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2012 Trek Fuel EX 7.9 Review

2012-01-26T03:33:00.000-08:00

As I am so pleased
with my Trek Madone 4.7, I decided it was time to treat myself to a new mountain bike, and Trek was naturally high up on the list of options. This said, I did also consider the competition from Pierre, Giant, Specialised, etc. After researching the options the Trek Fuel EX 7.9 was the final choice. So the purchase was made in November 2011, and I have had my bike for two months now.

A bit of background info - I’m no Mountain Bike expert, I’m a big guy at 6 foot 3 inches and 14 stone (200lbs) and just the wrong side of 45! So this is a real world test for those wanting to know about the bikes suitability in the MAMIL (Middle Aged Men In Lycra) market!

Of course this is not a machine designed and aimed specifically at the MAMIL market - The bike is way more capable than I am, but this article explains what I find so great about it!

What was I looking for?

I was looking for a bike to cover some miles – I often mountain bike 30 miles or more in a day. The mountain biking in Spain is glorious, with endless empty trails through stunning scenery and a great year round climate. Here in the south, where I am based, it’s rarely wet or muddy, and most the of trails I ride are mountain trails through cork forests, on rough tracks, loose rocks and shale. A mix of rough roads and some single track.

Hence my requirements were light weight, strong, full suspension, good brakes, and of course great looks!

How has the Trek Fuel EX 7.9 met my needs?

Light Weight

Spot on, the Trek is my first carbon mountain bike, and as a result, to me it seems to weigh about the same as two cans of dog food with an unladen swallow on top (African swallow of course – see Monty Pythons Holy Grail if this seems puzzling!).

The bike's low weight is great and, as well as the advantages this gives you when climbing, turning, etc, it also makes it easier to lift in and out of the motor, over fences, etc!

Strong

It’s too early to say how it will stand up to ten years use, but looking at Trek's guarantees, and the quality of the finish, and the strength of the fame around the joints, I have no doubt it will live up to their claims!

I could go into deep technical details about the superb OCLV carbon technology, the frame protector, the E2 tapered head tube and the BB95 carbon bottom bracket but to be honest I’d soon get lost myself (I’m no techy!), and its all explained in great detail with user friendly multi-media on the Trek Bikes site! Take look and get the full tech spec.

Full Suspension

The Trek Fuel Ex 7.9 is of course compliant to my needs. There are forks at the front and full floating suspension at the rear! And superb quality kit it is too! See the above link to the Trek Bikes site for full technical details and videos of the machinery in action.

The best compliment I can give, is that on my first ride as I came across some pretty rough stuff (badly cut up slate with big steps and drops) the bike rode over it really well. It immediately reminded me of riding my KTM EXC400 – the market leading enduro motorbike which is fitted as standard with market leading Ohlins suspension with huge travel range. It really felt that good, the bike rode over the rough stuff without complaint, flattering my limited riding abilities.

Good Brakes

Pretty standard these days on all mountain bikes in this price range. The brakes, like the rest of the bike are great. Here in Spain I am regularly going downhill on
the brakes for 3km or more. There is good progressive braking action, with plenty of feel, and no signs of fade after prolonged use.

Great Looks

Always important! The bike looks great and merits the kind words of admiration from friends out on the trail. It looks as if it is giving you an unfair advantage (and it probably is). As I’m usually riding with younger fitter mates, so this helps psych out the competition!

What’s the Trek Fuel Ex 9.7 like to ride?

I’ve covered a few hundred miles on the bike since I got it, and I have been delighted with it. I’ve ridden a little on road (on the way up to the trails) and a mixture of single track and rough trails. No wet stuff (we have amazingly only had one day of rain in December and January so far this winter). The bike is a delight to ride, and smoothes out the rough stuff incredibly well (that’s probably the DRCV suspension – read the techy stuff on the Trek link above). And it climbs superb too, as mentioned above I’m a big lad, and a good bit older than the lads I ride with, but with ‘Trek Fuel Assistance’ I can generally get to the top of the climbs first – last Sundays ride was 41km and included 1085m of climbs! It ate them! Downhill I would win no awards for bravery but the bike inspires me with confidence, rides the bumps really well, and is good and stable on and off the brakes.

My above comparison of the Trek ride quality, to that of my KTM EXC400 Enduro bike, is a truly a top compliment. I was so delighted with the bike my youngest daughter received a Trek Sky mountain bike for Christmas!

Highly recommended - I’m a happy customer!

Top 10 Kayaking Adventures

2012-01-23T03:18:00.000-08:00

One
of my personal favourite sports, Kayaking is superb. I own two kayaks and enjoy kayaking in Spain, making my way out into the med to kayak with dolphins on a 'flat sea' summer evening is superb, as is kayaking on the locals lakes and waterways.

As well as being great fun and meeting the needs of all tastes, from adrenalin freaks to gentle nature watchers, the sport ticks all the right 'eco' and ‘good for you’ boxes. Its no wonder it is growing in popularity!

The Kayak is a superb way of getting up close to nature, both water and land based. The way a kayak silently glides across the surface of the water, allows you to get up close to superb wildlife and nature. And for the adrenalin freaks there are some superb white water adventures, through stunning scenery all around the world.

Here’s YouGoDo's

Top 10 Kayak Adventures

Kayaking with Whales and Icebergs

Explore some of Canada’s most amazing places, kayaking in among incredible icebergs and natures gentle giants, whales. Glide silently alongside creaking giant towers of white ice, and the noises from the blowholes of passing whales.

High Adrenalin Kayaking in Nepal

One for the adrenalin freaks this one, a full 10 day tour in the magnificent Nepal region, a hardcore 270km trip crossing numerous Class V (the big stuff) rapids, as you pass through breath-taking nature.

Kayaking in Venice or London

See some of the world’s most magnificent cities from another angle. Work your way along the River Thames on a kayak tour of London, or get in among the Gondolas on a kayak tour of Venice.

Kayaking with Killer Whales

Another for those looking for excitement, getting up close to some of the largest hunters on the planet, yet for some unknown reason Human Friendly hunters. Cruise up beside huge killer whales in the natural habitats.

Heli kayaking in Australia

Access the areas other cannot reach, by starting your white water kayak adventure with the advantage of a helicopter, to get you into the true wilderness of Australia’s Atherton Tablelands. Then kayak your way through great white water sections and unspoilt nature.

Take a Kayak Safari in Africa

For canoeing and kayaking enthusiast looking for added excitement, join this safari trip through the floodplains of the middle Zambezi River, through the Mupata Gorge, to the confluence of the Luangwa river. Get up close to Africa’s amazing nature as they visit the waters to drink.

Kayak Bike Wine and Chateau

One for those looking to take a ‘semi relaxing active break’, if there is such a thing! Gentle kayaking and cycling through some of France’s finest scenery during the days. Then staying in superb French Chateau accommodation, and enjoying fine French wining and dining each evening. Just active enough!

Glass Bottom Kayaking

Get out and enjoy the underwater world in your own personal glass bottom boat! Clear kayaks are now available to rent in numerous locations, allowing you to glide over the waters, while enjoying the views of the fascinating world under your kayak.

Kayaking in Croatia

Croatia’s stunning coastline, crystal clear seas, over 1000 islands, great national parks and warm climate make it a superb country to enjoy kayaking. As a result there is everything on offer, from white water, short one hour kayak trips from great tourist destinations like Trogir and Dubrovnik, up to multi day tours covering multiple islands and parks. Croatia is a superb place to enjoy kayaking.

Kayaking and Snorkelling in Newquay

Enjoy exploring the beauty of Newquay in Cornwall, from above and below the water. Take a tour which includes both kayaking and snorkelling. With luck witness Basking Sharks, Dolphins and/or seals during your trip.

If you have yet to try it make this the year you pick up a paddle and get out and enjoy the water on a Kayak - take a look at over 600 places to try kayaking activities from all around the world.

Extreme Commercial Flights

2012-01-12T05:22:00.001-08:00

Taking a flight on a commercial aircraft – hardly an extreme sport is it? Not quite up there with Bungy Jumping, etc. Unless that is, (a) you like extreme flights and (b) you happened to be landing at Düsseldorf Airport on the day of these rather heavy sidewinds.

This epic video shows thousands of ‘excited’ passengers getting some free extreme sports, they had probably not anticipated!

'Wooo Hoooooo' you can almost hear them whooping as these commercial planes land with a spot of opposite lock, which Sebastien Loeb would be proud of!

Epic flying, the passengers on the Condor plane even got to have two bites of the cherry! Nice one!

Great video CargoSpotter!

World's Best Hikes

2012-01-10T02:39:00.000-08:00

January is a great time of year to be blogging about Hiking, with many of our users making New Year’s Resolutions to live healthier, lose weight and get fitter. Well the good news is it does not have to be hell sweating out the excesses of Xmas down at the Gym, or cutting down on drinking and eating all the things you enjoy! Hiking is a fantastic way of helping to achieve these great aims. It's pretty much accessible to all ages with a reasonable level of fitness, it’s an activity you can enjoy with your friends and family, and it’s a great way of exploring some incredible locations, and often it's free. And for the adrenalin junkies among you, there are some pretty epic and hairy hikes to scare the pants off most mere mortals!

And in addition to the usual easy to access local short walks and hikes, more and more specialist companies are setting up offering specialist hiking holidays in areas of outstanding natural beauty.

Here's some great suggestions!

Top 10 Hiking Activities for 2012

Mount Huashan - The World’s Most Dangerous Hike

This is one for the extreme activity junkies, and definitely not one for those without a head for heights. Amazingly the Mount Huashan Trail, in Shaanxi Province of China is known as a Tourist Walking Trail, but as you can see from the amazing photos the sheer drops running alongside this 'walk' are pretty extreme! A just over 2km its not a long walk, but with parts of the trail like the famous 'Changkong Zhandao' on the South Peak, where you cross a 30cm wide path made from planks of wood, running along the surface of a vertical cliff (yes thats the image at the top of this blog!), and others sections where you use foot holes carved into the rock, while clinging to the chains, its a hardcore pretty 'walk'.

Walking El Camino del Rey

The Kings Walk in El Chorro, Andalucia, Spain is also known as the World's Most Dangerous Path. A bit of a cheat this one, as you currently need to do a spot of climbing to enjoy this extreme path. It was closed to the general public a few years ago after a number of unfortunate deaths. With grants now in place to have it totally rebuilt and re-opened to the general public in the next few years it will soon be another great walk. In the meantime several tour operators will take you along the Kings Walk, a very badly maintained concrete walk, which is just steel rails in places, perched hundreds of feet above the gorge. A stunning place to visit. This one currently involves some abseiling!

Snowshoeing in Finland

For those that want to experience some snow, what better way than to take a multi-day hiking tour through a winter wonderland in Finland. Snowshoes on and crunch your way through some amazing snow white forest and over the frozen lakes of the wild taiga region of Kainuu in eastern Finland.

Hiking Pulpit Rock in Norway

An incredible hike, after 4 hours walking and about 3km in length, you arrived some 350m higher at the incredible Preikestolen (Pulpit Rock) - not a great place for those with Vertigo. The Pulpit Rock has incredible views and a sheer drop of hundreds of metres at its edge!

Heli Gazier Treking in Switzerland

This sounds like luxury and fun, which of course it is but it can also be very challenging with options ranging from a 1 day moderate heli hike up to the fully monty "Trek Over 7 Glaciers from Jungfraujoch to Grimsel". What a great way to enjoy the stunning scenery of the Swiss Alps while hiking on glaciere.

Hike the famous Corsican GR20 Route

The famous Corsican GR20 is a network of around 200km varied walks through a wide range of awesome landscapes. On the GR20 routed hikers come across a wide diversity of local flowers, birds and animals - you may even encouter a mouflon if you're lucky!

Key West GPS Walking Tour

A nice easy one this one, although the mid summer heat and humidity can be a little stifling! With fun and informative hand held GPS equipment to tell you where to go, and what you are looking at, as you make you way round the lovely island of Key West, at the end of the Florida Keys. Which is also at the very southern tip of Mainland USA!

Hike through 6 of Croatia's National parks

Take the opportunity to visit 6 national parks in the stunning country of Croatia on a guided 8 day hiking holiday. The parks included on this trip are Plitvice lakes, Krka waterfalls (get in the falls and take a dip! - see pic), Kornati, Brijuni Island, Risnjak and, Paklenica

A Two Continents Hike

How about a hike where you start in one continent and end up in another, well this could be the one for you. Southern Spain is one of the few places in Europe where you can do a day trip to another continent - Europe to Africa. This trip takes you by water, the short (15km) trip across the straits of Gibraltar from Spain to Morocco, where you will enjoy a day hiking in the The Jebel Musa (Pillars of Hercules), while enjoying spectacular views back across the med to Europe.

Climb Sydney Harbour Bridge

For those wanting a quick and spectacular hiking fix. What better way to see Sydney than by climbing its iconic 134m tall bridge. From the top you can relax and enjoy amazing views over Sydney harbour and the Opera House.

The Jesus Trail

A gentler pace, with a different interest group this one is a gentle 4 day 65km hike following in the footsteps of Jesus, through the landscapes of Galilee in Israel, taking in Nazereth. A great one for those with 'the faith'.

Take a look at hundreds of great hiking adventures and make your choice. Get out and enjoy some good for you hiking fun in 2012!

2012 New Years Resolutions

2011-12-29T23:47:00.000-08:00

Wow - end of the year again. I hope it was a memorable one, because if you are doing it right, lifes too short! You will probably, depending on your life style and place of birth, get less than 100! So another 1% down, lets plan to make the next 1% amazing! Its the time of year to start planning your New Years Resolutions - what you plan to do in the next 12 months.

Now strangely New Years Resolutions always seem to be thought of as a pain - a list of things you really enjoy doing which you are going to stop doing or do less - drink less, smoke less, etc! All good for you, but hell where's the fun!

Life's too short - New Years Resolutions should be the immense things you have always wanted to do, but never got around to, so far.

The bucket list activities, things like:

the amazing adrenalin rush of trying something like bungy jumping or paragliding

the satisfaction of climbing a local mountain

the sensations of visiting an amazing country which is totally different to your 'comfort zone'

seeing some amazing wild animals in the natural habitats - what will it be killer whales, tigers, lions, great white sharks...

the thrill of trying a sport like Scuba diving

the fun of driving a digger, riding a motorcycle, hiring a trike, ordriving a Lamborghini

flying in a hot air balloon

taking a helicopter flight

Hell now we're talking - New Years
Resolutions that put you in the child like - "I can't wait!" zone.

Take a look at the 30,000+ great activity ideas on YouGoDo, and especially those on the unusual things to do pages - more than 2,000 incredible experiences.

Top two in my list for 2012 - cycling the length of Spain, North to South, and driving down through Morocco to visit the Sahara Desert.

What will you be doing! Remember this time next year you will probably have more than 1% less time to complete your Bucket List!

Happy New Year from YouGoDo - Do something amazing in 2012! Let us know your plans and the resulting success!

Bucket List Activities

2011-12-22T06:02:00.000-08:00

The saying ‘Bucket List’ was made famous in the 2007 Warner Brothers movie of the same name, in which the two stars of the film set out to complete their ‘Bucket Lists’, their lists of things they wanted to do before they ‘kicked the bucket’ (died!).

'Things to do before you die', has been the longer established term for such great and ambitious things to do. Here at YouGoDo we love this sort of stuff, and the site features several thousand activities which we term, ‘unusual things to do’. These are often the types of activities which make up your average person’s bucket list ideas – things to do like parachuting, bungy jumping, jet skiing, elephant back safaris, hot air balloon flights, etc.

But as stated above we have over 2000 of these great and unusual activities and experiences. It’s a lot to choose from, and some people really want to go extreme for their bucket list – after all in most cases, if you do it properly, you only die the once! Mmmmm a much nicer way of putting this would be ‘you only live once’ and ‘life is short’!

So for those who really want to make their bucket ideas something very special we have the ‘Inspirational activities’ section. These are the top 300 or so activities which are really special / off the wall! We love these activities, hand pick them, and push them up the rankings a lot so they get seen more often.

With the year about to end many people will be coming up with their 2012 New Year’s Resolutions. Adding bucket list activities should be right up their with, or above really, things like calling your mum more often and putting the toilet seat down!

We cannot recommend anything better than browsing our ‘inspiration activities' and ‘unusual things to do’ pages – 1,000’s of great ideas. Life’s too short, get out and try something new – I cannot imagine many happy people who would not love hot air ballooning, diving, riding a horse or taking a trip in a glider for the first time!

Here’s a few thousand great activity ideas, to include in your Bucket List and 2012 New Year’s Resolutions:

Hot Air Ballooning

– Gliding in silence a few hundred metres above the ground in some of the world’s most incredible locations.

Scuba Diving

– gliding through the amazing world below the surface of the water, discovering new habitats and getting up close to some amazing wildlife.

Helicopter Flights

– seeing some of the world’s great destinations, from places only a helicopter can reach.

Horse Riding

– Getting out and into the natural world on the back of a four legged friend. Some amazing experiences from short trail rides and horse surfing, up to multi day trails and crossing the Andes on horseback.

Mountain Biking

– experience great countryside, amazing bike parks, downhill single trail rides down from cable cars and much more.

Motor Sports Activities

– live out you Michael Schumacher fantasies with F1 drives and race schools, drive the car of your dreams and impress the neighbours with a Ferrari, Aston Martin or Lamborghini parked on your dive.

Skydiving

– try at parachute jump, leap out of a perfectly good aeroplane, feel the adrenalin of free fall and take in the views as you plummet thousands of feet before gliding back to earth.

Jet Ski

– simply hire a jetski or take a jetski safari - ride the closest thing to a motorcycle on water, accelerate at Porsche Turbo pace and see great wildlife at the same time.

Extreme Flights

– have your stomach turned inside out with G forces you have never imagined possible, experience Zero G weightlessness, watch the earth spin beneath you and live out your Top Gun fantasies.

Motorcycling Experiences

– get on your bike and ride, experience the freedom of motorcycling on one of numerous great motorbike experiences, take amazing off road tours through wilderness, ride a Harley along the seafront, take a trike tour of a 1372km long golf course or go see another country on a great hired modern or classic bike.

The list goes on with numerous other great experiences like snowmobile tours, fantastic hiking and climbing experiences, obscure tours and much more.

REMEMBER - Far more people arrive at the great pearly gates wishing they had worked less, than the number who arrive wishing they had driven less Ferraris, done less scuba diving, rode less horses, etc!

Have a great 2012, make those New Year’s Resolutions happened and bring down the length of that Bucket List! Let us know how you got on and send in the pictures!

10 Amazing Diving Activities

2011-12-19T23:47:00.000-08:00

Scuba diving is an superb sport, a pastime which opens up an amazing underwater world, and bizarrely gives you the 'feeling of flying', well it does me anyway! Gliding over coral reefs, admiring the underwater sea life and the stunning vibrant colours (I'm not one for the deeper dives where the colours tend to fade a little, but each to their own!). Exploring wrecks, and coming up face to face with some of the world's most awesome creatures, all add to the strong appeal of diving.

Here's the YouGoDo Top 10 amazing diving experiences:

Diving with Great White Sharks

Probably not most demanding, in terms of required diving skills, as with luck when you encounter the magnificent Great White Shark up close, you will be in only a few feet of water, and in the safety of your comfort cage! This is one for my bucketlist - a must do. The incredible size, and prehistoric design, of the Great White make them a fascinating sight, from above or below the water. Take your pick from Australia (Port Lincoln), South Africa (Gansbaai) or the USA (California) for the Great White Dives featured on YouGoDo.

Diving with Killer Whales

Another awesome animal encounter, getting up close to Killer Whales, and strangely although these creatures can be a whole lot bigger than the great white, their comparatively 'cuddly nature' allows divers to get into the water with them, without the need for the cage. Not a dive for 'pussies', this one takes place in the cool Fjords of Norway, where the whales come inland to feed (on herring!). Described as the Formula 1 of Diving, it looks epic.

Freediving

Take a deep breath before reading this one - a non scuba diving entry into the top ten. SCUBA being Self Contained Underwater Breathing Aparatus, means this is simply 'Diving' as free diving is just you, one deep breath and nature. Learn the techniques of diving to incredible depths on one breath of air. Some great locations to try this in, or why not try it in Brussels of all places, in a world record 33m deep pool!

Dive to the Titanic

A serious dive expedition, and probably a little too deep for the Free Divers, this is a submarine dive expedition taking you on an amazing 3-4 hour underwater trip to 12,500 feet under the surface. Here you will witness the wreck of the world famous Titanic, the unsinkable cruise liner which went to the bottom of the sea, sadly with great losses, on its maiden voyage, after making contact with an iceberg.

Kids Shark Dives

How cool is this for a kids party, allowing your kids and their mates to dive with sharks. But although its 'ubercool' with the kids, it's not too big a worry for the parents, as (a) its indoors in a huge aquarium just north of Edinburgh and (b) it uses a child friendly cage to ensure no unwelcome contact takes place!

Diving with Whales

Diving with whales, earth's gentle giants. Get in the water and swim with these amazing giant animals at a variety of locations around the world. And if getting out into the ocean is too big a deal you can even swim with Whale Sharks (I know they are fish, not whales! but they are still damn big fish) at the amazing Georgia Aquarium in Texas.

Diving in Oman

Although I'm no diver I've had the pleasure of beginner's dives and snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef, the Florida Keys and in Oman. And mates always wondered why I did not fancy going to Stoney Cove (a disused Slate Quarry in the North of England) in November! Oman was incredible, mainly due to the fact it is relatively undiscovered, when compared to numerous other long established dive locations like Egypt and Australia, and Oman's emphasis on attracting eco tourism. The almost 'bath warm' waters of the gulf are like stepping into a more colourful version of the Finding Nemo film! Excellent diving.

Dive the Barrier Reef

It's all location, location, location and the Great Barrier Reef, due to its global positioning and it's huge area, makes it a great diving location. With numerous operators offering everything from day trips for absolute beginners up to week long live aboard trips, and helicopter trips out to multiple remote locations, there is great diving for everyone.

Some great underwater adventures to be had - if going scuba diving is on your bucketlist choose your destination and get it done in 2012!

Jetpack Flights

2011-12-13T07:01:00.000-08:00

Jetpack Flights, like buses - well not quite like buses in terms of the experience, but comparable to buses when using the old saying 'you wait ages for one to come along, and then two turn up at the same time'!

That's been the case this month on YouGoDo, with two great locations where you can fly a personal Jetpack, both popping up together.

Up until very recently Jet Packs have only been accessible to the likes of James Bond, nutty professors and the super-rich. The 'traditional' jet packs are powered by compact jet engines in custom made back packs. These require skilled pilots and big bags of money. In additional they offer a pretty bumpy landing in the event of 'getting it wrong'.

Just recently two companies, we are aware of, have applied Jet Ski type technology, using water jets to provide the thrust for the jet pack, with dramatic effect. What's so great about this - well number 1 is it is putting jet pack flights into the hands of the general public! Epic!!

Pros and Cons of Water Jet Packs over Jet Engined Jet Packs

Starting with the advantages of the 'conventional' jet engined Jet Packs -

1) other than fuel capacity these have no height restrictions - although in reality flight time is pretty limited due to the weight of the necessary fuel.

2) you are truly flying, with no cables or lines connecting you to planet earth.

3) You can fly over land and water.

All great advantages but lets look at the advantages of the water powered Jet Packs:

1) Fairly unlimited flight times - the fuel is held in the attached jet ski or engine/fuel pods which trail behind you on the water surface. So you can fly for an hour or more if you wish.

2) Lower flight altitudes, you are attached to a engine pod or jetski, and you have to fly lower and hence have less distance to fall!

3) You are flying over water - offering a softer landing pad!

4) The ability to 'fly' underwater - swim like a dolphin porpoising in and out of the water

5) Simpler to master - the connecting hose offers a degree of stability making is easier to master flight

6) Lower costs - although the two I am aware of at the moment from JetLev and Zapata Racing vary greatly in terms of cost, both are significantly more accesible than the traditional Jet Engined packs. The Zapata Racing offering starts below 5000 euros (plus the donor jetski for the propulsion)

7) For all of the above reasons - you and me - Joe Public can get our sweaty mits on one and fly it! Woohooo

Where can I fly a Jet Pack

To date we have two locations available, both in the USA. Get yourself along to fly a jetpack Lake Havasu in Arizona or try a jetpack flight in Key West in the Florida Keys.

But hopefully thats just the start - here at YouGoDo we look forward to welcoming many many more - you can never have too many places to play on one of these things!

The Next Generation of Jet Skis?

2011-12-08T02:36:00.001-08:00

Just come across this incredible new way of having water fun, the amazing FlyBoard from Zapata Racing.

These crazy french guys have hooked up a jet pack personal flight type device, with a Jet Ski (or one of its own jet ski like tow along packs). Oh and they seem to have thrown in a shorty snowboard for good measure!

The result is the amazing FlyBoard, a device which allows you to come as close as I have seen to swimming like a dolphin, or hovering above the water like a seagull!

Take a look at the video!

I've seen a few similar devices and we have featured them on this blog, but the difference with this one is it is not considered a prototype - it appears to be on the market, available to buy right now - get your 4,900 euros on the table and you too can be flying like a seagull and swimming like a dolphin!

Regular readers of this blog will know I am a keen jet skiier, and as a result YouGoDo is full of great jet skiing activities. I wonder where the first hire FlyBoard centre will crop up!

Roll on more water and air fun!

Top 10 Weird Ways to see the World

2011-12-02T05:42:00.000-08:00

There are just so many great ways of seeing this small world, in fact I did not realise just how many until I started to compile this top ten! With our tens of thousands of great and unusual tours, this list could have very easily become a top 25 weird ways of seeing the world, or maybe more. So fierce was the competition that Segway Tours, Pushbike Tours, Endurance Bus Tours, Jetboat Tours, Sailing Tours, Helicopter Tours, Trike Tours, Kayak Tours, Dog Sled Tours, Horse Tours, Hummer Tours and Horse Drawn Caravan Tours all failed to make the top 10!

Anyway, here is the roll of honour in YouGoDo’s top 10 Weird Ways to see the world.

Quarry Taxi Tours of the Erzberg Quarry in Austria

It’s not
every day you get the opportunity to take a tour of an amazing quarry like the incredible Erzberg Quarry in Austria. It’s even more unusual to get the chance to ride in one of those monster yellow Quarry Vehicles, which has been converted into a taxi to give guest quarry tours. The ‘Hauly’s (yes they have more than one!) are 860bhp beasts, which are some 11.5m long, 5.5m wide and an amazing 4.5m high. Not sure how they cover the fuel costs!

Snowmobile Safaris in Alaska

What a great escape – heading out into the white wilderness, on a multi-day snowmobile safari covering hundreds of miles of Alaska’s beautiful interior.

Hagglund Tours in New Zealand

I’d never heard of a Hagglund before I saw the images of this one, up to its door handles in mud. Looks a great adventure, lots of engine and mud – what a great combo!

Tundra Buggy Tours

OK not that many places in the world where you can enjoy a ride in a Tundra Buggy, well with this one you can even sleep in it, as it’s a Tundra Hotel. Probably the only place in the world where you can spend the night sleeping with Polar Bears – if you know another please let me know!

Duck Tours of loads of locations!

Duck Tours, offering visitors the best of both world’s (land and water) are surprisingly popular. You can take Duck Tour of many iconic locations all around the world. Amphibious vehicles take passengers on tours of top locations, from both the land and the water. Some of the vehicles look ex-army, but some of the modern stuff just looks like the average bus! Great fun.

Classic Bike Tours of Spain

One for the mid life crisis biker bunch here (like me!), those of us born in the early 60’s. What better way to enjoy the sunny climate, and stunning scenery, of southern Spain than riding all of the iconic motorcycles of your dreams, from your teens and twenties. I can smell the two stroke from here - just need a long hair wig now!

Gyrocopter Tours

Another rare form of transport – offering passengers the ability to hover and access places, which are possibly even out of the reach of helicopters! And some great tour offerings here, including flying up close with vultures in Andalucia, Spain.

Carver One Tours of Germany

The amazing motorcycle / car cross
over vehicle, a futuristic looking vehicle which leans into corners like a motorcycle. What a great way to experience the forest and roads of Germany.

Jet Ski Tours in the USA

Possibly the coolest of our jet skiing activities. Jet skiing is probably not the first thing which would come to mind when looking at a multi-day tours of the USA. But with this tour you jet ski from hotel to hotel covering huge expanses of waterways each day, on possibly the most adrenalin churning water transport available to man. Great fun – I ride one myself!

Sightseeing like a local

What better way can there to be to see a glamorous city, than from the seat of one of
that country’s iconic average peoples cars. We have quite a choice here including great 2CV Tours of Paris, cool Mini Cooper Tours of London and old eastern block Trabant tours of Krakow or Berlin.

There just so many great choices of wierd ways to see the world! Take your pick!

Krampuss in Austria

2011-11-23T02:46:00.000-08:00

Anyone from outside Austria visiting this stunning country next month, or Southern Bavaria in Germany, could be in for an unpleasant surprise!

When and where does Krampuss Happen?

If you are out and about in the villages, towns
and cities of Austria and Southern Bavaria on the evening of the 5th of December be ready for some noise and scary sights.

For the 5th of December is the traditional evening of the Krampuss fun and games!

What is Krampuss?

Or maybe that should be who is Krampuss? Krampuss is a mythical creature who accompanies Father Christmas at Xmas time in these areas. Accompanied by flaming torches, the loud
noise of rattling chains and cow bells, and shouting and revelry the scary Krampuss creatures trawl the streets, restaurants and bars looking for the naughty children, who instead of getting nice presents at Christmas are visited by Krampuss!

The Krampuss creaures especially enjoy frightening the life out of kids so maybe make your kids aware if this is going to be new to them, and you are out and about in Austria on these dates!

Perchten

And its not all over for the poor children of this region after the 5th of December, as here in Bavaria and Austria, Perchta (another mythical beast) continues to visit, entering the homes of the area during the twelve days between Christmas and Epiphany (although this tends to be mainly enacted on the Twelfth Night). Perchta knows if children have behaved well and leaves a small present for those whom have done so, those not so good seem to get another damn good scaring!!

Other things to do in Austria at Christmas

Austria is a great place to visit all year round, but given its generally cold and snowy mountainous setting in the Alps, it is especially great to visit at Christmas time. As well as the skiing in great resorts throughout the country, you have excellent shopping including outdoor shopping and dining in the lovely Christmas Markets.

Especially those in the larger towns like Vienna, Salzburg and Innsbruck. Who could not get into the Christmas spirit while holding a warm spiced wine 'gluewein', and listening to live outdoor carol concerts in such great settings.

Things to do in Salzburg

I personally came across Krampuss while spending a great Xmas weekend in Salzburg. There are plenty great things to do to keep the family or travel group busy, with the Xmas Markets, live concerts, shopping, great restaurants and bars, a trip up the cable railway to the impressive Castle with its views over the city and river and further afield the snow and fun salt mine visits. Higly recommended.

2012 Trek 4.7 Madone Review

2011-11-18T04:46:00.000-08:00

I’ll start by coming clean and letting you know this a real world road test for middle aged men! I am the wrong end of my 40’s age wise, love cycling, no expert on the subject, no athlete and certainly not the shape or weight of the Tour de France guys.
Probably twice the weight of those guys! I ride real roads here in Spain – the good and the bad, surface wise!

I was looking for a bike to complete a planned ride from the North of Spain on the Atlantic coast, some 1,000+ km south to Marbella on the Mediterranean south coast. More on that ride to come on this blog at a later date. With this in mind (age, weight and the planned big ride – well big for me!) I decided I should make this journey as easy as possible by investing in the latest technology! After much deliberation and research I was torn between a hybrid and a race bike. I wanted to enjoy the stunning Spanish scenery, yet complete a decent mileage each day, and be able to enjoy a walk around the charming Spanish towns on route each evening, without being bent double or walking like John Wayne after a day on his horse!

Speaking to the helpful staff at Trek, after listening to my needs they pointed out that I need not discount all racers in favour of a hybrid, as they have a range of bikes available with different handlebar heights – H1, H2 and H3 offering differing riding positions. This flipped me from my preference for their carbon Trek 7.9 FX hybrid to a yearning for a Madone race bike. My ‘will Carbon be strong enough’ concerns were soon put to bed, after researching the internet, and looking at the warranties on offer, so the Trek 4.7 Madone was chosen.

As I stated above this is a real world test for middle aged men – I don’t plan to go into any details about the techy stuff – it’s got 400 series OCLV, BB90, Direct Mount Front Derailleur, etc – The older you get the less you bother reading all these details – but if you want to read all this is stuff it’s on the Trek bike page here

For my needs the keys factors were ride quality, strength, weight and of course looks! Well one month on from the bikes’ delivery, and with about 400km of riding behind me I can report I’m delighted with the bike.

Ride Feel

The bike rides great, and on my very first ride out, over a regular mountainous 30km course, I was surprised to find myself braking hard in numerous places I had never felt the need to brake before! Such was the dramatic increase in my speed on certain, mainly level, areas of my ride.

The bike feels well planted, turns great and brakes superbly. On the very few flat parts around where I live it flies with minimum effort, and very quietly, bar the gently carbon hum.

In term of ride the ability to ride the bike ‘no handed’ was also high on my list of priorities! From my motorcycling experience I am aware the faster a bike turns in the less stable it tends to be on the straights. Well no problems here it can be ridden without hands on the bars. In my teens this was a real big thing, mainly for the ability to ride past groups of people showing off, and I’m pleased to say things have not changed, it’s still just as important a requirement, although now it’s a requirement to allow me to lean back, stretch, take a drink and a relax every now and then!

Weight

This being my first carbon bike, it’s weight is of course a revelation – it seems to weigh about the same at two fluffy pillows with a medium sized butterfly on each! It really is a joy to hold! I find myself carrying it about instead of wheeling it about – showing off again! As well as showing off it makes climbing all these huge Spanish mountains all that much easier. I live about sea level so most of my local rides (up to Mijas for example) involve a 10-20km climb at some stage.

Looks

It looks great – funny the need to read and
understand every technical detail seems to diminish a little as you move from your teens into your 40’s but the need for a good looking bike does not! The high quality red, black and white paint job looks superb. The sexy white seat and bar tape remind me a little of the Ferrari Crema leather interior. And the white graphics on the black Bontrager wheels and seat post look good too! The carbon frame looks especially racy, with great detailing around the rear subframe, headstock and bottom bracket. Overall a cracking looking bike!

Strength

This was a key issue for me, being a big guy – I’m 6´3” tall and around 90kg (about 200lbs when I’m in the USA and about 14 stone when I’m in the UK!). With my planned ride across Spain I did not want to be breaking anything on a daily or weekly basis.

I live, and I am hence privileged enough to enjoy cycling in Spain – a stunning country with a great climate in which to enjoy this great sport. Spanish roads however can be rather ‘variable in quality’. I think when they are maintained by EU grants (most major roads) they are brand new with a great surface comparable to a pool table top, but when not EU funded (the lovely little quiet roads) they can be very badly maintained and comparable to the cobbled streets the English have on Coronation Street, or the surface of the Irish Sea!

After only 400km nothing is yet proved by any means, but initial signs are very good – the bike seems very strong. With well-designed and robust Bontrager wheels (a problem I have experienced in the past with sexy low spoke count wheels!).

The frame looks unbreakable, you can see where the frame has great strength qualities from the details like the headstock, the wide bottom bracket (the widest on any road bike in the world apparently – OK I did read some of the techy stuff!) and on the gorgeous slim flat section across the rear sub frame, just below rear of the seat – beautiful engineering!

Overview

For me the 2012
Trek Madone 4.7 is highly recommended – I have really enjoyed my first 400km and look forward to riding the length of Spain on this bike next year. It meets my needs in terms of ride, strength, weight and the all important looks!

Live and Learn!

As stated above I’m a bit of a beginner to road biking – here’s some of the things I’ve learn about road cycling this month!

1) Pump up the tyres – don’t get all excited like a kid at Christmas and simply take delivery and go a ride with about 25psi of air in each tyre – you will get 2 impact punctures within a mile!

2) Just after 1 above - The tyres on the Bontrager wheels are easy to change – good wheel design means you can get the tyres on without the need for a lever!

3) Just after 1 above - My first set of road shoes – Road shoe cleats seem to be made from a material with the same durability as chocolate. I have previously used mountain bike SPD cleats on my road bike, so this was new to me. After dashing out like an excited kid at Xmas and getting the two impact punctures (totally my fault!) I then walked about half a mile to meet the wife with a spare tube and pump - and later discovered the cleats were about shot! Live and learn! These shoes aren’t made for walking!

4) The bin waggon in Entrerrios, a small village near me, blocks the whole road when it is emptying the bins (Garbage / Trash for those in the USA) just around the blind bend at the bottom of the steep hill!

5) In conjunction with 4 above - The Trek Madone 4.7 does not come as standard with ABS!

6) Giving up cycling for 4 months, while you play about on a sit down jet ski in the summer months, is not a great way of keeping up your fitness level! Ouch!

7) The Trek Madone 4.7 is a cracking bike! Length of Spain here I come.

Sizing and Ride Position Hints and Tips

I was looking for a sporty light weight bike with a reasonably high handlebar height. Especially important for us MAMILs - Middle Aged Med in Lycra!
Here in Europe the Madone is H2, which is middle height in the Trek H1, H2 and H3 handle bar height range. To maximise the height of the bars I went for the largest possible frame size so the seat would be lower in the frame (NB side comment the adjustment markers on the Bontrager seat post are a great idea!).

A local dealer measured me and recommended a 58cm. My previous road bike was a 60cm and the seat was some distance out of the frame, so I ignored the advice and gambled and went with a 62cm frame. After the concerns and lack of sleep over ‘will I be able to reach the pedals’ it has proved to be a great decision.

The bars are at a good height, so much so that I’m finding myself riding in the racing crouch quite a lot (on my previous bike, due to lack of comfort and the head down backside in the air position, this was used for fast downhills only).

The caveat bit! Please take great care if you decide to use this approach – get into a dealer and check it will work for you on a real bike of the size and make you want to order. The writer of this article accepts no responsibility if you cannot reach your pedals! The only downside I have here in Spain is that it severely limits my resale market, as there are very few very tall Spaniards. But this is no concern at the moment!

The World’s Greatest Endurance Activities

2011-11-17T00:23:00.000-08:00

With so many great things to do from around the world, naturally YouGoDo features some incredibly tough adventures. Those activities which, unlike a trip to the zoo, take more than a few weeks of training! So here it is - YouGoDo’s:

Top 10 Endurance Activities

Row the Atlantic

For those with good upper body strength, the ability to be rocked to sleep each
night, an allergy to sea sickness tablets and a yearning for adventure this could be the trip for you. 45 to 50 nights at sea as you row your way across the Atlantic Ocean, from the Spanish Canary Islands to Barbados! How good is that first beer in Barbados going to taste? If you can stand steady enough to drink it on arrival!

Climb Everest

For those with a good head for heights,
how about taking on the World’s highest mountain. A 65 day climb to the summit of Mount Everest for a true 360 degree view - cloud permitting – Oh my wouldn’t that be a bummer to arrive at the top in cloud! Although I guess if it’s looking cloudy you would not attempt the summit! So I guess you are more likely to suffer from ‘out of memory’ or ‘low battery’ at the summit.

Cycle the Andes Trail

For those with legs and knees of steel, not to mention the butt! Enjoy a truly stunning, albeit 11,000km (6,875 miles sounds easier!) 132 day bicycle ride which takes you the full length of South America, from Quito to Ushuaia. Or if this sounds a little tough take an easier route cycling Coast to Coast across the United States (only 76 days!).

Horse Riding across the Andes

For those with lungs the size of hot air balloons and an iron butt how about climbing aboard your horse and riding across the Andes. This 7 day trip takes you through the stunning Andean scenery in Argentina and Chile.

Snowmobile Safari

And if cool is your thing, mixed with petrol head fun, then how about a 5 day snowmobile
safari through the stunning white interior of Alaska. An amazing trip into the wilderness. Don’t forget the sunnies! Or if this seems a bit easy why not try a 7 day snow shoeing trip in Finland – crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch…….

Camel Treks

Experience the desert wilderness and camp out under incredible star lit skies, in places where light pollution is a far off issue. Why is this in our most enduring activities? I’ve seen the TV programs – westerners and camel riding do not seem to be a natural mix!

Wingsuit Flying

How can something a crazy as wingsuiting make it into the most enduring activities – flights last about 4-10 minutes! Well it makes this list due to the fact most wingsuit flying schools will not look at you until you have completed 200 solo freefall flights (or should that be drops?). So to make the grade you have to have the desire, the cash and the endurance to go through 200 free falls!

London to Sydney Bus

OK, so probably not the toughest challenge on this list when compared to climbing Everest or cycling the Andes Trail (I guess it depends on who ends up sitting next to you!). But quite an expedition all the same – a 13 week bus trip across 20 countries from one side of the world to the other.

The Nullabor Links Golf Course

OK we are getting towards the bottom of the list now and things seem to be easing up a little – a game of golf in at number 9. Well the Nullabor Links is no normal golf course. This 18 hole par 72 course covers an incredible 1,365km (will you be needing a buggy sir?). Allow around 4 days for a round, depending on how quickly you play! And hope the players in front don’t hold you up!

Sail and Bike Croatia

By number 10 things must be getting easier, and this one sounds very easy – 7 nights sailing and cycling in Croatia – an idyllic cruise! I was pleasantly surprised with this one to find it involved some 235km of cycling in between sailing each evening to another picture postcard island. OK it’s not the full on 11,000km up there at number 2, but it’s no kiddies holiday either!

Take you pick and get into training! Find all of these great things to do and tens of thousands more on YouGoDo.

Great Inland UK Holiday Destinations

2011-10-28T00:09:00.000-07:00

There seems to be some unwritten rule regarding holidays in the UK that says they’re not really proper holidays unless you’re at the seaside. It simply isn’t
true. Some of Britain’s most historic, entertaining, picturesque and enjoyable counties are miles from the coast and yet still provide a host of ideal destinations and attractions that will ensure a perfectly memorable holiday. If you think that UK a holiday is strictly seaside only, prepare to be persuaded otherwise as we present five fabulous counties that offer more than sand and salt air for your holiday.

1. Hampshire

In fairness, Hampshire does possess beaches if you’re prepared to seek them out, but there’s so much more to see and do in this traditional English county that you’ll probably decide it’s not worth the effort. Theme parks are always a huge holiday hit and Hampshire has one of the country’s best in Paulton’s Park near Romsey. Open almost all year round, Paulton’s has enough white knuckle rides, family attractions and things to see and do to fill a holiday on its own.

More restful outdoor pursuits are to be found in the New Forest National Park. Although the UK’s newest and smallest national park, the forest itself was designated as the private hunting ground of William the Conqueror in 1079. Today the New Forest is a haven for wildlife and a delight to all who experience its beautiful landscapes, charming villages and extensive opportunities for exploring, whether on foot, bicycle or horseback.

An unmissable blend of England’s naval heritage and modern city-life are among the great things to do in Portsmouth, in whose historic dockyard the HMS Victory, HMS Warrior and the remains of Henry VIII’s flagship, the Mary Rose may be visited.

Hampshire is also home to many fine stately homes and gardens, with the house and National Motor Museum at Beaulieu providing one of Hampshire’s most popular and enjoyable destinations. See my post on handy hints for Hampshire for loads more tips on getting the most out of Hampshire.

2. Derbyshire

Sitting at England’s heart, holiday destinations don’t come any further from the coast, but Derbyshire’s compelling combination of vibrant cities, charming market towns and rural villages attract holidaymakers from around the world.

Stately homes such as Chatsworth House, family home of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire, Haddon Hall and Tissington Hall are surrounded not only by their immaculately tended grounds, but also by the outstanding beauty of the Peak District National Park. Amidst these rolling hills and patchwork fields bordered by ancient dry stone walls, country roads connect market towns such as Bakewell, world famous for its pudding and Chesterfield, where the curiously twisted church spire is said to have been caused by the Devil’s tail. Despite Derbyshire’s remoteness from the sea, the town of Matlock Bath with its illuminations, amusements, novelty shops and cable cars could double as a typical seaside resort, and is a popular holiday destination during the summer.

Elsewhere in the county, agricultural life is to the fore and visitors can enjoy a variety of farmers markets, sheepdog trials, point-to-point races and many other traditional outdoor pastimes. Derby itself, Britain’s youngest city, is a vibrant and exciting destination, packed with culture, entertainment and fine restaurants. In fact, Derby has a great deal to recommend it, much like the county which surrounds it.

3. Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire, the Cotswold County, is a year-round attraction for holidaymakers thanks to its diversity of landscapes, endearing stone villages and, in some parts, a traditional way of English life which has remained unchanged for centuries. In the west of the county the Royal Forest of Dean is one of Britain’s last remaining ancient woodlands. Amid the forest’s tranquil and picturesque nature paths and dedicated cycle ways are places where a multitude of outdoor activities such as climbing, caving, archery and white water rafting are offered. Meanwhile, the eastern side of Gloucestershire constitutes the greater proportion of an area of outstanding natural beauty known as the Cotswolds. The wolds themselves are the gently rolling hills that surround the county; an area once exclusively reserved for sheep farming.

Today, charming Gloucestershire Cotswolds towns and villages such as Stow-on-the-Wold, Tewkesbury and Upper- and Lower Slaughter attract holidaymakers who seek the epitome of a traditional and unspoilt English country village.

Gloucestershire’s beauty is further enhanced by a collection of magnificent public gardens such as Cerney House Gardens in Cirencester, the Rococo Garden in Painswick and the historic Westbury Court Garden, the only restored Dutch water-garden in Britain. Gloucestershire’s gentle pastoral beauty, relaxed pace and fascinating attractions provide a holiday that will leave you wondering why you didn’t find an alternative to the seaside sooner.

4. Staffordshire

Few people would admit to placing Staffordshire high on their list of holiday destinations, but to those in the know the county is one of Britain’s best kept secrets. Staffordshire’s sheer diversity of landscapes, activities and places of interest provide enough options to fill several holidays. Affectionately referred to as the potteries, Stoke-on-Trent is a fascinating city indelibly associated with the ceramics industry and the birthplace of world-renowned brands including Wedgwood, Royal Doulton, Portmeirion and Spode. Many of the thirty potteries that remain in the city operate tours for visitors.

For lovers of the great outdoors, Cannock Chase is the largest surviving area of lowland heath in the Midlands; a rare and important habitat for wildlife. Within this area of outstanding natural beauty, Cannock Chase Forest is a haven for mountain bikers, whilst Chasewater Country Park provides ample opportunities for fishing, walking, go-karting and sailing.

History and culture are to be found in the magnificent estates and gardens of Trentham, Shugborough Hall and Biddulph Grange. Among Staffordshire’s many interesting towns and cities, Lichfield is notable as the home of the only medieval cathedral in England with three spires. Anyone who enjoys beer should visit Burton-upon-Trent, once the world’s brewing capital thanks to the quality of its water, and the birthplace of India Pale Ale. Finally, it’s worth reminding any kids who aren’t impressed by the thought of a holiday in Staffordshire that Alton Towers is here…

5. Surrey

Dispel the notion that the county of Surrey is merely another commuter zone for nearby London. Whilst it is true that Surrey provides easy access to the capital, as a holiday destination Surrey has a surprising amount to offer and its many cities, towns and villages have a charm and individuality that make them a joy to explore.Far from the urban jungle of expectation, Surrey is actually the most wooded county in Great Britain, and its proximity to the rolling chalk hills of the North Downs makes Surrey an excellent choice for a walking holiday.

Surrey is synonymous with sport; the first recorded mention of cricket originates in the county town of Guildford, and the county is also home to the famous golf course at Wentworth and to Kempton Park Racecourse.

Less demanding are Surrey’s famous public gardens, with the Royal Horticultural Society’s garden at Wisley perhaps the best known although Loseley Park and Claremont are no less worthy of attention. Similarly, Surrey is blessed with a selection of fine historic residences including Hampton Court Palace , renowned for its maze and Guildford Castle which offers panoramic views over the town. Two of the UK’s best loved theme parks are to be found in Surrey; Chessington World of Adventures and Thorpe Park provide enough thrills, spills, family fun and entertainment between them to keep everyone smiling. And that’s just scratching the surface; as a holiday destination the county of Surrey will amaze you with one amazing day out after another.

John is a UK travel blogger who wrote this post on behalf of Tylney Hall - one of the finest hotels in Hampshire and the perfect place to stay to discover the best of Hampshire and Basingstoke.

Unusual things to do in France

2011-10-19T00:36:00.000-07:00

We all know about the usual things to do in France like visit a market, buy some garlick, wear a blue and white hooped shirt a string of onions and a round flat hat, invade it, eat snails and frogs legs and horses, visit the Eifel tower and Disneyland Paris.

But what are the unusual things to do in France. Read on to find out more about the inspirational ideas for great fun activities, which are a little off the beaten track, when in France.
Here is the YouGoDo top 10 unusual things to do in France:

The Speed riding school at Les Arcs

Think an adrenalin fuelled combination of skiing and paragliding and you get the idea. A seriously fun way of getting down the mountain on and off piste, actually on and off the ground would be a better description!

Heli karting in the South of France

Now that’s just showing off! But what a great way to show off, having a helicopter whisk you and your mates off to the go kart track for some seriously competitive karting fun in the sun!

Multi day unguided horse tours in Armagnac

What better way of experiencing the beauty of the French countryside, for experiences horse riders, than on an unguided multi night tour of Armagnac on horseback.

Chartres Light Shows

What a great idea, and one which is becoming ever more popular at other locations around the world! Each evening all of the major monuments in the French town of Chartres are illuminated with exciting and unusual light shows. What a great setting for a wine crawl!

Wingsuit School

They don’t get much more crazy and adrenalin filled than this – free fall flying your body, with a special jump suit with webbing! But as you would expect this is not for beginners - you need to have completed 200 free fall parachute jumps before you even think about applying!

Ice Driving in Flaine

Proper blokey fun – thrapsing a rally car round and round and round and round on ice! How daft – what fun!

Ice diving in the French Alps

And talking of daft how about going diving under the ice sheets in the lakes of the alps! Cool – really Cool!

Canoe and bike tours of Chateaux and wine country

Not all unusual activities need to be high adrenalin. This tour looks incredibly relaxing, enjoying canoeing along quiet waterways, cycling through pretty French countryside and enjoying the surrounding scenery, Chateaux and of course a few great French wines!

Snow Mountain Biking

Now Mountain Biking is a favourite pastime of mine, and it’s always a great way of picking up new bruises and breaking a bone or two. But if it’s not quite hairy enough for you and your mates, why not up the stakes a little and go snow mountain biking in the French Alps.

2CV Tours in France

When in France as they say (or was that Rome)! Climb on board an amazing 2CV, the French peasants car designed to take a man and his provisions to market, and enjoy a tour of France, from numerous locations, as the French used to! And as they are so slow you will have plenty time to admire the sights!

More unusual thing to do in France!

As usual the top 10 was a tough list to agree on, there are plenty other great and unusual activities which just missed the cut! The Medocaine (an amazing wine fuelled bike race), Electric scooter tours of Paris, creating your own perfumes in Grasse and the crazy Sky Fly human kite experience at Leucate to name just a few.

All of the above activities are available on YouGoDo so take a look at the full selection of unusual things to do in France.

Grab your onions and go!

Unusual things to do in Spain – Base jumping from a hotel!

2011-10-14T00:26:00.000-07:00

Now here on YouGoDo we pride ourselves on our huge selection of unusual things to do from around the world, and this includes a great selection of unusual things to do in Spain, our home country.

But we have not yet found any operators offering this great fun base jumping experience. In the below video (which from a language point of view is probably 18 rated), a group of crazy, but a little potty mouthed, adrenalin freaks quickly climb onto the external elevator of the Hotel Bali in Benidorm (WOW I stayed there about a zillion years ago – it has changed a bit since I was there – I think ‘been bulldozed and built again’ is the correct term!). It now stands proudly above Benidorm at a height of 186m, making it the tallest hotel in Spain and Europe.

After a great ride to the top on the external elevator pods with stunning views, if Benidorm can be described as stunning, they take turns to jump!

I wonder if the architects had this in mind when designing the lifts as access seemed pretty good!

When I stayed at the Hotel Bali, all those years ago, all they had on offer was bingo and poodle shows! Good to see things have moved on - check out this list of the current great things to do in Benidorm.

Dolphin Watching on the Costa del Sol

2011-10-13T09:15:00.000-07:00

There is no better way to watch dolphins, than to see them in their natural habitat jumping among the waves in the open seas and oceans. It sure beats seeing them performing tricks in man made stadiums.

The Costa del Sol offers visitors many places to observe its resident pods of dolphins along the coast. Dolphin watching trips can be taken from numerous locations, taking visitors a few miles off shore to observe Mediterranean dolphins and porpoises, from a respectful distance, going about their everyday business of dolphining!

These intelligent and graceful creatures can be observed in both small numbers and huge pods, as they feed, swim and play in the Med, just off the coast. I have had the good fortune and great pleasure of witnessing dolphins in the wild off the coasts of Benalmadena, Cabopino, Elviria and Marbella on numerous occasions while out jet skiing.

Where to go Dolphin Watching on the Costa Del Sol?

Working our way east to west.

Numerous operators offer dolphin watching trips from Benalmadena. Sailing and motor boat trips are on offer, from this elegant Gaudi inspired Marina, which is also a great place to dine with numerous restaurants arranged around the marina.

Just along the coast you again have a choice of sailing or motor boat dolphin trips from Fuengirola. A much smaller and less glamorous marina, there is a little less choice. NB – You can take a low cost fun ferry service between the marinas of Fuengirola and Benalmadena.

Much smaller and more exclusive, a little like the marina, Splash Watersports offer Cabopino Dolphin Watching trips. Here, the skipper Barry will take you out on a much smaller private boat to observe the wild life off the shores of this lovely little marina.

Marbella has many boat trips on offer, and although I have witnessed large pods of dolphins just off the coast of Marbella I do not know of any specialist dolphin trips. But any boat trip from Marbella offer the chance of dolphin encounters. Similarly at the marinas of Estepona and Duquesa you can take boat trips, with every chance of observing dolphins.

Then, although strictly speaking we are leaving the Costa del Sol but you are within easy reach by car, you have dolphin watching on offer, as many of the things to do in Gibraltar. Here, with the straits being a busy route for both marine shipping and marine life, dolphin trips are a popular excursion.

And working our way a little further west, you arrive at the stunning town of Tarifa on the Costa la Luz (coats of light), with its long sandy beaches. Tarifa is a great place to go to observe marine life in the narrow straits of Gibraltar (there are only about 12 miles of water between European Spain and African Morocco). As well as dolphins the straits are a great place to witness numerous species of whales including Pilot and even Killer Whales, although the Orca’s are summer visitors, mixing their stay in the area with a spot of Tuna fishing! Killer whale watching from Tafifa is another great pleasure I have been lucky enough to experience on several occasions.

Now the small print – please remember the Mediterranean dolphins, and other marine life in the area are in fact wildlife. The pleasure of observing true ‘wild’ life in its natural habitat, also offers them the opportunity to roam in vast seas so they are not always there when you want them! But this is part of the fun, making the experiences all the more memorable when you do come across them.

Joe Bloggs Winning the Tour de France

2011-10-06T23:32:00.000-07:00

As a keen cyclist there is nothing better than cycling in the mountains on a lovely day.
But imagine you are enjoying cycling in France, taking a quiet cycle alone in the mountains on none other than the actual Tour de France route - you would probably be thinking to yourself 'I wonder what its like to win a stage of the tour'.
Well for some unsuspecting individuals - they got to feel first hand this amazing experience - great video I came across on the Trek Bikes UK twitter feed.

Great video!

Things to do in Portsmouth, England

2011-10-06T05:40:00.003-07:00

Portsmouth is not one of the most famous cities in the UK, but whether you are a local to these shores or hail from international climes, it’s a great place to spend an action packed long weekend. There are variety of pastimes, so whether you want
to spend your whole trip in luxury, with designer shops and good food, or you are looking for more of an adventure, there’s something for you to be found.

Luxury travellers

Gunwharf Quays is probably the first stop for you if you like to shop, eat at classy restaurants, drink cocktails while looking out over the sea and dance into the small hours. There are a wide range of designer shops which have outlet stores here and some of
the Portsmouth accommodation offers discounts that can be used at the restaurants. If you are taking the children to Portsmouth, there are cinemas and bowling alleys that the little ones can enjoy.

Festival Revellers

Get in touch with your inner flower child and take a trip by ferry to the Isle of White Festival, just across the Solent Sea from Portsmouth. Every year in June you can catch acts like Foo Fighters, Kings of Leon and Kasabian. Again, there is a family friendly festival where children attend, at Bestival in September. While you will still get a similar line up of pop, rock and dance acts, there are tents just for the kids with entertainment like face painting and tea parties. There is also an annual fancy dress competition at Bestival.

High Flyers

Climb the glass fronted Spinnaker Tower to get a breathtaking view from 170 metres up. As well as taking in a 360 degree view of Portsmouth, which is very pretty at sunset and at night for the twinkling city lights, you can walk across the largest glass floor in Europe- if you dare!

Historic Adventurers

Step back in time and tread the floorboards where Nelson led Britannia to victory at the Battle of Trafalgar, even see location where he was struck down and died. The battleships are brought to life by a crew of actors and actresses in full historic garb, who will happily tell you about their lives on board. You can also learn about the Mary Rose, which was discovered at sea, abandoned with meals still on the tables, as though the crew had just disappeared.

These are just a few of the many great things to do in Portsmouth.

Jetlev personal jetpack flights over water!

2011-09-30T05:48:00.000-07:00

Another great looking high adrenalin activity on the horizon, well just above the horizon I guess. If you really feel you should be able to walk on water - this is the one for you!

With several lengths of hose of varying diameters, and a clever box of tricks (including the odd very clever high pressure pump I guess), strap yourself into a Jetlev jet pack for some pretty extreme aerial fun!

Looks cool - no news as yet on where you can have a play on one of these, but we will keep you posted!

In the mean time, while you are waiting so to speak!, why not try high thrill jetboat rides or extreme flights as a substitute!

STOP PRESS - Update 9/12/2011 - You can now fly a JetLev in Key West, Florida, the first place we have come across which offers public flights.

Tree Top Parks

2011-09-28T02:39:00.000-07:00

These great eco-friendly adventure parks are becoming more and more popular, and it’s easy to see why. They are a great place to have fun with family, friends and groups.

What is a tree top park?

For anyone new to the concept, a tree top park is generally an area of forest, where the trees have been used as building blocks to create great fun courses, up off the ground, using ropes, steps, nets and other materials.

So to start with you are usually in great natural surroundings, protected from the harsh sun (Spain, Italy, etc), or wind and rain (there are loads in the UK ;-) just joking) in the heart of a forest, often by a lake, cycling tracks, hiking areas, etc. Usually a superb place for a family day out or a picnic. And there are usually many nice walks in the surrounding areas, for those who do not ‘have the bottle’ (which is very unlikely to be the excuse these people give – bad back, knee problems, allergy to pine needles, etc).

Those with ‘the bottle’ have great fun working their way along mapped out courses through the tree tops. The parks usually have several courses to suit varying degrees of ability and ‘bottle’, a little like the green, blue, red, black run system used for skiing!

Along each course there will be numerous challenges (or hazards!) to overcome. For example wooden tunnels, swaying rope bridges, high swings, rope ladders, etc. You are of course strapped to a safety wire at all times (or you should be!).

Then throw in some high adrenalin, high speed, high height, big drop zip wires and you have a recipe for great fun!

Where can I visit a tree top park?

So popular are these parks that we have now created a new YouGoDo category solely for tree top parks. This allows users to quickly find great adventures in the trees at their desired location.

There are numerous tree top parks in the UK, and YouGoDo has details of over 20 locations through the UK where you can go along and have some fun.

Over in mainland Europe there are several tree top parks in Spain (here, with the great year round climate, they are becoming more and more popular - only last month locally to me they opened the new Marbella Tree Top Park – Amazonia Aventura in Elviria), a good selection in France and over the border in Italy. And given the superb natural mountain climbing facilities in Switzerland and Austria its maybe a little surprising to see the parks here too!

Further afield we have details of tree top parks in Australia, USA and Costa Rico to name just a few.

So strap yourself in, helmet on, deep breath and go for it!!

Jetskiing meets Surfing meets Waterskiing

2011-09-23T23:51:00.000-07:00

Cool video of the art of Surfing Flight, which is basically a guy surfing, getting a waterskiing type tow from another guy on a jetski. Looks great fun and a combo of several of our favourite activities on YouGoDo!

Take a look at great places to try jetskiing ....
or here for great places to go surfing!

Top 10 Stag Night Activities in the UK

2011-09-23T08:17:00.000-07:00

Right let’s
take a look at some proper great ‘blokey’ ideas for stag night activities in the UK! There’ll be no spas, art galleries, shopping, museums or any of that clap trap in this list – just high testosterone adrenaliny stuff for blokes to do together (but not that close together!) on a great weekend to see off a mate.

1 - Karting and Dodgems and Supercars

Let’s start with a great favourite of any group of lads, karting which is generally pretty accessible and low cost so everyone can come along and get REALLY COMPETETIVE! There is no excuse to come last without having had at least one spin a lap. But karting can be a little ‘soft’ so how about upping the ante and trying ‘Dodgems for Grown Ups’ – full on stock car and banger car racing in numerous locations throughout the UK. But let’s face it, wild and extreme as they are stock cars on a tight circuit are unlikely to break the 70mph ‘illegal barrier’, and you cant’s be telling all your mates how fast you went if it was below 70! So how about taking to the track in some real hairy chested medallion melting metal from Ferrari, Lamborghini (practise the spelling before you email your experiences to your mates – they’ll only take the piss if you get it wrong!), Aston and the likes.

2 - Tank Driving and Tank Paintball

Smashing things up in Tanks – what could be more blokey than that? Well possibly, and the jury is still out on this one,
roaring up in a tank, jumping out
of it ‘full SAS style’ and shooting people. Tank Paintball has to be pretty high up on the stag scale of ‘ard activities’.

3 - Segway Racing and Dirty Days Out

Segway racing, and playing in muddy dykes might not sound too blokey, but it has made number three on our list on the strength of the picture of Suzi Perry wrestling in the mud. Ooops - giving away my age a bit there. Good dirty mucking about fun.

4 - Pedal Powered Pub Crawls

Ring the missus and tell her you are cycling around London on a cultural tour with your buddies, how could this possibly upset her! The amazing Pedal Pub allows you and your mates to pedal and booze your way around the capital. Back of the net!

5 - Lets Off Road

More man fun, with petrol. Getting out into the wilds, and crashing about in a rufty tufty Land Rover is great bonding material. With tales of near impossible angles, deep river crossings and mates lost in the woods (possibly tied or hand cuffed to trees naked – “now why was that necessary?” she’ll ask!). Of if you want to go real big and have top pub bragging rights, how about playing in a monster truck, and of course using it to break things!

6 - Bushcraft and Survival

Why not really ‘man up’ and go with your mates to learn bushcraft - camping, sleeping rough in your own man made tent, trapping and skinning rabbits for tea, doing what bears do in the woods, etc.

7 - Skiing, Ice Climbing or fishing!

Or do something cool – indoor skiing is pretty popular, and fun. Proving your skills against your rivals (ooops mates!) and every chance of a manly limb in plaster after this one. Or get high and cool on an ice climbing session. Men verses icy mountains. Or if this is too cool, how about geting wet and cool on a fishing trip in the gale lashes seas around the Bristih Isles – catch supper! This would be a good one to do (assuming you catch anything edible) before the bushcraft!

8 - High Ropes Adventures

Or relive your childhood by going climbing trees at one of the many high rope adventures in the UK. No chickening out of the big jumps and high zip wires, or ‘what went on in the high ropes’ is unlikely to ‘stay in the high ropes’ when home and in the pub!

9 - Mountain Biking

Great chance of getting into the wilds and showing of your downhill skills and getting big air on the jumps. Good chance to take the mickey out of the less fit competitors (oops again – mates) with you on the trip! And a good chance of some hero plaster for the return trip!

10 - Manchester Curry Mile

And what could be more manly that doing the length of Manchester’s Curry Mile – booze and curry, loads and loads of curry.

Where’s the golf?

Now I know a lot of people go on golfing stag weekends, here in Spain where I live the bars are full of gangs of drunk golf bores, but it’s not on this list, it did not even make the top 156, as its for old people who wear knitted wool jumpers. There no getting muddy, engines to blow up, likelihood of getting a good scar or a limb in plaster, so along with rugby, which is played by blokes who hug each other tightly far more often than is healthy, it’s not on the list! Get over it!

Don’t forget the main man’s mankini, hand cuffs, etc.

Have fun! And if she asks it wasn’t me who suggested that!

Unusual things to do in Croatia

2011-09-22T05:47:00.000-07:00

“The Mediterranean as it once was” is the Croatian Tourist Board’s web publicised strap line, with their adverts showing idyllic beaches, crystal clear waters and unspoilt old town and cities. But what does Croatia have in store for those who don’t want to wander around an old city, no matter how pretty it is, be hearded along for a boat trip to a beach with a fish picnic (a very popular tourist tour in Croatia by the way!) or just sit on a beach in the sun? Let’s take a look at a few adventurous and unusual things to do in Croatia.

1 Rafting and Canyoning.

Croatia has some great national parks and stunning scenery. The mainland is also pretty mountainous. This coupled with its numerous rivers makes it a great place to go rafting and canyoning. Canyoning in Croatia sees you and your party working your way down the river, through stunning gorges and valleys,
surrounded by nature with the high adrenalin of leaping into plunge pools, and sliding down waterfalls. Similar great adventures await you when rafting in Croatia, with the addition of being out of the water on your raft (most of the time!), working as a team and negotiating your way over numerous sets of rapids. As well as the great day trips, several operators offer multi day discovery tours, allowing you to get into the real heart of Croatia.

2 Climbing.

As mentioned above Croatia is home to vast mountain ranges, offering great Croatian climbing experiences for climbers of all levels.

3 Bungy Jumping.

If you are bored of the all the ‘picture postcard’ pretty places, islands and beaches then why not jump off a bridge! It’s not that bad – ensure you are well secured and try bungy jumping from the bridge at Sibenik.

4 Mountain Biking and Sailing.

We are just back from Croatia, and prior to our trip I had seen one or two great looking tours mixing Mountain Biking and Sailing in Croatia. And they look stunning – great mountain biking across a different island each day, before chilling out and sailing on to the next island each evening. Superb. But I had not anticipated how many boats we would see offering such trips. All the boats we saw looked well equipped, with happy passengers on board, and a deck full of good quality modern mountain bikes. Mmmmm will I still be fit enough when my daughters move out ;-)

5 Work the salt pans at Ston.

Looking for a work out, with free bed and breakfast, then why not volunteer to do some work collecting salt at the Ston Salt Pans. Ston is a beautiful place
, and a huge producer of both salt and shell fish! Each summer volunteers are welcomed to help with the salt production in return for bed and breakfast and an insight into Croatian culture. For those not wanting to break a sweat Ston is also a great place for a day trip from Dubrovnik, and you can visit the salt pans for a few euros.

6 Night Snorkelling.

Croatia is fantastic for snorkelling, its stony sea bed meaning that the waters stay crystal clear. We had our fins and masks on at every opportunity! But for those wanting something a little less ‘ordinary’ why not try night snorkelling. Witness what goes on beneath the Adriatic’s surface after dusk!

7 Jet skiing.

I’m a keen jetskier and every day of our holiday I was wishing I had my jetski with me! Jetskiing in Croatia is superb for a number of reasons. The already mentioned crystal clear waters, the fact there are over 1,000 interesting islands to explore, and the fact these islands protect the coastline and create natural huge areas of flat water in the areas between them and the mainland all add up to great jetskiing country. In most places we visited you could hire and jetski and go explore.

8 Kayaking and Boating.

The reasons why it great to be
on the water are well covered above, but again it’s a great place to tour by boat and kayak. And as you would expect there are plenty tour operators offering great short and multi day ways of enjoying kayaking in Croatia. Of if that’s too much effort (and balance) why not hire a boat. Escape the crowds and hire yourself a speed boat and go and enjoy those 1,000 plus islands. Few countries in the world can offer such great sights, and easy to navigate seas. Make the most of being in Croatia. We hired a speed boat from Dubrovnik and easily managed to explore all of the Elaphite islands in a day, stopping off in several deserted bays to enjoy snorkelling and a picnic.

9 Go to the park.

A walk in the park is always nice, but not particularly unusual or exciting. Croatia’s parks are pretty special. Krka National Park, Pltvice Lakes National Park and the Kornati National Park (which is out at sea) are just three of the stunning
Croatian parks. In the summer there are no finer places to take a swim than in the waterfalls, or why not experience Kornati National park from under the water on a diving or snorkelling trip.

10 Go to war.

Well not exactly but the recent conflicts from the early 90’s are still very much evident if you take yourself off the main tourist routes, and head inland a little. Take a drive in the areas around Knin (we drove from Trogir to Sinj to Knin, and back the small roads to Trogir). Here the scars of the war are very much in view. Driving through minefield warning signs at time, and deserted shelled and bullet ravaged villages brings home the harsh reality or wars.

Croatia is a great place to visit – study more photos of Croatia with a highly sarcastic set of words!

Amazing Video - World Most Dangerous Activities

2011-09-15T02:12:00.000-07:00

On our previously published blog article about the top 10 most dangerous things to do Wingsuiting hit the number one spot!

Not sure why? Well watch this video of Jeb Corliss demonstrating why!

Wow!

Things to do in Dubrovnik

2011-09-13T03:29:00.001-07:00

I had my first visit to Dubrovnik this August and spent a great week in the area. Here’s my suggestions for the top 5 great things to do in Dubrovnik.

1) Walk Around the Old City of Dubrovnik

Number 1 is simple, free and pretty unavoidable – take a walk around the old city. Dubrovnik is a stunning, picture postcard pretty, place to wander around. As you enter through either of the main gates, Ploce or Pile, into the walled city you are immediately hit with historic views all around you.

Entering through the Pile Gate you are directly on Placa (also called Stradun), the 292m long main street through the old city, with the Onofrio fountain on your right and the Church or St Saviour on your left.

Entering via the Ploce Gate you have great views of the old harbour to your left, and then walk through narrow alleys with the high city walls to your side, until you pass the old harbour entrance and reach the other end of the main street (Placa/Stradun). At shi end of the street you have the Bell Tower by your side.

The city map from the Dubrovnik Tourist office shows all of the key attractions within the walled city, but just wandering around the historic streets without using the map is quite a pleasure. The whole area is pedestrian only – so no motor vehicles to worry about as you wander.

2)Visit the Island of Lokrum

The Island of Lokrum, or the Island of Love as it is also known, lies about 200m off the coast of the old city.

There are numerous options for visiting the island, including several regular kayak tours from the old city near the Pile Gate, or from St Jacov’s beach about 1 mile south of the old city. Or take it easy and take the regular passenger ferry boat trip to the Island from the old city harbour, near the Ploce Gate to the old city.

Once on Lokrum there are numerous attractions to enjoy including Botanical Gardens, the Monastery, the Dead Sea Lake, diving from the rocks, swimming and snorkelling in the clear blue Adriatic and many walks. In the summer months the lake and snorkelling would be the top of my list, with the walks and gardens for the winter months, but that's just my personal taste! There is a restaurant on the island.

3)Walk Dubrovnik’s City Walls

The city walls offer visitors stunning views over the city. Some 1940m in length, circling the whole city at up to 25 metres in height, there is no better way to
witness Dubrovnik’s streets plans, shell like layout and red roofs.

The walk is ‘one way’ circling the city clockwise, so if you did not want to do the whole lap choose your entry place carefully. Entering near the Pile gate will give you the stunning sea views through to the harbour, without the big climb of the inland part. The big climb up to the Minceta tower is the starter, when you enter near the Ploce gate.

I would highly recommend doing the full lap if you have the time, and a reasonable level of fitness. We did the walk at sunset and enjoyed stunning views of the city, the surrounding islands and mountains and the sun setting over the walls.

4)Visit the Elaphite Islands

The Elaphite Islands are a small group of Islands just north of Dubrovnik. There are numerous small uninhabited islands and a few charming larger inhabited islands
including Kolocep, Sipan and Lopud.

In the old harbour you will find numerous operators offering boat trips and fish picnic trips to the islands. There is even a regular high adrenalin speed boat transfer service to take guests to the great beaches on the islands.

If, like us, you prefer to get away from the crowds, and explore in tranquillity at you own pace hire a speed boat.

We hired an excellent speed boat from Dragan at Dubrovnik Speed Boat and spent a superb day in the islands, visiting the many places Dragan had pointed out to us earlier. Superb for relaxing, mooring up in deserted little bays, snorkelling in the crystal clear waters and discovering the charming islands and their villages.

5) Take the Dubrovnik Cable Car

If you want to enjoy superb aerial views of the city take the cable car up to Mount Srd and enjoy panoramic views over the old city and the islands beyond. The modern cable car was recently re-opened after the original was destroyed during the
war in the early 90’s.

At the top there is a great restaurant / bar, a superb place to enjoy the summer breezes while dining and drinking with stunning views.

Have fun - its a superb city!!

A Sun and Surf Lover's Guide to the East Coast of Australia

2011-08-12T00:56:00.000-07:00

It's no secret that Australian's are passionate about the sun and the surf. The techniques, professionalism and dedication of Australia's surf lifesaving clubs became the model for lifeguards around the world and Australian professional surfers are among the world's most competitive. What's less known is that the surf lifesaving movement got its start in New South Wales and the bulk of Australia's best surfers learned to surf in NSW. The moral: if you come to Australia for fun in the sun and surf, come to New South Wales first.

What's New South Wales got going for it that the rest of the Australian coast hasn't? In a word, it has consistency. You can always find a wave to ride in New South Wales. While Queensland boasts some of the world's classic surf spots, they only work during the cyclone season, when huge swells generated by Pacific cyclones slam into rocky headlands like Noosa or Snapper Rocks. New South Wales, on the other hand, picks up swell from the tropical north as well as the Antarctic.

You can enjoy warm weather, warm water and great waves any time of the year somewhere in NSW, but not everywhere at the same time:

Summer (December-February) New South Wales Surfing

During the Southern Hemisphere summer months, the water warms up to comfortable "board shorts" temperatures along the coast of New South Wales from the upper south coast to the lower north coast. If you're combining a business or family vacation with a surfing holiday, it's safe to say you will find what you're looking for in the Sydney region. Bondi Beach has good waves for beginning to intermediate surfers, but it also has enormous crowds. Just across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, on the Northern Beaches, you can find waves for every level of ability all the way up the peninsula from Manly to Avalon.

For even less crowds and better waves, head north to the Central Coast or Forster region. You'll want to give yourself at least a weekend in either of these areas, so book your Central Coast accommodation or Forster accommodation in advance. Stay in or around Terrigal or Newcastle for easy access to the best Central Coast waves and at Boomerang Beach in the Forster (also called the Great Lakes) region.

Winter (May-October) New South Wales Surfing

While you can find great waves in Sydney or on the Central Coast during the winter months, the water is cold. You need to wear a full body steamer wetsuit even to take a short dip and the air temperature, though not frigid, can become cold. Up on the north and far-north coast of New South Wales, both the air and the water are warm enough for swim suit surfing all year around. At most, you'll need a spring suit, but for short surfs on even colder days, a pair of "boardies" or a bikini will suffice.

Choose a northern New South Wales accommodation in either Byron Bay or Lennox Head and you can't go wrong. Lennox Head Point (usually just called Lennox) is one of the great point breaks in the world for accomplished surfers and the Pass in Byron Bay is a mecca for surfers of all levels of ability, riding all sorts of surf craft, including bodyboards, short boards and long boards ("Mals" or "Malibus" in Australian).

The Pass gets unbelievably crowded and Lennox Head's rocky "beach" is not for everyone, but in between the two are some fantastic beach breaks in breathtakingly beautiful natural settings. Broken Head is one of the best.

That's all you need to know about where to find both sun and surf in New South Wales. If you want to find the best place to surf on any given day, call into a neighborhood surf shop and they'll steer you in the right direction.

Sidney writes for 'Book it Now' about popular Australian holiday destinations like Byron Bay. Find Byron Bay accommodation to be in the heart of the action. If you want something a little mellower, then look for some Lennox Head accommodation. Either way, the whole of the far north coast of New South Wales will be at your fingertips.

And for plenty great ideas for things to do, once you have put your board down, take a look at the YouGoDo guides to things to do in Byron Bay, and things to do in Australia.

Dubai Superbus

2011-08-04T07:55:00.001-07:00

Just come across this video of a new proposed futuristic 'Superbus' service to operate, at speeds of up to 250kmh, between the great UAE cities of Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Looks great, will it happen?

I guess the draw backs I can see, from this short film, is the time taken to pick up passengers (who call up the bus to collect them from their current locations) on the busy roads of Dubai and Abu Dhabi. An hour waiting for the bus to pick up another 5 passengers from different locations in either city would negate the time made up on the 250kmh superbus sections.

Looks great though!

Hot Air Balloon Flights

2011-08-03T10:17:00.000-07:00

There can be few more pleasurable things in life than taking a hot air balloon flight. Just the sight of these great glowing flying balls brings excitement to all that see them. Even those on the ground cannot help themselves, they just have to point out the hot air balloons to all those around them.

And for those on the ground below them the roar from the gas burners, which heat the air to give the lift, is intoxicating.

I am not sure where the notion came from but a hot air balloon flights is also inexorably linked to feelings of romance. It’s rare you get a gang of lads taking a hot air balloon flight for a stag night activity – which is odd really as low flying and loud gas burners are pretty bloaky things really.

But I guess that’s the way it is, so you need to arrange to get up there with someone special, or the family or on a corporate function!

Champagne also seems to come as standard with most Hot Air Balloon flights – which is of course no bad thing!

I was lucky enough to experience a great flight in a hot air balloon several years back - my neighbour was a keen, and daring, balloonist. A friend had told me how he had gently touched the basket down on the surface of the local river on evening as they took a flight – apparently the look on the face of the long boat passengers as the rounded the bend in the river to see a huge flaming hot air balloon on the water was on to remember! Their language was probably not in the romantic category!

So what’s it like – taking a flight in a hot air balloon? Well the big surprise to me (which shows my stupidly rather badly) was of the silence and calm of the whole experience. I don´t know why but, obviously without thinking about it much!, I was expecting it to be noise and windy up there. I could not have been further from the actual experience. With hindsight you are travelling with the wind, and hence at the same speed as the wind, so there is no wind noise and no wind to feel! Which makes it even more epic.

The ‘take off’ and ‘landing’ (I guess this depends a little on the conditions and the pilot) were spectacular. We took off in snow in the greenery of the UK and landed among cows! Fantastic.

I hope I have whetted your appetite for this stunning experience. Here’s a few places you may want to give it a try –

Hot Air Ballooning in Australia - amazing landscapes, amazing colours and an amazing activity!

Hot air ballooning in Spain – Europe’s 2nd most mountainous country, enjoy a sunny balloon ride in stunning scenery.

Hot Air Ballooning in the UK – it you are looking for colourful and green scenery a low flight over the UK fields, towns and villages is stunning.

Hot Air Ballooning in Turkey – some amazing scenery to over fly here, especially in the wierd and wonderful Cappadocia mountains.

Hot Air Ballooning in Dubai – what a great way to witness the dunes, the gulf and the Dubai skyline.

Hot Air Ballooning in the USA – this is one big country! And hence offers and amazing variety of flying experiences.

Up up and away in my beautiful baloooooon!

Dubai’s Most Inspiring Modern Architecture

2011-08-02T08:34:00.000-07:00

Dubai, the largest of the United Arab Emirates, is a discerning travellers’ paradise. A beautiful, clean, modern city with an expansive mountain range and a long coastline of sandy beaches, Dubai offers variety to all visitors.

There are many great things to do in Dubai, and many unusual things to do in Dubai. Dubai has many grand examples of architecture. Tourists flock to see the Jumeira Mosque, the Grand Mosque, and the house of Sheikh Saeed. But they also come to see the modern structures such as Burj Dubai, the Blossoming Dubai, and the Palm Jumeira.

One of the most beautiful of the Dubai mosques is the Jumeira Mosque, an example of modern and traditional Islamic architecture. This mosque is a familiar landmark. Visitors can experience a breath-taking scene from outside the mosque just after sunset as it is touched with a subtle lighting that emphasizes the spectacular architecture of this sacred edifice.

Another beautiful mosque is the Grand Mosque, which can accommodate as many as 1200 worshippers at one time. This mosque was originally built in 1900, and then rebuilt in 1998 with careful attention given to retain the beautiful style of the original architecture. At just over 70 metres, the Grand Mosque’s minaret is the tallest in Dubai yet the structure blends effortlessly into its surroundings.

The house of Sheikh Saeed Al Maktoum, another example of inspiring architecture, has been restored as a museum. Sheikh Saeed’s house was built in the late 1800’s. The wind towers catch the cooler breezes high above the ground and bring them into to regulate the humid interiors, a great example of how design meets functionality.

Aside from its many beautiful and traditional mosques, Dubai also has claim to the world’s tallest skyscraper. The Burj Dubai, or Burj Khalifa, stands 828m high. Construction started in 2004 and was finished in 2010. The tower spirals upward from a flat base and its exterior is covered in reflective glazing and stainless steel panels.

One of the most eye-catching architectural structures in the world is the Blossoming Dubai, designed to resemble a blossoming flower rising out of the barren dessert. Two elevators run on spiral tracks around the tower. This intriguing landmark symbolizes Dubai’s rapid growth as a modern day mecca.

The Palm Jumeira, another amazing architectural structure in Dubai, is a man-made island, the smallest of three such islands in The Palm Islands complex. The main part of the island is comprised of slender fingers of land that reach out into the sea so that every building on the island is situated on beachfront property.

You can book flights direct to Dubai from the UK with Virgin Atlantic, British Airways and Emirates.

Free things to do in Brisbane, Australia

2011-08-02T07:43:00.000-07:00

Brisbane, Australia is a city famous for sunshine, friendly people, and natural beauty. However, what if you have bought one too many pints of Australian beer for your newfound friends (maybe in Brisbane's famous XXXX Ale House!) and find yourself in Brisbane with empty pockets? Luckily, a lack of cash does not mean that your Australian fun has to come to an end, because there are many free things to do during your time in Brisbane.

Here are some ideas of free things to do in Brisbane:

Just start walking! Brisbane is one of those beautiful cities perfect for wandering and exploring in. Walk the eclectic assortment of people going by, and snap photos of the seaside scenes and the mountains to the west.

Visit the City Botanic Gardens. This lush oasis is free to enter, and has enough attractive displays of exotic flowers and plants to delight you for hours. There are also interesting educational displays and great views of the river.

The Museum of Brisbane offers free admission, and you can spend the afternoon filling your mind with interesting knowledge from its many great exhibits.

Believe it or not, there is actually a subtropical garden right in the city centre of Brisbane. The free Roma Street Parklands is the largest of its kind.

Every Sunday, the UQ School of Music puts on a free live music concert at the Customs House. Head down there to check out some tunes that will be sweet to your ears as well as your wallet.

In September, the Brisbane Festival brings the city to life with free performances of from all different genres of theatre, music and art. The festival lasts for three weeks and is a great place to get some great entertainment that will cost you nothing.

It is free to check out any of Brisbane’s lively marketplaces, where you can enjoy the bustling atmosphere and view the local crafts and products on display. Some of the best markets include the Valley Markets at Brunswick St. Mall, Jan Power’s Farmers Markets, and the West End Markets at Davies Park.

Check out Southbank Beach. This is the only artificial inland city beach. It holds the equivalent of three Olympic size swimming pools and 4000 cubic metres of sand right in the middle of the city! If you are travelling with kids, this is a great free place for them to run off their energy at one of the three playgrounds.

And if you are feeling flush and 'hang the budget' then try any of the great things to do in Brisbane on the YouGoDo guide!

Getting There

Brisbane can be reached via daily international flights to Brisbane Airport, which is 20 km north-east of the city at Eagle Farm.

There are many ways to enjoy Brisbane without spending a penny, so feel free to have fun even on the smallest shoestring travel budget!

Simon Grant is a frequent traveller and lover of new experiences, he writes about the sights he sees and the antics he gets up to at Time To Wander site.

Brisbane image courtesy of Visit Brisbane.

Things to do in Portugal

2011-07-25T07:25:00.000-07:00

Portugal was once one of the most powerful and dominant countries in the world with its empire including colonies in China, Africa and the whole of Brazil. These days it’s still considered one of the most beautiful and enticing countries in Europe and no matter what you look for in a holiday, there are plenty of great things to do in Portugal for everyone.

Things to do on the Algarve

The Algarve is one of the most popular holiday destinations for tourists. It sits right at the southernmost tip of the country offering the best of the weather and miles of amazing golden beaches. If you love your history then you have to check out the Milreu ruins which are just outside of Faro are date back to the 3rd century. If you prefer your history slightly more intact then head over to Silves Castle which dates back to the 8th century and built by the Moors. If your idea if a great holiday involves more action then the Algarve is one of the premiere destinations for water sports. Being exposed to the open Atlantic means there are some amazing waves and whether you’re new to the sport or a seasoned pro you could quite easily find yourself spending your entire vacation in the water.

Things to do in Lisbon

If you love the hustle and bustle of a city break then you need to head over to the capital, Lisbon. Despite the majority of the city being completely destroyed in 1755 by an earth quake there’s still some fascinating architecture to see. Jeronimos Monastery is one of the most breathtaking and imposing buildings in the city limits built in 1502 in honour of Vasco Da Gama’s voyage to India. If you’ve got children to entertain and don’t find the thought of looking round old building appealing then the Oceanaruim is one of the largest aquariums in the world and you can see everything from otters and penguins to sharks and fish. If you love your fashion then Lisbon is definitely the city for you, the shops alone would make the trip worthwhile, the MUDE (Design and Fashion Museum) has to be on the list for every fashion lover to visit too.

Things to do in Northern Portugal

If you want a real action adventure holiday then you’re after the north of Portugal where you can try your hand at anything from skiing and snowboarding to surfing and wind surfing. Another very popular sport in Portugal is golf and you can find some of the best courses in the world here waiting for you. Northern Portugal offers much more than just sports though and it’s slightly milder climate makes it ideal for those who can’t take too much heat. The north of this country offers some of the most delicious wine in Europe which can be sampled in most the cafes and bars littered around the picturesque northern towns. Of course a good wine is best sampled with a truly amazing meal and you’ll find some of the most authentic Portuguese food waiting for you in these northern towns. After a busy day of action sports and superb food and drink you might want something a little quieter so head on over to the Museu de Ceramica or Braga Town where you’ll find a breath taking selection of stunning architecture to wonder around.

This article courtesy of Jessica who works for Live in Portugal who provide banking in Portugal for non residents

The Best Locations for a Luxury Family Holiday

2011-07-22T00:27:00.000-07:00

A holiday is designed to be an escape from reality, offering a glimpse into your dream world. Somewhere far removed from your everyday life and in a place where you can fully relax, unwind, explore or absorb. However, sometimes that’s made a little more difficult if you have others to entertain. You might be taking your family away on their first holiday or organising a family wedding on an exotic island, in which case the location of your holiday requires some serious thought. Want a little helping hand? Explore the locations below and you’ll be sure to find that sought after happy-medium, ensuring that everyone in your party is kept busy, giving you peace of mind and time to enjoy the luxury surroundings.

SPAIN – Tenerife

There are plenty of reasons as to why Tenerife is one of the leading tourist destinations in Europe. It is often seen as the ideal family destination due to its wide range of activities for all age groups. For families, things to do in Tenerife include endless swimming pools, water parks, aquariums, dolphinariums, wildlife parks and cable car rides across the island’s volcanic terrain.
Luxury hotel recommendation: Gran Hotel Bahia del Duque.

GREECE – Crete

Crete’s rich history and mountainous landscape make it ideal for any family holiday. Things to do in Crete include adventures across the many valleys and gorges or taking a journey into many of its small, welcoming villages. Other areas of interest include the ancient ruins in the area of Knossos and Phiastos, which are sure to open minds and cause imaginations to wander. Just looking to relax on the beach? It’d be hard to avoid seeing as Crete’s coastline stretches over 1,000 kilometeres!

Luxury holidays to Crete can be booked through agents such as Simpson Travel.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – Dubai

Dubai is the destination which personifies the phrase “luxury holiday”. Believe it or not, Dubai offers a lot more than real estate development opportunities for the rich and famous! Unusual things to do in Dubai include camel riding, sand boarding 4x4 desert tours and everyone’s favourite pastime, shopping! Yes it is expensive, but it is also one of the most dreamlike locations on earth.
Luxury hotel recommendation: One and Only Royal Mirage.

CARIBBEAN – Jamaica

Jamaica’s lively culture and wide range of beach activities will keep even the most active of children and adults busy and enthralled! Things to do in Jamaica include year round Jamaican food and music festivals, horseback riding experiences, beach sports, water sports and several nature and village tours. The Caribbean sun and lush landscapes will provide a beautiful backdrop for plenty of those embarrassing family photos.
Luxury hotel recommendation: Half Moon Rose Hall.

The Need for Speed: 10 Fast and Furious Adventures in the UK

2011-07-20T02:33:00.000-07:00

If you’re always chasing the heady thrill of an adrenaline rush but you’re not sure what’s out there, check out these suggestions for your next fix of quick…

1] Quad Biking
Tearing round a track on a four-wheeled bike is all well and good, but what you really want to be doing is getting out into the country – it’s the quad’s natural habitat, after all. Trek round this working hill farm near Cardiff and if it’s wet and muddy, hang on to your helmet.

2] Kids Supercar Driving Experiences
Just why should adults have all the fun, eh? Treat the kids to a sensational day driving a real supercar of their choosing. They’ll learn driving techniques in a smaller car before being unleashed with their instructor along the 1.8-mile purpose-built circuit at Prestwold Hall, Leicestershire.

3] Rally Driving Experience At Silverstone Racetrack
Silverstone’s purpose-built Rally School will provide an amazing day to remember as you tear round the challenging courses in one of a range of classic rally vehicles, from Ford Escort Mk IIs to Subarus. Choose between half-day, full-day and even night time courses to suit.

4] 2 Seater Dragster Thrill Ride ExperienceAll aboard for the fastest two-seater passenger ride in the UK! Built by Richardson Brothers of Tennessee, the sinister-looking dragster is capable of tearing down the quarter-mile of Santa Pod strip in Northants at 170mph in eight seconds. You’ll be accelerating faster than a fighter jet…

5] Tank Driving In Northamptonshire
Manoeuvring a 55-tonne tank is all fine and dandy, but crushing a car with one is where it’s really at. Tanks A Lot Ltd offer this service as well as plenty of others, such as swimming an amphibious truck and undertaking survival courses with ex-Royal Marines, at their Northampton HQ.

6] Formula One Car Passenger RidesStrapped into a Minardi F1x2 two-seater car, you’ll experience the G force and incredible rush that has until recently been the exclusive preserve of the elite Formula One racing driver. Your instructor is likely to be an ex Formula One driver, too, and the car is F1-specced and ready to go racing – are you?

7] Powerboat Training In Cornwall
Powerboating is a blast of genuine exhilaration, and this great training course will show you precisely how to get the most out of the powerboat’s capabilities. A two-day course will give you a proper grounding in all aspects of driving these incredible machines safely, and there’s a choice of boats to get to grips with.

8] Flight Simulator Experiences
It’s extremely unlikely that you’ll ever get to pilot a real jet fighter or commercial airliner – but you can experience the nearest thing to it, with Real Simulation’s incredibly realistic flight simulators. Featuring hydraulic motion, Surround Sound and intense visuals, you’ll take off and land a Boeing 737 or put an F4 Phantom fighter through its paces.

9] Dodgems For Grown Ups
Have a quite literally smashing time as you race your mates in bona fide 1300cc Saloon Stockcars, in proper race conditions with a commentator and trophies. Two heats and a grand final are guaranteed on the half-day outing, with a max of 40 drivers competing in a session. You’ll receive a souvenir programme and you never know – you may win that coveted trophy.

10] Jet Ski Safaris In Newquay
Cornwall’s coastline has probably never whizzed by as quickly or as thrillingly as it will from the vantage point of a super-speedy personal watercraft! Join Cornwall Waverunner Safaris and their experienced instructors, and be crowned king of the waves.

Things to do in London

2011-07-14T04:44:00.000-07:00

London, the capital city of England, is the world's most internationally visited destination, attracting around 15 million international tourists to the city each year. So what is there to do in London?

Well we are not short of ideas - YouGoDo features over 400 great things to do in London and has a huge choice of unusual things to do in London.

London's traditional, and ever popular tourist attractions, include:

* the famous Buckingham Palace - home to Queen Elizabeth II, the Queen of England.

* the Tower of London - past home to the counties villains, and the scene of numerous beheadings! Including several past queens of England! In the distant past I should add!

* Tower Bridge - the icon bridge with the opening road across the Thames.

* the many amazing London Museums and art galleries - which show off the proud history of England and the United Kingdom - museum like the National History Museum, the London Science Museum, The Bank of England Museum, the Churchill Museum, the Tate Gallery and many more.

* Madam Tussauds Waxworks - one of the UK's top visitor attractions, and its neighbour the Planetarium

* The Houses of Parliament and the famous clock Big Ben.

More modern mass market attractions include:

* Ripley's Believe it or Not - home to an amazing collection from 'the world of the weird'!

* The London Eye - an amazing huge ferris wheel located right on the banks of the River Thames, opposite the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, offering guests stunning views over the City of London.

* London Aquarium - an ever popular fishy family attraction.

* the Dungeons - learn about London's the gruesome past.

The famous River Thames is a great place to take part in activities with numerous London Pleasure Boat Trips and Thames Dinner Cruises, offering guests great views of London's riverside sights which include the London Eye, Tower Bridge, the offices of MI5, the Cutty Sark, the Houses of Parliament and of course Big Ben.

Other options on the River Thames include kayak tours and duck tours. London Duck Tours combine a bus tour of the city, with a river tour in specially adapted amphibious vehicles.

Just walking around London, and making your way around using the tube stations is like walking through a film set, combined with playing a life sized game of Monopoly! And numerous activity operators offer a wealth of specialist London tours:

* film set tours - see the London sets used for films like James Bond, Harry Potter, Notting Hill, etc

* Beatles music tours - see the London locations, such as Abbey Road, used by the iconic British pop band, the Beatles.

* Jack the Ripper tours - learn about the dark past and murders on London's streets.

* London Olympics 2012 - even though we are about a year away from the start of the 2012 London Olympics, Tours are now available of the major sites!

For those in the capital for several days, many tours operators run tours out of the city for those wanting to explore further afield:

London to Paris Day Trips - The new channel tunnel (not that new I guess!) and rail links mean day trips from London to Paris are now a possibility.

London to Edinburgh tours - take the train to the capital of Scotland and enjoy a spot of whisky and haggis!

Day Trips - enjoy bus tours out to popular destinations like Stone Henge and Windsor.

Loooooong Bus Trips - For those who like to see the world, and like being on a bus (I mean really like being on a bus) you can even take a fantastic bus experience from London all the way to New York, or is this is not far enough for you to Sydney on the other side of the world!

Like the whole of the UK, London's nightlife is very lively, and the city is home to some great bars and restaurants with spectacular views of London.

For those looking to try something active London offers:

* Climbing - great inside climbing walls, and even an Ice Climbing venue!

* Roller Skiing - explore London's parks on roller skis!

* Paintballing - it's war! Go painting with your friends!

* Cycling Tours - pedal your way around the landmarks of London, there is even a pedal pub allowing groups to pedal power a bar around some of London's great sites, while enjoying a drink!

* Horse Riding - enjoy the many green open areas of London on Horseback.

* Karting - indoor karting allowing you to experience the fun and thrills of motor racing!

* Unrban Freeflow courses - this is a great and unusual activity - Parkour / Freeflow - A sort of urban athletics, jumping and bouncing off the London scenery!

A little more relaxing but just as much fun - try a London Cookery Courses at numerous London venues.

And last but not least I must include the very popular motor powered tours of London:

* The popular open top bus tours (it doesn't always rain!), or you can private hire a classic red routemaster Bus and arrange you own tour!

* Take a tour in a lovely cute little Classic British Mini

* Limo Tours - tour the city like Rock Stars!

* Leanr about london from a London Cabbie with a London Black Taxi Tours.

Have fun 'guvnor' and let me know how much you enjoyed the Jellied Eels!

Top 10 Cycling Activities

2011-07-05T07:23:00.000-07:00

The bike is a great way of exploring the world, eco friendly it allows you to access amazing on and off road locations, while taking in the sights, sounds and smells of the world around you. And keeping fit too ;-)

YouGoDo is run by keen cyclists who enjoy on and off road cycling. Indeed I’m currently planning my own biking adventure riding from the North coast of Spain, down the length of the country to the South coast in the near future.

So we especially love to see great cycling activities on YouGoDo - but what are the worlds best biking experiences?

Here’s our current Top 10 Cycling Activities:

1) Mountain Biking the world’s most dangerous road – an amazing, and this sounds good 'mainly downhill' ride in Bolivia. Starting at an amazing 15,400 feet altitude, passing places where the road has a vertigo inducing 3,330 foot sheer drop, and ending at 3,600 feet! Sounds epic!

2) For the real endurance cycling enthusiasts – How about Cycling the Andes Trail – on an amazing 11,000km ride through South America, or doing a 'less ambitious' American Coast to Coast Bike Ride, crossing the whole of North America from the Alatntic to the Pacific coasts.

3) Mountain Bike Parks – Take your choice of some amazing mountain bikes parks in stunning settings (there is even an indoor park - In the USA where else!). Experience Ultimate Mountain Bike adrenalin rushes on amazing ‘man enhanced’ routes and trails.

4) Mountain Bike Safaris – Mix an African big game safari in Kenya with mountain biking WOW - probably a good thing to make sure you are not the most out of shape on this one!

5) Heli biking – Again this is available in several great locations, using a helicopter to get you to the places others cannot reach and then cycling through true unspoilt scenery.

6) Bicycle Bars – OK scrub the 'and keeping fit' point made above for this one! But what a way to see a city, although I'm not sure how much of the city you will remember. Sitting at a bar, aboard a custom made bicycle bar, with a group of mates, a driver and a barmaid (or barman) while pedal powering your way around some great cities.

7) Mixing Cycling and water fun – How about Mountain Biking and Sailing in Croatia – A fantastic 7 day tour of stunning Croatia, sailing from island to island each day, and cycling some 235km through stunning scenery in between the sailing. Or just as great sounding, and a lot easier, a relaxed Bike and Kayaking tour through France while enjoying staying in amazing Chateaux and of course the odd glass of French wine.

8) Visit a great cycling event – take part in the Medocaine, a superb fun, what should we call it - ‘annual bike wine crawl’ in France, or sit back and watch the amazing Valparaiso Cerro Abajo, an incredible Urban Downhill Bike Race which runs right through the centre of Valparaiso in Chile. Or maybe simply go to France and follow the Tour de France.

9) Cycling in the Swiss Alps - Take a high tech 263km 5 day self lead (with provided pre programmed GPS units) mountain bike ride through the amazing Swiss Alps. Travel light as your bags are taken to the next hotel for you each day!

10) A real off road adventure, in fact off the ground and mid air – Shweebing is a fun race around an aerial suspended track against a mate in a futuristic pedal powered transporter!

As always, with over 800 great cycling activities on YouGoDo, it’s a tough choice to pick 10 – there are some amazing road and mountain cycling activities to choose from, all around the world!

Take a look and get your biking gear on!

10 Unusual things to do in the UK

2011-06-27T04:17:00.000-07:00

Bored of bungee? Tired of tramping? Here’s our selection of weird and whacky exploits to have even the most jaded of adrenaline junkies chomping at the bit…

1] Airkix Indoor Skydiving Milton Keynes may not be traditionally synonymous with extreme adventure activities, but the Airkix wind tunnel at the Xscape Leisure Centre bucks the trend. Skydive, somersault and feel the adrenaline rush of freefall; you’ll receive a DVD of your gravity-defying hijinx to show your friends when you return to Earth.

2] Aerial Extreme High Ropes Adventure Courses Challenge yourself in the great outdoors as you tackle this extreme high ropes adventure course. Zip wires, death-defying midair leaps, suspended climbing MegaWalls, SkyWalks and more await you to truly test your mettle. Choose from one of six centres around the UK.

3] Ice Climbing In London The Vertical Chill Ice wall in the polar landscape of London’s Ellis Brigham store in Covent Garden is a challenge any climber will relish. So, after you’ve had your retail therapy shopping for you can pop along to the Ice Wall where their qualified guides are on hand for inexperienced climbers and children, and seasoned climbers can turn up with their own gear. Sessions last for an hour, including 10 minutes kitting-up time.

4] Urban Freeflow The Urban Freeflow team promises that this adventure will ‘unleash your inner monkey’ through their compelling mix of Freerun/Parkour tuition. Offering all levels of teaching, the philosophy is to ‘start slow and stay low’… To build a lasting foundation of fitness and urban skills. Read more about the art of Le Parkour!

5] Tricks In The Sticks A day of off-road biking will introduce you to a hitherto unknown level of thrills, spills and two-wheeled mayhem in the Kent countryside. Wheelies, burnouts, cross-country stunts and off-road know-how is all on the agenda, in a group of no more than five riders under a qualified ACU coach. There’s a BBQ lunch, and refreshments are thrown in too.

6] Birmingham Rat Race For those who love surprises, the Birmingham Rat Race is a series of challenges that are only revealed to you and your team mates hours before you tackle them. The urban race courses require brainpower, skill, strength and courage, and involve running, climbing, mountain biking, abseiling and navigation to reach the finishing line. Read more about the top 10 adventure races on the UK

7] Coasteering and Sea Kayaking Preseli Venture in the Pembrokeshire National Park is your setting for a range of outdoor activities that are sure to get your pulse racing. Attempt the fast-rising sport of coasteering and a range of extreme watersports. Adventure weekends are available with accommodation at the centre’s eco lodge.

8] Rally Driving At Silverstone The heart of British Motor Sport may be synonymous with Formula One, but check the other activities they have on offer – including adrenaline-pumping ally rally Driving Experiences at the purpose-built Silverstone Rally School. Choose your car and get ready to rev those engines to the hilt.

9] Rollerskiing In London Developed as a training method for cross-country skiers when there’s no snow on the ground, roller skiing is a fantastic workout and loads of fun into the bargain. Instructors will show you how to maximise your technique and offer a range of training options. Originally created as a summer training alternative, rollerskiing originated in Italy and has now developed into a competitive sport in its own right.

10] Bungydome, Edinburgh Who wouldn’t fancy a bungy trampoline experience in a geodesic dome? That’s exactly what’s on offer at Edinburgh’s Bungydome, where you will fly, you will bounce, you will laugh, you will cry… And you will no doubt return for more of this truly unique sports experience!

Top 10 Photography Tours

2011-06-23T07:14:00.000-07:00

Great photo's are becoming like great trophies, and the ability to display these in ever more amazing and original ways (not just mugs and T shirts!) is encouraging more and more of us (myself included here!) to want to become truly great amateur photographers. And the great news is that there are more and more great photography based activities for those of us who want to do more than 'just turn the knob to auto' and leave it there!

For those wanting to try out the ever advancing capabilities of our digital camera equipment, many activity operators are offering great photography based holidays, tours, courses and activities.

As you would expect many of these are in great photography locations, with local sites for shooting stunning scenery, cityscapes and wildlife. Other options combine photography with other activities such as sailing, cookery or language courses.

There are some really great photography tours and activities on offer – and the photography is not a small part of the activity, it’s the main reason for the trip! Here’s our pick of the wide range of photography activities available on YouGoDo.

Top 10 Photography Activities:

1 - High Tech Photo Safaris in Africa - Shoot big game (with cameras of course!) on a superb safari using a specially converted Land Rover fully equipped to take great digital photos of your trip.

2 - Lapland to Lofoten Photography Tour - Stunning photography opportunities in the Arctic, with an award winning travel photographer as your guide and mentor.

3 - Photography Whale Watching Tours in Norway - Get up close and capture magnificent whales off the coast of Norway on this live aboard whale expedition.

4 - Seattle Walking Photography Tours - Capture the city of Seattle, experience the highlights of the city whilst on a walking mini photography course, which is part of a fun city tour!

5 - New York Photography Tours - As you would expect in a city as famous as New York - you have several choices here, including some fun tours which basically ensure you are in all your New York photos!

6 - Paris Photography Tours - Again, here in Paris you have a choice of tours, which show you how best to photograph the romantic city of Paris.

7 - Photo Tours in Spain - A great country with an amazingly diverse range of cultures, foods and scenery (I am biased I live here and love the place) - great light and scenery for photography.

8 - Water Videographer Courses in Thailand - A bit of a specialist course this one - but what a cool skill, which could possibly be turned into a great profession!

9 - Newfoundland Photo Tours - Visit and photograph what is described as Canada's best kept secret - the island of Newfoundland!

10 - Nottingham Digital Photography Courses - Visit the best parts of Robin Hood Land and take photos in some of the counties best locations using props such as birds of prey.

We are firmly in the digital age, and photography is becoming more and more a key part of your holidays and adventures.

Gone are the old days of taking 3 or four 36 exposure films with you, and not taking too many 'pictures', worrying if they will come out and how much it will cost to develop all those films, etc. Oh dear showing my age now - I remember my first Zenith SLR!

Even the current basic digital camera allows budding photographers to point and shoot, run off several hundred photos during a holiday, shoot sepia, black and white, stunning night and fireworks display shots and more. And this is before you start putting in the 'finishing touches' (cheating!) with photoshop, etc!

Now the frustration is sorting through them all and deleting the ones you don’t want, rather than worrying if the ones you really did want will come out OK!

All of the above activities will help ensure your 'photo' memories are even better!

So pack up the camera gear, compose, frame, …… oh and don’t forget to smile!

Worlds Best Horse Riding Adventures

2011-06-20T06:11:00.000-07:00

YouGoDo is full of the world’s best adventures, including over 450 great horse riding experiences.

It's tough to get to a top 10, from this wide range of differing fun global riding activities and experiences, but here goes!

YouGoDo’s Top 10 Horse Riding experiences:

1) Crossing the Andes on Horseback – A 7 day tour crossing the amazing Andes at over 4,000m, starting in Argentina and ending in Chile. What better way to cross this stunning scenery.

2) Exploring Mongolia on horseback – The horse is still very much an integral part of everyday day life for the Mongolian people. Several operators offer Mongolian horse riding tours and adventures, allowing you to experience Mongolian culture, and witness the horse in it’s natural working environment. We even have Mongolian camel and yak treks on offer if a horse is too conventional for you!

3) Cowboy Trail Rides from Las Vegas – Experience the dream from all of the old western movies, get out on the stunning trails away from it all, yet close to Las Vegas.

4) Horseback wine tours – Enjoy wine and riding with a horseback winery tour in Australia, or a horse riding and wine tasting trip in France or the USA, or ‘when in Panama’ try horse riding and coffee tasting!

5) 4 and 6 day unguided horse trail rides in France – A great way of exploring the French Armagnac countryside, just you and your horses. One for the experienced, and those who can read a map!

6) Horse riding on the beach – What a great place to enjoy riding and YouGoDo has a great selection of places where you can ride on the beach – here’s a couple of our top picks - Horse Surfing in Florida – Swimming with Horses in Jamaica - beach horse riding in Tarifa – riding along the shores of Lake Como.

7) Riding the Balkan Trail in Bulgaria – getting away from it and experiencing Bulgaria, on an amazing 8 day horse trek.

8) Riding in Jordan – live out the Indiana Jones fantasies with great rides in the Wadi Rum Dessert – and while there why not try something different - swap the horse for a camel for a while (optional!)

9) Horse riding in Dubai – Experience a different type of riding, get out into the dessert, especially in the winter months.

10) Try riding in a busy city – try indoor riding in the centre of Amsterdam, or how about getting a different view of the UK’s capital city by trying horse riding in London.

And a few honourable mentions for a couple that just did not quite make the cut. I’m sure they are as good as the top 10 but we had over 450 horse riding activities to choose from, and it could easily have turned into a top 147 horse riding adventures!

Horse riding in New Zealand

Horse riding in New Mexico

Learning to play polo at Ascot Horse

Riding and Quad Biking in Australia

I guess it maybe be blatantly clear by now, but I feel I should admit that I am no horse riding expert, indeed while I am happy to have a motorcycle with 150 ‘horses’ under my backside, the thought of 1 horse with no disk brakes always seems little scary. But this said I hope I have a good eye for an adventure and I have chosen a good top 10! Let me know if not!

It’s been over 20 years since I was last on horseback, and the above selection would certainly temp me back up on top of a horse, brakes or no brakes!!

Paul

Surf’s Up: Five Awesome Beginner Surfing Destinations In The UK

2011-06-16T00:58:00.000-07:00

The UK’s coast has miles and miles of beach breaks with surfable waves just waiting to be conquered by the adventurous traveller. If you’ve never tried it, make the coming months an endless summer of surfing action - here are five of the best beginner-friendly spots in the UK to start your wave-riding career, and don’t forget to check out surfing schools in the UK on the yougodo site!

1] Saunton Sands, Devon

The surf rolling in on the seemingly infinite beach at Saunton Sands is a sight that stirs the blood, alright. Saunton and neighbouring Woolacombe offer gentle waves as well as heavier stuff barrelling in off the Atlantic, and the facilities for hiring and staying over are second-to-none.

Need To Know: Saunton Sands

Wave direction: Lefts and rights

Offshore wind direction: Easterly

Hazards: Crowded in Summer; seagulls!

Lifeguard: Summer

Things to do near Saunton Sands

Surfers at Saunton. Photo credit rrx_blade

Read the reviews of Saunton surfing on beach wizard.

2] Newquay Bay

Newquay is Britain’s best-loved surf spot and a ‘serious’ surfer destination on account of the serious waves to be ridden there, so the best way to avoid getting out of your depth as a beginner is to confine your exploits to Newquay Bay. Comprising four beaches rolled into one sandy mile, and partially sheltered by cliffs, the Bay depends on swell for its waves but beginners’ surf is regularly to be had at Towan Beach.

Need To Know: Newquay Bay

Wave direction: Lefts and rights

Offshore wind direction: Southerly

Hazards: Rocks, riptides

Lifeguard: 19th May – 30th September

Things to do in Newquay

4] Bournemouth

Bournemouth is well-stocked with surf schools and is renowned for its clean water and safe beache – if not for its great waves, exactly - making it an ideal place to begin your love affair with the sport. It can get crowded in the summer which upsets the experienced surfers, but if there’s surf, the chances are it’ll be suitable for first-timers, so head on in.

Need To Know: Bournemouth

Wave direction: Lefts and rights

Offshore wind direction: Northerly

Hazards: Riptides possible, often crowded

Lifeguard: 1st May – 30th September

Things to do in Bournemouth

Perfect little beginners waves at Bournemouth. Photo from Paul Seys

Check the current Bournemouth surf conditions here

4] Llangennith, Gower

The Gower Peninsula’s most popular surf destination is at the North end of the glorious three-mile long Rhossili Bay. Llangennith is consistent and reliably surfable on all tides, and is a great spot for learning the tricks of the trade, since it’s a nice slow peeling wave with enough room for everyone.

Need To Know: Llangennith

Wave direction: Lefts and rights

Offshore wind direction: Easterly

Hazards: Jellyfish, tough paddle out

Lifeguard: Summer

Things to do near Llangennith

5] Pease Bay, Borders

It may be rough and is generally regarded as a haunt for the more experienced surfer, but Pease Bay near Dunbar can host some great waves thanks to a reef renowned among experts, while its beach breaks prove popular for beginner surfers to jump in and have a go.

Need To Know: Pease Bay

Wave direction: Lefts and rights

Offshore wind direction: Southerly

Hazards: Rocks

Lifeguard: Summer

Things to do near Pease Bay

Quiet times at Pease Bay, between sets. Photo credit Martin Burns.

Pease Bay surf report.

This is a guest post from Woolacombe Bay Holiday parks in Devon, check out their new wave surfer at their Golden Coast Park. Woolacombe bay offer camping and caravan holidays, with 4 sites right next to the famous beginner friendly surfing beach at Woolacombe.

Where are all these hits coming from!

2011-06-09T00:31:00.000-07:00

Web traffic from the Royal Wedding, the Apprentice TV Show and other mystery news!

Here at YouGoDo as the site grows and grows each month we constantly monitor where our traffic is coming from.

The Google Analytics tool shows us who is arriving at YouGoDo, and what keywords they are using. This offers an interesting, although sometimes puzzling, insight into what our users are looking for.

This week 'Britains only natural spa' became a hot search phrase out of the blue on YouGoDo, which was easy for me to understand, as I'd watched the UK version of the Apprentice and heard Sir Alan Sugar send the winning team off for their prize day at 'Britain only natural spa'!

On the days after the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton at the end of April 2011, YouGoDo lit up with people seraching for for 'Windsor Grey Pferde' - what was all that about I thought!

What is a Windsor Grey Pferde? A little research showed the Windsor Grey Pferde to be the breed of horse used to pull the royal wedding carriages, and it just so happens that YouGoDo's Horse Riding in London guide indeed includes the Royal Mews (which includes the Royal Stables) with their Windsor Grey Pferde Horses. Mystery solved.

In the past few weeks 'Horse Surfing' in Florida has suddenly become a hot topic. This one is still a mystery to me, although it must have been down to some big publicity on the subject somewhere in the world. I hope it was positive. Maybe the American version of the Apprentice?

Often Puzzled Paul!

Top 10 Things to do in Spain

2011-06-08T00:22:00.000-07:00

We're pretty sure YouGoDo has THE biggest guide to things to do in Spain, with getting over 2000 great activities and experiences through this stunning country.

Spain is slowly shaking off its undeserved reputation of a place suitable only for sun, sea and sangria, and educating potential visitors about the real Spain. A great country with an amazingly diverse history, interesting culture, vast open spaces, huge national parks, mountains galore, a modern infrastructure and great people and food.

So out of our 2000+ things to do in Spain what are the top 10! Well it’s a tough and personal choice. Using my experience of living in Spain for the past 6 years I have chosen my personal selection of the activities which make Spain such a great place to visit.

Here's my Top 10 things to do in Spain:

1) The Tomatina - Spain is a fantastic country for events and this one is my favourite, an insight in the fun nature of the Spanish people. A over ripe tomato fight which takes over the whole town on Buñol near Valencia each August, leaving the exhausted huge crowds covered from head to toe in red tomato juice! Brilliant! Similar events take place with wine and olive oil! And whilst talking about such great Spanish traditional events here’s a few other worthy contenders. The Aplec de Caragol, a huge snail festival in Lleida where over the duration of the festival over 12 tonnes of Snails are enjoyed! San Juan, a festival held on the beaches throughout Spain on the shortest night of the year. The one night the police turn a blind eye to campfires on the beaches and everyone parties into the early hours on the beach. A dip in the water at midnight and jumping the fire are all part of the tradition. The 3 Kings Parades, again a tradition which takes place throughout Spain, as the three kings parade through every town, city and village showering the local kids with gifts (usually sweets). This takes place on Spanish Christmas Eve (January 5th - Spanish children open their gifts on the 6th January). And last but not least the Feria – an event held by every town, village and city during which the locals of all ages party with a vengeance for around a week! If you get the chance visit a feria – great traditional family parties for all generations.

2) Mountain Biking in Spain – It’s a little known fact that Spain is the second most mountainous country in Europe. And it’s southern locations means it also has a fantastic climate for mountain biking. In places like Sierra Nevada near Granada, in the winter months, you could cycle in the snow and the warm winter sun on the same day. The wide open spaces, stunning scenery, welcoming attitude of the Spanish people, popularity of the sport and seemingly endless amounts of trails for all abilities make Spain a superb place for Mountain Biking. It’s also a great place for city cycle tours and road biking, where places like Mallorca are great for winter cycling.

3) Spanish Waterparks – There can be few better ways to spend a hot day in Spain with the family than in a waterpark. The Spanish waterparks are more and more catering for the whole family and ensuring fun packed days out, with ‘beaches’ for the less active, shows for the kids and a range of water rides from the gentle to the adrenalin pumping. Little more to add on this one – just really great fun.

4) Spanish Museums – Spain’s history and culture is great and diverse with Moorish influences. It’s castles, cathedrals and museums are greta places to visit, even for ‘non museumy’ people. I recently had a walk around the Cathedral in Geneva in Switzerland and it bought it home to me how much better the Spanish equivalents are, places like the Mezquita in Cordoba, the Cathedral in Santiago de Compostella and the Museums in Madrid are all in another league. And not forgetting the Sagrada Familia, the work in progress Gaudi designed Cathedral being built in Barcelona (not doing a lot to dispel the ‘working like a Spaniard’ reputation – work started in 1882 and it may finish in 2025!).

5) Hiking in Spain – I guess the same advantages apply here to the Mountain Biking in Spain entry just above. It’s a great place for hiking, and with so much great hiking available you are not queuing at turnstiles, saying hello to other hikers every 5 minutes, etc. Where I have been hiking in Andalucía, even in the most popular spots, its rare you come across other hikers out on the trails. A great escape in great scenery. Many great guide books are available, like Guy Hunter-Watts’s Coast to Coast book giving details on an amazing 21 day 430km hike from the Mediterranean coast near Nerja to the Atlantic coast at Bologna near Tarifa. A few notables here are the incredible Kings Walk at El Chorro (often decribed as the worlds scariest walk), Hiking Mulhacen Spain's highest mainland mountain (the highest is Mount Teidi on Tenerife) and the Hiking in the El Torcal Mo untains.

6) Boat Trips and Water sports – Of course the warm climate and the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts are great tourist draws for Spain, and it’s great to get out on the water on boat trips, jet skis, etc. Inland canyoning, hydrospeed (bodyboarding down rivers) and kayaking are very popular. My personal favourite here is killer whale watching off the coast of Tarifa. A few hours out of Tarifa, near the North African shores of Morocco the Killer Whales visit each summer and feed off the Tuna being hauled in from the traditional line fishing boats.

7) Motorcycling in Spain – great climate, great roads, great places to visit, mountains and the associated twisty mountain passes and scenery, little traffic, little rain, a country with an incredible enthusiasm for motorcycling (all the 2010 MotoGP world champions are Spanish) – need I say more! A personal favourite here, which shows my age, is the classic biking experiences in Spain.

8) Horse Riding in Spain – This must be good for me to add it as a top 10! I have never sat on a horse since the age of about 6 (a donkey on Skegness beach probably!) but each time I see horses out on the trails when mountain biking or hiking I think what a great place this must be to ride a horse! I may even be tempted to climb up onto a horse again in the near future! For all of the reasons mentioned when describing mountain biking and hiking, horse riding in Spain looks great!.

9) Hot Air Ballooning in Spain – what better way to enjoy the great scenery and historic towns and buildings than in a serene and silent Hot Air Balloon flight over Spain. Paragliding in Spain is also a popluar and exhilirating way of taking to the skies.

10) Spanish Wine Tours – Spain produces a great deal of wine and a great variety, the sherry from the Jerez region, Cavas from near Barcelona and the famous Riojas to name but a few. It’s great to visit the Bodegas to see where and how the wines are produced and immerse yourself in the history and traditions. I have yet to do the Cava and Rioja areas so I will have to unfairly say Jerez is my favourite until I get to the other areas. The wealth of Sherry Bodegas in Jerez de la Frontera, makes it a great place to visit, and you have other notable places like Cadiz, Conil and Sanlucar all close by. And it’s not all that sweet stuff you tend to drink at Christmas in the UK – I personally prefer the cold dry fino!.

The above would is my personal selection – It’s really easy to come up with your own top 10 things to do in Spain using YouGoDo - simply go to the ‘things to do in Spain’ page and choose you preferred activity types and locations and YouGoDo will show you your choices!

¡Adios!

Pablo

Unusual things to do in Nottingham

2011-06-03T06:29:00.000-07:00

Nottingham is my home town and a great place to visit, and there are plenty of choices for those searching for unusual things to do in Nottingham.

In the city centre you can explore Nottingham’s vast underground caves, visit the local ghosts with a Nottingham Ghost Tour, enjoy indoor climbing, have a night out drinking in a huge spectacular converted church at the Pitcher and Piano or drink in the world’s oldest pub at the Trip to Jerusalem.

On the outskirts of Nottingham you have more active choices such as paintballing, karting, quad biking, sphering, trike tours or learning to wheelie motorbikes.

For those looking for something unusual but less active how about being a train driver for the day, a day learning digital photgraphy at great Nottingham locations, spending the day driving a collection of classic cars, hot air balloon flights over Nottinghamshire or a day trekking in the National Forest with Llamas.

And for kids what could be better than being able to drive a Ferrari, Bentley or Aston Martin!

All great things to enjoy in the great county of Nottinghamshire.

Nottingham has a very vibrant and lively nightlife and as such is a popular destination for Student, Stag and Hen nights, and weekends. It’s city centre has various lively regions, the top of Mansfield Road is the area for real ale fans, the old Lace Market in the Hockley area is full of trendy bars and clubs, famous Nottingham Bars like the Old Bell Inn, the Salutation, the Trip to Jerusalem (possibly the world’s oldest bar) and Yates’ Wine Lodge are located around the Old Market Square in the centre of town. The stunning Pitcher and Piano bar is housed in a huge old church which makes it a stunning venue on a night.

Things to do in Nottingham and the surrounding areas include the large parks such as Wollaton Park, Rufford Abbey Country Park, Clumber Park and a little further afield Chatsworth House – great for a fine sunny day out any time of the year. And we must not forget the opportunity to visit the Major Oak, an ancient old oak tree with a huge girth and opening in the centre – the hiding place for Robin Hood according to local legend!

Here’s a bit of background information. Nottingham is famous for Robin Hood, the ice skaters Torvill and Dean (I believe Christopher Torvill lived in my home village Calverton at some time) and Football - Nottingham Forest (Nottingham Forest had a great team which won the European Football Championships twice in the 70’s) and Notts County are the oldest team in the Football League (although as the first team I have always wondered who they played!). Industry wise Nottingham is, or was in some cases, home to Boots the Chemist, Raleigh Bikes and John Players Cigarettes.

And don’t forget to learn the lingo before you visit - Here’s a few samples!

Eyup mi duck – Hello

Oo wari wi – Who was he with

Wari wi imsen – Was he alone

Gizarfonit – Can we share it

Tara Duck - Goodbye

Its lookin black over bills mothers – It looks like it may rain

Have fun ducks! Tara!

Paul

Unusual things to do in Amsterdam

2011-05-25T05:27:00.000-07:00

Having visited Amsterdam on two occasions it comes as no surprise to me that, according to the YouGoDo things to do in Amsterdam data, it seems to have the world’s highest ratio of unusual things to do!

Pretty much all of the exciting activities and experiences we have on offer in Amsterdam seem to fit nicely into the 'unusual things to do' category!

Weird transport seems easy to get hold of in Amsterdam! In Holland, the land of the bicycle, there are plenty crazy two wheel tours on offer, things like Amsterdam Recumbent tours (think odd looking feet first bicycles – some with covers), Amsterdam scooter tours, Segway tours and the famous Amsterdam beer bike tours (groups of guests are arranged around a 'bicycle bar' whilst pedalling their way around the city).

For something a little faster, maybe with an engine, try an Amsterdam Tuk Tuk Tour, or IMHO even better the Amsterdam carver one experiences. These look amazing and allow you to get behind the wheel (yes it is a steering wheel) of a cross between a sports car and a sports motorbike which leans and drives like a fighter jet - superb.

For those rainy days, indoors you have the Xtracold Ice Bar, Floating, the Museum of Flourescent Art, Laser Quest and (this is Amsterdam) the Hash Marihuana Hemp Museum. Another unusual indoor option is horse riding - this is on offer in a stunning indoor arena which is open to the public for riding lessons and horseback experiences (with a great terrace bar of course – this is Amsterdam!).

If you are coming to Amsterdam to study (most visitors are, although what they study is often unusual), then why not learn something new on workshops to study Graffiti, Chocolate, Cocktails or even Flirting (I’ll choose to ignore the comment “why would you need that in Amsterdam – you just pay!”).

The city's famous waterways are also a great source of unsual fun activities - why not learn more about this crazy city on an Amsterdam Pedalo Treasure Hunt or an Amsterdam Canal Bike Rally! You can see why even the cleanest living folks in Amsterdam may look to the waters and feel a little ‘stoned’.

Unusual things to do in Amsterdam - Crazy crazy place – looks great!

Mountain Biking in Scotland

2011-05-20T04:47:00.000-07:00

Just come across this cool video of Danny MacAskill cycling in Scotland, well sort of cycling. Danny looks to be a guy with 'above average' skills on a bicycle! And he has chosen some great locations, with stunning Scottish scenery, to perform his riding.

Enjoy the video below.

Scotland with its amazing scenery, mountains, great wildlife, islands, lochs and rugged coastline is a great place to get out and play at outdoor activities. Here on YouGoDo we have some great things to do in Scotland, including a great deal of Scottish Mountain Biking fun.

Try our things to do in Edinburgh and things to do in Glasgow guides.

To anyone visiting Scotland enjoy the whisky and haggis - Have fun - I'll keep watching the video and practising!

Actividades en Madrid or Things to do in Madrid

2011-05-20T02:14:00.000-07:00

Those of you planning to visit Madrid, the stunning capital city of Spain, may be interested in a website purely showing things to do in Madrid. http://www.actividadesenmadrid.com/ shows the things to do in Madrid and the surrounding areas, a map of Madrid activities and local weather conditions.

As the name 'actividades en madrid' suggests, the site is shown in both Spanish and English.

All of the usual famous Madrid attractions are included such as the Madrid Museums, the Madrid Wax Museum, Warner Brothers Theme Park, Madrid Zoo and Aquarium and the Parque de Attraciones Theme Park in the beautiful and large Casa de Campo park in the city centre.

You can also view the many unusual things to do in Madrid, such as segway tours, football stadium tours, paintballing, karting, wine tasting, mountain biking, snow skiiing (yes indoor all year round!), scooter tours, karaoke clubs, football stadium tours and rooftop bars.

Madrid is a great place to visit - enjoy the tapas!

Things to do in Croatia

2011-05-13T10:58:00.001-07:00

A few of the YouGoDo team are planning to visit Croatia this summer, so we have been taking a look at some of the great activities and things to do in Croatia.

Croatia, billed by the tourist department as ‘the Mediterranean as it once was’ seems to meet it’s description well with a picture postcard pretty Adriatic coastline and stunning countryside.

Given its beautiful coastline, great southern European climate, clear Adriatic waters and over 1,000 islands it’s no surprise that sailing, yachting, kayaking, diving, jet skiing and other water sports are so popular. It’s an amazing place for all of these activities with pretty bays and coastlines to explore.

And it’s not just the coast where Croatia is a draw for nature lovers. Croatia’s national parks are also picture postcard pretty with beautiful lakes, rivers and waterfalls in green wooded valleys and mountains. Great for hiking, biking, kayaking, rafting, canyoning and general sight-seeing. The Plitvice Lakes National Park and Krka National park both look amazing.

Zagreb, Dubrovnik and Split all seem to perfectly fit the ‘Mediterranean as it once was’ strapline.

The Dubrovnik Cable Car takes visitors high up above the city, from where they have great views over the city, the Adriatic sea and the Elafiti Islands. Numerous Dubrovnik boat trips take visitors out to admire the Adriatic and views of Dubrovnik from the sea.

Thing to do in Zagreb include a revolving rooftop panoramic cocktail bar, rafting trips, museums, cycling and Segway tours of the city.

Popular tourist destinations like Porec, Split and Trogir offer visitors a wide choice of adventurous activities and fun experiences. Day trips to Venice from Croatia are popular from the northern destinations of Porec, Rovinj and Pula.

The Island destinations of Brac, Hvar and Korcula and Orebic on the outlet near Dubrovnik all offer great water and land based activities and things to do.

In addition to those adventures already mentioned above here’s a few of our top things to do in Croatia from the YouGoDo Croatia activities guide:

A weeks sailing and cycling in Croatia – an amazing looking trip living about a yacht, sailing between the islands and cycling over the islands

Boat trips to the Bisevo Blue Grotto – an amazing looking grotto reached only by boat with amazing colours

Boat trips to Venice from Croatia – a great day trip allowing you to experience Italy and the many great things to do in Venice, whilst on holiday in Croatia.

Sail Yaking on the island of Losinj – to date YouGoDo’s only sail yaking adventure! A cross between a kayak and a catamaran! Looks fun.

Summer Yachting Parties from Split – great fun days out on the sea from Split. Oh dear I feel I am too old for this one!

Downhill Mountain Biking tours from Vidova Gora – a great low effort bike ride from the highest peak on the Adriatic Islands

Croatian Wine Tours – discover Croatian Wine on a number of wine discovery and wine tasting tours and trips.

Jet skiing in Croatia – I’m a keen jet skier and Croatia looking a stunning place to get out and enjoy the water on a jet ski!

More about the great things to do in Croatia on our return! Can’t wait!

Jetskiing

2011-04-29T04:28:00.000-07:00

Jetskiing (or PWC / Waverunners in the USA), a personal passion of mine, has become the latest activity to be awarded its own category on YouGoDo.

So if you are looking for somewhere to try jetsking, rent a jet ski, experience a pwc tour or take part in a waverunner safari then we've made it easier than ever.

YouGoDo jetski activities, now shows exactly that - just 'jet skis' and jetskiing fun and experiences from around the world.

A few sub selections of jetski fun:

Jetskiing in Spain

Jetskiing in Australia

Waverunners in the USA

Jetskiing in the UK

Pull back the trottle lever and ride the wave!

Unusual Oz Activities

2011-04-25T05:22:00.000-07:00

With YouGoDo's unusual things to do in Australia guide soon to exceed two hundred great zany activities, I thought it a good time to write a little more about Oz's most unusual activities.

It's a credit to Australia that most of it's tourists must be looking for fun, adrenalin, crazy and unusual entertainment, adventures and activities. This can be seen from the high percentage of our things to do in Australia which can be fairly considered as 'unusual activities'!

You can take your choice from numerous operators in most of these categories!

Jetskiing, Jetboating and high thrill speedboat rides in Australia

Hot air balloon flights in Australia

Skydiving in Australia

Australian Trike Tours

Oz Kayak Tours - including a heli kayaking opportunity of course!

Australian motor sports activities

Extreme flights over Australia

Horse riding in Australia

Then there's the more 'one off' activities which look great. Things like:

Karaoke Shopping Tours of Sydney - maybe a bit of Abba on board ;-)

Horseback Wine Tours - what could possibly go wrong!

The Nullabor Links - The World's Longest Golf Course at 1365km - yes that's KM - if playing it is not unusual enough for you take a trike tour of the Nullabor!

Great White Shark diving, Crocodile diving or the slightly more rare Tuna diving (very poor pun intended!)

Heli kayaking, biking and whale watching (these three are done seperately - that would be unusual!), stretched jeep tours, croc tours and many many more!

Take look for yourself using the links above, or use this link to view our full range of things to do in Australia

Go enjoy the unusual stuff in Oz!

Amazing Jet Ski Escape at Jaws

2011-04-15T23:48:00.000-07:00

Great video of a great escape from a jetski out on the the amazing Jaws waves, a huge wave producing reef of the island of Maui in Hawaii.

Jaws offers stunning waves, but such is the size of these waves that Windsurfers, Surfers (and even a guy who waterskis on the waves without a tow boat snow ski style!) use Jetskis for tows out to the best waves.

In the below clip the poor jetski tow guy finds himself out in the huge surf with no engine!

Great reactions from the guy on the ski avoids any major incident, although the jetski looks very second hand! Try YouGoDo for some great worldwide surfing activities, or find great places to jetski.

Waterparks in Spain

2011-04-13T00:40:00.000-07:00

Now that summer is well on its way here in Spain (although not yet the 40^th of May – See below*) the many Waterparks in Spain are preparing to open. The season for Spanish Waterparks is usually from April / May through to September / October. During this period the water temperature will range from low 20’s up to 30+ degrees, great for having fun in the sun. Spain is a perfect country for water parks with its hot sunny climate and large numbers of tourists looking to enjoy a fun day in the sun with the opportunity to cool down and experience a wide range of rides and water fun. Here’s the current Top 10 Waterparks in Spain according to YouGoDo users:

1 - Park Aquatico Mijas - Water Park in Fuengirola

2 - Illa Fantasia water park near Barcelona

3 - Siam Park - Water Park in Tenerife

4 - Aqua Natura Water Park Murcia

5 - Aqualandia Water Park Benidorm

6 – Hidro Park water park at Alcudia, Mallorca

7 – Aqua Natura Water Park in Benidorm

8 – Western Park - water park in Mallorca

9 – Bahia Park Water Park in Algeciras

10 – Aqualand in Torremolinos

And for the rare few who have not visited a water park I’d highly recommend. They usually cater all ages with everything from baby pools to extreme wild rides. Side by side races along bumpy slippery tracks, whirlpools, half pipes, black hole type tube rides in the dark are all great fun. And like most businesses the Aqua Parks of Spain are always trying to improve by offering more each year – water pool aerobics and discos, spa and hot tub areas, massage and spa tratements and more are being added to the on site attractions. And for those that simply want to chill there is usually a great beach type area with loungers to relax while the kids tire themselves out! Remember the sun cream!

*40^th May is a local Spanish saying which translates something like “do not cast off your vest until after the 40^th May” – the though being that after this date there is little or no chance of cold and rain until the Autumn. After about 6 years here in the south of Spain this seems about right with a small amount of rain in early June often occurring.

World's Most Incredible Activities

2011-04-01T00:24:00.000-07:00

Here at YouGoDo we love unusual things to do, we have thousands of amazing and strange things to do from all around the world, but even we get the odd surprise, when really incredible activities get added to YouGoDo.

Things like the incredible Stretch Limo Horse - what an amazing beast, and as they say in the YouGoDo listing, the ultimate transport for the ultimate hen night!

Credit Crunch Wife Training Courses are a another which amazed us - an enterprising individual making the most of the recent crisis to make a buck!

Amazing, cant wait to see what else gets added this year - so many incredible activities and its only April 1st!

Try YouGoDo for a 'real' selection of great and unusual activities! Pinch, Punch, 1st of the Month!

Zero Gravity Flights

2011-03-23T01:26:00.001-07:00

Anyone see Brain Cox on last night's Wonders of the Universe BBC Program?

During the program he did the amazing Zero G, Zero Garavity Experience flights.

Looked amazing, and for anyone wondering where they can do this of course we have it on YouGoDo.

The ZeroG Flight Experiences can be taken at a number of locations throughout the USA including Miami, Las Vegas, Chicago, Washington DC, San Francisco and Cape Canaveral.

During your experience on board a specially adapted Boeing 727 aircraft the place carries out 15 special manouvres called 'parabolas' which give passengers around 8 full minutes of experiencing weightlessness.

And judging by the smiles on the faces of the list of celebrities who have already been on board, incluidng Stephen Hawking, The Ozbournes, James May, Buzz Aldrin and many more, it sure looks a great trip!

This experience, although not the cheapest of extreme flights at a cost of $4950 plus 5% taxes, must rank as one of the world's most unusual and exclusive experiences.

And yes it's available for private charters and weddings!

Those with shallower pockets could of course try fighter jet flights, paragliding, skydiving or bungy jumping! And those with even deeper pockets could go the whole hog and try space flights!

I'll await my invite ;-)

Unusual things to do in Miami

2011-03-18T03:20:00.000-07:00

Miami in the south of Florida is a truly great place to visit, hot and buzzing with a great latin beat. Key Biscayne, South Beach, Coconut Grove and Bayside are all great places to discover in the Miami area. We have a great selection of things to do in Miami - but here at YouGoDo we love ‘unusual things to do’, so what are the ‘unusual things to do in Miami’?

Unusual is often something you cannot do in many other places, and Miami is well placed here on the edge of the unique Everglades, a living, moving swampland which covers great areas of Florida. From Miami you can discover the everglades in many great ways – and a noisy and sideways water ride is a great place to start – try a Miami airboat ride!

Say Miami to many in the 40’s age group and Miami Vice is the images which come to mind - white Ferrari Testarossas, helicopters and cigarette speed boats! Well we have plenty great ‘Miami Vicey’ things to do on YouGoDo - Miami Helicopter Trips, Thrilling Miami speedboat trips, Jet ski tours and Miami exotic car rentals are all part of the unusual things to do in Miami selection! We even have an operator offering clients the chance to drive a supercar at 200mph!

Other options include Miami Skydiving and taking a Hot Air Balloon flight over Florida.

And to see Miami like no other trip try a Miami duck tour - using amphibious vehicles to show you Miami from the land and water.

And one last one which is not that unusual anywhere else, but in Miami, indeed the whole of Florida (not a state which is well known for its mountain ranges!) indoor climbing in Miami!

So take your choice and get your backside off Miami’s South Beach for a day or two!

Start of the 2011 MotoGP Season

2011-03-14T06:04:00.000-07:00

Here at YouGoDo we love motorcycle activities, and its great to see the MotoGP season back for 2011, kicking in Qatar on the 20th of this month.

Then, after the season's opening evening race, under the dramatic floodlights at the Losail circuit in Qatar, the action moves to Europe, with the first of four 2011 MotoGP races to be held in Spain, at Jerez de Frontera, in Andalucia, my local circuit.

The Jerez race takes place from the 1st to the 3rd of April, under hopefully sunny Spanish skies, and definitely in front of a huge frenzied crowd. The World's greatest motorcyclists including Valentino Rossi and local Spanish favourites Jorge Lorenzo and Dani Pedrosa, will be battling it out on the track for a win at the superb Jerez de la Frontera circuit.

Given the insatiable appetite of the Spanish for motorcycle racing, this is probably the most atmospheric race on the calendar. Over 220,000 keen motorcycle racing fans will flock through the gates during the three days of the event.

And with Spanish riders winning all three world Championships in 2010, come race day on Sunday 3rd April, I am sure the circuit will be packed by 9 a.m. It's going to be a stunning event with the huge crowd cheering on their three world champions. This will be especially true in ‘the zoo’, a location where a large proportion of the huge crowd gather (between turns 9 ‘Angel Nieto’ and 10 ‘Peluqui’). Here, in a natural amphitheatre like bowl, it is a great place to get to know a real ‘Spanish MotoGP’ atmosphere, as you will be dragged into the party by tens of thousands of locals with their air horns, screaming chain saws (blades removed!), beach balls, frisbees, etc. The party starts before the first bike takes to the track and ends at the end of the event!

Every riders effort is politely applauded, and the lovable Rossi is adored by many of the Spanish crowd, over and above their own countrymen!

And if the 2011 MotoGP race is anything like last years race, Jerez will be buzzing - Spaniard Jorge Lorenzo came from way back to beat fellow Spaniard Dani Pedrosa on the very last lap, after much fairing bashing between the pair! A stunning race.

For lovers of motorsports I cannot recommend it highly enough - Get along and catch a Spanish MotoGP!

And if you cannot make Jerez here is the full MotoGP calender!

Mar 18-20 Qatar, Losail
Apr 01-03 Spain, Jerez
Apr 22-24 Japan, Motegi
Apr 29-May 01 Portugal, Estoril
May 13-15 France, Le Mans
Jun 03-05 Catalunya, Catalunya
Jun 10-12 Great Britain, Silverstone
Jun 23-25 Netherlands, Assen
Jul 01-03 Italy, Mugello
Jul 15-17 Germany, Sachsenring
Jul 22-24 United States, Laguna Seca
Aug 12-14 Czech Republic, Brno
Aug 26-28 United States, Indianapolis
Sep 02-04 San Marino, Misano
Sep 16-18 Aragon Motorland, Aragon
Oct 14-16 Australia, Phillip Island
Nov 04-06 Spain, Valencia Mar 18-20

Looking for other great Motorcycling Activities – see 100’s of great biking things to do on YouGoDo!

And for those visiting the Jerez MotoGP heres some other great things to do in Jerez.

A remember to take you ear plugs and / or air horn!

Inland Surfing

2011-03-11T02:00:00.001-08:00

Just came across this great video of a new invention from Wave Garden, a Spanish Company. It's a new wave machine which, for their testing purposes, makes great surf waves on a small mirror calm inland pond in Spain! Looks to have great potential, especially when scaled up for larger venues.

See the O`Neill pro surf team put it through it's paces on the below video. Includes some great lines about the conditions and a jet ski tow in!!

If you have not got a suitable flat small pond near you, then why not try surfing at one of these great surf locations ;-)

Worlds best Surfing Locations

Kite Surfing in Tarifa

SUP - Stand Up Paddleboarding

Surfing in Australia

Surfing in France

Surfing in Portugal

Surfing in Morocco

Surfing in New Zealand

Surfing in Spouth Africa

Surfing in the UK

The Valparaiso Cerro Abajo

2011-03-09T23:39:00.000-08:00

The Valparaiso Cerro Abajo is a stunning downhill bike race through the streets of Valparaiso on the west coast of Chile about 50 miles from Santiago.

The race, one for brave trick cyclists, features numerous obstacles, high jumps and trick sections as well as the countless steps through the village paths on route.

The race is run in February at high speed, through the streets of Valparaiso, to the appreciation of the watching crowds. In the below video (about 30 seconds in) you will see even the local stray dogs get into the spirit of things, making themselves into moving obstacles along the route ;-)

A few related links:

Mountain Bike Parks

Mountain Biking experiences all around the world

Mountain Biking in Canada

Mountain Biking in France

Mountain Biking in Italy

Mountain Biking in Spain

Mountain Biking in Switzerland

Mountain Biking in the UK

Mountain Biking in the USA

Get your Valparaiso Cerro Abajo entries in for next February!

Canyoning and Coasteering

2011-03-08T01:17:00.000-08:00

Two great fun ways of getting wet! Canyoning and Coasteering are both becoming increasing popular on YouGoDo with many activity operators now providing these great sports at great locations around the world.

What is Canyoning and Coasteering? Well I don't claim to be an expert, but they both seem very similar sports to me (please use the comments box below if I have got this wrong!).

Coasteering is a fun way of working ones away along a section of coastline jumping into the surf from the cliffs, and clambering up and down between the cliffs and the sea, whilst enjoying the sights, sounds and smells of dramatic coastal areas.

Canyoning is a similar sport but based inland on rivers. Due to the nature of rivers (which tend to flow down rather than up), Canyoning generally involves working your way down a stretch of river, swimming with the current, jumping into the river from dramatic waterfalls, entering canyons, etc on route, Again while enjoying the scenery, wildlife, sights and sounds of the river as you pass down.

Looking at the photos on YouGoDo for both activities, fun and thrills seems high up on the list of priorities for both sports.

Here's a selection of links;

Coasteering

Canyoning

Coasteering in the UK - it's particularly popular here - must be warm seas around the UK ;-)

Canyoning in Spain

Helmets and wetsuits on - Have fun!

Wine Tasting and Vineyard Tours

2011-02-18T01:25:00.000-08:00

What a great way of spending an afternoon or day – tasting great wines in great locations. YouGoDo features 100’s of great wine tasting experiences.

And the fact that grape vines tend to have quite an appetite for warm sunshine makes their locations all the more pleasant to visit. Although this said, I do hear they are growing good wine grapes in the UK these days ;-)

California, Australia, Portugal, France and Spain are just some of the great places featured on YouGoDo for wine tasting, wine education experiences and wine related tours.

And tour operators are offering more and more interesting methods of getting you to and from the vineyards, and wine related experiences. Here’s just a few that caught my interest!

Wine and cycling – what could possibly go wrong! We have quite a few cycling based wine experiences to choose from. The La Médocaine, a fun cycle race through the Bordeaux region of France, with plenty of 'product' on route looks particularly good fun!

There are even pedal powered wine tours of London on the great pedal pubs, which allow a group of friends to socially and eco consciously pedal themselves to various wine stops in the City of London.

A jet boat trip to a winery sounds a great idea - ON THE WAY THERE - I'm not sure I'd want to be sitting behind anyone who has hit the red wine hard at lunch, on the way back though!

Hot Air Ballooning and wine looks a popular choice (the glass of Champagne on board is pretty standard but there are several hot air balloon flights which take guests to vineyards for tastings).

Helicopters Wine Tours also make a great deal of sense - especially when you need to get to your wine! NOW! And a helicopter flight to the Champagne region of France seems a pretty idyllic day out to me (assuming the pilot does not join you for the tastings!)

Champagne a bit rich for your pockets? – try a cava tour in Spain! Or maybe Sherry Tasting in Jerez, the home of the product!

At a slower pace enjoy arriving in style with a classic car tour of the wineries.

Horseback rides to wine tastings is another activity which falls into the ‘what could possibly go wrong’ category! Throw in some loud Abba, and shopping and this could be the world’s best hen night activity – Operators take note!

On the music theme why not call in the Sir Cliff Richard’s vineyard in Portugal to enjoy the taste of his wines.

And if the pleasure of the wine is not enough try a wine and chocolate experience – heaven!

And a few other partnerships - Trout and Wine or Art and Wine!

Or feel you have earnt your wine, by experiencing working on a vineyard in Spain, before sampling the wares!

Pop those corks! Cheers

Wave Skiing - sort of snow skiing on the surf!

2011-02-15T06:31:00.000-08:00

Wave Skiing is a cool combination of water skiing, snow skiing and surfing!

So how do we describe Wave Skiing - Is it Water skiing without a tow?, Surfing on two water skis?, Snow skiing on water? Take your pick! But it sure looks cool and very unusual!

No Wave Skiing providers yet on YouGoDo, but in the mean time why not try:

Global Surfing activities - includes kite surfing and SUP

Global Skiing Activities

Water Skiing activities

We will let you know when the first Wave Skiing School appears on YouGoDo!

Jet skiing activities and tours

2011-02-07T03:08:00.001-08:00

Though I am now probably in the 'I should know better by now' age bracket, the deep urge to buy myself a jet ski has finally got the better of me this month - My Yamaha FXHO jet ski (or Waverunner in US English) is due to arrive in the next month!

Having always been a keen supporter on the theory that pretty much anything with an engine equates to fun (I guess notable exceptions include the strimmer and the lawnmower) a small watercraft with 160 horse power just had to be done. Having ridden jet skis a little in the early 600cc waverunner and 550cc stand up days, I can't wait to get hold of this R1 engined monster.

And of course, anything as much fun as a jet ski tends to make it's way onto YouGoDo in large quantities! Jet ski activities are no exception. YouGoDo features numerous great things to do with a jet ski, ranging from the simple short hire for a blast around a lake or coastal area, jet ski tours and nature watching, right up to multi day jet ski tours, where you cover a huge area and stay at a different location each night!

Take a look at the YouGoDo jet ski activities collection, right in there with our speedboats and jetboat fun.

A few notable jet ski links:

Jet skiing in the USA - a very popular activity, especially in Florida, with many operators (American trans: Outfitters!) offering Jet Ski (or Waverunner!) Tours and Dolphin watching from jet skis. See Miami jet skiing, Key West jet skiing and Fort Myers jet skiing

Multi Day jet ski tours in Louisiana - These look superb fun, a real adventure!

Jet sking in Australia - Including tours of the Gold Coast and Swan River

Jet skiing in Spain - Spanish laws are pretty stringent meaning most these places simply offer short term rentals for a blast in a confined area - fun all the same!

It's going to be a long month waiting!

Lanyards on - lets go!

Stand Up Paddleboarding

2011-01-28T04:03:00.001-08:00

The ideal activity for all YouGoDo users who have ever dreamt of walking on water!

SUP (or Stand Up Paddleboarding) is one of those obsure water sports which seems to be growing dramatically in popularity on YouGoDo. It's not exactly mainstream, like kayaking and canoeing (pun intended!), but we are noticing its growth.

A bit like a cross between surfing, kayaking and waterskiing the 'rider' stands up on a large surf board type board (funny enough called a Paddleboard!), and paddles themselves across the water - mmm I can see where the name came from now!

Heres a list of great Stand Up Paddleboard locations! Choose from Australia, Costa Rico, Indonesia, New Zealand, Spain, UK, USA - the list is growing!

Give it a try - and send us in your photos of you 'walking on water'!

Have fun

Top 10 Dangerous Things To Do

2011-01-21T00:27:00.000-08:00

What are the world’s top ten most dangerous things to do? Things that make you go ooooooh, aaaaaaaarghh, stooooooop I want to get off, NOW!!

Activities and experiences with plenty of G forces and adrenalin pumping action. Here’s the YouGoDo top ten!

1 – Wingsuit schools – if you have not seen this sport click here to see a wingsuit video! In basic terms its jumping from very high cliffs wearing a suit with webbing between your legs, and arms and torso, and plummeting to the ground at incredible speed – it looks stunning, and I can imagine it gets the adrenalin flowing more than a little!

2 – Hiking – well not exactly hiking through fields full of pretty flowers – hiking some of the world’s most dangerous trails, like the Mount Hashuan Hiking Trail or the Kings Walk at El Chorro in Andalusia. Click here to view the El Chorro Kings Walk video.

3 – SCAD diving – Suspended Catch Air Device diving to give it it’s full name. Put simply it’s bungy jumping without the rope, yes seriously! You are dropped from the crane, bridge, etc without any connecting ropes and land gently in a well positioned (hopefully!) catch net!

4 – Extreme Fighter Plane Flights – little white bags at the ready, flights with plenty of ‘G’s which make people go white, and as often as not loose a few pounds in sloppy weight!

5 – Gorge Jumping – or Canyon Swinging - jumping from perfectly solid lump ground into wide open spaces! A sort of kids swing but on a very large scale. Click here for the Oribi Gorge Video!

6 – Jet Boating – screaming along at high speed in a water jet powered boat, often very close to jagged rocks, in a few inches of water, on a craft which can stop and turn in its own length!

7 – Canyoning and Potholing – Not for the agoraphobics amongst us, squeezing through dark, confined spaces under ground and diving through pools with rocky roofs. Remember your torch!

8 – Paragliding and Hang Gliding – the undoubted thrill of sailing through the air, and down to the ground under a few strings and a nicely shaped sail (with a few poles thrown in, if you are hang gliding!). Why not combine this madness with a spot of extreme skiing by taking part in Speedriding.

9 – Bungy Jumping – seems a bit strange to see this one, which is considered pretty radical, so low down this list, but compared with some of the above choices it seems a little tame! But fun and high adrenalin inducing all the same.

10 – F1 Car Passenger Rides – sitting behind, or besides a professional ‘nutter’ as he navigates you around a race track at unbelievable speeds in one of the world’s most extreme motor racing vehicles. Plenty G forces on offer!

And as with any top 10, we always have a few other notable mentions which almost made the top 10!

Most Motorcycling Activities are usually pretty adrenalin filled – I can say this as a keen track, off road and on road motorcyclist! Dead flies on your teeth grin inducing fun!

Halo Jumping - Extreme Parachuting, High Altitude exits and Low altitude opening of the chute! One for a pair of clean pants!

Mountain Bike Parks usually have more than their fair share of bone cracking sounds permeating through the hills! Or Mountain Biking down the world's most dangerous road in Bolivia.

Freediving – scuba diving, but without the scuba bit!

Cruising – Cruising I hear you ask! well it’s a little more extreme if you are cruising to the North Pole or Antarctica.

Climbing – Always an adrenalin sport, even more so if you are climbing Mount Everest!

Scuba Diving – here again we have one or two extreme versions available, such as diving to the wreck of the Titanic, diving with killer whales, diving with great white sharks or diving with crocodiles.

The odd very odd fight! Great traditional events like the Tomatina Tomato fight in Spain and the Chios Fireworks fight (here two Greek villages fire some 25,000 rockets at each other’s churches!)

Plenty of daft ideas - take your pick - Crash helmets at the ready!

Top Ten Hot Air Balloon Flights

2011-01-20T05:42:00.000-08:00

Taking a ride in a Hot Air Balloon is a stunning experience. Possibly THE best way of experiencing a scenic flight! As you would expect here on YouGoDo, the world’s biggest activities and experiences website, we have a huge range of Hot Air Balloon flights from some of the world’s most exotic flight locations. So what are the YouGoDo user’s favourites? At the time of writing this article the YouGoDo users Top 10 Hot Air Balloon Flights are:

1 - Barcelona Hot Air Balloon Flights – flights over the dramatic Catalonian landscapes. This link also includes an amitious project to take passengers up to the edge of Space in a Hot Air Balloon, called a Bloon!

2 - Hot Air Ballooning in Dubai – flights over the dramatic sand dunes of the Middle East deserts.

3 - Malaga Hot Air Balloon Flights – Hot Air Balloon flights over southern Spain.

4 - Brussels Hot Air Balloon Flights – flights over the Flanders region of Belgium.

5 - Madrid Hot Air Balloon Flights - see Spain's capital from the air.

6 - Hot Air Balloon Flights in Switzerland from Château-d’Oex (home of the famous International Hot Air Balloon Festival). Check out the cool cow shaped Balloon also shown under this link!

7 - Hot Air Balloon Flights in Orlando - see the Florida Everglades and the popular Orlando tourist attractions from the air.

8 - Cairns Hot Air Balloon Flights – flights in Australia, also from the Gold Coast and other Queensland locations.

9 - Bruges Hot Air Balloon flights - stunning flights over one of Belgium’s most enchanting historic towns.

10 - Californian Hot Air Ballooning Experiences - cruise over Cali in style!

Some stunning choices above for prospective flyers! A few notables which are not currently in the top ten, but we feel are well worth a mention include:

Hot Air Balloon flights in Turkey – some stunning scenery on offer in the Cappadocia mountains.

Hot Air Balloon Flights over Phoenix – again a stunning location for breath-taking scenery.

Hot Air Ballooning in China - taking passengers over the amazing Yangshuo mountain scenery.

Take a look at the current YouGoDo Top Ten Hot Air Ballooning activities, and then take your time and drift slowly, preferably with a glass of champagne, through the hundreds of other Hot Air Ballooning options, available on YouGoDo from around the world.

It’s an experience I would highly recommend. I’m lucky enough to have ridden in a Hot Air Balloon and the biggest surprise to me was just how calm, quiet and serene the experience is. Prior to the flight I had expected it to be freezing cold (there was snow on the ground), noisy, windy and bouncy. Yet it could not have been more different – I enjoyed a stunning calm, serene flight. Maybe I was lucky - tell us your stories using the comments below! Now with hindsight, as you are travelling at the same speed as all of the wind around you, this is the way it should be (a bit dumb of me not to think about this before flying!).

So get the iced champagne in the support vehicle, and give it a try!

Unusual things to do in Dubai

2011-01-17T01:36:00.000-08:00

There cannot be many more unusual places than Dubai, so it’s no surprise that Dubai has more than it’s fair share of unusual things to do. Dubai is a place, one of the 6 Arab Emirates which make up the United Arab Emirates, which has changed from a small desert dwelling by a trading creek, into an incredible and huge tourist and business centre at an amazing pace in recent years.

Dubai is home to some of the world’s most incredible and ambitious building projects like Palm Island, The Burj Khalifa, the indoor ski runs, the amazing iconic 7 star Burj Al Arab Hotel and more. It’s location, between desert and beach, and warm dry climate make it a great place to ‘go and play’. So what are some of the best unusual things to do in Dubai.

Starting at the top, I guess this is very unusual in that Dubai is the only place in the world where you can currently travel high up into the World’s tallest building - The ‘At the Top’ Burj Khalifa experience gives visitors a stunning panoramic view of the Gulf states from 124^th floor of the world’s tallest building.

Heading inland next and if sand and petrol is your thing, this is the place for you! The desert plays host to numerous great and exciting Dubai desert motoring adventures – Dune Buggy driving, Desert Driving Courses, 4x4 Overnight Adventures, Hummer Safaris and Wild Dune Driving are all on the menu from a number of Dubai Desert Adventure providers. Within town there are also a host of motoring experiences on offer at the Dubai Autodrome.

For other fun in the desert, without the petrol driven adrenalin, but with plenty of ‘non fuel’ fun why not try your hand at Sandboarding (Dune surfing), Night Camel Trekking, Desert Golf (on the sand) or Horse Riding. Or if horses are your thing, why not experience breakfast with thoroughbreds in Dubai?

Unusual water fun in Dubai includes the recently opened Aquaventure water park where guests ride through live shark tanks on their inflatable tubes, Dubai jet boat rides, sea plane rides (well you start and end on the water), kayaking, Dubai duck tours (land and water based bus tours of the city) and of course the fun and cheap traditional Abra rides across Dubai’s creek.

Up in the sky’s above Dubai there are numerous scenic flights and of course several unforgettable hot air balloon flights over Dubai.

And to round your unusual day off why not take a drink in Vu’s bar, over 1,000 feet up on the 51^st floor of the Emirates Towers on the Sheik Zayed Road.

There is plenty of unusual fun on offer with Dubai - get over and take it in!

A few other useful links -

Unusual things to do in Dubai

Things to do in Dubai

Horse Riding in Dubai