Tag Archives: Saturday City

The Saturday City: Cairns

Cairns is Australia’s gateway to northern Queensland. From here you can visit the Great Barrier Reef, the Daintree rainforest, the Atherton tablelands, Cape Tribulation, and much more. Cairns is a pretty typical tropical city in that life focuses here on relaxing, staying cool, moving slowly, and enjoying nature. Cairns is small with a population [...]


The Saturday Cities I Don’t Like

Back in 2008, I wrote about some of the cities in the world I didn’t like. Since then I’ve been to a lot more places in the world. I liked about 99% of them. But, you can’t like everywhere. While I always try to look for the good in place and be fair my judgment, [...]


The Saturday City: The Cinque Terre

The Cinque Terre consists of five beautiful hillside towns (Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, Monterosso) on the west coast of Italy. They are famous for being historic and, well, beautiful. Not just “This place is beautiful” beautiful but more like “I died and gone to heaven and never want to leave” beautiful. I visited here [...]


The Saturday City: Rotorua

Rotorua, New Zealand is one of the most popular tourist destinations on the North Island. (UN)Affectionately called Rotorvegas, this city is the launching ground for nature walks, Maori cultural experiences, trips to smelly geysers, and luxury spas. Besides being known for its hordes of tourist, this city is famous for its smell. The sulfur springs [...]


The Saturday City: Edinburgh

The first thing you notice about Edinburgh is its beauty. The cobble streets, tight quarters, the castle, the Gothic architecture of many of its buildings- it jumps out at you. While the city has a modern section, the charm of old Edinburgh permeates the whole city. There is history everywhere you look in this city. One [...]


The Saturday City: Barcelona

This wasn’t my first time in Barcelona. During my first trip around the world, I came here after deciding Amsterdam was getting too cold. I heard only good things about the city, and with cheap flights to there, it seemed like the best place to go. I was only there for three days [...]


Valencia without the Oranges

Famous for its Oranges, Valencia is located roughly in the middle of Spain’s Mediterranean coast. I wasn’t attracted to Valencia for any reason in particular- I come for the tomato fight in the nearby town of Bunol. However, Valencia is famous in its own right for great seafood, paella, history, and good soccer team. Given all [...]


The Saturday City: Ko Chang

Located near the Cambodian border, I first heard of Ko Chang during my first visit to Thailand back in 2005. I was in Chang Mai and two backpackers were arguing over whether I should go to Ko Chang or Ko Samet. Back then, Ko Chang was a backpacker’s paradise. If Thailand had something close to [...]


The Saturday City: Top Ten Cities for Partying

I thought for this edition of the Saturday City, we’d do something a bit different. Instead of one city, let’s talk about ten. Ten great cities to party in. As travelers, we have nothing but time on the road and, at night when the sightseeing is over, we usually spend that time going out [...]


The Saturday City: Taipei

Taipei is the capital of Taiwan. It is situated on the Danshui River, almost at the northern tip of the country, about 25 km southwest of Keelung, which is its port on the Pacific Ocean. Living Taipei was an interesting experience. I had a lot of fun and I think Taipei is a great city, [...]