Whole Travel Blog

When thinking about Beijing, images of the recent Olympics, the Forbidden City, and the Great Wall come to mind. However, there’s a completely different kind of China to discover on the outskirts of Beijing.

This week’s New York Times Travel section explores the hiking opportunities that abound in the lush, mountainous regions surrounding Beijing and declares fall the perfect time to visit. Read more about it here.

If you were considering going away this holiday season but assumed that prices would be too high to take a trip, you might want to reconsider. Taking the financial crisis and tighter budgets into account, several airlines and hotels have slashed their prices making a far-away escape a definite possibility.

In its Sunday travel section, the New York Times discusses the low-season like deals available for the upcoming high holiday season that include trips for everyone - from the warm waters of the Carribean to the snowy slopes of Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

A new trend has emerged in Germany: converting old farms into “Heuhotels” or hay hotels, where guests literally spend the night on a bed of hay.

This trend isn’t just new, it’s also cheap and eco-friendly since guests bring their own sleeping bags and towels.

For a list of “Heuhotels,” visit www.heuhotels.de or check out this New York Times article about it.

While most stories involving cows focus on their methane emissions and, as a result, their inherent contribution to global warming, the New York Times shines a different light on cow manure: the possibility and practice of turning it into electricity.

Given that the amount of methane gas the average dairy cow expels per day can be as much as 132 gallons, farmers might have stepped into an incredible source of alternative energy.