For my recent stay in Bangkok to attend the TBEX travel convention, I picked the ibis Siam as my first hotel. I have previously stayed at the ibis Sathorn and ibis Nana in the city and ibis hotels are some of the cheapest hotels I’d recommend in Bangkok. They are some of the best designed […]
On my first night in Tallinn, I was wandering through the beautiful Old Town and was checking out the many restaurants in the heart of town. There are a lot to choose from, many with outdoor seating around the squares and along the little alleys. Most of them have their menus out, so you can
If you want to get a short overview of the history of Tallinn, head to the City Museum. It’s housed in a medieval merchant’s house in the Old Town, so it’s easy to incorporate it into a walk around the Old Town. it’s really well done and has exhibits from the middle ages to Estonian independence. Some
As my second home in Tallinn as part of my Baltic Explorer trip, I chose the Park Inn Central Tallinn. It was just a few blocks from the Old Town and my first hotel, the Radisson Blu Sky, it looked great in the online photos, had good reviews and I booked it at a price
I had picked a few restaurants in Old Town Tallinn from Tripadvisor to check out on an evening walk. One highly rated one is Rataskaevu 16, named after its address. When I checked it out on a weekday, it was completely sold out and turning away people, one after the other. I took that as
I’m very interested in history and usually have the history or national museum of my destination on my itinerary. In the Baltics, I wanted to learn especially about the more recent history of these former Soviet republics. Estonia has established the excellent Museum of Occupations, covering the Soviet and German invasions during World War II
As my first hotel in Tallinn on my Baltic Explorer trip, I selected the Radisson Blu Sky, using points of the Club Carlson program and the Bonus Award Night feature of my US Bank Visa card (no longer available). It is one of the top rated hotels in Tallinn on Tripadvisor and it proved to
I always cringe a little when I see people on a once-in-a-lifetime trip taking pictures of unforgettable sights… with their phone, or even worse, tablet! I believe in travel with “leaving only footprints, taking only memories & photos”, so I try to make the most out of the photos I take on my travels. Surely,
Compared to many European capital cities, Helsinki is manageable in size and it’s surrounded by nature. Finland is covered to 70% by forest and if you are visiting Helsinki, a great way to get a glimpse of that is to take one of the sightseeing trips by boat! Within a few minutes of leaving the
Vapiano is a concept restaurant that started in Hamburg in 2002 and I had eaten previously at their first location “Hohen Bleichen”. I didn’t realize that hey had become an international franchise organization with restaurants in 29 countries since and was surprised to see one on the central train station square in Helsinki during my
Helsinki is a compact city and with the beautiful setting on the Baltic Sea and the historic architecture, it’s ideal to explore by foot – at least in the summer time! I was fortunate enough to have gorgeous summer weather and walked all over town! Even if you only have a few hours to spend
I enjoy visiting museums when traveling – they tell a lot about the place you are visiting, not only by the exhibits but by the way the stories are told! Helsinki was the first stop on my Baltic Explorer trip, I had four days to explore and the city has has a lot of museums