National parks are free again next weekend!

by Kraig Becker on

Next weekend, August 14-15, is the third, and final, fee free weekend in America’s national parks for 2010. For those two days, more than 100 of the parks will open their gates to the public at no cost, giving visitors a chance to experience “America’s best idea” for themselves.

The complete list of parks that will be waiving their entry fees can be found by clicking here. That list includes such spectacular icons as Yosemite, Yellowstone, and Acadia, as well as lesser known, but no less amazing, parks like Big Bend, the Dry Tortugas, and Crater Lake. All told, more than 40 states are represented on the list, which means there is a national park or monument that will be free to visit next weekend near just about everyone in the U.S.

The fee free weekends have been very popular that past few years, and crowds in the parks will no doubt be high. But if you can’t make it out to your favorite national park on the 14th or 15th, never fear, as there are still two more fee free days to come in 2010. On Saturday, Sept. 25th, the parks will be free in celebration of Public Lands Day and then once again on Thursday, Nov. 11th, in honor of Veteran’s Day.

With summer quickly coming to a close, take advantage of this last fee free weekend of the year for some outdoor fun and adventure.

[Photo credit: National Park Service]

Top five cities for taxi drivers (and the bottom end, too)

by Tom Johansmeyer on

When you step into a cab, you never know what you’re going to find. The driver could be knowledgeable, helpful, pleasant and safe. Or, he could lead you into a fender-bender in minutes. It’s a real roll of the dice, of course, though some cities’ cabbies are certainly better than others – at least that’s what hotels.com found.

In a study of world’s taxi drivers, hotels.com found that London’s are tops. But, you get what you pay for: London‘s taxis were also the most expensive. New York came in second, with 27 percent of the vote (compared to London’s overwhelming 59 percent). New York’s drivers ticked up 10 percentage points, but this still wasn’t enough to break the tie it scored with Paris for having the rudest cabbies. Rome picked up the dubious distinction of having the worst drivers.

Tokyo (26 percent), Berlin (17 percent) and Bangkok (14 percent) round out the world’s top five.

Madrid took sixth, followed by Copenhagen, Dublin, Frankfurt and Paris. So, Denmark may be happier, but Spain has better cab drivers.

Of course, there’s always one you should look out for …


[photo by Ben Fredericson via Flickr]

Coming soon: take a non-stop train from Germany to London

by Scott Carmichael on

As of right now, taking the train from Germany to London involves one or more transfers in Belgium or France to catch a Eurostar high-speed train. Those trains are specifically designed for the Channel Tunnel, making them the only approved means for passenger travel under the English Channel.

This Autumn, that may change when the German rail operator trials a modified ICE high-speed train on a journey from Germany non-stop to London.

The Siemens built train has been specially designed to adhere to the strict fire safety rules in place for rolling stock passing through the tunnel.

While a commercial rail service linking Germany to the UK may not be ready this year, a successful trial could eventually mean catching a train in Frankfurt, Munich or Berlin, and getting off in London several hours later, all without dealing with the hell of the airport. Sign me up.

[Image source: Railway Gazette]

Photo of the Day (8.7.2010)

by Catherine Bodry on

What I love about this photo is not the abandoned look of this church; it doesn’t prompt any metaphors. It’s not the sweeping landscape background or the prairie grass foreground. It’s not what appears to be a sad little bird of a bell in the tiny tower.

What I love about this photo is the fact that the onion dome isn’t blue. I have nothing against blue onion domes, mind you. They’re colorful and pleasant and can really brighten up a cloudy skyline. It’s just that I equate onion domes with blue paint. And if the paint is blue, that means someone is keeping up the church. And if someone is keeping up a church, then… I might be woken up early on a Sunday morning by enthusiastic hymns. But this dome, captured by Flickr user Andry Dorokhov in Russia, has the relaxed, unkempt look of a Sunday sleep-in.

Have any other photos that remind you of relaxing weekends sleeping in? Upload them to Gadling’s Flickr pool, and we just might select one for our Photo of the Day feature!

Moscow hotel rooms most expensive in the world

by Scott Carmichael on

International travel services firm HRG just released the findings of their 2009/2010 hotel price survey. In it, they recrowned Moscow as the city with the most expensive hotel rooms. The average rate for a room in the Russian capital is a totally insane GBP256, or about $408. The rest of the top ten includes most of the usual suspects, including Washington DC and New York.

In North America, the top five most expensive cities is made up of New York, Washington DC, Houston, Boston and Chicago – so no surprises there either. The price difference between the average room rate in New York and Chicago is just under $100 – showing once again that New York hotel prices really are extremely high. Rooms in the Big Apple are on average more than twice as pricey as in Montreal, which takes the tenth spot in the survey.

For more pretty charts and numbers, head on over to the results page for a three-part overview of all the hotel data collected in the survey.