Things to Do in Kelowna & Okanagan Valley

Originally named the Decembrists’ Square, after the December 1825 uprising, Senate Square (Ploschad Dekabristov) is one of St. Petersburg’s most famous public squares, encircled by some of the city’s top attractions.  Linked to the central hub of Palace Square by the 407 meter-long Admiralty building – the one-time Russian Naval Headquarters – Senate Square is also home to the grand Senate Building and the early 19th-century Cavalry Manege, now home to the Central Exhibition Hall, and backs onto the grounds of the gold-domed St Isaac’s Cathedral.

Towering over the former city hall building, Seoul's sleek, 13‐story City Hall, the current residence of city government, is an architectural wonder that only opened for business in 2012. A wander through the wave‐shaped building leads past a seven‐story vertical garden, down a spiral staircase and into the basement where an exhibition hall showcases Gungisi artifacts such as arrowheads unearthed during the construction of the new City Hall. Back on the first floor, an art installation representing modern and past Seoul, bubbles up along the building’s glass‐paned front. Several gift shops and cafés also pepper the property.

Less than a half-mile off the south coast of Singapore, Sentosa Island presents itself as an ideal family outing brimming with activities both kid-friendly and adult-approved. Reconstructed for entertainment in the 1970s after a long military past, the island contains enough varied attractions to easily fill a full day. From water parks and miles of beaches to niche museums, with 14 world-class resorts mixed into the fray, it's no wonder the island draws nearly 20 million visitors each year.

Nicknamed “College Street” for Seoul National University, Seoul Daehangno is Seoul’s theater and arts district. The university has since moved, but the neighborhood with its parks and cultural arts centers remains. On weekends, Maronnier Park transforms into a large outdoor performing arts space for Seoul’s youth. Local and international performances of all types are held in the 40 or more theaters in the area.

Notable venues include the Batangol Art Center, Dongsung Art Center and the Literary Arts Hall. Each venue will have posters plastered on the walls outside advertising what’s currently showing, so even if you don’t speak Korean, you’ll be able to get a decent idea of what’s on offer. Before you catch a show, stop in to one of the area’s many small cafes and eateries for some traditional Korean food.

During the early summer months, Seoul Daechangno hosts the Seoul Theater Festival, with the Seoul Performing Arts Festival following in autumn. Both events put on dozens of performances, mostly in Korean, but occasionally in English as well.

The Naturmuseum Senckenberg in Frankfurt is the second largest natural history museum in all of Germany. Senckenberg contains the most comprehensive exhibition of large dinosaurs in Europe. Outside, you are greeted by enormous life-size representations of dinosaurs. Inside, you can trace the tracks of a Titanosaurus towards its skeleton on a covered patio. One particularly fascinating attraction is a dinosaur fossil with its scaled skin preserved.  These dinosaur exhibits are exceptionally popular with children.

Although its dinosaurs are the major attraction, the Senckenberg Museum also has an expansive collection of animal exhibits from every era. The museum boasts the world's most expansive collection of stuffed birds, featuring over 2,000 species. Another remarkable exhibit is a cast of the famous Lucy, a skeleton of an Australopithecus afarensis, a hominid from 3.2 million years ago.

With its slim cascade of water slicing through the air and pooling into the Seljalandsá River below, Seljalandsfoss is one of Iceland’s most undeniably photogenic waterfalls, located just off Iceland’s main Ring Road, between the Skógafoss and Selfoss waterfalls.

Plunging from a height of around 60 meters, Seljalandsfoss might not be Iceland’s widest or mightiest waterfall, but it’s certainly one of its most famous, forming a dramatic arch of water that dominates the picturesque Thórsmörk valley. Surrounded by wild flowers in the summer months and floodlit after nightfall, a visit to Seljalandsfoss provides ample opportunities for snap-happy tourists, but its most distinctive feature is its narrow chute of water, which allows a breathtaking vantage point from behind the falls. Uniquely, a footpath runs all the way around the waterfall, allowing visitors to get within meters of the rushing water, standing amidst the spray at the foot of the Eyjafjöll Mountains.