Visiting London for the Summer Olympic Games

This summer, the city of London, England, will host the Summer Olympic Games for the third time in history.  In 1908, the games were moved to London from the original host city, Rome, due to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.  In 1948, London hosted the first Olympic Games to be broadcast to home televisions.  The third London games, July 27-August 12, 2012, promises to make history as well. Events will be held in a combination of already-famous venues, such as Wimbledon (tennis) and Wembley Stadium (soccer), as well as in new, purpose-built venues.  Enhancements to London's facilities and transit systems will serve visitors well not only during the Games, but for years to come.

If you haven't booked your flight to the Olympics, it's important to do so as soon as possible. Of course, the same is true for accommodations.  London's excellent collection of hotels and bed-and-breakfast inns will be bustling before, during and after the Olympic Games.  Additional options include hostels and private home rentals.  You can also rent a room or a campsite away from the city and hop on the train to London each day.
While the initial distribution process for event tickets is complete, tickets will soon be available through an official ticket resale program.  Some tickets are also available through tour operators. And, some events don't require tickets: anyone can watch road cycling, the triathlon, race walking and the Olympic marathon.  In additional, some events will be shown on giant screens in Hyde Park and Victoria Park.  Once in London, you can make good use of the excellent public transit system.  Nearly all venues can be reached by the London Underground (the Tube) or bus.  The DLR light railway links Olympic Park with Greenwich Park and the Royal Artillery Barracks; venues along the River Thames, including Greenwich Park, can be reached by boat.  Shuttle service and taxis will also help keep the crowds moving.
Along with ticket to any Olympic event or ceremony, you'll receive a card that entitles you to free travel on the Tube, the DRL light railway, buses, trams and most National Rail services on the day of the event.  You can also purchase a Visitor Oyster card, a smart card you can pre-load with payment for any of those forms of transit.  Visitor Oyster cards can be purchased in the U.S. before you leave.

Tasting the World's Best

Should you find Copenhagen, Denmark, in your travel plans, one must-see sight is Tivoli Gardens, the world's most popular seasonal amusement park.  The park has rides, cultural performances, concerts and Evening Illuminations, a light show on Tivoli Lake.  There's also an incredible variety of food in the park:  everything from traditional open-faced Danish sandwiches to sushi, burgers and freshly picked and brewed tea.

However, you may want to save your appetite for the exceptional cuisine at the best restaurants in Copenhagen and, in fact, the world:  Restaurant Noma.  For the third year in a row, Noma was named the world's top restaurant in an annual survey sponsored by San Pellegrino and published by Restaurant magazine.  At Noma, each day's menu includes Nordic tastes such as Limfjords oysters with air onion; roasted turbot with bitter greens; or rhubarb with milk curd.

If your travels take you to Spain, you could visit two of the top three restaurants in the world.  After admiring the Sagrada Familia and other architectural treasures of Barcelona, take a ride about 65 miles northeast to the city of Girona. This city has its own architectural wonders and the restaurant rated second best in the world: El Celler de Can Roca, where three brothers produce playful dishes like pigeon with strawberries and roses.  If you're in the north of Spain to visit a beach resort on the Bay of Biscay, make a reservation at the world's third-best restaurant: Magaritz in San Sebastian. The dishes here are designed to evoke emotional responses in patrons, with a focus on fresh fish and other regional specialities.

If you visit the sprawling city of Sao Paulo, Brazil, to enjoy the carnival season, the annual International Film Festival or the Festival of Electronic Art, you'll also want to experience D.O.M. Moving up from seventh to fourth on the Best Restaurant list this year, D.O.M. celebrates produce from Brazil - particularly the Amazonian region - incorporating elements such as palm hearts, manioc root and tucupi juice into its dishes.

The ancient city of Modean, Italy, is a center for the Italian auto industry, and visitors are attracted to the antiquities and the sleek, modern Maseratis and Lamborghinis manufactured there.  There's also Osteria Francescana, fifth on the best restaurant list, where chefs deconstruct regional dishes and experiment with ingredients like pork sausage, balsamic vinegar, beans and pasta.

To visit these or other "world's best" epicurean delights during your travels, talk to us!