It used to be that when you did a tour of Europe, you would fly to Amsterdam, and haul your oversized luggage from the motor coach to a somewhat marginal hotel room, only to be ordered to have your bags outside your door for 6 pm so you could do the same thing all over again the next day.  You would work your way from Amsterdam, across the Benelux countries, through France, and then fly home from Rome, completely exhausted, and vowing to throw away your massive suitcase for good.

Needless to say that river cruising is a significant improvement over those days!

But there are some residual features from the days of the bus tours.  Perhaps most obviously, the majority of people going on a river cruise still fly to Amsterdam, and then hop on one of dozens of potential river ships and take a 7-day trip on the Rhine, to Switzerland, or a 14-day trip on the Danube, to Budapest.

These Rhine and Danube trips are definitely the most popular, especially with first time river cruisers, but they’re certainly not the only routes in Europe.

• For those with a particular love of the Dutch, you can sail round-trip from Amsterdam on the Rhine, Mosel, and Elbe rivers
• If France is more your speed, you can sail on the Rhone, Saone, or Seine Rivers.
  • The Seine River runs from Paris to the Atlantic, and spends some time in Normandy – perfect for WWII history enthusiasts.
  • There are also river cruises that run south from Paris down towards the French Riviera, for those wanting to see the French countryside.
  • Finally, there are river cruises in Bordeaux, which are particularly interesting for those that have an interest in wine – particularly during the harvest.
• Italy is also a river cruising destination, often round trip out of Venice on the Po River. Optional trips to Lake Como are often added to these.
• German river cruises are available on the Oder and Elbe Rivers. Most often people sail between Berlin and Prague.
• If you prefer to be further south in Europe, you can sail on the Douro River through Portugal and Spain.
• You can even take a river cruise to Russia or the Ukraine.

There are also river cruises in Asia, South America, Egypt, and even the United States.

Most of these “other” river cruises are between 7 and 16 days long, and you’ll have a wide choice of itineraries.  So while the classic Amsterdam to Budapest route is definitely worth considering, don’t feel bound by just one option.

Planning a Cruise?  I’d love to help!  Click here to get in touch today.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sue Bradley

Other than visiting Disney World, we really don’t have access to many castles in North America.  So, it’s not a surprise that the Highclere Castle has attracted so much attention.

Even if you’ve never heard of the Highclere Castle, you’ve almost certainly heard of Downton Abbey– the PBS series set in the Hampshire countryside, with this spectacular Victorian-era English manor as its backdrop.

Highclere Castle has a number of other “claims to fame” as well:

• It was the setting for the British comedy series ‘Jeeves and Wooster’, which starred a young Hugh Laurie before he became Doctor House.
• It is owned by the Earl of Carnarvon (a British Aristocracy designation that is inherited). One of the previous Earls of Carnarvon was partners with Howard Carter, and participated in the discovery of King Tut’s tomb in Egypt.  As a result, the Highclere castle has a display of ancient Egyptian artefacts.
• It was used as a hospital in World War I, and as a refugee center in WWII.
• It is the building where the British North America Act was signed into law in 1867 making Canada a sovereign nation. John A. MacDonald (Canada’s first Prime Minister) was on site for this signing.

This 14^thCentury building has a ton of history, and if you are one of those who appreciates such things, then it’s well worth a visit.

You can visit Highclere Castle as a pre or post-cruise add-on with certain Viking Ocean and River cruise itineraries.

For example, on Viking’s “Paris & the Heart of Normandy” river cruise, you can add Oxford and Highclere Castle as an optional 3-night extension at the end of your cruise.

First you travel from Paris to London on the high-speed train, and then transfer for the short trip to Oxford where you’ll stay for three nights near the Castle. The next day you tour Oxford University – this is the oldest English-speaking university in the world. You then tour the Blenheim Palace, the birthplace of Winston Churchill, and a UNESCO world heritage site.  On the third day, you get special access to Highclere Castle as a result of an exclusive arrangement that Viking has made with the Earl of Carnarvon.

A couple of Viking’s ocean cruise itineraries offer the Oxford and Highclere Castle extension as well.  For example you can do it on either the “British Isles Explorer” or “Into the Midnight Sun”, both of which travel between Bergen and London.

Here’s a video about visiting Highclere Castle with Viking Cruises: https://youtu.be/T1race8opks

If you’re a Downton Abbey fan, this side trip is not to be missed.  Even if you’re just someone with an appreciation for historical buildings, you’ll get a lot out of this tour.

Planning a Cruise?  I’d love to help!  Click here to get in touch today.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sue Bradley

One of the mistakes that ocean cruisers often make when they want to try a river cruise, is thinking they can book it just two or three months in advance. We then get to deliver the rather unfortunate news that the river cruise they want is sold out and that they should have started planning their river cruise a year or more in advance.

If you’re thinking about doing a Danube cruise that includes The Passion Play at Oberammergau, then we need to be looking at TWO years in advance.

We learned this lesson the hard way this past week when we tried to book some clients onto Avalon Waterway’s Passion Play cruise, and discovered it is completely sold out for the entire 2020 season already!

Luckily, we were able to find space on Viking for them.

For those who don’t know, the Passion Play takes place just once every 10 years in the small Bavarian town of Oberammergau in Germany. The play is about the last days of Jesus Christ, and was original performed in 1634 as a vow to God for the town being spared from the Bubonic Plague.

It is still performed by the local people, and the 2010 production involved over 2000 Oberammergau residents. Unlike other plays you may have seen, this one has a 3-hour intermission between the opening and closing acts, and during that time they feed you dinner.

The river cruise packages which include tickets to this play normally involve 2 or 3 nights on shore in Munich or Oberammergau either before or after the river cruise. Most often, the ship travels between Nuremberg and Budapest.

So if this is something you’re considering, you’d be well advised to book it sooner rather than later. It’s a long wait until 2030 for the next production.

Click here to learn more about The Passion Play CruiseTour with Viking River Cruises: https://www.vikingrivercruises.com/cruise-destinations/europe/oberammergau/2020-munich-budapest/index.html

Planning a Cruise?  I’d love to help!  Click here to get in touch today.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sue Bradley

In the past, I was always the type of person who really enjoyed going on vacation, but then enjoyed coming homeeven more.

I always viewed the idea of going away for months on end to be a bit of a non-starter for me.  A week or two is one thing, but several months?  I never thought that was my thing.

A few years ago, that changed.

Circumstances beyond our control meant that we (my husband and I plus our two-year-old son) had to move out of our house, where we were firmly settled in a peaceful, almost idyllic day-to-day life.

That is, as peaceful as co-existing with a two-year old can possibly be!

After an initial panicky period where we desperately starting searching for another suitable house, we decided to instead put all our stuff in storage, and be “homeless” for a few months.

We decided to look at this unexpected (and unwelcome) turn of events in a different way, and consider it to be an opportunity instead.  We would make use of this ‘found time’ without the large monthly expense of rent or a mortgage payment to do some travelling.

At the time, we didn’t have school age kids, and were able to work remotely.  The only thing stopping us was our own fear – which was considerable, I may add.

To make a long story short, we ended up spending several months in Mexico, and what I quickly learned is that being away for months at a time is NOT anything like being on vacation.

Gone was the pressure to soak up the sun, and drink as many margaritas as possible before returning to reality a few days later!

Instead, we developed new routines, and in hindsight, it was a period of tremendous growth.  We eventually did return to “reality”, but those months away from our home and regular routine changed my outlook, and provided memories to last a lifetime.

Lately, I’ve been wondering what it would be like to be on a cruise ship for several months.

What got me started thinking about this is Viking’s newly announced “Ultimate World Cruise”.

https://www.vikingcruises.com/oceans/cruise-destinations/world-grand/2020-world-cruise/index.html

This cruise visits 6 continents, 59 countries and 113 ports, with 22 overnight calls and features a full circumnavigation of the globe.

Imagine being on board for 245 days!

Of course Viking is not the only cruise line to offer a World Cruise, but it’s the longest one I’ve ever seen.

I’d love to learn more about what it’s like to be on such a long cruise.

Have you previously taken a World Cruise (or Grand Voyage), or do you know someone who has done this? 

If so, please get in touch with me.

I’d be interested to correspond with you to learn more about your experience.

Alternately, if you’re considering a World Cruise or World Cruise Segment I would also love to hear from you to know what your major concerns are.

Click here to get in touch today.

Thank you for sharing your experience!  I look forward to hearing from you.

Sue Bradley

I guess the internet really does change everything.

We’ve seen the effectiveness of wiki-sites like Trip Advisor and Yelp, so the actual sale of goods and services (in addition to advice, like on the sites noted above) was only a matter of time.

In the tourism and hospitality industry, there has long been websites such as VRBO (now HomeAway), and most obviously Uber for bringing buyers and sellers together.

But food?

Yep… there’s an app for that.

Originally launched as Vizeat, there is now a website to find your next meal: eatwith.com

You can use this when you’re at home, or when you travel.

The premise is very similar to ride-sharing. First you select your location. The EatWith people have a number of selected hosts. You then book your date and time, and if you want to chat with your host ahead of time, you can do so.

It’s quite possible there will be several travellers at your table, so you not only get to interface with your host, but others that have chosen the same time and place as you.

So I thought I should check this out. Many of you know our office is in Manhattan, but Bob and I don’t really get there very often. I love New York, and there is always something new to discover there. As you might expect, there are dozens of EatWith hosts there – so we’ll be making an EatWith reservation next time we’re there.

As a contrast, I thought I’d look up a place much smaller. How about La Grande, Oregon (pop. 14,000)? Yep… if find yourself driving between Boise, Idaho, and Portland, Oregon, there’s a place for you to share a meal. I’ll let you know how it goes.

In all seriousness, many times when travelling, the very thought of facing another non-descript restaurant meal was almost enough to make me cut my trip short.

Now there’s an app to deal with that.

Planning a Cruise?  I’d love to help!  Click here to get in touch today.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sue Bradley