MIAMI

Miami  is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County. The 42nd largest city proper in the United States, with a population of 408,568, it is the principal, central, and most populous city of theMiami metropolitan area, and the most populous metropolis in the Southeastern United States. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Miami's metro area is the eighth most populous and fourth-largest urban area in the United States, with a population of around 5.5 million.

Miami is a major center and a leader in finance, commerce, culture, media, entertainment, the arts, and international trade. In 2010, Miami was classified as an Alpha- World City in the World Cities Study Group’s inventory.  In 2010, Miami ranked seventh in the United States in terms of finance, commerce, culture, entertainment, fashion, education, and other sectors. It ranked thirty-third among global cities.  In 2008,Forbes magazine ranked Miami "America's Cleanest City", for its year-round good air quality, vast green spaces, clean drinking water, clean streets and city-wide recycling programs. According to a 2009 UBS study of 73 world cities, Miami was ranked as the richest city in the United States, and the world's fifth-richest city in terms of purchasing power.  Miami is nicknamed the "Capital of Latin America",  is the second-largest U.S. city (after El Paso, Texas) with a Spanish-speaking majority, and the largest city with a Cuban-American plurality.

Downtown Miami and South Florida are home to the largest concentration of international banks in the United States, and is home to many large companies both nationally and internationally.  The Civic Center is a major center for hospitals, research institutes, medical centers, andbiotechnology industries. For more than two decades, the Port of Miami, known as the "Cruise Capital of the World," has been the number one cruise passenger port in the world, accommodating some of the world's largest cruise ships and operations, and is currently the busiest in both passenger traffic and cruise lines.

South Beach

South Beach is the most popular tourist attractions in Miami Florida located at east of Miami city, proper between Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The area encompasses all of the barrier islands of Miami Beach south of Indian Creek. The beach is the ideal place for a breath of fresh air beachstyle. It is perfect place for sunbathing, shopping or just watching people passing by on the beach. At night, South Beach comes alive with crowds dressed in party-casual chic.

Miami Seaquarium

The second tourist attractions in Miami you have to know is Miami Seaquarium. If you like beaches with luxury and party. The Miami Seaquarium located in the island of Virginia Key in Biscayne Bay, Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States and is located near downtown Miami. It is the Longest operating oceanarium in the United States. In Addition to the Marine Mammals, the Miami Seaquarium also houses for Various fish, sharks, sea turtles, birds, Reptiles and manatees. The park offers eight different marine animal shows and presentations daily and attracts over 600,000 visitors per year. In Miami Sequarium you can swim  with the dolphin and kiss it.

 Monkey Jungle

The other popular tourist attractions in Miami is Monkey Jungle. The park is located in Cutler Bay at South 216th Street/Hainlin Mill Road near West 147th Avenue. This park has about 400 primates of 30 different species running loose. Guests walk through a series of tunnel cages. Its tagline is "Where the humans are caged and the monkeys run wild". It includes an Amazonian rainforest, the only semi-natural tropical rainforest found in North America. The zoo with a format very similar to the original, most monkeys had benign allowed to accompany you to roam around in it. You even can directly feed the monkeys.

Parrot Jungle

Parrot Jungle was a zoological park south of Miami. Parrot Jungle Island has more than 1000 animals and 500 species of plants. Here you can see all sorts of exotic birds fly freely in nature. Beside parrots and other birds, there will also penguins, orangutans, crocodiles, tigers and many others. This place is great, especially if you take your children for educational enhancements. you can see trained bird show at the Parrot Bowl, and an exhibition of reptiles, penguins, flamingos and other animals at the Serpentarium.

Miami Children's Museum

The Miami Children's Museum was founded in 1983 and moved to its latest location in 2003. Educational and entertainment exhibits are designed to appeal to children's curiosity and creativity. Interactive exhibits at the Miami Children's Museum include a variety of themed galleries that revolve around arts, culture, community, and communication.

The museum is located in a 56,500 square-foot facility with galleries, a 200 seat auditorium, restaurant, and gift shop.

Miami River Historical Jungle Tours

Here visitors will follow the Jungle Tour which provides an opportunity tolearn about history through modern facilities of Miami. Visitors will be brought to use artificial river boats and the scenery surrounding the model of Miami. The tour be held for two and a half hours and will be provided for consumption.

 Coral Castle

The other name is 'Rock Gate', located between Miami and Florida this place was built by a Latvian immigrant named Edward Leedskalnin who died in 1951. The structure comprises numerous megalithic stones (mostly limestone formed from coral), each weighing several tons. It currently serves as a privately-operated tourist attraction.

new york

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. New York is the 27th most extensive, the 3rd most populous, and the 7th most densely populated of the 50 United States. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east. The state has a maritime border with Rhode Island east of Long Island, as well as an international border with the Canadian provinces of Ontario to the west and north, and Quebec to the north. The state of New York is often referred to as New York State to distinguish it from New York City.

New York City, with a population of over 8.1 million, is the most populous city in the United States. It is known for its status as a center for finance and culture and for its status as the largest gateway for immigration to the United States. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, it is also a destination of choice for many foreign visitors.  New York exports a wide variety of goods such as foodstuffs, commodities, minerals, computers and electronics, cut diamonds, and automobile parts. New York City is the leading center of banking, finance and communication in the United States and is the location of the New York Stock Exchange, the largest stock exchange in the world by dollar volume. Many of the world's largest corporations are based in the city.

Tourism in New York City includes nearly 47 million foreign and American tourists each year. The city is also home to many of the finest haute cuisine restaurants in the United States.

  

Main New York City Attractions

Statue of Liberty - An icon for democracy, Lady Liberty held up her torch to welcome immigrants to America over a century ago. It  is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, designed by Frédéric Bartholdi and dedicated on October 28, 1886. The statue, a gift to the United States from the people of France, is of a robed female figure representing Libertas, the Roman goddess of freedom, who bears a torch and a tabula ansata (a tablet evoking the law) upon which is inscribed the date of the American Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776. A broken chain lies at her feet. The statue is an icon of freedom and of the United States: a welcoming signal to immigrants arriving from abroad. n 1984, the Statue of Liberty was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The UNESCO "Statement of Significance" describes the statue as a "masterpiece of the human spirit" that "endures as a highly potent symbol—inspiring contemplation, debate and protest—of ideals such as liberty, peace, human rights, abolition of slavery, democracy and opportunity."

Times Square -   Times Square is a major commercial intersection in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets. Times Square – iconified as "The Crossroads of the World", The Center of the Universe",  and the "The Great White Way" – is the brightly illuminated hub  and one of the world's busiest walker intersections, and a major center of the world's entertainment industry.  According to Travel + Leisure magazine's October 2011 survey, Times Square is the world's most visited tourist attraction, hosting over 39 million visitors annually.  Approximately 300,000 people pass through Times Square daily. 

Formerly Longacre Square, Times Square was renamed in April 1904 after The New York Times moved its headquarters to the newly erected Times.  

Empire State Building - The Empire State Building is a 102-story skyscraper located in Midtown Manhattan. It stood as the world's tallest building for 40 years, from its completion in 1931 until construction of the World Trade Center's. The Empire State Building is generally thought of as an American cultural icon. 

 Central Park –  It is a public park at the center of Manhattan in New York City. The park initially opened in 1857, on 778 acres. Central Park is the most visited urban park in the United States and the park  receives approximately thirty-five million visitors annually.  The park offers several lakes, theaters, ice rinks, fountains, tennis courts, baseball fields, many playgrounds and other facilities. It is also home to the Central Park Zoo,  the Metropolitan Museum of Art and there are a number of enclosed playgrounds for children. Especially during the weekends, when cars are not allowed into the park, Central Park is a welcome oasis in this excited city.

The Museum of Modern Art - MoMA, as it's usually called, boasts the world's greatest collection of painting and sculpture from the late 19th century to the present, including everything from Monet's Water Lilies, Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d'Avigno, and Klimt's The Kiss to later masterworks by Frida Kahlo, Edward Hopper, Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, and many others.  It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world.  he museum's collection offers an overview of modern and contemporary art,  including works  of architecture and design,  drawings, painting,  sculpture, photography,  prints, illustrated books and artist's books, film, and electronic media.  Museum 's library and archives hold over 300,000 books, artist books, and periodicals, as well as individual files on more than 70,000 artists. The archives contain primary source material related to the history of modern and contemporary art. It also houses a restaurant.

Grand Central Terminal - Sometimes mistakenly called Grand Central Station, this is no simple train terminal. Grand Central Terminal is used by more than 150,000 commuters each day. This place refurbished in the 1990s, the terminal is a must-see attraction offering a variety of restaurants, shopping, and ample opportunity for people-watching. Grand Central Terminal is one of the greatest railway stations in the world. Grand Central Terminal is a beautiful   building in midtown Manhattan. First opened in 1913, Grand Central Terminal underwent a massive restoration to restore it to its former glory, and is now both a transportation hub, as well as a destination in itself for visitors to New York City.

World Trade Center site (Ground Zero) -  Since 2001 in the United States, especially in the media, "Ground Zero" is generally understood to mean the site of the World Trade Center, which was destroyed in the September 11 attacks.   The six-hectare (16-acre) work site that has emerged from the rubble of the twin towers has come to symbolize the dreadful events of September 11, 2001 when almost 3,000 people lost their lives.   Millions now come to pay tribute at the site and witness the devastation from one of the viewing sites.

The American Museum of Natural History - It is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world and it was founded in 1869. The American Museum of Natural History presenting exhibits to the general public in the Central Park Arsenal building more than 30 years ago, American Museum of Natural History has been devoted to bringing the public cutting-edge anthropological and natural history information and displays - profiling both the past and present. The Museum has extensive anthropological collections: Asian People, Pacific People, Man in Africa, American Indian collections, general Native Americancollections, and collections from Mexico and Central America.  The collections contain over 32 million specimens and averages about five million visits annually. 

Fifth Avenue -  This is lined with prestigious shops and is consistently ranked among the most expensive shopping streets in the world. In 2008, Forbes magazine ranked Fifth Avenue as being the most expensive street in the world. This historic street is home to extraordinary museums, businesses and stores, parks, luxury apartments, and historical landmarks that are reminiscent of its history and vision for the future. There are enough over-the-top shopping opportunities on Fifth Avenue to satisfy everyone's taste. Women will love browsing and buying at stores like Bergdorf-Goodman, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Emanuel Ungaro, Gucci, Ferragamo, and Versace. Men can check out Bergdorf Men, Brooks Brothers, the NBA Store as well as the famous Apple Store. Place to looking for something shiny or sparkly such as jeweler to the stars, Bulgari, Cartier, Tiffany and Company, Van Cleef and Arpels, and Fortunoff.

MONTREAL

MONTREAL

Montreal   is a city in the Canadian province of Quebec. It is the largest city in the province, the second-largest in the country (after Toronto) and the fifteenth-largest in North America. Originally calledVille-Marie, or "City of Mary", named after Mount Royal, the triple-peaked hill located in the heart of the city, or Mont Réal as it was spelled in Middle French (Mont Royal in modern French). The city is located on the Island of Montreal, which took its name from the same source as the city, and a few much smaller peripheral islands, the largest of which is Île Bizard.

As of 2011, the city of Montreal had a population of 1,649,519. Montreal's metropolitan area (CMA) (land area 4,259 square kilometres (1,644 sq mi)) had a population of 3,824,221 and a population of 1,886,481 in the urban agglomeration of Montreal, all of the municipalities on the Island of Montreal included. 

French is the city's official language  Montreal is the second largest primarily French-speaking city in the world, after Paris. 

Montreal was called "Canada's Cultural Capital" by Monocle and recently was named a UNESCO City of Design.  Historically the commercial capital of Canada, it was surpassed in population and economic strength by Toronto in the 1970s. Today it remains an important centre of commerce, aerospace, finance, pharmaceuticals, technology, design, culture, tourism, film and world affairs. 

MAJOR ATTRACTIONS OF MONTREAL

The City Hall  - The City Hall  was designed by Perrault with an eye to the French Empire style of Napoleon III. Built between 1872 and 1878 it had to be restored following a fire in 1922.

Its hall of honor is resplendent with marble and bronze, and has a bust of Jacques Viger, Montréal's first mayor in 1833. It was from the balcony of City Hall that, during his visit to Canada in the summer of 1967. 

 The Olympic Park - The Olympic Stadium, at its center, holds between 60,000 and 80,000 spectators and is nowadays used for baseball, festivals, fairs and shows. Looking like a great seashell, the bowl can be covered over against the elements by a roof attached by cables to the mast looming above it. A platform at the top of the mast reached by a lift affords a magnificent view, in fine weather, over the city and its surroundings.

The Olympic Stadium, one of the most visited sports arenas in North America, is the home of Montréal's famous baseball team, the "Montréal Expos".

 Mont-Royal - Mont-Royal rises 233 m   above the city and is the green lung near the city center. A stroll through this lovely park enables the visitor to see monuments from Jacques Cartier to King George VI, to spend some time by the Lac-aux-Castors and to have a look at the cemeteries on the western slope where the city's different ethnic groups have rested in peace together for centuries. From the summit, or rather from a platform below the cross, there unfolds a magnificent panorama of the whole of the 51 km   length of the Île de Montréal and the St Lawrence. On clear days the view extends to the Adirondack Mountains in the USA.

Center Canadien  For Architecture  - This  is an attraction of a rather special kind - the Center Canadien d'Architecture. This quite exceptional museum, housed in an elegant post-modern building by Phyllis Lambert and Peter Ross, boasts an unusually comprehensive collection of architectural drawings and photographs, together with a library and archive.

The Center Canadien d'Architecture hosts a variety of temporary exhibits. The extensive Collection enables the CCA the be a leading voice in advancing knowledge, promoting public understanding, and widening thought on architecture, its history, theory, practice, and role in society today.

Botanical Garden North America's leading botanical garden, the lay-out of which is wonderfully imaginative. At the Jardin Botanique, visitors are drawn in particular to the Japanese Garden. The glasshouses too are exceptional, especially the displays of orchids and bonsai. The gardens contain in all some 22,000 species of plant.

The huge Arboretum covers 40 ha and includes approximately 7,000 trees and shrubs. Most of these bloom from May to July, with beautiful displays of rhododendrons and cherry trees. Visitors can learn about the trees and their roles at the "Tree House".

The Botanical Gardens also have ponds which support a variety of birds. Also on site is an Insectarium with live and mounted insects.

CAPE TOWN

Cape Town is the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. Today it is one of the most multicultural cities in the world, reflecting its role as a major destination for immigrants and expatriates to South Africa.

Cape Town is not only the most popular international tourist destination in South Africa, but Africa as a whole. This is due to its good climate, natural setting, and well-developed infrastructure. The city has several well-known natural features that attract tourists, most notably Table Mountain. Many tourists also visit Cape Town's beaches, which are popular with local residents. Due to the city's unique geography, it is possible to visit several different beaches in the same day, each with a different setting and atmosphere. Though the Cape's water ranges from cold to mild, the difference between the two sides of the city is dramatic.

Both coasts are equally popular, although the beaches in affluent Clifton and elsewhere on the Atlantic Coast are better developed with restaurants and cafés, with a particularly vibrant strip of restaurants and bars accessible to the beach at Camps Bay. Boulders Beach near Simon's Town is known for its colony of African Penguins. Surfing is popular and the city hosts the Red Bull Big Wave Africa surfing competition every year.

The city has several notable cultural attractions. The Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, built on top of part of the docks of the Port of Cape Town, is the city's most visited tourist attraction. It is also one of the city's most popular shopping venues, with several hundred shops and the Two Oceans Aquarium. Part of the charm of the V&A, as it is locally known, is that the Port continues to operate and visitors can watch ships enter and leave. The V&A also hosts the Nelson Mandela Gateway, through which ferries depart for Robben Island.  It is possible to take a ferry from the V&A to Hout Bay, Simon's Town and the Cape Fur Seal colonies on Seal and Duiker Islands. Several companies offer tours of the Cape Flats, a mostly Coloured township, and Khayelitsha, a mostly black township. An option is to sleep overnight in Cape Town's townships. There are several B&Bs where you can spend a safe and real African night.

Cape Town is noted for its architectural heritage, with the highest density of Cape Dutch style buildings in the world. Cape Dutch style, which combines the architectural traditions of the Netherlands, Germany, France and Indonesia, is most visible in Constantia, the old government buildings in the Central Business District, and along Long Street. The annual Cape Town Minstrel Carnival, also known by its Afrikaans name of Kaapse Klopse, is a large minstrel festival held annually on 2 January or "Tweede Nuwe Jaar" (Afrikaans: Second New Year). Competing teams of minstrels parade in brightly coloured costumes, performing Cape Jazz, either carrying colourful umbrellas or playing an array of musical instruments. The Artscape Theatre Centre is the main performing arts venue in Cape Town.

The city also encloses the 36 hectare Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden that contains protected natural forest and fynbos along with a variety of animals and birds. There are over 7,000 species in cultivation at Kirstenbosch, including many rare and threatened species of the Cape Floristic Region. In 2004 this Region, including Kirstenbosch, was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

Cape Town's transport system links it to the rest of South Africa; it serves as the gateway to other destinations within the province. The Cape Winelands and in particular the towns of Stellenbosch,Paarl and Franschhoek are popular day trips from the city for sightseeing and wine tasting. Whale watching is popular amongst tourists: Southern Right Whales and Humpback Whales are seen off the coast during the breeding season (August to November) and Bryde's Whales andKiller Whale can be seen any time of the year.[66] The nearby town of Hermanus is known for its Whale Festival, but whales can also be seen in False Bay. Heaviside's dolphins are endemic to the area and can be seen from the coast north of Cape Town; Dusky dolphins live along the same coast and can occasionally be seen from the ferry to Robben Island. 

The only complete windmill in South Africa is Mostert's Mill, Mowbray. It was built in 1796 and restored in 1935 and again in 1995. The mill is open to the public on one Saturday a month.

Approximately 1.5 million tourists visited in Cape Town during 2004, bringing in a total of R10 billion in revenue. The forecasts for 2006 anticipate 1.6 million tourists spending a total of R12 billion. . 

Attractions

Table Mountain (1087m/3566ft), the flat-topped hill to the south of the city center, is the great landmark and emblem of Cape Town. Its summit plateau is frequently covered by a layer of clouds, the "tablecloth". Since weather conditions here are very changeable it is advisable to arrange your trip to the summit, either on foot or by road, immediately when you see it clear of clouds. The ascent is rewarded by an immense prospect of Cape Town and the Cape Peninsula. On weekends Table Mountain is floodlit after dark. The best view, and the best place from which to take a photograph, is from the road up Signal Hill.

Table Mountain, built up from massive beds of sandstones and slates, forms the northern end of the Cape Peninsula. It is flanked on the east by Devil's Peak (1001m/3284ft) and on the west, beyond a wide depression, by the Lion's Head (669m/2195ft). It extends southward as a broad plateau and then falls steeply down to Orange Kloof (200m/650ft). To the east it rears above the suburb of Newlands and the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens; to the west, in the crags known as the Twelve Apostles, it looms over the bathing resorts on the Atlantic coast.

Situated as it is between the Atlantic and False Bay, Table Mountain has a mountain climate with high rainfall. Most of the annual rainfall of 1400mm/55in. occurs in the winter months, between May and September. Two reservoirs on Table Mountain (the source area of many streams) contribute to Cape Town's water supply. The particular climatic conditions have produced a varied flora (over 2200 species) and fauna. Sir Edmund Hillary, the celebrated climber, called Table Mountain one of the world's natural wonders. But it is threatened by soil erosion, the loss of native plants and invasion by alien species, uncontrolled bush fires and large numbers of visitors. In order to stop this deterioration the Table Mountain Nature Reserve was established, taking in, in addition to Table Mountain itself, Signal Hill and adjoining areas.

The Victoria and Alfred Waterfront is an entertainment quarter with something of the atmosphere of Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco and London's Soho. It extends round two inner harbor basins, constructed in 1860, and named after Queen Victoria and her second son Alfred (later Duke of Edinburgh). Only a few years ago this was a rather squalid and rundown fishing harbor: it is now one of Cape Town's leading attractions, lively and bustling all day and much of the night. It now draws more than 13 million visitors per year, attracted by its numerous shops, jazz spots, restaurants and hotels, its two theaters (including the Dock Road Theatre, housed in a former power station), a drama school, cinemas and museums.

Wherever possible old buildings have been preserved and restored: a three-story warehouse has become a luxury hotel, a pumping-station and a former prison is now the Business School of Cape Town University. New construction is kept in the style of the surrounding buildings.

Castle of Good Hope

This is the oldest surviving stone building in South Africa, built in 1666-79 as the residence of the Governor and for the protection of the early settlers, though in fact the castle, which is in the form of a five-pointed star, was never exposed to attack.

The main gate leads into an inner courtyard. The range of buildings with an elaborate columned balcony, originally used for ceremonial and official occasions, now houses the William Fehr Collection. The collection includes pictures, porcelain, fine glass, ceramics and furniture of the 17th-19th C from South Africa, Europe and Asia.

Other parts of the castle can be seen only on conducted tours. Visitors are shown various prisons and store-rooms (in which archaeological finds are displayed) and taken up on to one of the bastions. Much of the castle is closed to the public, since it is the provincial headquarters of the South African army.

 South African Maritime Museum

The South African Maritime Museum, on the Alfred Basin, has sections devoted to the history of the port and plans for future development, the fishing industry, shipping lines and shipwrecks. The collection includes many ship models.

Also part of the museum are a number of old ships, moored in various parts of the harbor, which are open to visitors. In front of the comfortable Victoria and Alfred Hotel is the "Alwyn Vincent", a steam tug launched in Venice in 1859. The SAS "Somerset" is the only surviving submarine guardship in the world.

ATHENSE

Athens  is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates  as one of the world's oldest cities, with its recorded history spanning around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state. A centre for the arts, learning and philosophy, home of Plato's Academy  and s Aristotle's Lyceum  it is widely referred to as the cradle of Western civilization and the birthplace of democracy, largely due to the impact of its cultural and political achievements during the 5th and 4th centuries BC in later centuries on the rest of the then known European continent.  Today a cosmopolitan metropolis, modern Athens is central to economic, financial, industrial, political and cultural life in Greece.
 The heritage of the classical era is still evident in the city, represented by ancient monuments and works of art, the most famous of all being the Parthenon, considered a key landmark of early Western civilization. The city also retains Roman and Byzantine monuments, as well as a smaller number of Ottoman monuments. The Greek influence of the city is greatly noted through the stellar artwork of the Greek workers of the city of the city-state of Athens.
Athens is home to two UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the Acropolis of Athens and the medieval Daphni Monastery. Landmarks of the modern era, dating back to the establishment of Athens as the capital of the independent Greek state in 1833, include the Hellenic Parliament (19th century) and the Athens Trilogy consisting of the National Library of Greece, the Athens University and the Academy of Athens. Athens was the host city of the first modern-day Olympic Games in 1896, and 108 years later it welcomed home the 2004 Summer Olympics.  Athens is home to the National Archeological Museum, featuring the world's largest collection of ancient Greek antiquities, as well as the new Acropolis Museum.

Athens has been a destination for travellers since antiquity. Over the past decade, the city's infrastructure and social amenities have improved, in part due to its successful bid to stage the 2004 Olympic Games. The Greek Government, aided by the EU, has funded major infrastructure projects such as the state-of-the-art Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport, the expansion of the Athens Metro system,  and the new Attiki OdosMotorway.

1. Acropolis and Parthenon Temple

The word Acropolis means fortress in the ancient Greek city or it could also mean building heights that are in place, like on top of the hill or the highest city. Acropolis in Athens is best known as the Acropolis in the world. Although there are a lot of the Acropolis in Athens Greece but without any conditions meet the best classification. Area of 3 hectares is located at an altitude of 150 meters on the hill. Located a few kilometers from the center of Athens, Greece.

The main attraction of the Acropolis is the Parthenon Temple (Temple ofAthena parthenos) exactly in the middle of this hill. Parthenon is a temple of the Greek god Athena is regarded as the guardian deity of the people of Athens. Built over twenty-five years in the fifth century BC. Decorative statues regarded as the highest artistic value of its time. Parthenon is used as a symbol of the former ancient Greek democracy, and is the world's largest historical monument.

2. National Archaeological Museum of Athens

National Archaeological Museum of Athens is one of the best museums in the world. Has a collection of the the most complete ancient Greek heritage.Collection of statues and sculptures truly amazing, all the figures of myth and gods and goddesses various versions can be seen there, as well as the heroes of Greece. Most museums must be visited by lovers of ancient Greek culture and mythology.

this museum is located in the Exarhia area in central Athens between Epirus Street, Bouboulinas Street and Tositsas Street while its entrance is on the Patission Street adjacent to the historical building of the Athens Polytechnic.

3. The Ancient Agora

Ancient Agora is located not far from the Acropolis and within walking distance. There location of administrative center of ancient Athens. The site of the Ancient Agora in a very green space and a very beautiful view of theAcropolis. You will see the Temple of Hephaestus, the best preserved ancient Greek temple.

4. Plaka

Plaka attracts all the visitors of Athens with its neoclassical mansions and houses with roofs from red tiles, its small winding roads with their steps, balconies with bougainvilleas ,geraniums and jasmines. Plaka is called manytimes in the Greek literature as the neighbourhood of the Gods.

5. Mount Lycabettus

One of the best ways to spend a morning or late afternoon in Athens. You can see the whole of Athens from the city's highest vantage point (295m), capped by a tiny, whitewashed church, a restaurant and café. The steep path up zig-zags through pinewoods and sub-tropical vegetation.

MAURITIUS

Mauritius  , officially the Republic of Mauritius  , is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) off the southeast coast of the African continent.   The area of the country is 2040 km2. Its capital is Port Louis.

The first Portuguese explorers found no indigenous people living on the island in 1507. The Dutch settled on the island in 1638 and abandoned it in 1710. Five years later, the island became a French colony and was renamed Isle de France. The British took control of Mauritius in 1810 during the Napoleonic Wars. The country remained under British rule until it became an independent Commonwealth realm on 12 March 1968 and a republic within the Commonwealth on 12 March 1992.

The country is multi-ethnic and multi-cultural; most Mauritians are multilingual, and English, French, Creole and Asian languages are used.  The government system is closely modelled on the Westminster parliamentary system. Mauritius is highly ranked for democracy and for economic and political freedom.

The island of Mauritius was the only home of the Dodo bird. The bird became extinct fewer than eighty years after its discovery.

Mauritius is one of the world's top luxury tourism destinations.  It possesses a wide range of natural and man-made attractions, enjoys a tropical climate with clear warm sea waters, attractive beaches, tropical fauna and flora complemented by a multi-ethnic and cultural population that is friendly and welcoming. These tourism assets are its main strength, especially since they are backed up by well-designed and run hotels, and reliable and operational services and infrastructures.  Mauritius received the World Leading island Destination award for the third time and World's Best Beach at the World Travel Awards in January 2012.

Mauritius Botanical Garden, also known as Pamplemonsses MauritiusGarden and SSR Botanical Garden, is one of the most popular tourist attraction in Mauritius, and is located near Port Louis. It is the oldest botanical garden in the Southern Hemisphere. The spectacular garden was built by Pierre Poivre in 1767, and covers an area of around 37 hectares. The botanical garden is most famous for its giant water lilies, spice garden and unique collection of 85 varieties of palms from Central America, Asia, Africa and the islands around the Indian Ocean.

Black River Gorges National Park is a national park stretching on an area of 6,574 hectares in the hilly south-western part of Mauritius. It was construction in Mauritiusorder to save the natural vegetation of the island and make it one of the most important Mauritius sightseeing. One can walk along the greenery and reach the highest point of the island, which is the Black River Peak. Facilities for visitors include two information centres, picnic areas and 60 kilometers of trails. The Black River Gorges National park protects most of the island's remaining rainforest, and is home to many species of wild animals and birds. Many endemic plants and animals can be found in the park including the Mauritian flying fox, Mauritius kestrel, pink pigeon, Mauritius parakeet, Mauritius cuckoo-shrike, Mauritius bulbul, Mauritius olive white-eye, Mauritius grey white-eye and Mauritius fody.

Île aux Cerfs Island, known in English as the deer island is an Mauritius island near the east coast of Mauritius in the Flacq district. Ile Aux Cerfs is famous for its sandy beaches, beautiful lagoon and big selection of activities and facilities. In Ile Aux Cerfs you are sure to have a day of relaxation and fun on one of the picture-postcard beaches, and to enjoy a swim and snorkeling in the lagoon. This paradise island of Mauritius constitutes of around 100 hectares of land. Nowadays there are no more deers on the island, but you will find there some of the worlds beautiful beaches and as such it is one of the must place to visit and see in Mauritius.

Port Louis is the capital city and main port of Mauritius, Port Louis was constructed in the year 1735 by the noted French governor, Mahe de Labourdonnais. Today Port Louis is the largest city in Mauritius. Port Louis is surrounded by a mountain range, called the Port Louis Moka Range which makes it worth watching. Mauritius Port Louis has conserved many historic and colonial buildings through the years. One of them is a fortification named Fort Adelaide or La Citadelle, built by the British in 1835. The latter dominates the city. The main tourist attractions in Port Louis include the Caudan Waterfront, Port Louis Bazaar, Police Barracks, the Mauritian Chinatown and the old Port Louis theatre. The capital has also three museums which are: the Blue Penny Museum, the Mauritius Natural History Museum and the Mauritius Stamp Museum. Also, the biggest and oldest post office in Mauritius is found in Port Louis near the Caudan Waterfront. At the city center there are number of French styled buildings, which enhances the charm of Port Louis. Port Louis is definitely a must place to see and visit during your visit to Mauritius.

Grand Bassin, known also as Ganga Talao is a lake situated in a secluded mountain area in the district of Savanne, deep in the heart of Mauritius.Mauritius It is about 600 meters above sea level. The Grand Bassin is a holy lake for Mauritian of Hindu faith. It is said that the water inside the lake communicates with the waters of the holy Ganges of India. The Hindus of Mauritius declared the Grand Bassin as a Holy lake. The Hindu community performs there a pilgrimage every year on the Maha Sivaratri/“Siva’s Great Night”, on this day they honor the Lord Siva. Beside the lake there a temple dedicated to Lord Shiva and other Gods including Hanuman and Lakshmi. Also, overlooking the lake is the statue of Mangal Mahadev (Shiva statue) which is of 33 meters, making it the highest statue in Mauritius.

Chamarel park - 7 colored earth & Chamarel falls - The “seven-coloured earth” of Chamarel is a geological curiosity and a major tourist attraction of Mauritius. The landscape at ChaMauritiusmarel is truly unique, it is the only place in world where you can find a clay earth of 7 colors at one place. The colors of these unique dunes are red, brown, violet, green, blue, purple and yellow, purple and red are predominant. Also when visiting the park you get to see a great view of the neighboring falls and of the lush vegetation all around.The Chamrel park offers another attraction to be relished first, the Waterfall of Chamarel. It is a truly beautiful waterfall, some consider it as the best in Mauritius. Three distinct stream plunging down a free fall of nearly a 100 meters down into the gorge.

Trou aux Cerfs is a 605 m high extinct volcano located in Curepipe, MauritiusMauritius. The crater has been alternately described as 300 meters in diameter, and is 85 meters deep. Trou aux Cerfs is considered the main attractions of Curepipe. In the center of the crater there is a small lake. From the view point on the crater you will have a spectacular view of major part of Mauritius Island. The volcano is considered as a dormant volcano, which has been formed millions of years ago and was active until 600,000 to 700,000 years ago.

Ile aux Aigrettes - Ile aux Aigrettes is a tiny coral island (25 hectares) just off the coast of the town of Mahebourg. MauritiusThe island has been declared a nature conservation site and today is being preserved by the Mauritian Wildlife Foundation. Owing to the remarkable work accomplished by the Mauritius Wildlife Fund, the island has become an international standard for the protection of natural resources and endangered species. A few of the world’s rarest birds, including the kestrel, can be seen there. You can also discover the extremely rare Pink Pigeon, the Green Gecko Phelsuma and the Aldabra giant tortoise. Some of the plants found in Ile aux Aigrettes grow nowhere else in the world and they form the last remnant of a coastal forest that once surrounded much of Mauritius. Eighteen Mauritian plant species which grow on the island are classified as endangered or very rare.

Gabriel Island, known also as Îlot Gabriel, is located near the Round IslandMauritius and the Flat island, at the extreme north of Mauritius, about 10 kilometers north of Cap Malheureux. The distance between Gabriel Island and Flat Island is only 750 meters. The size of the island is 42 hectares and the highest point is of 28 meters. Gabriel Island is a protected natural reserve and is most famous for if its beautiful unspoiled beaches, with crystal clear water surrounding the entire island. It is a very popular site for snorkeling, it offers great dive sites, and is the ideal destination for a day of relaxation on the beach.

Euroka Creole House - Eureka House is a unique Creole houseMauritius built in 1830 in a magnificent garden surrounded by waterfalls of Moka River and the Moka Range. Eureka House is reputed to be one of the largest houses on the island, with 109 doors and windows. The Eureka house was restored and opened to the public as a museum in 1986. The museum has areas dedicated to music, art, antique maps, Chinese and Indian house wares and quirky contraptions like a colonial-era shower.

DUBAI

Dubai   is a city-state in the United Arab Emirates, located within the emirate of the same name. The emirate of Dubai is located southeast of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and is one of the seven emirates that make up the country. It has the largest population in the UAE   and the second-largest land territory by area   after Abu Dhabi. Dubai  and Abu Dhabi, the national capital.  The city of Dubai is located on the emirate's northern coastline and heads up the Dubai-Sharjah-Ajman metropolitan area . 

 Today, Dubai has emerged as a cosmopolitan metropolis that has grown steadily to become a global city and a business and cultural hub of the Middle East and the Persian Gulf region.  Although Dubai's economy was historically built on the oil industry, the emirate's Western-style model of business drives its economy with the main revenues now coming from tourism, real estate, and financial services.  Dubai has recently attracted world attention through many innovative large construction projects and sports events. The city has become symbolic for its skyscrapers and high-rise buildings, such as the world's tallest Burj Khalifa, in addition to ambitious development projects including man-made islands, hotels, and some of the largest shopping malls in the region and the world. This increased attention has also highlighted labor and human rights issues concerning the city's largely South Asian paid workforce.  Dubai's property market experienced a major deterioration in 2008–2009 as a result of the worldwide economic downturn following the financial crisis of 2007-2008.  However, Dubai has made a steady and gradual recovery with help coming from neighboring emirates. 

 Tourism is an important part of the Dubai government's strategy to maintain the flow of foreign cash into the emirate. Dubai's lure for tourists is based mainly on shopping, but also on its possession of other ancient and modern attractions. As of 2010, Dubai was the 7th most visited city of the world with 7.6 million visitors a year.  Dubai is expected to accommodate over 15 million tourists by 2015. Dubai is the most populous emirate of the seven emirates of United Arab Emirates. It is distinct from other members of the UAE in that a large part of the emirate's revenues are from tourism. 

Dubai has been called the "shopping capital of the Middle East".  Dubai alone has more than 70 shopping malls, including the world's largest shopping mall, Dubai Mall. The city draws large numbers of shopping tourists from countries within the region and from as far as Eastern Europe, Africa and the Indian Subcontinent. While boutiques, some electronics shops, department stores and supermarkets operate on a fixed-price basis, most other outlets consider friendly negotiation a way of life. 

 Many boutiques and jewellery stores are also found in the city. Dubai is known as "the City of Gold" and Gold Souk in Deira houses nearly 250 gold retail shops. Dubai Duty Free Company at the Dubai International Airport offers merchandise catering to the multinational passengers using the airport.

ATTRACTIONS OF DUBAI

The Wild Wadi Water Park - is an outdoor water park in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Situated in the area of Jumeirah, next to the Burj Al Arab and the Jumeirah Beach Hotel, the water park is operated by Jumeirah International, a Dubai-based hotelier.

Wild Wadi has a heated/cooled wave pool, multiple water slides and two artificial surfing machines. In addition, the park had the largest water slide outside of North America, but recently it was removed to make space for two other rides . Another feature of the park is an 18 m (59 ft) waterfall that goes off every ten minutes. The water park also has two gift shops, three restaurants and two snack stands.

Dubai Gold Souk - Dubai has been long known as the City of Gold for good reason, despite the fact that majority of its gold is imported from Asia and neighbouring countries.Gold in Dubai is the cheapest in the world. Add to this Dubai's special tax-free shopping status.

The Dubai Gold Souk is a traditional market located at the core of commercial business district in Deira, eastern Dubai. The souk accommodates more than 300 retailers exclusively trading in jewelry. Among the retailers are both the well-established stores like Damas, Joy Alukkas Jewlry and ARY Jewelry, and also smaller stores that operate exclusively. Approximately 25 tonnes of gold are displayed in the windows of more than 600 shops at any given time.

There are two gold markets in Dubai, the Old Gold Souk and the new one. Both are in the same locality and located close to each other and have similar offerings. The New Dubai Gold Souk is a two-storey building, while the old one is an area scattered with jewelry shops. To get a flavour of the old city, first-time visitors are encouraged to visit the Old Gold Souk before visiting the New Gold Souk.

The Global Village - which opened its doors to celebrate "Eid in Dubai" with a range of entertainment shows, fun rides, world cuisines and shopping, is the largest seasonal cultural shopping and entertainment theme park in the region, where an amazing array of festivals are lined up and the world comes together for celebration.

Located on the Emirates Road highway, Global Village, Dubai’s most popular cultural and entertainment venue is a mere 20 minutes drive from Dubai International Airport, and is 60 minutes away from Abu Dhabi. Although, Global Village Dubai is associated with Dubai Shopping Festival.

Deira Clocktower -originally referred to as the Dubai Clocktower, is a roundabout in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). The Clocktower is located in eastern Dubai in Deira, at the intersection of Umm Hurrair Road and route D 89 (Al Maktoum Road). Situated in the locality of Al Rigga, the Deira Clocktower, now a prominent monument in Deira, provides access to the Al Maktoum Bridge, the first land crossing constructed between Deira and Bur Dubai.

Dubai Clocktower was designed by Engineer Edgar Bublik General Manager of Overseas AST and constructed by an unknown local builder around 1964. However, by 1972, the monument had started to crack and corrode the steel reinforcements, as a result of the unwashed beach sand used for the concrete. The Clocktower was refurbished in 1972 by Overseas AST.  

Dubai's Clocktower is located in Deira but was not called Deira Clocktower.The Clocktower was erected as a symbol of Dubai and located in Deira because that was where major routes into Dubai converged prior to the building of Dubai - Abu Dhabi Road.

Jumeirah Beach - has a number of luxury hotels on its beach front. The most prominent is the world famous Burj Al Arab hotel, which sits offshore on a manmade island and the architecture of which has become an iconic symbol of Dubai. On the coast of Dubai next to the Burj Al Arab is the Jumeirah Beach Hotel, a hotel that is part of the Jumeirah hotel chain. The Madinat Jumeirah, or "Jumeirah City," consists of three luxurious five-star hotels (Mina A'Salam, Al Qasr and Dar Al Masyaf), which include residences, a shopping mall, and a pier that extends into the Persian Gulf and which contains restaurants.

Ski Dubai - is an indoor ski resort with 22,500 square meters of indoor ski area. It is a part of the Mall of the Emirates, one of the largest shopping malls in the world, located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It was developed by Majid Al Futtaim Properties, which also operates the Mall of the Emirates.

Opened in November 2005, the indoor resort features an 85-meter-high indoor mountain with 5 slopes of varying steepness and difficulty, including a 400-metre-long run, the world's first indoor black run, and various features (boxes, rails, kickers) that are changed on a regular basis. A quad lift and a tow lift carry skiers and snowboarders up the mountain. Adjoining the slopes is a 3,000-square-metre Snow Park play area comprising sled and toboggan runs, an icy body slide, climbing towers, giant snowballs and an ice cave. Ski Dubai is also home to a number of penguins who come out to play several times a day. Penguin encounters can be booked, allowing the public to interact directly with the penguins. Winter clothing, ski and snowboard equipment are included in the price of admission. 

An extremely efficient insulation system helps the facility maintain a temperature of −1 °C during the day and −6 °C at night when the snow is produced.

The Dubai Mall  - is the world's largest shopping mall based on total area and sixth largest by gross leasable area. Located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, it is part of the 20-billion-dollar Burj Khalifa complex, and includes 1,200 shops.  Access to the mall is provided via Doha Street, rebuilt as a double-decker road in April 2009. 

Twice delayed, Dubai Mall opened on 4 November 2008, with about 635 retailers, marking the world's largest-ever mall opening in retail history.  

 It also has a 250-room luxury hotel, 22 cinema screens plus 120 restaurants and cafes. The Mall has over 14,000 parking spaces across 3 car parks, with valet services and a car locator ticketing system.    The Dubai Mall contains more than 1,200 shops 

The Burj Al Arab -   has been called a 7 star luxury hotel. It is located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and managed by the Jumeirah Group and built by Said Khalil. Its construction started in 1994 and ended in 1999. It was designed by Tom Wright of WS Atkins PLC. The hotel cost $650,000,000 to build. At  321 metres. Burj Al Arab characterizes itself as the world's only "7-star" property, a designation considered by travel professionals to be hyperbole. All major travel guides and hotel rating systems have a 5-star maximum, which some hotels attempt to out-do by ascribing themselves "6-star" status. Yet according to the Burj Al Arab's official site, the hotel is a "5-star deluxe hotel".The Burj Al Arab was built to resemble the sail of a Dhow, a type of Arabian vessel. Near the top of the building is a suspended helipad supported by a cantilever which has featured some of the hotel's notable publicity events. One of its restaurants, Al Muntaha, is located 200 metres above the Persian Gulf, offering a view of Dubai. Another restaurant, the Al Mahara, which is accessed by a simulated submarine voyage, features a large seawater aquarium. It is one of the most expensive hotels in the world.

 Burj Khalifa  , known as Burj Dubai prior to its inauguration, is a skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and is the tallest man-made structure in the world, at 829.8 m  

Construction began on 21 September 2004, with the exterior of the structure completed on 1 October 2009. The building officially opened on 4 January 2010.  The tower's architecture and engineering were performed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill of Chicago, with Adrian Smith as chief architect, and Bill Baker as chief structural engineer  The primary contractor was Samsung C&T of South Korea. With Dubai mired in debt from its huge ambitions, the government was forced to seek multibillion dollar bailouts from its oil-rich neighbor Abu Dhabi. Subsequently, in a surprise move at its opening ceremony, the tower was renamed Burj Khalifa, said to honour the UAE President Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan for his crucial support 

The Palm Islands - are an artificial archipelago (islands) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Major commercial and residential infrastructures   constructed by Nakheel Properties, a property developer in The UAE. The Belgian and Dutch dredging and marine contractors , were hired to complete construction. The islands are the Palm Jumeirah, the Palm Jebel Ali and the Palm Deira. Each settlement   in the shape of a palm tree, topped with a crescent. The settlements will have a large number of residential, leisure and entertainment centers. The Palm Islands are located off the coast of The UAE in the Persian Gulf and  add 520 kilometers of beaches to the city of Dubai. The first two islands  comprise of approximately 100 million cubic meters of rock and sand. The Palm Deira  composed of approximately one billion cubic meters of rock and sand.   Among the three islands, there will be over 100 luxury hotels, exclusive residential beach side villas and apartments, marinas, water theme parks, restaurants, shopping malls, sports facilities and health spas.

 The creation of the Palm Jumeirah began in June 2001.   Before the impact of the global credit crunch hit Dubai, construction was originally planned to take 10-15 years.Two other artificial archipelagos, The World and The Universe, are located between the Palm Islands.

PARIS

PARIS

Paris  is the capital and largest city of France. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region. The city of Paris, within its administrative limits (the 20 arrondissements), has a population of about 2,230,000. Its metropolitan area is one of the largest population centres in Europe, with more than 12 million inhabitants.

An important settlement for more than two millennia, Paris had become, by the 12th century, one of Europe's foremost centres of learning and the arts and the largest city in the Western world until the turn of the 18th century. Paris is today one of the world's leading business and cultural centres and its influences in politics, education, entertainment, media, science, and the arts all contribute to its status as one of the world's major global cities.

Paris and the Paris region, with €572.4 billion in 2010, produce more than a quarter of the gross domestic product of France and has one of the largest city GDPs in the world. Considered as green and highly liveable, the city and its region are the world's leading tourism destination. They house four UNESCO World Heritage Sites and many international organizations.

The Eiffel Tower   is an iron lattice tower located on the Champ de Mars in Paris, named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower. Erected in 1889 as the entrance arch to the 1889 World's Fair, it has become both a global cultural icon of France and one of the most recognizable structures in the world. The tower is the tallest structure in Paris and the most-visited paid monument in the world; 7.1 million people ascended it in 2011.  

 The tower has three levels for visitors. Tickets can be purchased to ascend, by stairs or lift (elevator), to the first and second levels. The walk from ground level to the first level is over 300 steps, as is the walk from the first to the second level. The third and highest level is accessible only by lift - stairs exist but they are not usually open for public use. Both the first and second levels feature restaurants.

The tower has become the most prominent symbol of both Paris and France, often in the establishing shot of films set in the city.

The Musée du Louvre in English, the Louvre Museum or simply The Louvre—is one of the world's largest museums, and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, France, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine.   Nearly 35,000 objects from prehistory to the 19th century are exhibited here.  With more than 8 million visitors each year, the Louvre is the world's most visited museum. 

The museum is housed in the Louvre Palace (Palais du Louvre) which began as a fortress built in the late 12th century under Philip II. Remnants of the fortress are visible in the basement of the museum. The building was extended many times to form the present Louvre Palace. In 1682 ,Louis XIV chose the Palace of Versailles for his household, leaving the Louvre primarily as a place to display the royal collection, including, from 1692, a collection of antique sculpture.  In 1692, the building was occupied by the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres and the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture, which in 1699 held the first of a series of salons. The Académie remained at the Louvre for 100 years. During the French Revolution, the National Assembly decreed that the Louvre should be used as a museum, to display the nation's masterpieces.

The museum opened on 10 August 1793 with an exhibition of 537 paintings, the majority of the works being royal and confiscated church property. Because of structural problems with the building, the museum was closed in 1796 until 1801. The size of the collection increased under Napoleon and the museum was renamed the Musée Napoléon. After the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo, many works seized by his armies were returned to their original owners. The collection was further increased during the reigns of Louis XVIII and Charles X, and during the Second French Empire the museum gained 20,000 pieces. Holdings have grown steadily through donations and gifts since the Third Republic. As of 2008, the collection is divided among eight curatorial departments: Egyptian Antiquities; Near Eastern Antiquities; Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Antiquities; Islamic Art; Sculpture; Decorative Arts; Paintings; Prints and Drawings.

The Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile is one of the most famous monuments in Paris. It stands in the centre of the Place Charles de Gaulle (originally named Place de l'Étoile), at the western end of the Champs-Élysées.  It should not be confused with a smaller arch, the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel, which stands west of the Louvre. The Arc de Triomphe (in English: "Triumphal Arch") honours those who fought and died for France in theFrench Revolutionary and the Napoleonic Wars, with the names of all French victories and generals inscribed on its inner and outer surfaces. Beneath its vault lies the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from World War I.

The Arc de Triomphe is the linchpin of the historic axis (Axe historique) – a sequence of monuments and grand thoroughfares on a route which goes from the courtyard of the Louvre, to the Grande Arche de la Défense. The monument was designed by Jean Chalgrin in 1806, and its iconographicprogram pitted heroically nude French youths against bearded Germanic warriors in chain mail. It set the tone for public monuments, with triumphant patriotic messages.

The monument stands 50 metres  in height, 45 m  wide and 22 m  deep. The large vault is 29.19 m   high and 14.62 m   wide. The small vault is 18.68 m   high and 8.44 m   wide. It was the largest triumphal arch in existence until the construction of the Arch of Triumph in Pyongyang, in 1982.  Its design was inspired by the Roman Arch of Titus. The Arc de Triomphe is so colossal that three weeks after the Paris victory parade in 1919, (marking the end of hostilities in World War I), Charles Godefroy flew his Nieuport biplane through it, with the event captured on newsreel. 

Notre Dame de Paris  French for "Our Lady of Paris" , also known as Notre Dame Cathedral or simply Notre Dame,  is a historic Roman Catholic Marian cathedral on the eastern half of the Île de la Cité in the fourth arrondissement of Paris,France. Widely considered one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture and among the largest and most well-known churchesin the world ever built,  Notre Dame is the cathedral of the Catholic Archdiocese of Paris; that is, it is the church that contains the cathedra(official chair) of the Archbishop of Paris, currently André Vingt-Trois. The cathedral treasury is notable for its reliquary, which houses the purported crown of thorns, a fragment of the True Cross and one of the Holy Nails – all instruments of the Passion and a few of the most important first-class relics.

Notre Dame de Paris is often reputed to be one of the most prominent examples of Gothic architecture in both France and in Europe as a whole, and the naturalism of its sculptures and stained glass are in contrast with earlier Romanesque architecture. The first period of construction from 1163 into 1240s coincided with the musical experiments of the Notre Dame school.

The cathedral suffered desecration during the radical phase of the French Revolution in the 1790s, when much of its religious imagery was damaged or destroyed. An extensive restoration supervised by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc removed remaining decoration, returning the cathedral to an 'original' gothic state.

The Musée d'Orsay   is a museum in Paris, France, on the left bank of the Seine. It is housed in the formerGare d'Orsay, an impressive Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900. The museum holds mainly French art dating from 1848 to 1915, including paintings, sculptures, furniture, and photography. It is probably best known for its extensive collection of impressionist and post-impressionist masterpieces (the largest in the world) by such painters such as Monet, Manet, Degas, Renoir, Cézanne, Seurat, Sisley, Gauguinand Van Gogh. Many of these works were held at the Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume prior to the museum's opening in 1986.

The Avenue des Champs-Élysées   is a street in Paris, France. With its cinemas, cafés, luxury specialty shops and clipped horse-chestnut trees, the Champs-Élysées is arguably the most famous street—and one of the most expensive strips of real estate—in the world.[1] Several French monuments are also on the street, including the Arc de Triomphe and the Place de la Concorde. The name is French for Elysian Fields, the place of the blessed dead in Greek mythology. According to a much used description, the Champs-Élysées isla plus belle avenue du monde ("the most beautiful avenue in the world"). 

The Panthéon   is a building in the Latin Quarter in Paris. It was originally built as a church dedicated to St. Genevieve and to house the reliquary châsse containing her relics but, after many changes, now functions as a secular mausoleum containing the remains of distinguished French citizens. It is an early example of neoclassicism, with a façade modeled on the Pantheon in Rome, surmounted by a dome that owes some of its character toBramante's "Tempietto". Located in the 5th arrondissement on the Montagne Sainte-Geneviève, the Panthéon looks out over all of Paris. Designer Jacques-Germain Soufflot had the intention of combining the lightness and brightness of the gothic cathedral with classical principles, but its role as a mausoleum required the great Gothic windows to be blocked.

LONDON

LONDON

London   is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom, and the largest city, urban zone and metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and    located on the River Thames. London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its founding by the Romans, who named it Londinium . Since at least the 19th century, the name London has also referred to the metropolis developed around this core. The bulk of this conurbation forms the London region   and the Greater London administrative area, governed by the elected Mayor of London and the London Assembly. 

London is a leading global city, with strengths in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism and transport all contributing to its prominence.  It is the world's leading financial centre . London has been described as a world cultural capital.  It is the world's most-visited city measured by international arrivals and has the world's largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic. London's 43 universities form the largest concentration of higher education in Europe.  In 2012, London became the first city to host the modern Summer Olympic Games three times. 

London has a diverse range of peoples and cultures.   London contains four World Heritage Sites: the Tower of London; Kew Gardens; the site comprising the Palace of Westminster, Westminster Abbey, and St Margaret's Church; and the historic settlement of Greenwich (in which the Royal Observatory marks the Prime Meridian, 0° longitude, and GMT). Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Paul's Cathedral, Tower Bridge  etc.  London is home to numerous museums, galleries, libraries, sporting events and other cultural institutions, including the British Museum, National Gallery, Tate Modern, British Library and 40 West End theatres.  The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world and completed 150 years of operations on 10 January 2013. 

ATTRACTION

London is a popular centre for tourism, one of its prime industries, employing the equivalent of 350,000 full-time workers in 2003,  while annual expenditure by tourists is around £15 billion. London attracts over 14 million international visitors per year, making it Europe's most visited city.  London attracts 27 million overnight-stay visitors every year.  The ten most-visited attractions in London are:

• Buckingham Palace 

• Tower Bridge 

• Big Ben 

• St Paul's Cathedral

• The British Museum 

• The Natural History Museum 

• The London Eye 

• Madame Tussauds  

• Greenwich

• Piccadilly Circus 

Buckingham Palace is the official London residence and principal workplace of the British monarch.  Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality. It has been a focus for the British people at times of national rejoicing and crisis.

Originally known as Buckingham House, the building which forms the core of today's palace was a large townhouse built for the Duke of Buckingham in 1705 on a site which had been in private ownership for at least 150 years. It was subsequently acquired by George III in 1761  as a private residence for Queen Charlotte, and known as "The Queen's House". During the 19th century it was enlarged, principally by architects John Nash and Edward Blore, forming three wings around a central courtyard. Buckingham Palace finally became the official royal palace of the British monarch on the accession of Queen Victoria in 1837. The last major structural additions were made in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including the East front which contains the well-known balcony on which the royal family traditionally congregates to greet crowds outside. However, the palace chapel was destroyed by a German bomb in World War II; the Queen's Gallery was built on the site and opened to the public in 1962 to exhibit works of art from the Royal Collection.

  Many smaller reception rooms are furnished in the Chinese regency style with furniture and fittings brought from the Royal Pavilion at Brighton and from Carlton House. The Buckingham Palace Garden is the largest private garden in London.

The state rooms, used for official and state entertaining, are open to the public each year for most of August and September, as part of the Palace's Summer Opening.

Tower Bridge (built 1886–1894) is a combined bascule and suspension bridge in London, over the River Thames. It is close to the Tower of London, from which it takes its name.  It has become an iconic symbol of London.

The bridge consists of two towers tied together at the upper level by means of two horizontal walkways, designed to withstand the horizontal forces exerted by the suspended sections of the bridge on the landward sides of the towers. The vertical component of the forces in the suspended sections and the vertical reactions of the two walkways are carried by the two robust towers. The bascule pivots and operating machinery are housed in the base of each tower. The bridge's present colour scheme dates from 1977, when it was painted red, white and blue for the Queen Elizabeth II's silver jubilee. Originally it was painted a mid greenish-blue colour. 

Tower Bridge is sometimes mistakenly referred to as London Bridge, which is the next bridge upstream.

The nearest London Underground station is Tower Hill on the Circle and District lines, and the nearest Docklands Light Railway station is Tower Gateway. 

Big Ben is the nickname for the great bell of the clock at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, and often extended to refer to the clock and the clock tower,  officially named the Elizabeth Tower, as well. Elizabeth Tower holds the largest four-aced chiming clock in the world and is the third-tallest free-standing clock tower. It celebrated its 150th anniversary on 31 May 2009, during which celebratory events took place.  The tower was completed in 1858 and has become one of the most prominent symbols of both London and England, often in the establishing shot of films set in the city.

St Paul's Cathedral, London, is a Church of England cathedral and seat of the Bishop of London. Its dedication to Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in AD 604.   The cathedral is one of the most famous and most recognisable sights of London, with its dome, framed by the spires of Wren's City churches, dominating the skyline for 300 years.  St Paul's Cathedral occupies a significant place in the national identity of the English population.     Important services held at St Paul's include the funerals of Lord Nelson, the Duke of Wellington and Sir Winston Churchill; Jubilee celebrations for Queen Victoria; peace services marking the end of the First and Second World Wars; the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer, the launch of the Festival of Britain and the thanksgiving services for the Golden Jubilee, the 80th Birthday and the Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II. St Paul's Cathedral is a busy working church, with hourly prayer and daily services.

The British Museum is a museum in London dedicated to human history and culture. Its permanent collection, numbering some eight million works,  is amongst the largest and most comprehensive in existence  and originates from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its beginnings to the present. 

The British Museum was established in 1753, largely based on the collections of the physician and scientist Sir Hans Sloane . Its expansion over the following two and a half centuries was largely a result of an expanding British colonial footprint and has resulted in the creation of several branch institutions, the first being the British Museum (Natural History) in South Kensington in 1887. Some objects in the collection, most notably the Elgin Marbles from the Parthenon, are the objects of intense controversy and of calls for restitution to their countries of origin.

Until 1997, when the British Library (previously centred on the Round Reading Room) moved to a new site, the British Museum was unique in that it housed both a national museum of antiquities and a national library in the same building. The museum is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and as with all other national museums in the United Kingdom it charges no admission fee, except for loan exhibitions. 

The Natural History Museum is one of three large museums on Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London, England (the others are the Science Museum, and the Victoria and Albert Museum). Its main frontage is on Cromwell Road. The museum is an exempt charity, and a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. 

Although commonly referred to as the Natural History Museum, it was officially known as British Museum (Natural History) until 1992, despite legal separation from the British Museum in 1963.

The museum is home to life and earth science specimens comprising some 70 million items within five main collections:

Botany, Entomology,Mineralogy, Palaeontology and Zoology. The museum is a world-renowned centre of research, specialising in taxonomy, identification and conservation. Given the age of the institution, many of the collections have great historical as well as scientific value, such as specimens collected by Darwin. The Natural History Museum Library contains extensive books, journals, manuscripts, and artwork collections linked to the work and research of the scientific departments. Access to the library is by appointment only.

The museum is particularly famous for its exhibition of dinosaur skeletons, and ornate architecture — sometimes dubbed a cathedral of nature— both exemplified by the large 

Like other publicly funded national museums in the United Kingdom, the Natural History Museum does not charge an admission fee.

The London Eye is a giant Ferris wheel situated on the banks of the River Thames in London, England. The entire structure is 135 metres tall and the wheel has a diameter of 120 metres .

It is the tallest Ferris wheel in Europe, and the most popular paid tourist attraction in the United Kingdom, visited by over 3.5 million people annually.  It is the 20th tallest structure in London and offers the highest public viewing point in the city, although this will be superseded by The Shard skyscraper viewing deck when it opens to the public in February 2013.

The London Eye, or Millennium Wheel, was officially called the British Airways London Eye and then the Merlin Entertainments London Eye. Since 20 January 2011, its official name is the EDF Energy London Eye  following a three-year sponsorship deal.

Madame Tussauds  The family themselves pronounce it   is a wax museum in London with branches in a number of major cities. It was founded by wax sculptor Marie Tussaud and was formerly known as "Madame Tussaud's", but the apostrophe is no longer used.  Madame Tussauds is a major tourist attraction in London, displaying waxworks of historical and royal figures, film stars, sports stars and infamous murderers.

Greenwich  is a district of south-east London, England, located in the Royal Borough of Greenwich .Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian (0° longitude) and Greenwich Mean Time. The town became the site of a royal palace, the Palace of Placentia from the 15th century, and was the birthplace of many in the House of Tudor, including Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. The palace fell into disrepair during the English Civil War and was rebuilt as the Royal Naval Hospital for Sailors by Sir Christopher Wren and his assistant Nicholas Hawksmoor. These buildings became the Royal Naval College in 1873, and they remained an establishment for military education until 1998 when they passed into the hands of the Greenwich Foundation.  

Piccadilly Circus is a road junction and public space of London's West End in the City of Westminster, built in 1819 to connect Regent Street with the major shopping street of Piccadilly. In this context, a circus, from the Latin word meaning "circle", is a round open space at a street junction.  

 Its status as a major traffic intersection has made Piccadilly Circus a busy meeting place and a tourist attraction in its own right. The Circus is particularly known for its video display and neon signs mounted on the corner building on the northern side, as well as the Shaftesbury memorial fountain and statue of the Greek god Anteros   . It is surrounded by several noted buildings, including the London Pavilion and Criterion Theatre. Directly underneath the plaza is Piccadilly Circus tube station, part of the London Underground system.

NAIROBI

NAIROBI

Nairobi  is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyrobi, which translates to "cold water". The phrase is also the Maasai name of the Nairobi river, which in turn lent its name to the city. However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is surrounded by several expanding villa suburbs. Residents of Nairobi are known as Nairobians.

Founded by the British in 1899 as a simple rail depot on the railway linking Mombasa to Uganda, the town quickly grew to become the capital of British East Africa in 1907, and eventually the capital of a free Kenyan republic in 1963. During Kenya's colonial period, the city became a centre for the colony's coffee, tea and sisal industry. Nairobi city is also the capital of the Nairobi Province and Nairobi District. The city lies on the Nairobi River, in the south of the nation and has an elevation of 1795 m above sea-level. 

Nairobi is the most populous city in East Africa, with a current estimated population of about 3 million. Nairobi is now one of the most prominent cities in Africa both politically and financially. Home to thousands of Kenyan businesses and over 100 major international companies and organizations, including the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the main coordinating and headquarters for the UN in Africa & Middle East, the United Nations Office in Nairobi (UNON), Nairobi is an established hub for business and culture. The Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) is one of the largest in Africa and the second oldest exchange on the continent. It is ranked 4th in terms of trading volume and capable of making 10 million trades a day. The Globalization and World Cities Study Group and Network (GaWC) defines Nairobi as a prominent social center.

MAIN ATTRACTION IN NAIROBI

Nairobi National Park -  Nairobi is not a prime tourist destination, but it does have several tourist attractions. The most famous is the Nairobi National Park. The national park is unique in being the only game-reserve of this nature to border a capital city, or any major city. The park contains many animals including lions, giraffes, and black rhinos. The park is home to over 400 species of birds. The Nairobi Safari Walk is a major attraction to the Nairobi National Park as it offers a rare on-foot experience of the animals.  Nairobi is home to several museums, sites, and monuments. 

The Nairobi National Museum is the country's National Museum and largest in the city. It houses a large collection of artifacts portraying Kenya's rich heritage through history, nature, culture, and contemporary art. It also includes the full remains of a homo erectus popularly known as the Turkana boy.  

The Nairobi Railway Museum is a railway museum in Nairobi, Kenya, adjacent to Nairobi railway station. Containing exhibits from the defunct East African Railways, it was opened in 1971 by East African Railways and Harbours Corporation. It is today operated by Kenya Railways.The museum has maintained its rail connection. This allows for the efficient movement of museum exhibits for maintenance etc. It also allows additions to the collection to be easily placed on site. The three operational* steam locomotives are stored securely under cover within the main railway works. Visitors must request an appointment to view them. These three steam locomotives are used occasionally on tourist excursions within the metro Nairobi area and to Naivasha and Konza. The museum's collection of locomotives is increasing with the addition of some early diesel locomotives and, examples of passenger coaches.  

Uhuru gardens - The gardens are home to Nairobi's largest memorial to the struggle for Independence. The Uhuru monument is built on the spot where freedom (Uhuru) from British rule was declared at midnight on December 12th, 1963. The column of the Uhuru monument stands 24 meters high and supports a pair of clasped hands as well as the dove of peace. The column is over the statue of a group of freedom fighters raising the flag. Uhuru Gardens has a musical fountain and a viewing platform. In 2003, Uhuru Gardens was the site of a public destruction of arms. This symbolic ceremony took place on the third anniversary of the signature of the Nairobi Declaration on Small Arms and Light Weapons.

The Parliament House in Nairobi is most recognized by its clock tower. The Parliamentary buildings were built in the 1950's. The motto over the main door reads: "For a just society and the fair government of men". Parliament is open to the public, the guards at the gate will tell you when the next session takes places so you can visit the public gallery. Tours of the buildings are also available by registering at the gatehouse and a tour guide will be assigned. Directly beside Parliament is the respectfully landscaped Mausoleum of Jomo Kenyatta, Republic of Kenya's First President.

Riuki Cultural Center - Riuki Cultural Center is a traditional Kenyan village. Riuki provides information and practices relating to the traditional life styles, architecture, food, culture and dances of the Kikuyu. The Kikuyu are the largest community in Kenya. Culture at Riuki is presented through lectures, story telling and theatrical presentations. Activities offered at the Riuki Cultural Center include a guided tour of the homestead, doctor cleansing ceremonies, traditional food and drink tasting, dances, and a lecture on traditional lifestyle. Visitors are greeted by a group of elders and are welcomed in true Kikuyu style, with an invitation to drink from a horn filled with Muratina, a locally brewed drink.

Nairobi's night life is very popular with tourists, both young and old. From a collection of gourmet restaurants offering local and international cuisine, Nairobi has something to offer to every age and pocket. For those more discerning travellers, one can choose from a wide array of local cuisine, Mediterranean, fast food, Ethiopian, and Arabian. The most popular clubbing spots are centred in upmarket Westlands which has come to be known as "Electric Avenue", Karen, Langata, Hurlingham, and "uptown" venues in the city centre.