In 1996, Bordeaux decide to jack up and become a city of the 21st century. The ensuing project developed in several stages – the facades of the city’s Baroque buildings were cleaned (Bordeaux’s 18th-century heritage is exceptional), the docks along the Garonne river were reconditioned and a solar-powered tramway was built. The Bordelais are rightly proud of this sustainability initiative. This whole facelift led to the capital of Aquitania being chosen as the European Best Destination in 2015 with an all-time record score, ahead of the greats like Rome, Brussels, London and Berlin.

Apart from the aforementioned works, designed to modernise the city, Bordeaux has committed to sustainability. Among other things, three years ago this involved unveiling the Darwin Ecosysteme, an area around the Queyries quayside, although the project originally dates from 2005. This area, which stretches along the right bank of the Garonne, is sited over an erstwhile industrial zone. Cleaning it up and remodelling it took two years. The brain behind the project is Philippe Barre, an Bordeaux entrepreneur committed to sustainable development who did not hesitate to invest his own money in an ecosystem which combines energy efficiency, renewable energies, ecology and thrift. To this end, Darwin is managed by the Évolution Group, an incubator of companies devoted to sustainable development, funded through office space rentals and coworking, events organising and the support of private patrons and, to a lesser extent, public subsidies. The ultimate aim of this initiative is to elicit the responsible use of resources in order to check the advance of climate change.

At first glance Darwin looks like a half-derelict site, but it actually houses over a hundred companies, many of them start-ups, who are dedicated to sustainable development – a pre-condition for being allowed to set up here. This fosters a pleasant, ecological working environment for employees, able to reap the benefits of an ecosystem conducive to development and human growth. Also based here are around twenty Bordeaux associations involved in urban culture and ecology.

Darwin features some unique spaces, such as a huge skatepark built using recycled materials, graffiti-decorated walls, the Magasin Général, the largest biological restaurant in France and a macrostore with organic products. Protecting the environment is an idea which is here starting to take its first few tentative steps, so it comes as no surprise that the projects evolving in this area are still on a modest scale, such as protecting bees, organic allotments and free-range chicken rearing. There is also a recycling station which supplies material to the coworking spaces. In the future, Darwin will be hosting fully sustainable social housing, making it the most ecological district in Bordeaux.

Fancy seeing this sustainable district for yourself? Check out your Vueling to Bordeaux here.

Text and images by Tus Destinos

Images by Sara Soulignac and S.Duboscq

Set in the heart of Florence, inside one of the greatest masterpieces of Florentine Renaissance architecture, the Fondazione offers a rich and varied programme throughout the year, consisting of high quality, world-class exhibitions ranging from Classical art and the Renaissance to the modern era and to contemporary art.

But in addition to its exhibitions, Palazzo Strozzi is a lively venue for numerous other events such as concerts, performances, contemporary art installations, theatrical performances, activities and guided tours for adults and families. Open throughout the year, it also boasts an elegant café and a quality museum shop.

From 24 September 2015 to 24 January 2016 Palazzo Strozzi will be hosting Divine Beauty from Van Gogh to Chagall and Fontana, an outstanding exhibition that sets out to explore the relationship between art and the sacred from the mid-19^th to the mid-20^th century, showcasing over one hundred works by such celebrated Italian artists as Domenico Morelli, Gaetano Previati, Felice Casorati, Gino Severini, Renato Guttuso, Lucio Fontana and Emilio Vedova, alongside such international masters as Vincent van Gogh, Jean-François Millet, Edvard Munch, Pablo Picasso, Max Ernst, Georges Rouault and Henri Matisse.

The exhibition offers visitors a unique opportunity to compare and contrast a selection of works of art which, while extremely famous, are observed here in a new and very different light. The show's star exhibits include such masterpieces as Jean-François Millet's Angelus on exceptional loan from the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, Vincent van Gogh's Pietà from the Vatican Museums, Renato Guttuso's Crucifixion from the collections of the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna in Rome and Marc Chagall's White Crucifixion from the Art Institute Museum in Chicago.

The exhibition is open from 10.00 to 20.00 daily, with late opening until 23.00 on Thursdays.

Admission costs €10, with concessions for children aged 7 to 18 at €4, free admission for children up to age 6, and a special family ticket for €20.

Tours are by appointment only and are designed for groups of adults, individuals visitors and schools.  The programme also includes a wealth of activities and a special "Family Kit".

Starting 1 November 2015, you can visitDivine Beauty, the new Opera del Duomo Museum and the Baptistry of San Giovanni on a special joint ticket allowing you to explore the fantastic history of Florence and its art from the Middle Ages to the present day.

From mid-July to mid-September, around 50 killer whales grouped into five families can be sighted in the Strait of Gibraltar off Tarifa. And, if you’re a lover of these giant mammals, what an adventure you can have watching whales, dolphins and killer whales in their natural environment, toying with vessels and swimming to-and-fro through this sheet of water that joins the Mediterranean to the Atlantic Ocean.

CIRCE (Conservation, Information and Research on Cetaceans) estimates that the striped, bottlenose, and common dolphin, and the short-finned pilot whale have their habitat in this Strait separating Europe and Africa. However, in mid-spring there are also sporadic sightings of sperm whales and such stunning mammals as the finback whale, measuring 20 metres long and weighing over 80 tons – one of the largest animals on the planet.

Killer whales are more on show in summer as they chase the tuna fish that head across the Strait of Gibraltar to the Atlantic at that time of year.

Tarifa is the Spot

But, the fun doesn’t stop there. Tarifa has a lot more to offer as it is one of Europe’s most attractive and cosmopolitan towns. It is a meeting point for young people from all over the world, drawn by the spectacular beaches and by the windsurfing and kitesurfing. If to that you add the entertainment provided by nature itself, the fun is guaranteed!

For those of you who prefer to be onterra firma,you can go for other activities you are sure to relish. In Tarifa, you can visit the beaches of Valdevaqueros and Bolonia, with their massive dunes which on clear days afford views of North Africa. Another essential enclave is Baelo Claudia, one of the major archaeological sites on the Peninsula. It is ideal for gauging what a typical Roman settlement would have been like, with its amphitheatre, roads, fish factories and walls. This was an important Roman settlement as it was here that the famous garum sauce was made and exported to Rome. The fish sauce was made of fermented entrails and regarded by Romans as an aphrodisiac.

Another of Tarifa’s emblematic monuments is the Castle of Guzmán El Bueno whose claim to fame is provided by the chilling tale of his preferring to hand over his son to the invaders than surrender the stronghold of Tarifa.

Make sure you don’t leave Tarifa without first trying their fresh fish, either in the bars or the beach stalls known as chiringuitos,or without tasting the delicious pastries with their long, Arab tradition in the town centre’s pastry shops.

Here you will be treated to a host of options, each with their own charm. So, take up your backpack, Vueling and fly to Jerez to enjoy one of southern Europe’s most powerful natural spots.

Text by Amparo Ortega and María del Águila Heras (Patronato Turismo de Cádiz)

Images by Patronato Turismo de Cádiz

Potsdam, which lies south-west of Berlin, has a lot to offer visitors, notably its spectacular UFA Film Studio (currently known as the Babelsberg Studio) – the oldest and largest in Europe – the Einstein Tower, designed by architect Erich Mendelsohn, and the city’s unique Dutch Quarter. However, the standout feature of this city is its beautiful, splendid parks and palaces, which led some of them to be listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. We take you on a tour of these fabulous gems, some of which are worthy of the great Versailles itself.

Sanssouci Park – the Jewel in the Crown
Just over a half-an-hour’s ride on public transport from Berlin lies Sanssouci Park, featuring what for many might be termed the German Versailles, which draws thousands of visitors each year. The precinct houses a large number of parks and palaces, each of them more beautiful and surprising than the next. The artificer of this ensemble was Frederick the Great who, in his endeavour to find a place where he could get away from the pomp of the Berlin Court, hit upon this wonderful spot and commissioned what would become an idyllic retreat. The very name of the park is a statement of intent as it reveals the monarch’s penchant for French culture. It is derived from the French term,sans souci,meaning “without worries”.

Among the major landmarks in the park is the Sanssouci Palace, built from 1745 to 1747 and designed by the architect, Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff. Noteworthy areas in this crowning work of the Rococo are the Marble Hall, inspired by the Pantheon in Rome, the delicately ornamented Music Room and the Library, which needless to say contains the works of such French writers as Voltaire, a friend of Frederick the Great, who was also a great admirer of his.

In addition to this fabulous summer palace, the park also features other equally unique landmarks commissioned by Frederick the Great and his successors. One such construction is the Chinese House (Chinesisches Haus), a clover-shaped pavilion of eastern inspiration, which was very much in vogue at the time, the Orangery (Orangerieschloss), with towers affording splendid views over the park, the New Palace (Neues Palais), commissioned by Frederick the Great to commemorate the end of the Seven Years’ War, and the Picture Gallery (Bildergalerie), boasting works by artists of the likes of Correggio, Rembrandt, Rubens, Anthony van Dyck and Antoine Watteau.

Potsdam’s “New Garden”
In the north of Potsdam lies the Neuer Garten (New Garden), another large park of which the highlight is the Jungfernsee lake. A must-visit is the Marmorpalais (Marble Palace), the summer retreat of Friedrich Wilhelm II, featuring a stunningly ornamented interior which has left more than a few visitors awestruck. Also sited here is the Cecilienhof Palace, a rural palace in Tudor style. It went down in history as being the location of the Potsdam Conference, held during the last few months of World War II.

Reopening Babelsberg Park and Palace
After remaining closed for seven decades, Babelsberg Park and Palace is now decked out to welcome visitors. To mark this long-awaited reopening, from 29 April to 15 October an exhibition will be held as a tribute to Prince Hermann Ludwig Heinrich von Pückler-Muskau, a landscape gardener and artificer, among others, of this park and these gardens. The exhibition will be sited in Babelsberg Palace. Built as of 1833 as the summer residence of future Emperor William I and his wife, Augusta, it was designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel according to the stylistic tenets of English Tudor. The large park, for its part, was designed by Peter Joseph Lenné, while in 1840 Prince Pückler-Muskau culminated the work by lending his own touch to the gardens.

Book your Vueling to Berlin and relish your tour of the marvels offered by the city of Potsdam.

Text by Los Viajes de ISABELYLUIS

Photos by Stiftung Preußische Schlösser und Gärten Berlin-Brandenburg