Visiting a city when it’s in the midst of a celebration always makes a trip more interesting – and when the celebration is a world-famous month-long festival of arts, that’s even better. In other words, a visit to Edinburgh during the Fringe Festival is a trip you won’t soon forget.
As the name suggests, the Fringe Festival isn’t about the arts in the usual sense. Yes, there are theatre, music, and dance performances scheduled at venues throughout the city during the month of August, for which you can buy tickets and sit in the audience like you would in any similar venue around the world. In addition to that, however, there are street performances everywhere you look – and it’s this kind of artistic expression that the festival is perhaps best known for. Buskers are on every street corner, performance artists attract crowds on every pedestrian street, and the crowds that fill the city are never without entertainment.
Unfortunately, the month when all of this is going on is also one of the most expensive times to visit Europe in general. It’s more challenging to find good deals on airfare to Edinburgh or cheap hotels in Edinburgh during the summer when the city’s weather is most conducive to visiting. This is compounded by the popularity of the Fringe Festival, since people often book up the best budget accommodation months in advance. There are Edinburgh Festival Fringe travel deals to be had, though, if you’re willing to do your research.
It’s advisable to begin your search for accommodation at least six months before your trip (more if you’re on a tighter budget), and for a good deal on a flight you’d be smart to start looking at airfare even more than six months beforehand. Just by keeping an eye on what airfare costs you’ll know when the prices are going up or down, and you’ll know whether a so-called “deal” is all it claims to be.
As for tickets to the events themselves, if you’re intent on seeing specific performances then be sure to sign up on the official site so you know when tickets go on sale. Otherwise, you’ll never lack for entertainment even if you never buy a ticket to a show just by walking through the city and stopping to watch any street performers that catch your eye. Just remember to bring small change for tips.
photo by Shadowgate
Peru is best known for being home to Machu Picchu and the Nazca Lines. For the adventure travelers, hiking the Inca Trail is one of the things they must do while visiting the country. Next time you plan to trek in the Andes, consider exploring the 
The most typical desserts in Portugal are rice pudding and caramel custard, as well as cheeses (most Portuguese recipes don’t use cheese so it is only eaten before or after the meal). And of course, the most popular pastry is the pastel de nata, a small custard tart sprinkled with cinnamon. For a chocolate treat local to Lisbon, try “chocolate salami.” Melted chocolate is mixed with crushed up cookies, and then dried and sliced so it ends up looking like a slice of salami made of chocolate and cookies. Try it topping a cupcake at 
The capital and largest city in Portugal, Lisbon offers plenty to see and do and more then enough activity to fill three to four days (more if you take some day trips). Here are a few ideas for things to do in Lisbon.
When planning your RTW trip, you need to have a budget. And that budget depends on what countries and cities you want to visit. In general, it is possible to visit more expensive destinations, if you combine them with cheaper places. 
In the years before 1879, the streets of Blackpool were graced with mere gas light, but that year everything changed, for the Blackpool Illuminations began as an experiment in the use of electricity to power street lighting. On the 19th of September, 16 Robey engines were put into use for powering eight dynamo-electric machines that lit eight arc lamps spaced out along the Promenade. Somewhere between 70,000 and 100,000 visitors came to see what was then called ‘artificial sunshine’ and it is widely believed these simple arc lamps were the world’s first electric street lights.
Weekend road trips are a summer staple – jump in the car and head a few hours away for a few days’ change of pace. But if you’re itching to get away for longer, there are plenty of options for extended road trips from Los Angeles. If you have a week or more, consider 
While most people think of Porto (or Oporto) as straddling the Douro river, that’s actually incorrect. Porto is located on the north side of the Douro while the south side, where the port houses are located, is actually called Vila Nova de Gaia. The two cities are connected by a bridge which carries cars, a tram and pedestrians over the river.