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Aside from our ongoing commitment to profiling travellers and industry professionals, we're now showcasing spectacular destinations through a regular Destination of the Week feature. This week we focus on Russia, a popular country for its vast landscape and romantic rail journeys.

Photo by Ofelia.

With a rich cultural and historical heritage, impressive wilderness, bleak Soviet-style architecture and elegant designs of pre-Stalin Russia, this country has an enchanting complexity for visitors.

Home to 160 different ethnic groups, Russia's arts culture, architecture, and history has had many influences. Popular attractions include the Kremlin, Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, Hermitage Museum, and the Bolshoi Theatre. The Golden Ring, Kamchatka, Lake Baikal, and Mount Elbrus draw travellers to explore the diverse landscape of the world's largest country.

Also boasting the world's largest forest reserves, the country's impressive size and history mean a traveller can always discover more about Russia.

Russia on Travellerspoint

Forum Discussions

Russia's best season

Trans-Siberian travel tips

Advice for short stays in Russia

Photo by IvaS.

Blog Entries

Exploring Saint Petersburg

Russian landmarks and visas

Culture in the capitals

Russia's highlights

Photo by sabrinakam.

Russia Blogs

Tales from an exchange student

Teaching English in the republics of Russia

Photo by Gelli.

Find more Russia inspiration, hotels, and information on Travellerspoint.

Aside from our ongoing commitment to profiling travellers and industry professionals, we're now showcasing spectacular destinations through a regular Destination of the Week feature. This week we take a look at Rome, the Eternal City.

Photo by maridod.

Known as the world's biggest open-air museum, this gorgeous city offers exceptional historical and cultural assets, including a wide variety of art galleries, ancient ruins and stunning architecture.

Many of Rome's magnificent sights are well-known to travellers—captured in books and artwork for centuries—but it is the wealth of history and culture that sees the streets filled with a beauty and character of their own.

A major hub during many different art and architecture periods, Rome has a timeless appeal. Visitors will appreciate the city's sights of significance, such as the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Villa Borghese, and the Colosseum. Other popular sights include the Bridge of Angels, Trevi Fountain, and the Spanish Steps.

Not just for history lovers, Rome also contains all the delights of Italian cuisine—from traditional pizza to pasta and gelato. If you dream of the romance of Italy, it's time to discover more about Rome.

Photo by ian 800gs.

Rome on Travellerspoint

Forum Discussions

Must-see tips for short visits in Rome

Budget advice for Europe

Trip planning and hostel help

Italy recommendations

Photo by Herr Bert.

Blog Entries

Roman holiday

Tips, tricks, and quirky attractions

Culture and a Vespa

Classic Rome

Photo by PhotoGlen.

Find Rome advice, inspiration, and budget hotels on Travellerspoint.

You might have noticed a few mentions of a new planning tool recently and we are pleased to now share with you what we've created. The team have been coding, testing, and tweaking non-stop to make travel planning an easy and enjoyable experience (as it should be!).

The new Travel Planner allows you to keep all of your travel plans in the one place.

Rather than managing bookmarked webpages, favourited images, and a text file of well-researched notes, the planner is built around the Travel Plan bookmarklet to create a detailed personalised itinerary.

Below are some of the tool's main features:

Bookmarking

After adding the bookmarklet into your browser, you can use it to organise your online travel research in one handy place.

Using individual city stops on your trip plan, webpages are saved to the stop or destination they are relevant to.

A stop for pre-trip planning is automatically included when a trip is created so you can save important information like travel guides, insurance quotes, and packing lists.

New stops can be added to your trip through the bookmarklet or from the planner. You can even create a new trip directly from the bookmarklet, so you don't have to interrupt your online browsing.

It's the first time that I have seen an itinerary planner that I would use - Phil Lees, Tourism Victoria

Collaboration

To save problems arising later, travel companions can be invited to help plan your trip from the beginning.

Any plans you save will instantly be available to them. You can also add important notes to the bookmarks for them to see.

Transport

For a complete itinerary, you'll need to find transport between stops.

To that end, we've integrated results from travel search engine Rome2Rio to provide you with all the local transport options. Not only flights, but combinations of buses, trains, and driving directions.

Each option lists the travel times and distances involved, so you can make the choice that best suits you.

As a fan of Pinterest, I had been creating boards for different cities, and 'pinning' websites of tours, restaurants and activities to do in Europe. Now though, I can bookmark them to a specific destination on my itinerary. - Kelly McNamara, A Quarter, Two Dimes and a Penny

Map

The planner is integrated with our travel maps and automatically creates a map of your itinerary that can be shared with friends.

The mapping integration means you also have access to your personal travel stats.

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How To Guide

We've put together this step-by-step guide explaining the bookmarklet and how to use the planner. Have a look!

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Over To You

Our new tool is an ongoing project, so we'd love your feedback. Tell us what you think in our Forums, on our Facebook Page or on Twitter.

We have also included lots of little extras not mentioned here, so start planning your trip!

Happy travels!

The Travellerspoint Team

Aside from our ongoing commitment to profiling travellers and industry professionals, we're now showcasing spectacular destinations through a regular Destination of the Week feature. This week we take a look at Ireland, a popular choice for travellers of all ages and interests.

Photo by RJ222.

Boasting breathtaking scenery, historic national monuments, strong Celtic traditions, a rich musical heritage, and increasing modern development, it is no wonder this island country is the destination of choice for many travellers.

Home to no less than three World Heritage Sites, Ireland's many historically important sites are big visitor drawcards, including Blarney Castle, Glendalough, and Holy Cross Abbey. Ireland's natural beauty is also on display in Connemara, the Cliffs of Moher, and the vast Wicklow Mountains.

While the nation's traditionally simple dishes and heavy, potato-based diet may not appeal to visitors, the ever-popular folk at the Guinness Brewery consistently draw a crowd. A new cuisine is emerging in Ireland, however, now featuring a wider variety of vegetables and seafood thanks to international influences. If you haven't tried it, now is the time to discover more about Ireland.

Ireland on Travellerspoint

Forum Discussions

Top itinerary and must-see tips

Handy advice for short trips in Ireland

Photo by paulymx.

Blog Entries

A torch, a pint and an Irish road trip

Tour iconic Ireland

Photo by Luis M.

Ireland Blogs

Touring Ireland by motorcycle

Inspired by country towns and castles

Seeking historic, scenic Ireland

Photo by ariel444.

Search for more Ireland community tips, advice, accommodation and inspiration on Travellerspoint.