, Sibiu. If you have the same favorite, don’t forget to share your vote via Twitter and Facebook using this hashtag: #SibiuForBestCity2013

Update March 21st 2013: Sibiu is in the Final Four Round of the Best City To Visit in 2013 Travel Tournament, competing against Buenos Aires! Go to the voting page here http://bit.ly/15ucwYo and vote for Sibiu. We’re just one step from the final!

We’re very proud to let you know that one of our favorite cities in the world, Sibiu, has made it through to the Elite 8 stage of the Best City To Visit Travel Tournament hosted by foXnoMad website and we want to encourage you to go ahead and place your votes for the current round (if you haven’t done so yet). You can find out more about this competition as well as vote for your favorite city here: http://foxnomad.com/category/site-news/contests/.

Sibiu Potters’ Tower - medieval fortification.

We’ve nominated Sibiu back in February because we felt that a city so wonderful as the former European Capital of Culture from 2007 deserves a better social media exposure (this is an example of the media exposure the winner can benefit off), and we were amazed by the way the Romanian social media has mobilized in supporting our cause, propelling Sibiu to this stage of the competition.
Sibiu literally crushed every opponent so far: 12 – 7 against Shanghai in the 1st round, 535 – 84 against Barcelona in 2nd round, 349 – 29 against Florence in 3rd round and 401 – 36 against Paris in 4th round.

The hashtag we’ve created to help support Sibiu through this travel tournament, #SibiuForBestCity2013, has been quickly adopted by social media and we feel this is the way to bring even more people to vote by the end of the competition. That’s why we encourage everyone to use it when they tweet / share / post about the competition.

For those of you who haven’t yet been to Sibiu, we’ve selected the following series of photos that we want to share with you.
Here is why we think Sibiu deserves to be the best city to visit in 2013:

Fireworks in the Big Square, Sibiu – by Sebastian Marcovici

Summer fun in Sibiu – by Sebastian Marcovici

Snowboarder – by Sebastian Marcovici

Beer festival in Sibiu – by Sebastian Marcovici

Cycling fans – by Sebastian Marcovici

Time for a snack – by Sebastian Marcovici
(Photos by Sebastian Marcovici > via cemerita.ro)

Christmas Market in Sibiu – from Bianca Tripon’s Gallery on Picasa

Cobbled Streets – by cotropitor, on Flickr

Sibiu downtown by liviu.suciu, on Flickr

City View / Sibiu by FOREVER CARDON, on Flickr

The Big Square (Piata Mare) Sibiu – by Adrian Banu on Instagram

Sibiu’s Lutheran Cathedral – by Adrian Banu on Instagram

House on Mitropoliei Street – by Adrian Banu on Instagram

If we have convinced you, here’s what you have to do next:

1. Go to the competition’s homepage (http://foxnomad.com/category/site-news/contests/) and place your vote for Sibiu.
2. Press Tweet and/or Like right below the voting button, and don’t forget to add the #SibiuForBestCity2013 hashtag to your tweet / facebook share.
3. Follow the competition in the next rounds as well and vote for Sibiu again.
4. If you have a nice picture from Sibiu that you want to share with us, simply add your comment in the comments field below and copy the link to your picture from Sibiu. We will select the best pictures we receive and include them here.
5. Share this article with your friends on Facebook and Twitter, and add the #SibiuForBestCity2013 hashtag to your tweet / facebook share.

A big THANK YOU goes out to all of you who have supported both Romanian cities during this campaign, through blog posts, facebook shares, tweets etc: Imperator Travel, Chinezu, Mirel Matyas, Dana Ilie, CeMerita, Elena Ciric, Cluj.travel, Adevarul, Realitatea, Viajoa, Turist in Tara Mea, Ciprian Caraba, Aliceee, Roxana Ilie, Drum Liber, Pitici dar Voinici, Camelia Lazar, Si Blondele Gandesc, Meseria de Parinte, Bucuresti Tourneo, Delia, Standout, Academia Catavencu, Cristina Bazavan, Bobby Voicu, The Bucharest Lounge, Lucian Hirsu, @SorinGrumazescu, @ContiHotels, @Muzachan, @PamilVisions, @ioangreavu, @CautPensiuni. Of course, there are many others who have made their contribution to this amazing result and we want to thank them all, so please accept our apologies if we can’t include everyone in this list. Thank you all!

This is an article by guest author and Aruban resident, Billy Parker.

Aruba is a different kind of island compared to the rest of the Caribbean destinations.  Sure, it shares in similar features of sun (and there’s a lot of it), sand, and fun.  But, once you arrive, you can feel the differences.  Once on island and taking a glance at a map, you’ll notice Aruba is an island of sectors.

Staying on the western coast, north of the Beatrix Airport, you’ll find the tourist and commercial heart of Aruba.  The downtown area of Oranjestad, with its traditional Dutch architecture, has many bars, restaurants, shops (most notably jewelry stores), and even a couple of casinos.

The downtown area receives a steady stream of cruise ships on a daily basis so this part of the island is often busy with pedestrian traffic.  However, the government invested in a brand new trolley system to help ease the traffic and also help out businesses that aren’t located on the main strip.

Aruba’s High Rise and Low Rise resorts

Heading North out of Oranjestad running parallel to the ocean, you’ll begin entering the resort areas. Aruba has divided the resorts into “High Rise” and “Low Rise” sections.

Eagle beach Aruba by vnijhof1974, on Flickr

The first section is the Low Rise areas with various hotels, long term apartments, and townhomes.  All  are within a 5 minute walk to Eagle Beach, one of the main beaches on the island.

Aruba – high rise resorts area – De Palm Pier by matt_perdeck, on Flickr

Leaving the Low Rise area, you almost immediately enter the High Rise section of the resorts located in the area of Noord.  These resorts (Marriot, Westin, Radisson, etc.) line Palm Beach and offer all the amenities you’d expect from beach resorts in the Caribbean.

All are open to the public, although you may buy a drink out of courtesy for using their beach chairs or pool.  Located on the western coast means that virtually every evening guests are treated to a spectacular sun set.

Behind the high rise resorts is a plethora of restaurants, shops, and bars.
Venturing to the most northern point of the island, leaving the High Rise resorts you will find a continuous stretch of beach accessible to the public. Many Aruban families and other locals will pack up their cars with lunch and drinks and have a nice day next to the blue waters.

Beaches

Aruba Arashi Beach by MarkOwen0211, on Flickr

Boca Catalina and Arashi beach offer endless opportunities for snorkeling and sunbathing.  However, at the very end as you wind your way north, you find the island’s lone lighthouse. The lighthouse draws tourists for its elevated position and 360 degree look at the island.

Outside these resorts and commercial areas, Aruba has a very different feel. In these sectors you find a more authentic Aruba. Staying west, but traveling south from the Beatrix Airport to St. Nicholas, you will find mostly residential areas. However, the beaches of Mangel Halto and Baby Beach are not to be missed.
In addition to the beaches, there are a couple restaurants (Flying Fishbone and Zeerovers) that offer a fantastic dinner away from the cruise ship and resort crowds.
St. Nicholas doesn’t have the experience that Oranjestad and Noord do.  A lot of the buildings are vacant as businesses have moved north in recent years.  However, there is a certain charm about the town as it invokes a feeling of a past time.

As you move further inland, away from the west coast, you find a lot of Aruba’s residential districts. However, beyond the neighborhoods lies the rugged and barren landscape of the east coast.

Natural Landscapes

Divi Divi Tree, Eagle Beach Aruba by kslaught21, on Flickr

The physical terrain sets Aruba apart from other islands.  There aren’t the lush jungle canopies that you might imagine.  In fact, a lot of the island is rocky with cacti and the native Divi Divi trees taking up most the vegetation.

Arikok National Park, Aruba by Hornplayer, on Flickr

The majority of the southeastern side of the island is a part of Arikok National Park which gives guests a nice drive through the physical environment.  It’s a good idea to have your camera ready as wild goats populate a substantial part of this area.

Water Sports

Kite-boarding in Aruba – by bulldogjgc, on Flickr

Aruba really is an outdoor lover’s paradise. The main attractions are the pristine beaches and the endless water activities available. In addition to kayaking, paddle boarding, windsurfing, and sailing, Aruba has established itself as a player on the kite-boarding scene. The consistent winds provide extreme sports enthusiasts with the opportunities to accelerate and grab air.

However, you can’t ignore the endless treasures beneath the water as Aruba attracts scuba divers throughout the world. There are a number of dive shops that offer a variety of dives that gives you a look at a very diverse and exotic underwater experience.

Local Attractions

Alto Vista Chapel – by StephT, on Flickr

For many visitors, simply wading out in the water and enjoying the sand is enough.  Aruba offers many sites all throughout the island worth taking the drive to go see. Besides the lighthouse in the north, many people drop by the quaint Alto Vista chapel that sits up on a hill overlooking the eastern coast.

For those that consider themselves nature lovers, Aruba has a bird sanctuary, ostrich farm, butterfly farm, and even a donkey farm!  History lovers should check out the abandoned gold mine left over from Aruba’s colonial past as well as the Indian caves with its numerous mural paintings throughout.  If you want to get a sweat in, a journey to the island’s Natural Pool on the east coast gives you a great workout and an even better reward!

Whatever your pleasure, Aruba has a little taste of everything.  It’s an easy island to get around on.  And the Arubans will make you feel welcome with a quick ‘Bon Dia!’ and a smile.

____________________________________

*This article is a guest post by Billy Parker, an expat teacher currently working at the international school in Aruba.  He just wrapped up a two year stint in SE Asia and is new to the travel writing world.  You can check out his blog on all things travel and teaching at parkstick-ponders.blogspot.com

The Big Square (Piața Mare) from Sibiu.

The locals favorite promenade was built in mid-14th century and is surrounded by beautifully preserved medieval noble houses.

The City Hall and the Roman Catholic Parish Church in Sibiu's Big Square.

Do you like Sibiu? Want to make it THE best city to visit in 2013? Go to this page here http://foxnomad.com/category/site-news/contests/, vote for Sibiu and make sure to use the #SibiuForBestCity2013 hashtag when you tweet and share your vote. Thanks a million!

Turnul Olarilor, located in the middle of the third fortification belt of Sibiu.

Arquebusiers’ Tower (Turnul Archebuzierilor, also known as Turnul Pânzarilor) is the one in the background of the picture below.

Arquebusiers’ and Potters’ towers, and the brick wall that links them to the Carpenters’ Tower to the North.

Carpenters' Tower - North view of the medieval fortification in Sibiu.

Carpenters' Tower entrance, Sibiu.

Carpenters' Tower and brick wall - South view.

The tower is part of the third fortification belt of Sibiu, which also includes Arquebusiers’ Tower and Potters’ Tower.