Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Prague, Vienna & Budapest: 10 Days from Prague & Vienna to Budapest!

Escorted Motorcoach Tour

A magical 10 day - 3 country tour, taking in the history and culture of Hungary, Austria and the Czech Republic.

Included Features

  • First class hotels, rooms with private facilities
  • Service charges and hotel taxes
  • Breakfast daily
  • Dinner with folklore in Prague
  • Dinner with entertainment in Grinzing suburb of Vienna
  • Farewell dinner with entertainment in typical csarda restaurant in Budapest
  • Opera performance in Prague
  • Strauss & Mozart Concert in Vienna
  • Inter-city travel by modern motor coach
  • Arrival and departure transfers
  • Professional Tour Director throughout
  • Luggage handling
  • Headsets will be provided for included sightseeing tours, so you can easily hear your guide's commentary

Sightseeing

  • Prague: Royal Castle of Hradcany, St. Vitus Cathedral
  • Vienna: Hofburg Palace, Kunsthistorische Museum
  • Budapest: Fisherman's Bastion, Coronation Church

Hotels


Travel to Europe with Celtic Tours World Vacations. Give us a call at 1-800-833-4373 to start planning your European Vacation today!

Monday, February 10, 2014

Vacation Itinerary Planner: The German Clock Road

This route takes you through the most beautiful vacation destinations in the Black Forest and the Baar region. Charming museums and sights revolve here around clock making. In clock factories the product process can be witnessed. Wooden clocks were manufactured in Waldau as early as 1667, the most prominent example being the cuckoo clock. On the way you will discover Black Forest farmsteads and houses with the characteristic shingle-roofs, clear streams, luscious meadows and dark green forests.

1. Schramberg
Schramberg is a town in the district of Rottweil, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated in the eastern Black Forest, 25 km northwest of Rottweil. With all its districts Talstadt, Sulgen, Waldmössingen, Heiligenbronn, Schönbronn and Tennenbronn (since 2006) it has about 22,000 inhabitants. In 1861 the clock factory Junghans was founded in Schramberg. At the beginning of the 20th century Junghans became the biggest clock factory worldwide with 3000 employees. In the surroundings of Junghans many suppliers like spring producers established their companies. Junghans although being much smaller now still continues to produce clocks nowadays.

2. Rottweil
Located between the Black Forest and the Swabian Alps, Rottweil has about 25,000 inhabitants. The old city is famous for its medieval center and for its traditional carnival. The oldest town in Baden-Württemberg, its appearance has changed very little from the 16th century.

3. Bad Durrheim
Bad Dürrheim in the Black Forest boasts the double distinction of being a salt-water spa and a climatic health resort, which makes it ideal for a successful health break.

4. Titisee-Neustadt
The scenic highlight of Titisee - Neustadt is doubtless the fantastic setting of Titisee lake whose crystal-clear water attracts thousands of enthusiastic swimmers to the healthy climate of the resort town bearing the same name. Since its conversion to a pedestrian zone and waterfront promenade, Seestraße is considered the loveliest street for strolling in the Southern Black Forest.

5. Lenzkirch
Lenzkirch is located in the High Black Forest between the attractions of Lake Titisee, the Feldberg mountain, Lake Schluchsee and Wutachschlucht Gorge, which are known far and wide. Lenzkirch also lies on the German Clock Road. Lenzkirch and its districts are located on a slightly undulating, largely open plateau, which offers marvellous views over the High Black Forest.

6. Glottertal
Located near the town of Freiburg in the far south west of Germany, the Glottertal valley in the southern Black Forest offers picturesque walking country with pretty flower-filled meadows, lush orchards and vineyards, wooded peaks and shady pine forests, not to mention warm hospitality and culinary delights.

7. Waldkirch
Waldkirch is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located 15 kilometers northeast of Freiburg im Breisgau. While the English translation of its name is Forest Church, it is known as "the town of mechanical organs", where fairground organs played on the streets were manufactured by such well-known manufacturers as Carl Frei, A. Ruth and Son, and Wilhelm Bruder's Sons.

8. Triberg
Watchmaking was once a thriving local industry in Triburg. Check out the World's Biggest Cuckoo Clock here.

9. Hornberg
Hornberg, the town of the 'Hornberger Schießen' (Hornberg Shooting) is located in the Gutach Valley on the Black Forest Railway. The district of Reichenbach is one of the 3 villages which are the home of the famous Bollenhut, a traditional ladies' hat topped with pom-poms.

Start planning your European Vacation with Celtic Tours World Vacations


Friday, February 7, 2014

10 Great Little Trains of Wales

The Great Little Trains of Wales are a very special way of seeing some of the best scenery in the British Isles. All are narrow gauge steam railways and some have a history spanning well over 100 years. All of them have in common the charm of old-time steam trains with plenty of polished paintwork and brass.


Bala Lake Railway
Rheilffordd Llyn Tegid (Bala Lake Railway) offers a delightful 9 mile return journey alongside Bala Lake, through the beautiful Snowdonia National Park.


Brecon Mountain Railway
The line runs from Pant, near Merthyr Tydfil. Travel in one of our all-weather Observation Carriages, behind a vintage steam locomotive, into the Brecon Beacons National Park to see stunning views of the peaks of the Beacons across the Taf Fechan reservoir.



Llanberis Lake Railway

Discover the timeless appeal of our narrow-gauge steam trains - a more leisurely way to travel and the perfect way to savour the grandeur of Snowdonia.Starting at Gilfach Ddu, the journey takes you past the 13th century Dolbadarn Castle, crossing possibly Britain's shortest river and passing Llanberis' twin lakes as the train negotiates the extension (opened in 2003) to Llanberis village.



Snowdon Mountain Railway
Let Snowdon Mountain Railway take you on a journey of a lifetime to the rooftop of Wales. Snowdon, at 3,560ft dominates the landscape of Snowdonia National Park in North Wales. Claim this mountain peak, the highest in Wales, as a lifetime’s achievement. With stunning scenery and awe-inspiring views it's all part of a great day out for you and your family in North Wales.


Talylln Railway
The Talyllyn Railway is a historic narrow-gauge steam railway, set in the beautiful Mid-Wales countryside. Running from Tywyn to Abergynolwyn and Nant Gwernol, the line passes the delightful Dolgoch Falls and there are excellent forest walks at Nant Gwernol.


Vale of Rheidol Railway
Travelling on the Vale of Rheidol Railway is the finest way to see the stunning Rheidol Valley. Opened in 1902, the railway has been delighting passengers young and old for over a century.

Welsh Highland Railway
The Welsh Highland Railway is Snowdonia’s most spectacular railway. Trains start a spectacular 25 mile scenic journey from beneath the castle walls at Caernarfon.

Welshpool & Llanfair Railway
Welcome to the Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway.  Opened in 1903 to link the market town of Welshpool to the rural community of Llanfair Caereinion,  this 2 foot 6 inch narrow gauge steam railway now provides a tourist service for all the family and a welcome change from the rush of every day life.

Welsh Highland Heritage Railway
Your train will take you for a short ride, then we stop at the Engine Sheds where you get to climb into the cabs of the locomotives and see how things work.Find out about the narrow gauge railways of Porthmadog and how they became famous around the world.

These Great Little Trains are perfect for a romantic Wales vacation as well as a family vacation. Start planning your vacation to Wales with Celtic Tours World Vacations

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Bremen - Full of years, yet young at heart

Bremen, a former free city of the Hanseatic League, pulses with life in the heart of northwest Germany. It is the city of the Bremen town musicians and of the legendary knight Roland - a city where the past and the future live side by side - a city that respects tradition but lives entusiastically in the present -a city steeped in its Hanseatic history and the development of astronautics - and a great city that is only one hour flying time from Frankfurt.

Start planning your European Vacation with Celtic Tours World Vacations

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Hotel Spotlight: Radisson Blu Grand Hotel, Sofia

Radisson Blu Grand Hotel
4, Narodno Sabranie sq. - 1000 : Sofia : BULGARIA : Phone 359 2 9334 334

Located in the cultural and commercial heart of the city, the Radisson Blu Grand Hotel, Sofia is situated on the city’s notable vibrant yellow pavement square and shares the ultimate address with the Bulgarian Parliament.

Learn more about this hotel in Sofia, Bulgaria

Start planning your European Vacation with Celtic Tours World Vacations

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Vienna to Bucharest - 11 Days/9 nights from Vienna to Bucharest via Budapest

Premier Escorted Motorcoach Tour

Travel to Austria, Hungary and Romania on this 11 day escorted tour of Europe with Celtic Tours World Vacations.

Included Features

  • Arrival and departure transfers
  • First class hotels, rooms with private facilities
  • Service charges and hotel taxes
  • Breakfast daily and 1 lunch
  • Dinner with entertainment in Grinzing suburb of Vienna
  • Dinner with entertainment in typical csarda restaurant in Budapest
  • Strauss & Mozart Concert in Vienna
  • Inter-city travel by modern motor coach
  • Flight ticket "Budapest - Bucharest"
  • Daytime Danube river cruise, Budapest
  • Touring by modern motor coach
  • Airport and local transfers
  • Professional Tour Director
  • Luggage handling
  • Headsets will be provided for included sightseeing tours, so you can easily hear your guide's commentary

Sightseeing

  • Vienna: Hofburg Palace, Kunsthistorische Museum
  • Budapest: Fisherman's Bastion, Coronation Church
  • Bucharest: Parliament Palace, The Village Museum
  • Brasov: First Romanian School; Sinaia Monastery; Bran Castle

Hotels

Vacation in Europe with Celtic Tours World Vacations. Give us a call at 1-800-833-4373 to book your vacation today!

Monday, February 3, 2014

Dunmore Cave, Ireland

Dunmore Cave
Ballyfoyle, Co. Kilkenny, Ireland

History and geology blend at Dunmore Cave to give an interesting and unique situation. Consisting of a series of chambers formed over millions of years, the cave contains some of the finest calcite formations found in any Irish cave. The case has been known to man for many centuries and is first mentions in the 9th century Irish Triads. The most interesting reference however, comes from the Annals which tells of a Viking massacre at the cave in the year 928 AD. Archaeological finds within the cave confirm Viking activity. Exhibitions and displays in the Visitor Center. The cave is inaccesible to wheelchair users.

 
Travel to Ireland with Celtic Tours World Vacations

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