Touristic stuff in Europe
1 2
It is not often that a road becomes a destination, but the Atlantic Ocean Road is up there with Australia’s Great Ocean Road and the United States’ Route 66. In fact, Norway seems to have made it a challenge to design and build spectacular roads in the most unlikely of places, be it across mountain passes or, in this case, to connect various remote islands. At just over 8km it isn’t very long, but there are plenty of places to stop, go for walks and admire the crazy bridges with their fjord and mountain backdrops to ensure that it will take you a good few hours to get past. Very exposed to ocean storms, driving here on a sunny summer’s day and a gloomy, windy winter’s evening are two very different experiences. No road trip to Norway is complete without a visit here!
The tiny village of Flåm is a true tourist phenomenon. Although the village itself is very old – its name dates back to the 1340s – its small size belies its popularity and significance. It receives a crazy half million visitors per year, including 160 cruise ships, and these – with their accompanying convoy of sight-seeing buses – are almost as interesting as the village itself. The two main attractions here are the fjord on which it lies (Aurlandsfjord, an arm of Sognefjord) and the Flåm railway, one of the steepest and arguably most beautiful train journeys in the world. Since it is only 20 km long, it can easily be done as a day trip. Boat trips on the fjord are popular, too. There are Viking graves and abandoned farms, steep cliffs and majestic waterfalls. For those wishing to stay on dry land, there are some touch but mind-blowing hikes and bike trails in the area. The village itself has some nice buildings, but the feeling is really that this is mainly a cruise-ship port with accompanying hotels, souvenir shops and restaurants.
Geiranger is essentially a tourist village, which is supported primarily by the many cruise ships which travel up the fjord almost every day of the year. Small and somewhat quaint, Geiranger is mostly of interest as a place from where to explore Geirangerfjord, or to pick up a hideously tacky and overpriced troll souvenir (the cruise participants love them, it seems). But there cannot be many more beautiful locations for a village anywhere in the world, surrounded as Geiranger is by mountains on three sides and Geirangerfjord on the forth.
The main tourist town on Tenerife is Playa de las Américas. Once a small fishing village, but nowadays a large cluster of resorts, bars, restaurants and shops. Playa de las Américas is located on the southwestern tip, which gives it sea shore to two sides. There are several dark sand beaches and a palm lined promenade runs along the shore. The south end of Playa de las Américas tend to be more classy and is popular with families, while the north end is favourite among the heavy drinking British tourists.
A few sparkling pearls dot the beach scene of the Turkish coast. Perhaps none shine more brightly than the port town of Bodrum. With more cafes, restaurants, bars and nightclubs per capita than pretty much anywhere else in the country, you can eat, drink and dance your worries away. For those culture vultures, Bodrum Castle (Castle of st. Peter) or the ruins at Halicarnassus will offer a respite from the rather touristic streets of downtown Bodrum. There are even boat trips which easily whisk travellers away to hidden coves and secluded beaches. Bodrum is most certainly is a hedonistic paradise.
Presented as one of the biggest tourist attractions in Northern Ireland, is this rope bridge. It's 20 m long, spans the chasm between the mainland and the small island of Carrick-a-Rede, and hangs 30 m over the crashing waves. It was originally used for salmon fishing, when the salmons returned to the coast for breeding in their home rivers. Today, the rope has been replaced by steel wires, making the bridge perfectly safe to walk on, no matter how dangerous the local tourist board might want to make you think it is (you can buy an I-survived-the-bridge certificate). Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge could have been a fine little feature on the otherwise beautiful walk along the coast from the carpark, but instead it has turned into an over-hyped tourist attraction.
1 2