Chris Around The World: Your Guide to Value Luxury Vacations
Unique, chic, boutique: Vacations for Sophisticated Travelers
In the age of instant info, it can be hard to be truly surprised when you visit a city for the first time. Chances are, someone has already blogged, tweeted or Facebooked their favorite spots – and that’s just within your social networks. Never mind all the tips and tricks and photos that appear on [...]
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Looking back on my 2012 travels, I feel fortunate. Very few problems cropped up on my 132 nights on the road, certainly nothing as bad as my husband getting pickpocketed in 2009, the Mexican projectile vomiting episode from 2010 or the New Zealand flight from hell last year. So now it’s down to nit-picking. I missed [...]
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This is the latest in a series of travel photos inspired by #FriFotos on Twitter. The theme of this week’s Photo Friday is FESTIVE. I’ve recently returned from a Christmas Market cruise on the Rhine, traveling on the Viking Aegir. I’ll be writing a review of the ship for the website Onboard – one of my [...]
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Usually, Fridays are reserved for travel photos inspired by #FriFotos on Twitter. But the theme of this week’s Photo Friday is CURVES, so I thought it was a perfect time to show this clip from a flamenco show at Las Tablas in Madrid. Madrid is a late night town – and I knew when I was [...]
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This is the November 2012 offering for our desktop calendar series - always free and available for iPad too! Get your November 2012 Desktop Calendar Wallpaper! We took this photo of the Romanian Parliament in Bucharest on the final stop of our Eastern European tour on Grand Circle’s River Adagio. Built by Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu in [...]
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On my most recent assignment, I took a river cruise down the Danube on the River Adagio, a ship run by Grand Circle Travel. Founded by the same woman who created the AARP, the line caters to retirees and mature travelers. My husband Don and I were the youngest passengers on board, by several decades [...]
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At first glance, the countries of Eastern Europe that lie along the Lower Danube might seem like an unusual choice for a vacation. But while the line that Don and I traveled on wasn’t exactly age appropriate, we ended up having a great time and learning quite a bit. I’ll be doing a series of [...]
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My knowledge of the Canary Islands is limited to what I’ve heard about rowdy hen parties and British beach getaways. But Julie Cliffe-Jones, along with her husband Mike, have created a website that highlights the charms of Lanzarote, which has been changing its image over the years. Here’s her Val Luxe take on her home. [...]
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My friend and fellow Value Luxury writer Andy Hayes is an expert on Scotland (he wrote the book on it. No, really). You don’t usually think of Scotland as a spa destination, but he’s uncovered a few finds for those heading north of Hadrian’s Wall (hint: The Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the famed monster theater festival, [...]
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By Natalie Pompilio, contributing writer I know Florence, or Firenze, pretty well. Besides having studied there for a year in college, I’ve returned about 5 times, twice as an informal tour guide for family friends. I can give a decent tour, filled with stories about San Miniato, the Medici and Michelangelo. So I approached Context [...]
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