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The Parador Argomaniz is located 12 km from Vitoria/Gasteiz - approximately midway between Bilbao and Pamplona. This noble stone building was formerly the Larrea palace - whose family coat-of-arms is emblazoned prominently above the main entrance door. Parador Argomaniz is a rare find. It is a perfectly preserved 17th century palace. It has a somewhat plain exterior, but its interior is a delight. The entrance is framed by majestic stone columns. This leads you to an interior that is decorated with various Renaissance ornaments. The bedrooms contain antique wooden chests and furniture and fine polished wooden floors.

All the public rooms are tastefully done. There are many cozy “sitting nooks” with nice views out to the countryside. Perfect places for sitting with a good book and a cup of coffee. This is a splendid Renaissance palace in all respects and the perfect place to stop if you are traveling through this part of Spain.

An interesting historical note - and one you can contemplate during your stay: Napoleon stayed here for a time while he regained his strength before attacking the town of Vitoria.

The Parador of Argomaniz dominates the surrounding natural beauty of the Plains of

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We would like to suggest you a trip to Marrakech, Morocco for the simple reason that we help a convention there and we did find it a very interesting place to visit if you’re up for some ‘emotional inputs’ overdose. The ‘Great Imperial City’ is surely a great mix of sleepy infusions of meant tea, tasty spices and incenses tha spice up the air and of course great tasting food of the best moroccan gastronomy. The city of Marrakech is a assault to the senses in the middle of incredible old buildings that seem made out of colorful silk in a frame of sand of the ‘old good times’ of the imperial ‘belle epoque’.

If you do choose to go there, the first place that you’ll visit will be most probable the big square ‘Jeema-el-Fna’ that has inspired many many movies, including the well known Casablanca (that -yes- was not filmed in Casablanca but in Marrakech, the real cultural exotic capital of Morocco). Jeema-el-Fna is just a short stroll south of the main ’suk’ (traditional, labyrinth style market); the square seems to come directly out of a painting and it is full of visual experiences that hardly could be found anywhere else in the world, including snake trainers, silver merchants and much much more. We would suggest to use Jeema-el-Fna as a starting point to explore the fascinating city center of Marrakech and in particular the main ’suk’. The everchanging main suk is a melting pot of different misterious sounds, chants and also lovely odours and incredible colors that we’ve never seen around in the US (apart of paint stores).

You will find that in the main suk haggling is in fact art and you will soon have fun in the process + you will grab incredible deals on high quality goods. In the main market textiles hanging down from the ceiling of small rustic shops to dry might seem quite odd, but surely are goodlooking. The Medina of Marrakech (the old walled city center) is the oldest and the most big of Morocco and sometimes looks like a colorful maze ready to be explored for new enchanting experiences to be discovered and tasted. Old buildings are so elaborate and detailed that it looks like they’re made of carved wood.

In the Medina itself more than 300.000 people live and work making it a crowded but peaceful place where to observe life ‘flow’. A visit to Marrakech is not complete without a visit to the Koutoubia tower and the gardens of Agdal.

If you’ve got some time on your side we would like to suggest that you visit (tours or cars are easy to find) the nearby Atlas Mountains and of course the beginning of the Sahara desert, in fact Marrakech is the perfect base if you wish to explore one of the most interesting and beautiful area of Morocco and still be able to take advantage of modern comforts and high standards in Marrakech hotels.

If you want to read the full guide of Morocco and Marrakech by Rough Guides Ltd. for free please go to http://www.travelton.com/destinationguides.htm Thanks for reading.

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Byron Bay accommodation choices are very wide, depending on your budget and preferences. If you’re visiting this beautiful Australian town and want to find a luxury accommodation spot to relax and enjoy your time here, this article will give you some ideas of where to start looking.

First things first - why Byron Bay, and where is it?

Byron Bay is a town 800km (~500 miles) north of Sydney and south of Brisbane, on the north coast of New South Wales (NSW). It has a population of approx. 9,000 people, with the larger Byron Shire having close to 30,000 people living in its boundaries.

With average summer daytime temperatures of 28C (~82F), and average winter daytime temperatures of 21C (~69F), both locals and visitors enjoy plenty of outdoor activities, due to the moderate but very pleasant climate.

Byron Bay is truly a destination for all seasons because of these lovely temperatures and the beautiful environment. If you’ve never been to Byron Bay before, it’s approximately 2 hours drive south of Brisbane and a 40 minute drive south of the Gold Coast. The area offers a year round tropical paradise of beaches and rainforests, and is an extremely popular tourist destination.

Spectacular blue watered beaches invite even the sun-shy to come out and explore Byron Bay. Naturally enough, there is an impressive range of luxury byron bay accommodation, including resorts, apartments and hotels. Just make sure you bring your swimming ‘togs’ so you don’t miss out on a refreshing dip in the beautiful waters.

While you are visiting Byron Bay, why not try some of the great local activities, such as rain forest tours, bush walking, hang gliding, sky diving, ultra-light flights, Harley tours, cycling, canoeing, surfing, scuba diving, snorkeling, horse riding, deep sea fishing, vintage car tours and Australia’s only flying trapeze school.

And when the sun finally disappears behind the hills you can dine at one of Byron Bay’s many superb, award winning restaurants, enjoy a local band or theatrical production… or stroll along a serene moonlit beach, looking forward to your next day in paradise.

If your tastes in accommodation are a little up-market, then the best resource for finding and choosing Byron Bay accommodation is the Simply Lush Luxury Accommodation directory (www.simplylush.com). This page is the gateway to their luxury Byron Bay accommodation listings.

They review and recommend beautiful beach houses (check out the front deck view of the ocean from Pips), Tuscan guest houses (Victoria’s has an awesome swimming pool) and villas, apartments, bungalows and so forth.

I guarantee you’ll be excited by the choice of luxurious Byron Bay accommodation sites on Simply Lush’s website.

For more information on these and other luxury Byron Bay accommodation choices, be sure to check out the Simply Lush website: Luxury Australian Accommodation.

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