Travel for Pennies

Vacations are supposed to be a time of relaxation. They are a way to recuperate from the bustle of everyday life and recharge the personal batteries. Unfortunately, too many travelers attempt to cram in every single attraction, landmark, and other famous thing when they visit a new place. This leaves them no time to rest. To soak in a new culture. To really experience a place instead of just seeing it.

London is a city that begs to be experienced, rather than rushed through. It is an old and settled city, though it does have its modern side. To truly enjoy it, tourists need to schedule enough time to linger in parks, to enjoy ancient architecture, and to enjoy a long tea time . Rushing from museum to palace to shops isn’t the way to see a majestic place like London.

There are programs available, like the London Pass , that offer admission to London attractions for one package price. One of the advantages of these is that the carrier does not need to stand in long ticket lines at every place. They can use that extra time to enjoy and experience the place, instead of being in a rush to go stand in another ticket line.

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In Geneva, Switzerland, what might make the best afternoon? Spending time at Lake Geneva? Taking a walk along the Reformation Wall? A visit to the Cathedral of St. Peter? Or exploring in a museum dedicated to CERN’s astonishing physics experiment, the LHC, or Large Hadron Collider?

For many people, Lake Geneva is a must-see destination. It’s possible to spend the whole day here, with a variety of boat rides offered. One of the longer rides stops at several towns, including Evian and Lausanne, and includes a two to three hour stop in Montreux. Here, you can relax and watch farmers at work in the vineyards, or just watch the Swiss Alps themselves, before returning home for an evening in one of the romantic Geneva hotels .

For those inclined to take a look at the history of religion, there’s the Reformation Wall . This is a wall 325 feet long and 30 feet high built to commemorate Geneva’s part in the Protestant Reformation and features fifteen foot tall statues of four of Geneva’s religious luminaries: Guillaume Farel, who was the first to preach the Reformation in Geneva; John Calvin, who was the leader of the Reformation movement; Theodore Beza, who succeeded Calvin, and emphasized Calvin’s doctrine of predestination; and John Kox, a Scottish preacher who was a friend of Calvin and who founded Presbyterianism in Scotland.

Running with the theme of reformation, there’s also the Cathedral of St. Peter, a church where John Calvin presented his sermons in the middle of the 16th Century. This church has occupied the same spot for over a thousand years, where archaeological excavations have uncovered the remains of two 4th Century Christian sanctuaries with mosaic floors from the late Roman Empire, as well as pieces of three early churches with an 11th Century crypt.

For those with a more scientific frame of mind, there’s the Microcosm at CERN . This science museum is dedicated to exploring the subject matter of CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, which focuses on fundamental particles. You’ll learn about the Large Hadron Collider here, which is helping scientists explore how the universe began.

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To experience Paris to its fullest, you need to be prepared to walk – a lot. The winding streets and cobblestone roads are a pleasure to explore, but don’t forget your walking shoes. The best way to get around is by searching on foot, because it allows you to pick up on all the intricate details of this beautiful European city.  However, it is a large city and has a great metro system that is speedy and will get you right where you need to be; there is nearly a metro station on every street corner. You’ll need a metro map to understand all the routes and directions, but they are very easy to read.

If you know that you’ll be using the metro quite often, pick up a short-term metro pass. It will alleviate the travel process and will make going in and out of the metro station simple. Make sure you keep your ticket for the entire journey because tickets are frequently checked on the way out of metro stations. A great option is getting the Paris Visite pass for unlimited journeys for five days or less. You can choose one of two travel zones: either the city center zones and the entire metro system, or a broader range of zones that extends to the Charles de Gaulle airport.

Many attractions are right off the metro line, including the French Open. You can easily buy a 5-day metro pass for the tournament, which starts May 24th and lasts through June 7th. There are many hotels located nearby the tournament that have the French Open schedule and are also off the metro line. If you are planning to attend Wimbledon as well, public transportation is also the recommended way to travel. Tennis for all!

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Tags: French open, tennis, wimbledon