Stockholm's Top Sights

Stockhholm was one of our favourite destinations to write about and visit.  The capital of Scandinavia is quickly becoming known worldwide as a hub of culture in the north of Europe, rapidly becoming the coolest new place to be.  Our Stockholm guide is due to be launched in the next few days so here are a selection of our favourite places inside the city.

The recently opened museum dedicated entirely to the history of 80's pop sensation ABBA takes pride of place at the top of our guide.  You can spend a whole day reliving what it was like to be a part of the group with exhibitions including some of their famous costumes and set pieces that featured on the covers of some of their most popular albums.  You can also get involved by singing along to their songs, dancing the night away and even have the opportunity to speak to members of the group.

Stockholms City Hall is a staple tourist destination for anyone visiting the city.  The colours and the architecture attract thousands of visitors every year.  No visit to Stockholm would be complete without climbing to the top of the famous 106 foot high tower

Vasa is the most popular museum in Stockholm.  It is actually a ship which sank hundreds of years ago and has been dragged up.  You can learn all about the history of Stockholm in this very unsual setting.  It's a fun day out for all the family, getting adults and kids involved throughout the day.

Not normally a city people associate with the beach, Stockholm actually has a selection of fantastic beaches.  We've chosen to include Langholmen island in the guide which was formerly a prison island, left to ruin and turned into a beautiful hotel, cafe and relaxation destination.

These are just our favourites, there are many many more sights in the finished guide, keep an eye out for details of the launch, coming in the next few days!  If you want to see our current selection of travel guide apps then take a look at the Trippa website today

La Merce Festival, Barcelona

This weekend is the 111th annual La Merce festival in Barcelona.  This 5 day long free festival fills the streets of Barcelona with music, parties, street performances and art.

The opening ceremony is a fantastic parade full of  giants, dwarves, dragons and other weird and wonderful mythical creatures that should give you a good idea of the whole spirit of the festival.  The true creative nature of Barcelona is on show here, not just the city but also the people who make it what it is.

La Merce is spread across 17 venues throughout the city including Rambla del Raval, Plaça Reial, Castell de Montjuïc, Plaça dels Àngels, Avinguda de la Catedral and Plaça Reial .

There are so many events going on every single day that we couldn’t possibly include them all into one blog post, but these are our top two things to see during your visit to this hub of activity.

Castellers (Human Towers), this unbelievable display of skill and strength held in Plaça de Jaume is one that really has to be seen to be believed.  The aim of the event is to construct the tallest human tower and to have a small child stand up at the very top of it for just a short moment. Bear in mind that the square fills up very quickly so make sure you turn up early to get the best view.

Correfoc (Fire Run), which quite scarily is exactly what it sounds like.  The roads around Via Laietana are closed and opened to ‘The Devils’ who are a community group that dress up in capes with pitchforks holding onto hand held sparkelers and firecrackers, aiming them at passersby.  It’s not for the feint of heart to get involved with, but plenty of fun to watch from a distance.

The La Merce festival also includes the Barcelona BAM music festival which is in it's infancy and showcases the finest musical talent that Catalonia has to offer as well as other acts from all around the world.  Each year a guest city is invited to show off their culture and top artistic proposals at La Merce.  Previous years have included Medellin, Quito, Istanbul, Dakar, Saint Petersburg and Montreal, this year is the turn of history and culturally rich Vienna.

Over 2,000,000 people are expected to attend over the whole five days of the festival.  No ticket is required to attend any of the celebrations, just turn up over the weekend and immerse yourself in the festivities.  For a full programme and details of all the events that are taking place, visit the official La Merce website.

Our Barcelona travel guide app is due to come out before the end of the month, so keep your eyes peeled.  Right now though you can see our full list of travel guide app destinations here

Berlin by Bike!

Berlin is an extraordinarily interesting city. The divide between east and west is still noticeable, and the transition is instant - not gradual like you would see in an organically growing city. It's like two cities have crashed into each other. It's the perfect place for us at Trippa to visit and pick out the very best of the city to help show you around with our travel apps!

Travelling around, you can take in the strange differences and fascinating clash of cultures by looking at the majestic architecture next to the vast, functional buildings of the Communists, the enormous green spaces such as Tiergarten in contrast to the bleak concrete squares of the east side, which are beautiful in their own way, and the striking changes in atmosphere which are just around the corner. It's a fascinating experience.

One of the best ways to take it all in is surely by bike. The city is a cycle-haven and getting out in the fresh air, travelling at your own pace down any road you want to take makes sightseeing even more of a pleasure.

Cycling is so easy in Berlin. Being such a flat city, cycling is never laborious. You can just peddle around leisurely and take in the sights, stopping only when you want to spend a little more time looking or for a lie down on the grass in the beautiful gardens and on the banks of the River Spree.

There's no need to worry about safety as a cyclist in Berlin. In the UK and other European countries, cycling can be a little hazardous even if you are the most attentive cyclist. But in the German capital, bikes have been such a large presence on the roads for so long that road users are more attentive and considerate when it comes to bike-riding road users. Drivers have had hundreds of cyclists sharing the road with them for decades, so bikes are respected as any other vehicle rather than a road-hogging nuisance.

The roads are much safer for cyclists due to both the considerate drivers and the sheer space afforded by the size of the roads. Berlin's roads were built to allow enormous military vehicles such as tanks down them, often side by side. That means that the city benefits from great wide roads and many of the widest avenues have dedicated cycle lanes with an abundance of space, well away from the other traffic. These are not narrow afterthoughts, but a welcome provision for the hundreds of people who cycle in the city.

As a visitor to the city, you will not be left out. If you start to feel a little jealous of the Berliners peddling around enjoying the breeze and the sunshine while you are forced to use buses and the U-Bahn, clean and efficient as they are, then you can join in! Berlin has a number options to get you on your bike, or at least a bike.

There are several bike rental companies that operate in the city, providing you with a bike for the day from as little as €9. Companies such as Pedalpower and Fahrradstation rent bikes to everyone – you just have to turn up at the shop, pay and cycle away.

Even easier than that, you can rent one of the thousands of bikes stationed outside stations and near major roads with Call-A-Bike. Armed with only a credit card and a phone, you can register and request a code to unlock one of the bikes. Then you ride it to wherever you want to go, park it in one of the Call-A-Bike stations and go on your way. The cost is €0.80 per minute up to a maximum of €15 in 24 hours.  Perfect for an easy, flexible way of seeing the best of Berlin.

Berlin is one of the upcoming Trippa Destinations. Check out what's going on in the city this month with Trippa!

Photo Credit: (vincent desjardins)

The beautiful Welsh Capital is a haven of sport. The spiritual home of rugby, with the magnificent Millennium Stadium dominating the horizon, Cardiff City FC newly promoted to the Premier League and now, the world's most expensive footballer. Cardiff is the hometown of Gareth Bale, who completed an £85million move to Real Madrid on Monday.

The gorgeous capital of Wales was one of our first Trippa destinations, and since then it has become the most popular city guide app for Cardiff. And now, with Cardiff elevated to the world stage with Bale becoming a Galactico and an international superstar, there has been no better time to see what all the fuss is about. Trippa Cardiff provides you with all the information you need for a stylish stay in Cardiff, fit for one of the world's most expensive sportsmen when he comes home.

Bale will now be looking for a home in one of Europe's most stylish cities, among the elite football players which make up the superstar Madrid side. Maybe we'll have to take a swing by Madrid when we start to think of our next destination!

Of course, one of the most tantalizing prospects of Bale's Madrid career will be El Classico - games between his new club and their arch-rivals, FC Barcelona. Some of those games will take place in the Catalan capital, another one of our upcoming Trippa destinations.

When you're the world's most expensive player, and you're earning £300,000 a week, you're going to be living in and visiting some of the most extraordinarily stylish cities in the world. Madrid and Barcelona are two of them. So look out for our Barcelona app coming out soon.

And now Cardiff is up there too. Luckily, we've always known it was a very stylish place. We collected the very best of the city in Trippa Cardiff, so come and get a bit of what made Gareth Bale so great, and let us show you around!

Photo Credits: joncandy and janS0L0