Enjoying a Cornwall Holiday - Rain Or Shine

Each year, more than 5 million visitors flock to Cornwall to enjoy the attractions in warm weather. There are however days when rains displace the regular sunshine. The opposite coasts always seem to present the best of either ends. You can very well expect the north coast to be rainy when the south coast is sunny (and vice versa).

When you stay in a holiday cottage instead of a regular hotel or a backpacking hostel, you have the option to cross the peninsula and visit areas that sport just your kind of weather condition. Alternately, you can stay put and make an effort to relish every moment of your Cornish holiday - whatever your age, whatever the weather and wherever you are. Here are some attractions in Cornwall that let you do just that:

Kiddie Fun

Goonhilly Downs is the site of the world's biggest satellite stations. Here you and the kids can get interactive fun by learning about Cold War technology and the latest iPhone features. A guided tour will educate you on how the Goonhilly earth station transmits visual images of events on this planet and beyond, including but not limited to the first moon landings, the pioneering live coverage of the Olympics as well as an all-original concert called Live Aid. The interactive zones are guaranteed to blow your mind. You and the youngsters will need hours to digest everything from this visit.

Royal Cornwall Museum always has something of interest for both the curious and the lovers of history. The museum is known to be the most prestigious and the oldest in the lot, giving you a detailed preview of Cornish history beginning with the Stone Age and onwards. You can also see some fascinating exhibits including those of an Egyptian mummy and some excellent ceramics. If you come to Cornwall on a budget, do not miss visiting this museum. Admission comes at the sweet price of nothing.

The Flambards Experience offers not only fun rides but a variety of indoor exhibitions as well. Once you are inside the place, you will forget about the inclement weather outside. Some highly recommended exhibits that will please both young and old include the Exploratorium, the Aviation Experience, the Victorian Village and Memory Lane.

Tween and Teen Amusement

Geevor Tin Mine gives you some sights and sounds of the largest preserved mining site in Cornwall. The mine also serves as a museum where you can trace the historical highlights of Cornish mining from the 18th century. Explore the tunnels first, and then tour the museum above ground. The museum houses a coffee shop where teens can socialize. Enjoy a cup of the aromatic drink while you view the surrounding coastline of Land's End from the window. The view gets better when the heavy downpour outside subsides to a gentle drizzle.

The National Maritime Museum is a compendium of one dozen modern galleries overlooking Falmouth Harbour. The museum's gigantic windows give you plenty of room to witness breath-taking spectacles of the harbour under water. The exhibits feature at least 27 uniquely crafted boats, with each boat fulfilling a specific purpose as well. Any questions you may have can be answered when you attend the museum's boat building workshop.

The Bodmin Jail and the Bodmin Courtroom satisfies your teenage craving for thrills and spooks with gusto. The jail showcases a tour of haunted dungeons that will surely tickle your imagination. You may want to temper your fear of the supernatural with some logical challenge as you enter Shire Hall and immerse yourself in the famed courtroom experience dating back to 1844. Here, you have the chance to sit as a jury member in Matthew Weeks' trial. Weeks was the primary suspect for the murder of a local girl in Bodmin Moor. Is Weeks indeed the murderer or is he just the unfortunate, innocent scapegoat? You decide!

Entertainment for Grown Ups

The Eden Project is the world's biggest conservatory, taking you well beyond Cornwall without having to book a ticket to the tropics or the Mediterranean. Although the name has an outdoor ring to it, you can actually have fun from the simulated wonders of the natural world inside two gigantic indoor environments. One is a tropical rainforest, complete with jungle foliage that you can touch. Another is a Mediterranean paradise where you can see, feel and learn about pineapples, tobacco, ebony and cork.

Porthcurno Telegraph Museum can answer your musings ranging from secret World War II messages to the evolution of technologies used for communication. The award-winning museum is the actual site of the first underwater telegraph cable which in 1870 got connected to Bombay. Outside Porthcurno Telegraph Museum lie the beach and an open-air theatre called Minack attractions that you too can conveniently check out in the event the rain subsides.

Tate Gallery is a must-see spot for the avid art lover. Known as the artist's mecca, the gallery stands in St. Ives and houses four floors of assorted ceramic artifacts, sculptures and paintings which you can view to your heart's content. Despite the rising popularity of digital art today, the gallery which showcases traditional artwork remains to be one of the leading tourist attractions in Cornwall.

Truro Cathedral stands amidst a shopping hub in Truro City. Built in 1880, the cathedral offers you a taste and the best views of Gothic Revival architecture. You do not have to worry about getting lost in the place. In most cases, all you need to do is to simply show up at 11 a.m. to enjoy the guided tour.

St. Austelle Brewery Visitor Centre is the place to be when your interest is in beer. Here you will discover a number of brewery traditions in place at Cornwall. After teaching you a thing or two on how the Cornish brew beer, the tour closes with a free sampling of the beverage. This way you get to know how the real thing tastes.

Enjoying The Best of Birmingham

Situated in the heart of the Midlands, 'Brum' or Birmingham - the UK's second largest city - is one of the most vibrant and exciting places to visit within the British Isles.

Home to the world famous City of Birmingham Orchestra and Birmingham Royal Ballet, the city of Birmingham is a thriving cultural hotspot that attracts more than 22 million people per year.

Those fond of shopping will be pleased to know Birmingham is the home of the several famous shopping centres including the famous Bullring Shopping Centre, the Pavillions, the Mailbox and the Pallasades.

Of all these shopping venues, the Bullring is considered to be the most famous. A trading area as far back as the middle ages, the Bullring has always been the centre for shopping and commerce within the city of Birmingham.

While always a retail hotspot, the area around the Bullring fell into disrepair after the Second World War and it wasn't until after redevelopment plans were drawn up in the later 60s and early 70s that the Bullring became famous for shopping once again. Today it is one the largest shopping malls within the Midlands and is home to more than 160 high street, fashionable shops.

One other attraction that pulls in thousands of tourists every year is the Cadbury factory on Linden Road. Chocoholics visiting the factory can enjoy a guided tour around one of Britain's most famous chocolate sites, learn a little about the history of chocolate and a favourite amount tourists - purchase cheap misshapes and promotional chocolate samples.

Of course there are those who are not lured to Birmingham for chocolate tours or shopping sprees, but instead visit Birmingham for its popular cultural activities. Of all the cultural activities to enjoy in Birmingham, the City of Birmingham Orchestra is one of the more favourite.

Founded by Neville Chamberlain, the orchestra gave its first performance as the city of Birmingham Orchestra in the autumn of 1920. The first performance was conducted by Edward Elgar and included Overture: Saul within its original program, a piece written by Granville Bantock, a keen supporter of the organisation.

In 1948, the orchestra changed its name to the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra after becoming a full-time organisation. Since moving to become a full-time organisation, the CBO has become one of Britian's most famous orchestras, regularly featuring on the BBC and playing concerts throughout Birmingham and across the British Isles.

Those looking to catch a performance with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra will find all the information they need at its offices on Berkley Street.

Whether it's shopping at the Bullring, learning about the history of chocolate or relaxing to the sounds of the orchestra, Birmingham has something to offer every visitor, the numerous Birmingham budget hotels and restaurants ensuring you are adequately catered for on your trip.

Enjoying Charming Lyon

I had the privilege to walk its streets for almost three days and was still not finished with the wonders of this city. As a traveler, you would really love to get lost in Lyon. There are hundreds of small treasures to be discovered that are not part of any tourist guide. Lyon is one the few cities that is part of the UNESCO World heritage Sites with most of its historic center. One feature that everyone will love it for is the layout of the city, leaving from the Roman sites and medieval attractions on the steep hill and continuing with the more modern part that lay under it.

Lyon had a constant development from Roman times, the ruins of old temples and theaters still stand in amazing shape. A spectacular tour of the city would start from the top of the hill, with an amazing view over the city and its two rivers. The vestiges of the Roman theater, baths and fort lay at your feet and are worth a visit. Continuing your walk towards the top of the hill, the tourist can find the amazing Fourviere Basilica that shines in an unbelievable white color. With its high towers and intricate details, this is the one site to be remembered forever. It watches over the city and from here you can see far away from morning all through the night. At night, this place becomes an enchanting place, especially for people looking from the city uphill. Still wondering these places, it would be good to visit the Fourviere museum and the Museum of the Gallo-Roman Civilization.

Having started your enchanting walk through these sites, most tourists head down in the Old Lyon (Vieux Lyon), but you should still hold on for a few hours. Behind the basilica, there is an entirely new view of the city that is worth seeing in the morning. The old roofs of houses in the Croix-Rousse quarter are equally beautiful. When you had enough of the heights, head down the hill towards the two rivers. Before crossing over to Presque-Ile, which in English would translate into "Almost an Island" - maybe another example of French humor, stay in the Old Town, because there are plenty to see and do.

This is one of the most crowded areas with valuable tourist attractions tourists can ever encounter. From the beautiful Saint-Jean Cathedral to the most intriguing Museum of Miniatures and Cinema Decors, things are always in motion here. The stones in the cobbled streets might also have a story of their own in the Old Town. Other place worth visiting are old vestiges of churches, St. Paul Church, old houses and small antique shops. You should definitely take your time exploring this area, since you could miss on extraordinary things, like the painted facade of an entire building with realistic people from the history of Lyon.

When you are done with the Old Town, hop over one of the beautiful bridges to Presque-Ile. This area is almost surrounded by the rivers Rhone and Saone, that converge within the city. Here the passionate traveler can also discover small wonders, the biggest being the Bellecour Square with official building and the statue of Louis the XIV. Other beautiful attractions are the Gothic churches, the Jacobins Square, The Opera or the City Hall. Discovering this area also, you can just pass the ultimate frontier, which in the case is not space, but the Saone River. The modern city has expanded as long as one can see from the Fourviere and there are things to see and do beyond this point. Other important areas for tourists are the Croix-Rousse hills and the Parc de la Tete d'Or (Golden Head Park) one of the most beautiful and charming parks you can ever encounter.