The Boston Freedom Trail makes for an interesting walk through United States history. The two and a half mile walking route takes the visitor to sixteen historical sites. A red brick line (or a painted red line) serves as your guide to two and a half centuries of America’s significant past.

You can walk the trail in two or three hours, but if you want to stop and look inside some of the buildings or study some of the exhibits, allow yourself a full day… two if you’re really curious.

Boston Common is the starting point for the Freedom Trail. It’s the oldest park in the United States. British troops camped on the Boston Common prior to the Revolution and left from here to face the militias at Lexington and Concord in 1775.

Massachusetts State House is your next stop. It was built in 1798. This “new” State House is on top of Beacon Hill across from the Boston Common

Park Street Church sits on the site of the old town granary. The Granary Burying Ground, which was founded in 1660, is across from this Church. Three signers of the Declaration of Independence are buried here….. Samuel Adams, John Hancock and Robert Treat Paine.

King James II ordered King’s Chapel built so the Church of England would have a parish in Boston. It’s on a corner of the oldest Burying Ground in Boston proper. Many colonists are buried here including John Winthrop, who was the Colony’s governor, and Mary Chiton who was the first woman to step off the Mayflower.

A statue of Benjamin Franklin overlooks the former site of the First Public School… the Boston Latin School. Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Adams, and John Hancock once attended the school.

See the former site of the Old Corner Bookstore where many famous books were published including “The Scarlet Letter” and “Walden”.

The Old South Meeting House is where the Boston Tea Party began. Over 5,000 colonists gathered here in 1773 to protest the tax on tea. Debate was getting them nowhere, so they stormed to the waterfront where they dumped three shiploads of tea into Boston Harbor.

The Old State House was occupied by the British during the Revolution. On July 18, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was read from the balcony. The citizens of Boston gathered in the street for this first public reading in Massachusetts.

A circle of cobblestones and a marker in front of the Old State House commemorates the Boston Massacre Site.

Since 1742, Faneuil Hall has been a marketplace and meeting hall for Boston. Samuel Adams and others gave speeches in this hall that fanned the colonists desire for independence.

The Paul Revere House is the oldest building in downtown Boston. Paul Revere lived here from 1770 to 1800.

The Old North Church is Boston’s oldest church… and it was on the church’s steeple that the lanterns were hung to signal the approach of the British… “One if by land, and two, if by sea….” Of course this one has to be on the Boston Freedom Trail.

The USS Constitution - “Old Ironsides” - is the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world. It’s in the Charlestown Navy Yard which was one of the first shipyards built in the U.S.

Bunker Hill Monument marks the site of the first major battle of the American Revolution and the end of the Freedom Trail.

You can make this a self-guided tour or you can take a guided tour. Several are available through the Boston Common Visitors Center. If walking is too hard, you can take one of the trolley tours that are offered by different companies.. They take you to the sites along the Boston Freedom Trail with narration and let you hop on and off at selected stops to explore on your own.

Whether you walk or ride, the Boston Freedom Trail is a fun way to explore history.

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There are other Standing Stones and Henge Monuments besides Stonehenge you know. They are dotted all over the south of England. You can even find them north into Scotland and Northern Ireland. Were they burial grounds, or astronomical instruments, or sacred areas to the Neolithic cultures that built them?

We’ve heard all kinds of theories about their origin, but we don’t think you need to get too caught up in the theories to enjoy visiting them. Let’s discuss the most important Stonehenge facts that relate to other Henges located over the UK.

Stonehenge is the most famous of the stone circles. One interesting little fact is that it is not, however, a henge. Let’s get the boring technical stuff over with… Henges are, strictly speaking, circular or oval spaces that are defined by a bank with an internal ditch… so the dirt bank probably came from the inner ditch… right?

The word “henge” came from an ancient name for Stonehenge which meant something like hanging stones. Soon all the circles they found were dubbed henges…. then archeologists found that Stonehenge does not have the classic bank and ditch of what is now regarded as a henge monument… So it’s Stonehenge… a great example of a stone circle… but not a henge.

You really don’t need to know all of that… if you like looking for and finding ancient monuments, there are plenty of henges, standing stones, and stone circles to visit in the United Kingdom and beyond. Get a good map that marks out places of archeological interest, and meander out into the country side. Some are remote, but you will find cute little villages with few tourists, and you might find that this is a great hook for travel.

There are several henge monuments and other neolithic sites in the Stonehenge Historic Landscape which is also called the Stonehenge World Heritage Site…. Durrington Walls, Woodhenge, and Avebury. There are several burial mounds such as the West Kennet Long Barrow. And there is Silbury Hill… a large man made hill of unknown purpose.

We love Stonehenge, but our favorite stone circle is Avebury… which is, by the way, a henge. It is about 20 miles (32 km) north of Stonehenge. You walk among the stones, feeling very special. The ancient stones wrap around a little village. The Red Lion Pub actually sits within the circle… stop and have a pint.

A little further north find The King Stone and the Rollright Stones.

Beyond this rich landscape in Wiltshire, England, you can find several henge monuments in the Cumbria Lake District. Look for Castlerigg Stone Circle, Mayburgh, Long Meg and Her Daughters, and Swinside which some have called the finest stone circle in England.

Scotland has many sites… standing stones, stone rows, stone circles, cairns and hillforts.

Cornwall is another rich area for neolithic standing stones and henges. Park and walk to the site called Men an Tol… a three stone alignment; the center stone is a ring large enough to crawl through…. All kinds of legends associated with that one! Wales also has many burial chambers and standing stones.

If you really get into this, you can go looking for neolithic stone monuments in Ireland and Italy. And France has some amazing “alignments” and standing stones deserving a trip.

Wet your appetite for henge monuments with Stonehenge and Avebury, you may find that looking for those ancient stones gets you traveling to places you wouldn’t see otherwise.

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Photogenic and thrilling to drive, the Riviera Corniches are three roads that follow the coastline of the Mediterranean from Nice, France through Monaco to Cap-Martin and Menton on the Italian border.

The three coast roads follow the same 20 to 30 mile (32 to 50 km) stretch of coastline at different levels along the mountainside.

The Grande Corniche is the highest of the three roads. It was originally started under Napoleon, and if you’re into a bit of history, it pretty much follows the Roman Aurelian Way. You get grande sweeping views from this one in places, but occasionally dip behind the mountains.

There are not nearly enough places to stop to admire the views, but it’s worth the drive all the same. The most spectacular stretch of all three roads is on this one… the 11 miles (18 km) from La Turbie to Nice.

The Moyenne Corniche is the middle road. There are several towns to stop at on the Moyenne Corniche. One is the medieval village of Eze. It is a labyrinth of narrow walking streets perched on a rocky outcrop high above the Mediterranean. It is a little touristy but pretty, and worth a visit.

There are lots of restaurants and cafes as well as art and antique shops. Most are pretty expensive, but you can find reasonable places to eat. There are also a couple of expensive and well known hotels in the village.

The Corniche Inferieure or Basse Corniche hugs the coast. It’s the old coastal road that connects this string of beautiful little towns and villages between steep mountains and the Mediterranean Sea.

Which is the best of the Riviera Corniches to drive? To combine the best of all three, follow the Moyenne Corniche east from Nice as it twists past Monaco and below the castle of Roquebrune before merging with the Corniche Inferieure at Cap-Martin. Return along the Grande Corniche for those spectacular views we spoke of.

You can visit this area with its wonderful Mediterranean climate any time of the year. The prettiest time is April and May. It gets very crowded in July and August when most Europeans take their one month vacation.

There are other little towns to stop in for views, food and places to stay if you want to break your drive here: Villefranche-sur-Mer, Cap Ferrat, Beaulieu, Cap d’Ail, Monaco - Monte Carlo, La Turbie, Roquebrune Cap Martin and finally Menton.

You can drive into Monaco for the day and pay to take a peek inside the casino…. even wager a Euro or two. If you’re a high roller, get a hotel and gamble in the casino at night. You can get a great view of the mini-state of Monaco from the Moyenne Corniche.

If you don’t want to stop in one of the towns for the night, just take your time as you drive it from Nice or one of the towns in Provence into northern Italy… or just drive round trip from one of the French towns.

Any way you drive them, the Riviera Corniches make for a great scenic drive.

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One way to travel within your budget is to consider a vacation home exchange.

Have you heard about it? Home exchanges have been around for decades, but they’ve really gotten easier to arrange with the internet. They’ve become popular with families, seniors and boomers.

You basically arrange to trade your house for someone else’s house from another city, state, or country during your vacation. You get to spend a week or two in… say London… while that London family gets a beach vacation in, oh, San Diego. With hotel rates in popular areas so high, swapping houses can be a great way to save money, plus you will have a kitchen, multiple bedrooms, and you’ll probably get to know the neighbors and see some things that you wouldn’t have seen from a hotel room. It can not only help your travel budget; home trades can be rewarding from a cultural standpoint as well.

Several organizations maintain lists of interested exchangers. You pay a small fee and get to look at their lists as well as listing your own house. Then you can directly contact the people you might want to exchange with and set up the details.

There are also many helpful web pages to advise you what to check on, things to settle in advance, etc. Are you going to have to feed the cats? You won’t want that if you’re allergic to cats! If you decide on a cute French farmhouse, does that come with having to feed the chickens and ducks? Do you get the use of the car? Is there a limit to how far you can drive it? Is this going to be an exchange just between adults? Families will be more willing to exchange with families… so choose your home exchange site according to their list.

We don’t advocate any sites. A few sites you can check are Know Your Trade, Home Exchange, and Home Base Holidays. Find exchange clubs on the internet, read the reviews by users, and decide which one might work best for you. Some specialize, so check to see if they are more interested in families or seniors or whatever.

Home exchanges are not for everyone. If you think you will be overly worried about someone stealing something or not taking care of your house just the way you would, maybe you should forgo the house swap and stay in a hotel. If you’re the type of traveler who wants to move around every night and not stay in one place for a couple of weeks… forget it.

If you decide to list your home for a swap, you need to be honest about what your home is like…, and you need to hope the exchangers on the other end are honest about theirs. If both of you just say “near the beach”, both of you need to find out if “near” means 5 blocks or 5 miles so there are no misconceptions. You should exchange many e-mails, maybe a few phone calls.

If you do this right, you will probably feel like you’re friends before you start this house trading adventure. Yes, friends, we didn’t want to leave you with negative thoughts about vacation house trades…. just wanted to warn you.

If you browse through the house swapping sites, you will see testimonials that most people who have tried it LOVE it. House exchangers on both sides of the deal usually think THEY’VE gotten the better end of the exchange.

Give it some consideration. If you want to save money and still have a great holiday, a home exchange might be for you.

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Want to visit Rome In A Day? It’s called the Eternal City. Eternal means “lasting or existing forever”.

While Rome hasn’t necessarily existed forever, it has been around for a very, very long time. There are layers and layers to see. Do you want to see ancient sights, religious centers, or medieval and modern Rome?

When you’re contemplating a visit… your first visit… all you can hope to do is see the highlights… SOME of the highlights. You’re going to have to limit yourself if all you have is a day or even two. You can get a good overview of all the layers of the city if you plan it right.

Good guidebooks will give you specific information about what buses and subway lines to catch… and you’ll need to have this planned out in advance to make any plan to visit Rome in a day work.

To get a feel for the Imperial City, start at the Piazza del Campidoglio on the summit of Capitoline Hill. Around this ancient sacred site are a couple of museums that you should see… someday, but not on this trip. Walk around the corner of the Town Council (the Senatorium) for a panoramic view of the Forum. Dying to go in, aren’t you? Check out the statues in the piazza and make due with the panoramic view if all you have is a day!

Leaving Capitoline Hill, walk east along the Via dei Fori Imperiali. Here you can get a little closer look at the Forum. It’s a good vantage point to get some photos and at least get a feel for the size of what has been uncovered.

At the end of this walk, you’ll arrive at the Colosseum, and you can see the Arch of Constantine. Don’t linger though, there are more modern layers of Rome to sample. Take a cab, bus or subway to Vatican City. Squeeze in a lunch on the run or at a little cafe somewhere in between.

You can check the lines for the Vatican Museum. If you’re REALLY lucky, the line won’t be too long, and you can try to make a quick visit. You’ll have to dash through… glance at most of the master’s paintings, and make your way to the Sistine Chapel.

Even that will take you a couple of hours. You might be able to sidestep the lines by paying for a guided tour right there in front of St Peter’s. If the lines are too long, and you can’t find a tour, settle for seeing St. Peter’s Basilica. Climb the dome to get a great view of the Piazza. (If you DO get into the museum, you can see St. Peter’s, but you won’t have time to climb the dome.)

No time to stop… you’re visiting Rome in a day, right? Now head for the Pantheon. It stays open until 7:30 Monday-Saturday. After a quick visit to this ancient monument, wander around the corner to the Piazza Navona for a romantic place to have dinner.

Before you choose one of the open air restaurants, wander around the piazza. Used for chariot races in ancient times, the piazza is now graced by Bernini’s Fountain of the Four Rivers and medieval churches. With the modern restaurants, you’ll be dining with three layers of Rome around you.

After dinner, catch a cab to the Spanish Steps or the Trevi Fountain. After you’ve seen one, you can walk though some of the oldest streets in Rome to the other. Grab a gelato on the way.

So have you been able to visit Rome in a day? No, but now you know you’ll be back.