World Travel&Hotel Guide

Rhode Island is the smallest state in the Union. Also known as the "Ocean State" it has miles of coastline with some breathtaking vistas. The main city is the capital, Providence. A vibrant city with a rich cultural heritage it houses the famous Rhode Island School of Design, Brown University, and the State House. In the summers it boasts semi-monthly festivals along the river which flows through the heart of the city with arts, crafts, performance artists, and gondolas.

South and right along the ocean is Newport, home to the famous and lavish 'summer homes' of the late 1800s wealthy. Take a stroll along the wharfs and enjoy fantastic New England clam chowder, shopping, maritime history, and parks.

The state is bisected by Interstate 95. It is three hours from New York city and less than an hour from Boston. The major airport is T.F. Green Airport, located just outside Providence.

Much of Wisconsin's popularity is due to its natural beauty - two Great Lakes, the famous Mississippi River and extensive forests and lakes. From top-notch outdoor recreation to world-class events, attractions and lodging, visitors enjoy four seasons of unsurpassed travel opportunities.

The north offers the vast pinestral forests of the Northwoods . Shimmering lakes and thousands of waterways each extend their own appeal. Highlights include the OcontoArea , ParkFalls and Superior.

The heart of Wisconsin, the center of the state, pulses with the quiet activity of small towns surrounded by rugged natural beauty. Located on rivers, at the edge of lakes or in the shadow of one of the state's highest peaks, these home towns have individual graces that recommend themselves to visitors. Their welcome mats are always out.

The eastern part of the state along Lake Michigan is a wonderful combination of scenic agricultural landscape, beautiful woodlands and lakes, and growing urban centers. This is also home to the almost religiously regarded Green Bay Packers football team. The cities of Appleton, GreenBay and Milwaukee are all in this area.

Southwestern Wisconsin, also called the Driftless Region because it has never been tilled by glaciers, brings you striking rock formations, steep hills and hidden valleys, ravines filled with ferns and woodland flowers as well as man-made delights and diversions. Viroqua, in the center of this region, is a great place to begin your Driftless adventure. The Capital city of Madison is located in the eastern edge of this area.

Hailing itself as the American Rivera is the Santa Barbara beach resort destination. With picturesque positioning between the Pacific Ocean and a mountain range, there is no dearth of natural beauty here at Santa Barbara. With beautiful tiled houses bordering palm tree line streets, there is every inch of beauty in this picturesque holiday destination of Santa Barbara. The entire expanse of the Santa Barbara beach resort destination is dotted by beautiful fountains and sculptures resting in the middle of intricately laid cobbled streets. There is this special charm present in the Santa Barbara beach resort destination which reflects old time Spanish and American Indian traces and roots.

With the Santa Barbara airport very well within its limits it is very easy to access the Santa Barbara beach resort destination.

There are several beaches lining the Santa Barbara area. East and Leadbetter are by far the most popular beaches within the tourist community on a vacation to Santa Barbara. These two beaches are located to the south of the commercial centre of Santa Barbara. Most of these beaches are surrounded by paved pathways which are used by people to walk on and enjoy the beautiful views of the waters around the Santa Barbara beach resort destination. Indulging in scuba diving is also a popular option with the tourists who visit Santa Barbara on a holiday.

If you are on the lookout for fun activities beyond the beach then there are several options available to keep you engaged and make your trip to Santa Barbara beach destination worthwhile. This includes walking through the streets of Santa Barbara and taking breaks at its inviting café’s and eateries, visiting the Santa Barbara zoo or going out on biking trips or nature trails.

The Sunshine State, home of The Mouse, Jimmy Buffet, South Beach and NASCAR auto racing. This is a state that has built its entire identity around tourism. Why should you come here? Because it is the one place everyone else has visited as well.

That may not sound like much of a reason to travel to anywhere, but if you can’t swap stories about the lines at Disney World, the mosquitoes in the Everglades, the cold spring water at Ichetucknee, or the superiority of the white sand beaches of the Panhandle, well, I’m sorry my friend, but you’re just out of the loop.

With 16 million citizens and 170,000 square kilometers of land, Florida is as large and as varied as a medium-sized country, and as such can’t be seen in a weekend. It has been said that to truly understand a culture (and Florida has several), one must spend months immersed in it. With Florida this is a dangerous proposition. Many people who come to visit end up staying for the rest of their lives-which can make a person a little crazy.

Florida, of course, is known for many things: the Everglades; the sun, sand, and surf that make up Florida’s 1500 kilometers of beaches; the Florida Keys; South Beach, the trendiest place in the world at the moment; and, oh yes, Disney World. But there is much more.

Florida’s western Panhandle is home to some of the finest beaches in the United States. The only elevation to speak of in the entire state is here, as are the state’s only caverns and some of the best canoeing around. The north central area of the state is home to the state’s capital, Tallahassee, with a number of fine museums , as well as to the famous Suwannee River. Opportunities for fishing, cave diving, and indoctrination in Southern small-town culture abound.

Northeast Florida is home to the state’s largest city, Jacksonville, to the oldest continuously inhabited city in America, St. Augustine, and boasts the headquarters of the Professional Golf Association. Golf, fishing, history, and the oldest marine park in the country, Marineland, make northeast Florida well worth a visit.

Further south you’ll come to world-famous Daytona Beach, as well as the site of the American space agency, NASA, in Brevard County--well worth seeing. Central Florida is dominated by Orlando and its well know coterie of theme parks, including Disney World, Universal Studios, Sea World, and more tourist attractions than you can shake a stick at.

Disney World is a must-see for any family, and contains so many attractions it can take at least a whole week to visit them all. Disney World has 4 theme parks, 2 water parks, a bunch of beautiful themed resort hotels, and golf courses. You can get the traditional Disney experience at the Magic Kingdom, you can get up-close with various animals at Animal Kingdom, you can go behind the scenes at MGM Studios, and you can explore the world of today and tomorrow at Epcot. Each theme park, as well as many of the resorts, have multitudinous dining options: From simple counter dining at McDonalds all the way up to the only 5 star, black tie restaurant to be found in the Orlando area. When combined with the Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach water parks, its pristine golf courses, and other surrounding attractions, the Disney property provides plenty of fun for all ages.

But don’t miss the charming small citrus towns south of Orlando or the lake towns to the north. To the west lie Tampa and St Petersburg, beautiful cities with beaches to match. Tampa boasts a Busch Gardens theme park, but the real attraction here is the Gulf of Mexico, whose calm green waters and white sandy beaches are suitable for sunning year-round

South Florida is worth visiting there is still an unparalleled experience. Although Fort Lauderdale is no longer a Spring Break haven, and Miami has seen its share of urban troubles, as any large metro area would but the beaches, the people, the Everglades, and the experience of it all is not to be missed. And of course no one has truly seen Florida who has not taken the long journey down U.S. 1 through the keys to Key West, the ultimate vacationer’s paradise, where it’s as easy to fill your day with activity as it is to do nothing at all.

Michigan is the only state that borders on four of the five Great Lakes. The state has the peculiar shape of a mitten and residents can often be seen raising their open right hand and pointing to where they live. Michigan actually consists of two big peninsulas, joined at the top of the Lower Peninsula by I-75 and the Mackinac Bridge. The topography of the Lower Peninsula consists of low rolling hills giving way to a northern tableland of hilly belts. The Upper Peninsula is level in the east, with swampy areas; the western region is higher and more rugged.

On the shores of the great lakes you find many attractions: Apostle Islands, Pictured Rocks, Sleeping Bear, Isle Royale are all national lakeshores.

Lansing is the capital of Michigan but Detroit is the biggest city. Detroit is the car capital of the world. The Sloan Museum, the Henry Ford museum, and the Automotive Hall of Fame celebrate this role.

Maryland is a state on the eastern seaboard, bordered by Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. Originally founded by Virginians growing tobacco along the tidal rivers in the south, the King of England granted the land to Lord Baltimore. He then established a colony which was tolerant to Catholics.

Maryland has changed a lot over the years, with the big city of Baltimore both growing and declining to create an eclectic mix of people. Annapolis has retained its charm of a colonial port city where locals enjoy the picturesque Chesapeake Bay. Crabs, particularly soft-shell crabs, are synonmyous with Maryland and much of the local cuisine incorporates seafood from the bay. More recently, the area around D.C. has overgrown itself into a suburban nightmare of gridlock, while western Maryland still looks much the same as it did several hundred years ago.

Utah is a landlocked state that borders on Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Arizona and Wyoming. The capital of the state, Salt Lake City hosted the 2002 Olympics. It is most famous for being the state where the Mormon Church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) has its world headquarters, as well as the location of many gorgeous places.

The Wasatch Mountains run north-south next to Provo, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, and are home to seven ski resorts. Summertime brings excellent hiking opportunities; over 5 million hikers visit these mountains yearly. For less crowded alpine scenery, go east to Kamas, Utah, the gateway to the Mirror Lake Highway and the Uinta Mountains, one of only two east-west mountain ranges in the USA. Teeming with many small lakes, the rugged Uinta range is home to Utah's biggest wilderness area and its highest peak. King's Peak is over 13,000 feet in elevation.

For real solitude, head for the mostly undiscovered Great Basin and West Desert. Try Notch Peak in the House Range, or the ghost town of Frisco, or the Pony Express Trail. You won't find crowds out here. The northern reaches of the Great Salt Lake can be accessed via roads and trails from Golden Spike National Historic Site, where the transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869.

In the south of the state Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (Lake Powell) offers unparalleled opportunities for boating, fishing, swimming, backcountry hiking and four-wheel drive trips. Canyonlands and Capitol Reef National Park are close by and offer more excellent outdoor opportunities. The hip city of Moab has become a mecca for the mountain bike and jeep crowd, with nearby Arches National Park drawing many visitors for a taste of the red rock southwest. River rafting can also be enjoyed from Vernal, Green River, and Moab. You should know the Colorado River through Canyonlands National Park is named Cataract Canyon. Cataract Canyon is on par with Grand Canyon's rapids.

Cataract Canyon presents 28 world class rapids in 14.5 miles of this one hundred mile river trip. Moab outfitters offer one day to four day motorized raft trips or five to six day row trips from Moab to conclude on the north end of Lake Powell. Right out of Moab, the Colorado River is appropriate for 40 pound children in the Professor Valley stretch or toddlers can experience the Colorado River downstream of Moab toward Canyonlands National Park via a four hour jet boat excursion.

Near Springdale you find Zion National Park with the world's largest natural arch, the Kolob Arch. North along US-89 you'll encounter Utah State Highway 12, one of the nation's most scenic highways. It passes Bryce Canyon National Park, another spectacular collection of red rock canyons and rock formations, and climbs to 9000 feet above sea level on the shoulders of Boulder Mountain.