10 Most Expensive Places to Rent a Car: Is it Worth the Cost?

by Jess Moss on

Travelers who rented cars in U.S. cities shelled out quite a bit of money this summer. Skift reports on a study by CheapCarRental.net that lists the most expensive cities to rent a car in the past two months. While New York and Boston came in at number 2 and 3, the winner, Portland, Oregon, was a bit more surprising.

The results beg the question: why bother getting a car when you’re visiting a city?

We’ve rounded up the top 10 most expensive car rental cities in the U.S., and found a reason in each that might make it worthwhile. Some of these places can be reached by taxi or public transportation, but most visitors drive themselves. Check out the slideshow below and be the judge: is this place worth renting a car?

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Swedish Food Truck Dishes Up Airport Cuisine

by Reena Ganga on

Whether you like to hunt down the hidden hole-in-the-wall eateries, the popular street food stalls or the city’s best haute cuisine, you probably agree that food is an important part of the travel experience. But if there’s one aspect of travel dining that is universally loathed, it has to be airport food. Bland, congealed — not to mention overpriced — airport meals seem to be an inevitable part of the journey.

So it comes as a bit of a surprise that one country has decided its airport food is so good that it is part of its marketing campaign. Sweden believes the fare at Stockholm Arlanda Airport is so nom-worthy that it is loading up food trucks with the airport cuisine to tempt the taste buds of the city’s residents and visitors.For $10, hungry patrons can dine on dishes like braised veal, pulled pork, truffle risotto, lasagna and ramen soup with wasabi-marinated smoked salmon. Those behind the concept say they believe people will be surprised by the quality of the food, and will hopefully be encouraged to get to the airport earlier to sample more of the cuisine on offer.

The food truck will make rounds of Stockholm for several weeks, but may stick around longer if the idea proves a success.

What do you think of airport food? Would you try out the Arlanda Food Truck?

What Travel Websites Do People Actually Use?

by Jess Moss on

You probably have your own online travel planning regimen, but are you using the same websites as everyone else?

Tnooz reports on the most popular travel websites last month, listing what online travel agency, lodging and destination, airline and general travel search terms were most popular. Here are some of the winners:
Top 3 online travel agency websites:

  1. Expedia
  2. Priceline.com
  3. CheapOair

Top 3 accommodations websites:

  1. TripAdvisor
  2. Booking.com
  3. Hotels.com

Top 3 airline websites:

  1. Southwest Airlines
  2. Delta Airlines
  3. United Airlines

Top 3 travel search terms:

  1. mapquest
  2. google maps
  3. southwest airlines

You can see the top 10 in each category at Tnooz.

Do these results surprise you?

Photo Of The Day: “Working From Home” In Santorini

by Jake Thiewes on

We’ve posted about Greece a fair amount lately. From rare animals to nude beaches, the topics have run the gamut. And today, we feature a more simple focus. Reddit user Andromeda321 is visiting Santorini, Greece for a work-related conference all week. They report daytime highs of 80° and cheap rent for week-long stays. And with a view like this, what’s not to love?

We’d love to feature your photos and videos on Gadling, so please add them to our Flickr Pool (with Creative Commons licensing!), tag @GadlingTravel on Instagram or email us at OfTheDay@gadling.go-vip.net.

Chinese Tourists: An International Love-Hate Relationship

by Elizabeth Seward on

Dan Levin wrote a compelling piece for the New York Times about Chinese tourists. The reports are in and it’s now official: the Chinese spend the most on tourism in the world. They outspent both Americans and Germans last year when they collectively dished out $102 billion abroad. Americans have long been one of the most wooed and simultaneously resented (as worded in Levin’s title) tourists internationally. While businesses abroad want American money, they haven’t always wanted some of the American etiquette that so stereotypically accompanies that American money. Now that very same problem has shifted over to China and Chinese tourists seem to be the ones who international businesses both love and hate.The ire stems from what is perceived to be a lack of basic cultural etiquette, according to the article. Like the unfortunate reputation of American travelers, Chinese tourists are gaining a reputation of rudeness for behaviors that seem to recur -– like ignoring line formations, spitting or speaking loudly while indoors.

But no matter how much locals disagree, it’s difficult to argue with the kind of money Chinese tourists are spending.

[Thanks, New York Times]