More Globetrotting! We're off to Seville!

Alcazar - Photo Credit: Arshad Habib

No rest for us here at Trippa. While we're finishing up the content for one city, we've already got our sights on another wonderful destination - Seville!

The capital and largest city of Andalusia, the region which occupies the whole southern coast and inland beyond Cordoba, Seville is a River Port, famous for being the city which all goods from the New World had to pass through before being allowed to be distributed to the rest of Spain. This royal monopoly on trade with the colonies established Seville as a major city, and brought enormous wealth to the region.

That wealth was channeled into infrastructure and gloriously decadent building work. A Romans obvious, with ruins, temples and aqueducts dotted around the city, between which the city is densely packed and with definite Moorish influence. But it is the palatial structures of Seville's Golden Age that stand tall above the rest, quite literally.

The mish-mash of styles has a very Andalusian vein running through it, meaning even the smallest, tightly packed houses can sit next to the most lavish museum building and not look out of place.

With such a rich history (and I mean rich in terms of wealth as well as length) clearly visible in the architecture, Seville is simply one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

We've picked some of the grandest, most beautiful buildings from the bunch just to give you a quick taste of the city's wonderful sights.

Courtyard of the Hotel Alfonso XIII
Photo Credit: HerryLawford

General Archive of the Indies
Photo Credit: Anual

Plaza de Espana
Photo Credit: ctsnow

We can't wait to bring you the very best of this wonderful city!

Some of Oslo's finest!

To celebrate the new Trippa Destination - Oslo - we're taking a look at some of our favourite places in the Norwegian capital.

Sight - The Tiger

Oslo is known to Norwegians as "Tiger City". This bronze sculpture prowls the square in front of the central train station.

Shop - Moods of Norway

Summed up by their simple motto - "Happy clothes for happy people".

Bar - Fuglen

A coffee shop by day, a cocktail bar by night, and all of the furniture, fixtures and fittings are for sale - designed by Norway's most up and coming designers. This is such a cool place to relax.

Restaurant - Bagatelle

Absolute luxury at what is probably Norway's most famous restaurant. It was once the holder of a Michelin star - the only Norwegian holder.










Full entries for each of these venues are featured in the recently released Trippa Oslo app! Download the Trippa Oslo app here:
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/trippa-oslo/id662900826?mt=8
It is packed with high quality content, very easy to use and, best of all, free!

Photo Credits: joncallas, Moods of Norway, nalungaard and Kjetil Ree

Win a stay in Oslo with the new Trippa Oslo app!

It's here! We've been working hard to finish it up and now our efforts have come to fruition in the stylish Trippa Oslo app! Our latest Trippa destination is now available in the app store!

We went to the Norwegian capital to get a first-hand feel of the city, and have compiled this awesome app which is packed full of information on the best sights to see, the best hotels to stay in and the best bars and restaurants to go to. We've listed the most stylish places n the city so you don't have to waste any time seeking them out - just open the app and instantly find the places you'll want to visit!

To celebrate the release of this beautiful app for this wonderful city, we're giving one lucky user the chance to win a two-night stay for two in Oslo, so you can see exactly why we love the city for yourself!

Oslo is beautiful, and one of its greatest features is its climate. In the summer, it's a glorious, bright city with ample opportunity to go swimming or sunbathe in one of the most naturally beautiful cities on earth. In winter, you can go skiing right from your doorstep and wander through the snow covered centre. It's like two different cities all in one!

And because it's an awesome place to visit whatever the weather, we're leaving the choice up to you! If you win our competition, you can choose when you go!

To be in with the chance to win a two night stay for two people in the heart of Norway's capital, simply download the new Trippa Oslo application, swipe right (or press our social icon in the top-right hand side of the navigation bar) and view your welcome messages.

We've left a very special welcome message for you linking to our competition. Simply enter your name, email address and phone number in the form and we'll pop your details in a hat to be drawn at random.

Download Trippa Oslo now, here: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/trippa-oslo/id662900826?mt=8

Good luck!

The competition closes at midnight GMT on 30 August 2013. One entry per person. Normal Trippa competition rules apply.

To find out about more competitions and the latest news from Trippa, follow us on Twitter @GoTrippa!https://twitter.com/GoTrippa

Øya Rock Festival, Oslo

Today marks the beginning of the four day Øya rock festival in Oslo, with the Norwegian capital welcoming bands such as Blur, Wu-Tang Clan, Of Monsters and Men and Kraftwerk to play alongside famous Scandinavian bands and legends of rock such as John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin.

A good mix of international superstars and local up-and-coming talent take to the city's Medieval Park, which is the location of the original city's ruins, to play to 60,000 music fans.

The name Øya means "island" and is a reference to the festival's previous incarnation. From 1971 to 1997, the festival took place on Klavøya Island under the name Klavøya Festival. Legends such as Frank Zappa, Carlos Santana and Nirvana had played the Klavøya stages, a pedigree the festival organisers wished to continue when the festival was revived in the Medieval Park in 2001.

The location is perfect. Set among the beautiful green parks which contain the original Oslo's ruins, music fans get to listen to awesome music right at the heart of their city. Despite its pretty central location, on the east side of the city just behind the central train station, the area has a very village-like feel. It is quiet and serene for most of the year, until August 6th of course, when some of the worlds best rockers roll into town.

Even still, they don't disturb things at all. Oslo has a very welcoming, inclusive feel, and great music is respected by all. There is a sense of fun and celebration in the air, without it spilling over to nuisance. Oslo appreciates festivals, and integrates them into the fabric of life, resulting in a really great atmosphere that can be felt throughout the city. The festival is family friendly too, but you may want to protect the ears of little ones!

Øya Rock Festival incorporates the very best of the city. A "shopping street" is erected every year on the festival grounds, where the creatives from around the trendy Grünerløkka come to sell their goods, from records, artwork and second-hand redesigned clothes. Many stalls serve excellent food, all of it environmentally and ecologically friendly. Everything is effortlessly cool and effortlessly ethical.

Øya Rock Festival takes place every August in Norway's capital. Tickets for this year are sold out, and the festival starts today, so maybe start planning for next year! Make sure you check out the Trippa destinations before you go - Trippa Oslo will be live on the app store long before next years event, so let Trippa show you around one of Europe's finest cities!

In the mean time, check out our other travel apps in the Trippa series! Marseille is this year's European Capital of Culture. If you prefer art and museums to rock festivals, take a trip to the south of France to soak up some culture with Trippa!

Photo credit: baekken

Weekend at Berns - Happy Birthday to one of our Favourite Venues!

One of our favourite venues that we've reviewed in all of the Trippa apps is Berns. The enormous hall plays host to a huge array of events, with wonderful bars and a beautiful terrace providing the perfect location for a quiet drink before the party gets going. The attached hotel is pretty darn snazzy too - probably our favourite in the city.

And we've just found out that Berns is 150 years old today!

Describing itself as "Stockholmers own living room", Berns really does welcome in the whole city to relax. It's a huge, lavish building overlooking the beautiful little Berzelli Park, right on the water's edge, it is a Swedish institution and one of the most respected venues in the city.

Berns has a fantastic history. It opened its doors in 1863. The newly built hall sat alongside the park which had begun construction nine years earlier, turning a "foul smelling ditch" in a run down area of the city into a beautiful public space. Commissioned by Sweden's most skilled pastry chef, Heinrich Robert Berns, who had become very famous and wealthy through his craft, Berns was the most grand hall Stockholm had ever seen.

A concert hall that hosted orchestras regularly, to play to the customers there for balls, parties or just to sit in the cafe with an ice cream, coffee or the latest trendy liqueur, it was one of the city's cultural hubs.

In 1940, already a Stockholm institution for nearly a century, three Chinese chefs were employed to open Sweden's first Chinese restaurant at Berns. Since then it has hosted chorus girls, Arethra Franklin and the Supremes and, in more modern times, a digital art gallery.

Always at the forefront of new cultural projects in the city, Berns is a thriving epicentre of activity. It received a facelift in 1989, adding a fantastic steel and glass terrace on the front face overlooking the park. Even after 150 years, Berns is the main place to go in Stockholm for food, drinks, entertainment, fun and meeting people.

Berns and Berns Hotel will be featured in our upcoming Trippa Stockholm app, which will be available on iTunes along with our other travel guide destinations. Keep an eye out for the Stockholm edition! In the meantime, why not let Trippa take you somewhere stylish? Download our Marseille city guide and let Trippa show you the best places in one of Europe's other most stylish destinations!