Website Wednesday…Shortcut to Fabulously Inexpensive Rail Tickets

Who: Mark Smith, a world train travelor founded the website to bring affordable, comfortable train and ship travel to everyone and help Americans stop getting the sucker prices on the American Eurorail website!

What: A website devoted to help you fint the best train travel options at the best prices throughout the world.

When: Whenever you are planning a vacay!

Where: http://www.seat61.com/

Why: Because we all deserve the same deals and prices as residents of the countries we visit!

So, bookmark this site in your travel folder and enjoy this shortcut to fabulous train travel!

Website Wednesday…Shortcut to Fabulous Last Minute Fun…can you say Vacay!

Who: A fabulous British Company who knows the importance of a good last minute getaway!

What: Amazing last minute deals for this weekend and beyond to destinations near and far (all over the globe)!

When: Whenever you want a great deal and a great getaway!

Where: http://us.lastminute.com. Be sure to sign up for their newsletter and get travel deals departing from your hometown sent to your inbox.

Why: Because you only live once and we’re sure you don’t do enough living!

So dust off your passport, start saving your beans, pack your bags and get ready for a fun last minute vacay!

Shortcut to Fabulous Travel Guide for you and your Smartphone!

Who: UK resident, Taige Zhang, combined his love of technology and traveling to bring you this blog.

What: A blog with tips, hints and a guide on how to use your smartphone when traveling with a special section on funding internet abroad and traveling with the iphone.

When: Whenever you book a vacay!

Where: http://azitravel.com/

Why: Because travel can be even more fabulous when you bring along your gadgets and know how to use them!

Shortcut to Fabulous Favorites of NYC

There are as many fabulous places in New York City as there are people, but we decided to share our favorites with you.

Favorite Museum: The New York City Tenement Museum. This museum tells the story of America and will change your life once you visit it. The museum is housed an an actual tenement apartment building that was constructed in 1863. It has been called home by over 7,000 immigrants and some of the residents’ apartments have been restored with acutal pieces from the period in which the family lived in the apartment. To visit this museum, check out the tour options by clicking here. You can only visit the museum by going on a tour, but this makes the experience even more amazing. Go to the website, choose a family you are interested in learning more about, select a date and time and purchase your tickets. Then, meet at the museum gift shop located at 108 Orchard Street and your journey begins! They also have a neighborhood walking tour where you learn what you might have seen and experienced negotiating the streets of the Lower East Side a hundred years ago. However, my favorite tours are the ones that take you inside the apartment building and transport you to New York City at the turn of the century.

Favorite Cupcake Shop: Sweet Revenge. This fun cupcake shop has a menu of delicious and healthy-sized cupcakes with wine a beer pairings for each cupcake. What could be better than a cupcake? A cupcake with a glass of wine! The wine and beer pairings aren’t for everyone, but even if that doesn’t tickle your fancy, the cupcakes are some of the best in the city. Our favorite flavors are the Pure, Crimson & Cream and Not So Dirty. Located at 62 Carmine Street, this is a fun cupcake shop with a cool vibe and delicious cupcakes.

Favorite Candy Shop: Economy Candy located at 108 Rivington Street stocks just about any type of retro candy confection your sweet little heart could desire!

Favorite Junk Store: Pearl River in SOHO. This store is comfortable, air conditioned and large, full of Chinatownesque goods at incredible prices. Think paper lanterns, chinese tea sets, chopsticks and so much more. Located at 477 Broadway.

Favorite Vintage Shop: Zachary’s Smile, two locations in Greenwich Village and NOHO. This vintage clothing shop has decent prices, great pieces and their own collection of vintage inspired clothes.

Best Bargain Hunting Vintage Jewelry Shop: Pippin, located at 112 West 17^th Street, right by a bargain hunter’s paradise complete with a Filene’s basement, TJ Maxx and Loehmanns. This vintage jewelry shop has an amazing selection of jewelry and lots of $5 and $10 pieces!

Favorite Celebrity Chef Restaurant: Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill. We’ve tried just about every celebrity chef’s NYC restaurant and this is our favorite. The prices are moderate, the food is delicious and the atmosphere is fun and hip, but not too pretentious. Located at 102 5th Avenue in the Flatiron District, the restaurant’s central location makes it perfect for a night out on the town.

Favorite Hole in the Wall Lunch Spot: Nha Trang Vietnamese Restaurant. The lunch specials at this Chinatown eatery are out of this world and the service is snappy in the perfect NY sort of way. This is the perfect place to eat a fabulous, quick and tasty lunch for under $10 (under $6 if you have tap water). Our favorite dish is Ga Xao Cary* chicken with curry sauce. Located at 87 Baxter Street.

Favorite Restaurant with a view: The River Cafe, located at 1 Water Street in Brooklyn is worth the extra travel time because the view of Manhattan is spectacular. The foot is pricey, but delicious. Try the chef’s six course  chef’s selection ($125). They serve lunch, dinner and brunch.

Favorite Brunch: Jane Restaurant, 100 West Houston Street location. More affordable than other brunch options, this restaurant has a great atmosphere. Try the creme-brulee battered french toast. Make reservations!

Favorite Chinatown Dim Sum: Jing Fong, 20 Elizabeth Street, 2nd Fl. This is the best place in Manhattan for the full dim sum experience. There might be better dim sum in Queens, but Jing Fong is the perfect Chinatown Dim Sum spot!

So, print our favorites of NYC list and enjoy this shortcut to fabulous food, fun and shopping in Manhattan!

Shortcut to Fabulous Travel Friendly Toiletries

Who: Co-workers, friends and frequent travel partners, Kate and Alexi.

What: Your favorite brands in convenient, airline, TSA-friendly 3 Fluid oz. packages.

When: Before a vacay!

Where: http://www.3floz.com/

Why: Because you should get to bring your favorite products with you when you travel!

Shortcut to Fabulous Travel Planning-Paris

We are in Paris right now working to bring you are the latest and greatest things that the city of lights has to offer the fabulous and chic. We will be giving you shortcuts to travel to Paris in the weeks to come, but we thought we would help you get in the mood by offering you a fabulous F-R-E-E planning tip! Rick Steves is the quintessential Euroholic tour guide. We can’t remember a trip we’ve taken to Europe without him (the yellowed guidebooks in our library from 1999 prove it!). Rick gives amazing travel tips, though he is lacking when it comes to shopping tips. Buy his paris guide by clicking here or his France guide by clicking here. As great as his guidebooks are, they take up valuable space in a suitcase. So, we photocopy the pages that are pertinent for our trip and stash them in our carry-on.

Before this most recent Paris trip we discovered F-R-E-E audio tour MP3’s on Rick’s website for the Louvre, Musee D’Orsay, Versailles and a historic Paris walk. Click here to check them out. We downloaded these puppies and put them on our iphone thus eliminating the need to photocopy the tour pages of his guidebook and eliminating the need to rent the audio guides at the museum. What does that mean?! More shopping money!!!

Speaking of shopping, we mentioned that Rick’s books don’t give very good shopping info, nor do many of the other guidebooks. Trust us…we spend hours in Barnes and Noble searching for the quintessential Paris shopping guide. We didn’t find the perfect shopping guide, but we found one worth the buy and pretty close to perfect. It is called “Suzy Gershman’s Born to Shop Paris: The Ultimate Guide for People Who Love to Shop” Click here to purchase.

So, stay tuned for more Shortcuts to Fabulous travel in Paris. In the meantime, enjoy this shortcut to fabulous free audio guides!

Shortcut to Fabulous Starwood Hotel Stay!

We love Starwood Hotels because they are chic, fabulous and all over the world. Starwood Hotels include The W, The Sheraton, the Le Meridan, The St. Regis and more. Right now they are having a 25% off sale for weekend stays (Thursday-Sunday) or weekdays for resorts for travel from March 18, 2010 through May 31, 2010. This offer is good for Starwood Properties all over the world including Paris, New York and Hong Kong! Click here to check out the deal and see if you can plan a fun weekend getaway and get a great deal.

Looking for other deals?! Click here to check out this fabulous article on things to note and deals to be had in NYC in 2010. Or you could check out Budget Travel’s real deals page by click here.

So plan a vaca, pack your bags and enjoy this shortcut to fabulous travel deals!

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