We’ve been delighted to receive so many of you in this wonderful city, home to great food, world-class football, and the Catalonian spirit, and to hear you already describe us as “the Best tour in town”.

In response to your feedback, we are proud to add two brand new tours to our schedule.

As of Friday 3rd of March, you can now join us on a Tapas Experience. Let local Spanish guides show you three great, traditional tapas bars in Barceloneta and El Born. By the end of the night, you’ll have met some new friends from all over the world and enjoyed an unforgettable experience, and the drinks along the way are great value for money.

Or, if a little more culture is what you’re hungry for, you can join the Gaudí and Modernisme tour. Highlights include Gaudí’s Life and Life’s Work, the Sagrada Família, the Stars of the Modernisme Era and much much more.

Rest assured, we’re not finished there, and details of skip-the-line entrance tickets, flamenco shows and more will be revealed in due course.

For any questions, contact info@neweuropetours.eu, or visit our website for more details.

Hope to see you in Barcelona soon!

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You can read the full article here. They’ve got loads of other great suggestions, like heading underground to watch the new subway being built, or visiting secret courtyards with 14th century gardens, so be sure to check it out.

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If you’re visiting Jerusalem, the article below by Staywyse is definitely worth reading. Abraham Hostels in Jerusalem has been voted one of the top ten large hostels in the world amongst the hundreds of thousands of guest reviews on Hostelworld.com.

The rooms are “clean and functional, but that’s about it”, Gal Mor who co-owns the hostel told Staywyse in an interview published this week.

They have created a place for budget travellers to rest, meet, and hang out. Crucuially, the award-winning hostel takes pride in make sure its guests really make the most of their time in Jerusalem. As well, as a place to stay, they also offer loads of information about travelling in Israel, activities, and more. All of this combined, according to its reviews on both Hostelworld.com and TripAdvisor, creates a unique, welcoming atmosphere, that leaves people wishing even more places could follow suit. So it seems that, yes, it really is that simple.

So, if you’re looking for a place to stay, Abraham Hostel may just be it. Congratulations from us guys. You’ll find links to Abraham Hostels, as well as to our other trusted partners in the Accommodation we trust section on each of our websites.

http://staywyse.org/2013/03/01/abraham-hostel-ranks-among-top-worldwide-best/
http://www.abraham-hostel-jerusalem.com/

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This is why we consider our TripAdvisor reviews to be so important, and why we make every attempt to make sure the reviews on our page are honest and helpful to travelers like you, looking for a great tour experience, whatever your budget.

A couple of weeks ago, we explained the damage competitors can do by posting fake, implausible reviews on our pages, and how it is often an unpredictable process to get the review removed, even with evidence which disproves the review.

Last week, we flagged what we were sure was a fake, competitor-written review to TripAdvisor staff. Fortunately, they agreed it was a fake and removed it.

This week, the same review has been reposted from a different account, and despite all our attempts to get it removed, TripAdvisor staff are letting it stay this time. (You can read their generic response below).

Now we are asking for you, our guests to take a look. The review can be found here. As you can see, our reviewer with no photograph has only written one review after opening his account a couple of days ago. The profile unsurprisingly specifies no age or gender, no travel preferences, nada. In fact the only piece information provided is the city, the one piece of information required by TripAdvisor during the 30-second sign-up process.

We are sure it’s fake, but please don’t take our word for it! Go and take a look at the review and judge for yourselves. If you agree that it’s suspicious, it would certainly help our chances of getting it removed if you flagged it as such; there is a button for ‘written by a competitor underneath the posting. If you think it’s real, please do nothing; we’re certainly not looking for anybody’s help who’s unconvinced that this is a competitor.

One single negative review harms our rankings enormously, and undoes the efforts of at least 10 people who took the time to thank their guide. So please take a look and consider joining us in giving TripAdvisor the chance, in reconsidering its validity, to be a more useful, more honest community.

TripAdvisor staff are not prepared to act on this reposting of what we feel is a clear, fake review.

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1. Help us beat the fakes on TripAdvisor

Fortunately, mayors of both Amsterdam and Rotterdam agreed, as did many more when they realised that what replaced a colorful, thriving, and regulated trade, generating over €400 million in tax revenue was pushing aggressive drug pushers on to the streets and overwhelming local police.

But it seems these draconian measures may finally be on their way out. Pressure from all those who spoke out, and an angry Dutch not wanting to watch their rights be taken away from them made this matter political. Petitions signed and votes cast, it looks like individual regions will be able to decide for themselves what they think is best.

The opposition to this regulation was always stiff and the fight is not yet over!

We’d like to thank all who you who showed your support to at least 60% of Dutch people who would like to see this law abolished, and who joined us in signing the petition against this badly-devised plan.

If you didn’t sign it, it’s not too late to make your voice heard. Head to https://www.facebook.com/coffeeshopsforallornone to follow the news, and for details of how to sign the petition.

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The Festival of Lights is back for another impressive year of light shows, illuminating all the top iconic Berlin landmarks and the atmosphere during this time is amazing. Travelers and locals, photographers and sightseers of all ages are to be found roaming the night-time streets of Berlin to catch a glimpse of a multi-colored television tower at Alexanderplatz, the Brandenburg Gate with 3d-videomapping projections or the Sony Pictures’ James Bond inspired ‘Skyfall’ illumination at Potsdamer Platz.

image used under CC license – flickr/abbilder

For the more energetic amongst us, or those who are coming to Berlin to party, check out the FREE silent disco in the Lustgarten. 2 hours long, and with Glühwein next door, we don’t think you could wish for a better introduction to the cold light nights of such an amazing northern European capital.

Check out the links below for more information on:

• Silent disco at the Lustgarten
• A full list of installations
• An audio slideshow from last year’s Festival of Lights to get you in the mood

image used under CC license – flickr/abbilder

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If you’re one of the almost 7 million expected to descend on Munich for Oktoberfest this year, then you are in absolute luck. Our Beer Challenge will change its route from September 22 through October 7 to now include TWO beer hall visits, and a trip to the site of Oktoberfest, Theresienwiese, all for the same great price!

Know what you’re talking about when raising your glass, meet some great people, and see if you can meet the challenge.

We don’t think you need another reason to take part? But just in case you do, we’ve got one anyway! Reserve your place in the group online and get 10% off both our adult AND student price, for the next 7 days.

For your 10% discount, book before next Friday September 28th using the code BEERCHALLENGE2012

Click here for full details of the SANDEMANs NEW Munich Beer Challenge

image used under CC – flickr/LenDog64

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We love it because it allows people to get savvy before they go away, and share what they thought once they get back; it’s certainly helped us choose some fantastic restaurants and thrilling experiences. We also love it because it allows us to talk to the guests on our tours, to find out what we’re doing right, and more importantly to put an immediate stop to what we’re doing wrong.

But TripAdvisor only works when it’s full of good, honest, traveller reviews, and its integrity right now is under attack. Despite having more 5-star reviews than any other walking tour company in almost every single one of the cities where we operate, every day we are under attack from competitors, bitter and struggling against the competition, who are posting fake reviews on our pages.

It’s pretty easy to spot the fakes. Often we have factual proof that what took place didn’t actually happen. More often than not, the accounts used to post fake reviews are only used once, occasionally twice with a glowing 5-star review for a direct competitor. In all cases, the reviewer never writes back to our messages trying to see if they’re real and apologise, probably because the free email account they used to set up their account is never checked.

Unfortunately, this is not enough! While TripAdvisor claims to be able to detect and remove fake reviews, in reality the huge amount of user reviews they receive daily is seeing them struggle to keep up, and with thriving businesses such as these http://real-tripadvisor-reviews.com/ offering fake reviews for as little as $20, competitors don’t even need to get their hands dirty to claw their way higher up the rankings at our expense.

While it’s true that most users of TripAdvisor are wise enough to see through the fog and create a balanced opinion, certain competitors are relying on the fact that they can push us down the rankings to try and make sure we’re not seen at all.

Fortunately, we get enough 5-star reviews that we can still be massively proud of our presence on TripAdvisor, but it doesn’t change the fact that a single 1-star review is seriously bad news for our ratings – in fact we estimate that it takes at least ten 5-star reviews, but more likely many many more to make up for one false 1-star rating.

We will never post fake reviews to push our rankings to the top – we just don’t believe in it. Instead, we prefer to do all we can to encourage you, the real users, to share your honest feedback both good and bad on our pages, letting others know what’s worth their precious vacation time and what’s not. We can’t stop the fakes from coming, but we can help redress the balance by sharing with the world what was truly great. It’s what TripAdvisor is there for, so go use it!

(Anybody who reads our management responses will know we do everything we can to make it up to those whose expectations we failed to meet and take the genuine critical feedback extremely seriously. We’re actually extremely grateful for all the honest 1-stars reviews we receive, as much as it pains us to receive them, since for each one, we’re able to correct the and improve our customer service record for countless others)

If you would like to review us on TripAdvisor, you can find the links to our listings below:

Amsterdam

Berlin

Copenhagen

Dublin

Edinburgh

Hamburg

Jerusalem

London

Madrid

Munich

Paris

Prague

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Sometimes you really need to visit a city, to hear the stories, and to be up close and personal with the monuments which made history to feel the significance of the events you once learned about. This is exactly what Christine from partofmyworld.com blog did when she visited history.

“…a city that remembers its dark past but continues to look forward to build a bright future”

Describing Berlin as “a city that remembers its dark past but continues to look forward to build a bright future”, we were delighted to be mentioned in Christine’s blog, as she describes investigating the Jewish memorial and being hit with emotion as well as witnessing a wedding party in front of the beautifully striking Berliner Dom. Sounds like a perfectly fitting tribute to the city to us!

Read more about Christine’s trip to Berlin on her blog.

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With the whole world looking to London this summer as it hosts the almost 3,000 year-old Olympic Games, there really is no better time to get to grips with one of Britain’s finest institutions, its public houses and ales.

Forget queues, crowds and cheering for just a moment, and settle down to our beginners guide to London pubs.

London Pubs

The Great British pub is a national institution: a treasure chest of tradition, culture, architecture… oh and a great place to enjoy a drink or two. There are at least 7,000 pubs in London alone with amazing variety: the good, the bad… and the corporate chain.

‘Pub’ is short for ‘public house’, a Victorian phrase to describe the establishment they did so much to make a part of British heritage. The 18th century had seen the decline of traditional taverns, places like Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese on Fleet Street, one of the few really old pubs in London, or The George Inn, a very rare surviving 16th century coaching inn. In their place rose the dreaded ‘Gin Palace’. To the easily outraged Victorians these were dens of iniquity, sordid Godless houses of alcoholism and sin, (nothing like our modern-day pubs then ). The strong drink damaged the health, morals and what we can only suspect was the clincher, the productivity of the working class – something needed to be done! That ‘something’ was to promote beer, a good healthy drink (and definitely healthier than water at the time) that was cheaper and not too strong. One major fan was Charles Dickens who did his best to promote pub life. The pub became a friendlier place, a social centre where people could meet and exchange news. Societies, newspapers, political parties and trades unions started life in pubs.

Still there were calls against drunkenness and the humble pub once again took the blame of all of society’s evils. The government decided to increase the legislation and a huge amount of tiny pubs closed; the brewing industry was modernised and started to conglomerate. Under pressure from the beer lobby the government sponsored investment in pubs in the 1880s and 90s and the great Victorian pub building boom followed. Competition was fierce and owners tried to out do each other with more and more extravagant designs – trying to avoid the vulgar brashness of the old gin palaces and using great craftsmanship and materials like cast iron, glass, wooden panelling and mirrors. Some of London’s most beautiful pubs date from this period, places like The Salisbury on Saint Martin’s Lane in the West End or the Cittie of Yorke on High Holborn.

After boom comes bust! Pub closing times were introduced for the first time during the First World War and, worst of all, the strength of beer was reduced, all in the name of preventing accidents and promoting productivity in munitions factories. Throughout the 20th century traditional pubs closed down, small breweries were swallowed up by big competitors and many pubs became bland, standardised and leaving a bad taste in the mouth – sadly much like the beer they served.

But all is not lost! Sooner or later the inevitable happened – the punters fought back. In the 1970s a small group of friends started what was to become the huge national movement CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, fighting to preserve traditional ales and traditional pubs. Thanks to them the government legislated for more choice and competition and, although corporate pubs still take up a lot of the high streets, the public have rediscovered their love for the unique British atmosphere of traditional pubs and the diverse tastes of real ale.

Real? Wait, are there fake ales? Well CAMRA fans would say so, yes. The difference is that at ‘real’ ale is cask conditioned and keeps on maturing and developing flavour in the container that it is served from. The resulting beer is unfiltered, unpasteurised with no extra carbon dioxide added and served at an ambient temperature (so in other words it’s cloudy, flat and warm – drink up before it gets cold).

Not a drink for forgetting but a drink to remember

Real ales aren’t stored under pressure they are usually served by hand pumping straight from the cask to the glass. The result is a very different drink to mass produced lagers – it has flavour, depth, it’s a complicated drink that goes well with food. A real ale needs to be treated well, looked after. It’s a fragile brew, sacrificing the protection and reliability of modern beer production and preservation in order to improve the taste. CAMRA regularly awards pubs that look after their ales, with traditional interiors and employees that are knowlegeable, for example the Harp on Chandos Place was not only National Pub of the Year 2010/2011 but London Cider Pub 2011.

The single most popular pub name in England is the Red Lion, with over 600 in the country. There are plenty of theories why this is so popular and it’s almost certainly connected to the coat of arms of someone but James I, John of Gaunt, the Duke of Bedford – no one can really pin it down. Other heraldry linked names include the great little pub the Lamb and Flag, connected to the Middle Temple Inn of Court where barristers are trained on old Knights Templar land. The Lamb and Flag on Rose Street near Covent Garden is a beautiful historic pub where Dickens drank that still serves great ales. Some pubs are named after national figures or events: the Nell Gwynne Tavern in Bull Inn Court near Covent Garden is named after the lover of Charles II and countless pubs called the Royal Oak are named after the tree his father was forced to hide in during the English Civil War.

http://www.camra.org.uk/

CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale.

http://www.heritagepubs.org.uk/pubs/national-inventory-entry.asp?pubid=42

Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, 145 Fleet Street.

http://gkpubs.co.uk/pubs-in-london/the-george-inn-pub/

The George Inn, 75-77 Borough High Street.

http://www.heritagepubs.org.uk/pubs/national-inventory-entry.asp?pubid=40

Cittie of Yorke, 22 High Holborn.

http://www.taylor-walker.co.uk/pub/salisbury-covent-garden/c3111/

The Salisbury, 90 St Martin’s Lane.

http://lambandflagcoventgarden.co.uk/

The Lamb and Flag, 33 Rose Street.

http://www.harpcoventgarden.com

The Harp, 47 Chandos Place.

http://www.melodice.se/nellgwynne/

The Nell Gwynne Tavern, 1-2 Bull Inn Court.

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