Travel blog by web-hotels.com

Paris is famous as the fashion and cultural capital of the world. Hence, there is no dearth of popular events in Paris. In fact, it is difficult to list all the events happening in a single month in a brief blog or article. Fashion shows, operas, theatre dramas, cultural events and concerts continue to happen in Paris on a regular basis nearly every day. However, the most important events that are best suited for tourists or travellers to Paris are presented here.

Seine Cruise and Illumination has been organised by Paris Vision Plus between January 25, 2010 and March 31, 2010. Tickets are available at $108.00. The cruise is a guided tour for admiring the most beautifully illuminated historical buildings in the city. The cruise takes you under several famous bridges on the river Seine. Tourists can stop to admire Notre Dame, lovers can make a wish right under Pont Marie and the night cruise provides a scintillating view of Eiffel Tower against the night sky. The cost of the ticket includes pickup and dropping off at hotels in air conditioned minibus, Seine river cruise and sightseeing tour of Paris with comments about the various places by trained guide and driver of the cruise.

Vampire Weekend in Olympia Hall on Boulevard des Capucines on February 25 at 8-00 pm is the live performance of the indie rock band of New York. The Vampire Weekend band is famous for the popular African music and also Western classical music, apart from occasional preppy numbers. Their popular songs include ‘Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa’ that originates from Congolese soukous music. Tickets for this band event are priced at €140, €149 and €159.

OwlCity Tour at Nouveau Casino on Rue Oberkampf is planned for February 26 at 8-00 pm. Owl City is the performance of a young artist, Adam Young, writing songs and creating his own melodically infectious and electronic brand of music that is beautiful due to its sheer simplicity. Adam Young hails from the state of Minnesota in the United States and has gained a large audience in a short period, particularly the music lovers who desire sublime music. Ticket price details are not available.

The Swell Season is taking place on February 25 at 8-00 pm. The event is at Le Batacian on boulevard Voltaire. The Swell Season is indie rock band. Tickets details are not available. The other popular events in Paris include The Lion Kings at Theatre Mogador on February 17 at 8-00 pm, Fame at Le Trianon on the same day at 8-30 pm, the XX at La Cigale Theatre on February 18 at 8-00 pm, Zorro at Folies Bergere on the same day at the same time and Holiday on Ice at Zenith de Paris at 8-30 pm the same day.

The Holiday on Ice is a special ice show, with the participation of talented ice skaters from all parts of the world. Tickets are available at €129 and €137. The music performance of Zorro costs €130 and €150. The Fame music concert tickets are available at €99 and €110. The live performance of The Lion King is priced at €199 and €209. Ticket details of XX are not available.

Paris is not only the capital city of France but is reputed as the cultural capital of the world. Situated on the river Seine in the northern region of France, the administrative limits of the city had a population of about 2,204,000 during 2006, while the Paris metropolitan area had a population of around 11,770,000. It is the most populated metro area in the entire Europe. Even though it is one leading business centres of the world, Paris is more renowned for its contribution to culture, particularly to fashion, arts, media, entertainment, and science.

Paris is among the most frequently visited tourist spots in the world, with an estimated 45 millions visitors every year. The climate  is classified as oceanic and the influence of the North Atlantic Current helps the city escape from extremely low or high temperatures. More than 60% of these visitors are from other countries. The city contains so many attractions that it is difficult to mention the top 10 things to do in Paris. Still, the most important places of travel attraction are presented here to aspire you.

The district of Place de la Bastille in Paris possesses tremendous historical significance for the city as well as for the entire country. Due to this reason, the square of Place de la Bastille witnesses frequent political demonstrations.

Image by danorbit.

Very few tourists would not have heard of Champs-Elysees. With its seventeenth century roots, this garden-promenade-converted-avenue connects the Arc de Triomphe and the Concorde. It is not only a major shopping centre in the city but is a popular tourist attraction. Nearly all the visitors to Paris wish to take with them at least one photograph of this lovely avenue when they go back.

The Place de la Concorde is the site of the notorious guillotine, where thousands of people had been killed. This ‘Place Louis XV’ is built at the foot of the Champ-Elysees. The oldest monument of Paris, the Egyptian obelisk is situated in this area. On the two sides of the Rue Royale, the two identical buildings constructed from stone house the French Naval Ministry and the magnificent Hotel de Crillon.

Le Marais is a trendy, culturally open district, containing many of the oldest buildings and houses in Paris that had been well-preserved archeologically. Another area adjacent to Champs-Elysees is Avenue Montaigne, where the world-famous luxury brand labels of France like Chanel, Dior, Louis Vitton or LVMH and Givenchy conduct their operations.

Apart from all these attractions, the city of Paris is famous for its three well-known landmarks. The first one, the Eiffel Tower, is familiar even to the children in all the countries of the world. Built in 1889 by Gustave Eiffel for the Universal Exposition, it became the symbol of Paris and was left alone when the other structures of the exposition were dismantled.

Notre Dame by by gadl

The second one is the twelfth century cathedral Notre Dame de Paris situated on the lle de la Cite. The third is the Historical axis, a long line of monuments, thoroughfares and buildings that proceed from the city centre to the west. This historical place begins with the Louvre, The Tuileries Gardens, the Arc de Triomphe, the Champs-Elysees, the Place de lEtoile circus and the La Defense business district with its square-shaped Grande Arche.

New York is not only the economic capital of the world, it is also one of the premier tourist and vacation spots that is being thronged by millions of travelers from all parts of the globe, both for business purposes and for travel breaks. The accommodations in New York are also quite varied to suit all types of budgets, ranging from star hotels, motels, inns, hostels, bed & breakfast, apartments, vacation rental facilities, and exclusive holiday resorts.

The 5-star and 4- star hotels cater to the higher echelon crowd in the society, while the motels, inns, hostels and bed & breakfast accommodations in New York provide staying facilities to persons with low travel budgets. Similarly, the more than 20,000 eateries in this enchanting city offer various types of cuisine from all parts of the world at prices that suit the taste and purse of all types of travelers.

Gansevoort Hotel

The Gansevoort Hotel New York is a 5-start hotel in Manhattan, situated in the vibrant Meatpacking District on Ninth Avenue. The hotel offers a 260^o city and river views, with a special heated, 45’ long outdoor pool, boosted by unique underwater music. The cost of staying for a single person is $295 per night, excluding taxes that come to about $22 a day. The major themes of the pub, the bar, the tavern and the restaurant are all Japanese.

The Soho House New York is among the costliest 5-star hotels in the city, with $495 for one night accommodation for a single person with taxes extra at around $37. This hotel is also located in the same Meatpacking District of Manhattan, with room sizes ranging between 325 and 950 square feet. The hotel contains a roof top pool from where the sights of New York can be enjoyed in a leisurely fashion.

The Millenium Hilton Hotel New York charges $280 and taxes of $18 for a single room stay for a day. The hotel is located in Lower Manhattan, very near the Wall Street, Madison Square Garden, Central Park and South Street Seaport. The art and gourmet districts of Soho and Broadway are also close by. The hotel is equipped with an indoor swimming pool, a business hub, three lounges, two restaurants, a fitness club and sauna, and convention facilities.

The Marriott Hotel Downtown New York is located at the southern tip of the Manhattan area. The Hotel is at 85, Wall Street and visitors have easy access to the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Brooklyn Bridge, and Battery Park. It is also quite close to the Soho district. The hotel offers more than 500 rooms with a variety of configurations and styles. The prices start from $259 and taxes of about $22 for a single person per night. Long-term business staying is also possible by hiring studios at affordable rates. The hotel further contains a swimming pool, tennis courts, a fitness centre and sauna, apart from the usual restaurants, bars, news stands, kitchenette, gymnasium, etc.

Other popular hotels in New York are the Hotel Roger Williams New York and the Thompson Les Hotel New York with room rates starting from $206, while the Jolly Hotel Madison Towers New York provides rooms at prices ranging from $115. Several other cheaper bed & breakfast, motels, inns, etc. are available with prices in the range of $15 a day for a single person, for people with limited budgets.

New York City and its attractions are so vast that a weekend break might never be enough to enjoy all the delights that this city offers for tourists. New York is often referred to as the Big Apple and it is said that one bit of it is never enough. Still, it is possible to visit the most important sites and attend to the major programs and events during a weekend, if the planning is done in a proper manner.

For a new visitor to New York, the city might appear like a film that had been put on fast forward, with the speeding yellow cabs, the hurrying pedestrians, the unending vehicular traffic, etc. You might even feel like a total stranger in a new, mysterious land. That is the effect of this economic capital of the world on you. Still, you need not lose heart. You can easily identify yourself with the city and its landmarks, once you start remembering all the movies and TV series that had been based on life in New York. In fact, Manhattan is one of the maximum features places in movies and TV shows.

The weekend break of New York can start with visits to the most famous landmarks of the city, the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building. When you had seen and appreciated these two popular sites, the time to enjoy the individuality of New York begins. You can stare at the glittering, giant-sized neon signs of the Times Square in awe. Next in line are the fashion houses situated on the Fifth Avenue. Follow it up with a visit to the concrete canyons that exist in Wall Street, the economic epicentre of the globe. You can even indulge yourself with munching popcorn sold by the roadside carts that are manned by loud-mouthed vendors.

 After covering these glamorous spots, you can take a diversion to the cool neighbourhoods of Chelsea, Soho and Greenwich Village. Cocktail lounges, cafes, upscale boutiques invite you to empty your purse. This is where you have to be careful and spend within your budget. Further, the sheer mind-boggling variety of food available in New York is likely to astound you. It is believed that New York has got more than 20,000 eateries and you can gain a few kilograms of weight in one weekend, if you are not watchful and control the tickling of your tongue-buds. The eateries include cheap hotdog stands on roadsides, oyster bars, smart bistros, classic and traditional American diners and high-priced star-rated restaurants. They are supplemented by seafood bars, burger joints and ethnic-centred eateries that offer you Mexican, Chinese, Continental, Indian, Japanese, French, Italian, Greek, Spanish, Thai, Malaysian and delicacies of several other countries and regions. 

The nightlife of New York is one of the most exciting. You can pound the dance floor the entire night in this city that presented disco dancing to the world. The neighbourhoods near Broadway like Chelsea or Greenwich Village or areas such as East Village or Harlem dish out all types of music such as punk, rock, metal, jazz, etc. at ear-shattering decibels. The theatres of Broadway provide unlimited enjoyment with comedy shows, ballets, operas, concerts, dramas, etc. Once you had tasted the life of New York during a weekend, you are going to keep coming back for more and more.