We had planned a week in Paris on our own in 2020. Didn’t go obviously, so thinking of doing a Rick Steve’s Paris and Heart of France tour in early June 2022. We have never done a group tour, but the idea of not doing sightseeing on our own will be much easier. We will stay a few days extra in Paris to see places not covered in tour. My question is... Read More

HI there - we're heading to Italy (Rome & Amalfi) for the week before Easter. Super basic question but would you recommend we exchange USD for euros before we arrive? Or are the exchange rates better once we arrive? There will be four of us - do you think ~$250 will be enough or would you recommend more? I'm assuming most places will take cards. Th... Read More

Live from Madrid....it's Sunday morning live!! (sorry about that!!) I'm a very short time into my stay and am already SO happy! Yes, American Airlines has misplaced my suitcase, so was withering with cold in a long-sleeved t-shirt but all is great now that I am seated in the nearly empty Car One of the splashy new Scarlet IRYO train, bound for C... Read More

Please HELP ---- I Think I was just SCAMMED … Last week I called Luftanza to make a reservation. The person that picked up gave me a good deal, and he said he has reserved our seats for me, took my credit card. He said he would call me on Monday to Confirm my decision with the return city. He never did, I called and they said he would... Read More

March 29-April 21, 2022 Pre-trip prep This trip was originally booked for late April/May 2020, but we all know what happened there. After pulling off a month long trip to Switzerland in October 2021, we optimistically booked a three week trip to Austria, Germany and Italy for December 2021. But then along came Omicron, sending Austria int... Read More

Prologue Like so many of us, this trip was postponed and rescheduled and always hanging by a thread thanks to our nasty nemesis, COVID-19. This was my husband's choice for his fiftieth birthday. He loves any place where you need jacket and the temperatures are on the cool side. No one loves Fall and sweater weather more! Watching th... Read More

Hello, my family and I want to travel to France and Spain in 2024 but want to avoid being in Paris for the Olympics, which run from July 26-Aug. 11. Does anyone know how far in advance of the Olympic Games do travel costs increase and hotel availability decrease? For example, would we be affected by higher flight costs, etc. if we were to travel to... Read More

This is the second part of the trip report, “From the Adriatic to the Tyrrhenian Seas in 5 weeks (Italy & Croatia)”. Having just spent 3 glorious weeks in Croatia, we’ve now arrived in Ital... Read More

Hi guys, I'm thinking of taking advantage of the fact I'm working remotely to spend a month in Europe. It's something I've always wanted to do. What would be a good city/place to base myself for one month? I'm looking for somewhere that's lively, with nice cafes to work from, and good day trip opportunities during the weekend. I've already b... Read More

I’m going to try to do a trip report in real time, like the one I did last May for Portugal, and last year for Italy. (Full disclosure: I’m already 3 days behind.) Originally this trip was supposed to be for 21 days, but we shortened it to 17 after a French course we had planned in France was pushed back due to covid. As a result, the order of c... Read More

Over the years, we have had similar discussions on the Forum. But, I think there have been same changes , perhaps because of covid losses for the industry. Normally. I would check hotels’ and booking.com rates first. If identical, I made a booking with booking.com for easy cancelation. Last year , I found a couple of hotels offered a wider se... Read More

Our Amazing Grecian Odyssey My husband and I just returned from an amazing 16-night journey around Greece. This was my husband’s first trip to Greece, and my second trip. I first visited Greece in 1972 with a tour group. It was my first trip to Europe, and I was smitten! We spent a week in Athens and took several daytrips during that trip... Read More

We have booked our first trip to Europe this summer. We are so excited. It will be my wife and I with our 14 and 17 year old daughters. I have booked my flights and airbnb/VRBO's already so our trip outline is set. This message board seems to have quite a bit of helpful people with experience traveling to these areas, so I thought I would share ou... Read More

I'm posting this because prior to my recent trip I looked for this type of information so in case anyone else is too, here's my experience. I wanted to buy a French-brand luxury watch. I knew I was going to Paris. It ended up being less expensive for me to buy it in Paris than it would have been for me to buy it in the U.S., even though the US p... Read More

My wife and I are discussing going on our first European river cruise in 2022. We would appreciate reviews of companies and destinations. We would probably choose to travel on the Danube in the spring or fall. Read More

Awake at 3am to shower and pack the last few items in my small backpack. The dogs rolls over with a question on their face. Knowing that we had the suitcases out yesterday they sense that we are leaving. They rise to get their heads rubbed and their bellies fed. Opening our front door the warmth of the early morning hits us. There is a heat... Read More

OK, I KNOW this will be expensive, so hold the snark, please. Here is the situation: Our 2-plus week-trip to Sicily was almost all booked (hotels and inns) for last May. I shifted all bookings to October. Have not yet bought air tix. Partner (who drives rental cars when we travel) is very leery of traveling in October so I think this would be a s... Read More

Hi everyone I'm looking on the internet for information but can't find anything. My daughter is at a UK university studying languages and has been on her year abroad in France since last August. Her long stay student Visa will expire in august 2022. She wants to stay in France,travel round the country a bit and continue to improve her French befo... Read More

This time of year spouse and I would normally be getting ready for our annual winter pilgrimage to Switzerland. Our MO is to travel to Switzerland early in December to take full advantage of the calm before the holiday ski season storm. We then usually head to Germany for a dose of Christmas Markets before returning home. There's already a... Read More

Hi I’m traveling for my honeymoon on mid August. I’m planning to go to Paris and take the train from Paris to Barcelona and then fly back home. I need a third destination between the two cities. My total vacation is about 16 days. We plan to spend it like this: 5/6 days in Paris 5/6 days in Barcelona Can you recommend me where to spe... Read More

After 2.5 years I'm so glad to be posting a new trip report! Although, as the title indicates, this trip wasn't free from Covid-related drama...but more on that later. I chose Scotland for no particular reason other than that it's one of the many beautiful places I wanted to visit. Because I was traveling solo and didn't want to navigate driving on... Read More

Cleveland. We've been three or four times now. It's an easy drive from Toronto. It has a beautiful and lively downtown core, a good baseball stadium, great restaurants (including a charming Mexican restaurant off the beaten track where I saw my first fireflies ever!), a wonderful art gallery and of course, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Oh, and a... Read More

I am beginning to plan for a trip in mid-April, pandemic conditions and restrictions permitting of course. For this trip, I’m focused on places that are easy to reach, familiar rather than exotic, good food, and a variety of sights and sounds urban and natural. For these reasons, I am narrowing my list of options to Europe. High on the list is the... Read More

Hello from Colorado! We are a travel-loving family of 4 (early 50s couple and our sons, 19 & 17) and we have planned a "quick trip" to The Netherlands and Belgium this July, but we're totally open to ideas on how to maximize our time in/between Amsterdam and Brussels. We love cities - museums, offbeat adventures, food tours and architecture - but... Read More

Say a person could buy THC gummies in his home state, legally, to help sleep. No intention to get crazy or graduate to the hard stuff. Could a few of those be put into a baggie, brought on a visit to the UK without fear of drug stiffing dogs and windowless cell? What if he had a prescription for medical marijuana? How would he prove that? Read More