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June 2011 issue

Tour experience in Iberia

My wife and I took the tour “Highlights of Spain and Portugal,” Sept. 18-Oct. 1, 2010, with Trafalgar Tours, having booked it through our AAA agent. Including our round-trip airfare, Cleveland-Atlanta-Madrid, the 14-day/13-night tour cost $6,000 for two plus another $1,300 for the optional tours.

Our group numbered 48 people on one bus. The main destinations were Madrid, Cordoba, Grenada, the Costa del Sol, Torremolinos, Seville, Lisbon and Porto, with the tour ending back in Madrid. The distance covered was some 2,000 miles.

The company’s brochure lists this trip as “...

February 2009 issue

Magician in the kitchen

Helmsley, England, a gorgeous village in the Yorkshire Moors which we visited April 10-12, 2008, boasts an exceptional restaurant within the Black Swan Hotel (Market Place, Helmsley, YO62 5BJ, U.K.; phone 01144 1439 770466, www.blackswan-helmsley.co.uk). Andrew Burton, a chef of extraordinary talent, injects his magic into every evening repast.

“Nibbles” of anchovy straws, toasted almonds and cheese biscuits were presented before we perused the menu. Four different fresh-baked bread samples accompanied the 6-course meal.

We each chose from three appetizers, three entrées and...

August 2009 issue

Paris Métro and plastic

We returned from France on May 27 to find the June ’09 issue and Abbie Salny’s letter titled “Heads up on Paris Métro” (page 14), which said there are no longer any ticket booths in the Métro stations, only machines that accept credit cards or cash. There are, indeed, manned ticket booths in the Métro, just not in every station.*

We tried to use our American credit card in the ticket machine at the Gare de Lyon station, but it was rejected. European credit cards have a chip in them that is lacking in ours. Several times over the last decade, we have tried to use our credit cards at...

November 2009 issue

Trying out large-group tours

My husband, Rodney, and I took the “Imperial Russian Waterways” tour with Vantage Deluxe World Travel, Aug. 5-26, 2008, which included a 3-night Kiev pretrip and a 3-night Stockholm post-trip extension for a total of 22 days.

This was not only our first riverboat trip, it was our first experience in being with a group larger than 20 people. We approached it as an experiment, to see whether our avoidance of large groups was really justified.

We met some lovely people on the trip and, on the whole, enjoyed ourselves. However, it is hard to get away from the fact that it takes...

March 2009 issue

Luggage cart cost

In October ’08 we found airports in Italy now requiring a one- or 2-euro piece to secure a cart to transport your luggage. When you return the cart, you get your money back.

At the Malpensa airport in Milan we were picking up a rental car, and it would have been a LONG walk to take the carts back. So that was about $1.30 per cart.

RICHARD FINERMAN

Palm Springs, CA

December 2008 issue

The HK shuttle shuffle

At the completion of an April ’08 Silk Road tour in China, I traveled on my own from Shanghai to Hong Kong for my 15th visit since 1961. While Hong Kong has changed since the British left and is now rather expensive, it is still one of my favorite cities.

As many ITN readers know, the new, world-class international airport is located on Lantao Island and is 35 to 40 miles from Kowloon. I stayed on Kowloon, from which there are express trains leaving every 20 minutes for various locations in the former colony.

Before I left on my tour, I had made arrangements on the Internet...

April 2009 issue

LEGOLAND Village family hostel

My 7-year-old son, George, was, in his own words, “really into LEGO.” Knowing he would be a little boy for only a little while longer, my husband, Skip, and I decided to indulge him and took him to Denmark’s LEGOLAND in June ’08.

Rick Steves’ “Scandinavia” guidebook recommended staying overnight at either the LEGOLAND hotel or hostel. The hotel was out of our budget, so I booked a 2-day park package at the family hostel LEGOLAND Village (Ellehammers Alle 2, Billund, Denmark DK-7190; phone +45 7533 2777, fax 2877, www.LEGOLAND-village.dk).

I recommend the place, with one big...

May 2009 issue

Billed for tour before accepting it

In December 2008, I called Grand Circle Travel to arrange March 2009 travel for two to Sicily. GCT calls the basic trip a “14-Day Extended Vacation.” They also offer a 6-night pretrip to Malta and a 7-night post-trip on the Amalfi Coast of Italy. I had hoped to arrange for air transportation and all three trip elements, which would include hotels and some meals plus travel insurance.

I provided credit card information, then asked to review the charged elements of my trip. As I was given the elemental costs, I challenged the travel insurance at $475 per person and the post-trip cost...