EUROQUEST SideTracks

Once the mass-tourist resorts of Cancún and Playa del Carmen are left behind, we may wish to head South on the Mayan Riviera to discover some of the true treasures of the Yucatán Peninsula, the Mayan ruins in Tulúm and Cobá. Just an hour south of Playa del Carmen by bus, we reach the sprawling village of Tulúm, once a sleepy small community and now a booming center for ecologically-minded tourism and gateway for the Mayan heritage sites. In Tulúm, it may be advisable to rent a bicycle to have easier access to the amenities in the village itself, as well as to the Mayan ruins and the magical beaches on the Carribbean. The first stop of any bus service to Tulúm is at the "ZONA ARQUEOLÓGICA", from which a 5 minute walk leads past sales booths and local handicrafts to the Museum Entrance itself. At a cost of 57 Pesos per Person, visitors gain access to what may rank among the most fascinating and scenic sights on the Yucatán Peninsula. Mayan ruins meet the blue Carribbean

With the war on drugs raging in many parts of the nation particularly in are as close to the U.S. border, tourism to Mexico has equally been adversely affected with many visitors questioning their personal safety in light of exagerated media coverage on the ongoing battle between drug cartels. For visitors that actually do venture south of the border (if coming from the U.S.), almost all tourist areas are perfectly safe, offer great value for money and unforgettable scenery, pristine beaches and unique cutural and architectural treasures. The most popular resort areas to visit would include the Baja Peninsula, the Pacific Coast around Puerto Vallarta as well as the Mayan Riviera on the Yucatan Peninsula. Among those destinations, the Yucatan may be by far the most popular and most crowded, as in addition to North American visitors, Europeans equally flock here in high numbers mostly from France, Italy and the Benelux. The best advice to arriving passengers here would be to leave

  There are few places in Europe with a more disturbing history yet of such surprising beauty: Dresden, capital of Saxony in the former East Germany, devastated by an infamous air raid in February 1945 and by the millenium floods of August 2002 exactly a decade ago - yet shining ever so proudly above the banks of the Elbe river with beautiful buildings both historic and new.  See the full gallery on Posterous Every time we arrive in Dresden, guests are pleasantly surprised by the city´s charms, beauty and unparalleled historic legacy. From driving into central Dresden and seeing its magnificent skyline, preferably from the other side of the Elbe river in Dresden Neustadt in what is called the "Canaletto view", to exploring the area around Our Lady´s Church and the recently restored Neumarkt, Dresden is a place of discovery, depth and character. For centuries it served as the seat of the WETTIN dynasty, the kings of Saxony, whose most illustrious leader AUGUS

Few visitors to the Czech Republic ever venture much beyond Prague, although the Czech lands certainly have more attractions in store for those who do in fact leave the capital. On previous occasions we touched on other UNESCO World Heritage sites in Bohemia and Moravia, such as the famous Trinity Column in Olomouc or the "Garden of Europe" around the Palaces of Lednice and Valtice. The single most important destination for visitors outside of Prague, however, is a small town couched in the Vltava Valley in Southern Bohemia by the name of Cesky Krumlov. With a population of merely 15000 people, this gem of a Bohemian city boasts the second largest castle complex in the Czech Republic after Prague and ranks among the most scenic and athmospheric destinations in all of Central Europe. The name Krumlov or Krummau in German makes direct reference to the city´s magnificent geographical location on a meandering bend of the Vltava River.The town´s setting is indeed spe

Along the Adriatic Sea, just south of Dalmatia, we find a Bay hidden from the rest of the Mediterranean. Sailing in this direction in early morning, we first set sight on the magnificent mountains over which the sun begins to rise...the Black Mountains, which give the name to this, the 6th smallest nation in Europe, Montenegro. It is also one of Europe´s youngest countries, having recently just proclaimed its independence from Serbia in 2006 in what was left of the former Yugoslavia. Despite its miniature size, the country offers impressive variety in scenery, fauna and flora - going swimming and skiing in one single day is certainly a possibility here.  See the full gallery on Posterous Montenegro still remains also one of the best-kept secrets in Europe, hidden as it is from the rest of the world in this remote Southeastern corner of the Adriatic Sea. Here we find the opening to what some erroneously would call Europe´s largest and most southern Fjord, the beautiful B

See the full gallery on Posterous Leaving behind the Atlantic coastline of Northern Spain, we proceed inland for about only 15 miles to enter what may rank among the most unique biospheres of the Iberian Peninsula, the PICOS DE EUROPA National Park. We suddenly feel reminded of Switzerland, as the vegetation turns lush & green, the humidity and rain fall increase and we gently wind our way uphill into the most scenic sections of the CORDILLERA CANTABRICA, as this mountainous part of Spain is called.  See the full gallery on Posterous The Picos de Europa National Park is the first of its kind in Spain dating back to 1918 and was extended to include parts of Asturias and Castilla-León in 1993. It reaches peaks of up to 2600 meters (9000 feet) and in large parts offers a unique Mediterranean-Atlantic microclimate where the production of wine and ORUJO (firewater, a kind of grappa) flourishes, particularly in the scenic LIÉBANA valley. It is here that we gently meande