30 June 2023

Thinking about a holiday in Italy? Offering value for money, immersive experiences, and an expert guide who speaks the language, as well as a bunch of ready-made travel companions who like the same stuff that you do, escorted touring is one of the best ways to experience this scenic, cultural and historic destination. Here are my top 4 escorted tours and what is so great about them. Secret Lakes of Italy Arguably one of the most picturesque parts of Italy, this tour gets you off the beaten track and away from the popular (and sometimes crowded) lakes of Garda, Como and Maggiore, visiting no fewer than 5 of the region’s smaller lakes, along with Bergamo, the Italian Capital of culture for 2023 and the spa town of Levico Terme. Sounds exhausting but on this 7-night trip you’ll stay in just 2 hotels, and have 2 entire days of free time, plus extra bits here and there. The perfect blend of relaxation and exploration. It’s difficult to choose a highlight from this trip, but as a devout ice-cream lover, for me it has to be visiting the medieval city of Bergamo, a hillside Venetian walled city, and visiting a gelaterie famous for creating the Stracciatella flavour (a milk-based ice cream with chocolate shavings swirled through it). Creamy and crunchy in one go it’s a delightful contrast. Treat yourself to a scoop (or two, or three!) Christmas with the Countess Luppis We have a great selection of tours exclusively for solo travellers. On these trips you will never be charged a single supplement, and you will always get your own double or twin room (no pokey little single rooms here). Christmas is a perfect time to travel solo, but not alone. There are several Christmas breaks on offer to destinations such as the Amalfi Coast, the Italian Riviera, Verona and Rome (including witnessing the Papal blessing on Christmas morning) but my favourite has to be this short break staying in Villa Luppis, originally a monastery, and now the home of the Countess Luppis. Christmas Eve is spent exploring Venice which needs no introduction, and on Boxing Day you’ll visit Padua, thought to be the oldest city in Northern Italy, but the highlight of course is Christmas Day where you’ll enjoy a traditional Italian Feast with your travel companions, followed by festive games, and the chance to meet the Countess and learn about her family history. Grand Tour of Italy One of the great things about escorted touring is how much you can fit in. And wow, this 14-night tour delivers! Visiting Venice, Treviso, Bologna, Pisa, Florence, Orvieto, Rome, Pompeii, Sorrento, then Taormina and Catania in Sicily, along with a few other lesser-known towns, this tour ticks off ALL of the highlights, yet still leaves 4 days at leisure. It is perfect for a first-time visitor. My favourite experience on this trip is one of the optional excursions, a night at the Montecatini Opera festival. Not everyone loves Opera, but we should all experience it once in our lifetime and this is your chance. Imagine yourself sitting in the open air, surrounded on all sides by 19th century buildings where greats like Rossini, Verdi and Puccini studied their craft as their timeless compositions fill the air……this is the way to experience Opera! Sun-kissed Sardinia As one of my favourite destinations I’ve ever visited (and I’ve visited a lot), this solo tour had to be on the list! Sardinia has some of the most stunning beaches I’ve ever seen, coupled with phenomenal food, what is not to love? But it can be easy to overlook some of the cultural gems the island has to offer so whilst the pace of this tour is very relaxed, there are a few excursions just to make sure that you see all that the north-eastern corner has to offer. My tour highlight? It’s food and wine related of course! A visit to a local vineyard, complete with wine tasting paired with local delicacies. Yum! I hope that I’ve sparked your interest just a little bit as to the great ways you can see the world on an escorted tour. If you have any questions or would like to talk to me more about touring in Italy or anywhere else in the world, please get in touch.

28 December 2020

2020 was a year where much of our planned travel didn’t happen. 2021 feels tentatively optimistic, but the early part of it at least, feels still very uncertain. So it feels like a good time to give some consideration to what is on our travel bucket lists. A bucket list is defined as “a number of experiences or achievements that a person hopes to have or accomplish during their lifetime”. A bucket list is not necessarily a list of places you’d like to visit and sights you’d like to see, yet about 80% of all bucket list suggestions are travel related. Many of us will have a few things that when mentioned, we say “Oh yes, that’s on my bucket list”. For most of us this is a figurative list, only in our heads, of things we’d like to do in our lifetime. But as we all know, life gets in the way, the years go by, and 5 years down the line you’ve had some lovely holidays, but have you actually ticked off anything on your bucket list?.....probably not. So here are my top 5 tips for writing your travel bucket list. I’d love it if you would share your completed list with me! 1. Write it down On paper. Put it up somewhere – in your home office, back of your wardrobe door, on your mirror in lipstick. Somewhere you will see it regularly, have something to aim towards, and something to look forward to. Start it now, right now. Go on, grab pen and paper and write down the thing that is top of your travel wish list. 2. Be specific Don’t just write a destination, write what you want to see, how you want to see it, when you want to go. Focus on the experience you want, not the destination. Let’s take a couple of popular bucket list ideas. a. The Matterhorn – one of the most famous mountains in the Alps, straddling the Swiss/Italian border and famously appearing on the Toblerone packaging. If you want The Matterhorn on your list, think about whether you want to climb it, ski on it, photograph it, and whether you want to see it in the summer or the winter. b. What about the Grand Canyon – Carved out by the Colarado River, the Grand Canyon is 277 miles long, and up to 18 miles wide! Think about if you want to hike it, raft down the river, see it from the air by helicopter or plane. See it from the North, South, East or West rim? So take a look at your first bucket list entry that you wrote down and think about whether you need to be more specific. Change it now if you need to! 3. Be unique The world is full of supposedly “must see” destinations like the Taj Mahal, the Eiffel Tower, and the Great Barrier Reef, But Think about your own personal interests and likes/dislikes. If you hate flying, there’s no point including lots of these long haul and remote destinations like Easter Island. If you have no interest in architecture, do you really want to make a visit to the Sydney Opera House a priority in your trip down under? Think about your own interests. Do you like architecture or natural scenery. Wildlife or culture. Food or adventure? I’m not saying you shouldn’t see those places, but they’re not the bit that should be on your bucket list. Take a look again at your first entry and make sure it’s something that really speaks to you. If it doesn’t, change it. 4. Consider the act of travelling itself For me, my holiday starts the moment I leave the house, but for many, the journey is a chore. Why not re-frame this and make the journey a part of the experience. Perhaps you’ve always wanted to fly First or Business Class. Maybe you want to take one of the Great Rail Journeys of the world – do you want to immerse yourself in the experience and sleep on board, or enjoy the luxury of a hotel each night? What about travel by sea? There are many different types of cruise these days from all singing and dancing floating hotels, to expedition ships with Scientists on board. Or maybe you want to be captain of your own vessel and explore the Croatian coastline and islands? 5. Be realistic! It’s great to have lofty ideals on your bucket list. Your once in a lifetime dream holidays, but think about more easily achievable things too. I’m guilty of this. I want to go to Hawaii, Costa Rica, Madagascar, Phillipines, which is all very well and good, but I’m also in the process of setting up a business, plus 2020 just happened, so budget is an issue! So I should also be including things like staying in a loch-side bothy, snorkelling in Croatia, and travelling to Ireland for St. Patrick’s Day (my birthday!) So they are my top 5 tips. I hope that they help you to write a kick-ass bucket list, but here is my final, and perhaps most important tip which is… 6. Execute it! Don’t let this be a list that sits on your pin board, never to be looked at again. When you are thinking about your next holiday, take a look at your list, and consider if you can tick anything off. And in doing so, consider the following: Always observe local customs, Learn a few words of the language Try to make sure you benefit the local economy And of course, use a Travel Agent! Particularly after the year we have just had, a good travel agent cares about getting your holiday right for you, and should anything go wrong, they have your back.