For the 100th anniversary of the Titanic’s sinking, just about every aspect of the storied liner – from safety issues to class differences among passengers – is being explored, analyzed and celebrated. 

But little attention is being given to another group of Titanic travelers: the dogs that made the voyage.

A new exhibit at the Widener University Art Gallery, in Chester, Pa., that opened Tuesday hopes to change that by including stories of the dogs and their owners who sailed on the Titanic, said J. Joseph Edgette, professor emeritus of education and folklorist emeritus at Widener University, who produced and curated the exhibit.

“I wanted to include things that people don’t normally run across,” Edgette said, noting that there were no Titanic-related exhibits that he was aware of that focused on the famed ocean liner’s canine passengers.

“Everybody knows about the iceberg, how the ship went down, and the heroic stories, but it doesn’t go beyond that, yet there are hundreds of other aspects that we need to give attention to,” said Edgette, who based much of his findings on eyewitness accounts of the evacuation, ship’s records and his own research. “Until recently, most scholarship has not covered the dogs.”

Twelve dogs set sail on the Titanic, according to Edgette, although other researchers have come up with differing accounts. Only three survived, he said.

Those that were saved included a baby Pomeranian, owned by Margaret Hays of New York City, who kept the puppy in the cabin with her, Edgette said. When passengers were evacuated, Hays wrapped it in a blanket. Crew members allowed her to get in a lifeboat with the puppy.

Others that lived were Sun Yat-sen, a Pekinese belonging to Henry and Myra Harper (of Harper & Row publishing fame), also of New York City, and a small Pomeranian owned by Elizabeth Rothschild from Watkins Glen, N.Y.

All surviving dogs were small and were kept in the first-class cabins of their owners, Edgette said.

Two of the dogs that perished were owned by William Carter, a coal magnate. Carter’s children were worried about their pets, but their father assured them the dogs were safe and encouraged his children to get in the lifeboats, Edgette said. The family survived, and later received insurance reimbursement from Lloyds of London in the amount of $100 for daughter Lucy’s King Charles spaniel and $200 for son Billy’s Airedale.

Other dogs that died included two Airedales, one named Kitty, owned by John Jacob Astor IV and his wife, and a fox terrier owned by William Dulles, an attorney from Philadelphia.

The exhibit features photos – some authentic, some representative -- of the dogs and their owners. One  photo depicts a group of dogs tied to the rail on the Titanic’s deck, which perished, and another shows crew members walking several dogs.

In addition to the dogs, the exhibit focuses on several Philadelphia-area families who sailed on the Titanic, including the Widener family, for whom Widener University is named. Three Widener family members sailed on the Titanic, but only one survived.

The exhibit also includes displays about the company that built the Titanic, details about the ship, information about the recovery of bodies after the sinking, how local families memorialized members who lost their lives after the tragedy, as well as Titanic’s impact on popular culture.

Free and open to the public, the exhibit runs through May 12.

Correction: In an earlier version of this post, we published several photos from a Widener University Art Gallery exhibit that depict dogs who sailed on the Titanic.

Msnbc.com has learned some images featured on our story and in the exhibit are not authentic, but rather were intended as representations of the breeds on board. Rebecca Warda, collections manager at the gallery, said the exhibit will be updated with signs clearly indicating which images are historically accurate and which are representations.

The photos have been removed from msnbc.com.

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Courtesy Doug Mack

Doug Mack, shown here in Venice, traveled through Europe using a 47-year-old edition of Arthur Frommer's classic travel guide "Europe on Five Dollars a Day" while researching his new book, "Europe on Five Wrong Turns a Day: One Man, Eight Countries, One Vintage Travel Guide."

Most of us are not like Indiana Jones, and do not want to travel like we are. And that’s the premise behind a new book that pokes fun at the current trend for travel writers and travelers to seek out the road less traveled.

To research "Europe on Five Wrong Turns a Day: One Man, Eight Countries, One Vintage Travel Guide" (Perigee/Penguin), to be released April 3, author Doug Mack traveled through Europe, visiting many major cities and sites, using a 47-year-old edition of Arthur Frommer’s classic travel guide "Europe on Five Dollars a Day." Along the way, he may have spent far more than five dollars a day, but he discovered the beaten path offered some unexpected surprises.

Mack answered a few questions for msnbc.com:

Why did you write this book?
The back-story is that I was at a book festival in Minneapolis with my mother, and I happened across a copy of "Europe on Five Dollars a Day," which I initially found interesting only because the title was so laughably outdated. When I showed it to my mom, she got all excited: she’d been LOOKING for that! For YEARS! It turned out she had used that book during her own Grand Tour in 1967; she also mentioned that she had all of her letters from her trip.

At first, I was just interested in the family-history angle, but as I dug through the letters and paged through the book, it also struck me that they offered intriguing big-picture views into travel and life in a very different era. I decided go to Europe guided by those letters and that book, both because it seemed like a fun adventure but also to see for myself how the tourist experience had changed in the last generation.

Did your journey turn out to be what you hoped at the outset?
Yes, in the sense that I generally had a great time and found lots of interesting comparisons between then and now.

That said, I had also naively hoped that in every single restaurant and hotel, I'd find an aged proprietor who would instantly recognize my 1963 guidebook and start regaling me with stories about Arthur Frommer, and we would become fast friends, and share many bottles of wine and hours of lively conversation until the wee hours, just like in a movie. Alas, it was not like that all day, every day — more often, I got blank stares from jaded young employees when I pulled out my book. But those awkward experiences also made for amusing stories.

What’s your personal favorite story or experience that you wrote about in the book?
In Rome, I stayed in a place called the Hotel Texas. Frommer's 1963 description runs nearly half a page and raves about its “glamorously-decorated” spaces and sophisticated guests. When I got there, though, it was essentially an archetype of deteriorated grandeur. When I showed my book to the desk clerk, he got very excited and told me he remembered "Europe on Five Dollars a Day," remembered that quote, remembered the glory days. He pulled out a hotel brochure from that era, and pointed out all the praise from other guidebooks and magazines. I had a fantastic time chatting with him over the next few days and hearing all of his stories. 

How do you think the book will contribute to travel writing memoirs?
I hope that it helps encourage other writers to take a second look at the so-called “beaten path” and realize that there are still plenty of stories left to tell there. There are two classic archetypes of travel memoir writers: the swaggering adventurers who cheat death on a daily basis, and the corporate dropouts who go to a rustic, charming village to learn “what really matters in life.” Those are all fine and good, but it's interesting how these sorts of books have become cliches in their own right; the road less traveled is actually a bit tediously familiar when it comes to travel writing.

How can readers use your book for better travel experiences?
I was about to make a joke that my book really only serves as an example of what not to do: Don't travel with a decades-old guidebook, or you will get very, very lost. But, actually, getting lost was one of the unexpected and revelatory joys of my unpractical travel method. I don't advocate total ignorance, and there were certainly times when I really wished I had been better prepared and better informed. On the whole, though, I found that getting lost and having to rely on my wits rather than a smartphone or a stack of Lonely Planets ultimately made for a more delightful, interesting, and immersive experience.

I enjoyed reading your descriptions of Arthur Frommer’s early years and his transition to travel guide writing. What were his main contributions to the field, then and also more recently?
Before Arthur Frommer came along, the major guidebooks were aimed at well-off travelers, what one might call the steamer-trunk crowd. Frommer's book had much more populist, middle-class appeal; it was essentially a manifesto for budget tourism, starting with the forthright, catchy title, almost like something from a self-help book: "Europe on Five Dollars a Day." I liken Frommer to Julia Child: they both provided the template and encouragement for the typical American. 

The general layout and style of Frommer's book was also different, more clear and concise and intuitive to use: chapter per city, each one divided into neighborhoods, all the recommendations in bold type — it's a template that basically all guidebooks follow today, but which was innovative at the time.

In the 1990s, Frommer's was one of the first guidebook companies to have a major Internet presence, and Frommers.com remains one of the most prominent travel web sites. Arthur Frommer himself has a blog there.

What do you think are the main ways travel guides have changed since the original edition of “Europe on Five Dollars a Day” came out?
The biggest thing is just that there are so many more of them — Frommer's now publishes something like 470 different guidebooks, Lonely Planet has even more, and there are many other publishers. Today’s guides also tend to be more specialized, focusing on a particular city or activity or demographic. I have not yet found a book titled The Extreme Athlete's Guide to the Vatican, but it probably exists.

The coming change, of course, is that guides are going digital. All of the major guidebook publishers also have material online, plus their own smartphone apps, and then there's all the competition from the likes of TripAdvisor and other crowd-sourced sites.

And have they changed for the better or for the worse?
Mostly for the better — planning is easier when there’s so much more information available. However, I think it's a shame that most guidebooks today don't give you a sense of the personality and specific writing voice of the author. Frommer wasn't trying to fit a specific institutional voice or style manual, so reading his book is sort of like hearing tips from a trusted friend, just because of the conversational tone of his writing.

How did “Europe on Five Dollars a Day” hold up?  Did your view of it change AFTER you traveled with it?
As you'd expect, most of the hotels and restaurants listed in the book were closed. Others had gone upscale, way out of the range of a budget traveler. Oh, and five dollars a day? Not a feasible daily budget nowadays, shockingly. Some cities were virtually unrecognizable from Frommer's descriptions — Berlin has changed tremendously since the 1960s, obviously — but some, like Rome and Paris, felt basically the same. And in every single city, there were at least a few hotels and restaurants and attractions that were still around and seemingly unchanged since Frommer's day. It held up enough for me to get by.

What is an example of how using “Europe on Five Dollars a Day” got you in trouble, and an example of how it was surprisingly rewarding?
In Paris, "Europe on Five Dollars a Day" led me to a restaurant called Le Grand Colbert, which Frommer says is really cheap and off the tourist path. Well, it turns out that it was featured in the movie “Something's Gotta Give” a few years back, so now it's a huge tourist magnet, and definitely not cheap. I walked in and the maitre d’ gave me this horrified look that basically said, “Sacre bleu, not another one of those Diane Keaton groupies. . . .” It was a spectacularly awkward meal.

There were other times, though, when Frommer's book led me away from the crowds. Like in Munich, there’s this lesser-known neighborhood that he compares favorably to Greenwich Village. I went there and it was still quiet and funky and charming, as Frommer promised; if anything, I think it was less touristy now than it was back then.

Did you send a copy to Arthur Frommer? 
Yes, my publisher sent him a book. And I was so nervous about what he would think! I have tremendous respect for him and his legacy, of course, and I trust that comes through in the book, but I also knew that the very nature of the project was probably off-putting to him: I'm a young, upstart writer doing this goofy experiment and also telling his story. But just recently, I heard Mr. Frommer on the radio show "Rudy Maxa's World," and he gave the book a glowing review — he said it was erudite and amusing and he thinks it will be a best-seller. His words, not mine. Here's hoping....

Are you still a committed non-adventurer?
Mostly. I still like to go to seemingly familiar places and find the unfamiliar thing; I really love finding the stories hidden in plain sight. But I'm certainly more adventurous than I was, so we'll see. Maybe my next book will involve using an outdated guidebook to climb Mount Everest.

What is the next travel experience you have planned?
My fiancée is trying to convince me that we should go on a hitchhiking trip in Asia. (As you will have guessed, she's quite a bit more adventurous than I …) I'm still dubious, but she's doing a good sales job, so it might happen. I'm also hoping to spend some time exploring some of the forgotten communities and cultures right here in the United States.

What’s the big message of the book you want readers to walk away with?
My message is basically the same as Frommer's underlying point all those years ago: No matter where you travel, make it your own. What's important isn't following the crowds or even not following the crowds but appreciating a place and a culture on your own terms. Don't be afraid to be a cliché and follow the masses to something really cool; don't be afraid to get totally lost and away from the crowds and out of your comfort zone. Find your own path.

More on Itineraries

• Europe travel: Best money-saving tips
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• Events mark 100th anniversary of Titanic's sinking

Slideshow: Titanic Belfast

Peter Macdiarmid / Getty Images

The Titanic Belfast Experience is a new £90 million visitor attraction location in Belfast's Titanic Quarter, on the original site of the Harland and Wolff shipyard -- birthplace of RMS Titanic.

Launch slideshow

For Titanic buffs, life is about to get a whole lot better.

The 100th anniversary of the sinking of the storied ship is quickly approaching , and cities on both sides of the Atlantic are ramping up efforts to commemorate the April 15 centennial with an extensive array of events and celebrations — from museum openings and special musical and theatrical performances, to recreated meals and graveyard tours. “Anyone with a connection to the Titanic seems to be doing something to mark the anniversary,” said Charles Weeks, professor emeritus of marine transportation at the Maine Maritime Academy and a member of the Titanic International Society.

Here’s a roundup of some of them: 

Ireland
“Titanic Belfast” is scheduled to open March 31 in a new six-story structure overlooking the slipways where the Titanic was built. The venue will feature nine galleries of interactive exhibition space that explore a range of stories, from the people who built the ship to the technology and science that located the wreck. A few of the exhibits include: recreations of the ship’s decks and cabins; an undersea exploration center; and the Shipyard Ride, which uses special effects, animations and full-scale reconstructions to recreate shipbuilding in the early 1900s. 

“It is the largest Titanic experience in the world,” said Bernard McMullan, a communications and public relations executive for Tourism Ireland. Several weeks of events in Belfast's recently developed Titanic Quarter will be held in conjunction with the attraction’s opening.

Photoblog: Inside Titanic Belfast

Just outiside Belfast is "TITANICa The Exhibition," currently at the Ulster Folk & Transport Museum in Cultra, which features more than 500 objects recovered from the Titanic's wreckage. Other Titanic tributes launched in Ireland include a yearlong series of events and activities in Cobh, County Cork, the ship’s last port of call. Only four of the 123 people picked up there survived. “Titanic 100” includes a memorial, Titanic-themed trails and boat tours, exhibitions, concerts and tours of local pubs “where people enjoyed a farewell drink before they boarded the doomed liner,” according to Tourism Ireland. 

England
The city of Southampton, where the Titanic began its fatal journey, will open the SeaCity Museum on April 10. The disaster had a devastating effect on the people of Southampton, as most of the crew lived there and more than 500 households lost at least one family member, according to the town’s website. Exhibitions will focus on themes such as the hidden history of Titanic's crew and the international fascination with the story of the Titanic, and will feature a “disaster room” and hands-on activities. 

France
La Cité de la Mer, a center in Cherbourg dedicated to deep-sea adventures, will open a new permanent exhibition on April 10, 100 years to the day the Titanic sailed there to pick up passengers. “Titanic — Return to Cherbourg” aims to recreate life onboard the ship through the testimonies from survivors and witnesses, along with exhibits, concerts, theatrical performances and guided tours. 

Canada
Nova Scotia, which boasts some 20 Titanic-related sites, will hold commemorative events on April 14 and 15. “Titanic Eve - Night of the Bells” is an evening walking procession featuring stops at Titanic-related landmarks, interpretative presentations, live performances and a moment of silence at the exact time the Titanic began to sink. Flares will be set off to symbolize the ship's call for help. The Titanic Spiritual Ceremony, an interfaith memorial service, will take place at the Fairview Lawn Cemetery, with musical performances and a wreath-laying in honor of the 121 Titanic victims buried there. The Nova Scotia Archives has set up a new “virtual archive” where people can pull up Titanic-related files. Some events, including exhibits at The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, will extend into summer and autumn.

Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada’s easternmost province and the closest to where the ship went down, will host exhibitions, concerts, film showings, re-creations, music events, theatrical performances, lectures, tours with Titanic experts, and visits to Cape Race, where the Titanic’s distress signal was received. Local dishes that the lighthouse keepers and residents dined on in 1912, and music inspired by the Irish immigrants and musicians who perished, will also be featured. 

Atlanta
The St. Regis Atlanta will pay tribute to St. Regis founder Col. John Jacob Astor IV, who died in the sinking along with his butler. Throughout April, the hotel will serve a signature cocktail and afternoon tea menu created for the occasion, and offer a special package in the Empire Suite, for $3,300 a night, the same price in 1912 for the crossing in one of two deluxe parlor suites aboard the Titanic. On April 10, a complimentary cocktail reception will offer guests and the public hors d’oeuvres inspired by the last dinner served on the Titanic, and will feature sabering (a ceremonial opening using a sabre) of 100 bottles of Heidsieck Champagne, a label served on the Titanic.

Branson, Mo., and Pigeon Forge, Tenn.
Titanic Museum Attractions will host “A night to remember: An original musical tribute to Titanic,” on Saturday, April 14. Musical performances and appearances by descendants of passengers and crew will highlight the production. Both museums are in the shape of a ship, and boast hundreds of artifacts and exhibits that detail the story of the ship’s history and fate, to let visitors “experience what it was like to walk the hallways, parlors, cabins and grand staircase of the Titanic.”

Denver
The Molly Brown House Museum, named for the American human-rights activist and philanthropist who survived the sinking, is holding guided tours, musical performances, special teas, lecture series and a special exhibit, “The Unsinkable Molly Brown: Denver’s Heroine of the Titanic,” which runs through Dec. 31. The “Steerage Class Shindig” will recreate the experience of third-class passengers with “a hearty meal, a rollicking band and a fine pint.” 

Orlando, Fla.
“Titanic The Experience” takes visitors back in time through live interactive interpretations by storytellers in period costume, full-scale room re-creations, memorabilia and artifacts recovered from the wreck site, including a 3-ton portion of the ship's hull, the captain's wheel and personal belongings from Titanic passengers and crew.

Springfield, Mass. 
The Titanic Historical Society will host a Titanic Centennial Memorial Weekend (April 20-22) to unveil and dedicate a new memorial. It will also feature guest speakers, visits to the nearby Titanic Museum, a raffle with collectibles, and a gala dinner and costume contest. “We’ve been doing these types of events for many years before the movie,” said Karen Kamuda, vice president of the society. 

St Louis, Mo.
Titanic Centennial Weekend (April 13-15) will include an Edwardian Champagne reception, an exhibit of Titanic-related artifacts, and a screening of the 1958 film "A Night to Remember." The signature event, “The Last Dinner on the Titanic,” will recreate the 11-course meal served on the Titanic’s last night. Between courses, guests will be entertained by live period music, and will receive a boarding pass and an envelope with the name and historical biography of an actual first-class passenger. Guests will experience “the elegance, grandeur and luxury of the R.M.S. Titanic, while enjoying a gastronomical extravaganza from another era,” organizers say.  

New York metro area
A trolley tour on April 7 will take visitors through Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, the final resting place of some passengers on the Titanic.

At the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center, the world premiere of “Titanic Tales: Stories of Courage and Cowardice” will be performed on April 12 at 8:30 p.m., part of the Center’s Target Free Thursdays series. The original piece weaves together survivors’ recollections, taken from testimony given at the American and British boards of of inquiry, with music of the period, including works performed by the Titanic’s band on that fateful night.

The Jane Hotel in the West Village welcomed surviving crew members from the Titanic by offering care and dry clothes, though in 1912 it was the American Seaman’s Friend Society Sailors’ Home and Institute. To commemorate the centennial, the hotel is offering two signature cocktails until April 18 in the Jane Ballroom: the Bourbon- based “Unsinkable Molly Brown," and the Champagne-based "ST-705," named in honor of the 705 passengers who survived. 

NYC Discovery Walking Tours will offer a two-hour “Titanic History Tour” in Greenwich Village, with stops at The Seaman’s Lodge, where survivors took shelter, the Titanic Memorial Arch, and sites associated with passengers John J. Astor, Isidor Straus and others. The public tour is offered on April 14 at 1 p.m. and April 15 at noon for a cost of $20. Call 212-465-3331 for reservations, meeting place and information about private tours.

The Titanic International Society will host a weekend of remembrance April 27-29 in Secaucus, N.J. It includes a candlelight memorial service, with readings and music, and a luncheon cruise around New York Harbor that will pass the intended destination of the Titanic and the pier where the rescue boat Carpathia docked. Charles Haas, the society’s president, said there was a general sense that after the centennial, interest in the Titanic might wane, but he does not concur. “I’m especially optimistic about the number of young people who are fascinated by the Titanic story,” he said.

Related stories

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• Full Titanic wreck site mapped for the first time
• Cruise tragedy conjures memories of doomed Titanic 
• Relatives of Titanic officer seek return of letter

Tom Wallace

Floodwaters rush into Vernazza's harbor after an intense rainstorm ripped through the Cinque Terre region of Italy on Oct. 25, 2011. Monterosso, another Cinque Terre town, also was devastated.

For the residents of the Cinque Terre, a region of five quaint coastal villages nestled in cliffs overlooking the Ligurian Sea on Italy’s northwestern coast, the arrival of spring may be especially sweet this year.

Last fall, torrential rains, massive flooding and mudslides, some more than 13 feet high, devastated the area. Homes, businesses and trails were damaged. In the aftermath of the violent Oct. 25 storm, there was concern about how the storm would impact the tourism season, which typically begins in spring.

But preliminary reports are positive.

The Cinque Terre is ready to receive tourists, according to a representative in the Italian Government Tourist Board in New York, who said that by Easter, the region hopes to have all the paths open. The famous “Via dell’Amore” (“Love’s path”) trail is open, but others sustained damage and were closed due to safety issues. The Parco Nazionale delle Cinque Terre, the national park, provides regular trail updates on its website. 

About 400,000 tourists visited the region in 2011, about half of whom are Italian and some 60,000 Americans, the representative said, quoting data from the regional office in Liguria of the Italian National Institute of Statistics (Istat). 

Edward Piegza, president and founder of Classic Journeys, who spoke by phone with his company’s local tour guides as well as business owners in the Cinque Terre before being interviewed by msnbc.com, said many shops and restaurants are open in Monterosso, one of the two towns damaged by the storm. And those that are not “are working quickly to rebuild by tourist season, the beginning of April,” he said.

Classic Journeys has offered its “Tuscany and the Cinque Terre Cultural Walking Tour” since 1996.

Classic Journeys

A group of tourists walks to Vernazza in Italy's Cinque Terre region in 2005.

The Cinque Terre is known for distinctive pastel-colored homes, seaside charms, and its network of walking and hiking trails along cliffs, linking the towns and winding though terraced hills of vineyards, and olive and chestnut groves, offering dramatic views and ample opportunities for much needed espresso and gelato breaks.

The Cinque Terre, Piegza said, “captures a different time and place.” And much of the draw is its “real sense of authenticity, when people lived more simply.”

Beth Rubin, manager of custom travel planning for Select Italy, a company specializing in travel to Italy, said tourism to Cinque Terre had “exploded” in recent years. “It’s very outdoorsy and offers an active vacation that’s not too expensive. People who are traveling on a budget really like to go there.” Select Italy plans to offer its full range of tours, and its local suppliers “are going to find a way,” to work around any potential problems, she said.  

Other tour companies are reporting similar determination to proceed.

“We would never consider canceling our tours,” said Carolyn Walters Fox, who handles marketing and media relations for Country Walkers, “as long as it’s safe.”

Country Walkers specializes in active travel and has offered guided walking and hiking tours to the region for about 15 years. Currently, six tours are planned from May through the autumn. The local people “have been so good to us,” Fox said. “Tourism is an opportunity to give back.”  

Melanie Morin, who manages tours to the Cinque Terre region, is not worried if trails the company used in the past are not open in May. “The alternative routes still make a spectacular tour,” she said, and the local residents “are really trying to do everything they can to be ready for the season.”

Piegza, of Classic Journeys, recounted how one of its tour groups had been dining at Al Pozzo, a restaurant in Monterosso last October when the rain started. The group was able to leave the area before the storm became dangerous, but the restaurant was severely damaged.

Restaurant owners Jolanda and Gino Barilari, told Piegza by phone earlier this month that Al Pozzo recently reopened, and some American tourists had just finished eating lunch.

“They were able to complete their restaurant almost a month early,” Piegza said, noting that for more than four months the extended Barilari family “worked from sunrise to sundown, seven days a week, to rebuild. They were so exited. They said ‘wow’ we made it through.”  (“Rebuild Monterosso” provides updates for businesses and activities.)

Slideshow: Italian dreams

Franco Origlia / Getty Images

Tourists in Italy can learn about history, architecture, art and much more.

Launch slideshow

“We encourage people to come,” said Michele Sherman, an American expat living in Italy, and executive director of Save Vernazza, a nonprofit created after the disaster to raise funds and awareness to rebuild, restore and preserve the town. Vernazza was the town most impacted by the storm. “A lot has been done, but a lot still needs to be done,” she said. 

The group’s website Travel Advisor page lists updated information about what local businesses and trails are open or scheduled to reopen, and what is off limits. “We’re in constant contact with all the local business owners and we’re in the loop about the status of trail repairs,” Sherman said. “We’re always walking around with a camera.”

When UNESCO added the area to the World Heritage List in 1997, it cited “the harmonious interaction between people and nature to produce a landscape of exceptional scenic quality.” But through the years the surrounding terraced hills were neglected as the local economy shifted from agriculture to tourism, Sherman said. “The focus in Vernazza changed.” But finding a balance between maintaining the territory and sustainable tourism is critical to moving forward, she said, “not only to prevent further disasters, but also to preserve Vernazza’s cultural heritage. It's still beautiful,” Sherman said. It’s not what it once was, “but it can be that way again.”

Related stories:

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• Secrets to eating well in Italy
• A wine geek's ultimate road trip
• Not your mother's Eurail Pass

Frank Ockenfels / AMC

The Season 5 premier of AMC's "Mad Men" is March 25.

It may be impossible to time travel back to 1960s-era New York, but that hasn’t stopped some "Mad Men" fans and haunts featured on the TV show from trying.

"Mad Men," which premiers its fifth season on Sunday, is filmed predominately in Los Angeles, but nostalgia for the fictional advertising world of Don Draper and his fellow Madison Avenue executives has spawned a wave of tourism in Manhattan, where the drama is set.

The show “is as quintessentially New York as yellow taxis and pastrami on rye,” writes NYC & Company, the official marketing, tourism and partnership organization for New York City.

“New York City is the center of media and pop culture — visitors are drawn here partly because they see the city portrayed in film and television and it feels familiar to them,” said Kimberly Spell, chief communications officer for NYC & Company. Shows like “Mad Men” “accentuate the unique vibrancy, style and glamour of the city.”

Related: Will Don Draper finally be happy this season on 'Mad Men?'

Leading up to the premier, the city is boasting special hotel packages, "Mad Men"-themed cocktails, walking tours, and ample opportunities to dress up in period attire and turn back the clocks to soak up the retro style and glamour of the 1960s.

Here is a round up of some of them:

NYC Discovery Walking Tours offers fans a chance to stroll through midtown, taking in the history and architecture of the era. On “The World of Mad Men: NYC During the Early 1960’s,” stops include the Summit Hotel, the Seagram Building, the Pan Am Building, and the Lever House, and other places Don Draper might have seen when he leaves his office to buy a “35 cent pack of cigarettes and meet a client for lunch.” The public tour, which costs $20, is offered on Saturday, March 24, at 2 p.m. and Sunday, March 25, at 4:30 p.m. Call 212-465-3331 for reservations and meeting place. Tours by private appointment are also available.

Richard Anthony, one of NYC Discovery Walking Tours’ historians, said he and colleagues were impressed with the show’s authenticity. The scripts “are very well-researched, they aren’t at all arbitrary.” In recent months “there’s been a big buzz about 'Mad Men'; it’s led to this birth of interest in New York” during the early 60s. The private tour was given about four times in recent weeks, Anthony said. “People are always looking for that part of New York history they want to escape to.”  

Several companies offer general tours, including NYC Discovery Walking Tours’ “Famous Movie Sites of the East Side” and the guided bus tour “New York TV & Movie Sites,” given by On Location Tours, that pass or point out "Mad Men" locations, like the Time & Life Building and the Ziegfeld Theatre.

The Roosevelt Hotel NYC, the setting of several episodes and where Don Draper lived in Season 2 after his wife Betty threw him out, offers a “Mad Men in the City” package. Included are a stay in a newly renovated room, 1960s-inspired mixers at mad46, the 19th floor rooftop bar or at Madison Club Lounge, one of Draper’s frequent hot spots in the hotel’s lobby: two tickets to The Paley Center for Media; and copies of "Mad Men" Season 4 on DVD and the newly released “Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook” to take home. The package starts at $425 a night for a minimum three-night stay, and is available from March 1 to June 30.

The Pierre, a Taj Hotel, which has appeared in previous episodes, offers guests the chance to sip classic cocktails from the early 60s and “dress up in their favorite 'Mad Men'-inspired garb and embrace their inner Don Draper and Joan Holloway” beginning on March 27 and on every Tuesday throughout the season. The offer is part of the regular weekly complimentary jazz music series from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Two E Bar/Lounge. Cocktails on the special drink menu cost $14 and include Irish Coffee, one of fictional character Roger Sterling’s staples, and the  Bikini Martini, “the most voluptuous drink in town,” inspired by Christina Hendricks, who portrays Joan Holloway, made with Hendrick’s Gin, Peach Schnapps and Blue Curacao.        

The Paley Center for Media will host a “'Mad Men' Season Premiere Viewing Party” on Sunday, March 25, at 8 p.m. The fifth season premiere will be shown on the big screen, “all the better to soak up that gorgeous period detail.” Before the screening, there will be an era-appropriate cocktail party and a "Mad Men" Trivia contest. Guests will receive a Season 5 "Mad Men" poster, and are invited to “break out the sharp suits, pocket squares, and kicky frocks.” During the screening, commercial breaks will show actual ads from the early sixties, featuring Sterling Cooper clients like London Fog and Lucky Strike. Tickets cost $30.  

Though three-martini lunches and desk-side scotch cabinets may be largely gone in the 21st century, according to NYC & Company, its website invites prospective visitors to plan a self-guided tour by viewing a slideshow that features sites that appeared in the series or are tied in to the time period, like Sardi’s Restaurant and P.J. Clarke's, a vintage watering hole where patrons can still drink “frosty mugs of beer and hear Frank Sinatra on the jukebox, while the dining room serves up mouthwatering comfort food (including, according to Nat King Cole, ‘the Cadillac of burgers.’” But one word of advice from the slideshow: do not waste time looking for 405 Madison Avenue, the address of the fictional advertising agency: it doesn't exist. 

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The front of New York City's first-ever gay hotel, THE OUT NYC, is pictured during the official opening to the public on Thursday. (Timothy A. Clary/AFP - Getty Images)

On a recent afternoon, construction was brisk and the excitement was palpable at 510 West 42nd Street in Manhattan, the site of THE OUT NYC, a sleek, three-story structure with a glass façade that its creators say will be the first gay hotel in New York City.

The 105-room boutique hotel, located between 10th and 11th Avenues in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood, close to Chelsea, Times Square and the Theater District, opens its doors on March 1.

“I had a vision five years ago,” to create a gay hotel that would be conveniently located, said Ian Simpson Reisner, a managing partner of Parkview Developers, which owns THE OUT NYC, but would also “be a relaxing home base resort-style retreat where guests can stay, eat and play.” 

PhotoBlog: Inside THE OUT NYC

Reisner said he drew much of his inspiration from both Ian Schrager and André Balazs, whose elegant hotels with cutting edge décor are very gay friendly. THE OUT NYC, Reisner said, is similar in conception and style, but is a gay hotel that is very straight friendly. By marketing it as a “straight-friendly” urban resort, it sends the clear message that the property welcomes gays as well as straights, and tourists as well as locals, he said.

THE OUT NYC is part of a global trend, said Darren Cooper, senior consultant for Out Now Consulting, an international company based in the Netherlands that specializes in marketing to the gay community.

“Traditionally gay-owned and or operated hotels and guesthouses have been located in vacation resorts, and catered almost exclusively to the gay leisure traveler,” Cooper said. But since 2003 there has been growth in larger, metropolitan, upscale, boutique hotels that are predominantly aimed at the LGBT community but also marketed as "straight friendly." The LGBT community is announcing that it is now “part of the mainstream, but that straights are welcome, too,” he said.

Cooper cited a number of reasons for the increase, including the fact that post 9/11, the LGBT travel market “showed remarkable resilience, a fact that was not lost on the global travel industry as well as gay entrepreneurs and hoteliers.”

Bjorn Hanson, divisional dean of the Preston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism and Sports Management at New York University, said the fact that up to 10 percent of the population self-reports as being gay “creates an opportunity” for hotels that appeal to a substantial demographic.

The change in marriage laws may also play a role in the increase.

THE OUT NYC “will be an attractive offering for LGBT audiences and their straight friends visiting the City on the heels of the passage of same-sex marriage,” said Kimberly Spell, chief communications officer for NYC & Company. And the hotel’s opening “is another example of how New York City continues to evolve and reinvent itself.”

Rooms at THE OUT NYC will start at $250 a night and include wireless high speed Internet, flat screen TVs, in-room MP3 docking stations, workplaces and mini-bars. Valet parking will be available. Eight “Sleep Shares,” hostel-style rooms that sleep four, will be equipped with four full-sized beds, personal TVs, a bathroom, and privacy curtains. These innovative shared accommodations, from $99 per person, were designed to “help make the property affordable to a younger demographic,” Reisner said.

THE OUT NYC, designed by Paul Dominguez, will feature multi-use function spaces to be used as a business and conference center or for intimate private diners, large events and weddings. Public spaces include a 5,000-foot wellness center, three courtyards (one will boast an ipe-wood sunbathing deck, two hot tubs, and a cascading curtain of rain; another will feature a bamboo garden), and the 11,000-square-foot XL Nightclub.

The full-service restaurant and café, KITCHIN, set to open in May, will serve upscale comfort food. Guests will be able to dine at large communal tables and enjoy picnics prepared by the restaurant’s staff. Reisner said that he hopes the hotel’s welcome-to-all philosophy and atmosphere will help make the KITCHIN “the neighborhood cafeteria.” 

THE OUT NYC “is a nice-to-have, not a need-to-have,” said Henry H. Harteveldt, co-founder of the Atmosphere Research Group, a market research company. “I think it is going to be challenging” to succeed.

“The hotel is going to have to deliver,” said Harteveldt. “The hotel has to fill up its rooms; it doesn’t matter what sexual orientation its guests are.” Customers will expect the usual amenities like predictable hot water, good Wi-Fi connectivity and an on-site restaurant with good food and fair prices, Harteveldt said. He expects it to be especially challenging in New York. Unlike resort areas, where properties are frequently destinations themselves, the lure of New York City’s many attractions often means less time is spent on the premises.

In addition, in recent years a number of mainstream hotels, including Starwood, Kimpton and Marriott, have welcomed the LGBT community though marketing efforts and service. For example, when gay guests arrive to check in at a number of hotels, well-trained front desk personnel now handle questions like how many beds should be in guest's room with greater sensitivity, Harteveldt said.

Another challenge will be getting repeat guests who are members of major brand loyalty programs. “For customers, loyalty is huge,” said Harteveldt. “By staying at The OUT NYC, they will be forfeiting perks and free future stays. It will be a tough choice, especially since they are often treated just as well at mainstream properties.”

Cooper, the marketing consultant, said that Out Now’s research pointed to a possible promising outcome. In a study, LGBT2020, which collected data from 18 countries around the world in 2011, New York was the No. 1-rated city destination for LGBT travelers globally. “In my opinion, a hotel that catered to this market was bound to happen sooner or later in New York,” he said.

But Cooper agreed that when competing with the best hotels in the world, who are already training their staff and who have access to the global LGBT community through a media network, “you have to make sure that you get it right, and that isn't done overnight.”  He said several properties in Barcelona, Berlin and Buenos Aires opened by Axel Hotels in recent years cater predominately to gay leisure and business travelers and have been successful in competing in a tough marketplace, with facilities and service that “raised the bar for LGBT properties globally.”

And word of mouth, too, will be important in the hotel’s ultimate success, as the global gay community “is small, and it talks,” Cooper said. “The opening of OUT NYC is big news — people will be talking, blogging, writing, tweeting, chatting and texting about this,” he said. “Good news travels fast, as does bad in this community. If OUT NYC gets it right, the hotel will flourish.”

Slideshow: The Big Apple

Long referred to as the center of American business, New York is a melting pot of cultures and landscapes. Take a visual tour of some of the Big Apple's most famous attractions. (Dave Etheridge-Barnes/Getty Images)

Launch slideshow

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Chris Helgren / Reuters

Passengers wearing period costume queue to board the Titanic Memorial Cruise in Southampton, England, on Sunday.

Updated April 8 -- The first of two Titanic-themed cruises set sail from Southampton Sunday on a 12-night cruise that will follow the Titanic's original itinerary.

The vessel, the MS Balmoral, is operated by Fred Olsen Cruise Lines — whose parent company, Harland and Wolff, built the Titanic. The ship has a 1,350-passenger capacity, but will carry 1,309 paying passengers on the Titanic Memorial Cruise, “the same number that sailed on the fateful Titanic voyage,” the company said on its website.

The cruise sold out nearly two years ago, so a second ship, the Azamara Journey, part of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., was added during the summer of 2011. That ship departs New York on April 10, “exactly 100 years to the day the Titanic departed Southampton” the company said, for an 8-night voyage.

As of January, when about one-third of the spots on the Azamara Journey were still available, interior staterooms were selling for $4,900. The top cabin, the Club World Owners Suite, cost nearly $15,000.

The Titanic sank in the early hours of April 15, 1912, after hitting an iceberg. More than 1,500 people lost their lives.

Slideshow: Titanic Belfast

David Moir / Reuters

The Titanic Belfast Experience is a new visitor attraction location in Belfast's Titanic Quarter, on the original site of the Harland and Wolff shipyard -  birthplace of RMS Titanic.

Launch slideshow

The cruises were designed to replicate food, entertainment and dress of the era. “Passengers will have the opportunity to dress up in period clothing on some nights,” said Miles Morgan, founder of Miles Morgan Travel, the company that organized the Titanic Memorial Cruises.

Expert lecturers will be on board to discuss Titanic-focused topics, including Philip Littlejohn, grandson of Titanic survivor Alexander James Littlejohn, and author of "Titanic — Waiting for Orders" which tells the story of his grandfather, who was a 1st Class Steward on the ship. Dana McCauley, co-author of “Last Dinner On the Titanic: Menus and Recipes from the Great Liner,” is the food consultant, and will help create menus based on meals eaten during the Titanic’s inaugural voyage.

“It’s been an interesting journey,” said Morgan. The inspiration began about five years ago when a gentleman walked in off the street to one of his 12 travel agencies in England and suggested the idea.

The ships will make stops at cemeteries in Halifax, Nova Scotia, to visit the final resting places for many unclaimed victims, and atop the Titanic grave site on April 15, when a memorial service will be held at 2:20 a.m., “to pay tribute to all the brave passengers and crew on board that fateful night,” according to the company site.

“We are not releasing what will take place in advance,” Morgan said, regarding the details about the service. “Because it is a very unusual occasion, many passengers will also find their own way to remember the moment.”

AP Photo/File

The Titanic sails out of Southampton, England, in April 1912 at the start of its doomed voyage.

Among the passengers will be Titanic fans, but also some descendants of survivors and those who perished.

“I want to be outside on the deck, to feel how cold it would have been,” said Jill Kirby, great-niece of a ship worker, to experience “the personal feeling of actually being there and reliving a moment that occurred  100 years ago, to just have a feeling of how people must have felt.” Kirby, originally from Southampton, England, but now of Los Angeles, said her great-uncle, Alfred Albert White, was a crewman in the engine room, and was the only one from his department who survived the tragedy.

Often it is the famous passengers who are remembered, she said, but “many unknown lives were lost. The cruises are excellent ways to memorialize those victims that may not be as famous. All lives are important,” she said. “The lives of these people meant something and were cut short because of this terrible tragedy.”

Tim Wallis, of Waterloo, Ontario, is taking the voyage to honor his great-grandmother, Catherine Jane Wallis, who died in the sinking but whose body was never recovered. “I just kind of felt an obligation to complete the journey,” he said.

“She made it to the rail and was about to get on a life boat, but realized that she forgot her paperwork,” said Wallis, who recounted the story based on eyewitness accounts. She went to retrieve her papers, “but she never made it back,” he said. His great-grandmother was on the ship to work, as her husband drowned eight months earlier and she had to support her three small children.

Wallis also said he was taking the cruise to honor his aunt, who spearheaded efforts in DNA testing for Titanic victims, and who died on April 15, 2006. Wallis has a few other uncanny connections to the Titanic: his own birthday is April 15, and he and James Cameron, the “Titanic” film director, share the same hometown.

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Kacper Pempel / Reuters

Tourists ride in horse carriages Nov. 12, 2011, in the Old Square in Krakow, Poland. If you're planning a trip to Europe this year, Krakow is one of the best bargains.

Budget travelers of a certain age may remember guide books of some years ago that helped them plan vacations in Europe on $5 and $10 dollars a day. But the 21st century may have its own version: the European Backpacker Index 2012, an online listing in its second year that rates 40 major European cities by price.

Released earlier his week, the new 2012 listing rates Sofia, Krakow and Budapest as the cheapest major tourist cities in Europe, while Zurich, Oslo and Stockholm are rated as the most expensive.

“At least right now, Europe is a little bit cheaper than the last few years,” for Americans, said Roger Wade, who researched and complied the list. With a strong U.S. dollar and favorable exchange rates, budget travelers can save even more on their next European trip.

Wade is founder and editor-in-chief of Price of Travel, a website and database of travel costs launched in 2010 to help travelers compare typical expenses in more than 110 cities around the world to ascertain the best values.

Wade began the site because he couldn't find any comprehensive resource that rated cities based on affordability. “Websites and books tend to not list prices because they fear they will be out of date soon,” and will be a burden to update, said Wade, who insisted the list is not just for college-age students and 20-somethings. 

“I’m always looking for value,” said Wade, who is 47 years old and has been traveling for the last two years, and spoke to msnbc.com in a phone interview from Kas, Turkey. The same amount of money for a three-night stay at a higher-end hotel could cover two weeks at a lower-cost hotel or hostel. “That’s what I’m going to do every time,” Wade said. The trade-off is worth it, he said. If you go cheaper, you can go for longer.

The list is not meant to discourage travel to certain cities, but to help figure out which cities to hurry through or linger in. Based on this year’s list, visitors could spend five times longer in Sofia, Bulgaria than in Zurich, Switzerland. The Daily Backpacker Index daily rate for Sofia is $23.71 a day; for Zurich, it’s $118.78 a day.

(This list will be updated when currencies fluctuate, the site states, but the most current information will always be on the city-specific pages; links are at the bottom of each city listing.)

Any surprises on this year’s list?

“Poland in particular seems to be gaining in popularity, especially Krakow, which has become a hotspot,” Wade said.

Ratings are based on average costs for accommodations, public transportation, attractions, food and drink in each city.  “It’s quite scientific,” Wade said. “Most are exact prices, except for food, which can be variable.” Those estimates are based on “the cheapest meal you can get.”

Here are the detailed criteria: 

• One night in the cheapest bunk at the least expensive hostel with a good location and good reviews. (The rating must be over 80 percent, Wade said.)
• Two public transportation rides per day.
• One paid/famous attraction per day. (Every city is loaded with free things to do for budget-conscious travelers, but the average cost of a major attraction in each city for each day is used.)
• Three “budget” meals per day. (The minimum meal price, plus 20 percent to make it more realistic for a longer trip.)
• Three cheap, local beers (or wine) each day as an “entertainment fund.” Non-drinkers might have dessert and coffee or attend a local music performance instead, so this is a general benchmark that should be proportional for each city.

Are lists like the European Backpacker good predictors?

Slideshow:

Experience the grand cities, amazing architecture, cultural attractions and natural beauty of the Old Continent.

Launch slideshow

For Americans, it’s a great time to travel to Europe, said Reena Aggarwal, professor of finance and business administration at Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business. “I think the dollar will continue to be strong for the next few months, and tourists should take advantage of the opportunity.”

Aggarwal said she did not expect the exchange rates to change markedly anytime soon, but other factors should also be considered when planning an international trip.

“Obviously it is not all about dollars,” said Aggarwal, as things like safety are also important. But lists like the European Backpacker Index, which help travelers have a better understanding of comparative costs, “are a good starting point.”

For budget-minded travelers, a critical factor will also be the price of airfare and availability of low-fare seats between the United States and Europe, said Henry H. Harteveldt, a travel industry analyst and co-founder of the Atmosphere Research Group, a market research company.

“We're seeing some expansion of budget airlines entering the U.S.,” Harteveldt said. “XL Airways of France just announced it will add summer season Paris-San Francisco flights, and carriers like Air Europa and Air Berlin tend to up frequencies and capacity in the peak summer season. Air France, however, has announced it will suspend flights between Paris and Newark, to focus instead on its service in/out of JFK.”  

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Elvis Presley Museum Düsseldorf

Elvis is shown in front of the castle gate in Bad Nauheim, Germany, in June 1959. He was stationed at Friedberg, Germany, while serving in the U.S. Army but maintained an off-base residence in Bad Nauheim.

For Elvis Presley fans, 2012 promises to be a good year. There are exhibits, tours, special events, concerts, promotions and celebratory cruises in the works to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the King’s death, who would have celebrated his birthday on Jan. 8.

And a new museum housing a large private collection of memorabilia opened to the public last month in Düsseldorf, Germany. The Elvis Presley Museum Düsseldorf is possibly one of the largest such collections outside of the United States, according to the museum.

“People love it. They all go out with a big smile on their faces,” said Andy Schroeer, one of three collectors who founded the museum, which has already welcomed visitors from Europe and the United States.

Slideshow: The life of Elvis Presley

The approximately 1,500 items that form the permanent collection reflect Presley’s professional and personal life, and include writings, letters, photographs, records, jewelry, furniture, clothing and documents, like the performing artist’s first order for a single and his transfer papers from Sun Records to RCA Victor in 1955 for a fee of $40,000, “an astonishing amount at the time and a move that contributed to his becoming a superstar,” the museum said in a statement.

A number of items never before been shown in public will be on display for the first time, Schroeer said, like the signed shirt that Elvis donated in 1959 to the German magazine BRAVO for a contest.

The winner kept the shirt unopened in the original package for more than 30 years. "He was no Elvis fan and was kind of disappointed when he learned that he had won the Presley Sports shirt," Schroeer said.

By 1958, Elvis had a promising musical and acting career but joined the Army after receiving his draft notice and served active duty in Germany until 1960. The museum owns many items from that period.

The exhibits are intended “to show the more private side of Presley’s life,” Schroeer said. “There are really no big stories.” For example, the records Presley had shipped from the U.S. to Germany reveal his personal taste in music at the time, which was a mix of gospel and other spiritual music, as well as rock 'n' roll. “Elvis was very much into the Jordanaires. He loved those guys to death.” Also included are personal notes Presley made in “The Prophet,” by Khalil Gibran, his mother’s journal entries and the personal appointment book he kept in 1959 in Bad Nauheim, Germany.

J. Keilwerth / Elvis Presley Museum Düsseldorf

At left, Elvis' black Isana Guitar with case and amplifier. At right, the bicycle he received at the age of 13.

Displayed items do not have explanatory text next to them, as visitors come from so many different countries that text would need to be in many languages, which would take away from the experience, Schroeer said. Rather, visitors are given a listing of items with text in their own language.

The idea for the museum came about 10 years ago. Schroeer and the other two collectors, Oskar Hentschel and Michael Knorr, who have been friends since meeting at a local Elvis Presley fan club in the mid-1980s, wanted a home for their collections and the ability to share them with a larger audience. But each started his collection independently.

Schroeer began collecting in 1975 at age 10 when he received “Elvis Forever,” a double LP for Christmas. “Elvis could drive fast cars ... he was like a personal hero. You wanted to own something he held in his own hands,” recalled Schroeer, who wrote “Private Presley: The Missing Years – Elvis in Germany,” with his fellow collectors.

About 600 items will be exhibited at a time, but the collection will rotate regularly. Beginning Jan. 8, which would have been the King's 77th birthday, the museum will feature live music and new items, including a gold record on loan for four months that was engraved with Presley’s name misspelled — Presly instead of Presley — which was kept by the engraver after the mistake was discovered, Schroeer said. Photographs of the new and original gold records will also be on view.

J. Keilwerth / Elvis Presley Museum Düsseldorf

Elvis' favorite shirt in 1957, monogrammed with his initials, EP. In background, a Sun Records advertisement in the Nov. 26, 1955, Billboard Magazine for his single, "I Forgot to Remember to Forget."

It’s all for a simple goal, Schroeer said. “To keep the memory of Elvis Presley alive. That’s what people appreciate.”

Scott Williams, vice president of marketing and media for Elvis Presley Enterprises, said the opening of a new museum featuring Presley memorabilia was not unusual. “There is not a country where there isn’t some Elvis activity going on. There are fan clubs all over the world; that’s one of the ways fans celebrate their love for Elvis.”

Williams said much of the reason is due to the performer’s broad appeal. “He was a one-of-a-kind entertainer,” whose personal story of working his way up from poverty, as well as his musical range, provide “something to relate to, no matter what your tastes are.”

“Every year is a big year for Elvis,” Williams said, “but for whatever reason, the 5th year benchmarks have become historically larger.” Graceland in Memphis is planning a year-long series of activities to honor the 35th anniversary of the late singer’s death, which will kick off with an annual birthday celebration Jan. 5-8, followed by a cruise from Jacksonville, Fla., to Nassau, Bahamas, on Jan. 12-16. “It’s an entire ship of Elvis fans,” said Williams. “It’s nothing but Elvis.”

There will also be new exhibits, touring tribute concerts and “the largest exhibit outside Memphis of Elvis artifacts” will take place in
Sao Paulo, Brazil, in 2012 featuring hundreds of items on loan from Graceland, including the performer’s gold phone and red MG, Williams said.

If you go
The Elvis Presley Museum Düsseldorf, presented in conjunction with the Official German Elvis Fan Club, can be visited daily in the historic old town center.See www.elvis-duesseldorf.de.

For information about hotel and travel packages in Düsseldorf, home to the “longest bar in the world” (260 bars, pubs, and breweries in under a mile, according to the city’s tourism office), see www.visitduesseldorf.de.

For more information about Graceland-sponsored celebrations, visit www.elvis.com.

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Paul Margolis for Big Apple Greeter

Greeter Todd Cherches in New York's Chinatown with visitors from England.

The most luxurious hotel, the friendliest city and most seamlessly planned vacation can often be impersonal without some familiar touches of home.

But the Global Greeter Network, an association of programs around the world that pairs local residents with travelers, aims to change that. Greeters informally share favorite local haunts and undiscovered neighborhoods, much like they would for friends or family members.

Where did such homespun hospitality start? In New York City, of all places.

“When I traveled, people would often say ‘Oh, we’d never go to New York.’ They felt it was too dangerous, too unfriendly,” too overwhelming, said Lynn Brooks, a native New Yorker, who founded Big Apple Greeter as a way to soften the city’s image problem.

That was almost 20 years ago. The group has welcomed more than 100,000 visitors over the years. In 2011, the group welcomed about 7,000 visitors.

“I like to think of New York as a great, big small town” said Gail Morse, director of programs and volunteers for Big Apple Greeter. “Every neighborhood is a little world,” with great food, unique mom-and-pop stores, and friendly residents.

Globally, there are almost 30 programs from Argentina to the Serb Republic. Melbourne, Australia, was the first city to form a similar program, Brooks said, before the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. France has eight programs. In the United States, in addition to New York, there are programs in Houston and Chicago.

Greeters sometimes prove more than hospitable faces for a city. Morse recalled that a New York greeter once helped locate a beautiful backdrop for a couple from Toronto so they would not have to marry in an impersonal space. And after 9/11, a greeter took some French firefighters to meet firefighters at her local firehouse. “It was a great big love fest,” she said.

Some volunteers are invited to visit tourists’ hometowns. One greeter spent part of 9/11 in New York with a German visitor. The two have stayed in touch, and reunited in the city recently to spend the tragedy’s 10th anniversary together. 

Laurie Kiernicki, a hospice nurse from the Atlanta-area, has explored several cities with greeters. This past summer, a greeter in Paris shared her neighborhood on the edges of the city, showing Kiernicki and her family an old train track that had been made into a park, and a lovely, small farmers’ market. “It was off the beaten path,” Kiernicki said, “and not full of tourists,” like many Parisian neighborhoods in August.

On a “girls getaway” to Chicago earlier this month, Kiernicki and her traveling companion took in the restaurants, boutiques and Victorian architecture of the Wicker Park neighborhood. “It was tailored to us,” said Kiernicki. She had been to Chicago before, but enjoyed connecting with a local “because we had some of the inside scoop.”

What makes a good volunteer?

“We look for people who are friendly, outgoing, who can draw visitors out, with a natural curiosity and a wealth of stories to tell,” said Morse. “If they speak another language, that’s a plus.”

For greeters, volunteering provides an opportunity to give back to their city, can help with public speaking, offers practice speaking a foreign language, and is an excellent way to remain engaged if unemployed. The programs attract all ages, and retired as well as working people, the organizers said.

Milan Stevanovich, a retired IT professional, has shared Chicago with visitors for about five years, three to five times a month, and enjoys discovering new things and neighborhoods in a city where he has lived since the early 1950s. 

“I specialize in bike tours,” he said, but once, on a particularly cold day, did an entire tour without going outside, by focusing on the city’s underground walkway system, with its stores and restaurants. He takes pride in the fact that a former visitor from Florida actually moved to Chicago. “She now lives in a neighborhood I showed her,” Stevanovich said. 

“People love to show off the city they love. They act as ambassadors,” said Katie Law, manager of greeter and volunteer services for the Chicago Office of Tourism and Culture. And “visitors have said it is so comforting to know someone is waiting.”

Each city handles logistics a bit differently, Law said. Through Chicago Greeter, for example, visitors can choose from 40 different interest areas to explore, ranging from architectural history and ethnic Chicago to culinary hot spots and family-friendly destinations.

The program, which welcomed more than 5,500 visitors in 2011, a 26 percent increase from 2010, also offers specialized InstaGreeter programs, free one-hour walks that do not require pre-registration during select times year, like in Pilsen, the Mexican American neighborhood; Hyde Park, President Obama’s former stomping ground; and a Magnificent Mile program focused on holiday shopping.

But for all cities, the programs are free, are composed of groups of up to six people who know each other, and require pre-registration online a few weeks in advance. Greeters frequently get in touch before hand in order to personalize visits.

What happens when the greeter becomes the greeted? “They are treated like royalty,” when they visit other cities in the Global Greeter Network, said Morse of Big Apple Greeter. “We make the planet earth a smaller place.”

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David Silverman / Getty Images

Water flowing over Iguazu Falls leaves a cloud of mist between Brazil, foreground, and Argentina. According to an ititial tally of results from a 2-year vote, Iguazu Falls is one of the New 7 Wonders of the World.

The people have spoken. Millions of voters from around the world have cast their ballots for seven sites to be included in the New7Wonders of Nature list.

Seven finalists have been announced: the Amazon in South America; Halong Bay, Vietnam; Iguazu Falls, Argentina and Brazil; Jeju Island, South Korea; Komodo, Indonesia, Puerto Princesa Underground River, the Philippines; and Table Mountain, South Africa.

The results are provisional, based on the first count of votes, and were chosen from 28 locations spanning the globe.

Slideshow: See images of the provisional New 7 Wonders of Nature

Voting ended Friday (11/11/11) at 11:11 a.m GMT (6:11 a.m. EST). 

A vote count started immediately and continued for almost eight hours until the announcement was made Friday evening in Zurich, Switzerland, at the headquarters of New7Wonders (N7W), the group that oversees the campaign.

The results will now be checked, validated and independently verified. Confirmed winners will be announced early 2012. It is possible that there will be changes between the provisional winners and the final confirmed winners, New7Wonders said on its website.

Earlier today, the top 14 finalists were announced and included: Bu Tinah Island, United Arab Emirates; Dead Sea in Israel, Jordan and Palestine; Great Barrier Reef,  Australia; Jeita Grotto, Lebanon; Kilimanjaro, Tanzania; Masurian Lake District, Poland; and Sundarbans in Bangladesh and India.

The idea for the campaign was the brain child of adventurer, filmmaker and N7W founder Bernard Weber, who "saw the potential of the Internet in 1999," according to Eamonn Fitzgerald, N7W's head of communications. 

"There are some places in the world where people can’t vote. We like to think that we can make a contribution by getting people to participate in democracy," Fitzgerald said. Projects like the New 7 Wonders of Nature, he said, do that, and "help raise digital literacy."

The New 7 Wonders of Nature is the group’s second campaign. It began in 2007 when more than 440 locations were nominated in more than 220 countries through a global voting process. The top 77 choices were short listed, and with the help of a panel of experts, further narrowed to 28 candidates and announced on July 21, 2009, when the voting for finalists began.

"So many breathtakingly beautiful, natural places are still quite unknown to many," Weber said on the organization’s website. "From waterfalls to fjords, rainforests to mountain peaks, freshwater lakes to volcanoes, we are discovering together the incredible beauty and variety of our planet."

Today, in a statement announcing the provisional results, Weber said: "When the New 7 Wonders of Nature are confirmed they will join the man-made New 7 Wonders of the World in becoming part of global memory for humankind forever."

The movement began when Weber had an idea to revive the Seven Wonders of the World, much like Pierre de Coubertin revived another ancient Greek concept, the Olympic Games, in 1896 with the introduction of the modern Olympic Games.

The Seven Wonders of the World, selected by Philon of Byzantium in about 200 B.C., included the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and the Pyramids of Giza, and served as a travel guide for fellow Athenians. The key difference, noted on the N7W website, is that the New 7 Wonders of the World, announced on July 7, 2007 (7/7/7), were not chosen by one man, but by millions of people all over the world.

What’s the significance of certain numbers, like seven and 11?

"He is fascinated with numbers," Fitzgerald said of Weber. "Numbers play a very big role in his thinking." Seven, for example, is the number of things that the average person can remember.

Are lists like this a good thing?

"The world seems to be obsessed with lists — the best five, the best seven," said Sharr Prohaska, clinical associate professor, Preston Robert Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism and Sports Management at New York University. Generally there is not a specific list of criteria used as a basis for decisions; as a result most lists are subjective, Prohaska said.

However, "lists sell," she said. "Some tourists will take that list and definitely decide to visit and check off the sites on the list."  Efforts like those of N7W create interest and allow participants to feel like they are contributing to a topic that is very important to them, a way they can make a difference, she said.

"Part of the success of lists reflects that we are all too busy to do the research ourselves," she said. People are often relieved to have lists, "as they want to visit the 'best'."

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