7 museum ships with a great story

Vasa, the ship that sank

The Vasa is a Swedish warship built in the early 17th century. The ship sank after sailing about 1,300 meters (1,400 yd) into her maiden voyage on 10 August 1628. Vasa was built top-heavy and had insufficient ballast. Despite an obvious lack of stability in port, she was allowed to set sail. After a few minutes she encountered a wind stronger than a breeze and started to heel to port, pushing the open lower gun ports under water, causing water to rush in on the lower gun deck. The gun ports were open because it was intended to give a cannon salute to the crowd and many VIP’s who were in the harbor to see the maiden voyage of Sweden’s biggest warship. The inflow of water heeled Vasa over further, and she quickly sank.

10 iconic James Bond locations

In this article we are visiting 10 locations that were featured in the James Bond movies. The purpose of this list is to show how a previous rather unknown location or landmark can be made famous instantly thanks to the Bond franchise. Today, they all receive a lot of tourists, but without 007 they still would be relative unknown to the public.

james bond

The Amalfi Coast: a road trip to remember

The Amalfi Coast, located along the southern flanks of the Sorrento Peninsula near Naples, is by far Italy's most scenic stretch of coastline. A landscape with cliffs rising out of the sea, medieval villages terraced into hillsides is what you can expect. No wonder that Unesco decided to add this unique Mediterranean landscape to the World Heritage list in 1996. The Amalfi Drive, which we follow, is a narrow road that threads along the high cliffs above the Tyrrhenian Sea. Add in drop-dead views and mad Italian drivers, and this will be a road trip to remember.

amalfi coast drive
Amalfi Drive

Ice ice baby: Alaskan road trip on Seward Highway

Starting in Anchorage, Alaska's Seward Highway meanders 127 miles (204 kilometers) across the Kenai Peninsula, before ending in the harbor town of Seward at Resurrection Bay. You could drive it in under three hours, but don't. Spend at least a couple of days to the round-trip to give yourself some time to explore wonderful nature of south-central Alaska.

You’ll see few towns and almost no sign of civilisation, except the road you’re driving on. But if you're looking for whales and waterfalls, blue glaciers and sharp-toothed mountains, calm ponds and mighty fjords, there's enough to see too keep you busy taking pictures all the trip long.

Seward Highway
Seward Highway

One Ring to rule them all: Road trip on the Iceland Ring Road

A small guy named Frodo once had a ring with the inscription: One Ring to rule them all. If the had a GPS in Middle-Earth, it would point him not the way to Mordor, but directly to Iceland. There they have a road unlike any others: the Ring Road, or Route 1. 830 miles of adventure and surprises, majestic lava fields mingle with snow-capped mountains to create a world that would make our little Hobbit feel like he still is in Middle-Earth. This road trip is epic and unforgettable in many ways: relax in natural hot springs and see the erupting geysers, walk on the ancient ice of glaciers and explore volcanic craters.

Iceland Ring Road
Iceland Ring Road

Westeros in real life: The Game of Thrones filming locations

Based on the best-selling book series A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin, the TV-series Game of Thrones is a huge success. Fans seeking a more immersive experience in the world of Westeros now have another option: "Game of Thrones" tourism. From Iceland to Malta and Croatia to Morocco, we check out the "Game of Thrones" filming locations.

Hint: Open a new tab showing Google Maps next to this page. Copy/paste the given Lat/Long coordinates in Google map's searchbox to see the Game of Thrones locations on a map.

game of thrones filming in Iceland
The crew filming in Iceland

Road trip on the Pacific Coast Highway

The Pacific Coast Highway runs along the central California coast and offers an exhilarating driving experience. The twisting, cliff-hugging, 123-mile (198-kilometer) road threads through Big Sur, where mountains plunge into the Pacific. In some places, the road has sharp drop-offs and narrow turns, so stay alert. This route can be difficult to drive with RVs or other oversize vehicles.

Pacific coast highway

Sicily by oldtimer

We are in Sicily, Italy, for a special kind of road trip. We land at the Catania airport where we rent an old Alfa Romeo Giulia to discover the eastern part of the island. At the coffee corner we meet Ben, the owner of the old timer road trip company Sicily by classic. He takes us to Linguaglossa, the start point of our trip. Like a real Italian he races trough the busy airport traffic while using the horn and hand gesticulations very often. We are in Italy, so much is clear.

oldtimers Sicily
The three old timers used for tour trips

The German Alpine road or Alpenstrasse

The German Alpenstrasse (Alpine road) is an exhilarating route full of twists and turns that runs for a distance of over 450 km between Lindau and Berchtesgaden. The stunning Alpine landscapes offers the visitor a varied and magnificent panorama. The route takes you past numerous mountain lakes, Alpine meadows, magnificent castles and guys in lederhosen (we promise you’ll see one at least). This is a German road, not a French one, so the lanes are wide and the speed limits generous.

alpenstrasse

Blue Ridge Parkway road trip

Running for 469 miles (755 km) along the famous Blue Ridge mountain chain, Blue Ridge Parkway connects the Shenandoah National Park in the north to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in the south. Starting at Rockfish Gap, this road trip picks us up where Skyline drive ends. The Parkway itself is not a National Park, but is a National Scenic Byway. Around every bend you’ll find another surprise for the eye, whether it’s a hawk’s-eye view of a river valley, a tree-covered peak or a peaceful pasture crowded with cows.

Blue Ridge Parkway
Blue Ridge Parkway

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