Therme Erding, Germany.

It’s all happening here! THERMENWELT ERDING, Europe’s largest spa pool, has rightly been honored with numerous awards. The center offers a wide range of facilities to suit everyone. The young and the young-at-heart all love the South Sea ambiance under the shade of real palm trees. Whilst Mum and Dad relax in any one of a number of quiet oases or try out the numerous wellness attractions, intrepid youngsters can enjoy GALAXY ERDING - Europe’s most expansive water slide complex comprising 16 galactic high-tech flumes. The THERMEN ERDING guarantees a family day full of relaxation and action-packed fun in both winter and summer alike: THERMEN ERDING for that true holiday feeling! 

 

 

In 1983 Texaco Oil workers were drilling for crude in the small village of Erding, 17 miles  (28km) north of Munich, and struck pay dirt – for the people of Germany. What they found was not oil, but a vast network of thermal springs. Over the following years Therme Erding came to life, a cutting edge super spa, the biggest and most enjoyable in Europe.


Therme Erding is not just a spa, it’s a sub culture.The massive complex is the size of a Las Vegas Casino and is sectioned off into separate but intermingling parts. This includes the Saunaparadies, the biggest sauna offering in the world and Thermalparadies, a huge area concentrated on thermal pools of various types.

It also houses a vitality center that includes a health restaurant, pool with swim up bar, meditation, and aqua exercising. There are luxury suites where visitors get pampered with a smorgasbord of massages, wraps, and beauty treatments.

And if that wasn’t enough, it also boasts Galaxy, a family fun focused theme park with one of the biggest indoor water parks in Europe.

Thermen PARADIES - BATHE UNDER PALM TREES

Be close to nature while you enjoy bathing in our thermal water that is not only good for your health but also officially approved. Benefit from the salt cave used with Himalayan salt, hot sulfur springs, the fountain of youth and further water attractions. Join our daily aqua fitness training and revitalize your body and senses. Our thermal water has a pleasant temperature of 34°C (93°F) and the pool bar invites you to have a delicious cocktail under palm trees. To enjoy the weather outside you can either relax in our spacious outdoor pool or on a comfortable deck chair outside the water. It really feels like being on holidays!

 

VITAL OASE -TIME FOR MYSELF (AGE 16+)

 

 

Relax in the exquisite Vital Oase with its nice and quiet atmosphere. The thermal pool with pool bar invites you to rest and just unwind. Three mineral pools will spoil your skin with calcium, iodine, and minerals from the Dead Sea. The lovingly designed meditation sauna helps your body to stay healthy. Experience simple well-being with a special health benefit! 

SAUNA PARADIES - FOR YOUR BODY, MIND AND SOUL (AGE 16+)

 

 

 

Experience a unique sauna visit in the world’s largest Sauna paradies. The combination of heat, thermal water and luxurious deck chairs gives you the opportunity to feel pure relaxation. The nice atmosphere in the Sauna paradise is perfect for your health and recuperation. Over 25 different saunas and other health attractions like aroma steam rooms, swimming pools surrounded by palm trees, the pool bar and the idyllic sauna garden let your visit become an unforgettable experience. 

Be overwhelmed by the beauty of our different areas that take different places on earth as model: examples are the Celtic “Stonehenge” or our beautiful “Alhambra”. Our constantly changing sauna infusions carried out by professional Paradise Guides enchant your senses. Benefit also from other free offers like skin peelings, face masks and much more. It will be a visit you’ll always remember!

ROYAL DAY SPA – PURE RELAXATION

 

 

Profit from the special ROYAL DAY SPA offers. Situated in our Sauna paradies it has been developed to meet your special demands for pure relaxation. Spoil your body with wonderful massages in our unique Crown Treatments. Enjoy your stay in our exclusive suites, cosy loungers or four-poster beds. Our ROYAL DAY SPA team will take care of your individual needs and make you feel like a royal during your visit. It will be an unforgettable day in our paradise.

GALAXY ERDING - FUN, ACTION AND ADVENTURE

 

Europe's biggest water slide paradise GALAXY ERDING takes fun to new heights. 20 high-tech galactic slides includingtwo summer slides in the thermal garden guarantee 1,700 meters (5,577 feet) of fun, action and adventure. The slides are classified into three different levels of difficulty – this means limitless fun for all ages and tastes. Family slides are ideal for aquatic fun and suitable for young and old. Action slides you can also participate in our daily slide competition. For private slide race you can try new slides Speed Racer Red and Yellow – they will give you a real Formula One feeling. For thrill-seekers , they have X-treme slides like Faser reaching up to 72km/h (45miles/h) or Kamikaze offering nearly a free fall with a gradient of 60%. 

World's Strangest Hotels that You Must Travel To.

For a truly memorable stay, break free from hotel chains and check into one of these unusual hotels. You will have an unforgettable travel experience in your life with the unique and strangest hotel that you never have been before.

Hang Nga "Crazy House" - Vietnam

With a twisting, tree-like design and animal sculptures all around it, the Hang Nga Guesthouse in Dalat, Vietnam is one of the more bizarre looking places to spend the night. The hotel is named for its creator, Hang Viet Nga, but later earned the nickname "Crazy House" for its queer design and cavernous interior. According to the hotel's website, the inspiration for the design came from the architect's desire to bring people back to nature and remind them to appreciate rather than destroy the environment. Inhabit magazine reports that the concrete creation boasts animal-themed rooms, outdoor balconies, and a sculpture garden. The architect considered works by Walt Disney and Salvador Dali in planning her building, and guests can stay in one of 10 rooms that are connected by ladders, bridges, and tunnel passages, according to This Old House online.

The cost of staying a night in the "Crazy House" run from $30 to $85 depending on time of year.

Propeller Island, Berlin, Germany

This oddball hotel has numerous themed rooms, including a bed suspended by cables in the air, or a room covered in mirrors, but by far the oddest has to the be this one featuring beds that look like coffins. Perfect for that friend of yours who is just a little *too* into the Twilight series?

 Flying beds and upside down rooms - Amazing creativity in Berlin.

This is an extraordinary location. All rooms and objects were created by the German artist Lars Stroschen. Much more appropriate than "hotel" is the designation "living in a work of art". 30 rooms with an absolutely unique and personal ambience. "Unique" is meant literally, for the entirety of all furnishings and other objects you will discover here are custom-made, individual handiwork. 

None can be found anywhere else on this planet - one could consider the CITY LODGE to be a MUSEUM with guest accommodations or a stay-in work of SCULPTURE. The rooms are designed and constructed without compromise (!), varying from the tame to the extreme, and provide the opportunity  to more or less alter your perspective of reality - according to your taste and sense of adventure. If you have managed to make the right choices, you will experience an unforgettable stay at our place!

“The Propeller Island City Lodge is a piece of art that was planned to be used as a hotel. However some of the materials are a lot more sensitive than usual: the Plexiglas is easily scratched, as are the dark and intense wall-colours when you slide your bags upon them - only to take only two examples. That is the nature of these materials and you cannot change it - except if you want a boring hotel. As a guest of the Propeller Island City Lodge we ask you keep this difference in mind and to move with some care within the artwork.
We guarantee a very unusual stay in one of the most exciting residences to stay. And we hope that all the others coming after you will enjoy it the same. “sadi by the owner.

Karosta Prison Hotel

The Karosta Prison is not one of those hotels where everything is made to look like a prison but the guests are treated comfortably! No this is not that kind of a so called “prison hotel”! It is actually a prison where you will be treated like a prisoner. The whole experience of staying in a world war 2 prison will come alive. However, whether you want to stay overnight at the hotel is totally up to you. You can choose to opt for the short “behind the bars” experience if you don’t want to spend your night as a prisoner.

 It is actually a reality show and gives you a chance to come on tv! Other than the reality show and the museum tour, you can go for a short daytime excursion inside the hotel and spare yourself the night-staying experience. It might be interesting here to know that the Karosta prison is the only prison in Europe which is open to tourists.  

You will get to sleep in a room that is iron made and this will include the iron bars.  Each room is very simple. All you see is a bed, a small dresser and toilet. It is just like an actual prison. With a closed door, you can eat the meal that prisoners used to eat. However, this will be done once you have signed an agreement regarding their contract conditions about your stay at this hotel. The agreement in staying at the Karosta Prison includes rules like that you should follow their orders and allowing to be insulted and be treated like a prisoner within your stay. As you have signed the contract and you disobey their orders, they will force you to do physical exercise or do the cleaning works. But hey, if you think this is brutal, there is really no need for you to stay the full day to feel like you are in a real prison. Remember that this is your choice.

Tree Hotel, Sweden

The Tree Hotel believes in the ways where humans are able to live in harmony with nature, rather than the means of destruction just for the use of trees. The Boreal forest is said to be one of the ‘earth’s lungs’. The inspiration of Tree hotel came from came from the documentary “Trädälskaren” (Treelover) by Jonas Selberg Augustsen.

 It is a story of three men of the urban environment who are searching to to get back to their roots by building a tree house together. It is a philosophical film about what “the tree” means to us humans, both historically and culturally.

Each tree home is designed by various innovative designers. The mirror cube is a contemporary design, where an aluminum structure covered in glass on all sides, is hung around tree trunks. The interior is constructed with plywood, giving a lovely space consisting of a double bed, bath, living room and roof terrace and a 360-degree view of the wonderful Swedish-scape. The cube is cleverly designed, where by an infrared film surrounds the cube, where it is only visible to birds in order to avoid collision and harm to wildlife.

Giraffe Manor, Nairobi, Kenya 

You awake after a peaceful night's sleep in one of this lodge's six lavish bedrooms, get showered and dressed, and head downstairs to the light-filled sun room for breakfast. You pour cream into your coffee, spread jam on your toast ... and offer a slice to an endangered Rothschild giraffe that has poked its head through a window to join you. Yes, you read that last part correctly: the Giraffe Manor and surrounding grounds offer the only place in the world where you can feed giraffes over the breakfast table, from your guestroom window or at the front door. If you're looking for a wilder experience on your travels, Giraffe Manor in Nairobi, Kenya combines the luxuries of a colonial mansion with a hands-on experience with African wildlife. 

The house was built in 1932 by a British couple and today is set on 12 acres of land. Roaming the hills and forests of the manor are Rothschild giraffes, 180 species of birds warthogs, and dik dik, says Tamimi, the manor's website. What makes the wildlife so remarkable is the fact that the giraffes participate in daily activities around the manor, including poking their heads in the dining room windows at breakfast time. According to the Travel Channel, the giraffes are fed pellets made of dry grass, corn and molasses while guests enjoy their toast and tea. Apart from being a unique attraction, the manor is involved in conservation projects to protect the giraffes, reported the Daily Mail.

Spend the night at the mansion for $500 per person, which includes meals, drinks, and the giraffe experience. 

La Balade des Gnomes, Belgium

A more original and odd project that what we might be used to is the design of the hotel that is owned by Dominique Noel; a hotel in the shape of a wooden horse reminiscent of the one that was supposedly used by the Greeks to breach the walls of Troy. The exterior already sets us for an illo tempore, a realm apart from the banal reality, and closer to the imagination and fantastic.

La Balade des Gnomes, or The Ballad of the Gnomes in translation, is a place taken from tales, a space of wonder and magic where the rooms are decorated with a lot of tiny figurines and various fairy-tale elements. The furniture is made from branches and tree trunks and the rustic feeling is further outlined through the wooden vines that are used as decorative elements.

The bathtub is itself made out of wood and other elements used in the decoration include cob, mud, lime and straws, all of these offering extra warmth during the winters and keeping the interior cool during the summer.

To enjoy a dreamlike adventure into this mobile hotel the price is around 150 dollars per night.

Dog Bark Park Inn – Cottonwood, Idaho

Dog Bark Park Inn of Cottonwood, Idaho is a bed & breakfast guesthouse inside what is, quite clearly, a giant beagle. He’s called Sweet Willy. Guests enter the body of Sweet Willy from a private deck on the second story; his head is a loft room and there is even an additional sleeping space in the muzzle! The owners have left no stone upturned in their quest for the true all-encompassing canine experience; some of the dog’s decorative furnishings are carvings created by the hotels resident ‘chainsaw artists’ Dog Bark Park Inn – Cottonwood, Idaho.

 At Dog Bark Park they specialize in creating folk-art style wooden canine carvings. Dennis and Frances create over 60 different breeds and poses of dogs and often work from customer's photos to create carvings in the likeness of their canine companions.

Sea Ventures Dive Resort, Sabah, Malaysia

The Seaventures Dive Resort Rig is the ultimate diver’s paradise. This former oil rig, having been converted into a diving destination, is a fantastic site with unlimited diving beneath its platform. It's probably the only commercial 'dive rig' in the world and there's no other one like it in Malaysia! Located off the north east coast of Borneo, just 1km from the white sand beaches of Mabul and only 20 mins from Sipadan’s world famous dive sites, Seaventures Dive Resort is the ideal base for your adventure holiday. 

Surrounded by the calm waters of the Celebes Sea, the resort is at the heart of the world’s best diving spots. Steep walls, huge schools of fish, remarkable critters and bustling reefs are just a boat ride away. Start your day with a dive alongside thousands of swirling barracuda, swim with turtles and sharks, explore the rich reefs of Mabul and Kapalai and finish with a remarkable sunset that only the Celebes Sea can deliver.

 Dive trips to Sipadan are scheduled every morning (*with valid Sipadan permits), leaving the afternoons free for exploring the macro-rich reefs of Mabul and Kapalai. Forget the mosquitoes, sandflies and long treks to the dive centre – only Seaventures can provide you with the ease and comfort of a liveaboard, without the huge pricetag.

Magic Mountain Hotel,Chilean Patagonian Rain forest

Though the hotel is shaped like a volcano, spews water from its top, has a cable bridge leading to its front door, and often has an fantastic covering of moss and plant life making it look like a hobbit home, what makes the Magic Mountain Hotel truly magical is its location.

Located within the Huilo Huilo Private Natural Reserve, the hotel is nestled among the natural world. Among the things at the reserve are the Huilo-Huilo Falls, Pudu, the world’s smallest deer species, and the longest zip line system in South America.

The Magic Mountain Hotel itself is built from local wood and stone and each of the nine rooms are equipped with modern amenities, large windows to look out at the forest, and each room is named after a different local species of bird.

Among the offerings of the hotel are hot tubs “made out of huge trunks of trees, dug out, and then filled with hot water perched on a deck overlooking the forest.” A mini golf course is built into the forest itself, using the natural world as the obstacles, and there are various outdoor activities such as horseback riding, rafting, and hiking.

Get out from Taipei.

If you want to get out from Taipei city to other convenient day cations, Taipei City offers one of the widest selections of cheap and easy day trips out of any Asian metropolis.

The Taiwanese capital at the northern tip of the island is right next to incredible natural escapes as well as boisterous towns and markets. Everything is just a short train or MRT ride away.

1. Steamy getaway: Beitou

Welcome to Taipei City’s own volcanic hot springs right at the base of Yangming Mountain. You can smell the sulfur even before you get off the MRT at Xinbeitou.

Start the day with photo ops at Hell Valley, the source of many of the local hot springs. You will find its name fitting as you peer into a bubbling blue swamp while being engulfed by steam. Water temperatures can reach boiling point here.

In the main park area just in front of the MRT station, there is the original Japanese-era hot spring building, as well as the Beitou Public Library, a triangular architectural statement inspired by the bungalows constructed during the Japanese occupation.

Follow Hot Springs Road up past the park to find Puji Temple, a cute little wooden temple built by Japanese rail workers.

Tired from all that walking? It’s time to treat yourself to a soak and the park’s atmospheric outdoor public springs are your best and cheapest bet.

For a more luxurious bathing experience, try the public springs in the Broadway Hotel just beside the park, or spend the night in one of their traditional Japanese-style rooms, complete with your own private tub.

Sweet Me Hot Spring Resort is another good option with similar facilities, just next to the MRT station. If you want privacy on a tighter budget, all of Beitou’s hotels provide comfortable rooms with private tubs that can be rented for two hours.

Getting There:All of the sites in Beitou can be accessed on foot from Xinbeitou MRT station.

2. Best sunset: Tamsui

While just about every getaway in Taiwan involves a night market or two, Tamsui has a crazy night market as well as Taiwan's most iconic sunsets.

The Tamsui market is crammed with endless rows of snack vendors, game stands and even a homegrown believe-it-or-not museum. Enjoy a walking lunch of typical snacks like barbecued cuttlefish, stinky tofu, and deep-fried ice cream.

Then burn it off by renting a two-seater bicycle and cruising the riverside path, or stroll up to theFort San Domingo built by the Dutch (also known as the "Fort of the Red Heads" in Chinese), later used as the British consul's residence and once home to Herbert Allen Giles who completed some of his work on the Wade-Giles system there.

If that's too much historical trivia for your vacation, take a bus ride to Baishawan for an afternoon of blanking out on the beach.

As the day winds down, make your way to Fisherman’s Wharf for Taipei's most renowned sunsets.

Just north of the Tamsui town itself, the boardwalk is touristy but worth it for the perfect shot of the Lover's Bridge of Tamsui against a setting sun.

For the return trip to Tamsui, forget the bus and opt for one of the small ferries that ply the river. You can swipe your MRT card to get on board.

Getting There:Get out at the Danshui MRT station on the Red Line. For Fisherman’s Wharf, take red bus 26 just outside the MRT station, or a ferry departing from Tamsui Ferry Pier. To get to Baishawan, take any Keelung-bound bus, also from the MRT station.

3. Best night market: Keelung

Northern Taiwan’s largest port sees few tourists, which is just one of many reasons to make the short trip over.

The hill in Zhongzheng Park is a great place to start. It is a vantage point for surveying Keelung city and the surrounding ocean.

Zhuputan Temple at the top of the hill is the focal point of Ghost Month activities in Taiwan held in the seventh lunar month.

Next to the temple, you can enjoy the view from a slightly surreal Buddhism-themed children’s amusement park, which includes a 22-meter-high Kuanyin statue with stairs leading up to multiple floors inside.

In the afternoon, choose between a boat trip to the cliffs of Keelung Island, or a visit to Yehliu, a windswept cape featuring hoodoos and other rock formations.

Hungry yet? Finish up at one of Taiwan’s best night markets.

Named Miaokou, or "temple entrance" after the fine temple at its heart, this market is also one of the most visitor-friendly markets in Taiwan, with English signage indicating each stall’s specialty.

Complete with the crowds that make strolling in night markets one of Taiwan’s defining experiences, this is one of the best places to take part in "re nao" or "hot and noisy atmosphere" -- a sure marker of a good time.

Getting There: Frequent trains depart Taipei for Keelung. A number of private bus companies also operate buses to Keelung from Taipei Main Station, or from bus stops along Zhongxiao East Road. Ferries to Keelung Island depart from Bisha Harbor and buses to Yehliu leave from near the Keelung train station.

4. Riverside hot springs and aboriginal culture: Wulai

Free riverside hot springs, aboriginal food and drink and waterfalls all in a picturesque river valley only a stone’s throw from Taipei -- Wulai is a day trip that's hard to beat.

Once home to the Tayal, an indigenous tribe once known for their tradition of face tattoos, Wulai is the closest aboriginal village to Taipei.

As you navigate the market strip upon arrival, check out local specialties such as roasted wild boar, raw pickled pork, steamed fragrant rice in bamboo tubes and river shrimp that are eaten whole.

A bottle of xiaomi jiu (millet wine) will help it all go down. Word of warning: you might already be light-headed from the free samples handed out by persistent vendors.

After the market, cross the bridge over the river and find a spot in one of the natural hot spring pools or makeshift saunas.

If the heat gets to you, just flop over into the cool river and then return to the heat for another round.

There are more hot spring resort choices here than in Beitou and a wider range of quality.

Getting There:Bus 1061 departs every 15-30 minutes from Xindian MRT station, taking about 40 minutes to Wulai.

5. Vertical escape: Pingxi

With so many trekking regions in the greater Taipei area, why did Pingxi make the list?

Well, for starters, between your treks you get to hop on the old-school Pingxi Rail Line, a single-track railroad previously used to transport coal.

The seven stops along the 12.9-kilometer track boasts quaint old villages that take visitors to times of the past.

If you want waterfalls, this is also the best place. The trail from Sandiaoling Station boasts three of Taiwan’s highest. The second one, where you can climb under a rock overhang and peer down the valley from behind the waterfall, is a real treat.

At Shifen Station, don’t miss Shifen Waterfall, a 40-meter-wide beauty, the broadest in Taiwan.

Last but not least, for some heart-pounding fun, try climbing the crags at Pingxi Station, the town that is otherwise known for its mass lantern releases during the Lantern Festival.

Metal ladders and steps carved into cliff faces lead you hundreds of meters upwards for dramatic views.

Getting There: Trains for depart Taipei hourly for Ruifang. At Ruifang, transfer to the Pingxi Rail Line. Some of the stops on the Pingxi Line, including Jingtong and Pingxi can also be accessed on bus 1076, departing hourly from Muzha MRT station.

6. Golden mining towns: Jiufen and Jinguashi

The once booming mining towns of Jiufen and Jinguashi are alive and kicking again these days.

Crowds of domestic and international tourists flood here to enjoy stunning views of the Pacific, fine trekking opportunities, shopping and snacking.

The focal point of Jiufen is Jishan Street, a narrow market strip that twists through town. Everyone is eager to sample Jiufen’s specialty, the squishy taro and sweet potato balls that are served hot in sweet soup or cold over shaved ice.

If the food-mad crowds get to you, stop for a break in one of the quiet teashops-with-a-view or move on to Jinguashi.

The Gold Ecological Park at Jinguashi details the mining history of the town. The park's Benshan Fifth Tunnel will take visitors into the mines to give a feel of how miners worked in the past.

Jinguashi's visitors also flock to the Gold Waterfall where minerals in the water give it a golden shine.

Add to this ruins of a Japanese Shinto shrine that are evocative of Greece and you have a genuinely unique destination.

Getting There: Bus 1062 departs regularly for Jiufen and Jinguashi from Zhongxiao Fuxing MRT exit 1. Alternatively, take the train to Ruifang, then a bus just in front of the train station. Passengers might clear out at Jiufen, but all buses do continue up the mountain to Jinguashi.