South Africa, the Destination of a Lifetime

Come across South Africa's best-kept secrets and life-changing experiences you never knew! Imagine walking on golden beaches; exploring the colorful Wine Region; watching the vast desert turn into a rich floral display in the spring; and skiing the continent's only snow slopes all in one vacation.

Tour cities you've always dreamed of visiting, with friends or family. Book a vacation with Gemini Travel.

Disney World - Spoil Your Inner Child

When Walt Disney said of the vast Florida grounds that would become Disney World, "There's enough land here to hold all the ideas and plans we can possibly imagine," it's easy to envision him standing in an open field, his hands on his hips, elbows out, with the world's most giant twinkle in his eye.

Walt imagined a lot, and Disney World has it all. Opened in 1971, Disney World captured the world's imagination with its sheer size alone, covering an area twice the size of Manhattan and 150 times larger than Disneyland in California.

While the idea of an amusement park that size may be daunting, it truly is not, for the pure magic of Disney creates a world where smiles lurk around every corner and the greatest family memories are primed to blossom. Each ride, each hotel is an entire vacation in itself, so wherever you are is the best place to be. The first ride you should enjoy in your Disney World experience is the ride in your car to your travel agent's office. Travel agents know Mickey personally and can get you the best deals on Disney resorts as well as the passes your family will need to enjoy all the parks.

Let's face it, we all come here to play, and the numerous theme parks in Mickey's playhouse have perfected the something-for-everyone ideal, where thrills and spills abound to leave us always wanting more. Like at the famous Magic Kingdom where you can devour as much adventure as your stomach can handle careening down Space Mountain or taste the thrilling danger of the high seas on the Pirates of the Caribbean.

Disney's Animal Kingdom unleashes the magic of their animated characters into roaring realism in this one-of-a-kind nature park, featuring dozens of attractions and entertaining shows. Join the circle of life at the Festival of the Lion King, a spirited parade of tribal celebration.

Thrills take center stage at Disney — MGM Studios where 3-D wizardry mixes with Hollywood flare on such popular attractions as the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, arguably the park's most delightfully terrifying ride, and Jim Henson's Muppet Vision 3D, where the characters are so real that kids and adults reach out to touch them.

The silver dome of Epcot, gleaming brightly like a homesick moon returned to mother earth, is a marvel of the potential of human imagination. The fantastic interior is divided into Future World, a combination amusement and educational park, and World Showcase, an enlightening re-creation of 11 foreign lands.

While these attractions will always remain popular, new adventures have recently made their Disney World debut. Now blasting off is Mission: SPACE, presented by HP, a simulated space adventure that's already an Epcot favorite. Disney magic meets Disney music in the new 3-D film "Mickey's PhilharMagic," featuring an eye-popping jamboree of lovable characters. And the night sky will never be the same again as Wishes: A Magical Gathering of Disney Favorites combines the power of wishes with magical moments from cherished Disney films for the biggest, boldest fireworks show ever presented for Mickey's guests.

All of these rides and attractions make Disney World the world's largest amusement resort, but the real emphasis should rest on resort. Walt Disney World Resorts allow you and your family to sleep under magical stars while enjoying enchanting décor with fabulous dining and entertainment.

Whether it's waterfalls and lush gardens at the Polynesian Resort, the baseball-themed pool at the All-Star Sports Resort, the tropical ambience of the Old Key West Resort or the casual elegance of the New England seaside at the Yacht Club Resort, a room key is all you need to enter a new world. With five championship golf courses, two miniature golf challenges, tennis, horseback riding, waterskiing and world-class spas to fill in the gaps in your schedule, you'll be blissfully busy from sun up to sun down.

Ranging in prices to fit every budget, Disney resorts surround you with the quality and imagination that only Disney can offer. As a guest, you will be given special privileges like Extra Magic Hour, where every day some of the most popular attractions stay open an extra hour just for you.

Through Walt Disney's dreams sprung the dream vacation destination. Where else can you find four unique theme parks, two exhilarating water parks, 23 distinctive resort hotels, world-class dining, exciting nightlife and fabulous entertainment for all ages? And we do mean all ages, for more adults are swooshing down Space Mountain than ever, recognizing the fact that fun does not have an expiration date.

Leave it to Walt to sum it up best: "There is a little adult in every child, but a lot of child in every adult." Whether you're a mother of three or fresh out of college, Disney World will plunge your soul into the Fountain of Youth and leave you a little wet behind the ears. Contact a travel agent today to customize your perfect Disney World package, including the top resort to fit your personality and the passes you'll need to explore the very best this special place has to offer.

Spoil your inner child. Click here to contact us and start planning your disney vacation today!

Tour cities you've always dreamed of visiting, with friends or family. Book a vacation with Gemini Travel.

 

Las Vegas Vacations- Where to World Comes to Play

The sidewalk in front of the Bellagio, in Las Vegas, slows to crawl every 30 minutes as hundreds gather to watch illuminated columns of water blast 240 feet into the night sky. As Sinatra sings the last lines of "Fly Me to the Moon" and the spectacular water ballet ends, the crowd disperses, and a giant curtain of mist forms over the lake, appearing as a ghost walking across the water, perhaps on its way to Caesars Palace to place a c-note on red.

This is Las Vegas, the Entertainment Capital of the World, where fantasy is the mayor, nickel slots applaud as you walk into a casino, and a cab ride rolls you past Egypt, Paris, Venice and New York faster than an Elvis impersonator can shake his hips.

Enticing over 36 million visitors a year with its million-gigawatt smile and globetrotting attractions, a Las Vegas vacation is more than glitz and gambling. This desert oasis shines with room rates lower than any other major U.S. city, inexpensive restaurants and buffets, high-caliber golf courses, world-class shopping, relaxing spas and a wide range of shows and entertainment options for adults and kids alike. And that's just inside the city limits.

For the best Las Vegas vacation deals and the greatest adventures outside, your safest bet is to contact a trusted travel agent. Travel agents won't tell you when to double down, but they will put you in the flashiest hotel at the right price, leaving you with enough chips to act like James Bond at the baccarat table.

Anything is possible on the Las Vegas Strip, a four-mile stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard anchored by 18 of the 21 biggest hotels in the world. The Strip is the heart of Vegas, where you will find kings sitting next to jokers and dice that defy gravity; hypnotizing roulette wheels and ringing armies of slot machines; ex-model cocktail waitresses and pit bosses named Nikki; and parking attendants wearing Prada shoes next to showgirls with electric smiles.

On the Las Vegas Strip the characters take backstage to the hotels, where the entire world is lavishly portrayed for your amusement and wonder. The grandeur of ancient Rome reigns triumphantly at Caesars Palace, while the Paris gushes with European romance and wondrous replicas of the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe. The Egyptian mystique at the Luxor creates a captivating resort, marked by an unmistakable beacon of light and pyramid design to make it unlike any other hotel on Earth, while the Venetian captures the magnetism and beauty of Italy's timeless jewel with stunning accuracy, featuring canals teaming with serenading gondoliers.

Other Las Vegas hotels create their own attractions instead of paying homage to the world's finest locales. The Stratosphere's space-needle, for example, with its must-see-from observation deck, takes Las Vegas excitement to new heights as the High Roller coaster twists and turns at the very top—1,149 feet high!

Las Vegas hotels need more than razzle-dazzle to lure visitors, so they bring in the biggest names in showbiz to headline mind-blowing spectacles, leaving audiences breathless night after night. With more than 40 major shows each night, the Strip has it all from divas and magicians to Cirque du Soleil and the Rockettes.

Once the shows are over, nighclubs provide even more to do in a city that never sleeps. The bartenders at Baby's, tucked away inside the Hard Rock Hotel, wear black leather from head to toe—the way its celebrity clients like them. Crazy nights are guaranteed at Studio 54 and rumjungle, while dance frenzies prevail at Club Rio and Dragon.

And what do you do after meeting someone in a nightclub? You get married! Well, not really, but at least it's always an option in Vegas, with more than 80 independent chapels offering everything from traditional ceremonies to fantasy weddings 24 hours a day. And in Vegas every wedding includes a fabulous honeymoon—all you have to do is step outside the chapel doors and voilà!

Getting hitched on the Strip is a Vegas right of passage for some, but you'll need to walk past the wedding chapels and casinos to appreciate the city's true beauty. Off the Strip travelers can discover Glitter Gulch, where Vegas Vic and his pal Sassy Sal, two of the best-known neon icons in the country, shine. Seventeen miles west, Red Rock Canyon celebrates everything Vegas is not: raw, naturally beautiful and very old—65 million years old to be precise. Also nearby is Hoover Dam, a giant slab of concrete that's as high as a 70-story building and as thick as two football fields, making it an architectural gem that was named the Civil Engineering Monument of the Millennium.

Both inside and out of the city limits, a Las Vegas vacation offers you a chance to surrender to fantasy—and you'll have the time of your life doing it. Whatever you do, never take Vegas seriously, and enlist the aid of Gemini Travel to stack the deck in your favor. You'll need it in a town like this.

For a vacation to remember, make the safe bet—make it a Las Vegas vacation. Click here to contact a Gemini travel agent to set you up in style.

Napa Valley - America's Wine Country

The vineyards that decorate the rolling hills of the Napa Valley are catalysts to life itself. Here spring the colors that make your eyes feel drunk and the tastes that bring to life parades of fruit on your tongue. Here the rich soil gives birth to culture, and the vines reach out of the ground to unite man and nature as business partners with a handshake.

This is Wine Country— California's Napa Valley —the world's most densely concentrated wine region with 270 wineries along a 28-mile stretch of breathtaking scenery. The climate here is perfect, allowing grapes to ripen slowly and evenly throughout these coastal mountains as vintners weave fruit and other nuances through their soil to create a distinctive house flavor.

Touring vineyards and tasting wines are not the only reasons to visit Wine Country. Full-service spas are becoming almost as popular as the wineries themselves, as spring water-fed mineral tubs and mud baths full of volcanic ash leave a sweet aftertaste of relaxation. Succulent cuisine seems to spring from the ground, for celebrated chefs from the best metropolitan restaurants have migrated to the Napa Valley, drawn by the Valley's incomparable wine selection to bring out the best in their culinary delights season after season.

The seasons hold many surprises in Napa Valley, according to travel agents. Early spring sparkles as vast expanses of gold light up the black vines just beginning to show their tender shoots, and the summer months ignite the senses when the cabernet grapes turn red, setting the fields on fire. As the harvest conquers fall, the air turns sweet with fermentation, and the vineyards glaze over with crimson and gold. And in winter, a magical backdrop of green mist invades, inviting travelers to relax in hot mineral baths.

Like a hot mineral bath, your Napa Valley vacation should be enjoyed leisurely. Travel agents will help you design the best plans and routes to explore the area's wineries at a comfortable and relaxed pace, while selecting the perfect bed-and-breakfast for a price that will surprise your palate. Just discussing all of the options with a trusted travel agent is enough to make you thirsty for a fine Napa Cabernet Sauvignon.

At the root of all Napa Valley vacations are the vineyards, with magnificent tasting halls and crisp-aired barrel rooms set on gorgeous, rolling estates defined by vines and flowers that stand guard like a botanical army protecting generations-old secrets.

One of the more interesting vineyards is Francis Ford Coppola's Niebaum-Coppola, which includes a museum celebrating the film director's fabled Hollywood career. The Director's Reserve chardonnay, merlot and cabernet sauvignon are worthy of Oscars. Tasting tours at Pine Ridge, another Napa favorite famed for its pine-protected vineyards and Joseph Coat roses, are conducted in its extensive caves, where the temperature never exceeds 65 degrees to carefully age the French oak barrels that hold their rich merlots and cabernets.

For a great view of the valley, take the gondola up to Sterling Vineyards, a Mediterranean-style winery perched 300 feet up on a rocky knoll. If you prefer your winery dry with a hint of sublime beauty, then venture to the scenic Domaine Carneros, the American outpost of the Champagne house Taittinger. Its majestic chateau, modeled after the historic Chateau de la Marquetterie, serves first-rate sparkling wines on a grand staircase overlooking the vineyards.

Each winery is a world of its own, yet Napa's true essence can be found in the small, quirky towns spaced along the countryside. Yountville is a walking town, famed for its gourmet eateries and rich history, where you can work off a decadent dessert with a visit to the modernist 40,000-sq-foot Napa Valley Museum to discover the region's cultural history and local paintings. St. Helena is another epicurean anchor staking the claim for Napa's culinary capital status, with elegant restaurants brimming with locals and visitors alike.

Calistoga feels like a frontier town, with wooden-plank storefronts and cowboy hats still in fashion, yet this historic hot springs destination is filled with beautiful inns, art galleries and heavenly spas, making this picturesque town the perfect home base for any Wine Country adventure. Of course Napa Valley would be nameless without the town of Napa, where you'll find COPIA: The American Center for Wine, Food & the Arts, a cultural museum and educational center dedicated to exploring America's contribution to wine and food.

With so many towns and wineries to sample, the Napa Valley can be overwhelming without guidance. With that in mind, a fine selection of tours have ripened over the years, designed for everyone from first-time visitors who want to see the best-known highlights to curious folks who want to know the ins and outs of a vineyard.

The experience is yours to choose, including private tours of several select wineries, a cave tour for an in-depth perspective, tram rides to a scenic hilltop vineyard, a breathtaking balloon journey over the valley, a round of golf with a prestigious winery as your 19th hole, wine tastings followed by visits to antique shops and beautiful gardens, or even the famous Napa Valley Wine Train, whisking you through the plush countryside in vintage Pullman dining cars.

Each tour provides you with a unique Napa Valley experience, encompassing the passion and beauty of Wine Country. Raise your glass and toast a picture-perfect vacation. Call your travel agent today to plan a Napa Valley getaway, full of luxury, relaxation and new tastes. You deserve a break.

Become a citizen of Wine Country. Click here to start planning your next vacation today!

Tour cities you've always dreamed of visiting, with the girls. Book a vacation with Gemini Travel.