Bruges, a City of Historic Medieval Feel

Bruges offers one of the most unique experiences in Europe and listed below are some of the reasons why. Before visiting the city, make sure you have your trusty Bruges Travel Guide with Offline City Street Map.

Like Living in a Fairytale

Bruges looks and feels out of this world, like a place out of a Disney storybook mainly because most of the city has remained unchanged through the centuries. It still has its cobblestone streets, horse-drawn carriages, and swirling canals. Many of the buildings have also remained the same, still sporting architecture from hundreds of years ago. The city being fairly small also means you can do all your exploration on foot.

Captivating Canals

Bruges’ fascinating winding canals earned it the nickname of “Venice of the North”. The waterways also make exploring the city through canal boat rides. Many boat operators are also quite knowledgeable Bruges’ history so they can teach you a lot during the boat ride. Just keep in mind that canal boat riding is a favorite activity of tourists visiting the city so it is better to go on one in the morning to avoid long queues.

Tasty Chocolate

Bruges has numerous chocolate shops and all of them sell high quality, authentic chocolate. Many of them also use their own original recipes so their chocolates cannot be found anywhere else. Some even offer sample boxes for tourists who want to have a free taste. The most famous chocolate box is probably the one sold by Chocolatier Dumon.

Different Beers

Beer is a mainstay of life in Bruges. Aside from beerhouses, almost all restaurants and eateries also serve and extensive assortment of beers. One of the city’s most infamous booze is the Pauwel Kwak which is served in a tall, funnel-like cup and is known for its unique crisp taste. If you want to visit just one beerhouse, the 2be makes a great choice since it has one of the largest collections of beers in the city.

Calm Atmosphere

Unlike most European cities that are noisy and fast paced, Bruges is serene and calm. Most of the activity is on the town square. The rest of the city is as laid back as most rural towns. Bikes and walking are the main modes of transportation and most establishments close early.

For deeper knowledge of places you want to visit, check out eTips.

Visit Bern, the Swiss Capital!

When tourists talk about Switzerland the most common topics are Geneva and Zurich. Often overlooked is the nation’s capital, Bern. Below are a few reasons to visit Bern. And when you do go and visit Bern, make sure to have this app ready: Bern Travel Guide and Offline City Map. It will make your exploration easier.

1. The BearPark

The BearPark, which was recently renovated in 2015, is one of the best places in the world when it comes to observing bears in their natural habitat. It is located just outside Old Town so you can make it the first item in your itinerary to get yourself pumped up by a few bear encounters. It has an area for bears to swim and relax and an inclined lift for visitors.

So sweet! Bern BearPark!

2. The Rosengarten

Just a short 10-minute uphill walk from the BearPark is another Park named Rosengarten. The Rose Garden gives you the best aerial view of Bern and is also home to a wide variety of roses. The park also has its own restaurant aptly named Restaurant Rosengarten where you can dine while enjoying a view of the city.

3. Old Town

Bern’s Old Town is like a bear city. You will see bears everywhere such as bear decorations in shop windows, bear carvings in residential houses, etc. You can’t walk five minutes without spotting a new bear. The cobblestone streets and fountains are a thing of beauty. If you are too lazy to walk, there is also a tram that runs throughout Old Town. There are two places you should never forget to check out while in old town:

• Zytglogge – the city’s landmark clock tower where mechanical figures come out to celebrate the arrival of each new hour.
• Bern Münster – the country’s tallest cathedral with a towering height of 300 feet.
• Old Town Park – offers the best view of the sunset.

Amazing Bern Old Town View

4. The Einstein Museum

Albert Einstein, one of the most renowned geniuses in the world, came up with his famous formula E = mc 2 and a huge portion of his Theory of Relativity during his two-year stay at Bern from 1903 to 1905. The Einstein Museum has a section of 1,000 square meters dedicated solely for Einstein. You can also visit the apartment where Einstein stayed which is just a few minutes away from the Museum.

Do yourself a favor and bring with you a virtual map of the city you are visiting. You can get the best travel guides from eTips.

Travel Basics in London

Awesome modern London skyline

If you're coming to London for the first time London Travel Guide and Offline City Map & Metro Support has some important things for you to remember and save yourself a little bit of embarrassment and make your trip to London easier.

The Brits drive on the left side of the road. Now, if you're not driving this may not seem like a big deal but actually when you're crossing the street that's when it's the scariest. Luckily the smarties in London put markings on the ground at every single crossing telling you literally if you should look left or look right, so make sure that when you're going to cross the street- you look down to see which way you should look.

Next is, if you decide to go to a pub and order yourself a beer or a cider, which I definitely recommend you do, you'll need to order by the pint. It's about 20 oz of drink. Remember that a lot of English beers and ciders are stronger than in America so just be careful when you're drinking. When you get the bill, double check to see if there was a service charge added on because usually this is around 12.5% if there is a service charge added.

England uses the pound, as its currency makes up one pound and if you ever hear someone saying quid, this is just a slang word for pound. The smallest note you can get is 5 pounds- there's no one pound note here.

You should try Oyster card. There are two different kinds of Oyster cards you can get, one is called a Visitor's Oyster Card that you can only get this if you order it ahead of time and get it delivered to your house or you can get a regular Oyster card which you can pick up at tons of shops around London. To use either of these Oyster cards, you need to top them up which means you add credit to the card as you start to use the underground and the bus system. Your credit will decrease and you'll have to top it up more and more if you're going to be traveling a lot.

Enjoy the beautiful dusk of London

Having an Oyster card is really good because the rates are a lot cheaper than if you paid cash and they have a daily cap which means, once you've reached a certain amount of money that you've spent, that's it and the rest of your travel is free for the day.

Classic English double decker buses are really fun to ride around on, if you can grab a seat on the top and especially in the front of the bus, it's really cool! To get on a bus all you have to do is tap your Oyster card at the front of the bus and that's it, you don't have to tap out.

If you need to change your cash into pounds then you'll probably get the best rate at the post office. Be careful taking black taxis because they can be really expensive and they get really expensive without you noticing. If you can't take public transport, use Uber all the time. They're all over the place!

Those are just few important things you should know before you come to London for the first time! Make sure that you read more of our eTips guidelines to know more places          all around the world!

Cheese hoarder? Amsterdam has it all!

A good start in your first Amsterdam adventure is to visit Borrel and Dutch, a wine or drinks store. Well a popular dutch invention is gin, and at the Wynand Fockink, a taste room located in a back alley at Dam Square you can taste many popular gins. If you want to see the best attractions and get around this glorious European city! Our Amsterdam Travel Guide and Offline City Map Support can surely help you.

Awesome Amsterdam canals and architecture

Here’s more of it:

Walking through the red light district, you’ll find Cafe Remember, it’s one cool place to stay but you usually don't find many locals at the red light district because they consider this place very touristy and try to stay far away from it.

Recently the Museum of Prostitution opened its doors. It is the first Museum in the world that is focused on prostitution. There is also the famous Vrolik Museum, it's a museum in the academic medical center of Amsterdam and has the largest collection of human deformities in one place.

Next stop is the Canal House Museum, a totally breathtaking place which is an old house by a banker, a dutch bank. Most of these houses were built for wealthy bankers and merchants, the soil was so swampy that they had to build them on stilts and that caused them to wobble and sink into the river. The Hermitage Museum is primarily visited by a mature audience, you will find here the Dutch Golden Age where in the 17th century, Amsterdam was the center of all the international trade. That is why the Dutch invented the modern stock market. Many rich Dutchman had their paintings created by now famous painters like Rembrandt, Vermeer and France Hals.

You can also step-into the museum of the most famous Dutch painter Van Gogh. It has 1.5 million visitors per year and the best time to go is on Friday evening when you can enjoy live DJ’s, an art show and some drinks!

Another hidden gem in Amsterdam is the Blue 360 restaurant, the place is hard to find but offers the best view of the city. It opens late so you can even experience a romantic sunset.

In a nearby place, is the authentic cheese store. This place is called   the Cheese Company, where you can try a sample of all the delicious Dutch cheeses. Their total cheese production is 30 million pounds per week which is the combined milk of 20,000 cows.

Say Cheese Amsterdam way!!!

Now, that’s about it. Know more about different places before traveling! Get some eTips guidelines!