Unique London Transport Option: Panda Cabs

by Jessica Festa on

As a cross-promotion with Chengdu, China, London is bringing “panda cabs” into the city. The campaign includes 50 cabs painted with “Go Chengdu,” the official English tourism website of the Chinese city.

Home of giant pandas, Chengdu showcases their iconic animal on the cabs. While 30 of the taxis are made to look like actual pandas, 20 others are covered in images of the animal. The taxis are part of a summer program themed “Panda Cabs Running For The Olympics.”

Explains Go Chengdu in a press release, “Taking the good opportunity of the London Olympic Games, the Chengdu program is aimed to promote global efforts to conserve the giant pandas, one of the most endangered animals on Earth with only about 1600 living in the world, and harmony between man and nature, which echoes the Olympic spirit of unity, friendship and peace.”

And, if you’ll notice above, even the royal family is helping the cause.

The special cabs, which will circle big name sites like Buckingham Palace, Piccadilly, Marble Arch and Trafalgar Square, will run until August 31, 2012.

Where Are London’s Hipster Neighborhoods?

by Jessica Festa on



With the Olympic Games quickly approaching, people are probably curious as to how to navigate the many neighborhoods of the city. To help, Hostelbookers has put together a fun infographic depicting a graph of “London’s Hipster Neighborhoods.”

Whether you’re a hipster of not, the image gives some good information about the city. For example, while Primrose Hill is inhabited by “’90s actors and pop stars,” you’ll find “Russian oil barons and trophy wives” in Hyde Park. You can use the quirky map as a way to decide where you’ll best fit in during your stay in London.

If you’re having trouble viewing the infographic, click here for a larger version.

Urquhart Castle: The Other Attraction On Loch Ness

by Sean McLachlan on


Today the Olympic torch is crossing Loch Ness by boat. While locals are hoping for Nessie to make an appearance, one attraction will definitely be on view: the spectacular Urquhart Castle.

This castle sits on Strone Point, a headland jutting out into the loch. It’s unclear when the castle was built. It was certainly there by the 13th century but there may have been a fort there as far back as the 6th century. It was besieged many times over the years in the countless wars with the English and between rival Scottish rulers. It survived these fights until 1692, when the walls were smashed by supporters of the English King William III so it wouldn’t fall into the hands of the rival Jacobites.

Although the castle became useless as a place for defense, much of the layout is clearly visible. You can see where the bakers made bread, where the blacksmith fixed swords and where the residents lived. You can even delve into the dungeon to see the miserable conditions of the prisoners. The most impressive and best-preserved portion is the tower, which rises five stories above the ruins.

%Gallery-157771%From the tower you get a sweeping view of the Loch. Scotland is a beautiful place for photography and its many lochs reflect the mood of its ever-changing light. On overcast days the loch looks gloomy and forbidding, and you could well imagine a monster lurking in its depths. Then the sun will break through and sparkle across the waters like a scattering of gold coins. Dawn and dusk are great times to take photos, when the sun is low and casts a rich golden hue across the water and shore. The castle is lit up at night and makes for a nice shot as well. Check out the gallery for more views of the fantastic castle.

Those wanting to see the Loch Ness Monster should be reassured that the castle is one of the main sites for spotting the mysterious beastie. Perhaps there are secret tunnels underneath the castle where the monster guards a medieval treasure, or perhaps it’s because so many people visit Urquhart castle and gaze out across the waters hoping for a glimpse of the unknown.

[Photo courtesy Baasir Gaisawat]

60 Years Of Royal Travel: Queen Elizabeth II’s State Visits

by Meg Nesterov on

This week, the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries are celebrating the Diamond Jubilee, commemorating 60 years of Queen Elizabeth II on the royal throne. The Times has an interactive, multimedia infographic detailing six decades of royal travel. Each decade details her Commonwealth and international trips with video and photographs from some of her most important visits. The 1970s-’90s mark her most prolific time as a traveler, with over 60 countries visited in those three decades. She slowed down a bit in the past few years, with just four foreign countries (plus Canada and Australia, members of the Commonwealth) visited since 2010 – but still pretty impressive for a senior citizen. Since her coronation in 1952, she’s visited an impressive 161 countries and spent a total of 3.5 years abroad.

[Photo courtesy The British Monarchy on Flickr, copyright Press Association]

Dull And Boring: Two Weird Town Names That Go Great Together

by Sean McLachlan on


What’s life like in a boring town? What’s life like in a dull one? Now a proposed trans-Atlantic collaboration aims to answer this important question.

Boring, Oregon, and Dull, Scotland, want to become sister communities. Local promoters say their towns are neither dull nor boring, and they should play on their weird town names to get more tourism.

One Boring website says the Oregon town of 12,000 is “an exciting place to live” and gets its name from early resident W.H. Boring. It’s unclear how Dull, a small village in Perthshire, Scotland, got its name. Similar words in Gaelic mean either “snare” or “meadow.” Indeed, there are some wonderfully dull meadows nearby. Boring has natural attractions too, including the Boring Lava Field from a boring extinct volcano.

If all this isn’t dull and boring enough for you, check out this list of weird town names. Too bad they missed my favorite, Knob Lick, Missouri!

[Photo courtesy C. Jill Reed]