A world of travel wonders await those who dare

How many fantastic destinations are still waiting for you to discover them? So many you probably haven't even heard of them all.
         

For the travelers on your Christmas list, make it easy for them to navigate the world with these four new travel books, which are part inspiration, part explanation:

“1,000 Places to See in the United States and Canada Before You Die,” updated 3rd edition, by Patricia Schultz (Workman, $24.95): The “1,000 Places” bucket list trend began in 2003 when Schultz published the original “1,000 Places to See Before You Die” guide, describing don’t-miss spots around the world. Now comes the 3rd edition of the North America volume, which is probably more useful to the traveler in your life than the original.

Completely updated, it now includes sights like the High Line in New York City, St. Lawrence Market in Toronto, and Fogo Island in Newfoundland and Labrador. It’s a good gift because it should prompt a little competitive bragging among family members on Christmas morning, when each person figures out how many spots he or she has already been to, like Mackinac Island and Niagara Falls. That’s two. Only 998 to go.

“Must Eat Paris: An Eclectic Selection of Culinary Locations” by Luc Hoornaert (Lannoo, $24.95.) This book, part of a series, may become quickly outdated, what with restaurants closing and opening at the speed of light. For now, it is a detailed guide to Paris dining, much of it off the beaten track. Divided by regions of the city, it includes famed spots like Septime and  a whole lot of Paris’ obscure restaurants tucked into small corners of various neighborhoods. For foodies only.

“Wild Beautiful Places: Picture Perfect Journeys Around the Globe,” edited by George Stone (National Geographic Books, $40.) This gorgeous gift book highlights 50 world destinations beloved by photographers. Destinations include Ilulissat, Greenland; Sable Island, Nova Scotia; the Albanian Alps and the Chocolate Hills in the Philippines. You’ll be inspired. You’ll also be getting out a map to figure out exactly where these remote places actually are — and trying to figure out how to get there.

The Holiday Travel Myths You Should Never Believe

With the candy eaten and the costume photos emoji’d on Facebook, our cultural attention now turns to the holidays, and, more specifically, to all that dreaded holiday travel. After all, the holidays are the busiest travel season of the year and always a total nightmare, right? Not necessarily. Here are some travel myths people follow that you’ll give thanks to ignore.
         

1.You Should Fly On The Tuesday Before Thanksgiving

One of the most commonly held myths is that there’s a specific day you should be getting into the air. It tends to flip-flop between the Tuesday or Wednesday before Thaksgiving (depending on who you ask), but the basic idea is that if you avoid the “busiest travel day of the year,” you’ll have a much better turkey day. Except, well, Thanksgiving doesn’t even come close to being the hardest time to travel.

2.There Are More Delays On Thanksgiving

Allegedly, Thanksgiving sees more delays than any other time of the year, but the numbers don’t lie: Last year, the Thanksgiving holiday saw 15% of flights delayed and less than one percent of flights canceled in the US. That’s two percentage points below
the yearly average. Yep, that means you have a better chance of making your flight on “one of the worst travel days of the year” than you do on a random weekday.

3.The TSA Will Unwrap Your Presents And Take Your Food

It should tell you how sick the TSA is of this particular myth that they have a whole blog post about how, no, they probably aren’t going to unwrap your presents. That said, they do reserve the right to open wrapped packages if they set off an alarm or trigger a sensor, so consider leaving metal objects, electronics, perfumes, and the like unwrapped, and look at what needs to be checked as opposed to carried on.

Click Frenzy travel sale

When Click Frenzy's first standalone online travel sale, Travel Frenzy kicks off, it promises to offer up to 70 per cent on travel and travel-related products. But will it cope with demand?

That's the prediction of Click Frenzy managing director Grant Arnott, who also promises savings on single purchases during this special event could reach into the thousands of dollars for savvy bargain hunters. "Australians love a bargain and they love to travel," says Arnott. "We're expecting huge interest and huge savings."
But will shoppers find bargains that aren't already out there in the market? The proof of the pudding is likely to be in the eating, as Arnott isn't giving away any specifics of what's on offer. Buyers will have to wait till the sale begins, 7pm AEST, Tuesday October 18.

Travel Frenzy is a spin off of Click Frenzy, a series of online sales events timed to coincide with the busiest shopping periods in the year. The sales run for 24 hours straight and are a one-stop-shop for bargain basement offers from a participating online retailers.

After noticing high interest in the travel section of Click Frenzy in the past few years, " … but limited offerings compared to fashion and home wares deals", the travel-only sale was conceived.

Click Frenzy is based on the US Black Friday physical sale day and Cyber Monday event, held each year after Thanksgiving and which are considered the kick off of the Christmas season. Billions of dollars in sales take place.

Small, beautiful Mediterranean islands – readers’ travel tips

Winning tip: Walking on Sifnos, Greece

Sifnos, in the Cyclades, provides a mix of beautiful beaches with a few cafes, restaurants and bars. There are great hiking trails that will lead you to remote, quiet beaches; and delightful hilltop villages with independent boutiques and tavernas. The hiking trails of over 100km are well signposted and maintained by the authorities with a website that provides details of each trail (difficulty level, point of interest, distance and more) and detailed, downloadable GPS maps. We particularly liked trail 4, a loop that offers great panoramic views, solitude, and two beaches to ourselves at Fikyada. For a sundowner and dinner, head to Apollonia and don’t miss the bakeries that offer traditional Greek pastries and baked goods. Melopita, a cheese pie with honey, is a must. I stayed at Villa Antoniadis (from €50 a night) at Platis Gialos: it’s a B&B five minutes’ walk inland from the beach. It has a large pool and friendly owners, who serve delicious and indulging breakfasts.

          
Astypalaia, Greece

This butterfly-shaped island in the Dodecanese is the true arthropod of the Mediterranean. Three minutes away from Livadi beach is Kalderimi “hotel” – actually a group of traditionally built houses (doubles from £50 a night B&B) with a clear view of 13th-century Guerini Castle’s Venetian splendour. While staying on this isolated island, we felt truly at peace with the world. Among the island’s attractions are its caves, with fantastic formations of stalactities and stalagmites. Caves have always been a part of Greek mythology and Astypalaia has some glorious examples.