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Luxor is a city in the south of Egypt with a last know population of 377 thousand people. The city is an area of 161 square miles. Luxor is a very popular travel destination in southern Egypt and the Nile Valley. It is known as the world’s greatest open air museum as it holds so many treasures of ancient times. The city lies on the banks of the Nile River.

Luxor was once the ancient city of Thebes. It was the glorious city of the God AmonRa. In the 11th Dynasty the town grew into a thriving city. It became a center of high luxury, wisdom, art, religious and political supremacy. Later it rose to the major political, religious and military capital of Ancient Egypt. After it had been attacked by an Assyrian emperor the city of Thebes fell in significance and ruins. It did remain a sight of spirituality.

The city of Luxor is a relatively small town for Egyptian standards. The center on the East Bank holds restaurants, hotels and shops. Within this modern city stand the ruins of the temple complexes of Luxor, built by Armenhotep III, and Karnak. The Luxor Temple is a beautiful complex with four pillared courts and hypo style halls and holds some colossal statues of Ramses II. Most of the ruins and tombs of ancient Egypt are located on the West Bank of the Nile River. Here tourists can find The Valley of the Kings, the Valley of the Queens and the Tombs of the Noble.

Travelers to Luxor require a valid passport and visa. A 30 days visa can be obtained upon arrival for $15 US. Most tourists stay on the East Bank and travel to the West Bank to visit the tourist sites. In recent years there have been built hotels on the West Bank where many independent travels find their place to sleep.

Melbourne is the capital and largest city of the southeastern state of Victoria. It is also the second largest city in Australia. It has a population of approximately 3.9 million people, who are multicultural and sports-mad as well. The city is located at the head of the Port Philip Bay. Melbourne is often regarded as the cultural capital of Australia.

Melbourne has everything on the area of arts, commerce, education, industry, sports and tourism. It features Victorian and contemporary architecture, expansive parks and gardens, extensive shopping, museums, galleries and theaters. The soap Neighbors is filmed in this city. The multicultural society offers a great diversity. They share a common love for sports, as the city is home to Aussie Rules (AFL) Football, the Australian Tennis Open, the Australian Formula One Grand Prix and the Melbourne Cup and the national horse event Spring Racing Carnival. This last event evens stops the whole nation.

The city center is of most interest for tourists. It offers bars, cafes, boutiques and department stores. Nice green parks are around to flee the busy life. You can’t miss the Eureka Tower, Rialto Towers, Parliament House of Victoria, the prominent Southgate with its lively restaurants and bars and the Queen Victoria Market. Almost everything in the center is accessible by foot. Other interesting activities are visits to the Comic’s Lounge, the St Francis Church, Grampians National Park, The Great Ocean Road and Philip Island.

Travelers to Melbourne are required a valid passport and visa. Citizens of America, Canada and Europe will automatically after application receive a tourist visa that is valid for 12 months. It permits multiple entries into Australia for a stay of up to 3 months on each visit. As for the weather, Melbourne is known for changing weather conditions.

Santa Cruz de la Sierra is the largest city in Bolivia and its business center. It is located in the east of the country. The name Santa Cruz de la Sierra means ‘Holy Cross of the Hills’ and was founded by a Spanish captain, who named the settlement after a city in Spain. Originally the city was located east of its modern location. Santa Cruz has a population of over 1.5 million people.

Many tourists think Santa Cruz is a city of business people and busy traffic. Although the city is the largest in the country, it hasn’t got a business feeling. It lacks high-rise blocks. The feeling is that of a lightly buzzing small-town, with a relaxed tropical atmosphere. The locals in the city lounge on the main square and restaurants still close for siesta. The restaurants will serve mostly traditional foods such as majao, locro and masaco.

The city’s lay-out shows three rings or anillos. Tourists can visit the Cathedral, the Central Park, many markets. The city has some museums, like the Museum of Holy Art and the Natural History Museum. There are some great excursions that you can book in Santa Cruz. You can go trekking in Park Amboro or Park Noel Kempff or take a boat trip over the Amazon River. You can relax at the lagoon at Park El Arenal, just don’t do this at night.

Travelers to Santa Cruz need a valid passport and get a visa application form that can be granted to you on arrival by plane. You also need to submit proof of sufficient funds for your stay, proof of return travel. You need a certification that you’ve had Yellow Fever before if you come from Brazil or Paraguay. Check the embassy in your country before you leave to get the right requirements. Be aware that no official police officer will ask to see your documentation on the streets of Santa Cruz. You should insist to accompany you to the police station.

Vlore is the second largest port in Albania and one of the oldest cities in the country. The port is located at the meeting point of the Aegean Sea and the Adriatic Sea. The city was founded by the Greeks in the 6th century BC. In the Roman Empire it became an important port. It was once known as Aulon. Nowadays the city is an important tourist place for its recreation. It has a population of around 95 thousand people.

Vlore has a history of being captured by other countries. It was also part of Serbia, Turkey, Italy and Nazi Germany. The port was a submarine base for Italy and Nazi Germany and for the Soviet Union after World War II. These days Vlore is a fishing port and holiday resort. Tourism is a major industry and the city has many hotels and beaches. The surrounding district produces petroleum, salt, oats, maize, cotton, olive oil, butter and there is lot of cattle and sheep.

You will find only concrete buildings in the center of Vlore, but lots of palm trees near the beaches. Tourists can easily relax, have a coffee and admire the beautiful view. Main sight is the building where Albanian independence was proclaimed in 1912. This is also celebrated with a bronze monument and the town center is called The Square Flag in honor of the day of independence. There is a museum of architecture in the Mosque of Muradie.  To get a view over Vlora and the Ionian Sea, visit the nearby village Kanina and the old castle of Kaniné. 

Travelers to Vlore need a valid passport. A visa is not required for short visits. You do need a return ticket in order to enter the city. Vlore has a Mediterranean climate with hot, dry summers in the months June, July, August and September.

With its compact size Bruges is often referred to as the Venice of the North. This city in the northwest of Belgium has a historic medieval city that is placed on the World Heritage List of UNECO. Bruges is located in the Dutch speaking part of Belgium, Flanders. It has a total population of around 118 thousand people.

Bruges is a romantic city that shouldn’t be missed on any tour around Europe. The center of the city has remained its medieval architecture and appearance, although some parts have been renovated over and over again. There are small canals, bridges, market squares and old city houses that resemble a world long since gone. There is nothing preventing you jut walking around the city, enjoying the sights and perhaps get a fine Belgium beer near the Great Market square.

There are lots of medieval sights to visit in Bruges as well as other places. Famous buildings in this city include the brick stone Church of Our Lady, with the sculpture Madonna and Child, the 13th-century Belfry of Bruges, the Basilica of the Holy Blood, the Saint Salvatore’s Cathedral, The City Hall, the Provincial Court and many preserved old city gates. The city has a wealth of museums, including the Groeninge Museum with paintings of Dutch and Belgium masters, 11 historical museum named as the Bruges Museum and the Mernling Museum.

Travelers to Bruges need a valid passport and visa. American citizens will be issued a 90-day holiday visa on arrival. The weather in Bruges can be cold and damp. The best period to visit the city is in the summer in July and August, when temperatures are around 70 Fahrenheit.

Liege is the fourth largest city in Belgium and the capital of the province Liege. It is the principal economic and cultural center of Wallonia, the French region in Belgium. The city is located in the valley of the Meuse River, near the eastern borders with the Netherlands and Germany. It has a population of almost 200 thousand people and has the nickname “La Cité ardente” or The Fierce City.

Liege is mostly an industrial city with iron and steel industry. Most tourists will tell you that Liege is a place to love or hate, because of its industrial character. Nowadays it is developed into a city where old meets new. The center of Liege is a mix of historic town center and beautiful private houses with a new elegant town with wide boulevards, tall apartment buildings and a few parks. The new modern part of the city situates around the central Saint Lambert square. The center has traffic-free alleys and shopping streets.

Heart of the city is the Palace of the Prince-Bishops and the large Gothic Cathedral of Notre Dame and Saint Lambert. Liege has a large city museum with great medieval religious art. For people who love Mosan style, the Curtius Museum is a must. You will get the best view over the city when climbing The Mountain of Bueren and the slopes of the Citadel. Liege is also the birthplace of Georges Simenon, writer of the police detective Maigret. The local specialty is the Waffle of Liege, so try to taste one, the waffles are sold in every bakery.

Travelers to Liege need a valid passport and return ticket. A visa is not required for stays up to 90 days. The people of Liege don’t speak English that well, so it is wise to pick up a few French lines. The best time to visit Liege is in the summer months July and August. Liege is a real university city with lots of students studying here.

Angeles City is a popular tourist destination in the Philippines. It is a first-class high-urbanized city, located within the province of Pampanga. It has a population of around 314 thousand people. The city once was the home of the largest United States Air Force, Clark Air Base. This base was abandoned in 1991 after the eruption of Mopunt Pinatubo. Angeles City and Pampanga are also referred to as “the culinary center of the Philippines”.

The history of Angeles City is a long one with a great heritage. The city started in 1796 as Culiat and became a separate municipality in 1829, renamed as the Town of the Angels. In 1899 the Philippine Army battled with the American forces over the city. It was then that the Americans founded their Clark Air Base. After the Second World War the Philippines gained independence from the United States. Tourists can visit lots of historical sites in the city, such as Fort Stotsenburg, Founder’s Residence, Camalig, Santo Rosario Church, Clark Museum.

Angeles City is very popular thanks to its booming nightlife and entertainment. Balibago is the center of the city and has fine restaurants, hotels and shopping malls. It has a neon-lit Fields Avenue where tourists can go to bars, nightclubs and go-go bars. The city also consists of Clark Freeport Zone, an area with world-class resorts, duty-free shops, casinos and golf courses. There are no beaches in Angeles City, but many resorts for swimming. Adventurous people can choose for Mount Pinatubo Trekking, skydiving, drive off-road challenge.

Travelers to Angeles City must have a valid passport and visa. You need to follow general Philippine requirements. American citizens can stay for up to 21 days without a visa, provided your passport is valid for six months and you have valid return tickets. The best time to visit Angeles City is in the dry period from November through April. There tend to be typhoons from the east during summer and fall.

Rotterdam is the second largest city in the Netherlands with approximately 600 thousand people. The city forms the southern region of the Randstad, the 6th-largest metropolitan area in Europe, with a population of around 6.7 million people. The city is located on the river New Meuse. Its port is the largest in Europe.

Its named Rotterdam is derived from a dam in the river Rotte, in the 1260s. The city once was bombed flat by the Germans in World War II. After that the city became a modern center of high rising towers of company buildings. Symbol is the Euromast Space Tower, which is 328 feet tall. It even had to be extended several times. The tower has an elevator so tourists can get a good overview. Another symbol of the city is the Erasmus Bridge or sometimes referred to as ‘the Swan’, opened in 1966.

Rotterdam offers a lot of architecture and different museums. Examples are the Maritime Museum Rotterdam, the Kunsthal with different art exhibitions, The Netherlands Photo Museum and Museum Boijmans van Beuningen with Dutch and European art. If you like animals, you can visit Blijdorp Zoo. There are also a lot of places to go shopping in Rotterdam like Zuidplein the city largest mall. In February the International Film Festival, one of the largest in Europe, is held in this city.

Travelers to Rotterdam need a valid passport and visa. American citizens can visit without a visa for up to 90 days. You can easily travel around by foot, bicycle or public transport. The best time of the year to visit the city is in spring or summer time.

Official known as Santiago de los Treinta Caballeros this city is the second largest in the Dominican Republic. It is located on hilly terrain in the middle of the Cibao Valley in the north central of the country. The city once was founded in 1495 after European colonization. After being destroyed by an earthquake it was moved to its present location in 1506. Santiago has an approximate population of 1.9 million inhabitants.

Santiago is mostly depended on the fertile lands. The city has experienced a rapid growth and development. Although tourism is an important part of income, the city still could face some problems with electricity and water infrastructure. It is now the major industrial center of its country. In the mid 20th century Santiago and the Dominican Republic were freed from the regime of dictator Rafael Trujillo. The city is still growing with different new projects in planning, such as parks, hotels and malls.

There are different art and culture sight and museums in Santiago. The Cathedral was built in 1895, the Hermanos Patiño Bridge in 1962. The Monument to the Heroes of the Restoration is a 220 foot high marble monument on the hill that overlooks the city. Interesting museums include Museo del Tabaco, Museo Histórico Fortaleza San Luis and Centro León. The city does have a blooming and active nightlife. After dark Santiago becomes a party city.

Travelers to the Dominican Republic require a valid passport and visa. American citizens need only a valid passport, other nationalities may require a valid visa. Santiago has a tropical climate but it is often cooler and cloudier than in Santa Domingo, because of its location of 600 feet below sea level. July and August are the warmest month in this city.

Den Haag is the provincial capital of South Holland and lies on the North Sea. It is the third largest city in the Netherlands after Amsterdam and Rotterdam. It is home to the popular Scheveningen beach. The city is seat of the Dutch government, located in Binnenhof, and residence to the Queen. It has a population of more than 480 thousand people.

Den Haag is foremost known as residence of international courts, such as the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Tribunal and the International Criminal Court, all of the United Nations. There are also many embassies around the city. The Hague is surrounded by other cities and can’t grow any bigger. The center is pretty nice, but without little canals. Tourists usually visit Den Haag on sunny days to enjoy Scheveningen beach. The Queen had her work palace in Den Haag in Palace Noordeinde. It is closed for public, but the gardens are open. The Queen residential palace is called Huis Den Bosch.

Den Haag offers certain sights that are worth a visit. You can check out Mauritshuis with paintings in it, Panorama Mesdag or a 360 degree painting, Madurodam, or the Netherlands in miniature, Sculptures at Sea, on the beach boulevard inside a dune, Municipal Museum, museum The Prison Gate, Lange Voorhout an unusual inner city street, and Royal Theater. There are many department stores, restaurants and clubs available to have a good time at night. Big event every year is ‘Princes Day’ on the third Tuesday in September when the new parliamentary year is officially opened.

Travelers to Den Haag need a valid passport and visa. American citizens can visit without a visa for up to 90 days. Den Haag is relatively small and compact city and it is easy to walk around or rent a bicycle.