North America

Canada’s capital city is clean, green, and home to some of the world’s friendliest citizens, so it is easy to feel immediately at ease here. However, the key to truly conquering Ottawa is all about the locks…

Keep Out: Constructing the Canal

While Ottawa is more than welcoming now, the city hasn’t always been that way.  Nearly 200 years ago, a British colonel, Colonel By, was sent over and put to the task of protecting Canada from its pesky American neighbors, rumored to be planning an invasion of Canadian territory by way of the St Lawrence Seaway. It turns out that while we made our way through the city this summer, I wouldn’t have been the first American attempting to conquer this area of Ontario.

It was Colonel By’s task to construct the Rideau Canal, which, in bypassing the St Lawrence River bordering New York, would secure the supply and communications route between Montreal and the British naval base in Kingston. Travel would proceed along the Ottawa River to Bytown (named for Colonel By, this was originally a makeshift town in the swampy wilderness. It’s known today as Ottawa) and then continuing southwest via the canal to Kingston before emptying into Lake Ontario.

Today, these eight mighty locks are a perfect starting off point for exploring Ottawa. Now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Locks 1-8 lower the waters of the Rideau Canal to meet the Ottawa River 30 feet below. Both the majestic Parliament Hill and magnificent Fairmont Chateau Laurier castle hotel rise high above the Rideau to give this part of Ottawa an entirely old-world feel. Strolling along the path by the locks here is relaxing, and the Bytown Museum (can you guess its namesake?) is a great little spot to learn more about the building of this engineering marvel.

Cycling in Ottawa

Looking to cover more ground, we headed to Rentabike, not 50m from the museum along the canal. After stocking up on heaps of great advice from the owner, we hopped on our fancy cruiser bikes and never looked back. First we shot up the canal away from the river, past the paddle boats on Dow’s Lake, and stopped at the sound of pounding water – the waterfalls of Hog’s Back.

Already feeling free of the city just 30 minutes after renting the bikes, a quick turn to the northwest led to a patch of rural farmland. We were now riding through the area known as the Central Experimental Farm, a true urban oasis filled with acres of crops, lush green grass, classic red barns and their barnyard animals. From here, signs for the cycle paths back to the city were easy to follow. Continuing westward, the path met up with the Ottawa River, and it was here we discovered the rock art by Jean-Félice Ceprano, a truly inspiring find we would have never come across without the bikes.

Ottawa is a cycling city and thousands of Ottawans (very courteously, of course) commute back and forth from work as much as to enjoy the outdoors. In fact, Ottawa has over 200 kilometers of bike paths, we had been told, but in our six hours out on the bikes, we only managed 30 km.

Beaver Tails and Boats

Before bringing the bikes back, it was time for a late lunch at the Byward Market. Established by Colonel By in 1826, this is Canada’s oldest public market, covering nearly four square blocks of restaurants, pubs and some incredible specialty food shops. After lunch we popped in to a cheese shop so specialized, it even carries our favorite brand of Norwegian cheese! In an amazing case of self-restraint, however, we walked out empty handed – but only because we knew where we were headed next: the Beaver Tail stand.

Beaver Tails are Ottawa’s classic deep-fried, doughy delights and are best enjoyed in Winter with a hot cup of coffee to warm up. You might be enjoying a break from ice-skating along one of the world’s longest ice rinks. Stretching seven kilometers from the Ottawa river, the frozen length of the Rideau Canal converts Ottawa into a winter wonderland and when it re-opens in mid-May, several boats pass through the locks each day, some heading down to the Ottawa River. While one hundred years ago, the river would have been packed with thousands of logs rushing down it as a part of the logging industry, today this aquatic hotspot is packed with speed boats, kayaks, yachts and even white water enthusiasts – although that takes place up the river about 90 minutes from downtown.

We wanted to get out on the river, but also wanted to do a city tour – Lady Dive amphibus tour met both those needs. In its bus form, we tooled through town on four wheels, marveling the architecture and learning about Ottawa’s complicated past. We then plunged into the water next to the Britannia Yacht Club and, as soon as we got our sea legs, we floated past the Museum of Civilization, a mega-museum which takes visitors through 1,000 years of Canadian history and also has a children’s museum and a 3D IMAX theater. Make sure to plan at least one day here, if not two.

Also set on the river is the National Gallery, considered Canada’s premiere art museum. We really enjoyed the permanent exhibits, which are on par with top international galleries. True culture vultures might want to plan in at least half a day to visit, though any travelers on a budget should visit on Thursdays, when entrance to the National Gallery is free from 5-8pm.  Ottawa has plenty of public art as well, from the statue of Canadian blues legend Oscar Peterson (at the corner of Elgin and Albert) to the many statues located on top of Parliament Hill: The ‘Women are persons!’ sculpture and the Queen Elizabeth II statue accurately characterize the history of women in Canada.

After the river cruise, we sprinted up to Parliament Hill for a look at these statues and to take part in the free guided tour of the Parliament building’s Centre Block (daily, more frequent in summer). This tour was the best to help us grasp the political history of the nation as a whole.

Just over the Ottawa River

While out on the Ottawa River, it was not immediately clear that we were floating along a heavily-contested, well-protected border. There are no border control guards and we didn’t need our passports. We didn’t even leave the city.

But, as we learned on the Parliament tour, the Ottawa River is where English and French-speaking Canada converge, and this border, a socio-cultural one, is fervently protected on either side. This fact is not obvious to casual visitors except for strict language difference on either side of the river. We had overheard snippets of French throughout our time in Ottawa, but our day trip over the bridge to the Gatineau Park on the Quebec side saw us struggling to order lunch in some pretty rusty French. Luckily most of our day hike through the gorgeously green Gatineau required very few words at all.

Ride along the Rideau Canal

Both sides of Ottawa boast such fresh, green space, as do the 202km along the Rideau Canal. These calm waters can be explored by boat, which takes up to seven days to make it through all 49 locks along the Rideau Canal to Kingston on the St Lawrence River. During our time in Ottawa, we chose to cycle and drive most of the way, meandering along country back roads and through picture perfect towns like Merrickville and Perth. There is also a trail for hikers, bikers and cross-country skiers.

No matter how you choose to explore Ottawa, whether by boat, bike, car or kayak, the key to discovering the city’s heart begins along the city’s locks.

For more information on the Rideau Canal, check out the Rideau Heritage Route.

We have been to Tucson several times now and spent a month there during each visit. Even though every time we visited, it was during one of the hottest months, June, with temperatures regularly reaching around 110F, we managed to sightsee quite a bit, we took day trips to nearby destination, found restaurants and coffee shops we liked and fell in love with the Sonoran Desert which surrounds Tucson. And we want to share some of our best finds in this Tucson travel guide with you – just know that this guide is by no means complete, because one thing we have discovered is that Tucson is an ever changing city. Every time we visit, there’s a new cool cafe, a new trendy restaurant, a new mural to check out.

If you visit Tucson without a car, we recommend renting a car at least for a day or two, since many of our favorite places can only be reached by car. The center is rather small, and the city is very spread out, and some of the best things we’ve done were actually outside of the city center.

If you are planning to visit from Phoenix, you may want to consider taking the bus from Tucson to Phoenix – the bus ride is only 2 hours and tickets start at only $11.99 if you book them in advance.

Overview: A quick guide to Tucson, Arizona

Tucson is the second largest city in Arizona and sits at an elevation of 2,400. The Sonoran Desert makes for a favorable climate during the winter months, while it can get unbearably hot in the summer. The city itself has a moderate population of 486,700 people, but the entire metropolitan area counts over 1 million people.

Tucson is also known as ‘The Old Pueblo’, built upon a foundation of Native American, Mexican, Spanish and Old West roots. Especially the city’s Spanish and Mexican influences are still visible everywhere on a stroll through town, especially the historic center.

The Globetrottergirls Tucson travel guide:

In my Tucson travel guide, you’ll find the best things to do in Tucson, the best places to eat and drink in Tucson, the best day trips from Tucson and where to stay in Tucson.

What to do in Tucson, Arizona

Stroll through the historic downtown

Tucson’s historic downtown is known for its colorful adobe houses which have all been restored and are well maintained by its owners. The Spanish Colonial Revival courthouse with its mosaic dome is one of downtown’s most recognizable buildings. Make sure to also visit the beautiful courtyard. Just a few blocks south you find the Cathedral of Saint Augustine, a beautiful church built in Mexican-baroque form.

Old Tucson Studios

The Old Tucson Studios, just outside of town, are a must visit for all fans of old Wild West movies. They were the backdrop for the gun-slinging Old Western heroes such as John Wayne, Clint East Wood and Paul Newman. A visit to the studios is like a journey back in time, with many of the film sets still intact. There are also daily stunt shows and shootouts.

Desert Museum

The Desert Museum is just around the corner from the Old Tucson Studios and is more like a biosphere than a museum. Part zoo, part botanical garden and part natural history museum, you can learn everything about life in the Sonoran Desert, see many of its inhabitants such as coyotes, scorpions, snakes and tarantulas, and the incredibly diverse flora and fauna.

Saguaro National Park

While you are at the Desert Museum, you might consider combining the trip with a visit to the Saguaro National Park, just a few miles down the road. Saguaro National Park should be included in every Tucson travel guide, because the scenery is stunning and so unique. There are hiking paths or a road through the park with several lookouts. It is the most dense forest of Saguaro cacti in the U.S., with over one million Saguaros.

The park is actually separated in two parts, the Tucson Mountain District (West) and the Rincon Mountain District (East), which can be both visited with the $10 vehicle permit which is good for 7 days.

Shop on 4^th Avenue

4^th Avenue is a popular road with a large number of restaurants, cafes, bars and nightclubs. At the time of our last visit, the historic 4^th Avenue tram line was in the process of being restored, and a stroll along this road, which is popular with university students, can be combined with lunch or a coffee in one of the many independent restaurants.

Pima Air & Space Museum

The Pima Air & Space Museum features almost 300 historic air planes and helicopters, some of which are stored in a hanger, and some of which are lined up in a large outside area. It is one of the biggest aircraft museums in the world. Even though we are not huge plane geeks, we thoroughly enjoyed looking at all the historic military planes, drones and helicopters.

Go on an urban scavenger hunt

This is a truly unique way to explore Tucson: a 3-hour Tucson scavenger hunt! The hunt is played via smartphone, which means you can do it on your own schedule. If you are traveling in a group or as a family, you can play against each other, Amazing Race style. Every team has to solve clues and challenges while learning about the history of downtown Tucson.

Settling into New York City life, I’ve finally gotten around to seeing parts of the city that I never had time for on previous, shorter visits. With all the tourist attractions checked off the list, I wanted to get off the beaten path in New York City and uncover spots that tourists, and even most locals, usually don’t visit.

But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t – and here’s why: each one of these stops offers a completely authentic view of New York City, whether it’s insight into the way the city really runs and what makes it tick or actually providing unique views of the Manhattan skyline. Of course there are tourist attractions that are well worth paying for, like the fantastic new observatory on top of the One World Tower, but I’d like to give you some ideas for things to do that aren’t in the guide books and introduce you to some hidden gems in New York City.

The best part is that almost all of these places are free to visit! Read on for my top five off the beaten path spots in New York City:

1. Take the ferry to Governors Island

Governors Island is a small 172-acre (70 ha) island, about half a mile from the southern tip of Manhattan. The island used to be a fort and military outpost for centuries, and has only been open to the public since 2006. Now, visitors can take the short ferry ride from Brooklyn or Manhattan and enjoy an artificial beach, giant green spaces and a cycle path around the island when they feel they need to get away from Big City life. The island used to be open only during the summer months, but since 2021, it’s been open year-round.

You can still see historic buildings there, like Castle Williams and Fort Jay, both built in the 18^th century, or just enjoy the gorgeous views of Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty. You can rent bikes there (or bring your bike on the ferry), bring a picnic or enjoy a meal from the food trucks on the island, or explore the island on foot. Noteworthy events include Figment, an annual participatory art festival, photography exhibitions, the skate truck and several art fairs.

While Governors Island is popular with locals – especially on summer weekends – if you go on a weekday, you’re likely to have the island almost to yourself – one of the best hidden gems in New York City.

How to get there: Ferries run on weekends from Brooklyn’s Pier 6 and Manhattan’s Battery Maritime Building (about every thirty minutes, see here for the full Governors Island ferry schedule). A round trip is $3 for adults, children under 12 ride for free. Get to Governors Island for free: Passengers ride free on Saturdays and Sundays before noon!

2. Explore Brooklyn’s Red Hook neighborhood

Red Hook in Brooklyn is one of the ‘up-and-coming’ neighborhoods in the city, expected to grow in a way similar to trendy Williamsburg, which has become the area with the highest hipster population in New York. But for now, Red Hook is not quite there, and going there definitely means venturing off the beaten path in New York City.

Red Hook is well on its way to become the next hot neighborhood in Brooklyn with independent stores, restaurants and art galleries arriving over the last few years and rejuvenating the formerly decaying waterfront community. Red Hook’s biggest challenge is its location – way out on a peninsula southwest of Carroll Gardens, bordering on the Hudson River. Strangely enough, IKEA is helping them overcome that hurdle, having opened there recently and bringing in an upswing of visitors with their free water taxi available from Manhattan each weekend.

While it was formerly a mainly industrial area, you’ll now find cute restaurants that take pride in using local ingredients, creative shops and galleries, a large community garden, seafood pubs and bars with views over the water, and more businesses opening on a monthly basis. There is even an artisan chocolate factory (Cacao Prieto, 218 Conover Street) and a whiskey distillery (Van Brunt Distillery, 6 Bay Street) where you can take free tours. Ice cream lovers should head straight to the Red Hook Factory of Brooklyn-based ice cream maker Ample Hills (421 Van Brunt Street). Especially kids will love the interactive ice cream museum, but adults will also enjoy watching the ice cream making process. Don’t leave without sampling some ice cream – as in every Ample Hills branch, there is one flavor that you can get only at this location: The Hook (burnt sugar ice cream mixed with salty fudge bites and Dutch stroopwafels).

The 20-minute ferry ride from Manhattan’s Pier 11 alone is worth the trip, offering the same spectacular views that the ferry to Governors Island has, but going way beyond that. There are several walkways along the waterfront, piers that are featuring art projects now, and at the Louis Valentino Jr park right at the Hudson River you can rent kayaks during the summer months or just enjoy the views of the Statue of Liberty across the bay. Most of the restaurants and shops are located on Van Brunt Street and the surrounding roads.

How to get there: The cheapest way to get here is via the free IKEA ferry that runs for free on weekends (every 20 minutes from 11am). The ferry also runs on weekdays, but charges $5 one way. NYC Ferry’s South Brooklyn ferry also stops in Red Hook. You can take the ferry from the Wall Street Terminal – here is the NYC ferry schedule to Red Hook.

The closest subway stops are Carroll Street or Smith-Ninth Street on the F and G train. The B61 bus goes all the way to Downtown Brooklyn and stops at the Smith-Ninth Street Subway Station. The B57 bus also goes to Downtown Brooklyn.

3. Discover the Elevated Acre

The Elevated Acre is, as the name indicates, an acre of green space on an elevated level between Lower Manhattan’s massive skyscrapers. We were surprised to find out how few New Yorkers actually knew about this space, even though it is just around the corner from Pier 11 and from Wall Street. Tourists haven’t found out about this lovely spot either, even though hotel booking websites offer many hotels within in walking distance from this rooftop park, which makes it one of the best hidden gems in New York City.

While it is packed with office workers during the weekday lunch hours, this is a great little hidden spot with superb views over the East River, the Brooklyn Bridge and Governors Island. Get here early, bring a book and a coffee and while away for an hour or so. The Elevated Acre also has a seven-tiered amphitheater and movies are shown here at night during the summer.

How to get there: The Elevated Acre is located on 55 Water Street. The closest subway stations are South Ferry (1), Whitehall St (N, R), Wall Street (2, 3), Broad Street (J) and Bowling Green (4, 5).

4. Take the aerial tramway to Roosevelt Island

Roosevelt Island is another little island in the East River that is worth a visit. Tucked in between Manhattan’s Upper East Side and Queens, this long, but narrow island stretches over two miles (3 km) from Manhattan’s East 46th to East 85th Streets, but only has a maximum width of 800 feet (240 m). Even though the island itself doesn’t have much on it other than residential apartment blocks, there is a lovely waterfront park on the island’s south side, Southpoint Park, that makes for a great spot to take your date on and watch the sunset from.

You can also walk up to the Northpoint Lighthouse, which dates back to 1872. The views over Manhattan’s East Side are lovely, and the best way to see them is actually from the areal Roosevelt Island Tramway (which you might recognize from the last Spiderman movie), the best way to arrive on the island. Plan an hour or two to walk around the park or bring a picnic for a relaxed afternoon. Even though you’re just across the river from Midtown’s hustle & bustle, you’ll feel like you’re very much off the beaten path in New York City.How to get here: The most scenic way to arrive is via the Roosevelt Island Tramway which leaves from 2nd Avenue between 59^th and 60^th Street and takes you high up above the roofs of Manhattan. You can use the tramway with your MTA metro pass. Make sure to get a spot near the front window and don’t worry about all the locals on there rolling their eyes as you vie for the best spot to take pictures. They could have easily taken the F Train, which also stops on Roosevelt Island, so they’re doing this for the views, too!

5. Discover Brooklyn

If you want to experience an authentic part of New York, then make sure to leave Manhattan. No matter if you’re heading to the Bronx, to Queens or to Staten Island (you have to get off the ferry to make it count though 😉 ), you’ll experience much more diverse and authentic neighborhoods.

My favorite out of the five boroughs? Brooklyn! Over the past few years, Brooklyn has become increasingly popular, but while many people want to visit Brooklyn they still don’t know where to start. It is after all New York’s most populous borough, and there are around 70 neighborhoods to explore. You can eat in authentic Russian eatery in Brighton Beach, stroll through the charming streets of historic Brooklyn Heights, marvel at street art in Bushwick or get a glimpse of life in a Jewish Orthodox community in Williamsburg or Crown Heights. I wrote a whole article about why everyone should visit Brooklyn on a trip to New York.

You can easily spend a week in Brooklyn alone and would still not run out of things to do! The further away you’re getting from Manhattan, the farther you’ll get off the beaten path in New York City. But most people don’t have that much time, which is why I decided to pack as much of Brooklyn as possible in a half-day walking tour.

On my Brooklyn Walking Tour I show four completely different sides of Brooklyn, while introducing you to five neighborhoods, none of which is like the other. You will see how diverse Brooklyn truly is when I show you classic Brooklyn brownstone architecture as well as the ‘hipster’ side of Brooklyn, with street art and vintage shops and flea markets. I will show you amazing Manhattan views, take you through an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood and tell you everything you need to know about Brooklyn.

For five more awesome things to do in New York off the beaten path, check out Five things to discover in New York that most tourists (and locals) never do – Part II

Although we could spend months immersed in that particularly sweet blend of  New Orleans urban life, there came a point during our visit where we just had to get out of town…what we discovered were the rural roots that throughout history have melted together to make the Crescent City so unique. Here are our favorite day trips from New Orleans:

The best day trips from New Orleans

Out on the Bayou

The picture of Louisiana I had in my head had been formed by the movie ‘No Mercy’. A very 80s Richard Gere plays a Chicago cop gone to N’Awlins to settle the score with some gangsters. He ends up having to escape them with a seductive Cajun woman, played by an equally 80s Kim Basinger, by trudging on foot through the swamps of Louisiana.

I wasn’t interested in the danger but wanted to experience what life out in the Louisiana Bayou was like – this was a day trip from New Orleans that definitely needed to happen.

 

In New Orleans we had seen plenty of tour options to explore the swamps, most of which take place in Honey Island Swamp, the closest swamp to the city. We opted for a tour with Cajun Encounters, who pick you up at the hotel and use smaller, slower passenger boats instead of fast airboats, as they are quieter and made for getting up close and personal with much more wildlife.

The hour drive out to the swamps meant passing by camps, or houses built on seven to ten foot high stilts. We’ve done a lot of road-tripping through the States, but I’ve never seen anything like these houses, completely off the grid and built to withstand massive floods and hurricanes.

When we arrived, 16 of us were loaded into our boat and greeted by Captain Mike, who was Louisiana bayou through and through. Between rolling his cigarettes and drinking his coffee, Mike entertained us with stories about growing up in the swamps and we sat, mesmerized at the deep southern drawl escaping through his tar-stained teeth.

I couldn’t have felt safer with anyone else for our day of alligator-spotting along the Pearl River, a wide river bordered by huge cypress trees covered in Spanish moss on both banks. The river led us into narrow channels where the still water was covered by a thick layer of green algae and looked like a bright green carpet undisturbed on the top of the water.

It didn’t even take ten minutes until we spotted our first alligator, and we all jumped to our feet for photo ops as our captain beckoned them to approach the boat with pieces of meat.

We saw plenty more of these giant native lizards sun bathing on the shores and wading discretely just under the water’s surface, along with turtles and birds like herons and eagles. Then, as we were taking in the beautiful scenery around us, Captain Mike announced he had a surprise for us: He introduced us to baby alligator Brian, only six months old and barely as big as my hand. We all got to hold him and feel his smooth white skin.

Later, we drifted past a few very basic houses up river. Old boats tied to rickety wooden piers and porches, some ravaged by weather and storms, others with families sitting outside waving as we go by. “Cajuns,” explains Captain Mike. “Couldn’t be happier out here, these families, but plenty of ‘em moved into the city a long while back.” We only notice that these houses look like people are having a great time, even boasting water slides that drop right from the porch into the river. Yes, the same river that we just went alligator spotting in. When we asked, Mike answered only, “Tough guys, Cajuns are,” with a glint in his eye.

The Laura Plantation

We had learned so much from our visit to the Boone Hall plantation in South Carolina and couldn’t wait to visit a Creole plantation in Louisiana, though we weren’t entirely sure what ‘creole’ really meant.

While Cajuns descended from French settlers in the Canadian provinces who relocated to Louisiana, Creole people were originally the first generation of French and Spanish settlers born in the Louisiana colony. Two very distinct cultures at the time, people often mistakenly combine the two today.

Creole plantation owners were some of Louisiana’s most successful businessmen, and although having a New Orleans ped a terre in the French Quarter was common, most of the hard work and daily lives were primarily based out on the farm. It was a two to three day boat-trip to the city back then, but now, at just an hours’ drive away, we squeezed in a visit to two different properties.

The first stop was the Laura Plantation, and we arrived just in time for a tour of the house, grounds and gardens. Originally named l’habitation Duparc after the Duparc Family who owned the plantation in the late 1700s, today the property (named after the great granddaughter who sold it) is one of the best preserved examples of a creole plantation.

The tour guides are extremely knowledgeable. In fact our guide was a direct descendant of some of the landowners in the area, a true Creole with a working knowledge of French, English and the French Creole dialect.

When asked to clarify questions on Creole culture, we learned how Creole business practices were reflected in the architecture of the main house of the Laura Plantation, and, as we made our way to the slave cabins in the back, he explains another significant aspect of the creole plantation.

Pre-Louisiana Purchase, the mainly West African slave population could purchase their freedom from their earnings on the plantation. Thousands actually did, until the practice was made illegal when Louisiana joined the United States in 1803. They joined a free mixed-race class that had developed over time when (white) Creole men took black mistresses in addition to their wives, creating second families. The children’s education was paid for, and the family of the mistress, if slaves, were set free.

Although a co-existence of free blacks and slaves is hard to understand now, the role these racial attitudes played in the culture of New Orleans certainly played a major role in making the New Orleans of today so distinct from the rest of the country.

Oak Alley Plantation

After touring Laura Plantation, we continued our until suddenly a row of impressive oak trees came into sight. We had arrived at Oak Alley Plantation, named after the 800ft long alley of 300-year-old oaks on either side.

Affectionately referred to as the “Grande Dame of the Great River Road”, this Greek-style antebellum mansion continues to impress today with its towering oaks and the 28 massive white columns that surround all four sides of the house. In fact, Oak Alley Plantation has hosted some of the world’s biggest celebrities. Brad Pitt’s character Louis in Interview with a Vampire called the mansion home, and more recently, Beyonce and Jay Z star alongside Oak Alley in Beyonce’s Déjà vu video, filmed here in 2004.

On the day of our visit, we were the last guests of the day and had the place to ourselves. Amazed at what a grand entrance the trees make, I sprinted the 800 feet and back and then we explored the grounds, including the modest cemetery where the most recent owners and their pets are buried. We had essentially a private tour of the house by a beautiful young Southern belle, dressed in traditional costume.

She told us stories of the owners throughout the years and that, like the Laura Plantation, Oak Alley had been a sugar plantation and how, after releasing the slaves post Civil War, the plantation could not sustain operations and was auctioned off for only $32,800 in 1866.

As we drove back into the city that evening, we felt like we had a much more profound understanding of the city: the people who created the French Quarter and those free blacks and slaves who would have gathered together on Congo Square, and how the music grew to reflect the struggle and the celebration of the people of New Orleans.

The Globetrottergirls are huge fans of street and urban art. We love its raw grit, city themes, fleeting nature and the sport of spotting new works by street art all-stars.

Living in London for the last three years, spotting a Banksy was often possible and very exciting, before some art-hostile council would paint over it. We caught Banksy’s CCTV piece the morning he painted it, and his trademark rat right on the Shepherds Bush round-a-bout also the day of.

So imagine our happiness when we saw three Banksy’s in San Francisco and all of them still new!
Apparently, Mr Banksy was in town around in late April and six new pieces were counted throughout town (coincidentally timed with the U.S. release of his film ‘Exit through the Gift Shop’).

San Francisco street art stretches far beyond Banksy: The Mission District is not only known for its innumerable Mexican and Latin American restaurants but also for the murals that are spread all over the district.

The murals in the area were initiated in the 1970s by the Latin American community and inspired by the Mexican mural movement of the 1930s. To date, there are more than 600 murals and graffitis in the Mission District.

Make sure not only to stay on Mission Street but also to explore the streets and alleys right and left of it when looking for murals and graffitis.

How to see street art in San Francisco

There are several ways to see street art in San Francisco –

On the east coast of the United States there is place called New York City…oh, you’ve heard of it, have you?

If you’ve never been, you need to go at least once. If you have been, you know you need to go back. What started for me as a little crush turned into such an intense love that I ended up moving to New York City! Your list might look entirely different than mine, but in line with my Things I Love About… series I wanted to share 33 random things I love about New York City.

1. The vibrant energy of Midtown Manhattan. There’s a busy energy in the city that we have never felt in any other city we’ve visited on our travels to over 70 countries. There’s so much life in Manhattan, and there’s so much going on at all times. It’s electrifying and it is infectious.

2. The innovative parking spaces.

3. And the ways NYC tells you where not to park.

4. Watching the neighborhoods change as we walk Broadway all the way from the Financial District to Harlem.

5. Laying in the sun chairs on the rails of Highline Park – New York’s most exciting urban renewal project.

6. Running straight into a mid-morning model photo-shoot in the Meatpacking district.

7. Union Square
Especially the buzz and bustle here from right after the sun goes down until way late into the night.

8. The sheer endless amount of mouthwateringly delicious pizza slices. Our hunt for the best pizza in NYC seems to have turned into a lifelong quest.

9. Reading the paper or people watch in Bryant Park

10. Ordering coffee off a Russian menu at Starbucks in Brighton Beach, near Coney Island, while listening to the Russian chatter around you, and realizing that even though you’re in an English-speaking country, you’ve just entered a completely different world and you have no idea what is going on.

11. Standing in Grand Central station and imagining where everyone is going to and coming from in such a hurry.

12. The anonymity
On any given day, celebrities and world leaders join millions of locals and tourists, rich and poor, going about daily life on the streets of New York. Unlike in any other U.S. city, in New York City you, or the person next to you, could be just about anybody in the world.

13. The walk over the Brooklyn Bridge

14. Brooklyn Pride
Black, white, old, young, American or ex-pat, residents of Brooklyn, better known as Brooklynites, are proud in a way unlike any other New Yorker.

15. The Street Art – especially in Bushwick.

16. The food. I don’t think there’s a cuisine that you CAN’T get in NYC, and the amount of amazing restaurants is unrivaled anywhere in the world. This city is a food lover’s paradise.

17. World class art museums. Not only does New York City have an unparalleled food scene, but also the art scene is one-of-a-kind, spanning from major world-class art museums such as the MoMA or the MET to small galleries in Chelsea and cutting-edge contemporary art in art spaces such as the MoMA PS1. Not to mention the open studio days throughout he different neighborhoods where artists open their workspaces to the public and let strangers peek over their shoulders while they’re creating.

18. The changing cultures in Central Park throughout the day
The pet-owners and joggers in the morning, before the nannies and professional dog-walkers invade in the afternoon.

19. Looking back at the skyscrapers of Battery Park from the Staten Island Ferry.

20. The gravity-defying break dancers in Times Square Subway Station, and the eclectic “It’s Showtime!” dancers on the subway.

21. Observing locals fishing in possibly polluted waters of the East River, or off the Coney Island pier.

22. The many green spaces throughout the “Concrete Jungle”, which range from giant parks such as Van Cortlandt Park and Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx to tiny oasis like the Elevated Acre or Greenacre Park in Manhattan.

23. Observing the Orthodox Hasidic Jewish families in South Williamsburg or Crown Heights.

24. The ever-changing skyline of the city, with skyscrapers trying to outdo each other in terms of height and interesting architectural features.

25. The love New Yorkers have for their city.

26. Exploring the unique architecture of the Cast Iron district

27. The hot dog vendors, and the street food culture in general. This includes the breakfast & coffee carts in Midtown Manhattan, the pretzel guys in Central Park, the Latin American street food carts in Queens, and the Mexican tamales ladies in Brooklyn.

28. The pictures plastered on the walls at the uber-kitsch restaurants in Little Italy.
So many restaurants here have pictures of either well-known celebrities who ate there, or loads of ‘regular joe’ diners from throughout the years. As cheesy, faded and curled up around the edges as some of the pics can be, it still gives that feeling of ‘When you’re here, you’re family’. What else would you expect in Little Italy!

29. The opportunities for perspective
The views from the Top of the Rock and the Empire State Building let you get such a good feeling for this dense city. If you’re interested in seeing New York City from a bird’s eye view, I compared the best observation decks in New York City.

30. Spotting film crews and trailers on location filming the next great NYC movie or TV show.

31. Contemplating what constitutes a New Yorker
Contrasting people who live out near Coney Island to those on the Upper East Side, and marveling at the fact that no matter their differences, they are all still New Yorkers.

32. Mariachi bands on the subway

33. New York is within everyone’s budget
With the exception of accommodation, hanging out in New York City can be cheap as chips and exhilarating at the same time. It might be testing out a highly-recommended hole in the wall and people watching in the park rather than Michelin-starred dining and a Broadway show, but no matter your budget, you will have a distinctly authentic New York time.

 

Somehow, despite our mission to skip winters, we end up spending at least part of October in Chicago each year. This year, we watched the weather change bit by bit as we made our way from New Mexico across the Midwest into Chicago, but the true Autumn beauty didn’t hit until the middle of the month. Now the ground is covered in blankets of bright red and orange leaves and Dani and I spend time strolling through leafy parks, sipping hot coffee and huddling together to keep warm. What a romantic time of year!

Nature paints the landscape with all kinds of beautiful colors, but taking a last minute holiday with your partner or family can be such a great way to explore fall. Here are some of the best places to see the fall colors in the US:

The Best Places To See The Fall Colors in the US

Adirondacks, New York

What could be more romantic than skipping along a forest trail in fall with a backdrop of lakes and mountains? If you’re an outdoorsy girl like me then the answer is not much. Add in a picnic and you’ve got the ultimate loveliness (especially if there’s cake). There are tons of hiking trails in the Adirondack region whether you’re more about picnics and skipping or a serious physical challenge. The park is 6-million acres meaning 6-million acres of gold, auburn, ochre, crimson and bronze treetops during fall. Cabins, cottages and camp sites are plentiful so you’ll be able to find lodgings whatever your budget.

New England 

Ah, New England, land of white clapboard and quaint fishing towns. The six states are also land of the downright magical during the fall season – it is the most popular place to see the fall colors in the US for a reason! It’s too hard to pick the best town or even state to visit so we suggest taking a tour through several. The whole New England countryside is ablaze with fiery foliage during fall and wherever you go outside the major cities you’re in for a treat. A scenic New England fall foliage road trip is the best way to explore the region. Buying apples and pumpkins from roadside farm shops and taking in the spectacular scenery is bound to leave you feeling positively wholesome.

Aspen, Colorado

The town of Aspen is named after the trees that blanket the mountains and valleys around it. It’s these trees that produce a spectacular show every fall that is utterly unique in its colour pallet. The purple hew of the Maroon Bells mountains act as a stunning backdrop to the aspen tree’s displays which ignite the surrounding countryside with copper and gold. There are campsites in this area for low-budget stays but it’s best to book well in advance as fall vacations to this area are extremely popular.

If you can’t spare the time or money to enjoy one of these adventures then do not despair- it’s likely that a park or forest near you is looking pretty spectacular at the moment too. Do you have a favourite spot for appreciating fall foliage in your home town? Is there a travel destination you’ve visited that you are convinced is the world’s best leaf-peeping destination?

This is Niagara Falls? On our way to visit Niagara Falls, Dani and I had both been picturing rustic log-cabin restaurants, maybe a few lumberjacks, a small town feel and definitely something a bit more romantic. After all this is supposed to be the Honeymoon Capital of the World. We never expected this…mega tourist trap.

Pulling into town, however, we found ourselves suddenly driving downhill on a wide street with cheesy tourist attractions stacked up tightly on either side. A wax museum, a haunted house, Ripley’s Believe it or Not…

“Wait, is that another wax museum?” I asked.  “I think so,” Dani remarked. “And I just saw two more haunted houses on my side.”

As we reached the bottom of this long, strange road, I turned right – away from the Hershey’s Chocolate store and toward the intense sound of rushing water.

Should you even visit Niagara Falls?

Yes, Niagara Falls are magnificent.

Just a split second after leaving behind the uninspiring town, there it was! The awe-inspiring view of Niagara Falls. There are actually three sets of falls pounding into the Niagara river below: the American Falls and smaller Bridal Veil Falls on the American side, and the massive Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian side. Immediately humbled, we cruised slowly along the four-lane thoroughfare which hugs the pedestrian viewing along the cliffs, gawking at the sheer size of this sight.

We managed to find $5 parking (instead of the lots with New York City level prices) and walked down to gaze at the Falls. Seeing Niagara Falls on postcards and in pictures does not compare to the sight of this incredible natural wonder in person. Two things really stood out. First, the water seems to speed up as it reaches the falls, as if it can not wait to plunge over the cliff. By the time it goes over, the water is moving so quickly and just looking at this makes you comprehend your own delicate mortality.

Second, the sheer force with which the 4 million cubic feet of water per minute hits the river below causes much of it to shoot back up into the air, with the spray reaching at least twice as high as the 180 feet it dropped in the first place. This ‘cloud’ of mist can be seen even when the Falls themselves are out of view. This part of the walkway, and all onlookers standing here, is soaking wet.

Also read: The Niagara Falls Smackdown: The American Falls vs. the Canadian Falls

The Maid of the Mist is a MUST!

Being such a popular tourist attraction, there are several tours to choose from which will get you up close and almost within reach of the Falls. We steered away from the package deals and chose only the 30-minute Maid of the Mist boat tour. With all passengers covered in plastic ponchos, the boat set off onto the Niagara river, which drains Lake Erie into Lake Ontario and forms the border between the U.S. and Canada. The steady ship reached the Horseshoe Falls within minutes and we were immediately drenched by the mist. Actually feeling how much water soaked us at the edge of the mist helped to visualize just how much water is contained within the waterfalls themselves. We can highly recommend doing this tour as it is quick, painless and gets right to the point. While it feels adventurous, boats leave every half hour from the dock to the falls, making this a common and safe experience for everyone. We say: The Maid of the Mist is a MUST when you visit Niagara Falls!

Indeed, these imposing waterfalls are one of nature’s incredible wonders, and everyone should visit Niagara Falls if they get the chance. Most agree that the views are better from the Canadian side, but cross the Rainbow Bridge to the American side and check it out for yourself. From what we could see, there are far less tourist eyesores and it could well be a more natural experience. Back on the Canadian side, we just couldn’t help but be disappointed by the fact that Niagara Falls might just be the most unnatural wonder we’ll ever visit. Luckily, we found a solution, a way out of the tourist trap – and it involves a lot of wine.

Winding our way through the wineries

No, there was no drowning of sorrows in copious amounts of wine. Instead, after beating the crowds to some breathtaking early morning views at Niagara Falls, we set off into the Canadian wine country. Sleepy narrow two-lane roads weave through historic villages which open up into vast fields filled with countless rows of wine as far as the eye can see. We glided along the road, stopping in for samples at a few charming wineries and picking up fresh organic peaches, pears and veggies from farmers stands along the way.

Tip: Try the sweet dessert ‘ice wine’, a local Ontario wine which uses grapes picked only after the first frost of the year.

Suddenly, 15km from Niagara Falls, a spot of slow traffic began when there had previously been only a few cars on the road. Where were we all of a sudden, we wondered?

Love at first sight: Niagara-on-the-Lake

This charming, historic town of Niagara-on-the-Lake is everything Niagara Falls is not. Independent shops and restaurants fill the bottom floors of historic buildings, which are set back on streets lined with breezy trees, exotic flowers and lovely sidewalks meant for strolling. Everything in town seems to center around good food and good wine.

Whereas the town of Niagara Falls seems like Las Vegas without the flash and fun, Niagara-on-the-Lake is more like the Canadian version of Tuscany, with its Dolce Vita attitude. Surrounded by 26 wineries, it seems easy to focus on the ‘sweet life’ here.

It was love at first sight, and as we rambled along peeking into shops and checking out restaurant menus, we made an even more exciting discovery. Food and drink here is more fairly priced for infinitely higher quality than the fast food tourist fare down the road. To add to our delight, we spotted plenty of affordable classic hotels and boutique bed and breakfasts throughout town.

As we left Niagara-on-the-Lake, the car was filled with delicious wine, fresh blueberry scones and our homegrown fruit and veg to enjoy once we got back home.

Niagara Falls Tip:

If you visit Niagara Falls, which you really should, skip the cheapie budget digs on ‘motel row’ out of town, and don’t waste serious cash on the 42-story hotel/casino monstrosities all vying for the best views of the falls. We say make Niagara-on-the-Lake your base, take a couple of day trips to the falls and spend the evenings relaxing in this adorable haven just down the road.

The best hotels in Niagara-on-the-Lake:

Inexpensive hotels:

• Hilton Garden Inn Niagara-On-The-Lake: Small hotel with an indoor swimming pool, free parking and an on-site restaurant. Double rooms start at US$90 per night
• Holiday Inn Express: 3-star hotel with indoor pool, fitness center and spacious rooms. Double rooms start at US$89 per night.
• Best Western Butler Colonel Inn: Small hotel with fitness center, comfortable rooms and a good location. Double rooms start at US$89 per night, including breakfast.

Mid-range hotels:

• 124 on Queen Hotel & Spa: Charming small hotel in historic buildings right on Queen Street in the Old Town with large rooms and luxury villas. There is a spa, a cafe and a restaurant on site. Deluxe rooms start at US$154 per night.
• Historic Wilson Guy House: B&B in a historic 1816 building near Queen Street. Rooms start at US$150 per night, including breakfast.
• School House Bed & Breakfast: Small B&B with a shared lounge and a garden. Rooms start at US$181 per night, breakfast included.

Splurge:

• Pillar & Post Inn & Spa: The small boutique hotel features an outdoor swimming pool, a spa and an onsite restaurant. Premium rooms start at US$268, which includes breakfast and dinner.
• Prince Of Wales: An intimate luxury hotel in a historic Victorian building. Rooms are decorated with antiques. there is an art-lined indoor pool room and whirlpool. The spa offers a variety of massage and tea-based treatments; the restaurant offers daily afternoon tea. Room start at US$284, which includes breakfast and dinner.

If you had asked the two of us about city tours a few years ago, we would have rolled our eyes at you. Tours are for package tourists, we would have told you, followed by: Travel is about soaking up local culture, not going on tours. Fast-forward to the present day, to a couple that now lives and breathes travel, and our opinion has changed a bit with experience.

Do not misunderstand – we would never advocate organized tours as the principal way to see a city (that is just lazy!). There are, however, definite advantages, especially for time-starved visitors. Certain tours make finding out more details/facts about the city, seeing more neighborhoods and getting your bearings in a city much easier.

When we arrived in Savannah for our five-day stay, we were shocked at just how many tours this small Southern city of just 137,000 has on offer – a number easily on par with New York, Paris or London. Alarm bells sounded, red flags were raised…Savannah’s breezy city center is compact and can be explored on foot in a day or two.

Do you really need to take a tour in Savannah at all?

We say yes…Savannah has one of the most unique, interesting stories of all U.S. cities, most of which would go overlooked on a series of leisurely strolls across the famous squares and Forsyth Park without a guide. Taking one of the hop-on, hop-off tours (we liked the Savannah Trolley Tours) can be a good way to dip into a quick history lesson and get a sense of the size of the city center.

The two of us are absolute movie geeks and Savannah, known as the Hollywood of the South, has starred next to Kevin Spacey and Tom Hanks as a key film location in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil and Forrest Gump – among many, many other films. And so it was that, with limited time to see city between our stints both judging and partaking in the Savannah Craft Brew Festival over Labor Day Weekend, we chose to take a movie tour over the Black History Tour, which ran at the same time.

The truth is, Savannah Movie Tours was actually the most disappointing tour we have ever taken.

Tricked by the shiny wrapping, this was an utter disappointment – what we would have given for a ‘Do Over’. The 90-minute outing, which costs $25 per person, stops at various movie locations and flat screen TVs inside the bus show clips of the movie set in the location. Much of the information given was the same as the hop-on, hop-off tours, plus the clips were too short and paying attention to the clip and the boring guide (we kept track of his ums and uhs until we lost count) at the same time was too hard. Maybe we couldn’t keep up because the air-conditioning was cranked up so high in the bus that it actually froze our brains. Everyone on board was shivering (outside, a 100 degree southern summer heat), and Jess nearly lost it when, at the end, the guide had the nerve to ask if we wanted to stop at the famous Leopold’s ice cream. Were the 12 of us freezey-pops not enough?!

Pick a Savannah tour – just not any tour

So how to find the best tours in Savannah? Check reviews and recommendations on sites like TripAdvisor before you book, plain and simple. Below is a listing of the types of tours available in Savannah. Each type often has 2-5 tour companies offering the same thing:

• Savannah trolley tours
• Savannah hop 0n, hop off tours
• Savannah walking tours
• Savannah haunted walking tours
• Savannah foodie tours
• Savannah movie tours

 

• Savannah horse carriage tours
• Savannah ghost tours
• Savannah riverboat tours
• Savannah historic homes & gardens tours
• Savannah black history tours
• Savannah pub crawls and martini tours

The best tours we chose in Savannah

For history buffs, several historic homes offer tours of the house and gardens. These shine a personal light on history as you catch a frozen moment of a bygone era – how the bedrooms looked, the history of the house, what the customs were. We especially loved the tour of the Mercer Wiliams House, the home of the flamboyant Savannah playboy Jim Williams, familiar to some as the main character in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.

Having never heard of Savannah icon and Food Network cooking star Paula Deen, we couldn’t miss learning about her in Savannah. Fans line up to eat at her Lady and Sons restaurant (get there early, the lines are looooong) and there are also Savannah food tours. True foodies might best enjoy the Savannah food tour – a great introduction to Southern cuisine with strong reviews on Trip Advisor and this USA Today article.

For people who are interested in African American history in the South, the Black History Tour includes remnants of the Underground Railroad, Old Black Communities and slave burial grounds.

Savannah is also known as one of the most haunted cities in America. The city’s history is filled with plagues, wars, duels, and murders and every cemetery and Gothic mansion has a ghost story of some type to tell. Not surprisingly there are 31 ghost tours: A Savannah sixth sense tour, a Ghosts & Gravestones tour, a creepy pub crawl, a Savannah Hearse tour (check out Amanda’s coverage of the Savannah hearse tour over at A Dangerous Business), to name only a few.

With a late evening free, we opted for a simple walking ghost tour. It was not electrifying and more like a non-ghost walking tour, until we toured the Juliette Gordon Low birth house (founder of the Girl Scouts), whose ghost stories were creepy enough to get the hair on the back of our necks standing on end.

Whether you are immune to tours or addicted to them, Savannah confronts you with a seemingly infinite amount of shiny packaging… just make sure to do your own research before choosing a tour. Most importantly, sit down on a bench like Forrest Gump in each of Savannah’s 24 breezy squares and take in the mingling of the city’s eccentrics, its visitors and the daily life of the Savannah locals. It is free and the best entertainment of all!

For comprehensive listings about the best tours in Savannah, check out VisitSavannah.com and TripAdvisor Savannah, two great resources on what to do in Savannah.

Have you been to Savannah? Would recommend any Savannah tours? In general, how do you feel about taking tours while visiting a city?

 

Every single day we are asked where we are from: fellow travelers, bus drivers, restaurant servers. Without hesitation, Dani replies simply, “Germany.” When I say the United States, however, people want me to be more specific. And so, I answer that I am from Chicago.

But the truth is, I am not from Chicago.

I am from just outside of the city in one of the many northwest suburbs – from Chicagoland, as we call it. I am from just far enough away to be constantly enamored by this city. In the last two years, we have seen dozens of global cities, hundreds of dusty villages, and everything in between. While I have been home to visit Chicago many times since leaving the U.S. in 2001, on this past visit we were looking at Chicago through the eyes of experienced nomads. From the tops of Chicago’s towers and the tables of some of the city’s trendy and comfort-food-focused restaurants, we had a blast for the four weeks we spent in the city.

However, it was, quite surprisingly, our awesome Segway tour that truly allowed us to see Chicago from its most glamorous angles.

So how did we end up on a Chicago Segway tour?

One advantage of being a tourist in your own town is the chance to get personal recommendations from people you actually know and trust, and we didn’t think twice about trying out the frozen yogurt place, the secluded beach, the coffee shop around the corner. My step-dad, a Chi-town local and avid adventure traveler, kept recommending a Chicago Segway tour. It was hard to see ourselves on we considered a clunky machine that put sightseeing in reach for people who are too lazy/overweight/old to walk? Look, it’s not like we are entirely adverse to jumping on tourist bandwagons. After all, we went on a Mediterranean cruise and did a GoCar tour in Lisbon. But us? On Segways?
In the end, his soft but persuasive methods won and we were looking up tour companies, choosing City Segway Tours. Although we were initially nervous about our ability to block out judgmental stares about how silly we looked, after our fifteen minute confidence-building training session, we were pumped and ready to ride! Our guide, a native Chicagoan and all of 22 years old, shared loads of interesting Chicago history along the way, as well as keeping us at the right speeds throughout the ride.
As we quickly learned, the tour is as much about the Segway as it is the city. The machine, a scientific marvel, is a self-balancing, personal transportation device controlled entirely through minuscule motions of the feet; slight leans forward and backward affect the speed, while minimal usage of the ‘handlebars’ allowed us to float along, whiz around, turn on a dime in perfect 360 degree circles.

The Segway is not all fun and games, however. Riders have to keep their attention on the machine at all times, as just one momentary attention lapse can mean losing balance and falling off. The injuries could be pretty severe, but that is why our speed is limited to 5mph for the first half of the tour. After an hour, we feel like pros, and our guide bumps up our available speed to 8-9mph – and trust me, that is just as fast as we needed.
Using the machine was a blast, but it is the tour aspect of the trip that won us over (and only afterwards, when reviewing the experience on TripAdvisor, we saw that 97% of hundreds of TripAdvisor reviewers all agree that the Chicago City Segway tour is the absolute best way to see the city!)

The tour started started at the City Segway Office, just north of the famous Millennium Park, where we watched an intense safety video that scared the pants off of us (in the name of safety), and outside where we learned to ride. We continued through Grant Park to Buckingham Fountain (which you may recognize from this little TV show) and then over to the Lake Shore, which hugs the coast of Lake Michigan for miles and miles in either direction.

Next it was on to Soldier Field (home of Da Bears) and over to Museum Campus – home Chicago’s impressive Field Museum, Shedd Aquarium and the Adler Planetarium. I’ve always said that if someone blindfolded you and set you down facing the waters of Lake Michigan, you would have no way of knowing that this massive body of water was not an ocean. With the impressive lake on one side and the city’s breathtaking skyline on the other, this leg of the tour was one of total enjoyment, pure awe, utter respect, and for this (kind of) Chicago native – swelling pride. It was here, in the back of the Planetarium, where we discovered the most picturesque views of the Chicago skyline I have ever seen. Now ain’t that somethin’?
With a bit of a buzz, we returned our sleek self-balancing ships back to the office, and noticed all the tours the company runs around the world. We could have already ‘Segwayed’ in Paris, Munich, New Orleans, Washington, DC, San Francisco, Atlanta, Berlin…but we have already been to those places. There is still Vienna and Budapest! Not all cities might work as great as Chicago did for these kinds of tours, but we would definitely do this again.

Tips for your Chicago Segway Tour:

1. Wear good shoes – you are essentially standing in one place for two-three hours (there are a few breaks, of course) so you will want supportive shoes, like gym shoes/trainers.
2. Dress appropriately – riding along the lake front means a strong breeze, but if you do the 10am tour, like we did, the sun will be beating down as well. Night tours will get chilly even in summer, thanks to that good ol’ Chicago ‘lake effect’.  Bring a jacket, wear shades and don’t forget sunscreen. Even in the winter, your nose will burn a bit on a sunny day without it.
3. The Segway has a pouch for 1-2 bottles of water, an iPad and a small camcorder, so it’s tech ready. The office has water bottles for $1.