This will be my second trip to Rome. I have seen the major sites. One of my favorite galleries was the Villa Borghese, so I plan to return. Other than that, I am looking for some unique places to visit or activities to do. I love art, music and history. I know - I will be in the right place. Read More

After spending a lot of time scouring lodging options and reading about tourism and visiting Amsterdam, I am starting to have some hesitation about a visit to Amsterdam and am wondering if I should base elsewhere instead. (I have done something similar in other countries where I have skipped the major city and instead focused on smaller but very en... Read More

The three of us —husband, wife and adult child (26) would like to travel soon to London and Paris and need advice. We looked into Tauck but average age is 65 which we’re not keen on. We’re thinking of private tours through Kensington as another option. Are there any other ideas or suggestions for traveling with an adult child? Thanks! Read More

Hi there. I've been reading through some posts and not finding exactly what I'm looking for, so hopefully some of you who travel to France frequently can offer some recommendations for us. We will be in France for 2 weeks in early June: ~3/4 days each in Normandy (Bayeux, Honfleur); Loire (Amboise); Dordogne (Sarlat au Canada); and Provence (Avi... Read More

Hello all. My sister and I will be docking on June 26 in Marseilles We would like to see the lavender fields but the ship excursion is booked. Does anyone know a guide or driver who would take us? I've thought of renting a car but I can't get very excited about that. Thanks. Read More

We are planning about 10 days in Tuscany and Umbria. This would include Florence 2 nights and Siena 1 night, cities we have visited multiple times before, so essentially 7 days to divide among the small hill towns and Perugia. At the moment, we are thinking of picking up a hire car for one week from Siena, driving to Orvieto as a base, but stoppi... Read More

Family of four, two adults, and two kids are traveling in end of July-Early August to Basque Country. Our plan is the following (most are subject to change, except staying in San Sebastian for a week since our kids our in summer camps there and we need to keep this as home base. Week 1 - French Basque s... Read More

Some of these questions are going to be so stupid, but I haven't been to France in a couple of decades. I posted before, but I'm hoping being a bit more specific will help, because I really need to book flights, etc. I'm doing a photo workshop in Normandy (Cabourg is the base) in mid-September for 6 nights. I arrive two nights before and have a hot... Read More

What are some 3-5 day vacation ideas for senior parent's first time trip to US in the Summer? We are in Chicago What would be good big city destinations with nearby nature/ beach destinations?Are there any national parks that are easy to fly into and don't need us to rent a car? Ideal would be combining a big city destination with a nature de... Read More

I am looking for suggestions for a few days to add both before and after a 10-night Amsterdam to Bruges cycling trip. I am a very well-traveled, old(er) solo, female coming from the US and have spent a lot of time in Europe but never the Netherlands or Belgium. I definitely don’t party and am not looking for an active nightlife. Also, I am not a sh... Read More

Hi, I am doing a road trip. On 10th July we will stay the night in Moritz. And on 19th July we have to be in Zermatt. So I have 8 nights for this part of the trip. My main reason was to visit Lavender fields as we never travel to Europe in busy season of July- August. This time is an exception. I was thinking 11th July - See Moritz and drive to Mi... Read More

I am interested in reading comments by people here who have tried to lean a language from the sites such Babel, Rosetta, and the others. I know zero about any of these. I enjoy leaning new languages but tend to be bored by strict grammar. My goal is to improve my ability to chat, or ask questions, when I travel in Italy. I can get along prett... Read More

Central Asia. Where exactly is it? How is it defined? Well, it depends... The most widely accepted definition of the region incorporates the five former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan. More expansive definitions incorporate some or all of Afghanistan, East Turkestan,... Read More

I used to call these micro visits to a place a "drive by." But I like the term hit and run tourism because it implies some damage is left in its wake. Here's an interesting article about coping with hit and run tourism, written by the director of the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence.

Hi All, I am well aware that this is an extremely broad question, but can you all throw some family vacation ideas at me? Live in central Jersey, have an almost year two old and an almost six year old. Looking for a family friendly vacation this summer for two or three nights within a three-ish hour drive from us. We’ve done a few of the pretty... Read More

M6 sister and I will have 3 nights in Rome after a cruise. This will be in late June/early July so a good a/c is a must. We hope to stay under €300/night and we need 2 beds. A 2 bedroom apartment would be great but we might not get that in our budget. I hope we can stay in Monti or Navona, but Termini might be OK. Please help if you can. Thanks. Read More

What are the most interesting neighborhoods in Madrid and Bilbao for accommodations? We want safe, but non-touristy hotels or bed/breakfast that would be walking distance to cultural sites (art museums, galleries, local music performances, flamenco clubs) also charming streets. Like everyone else we want comfortable, clean rooms and soundproof room... Read More

Well, this is a difficult one. I have wanted to travel to Iceland for about 40 years now. Serious. I got my chance so me and the family headed over to the land of fire and ice! Now before readers begin with the "you just don't understand" please let me preface the following by saying that I have lived in five countries and visited over 82 n... Read More

It's only been once or twice that I've been able to get an award ticket. I am quite uneducated in all of this with points and using award miles. I have only 16,000 miles on FLYING BLUE. I had tons of points but they were lost after COVID and a couple of medical-reason cancellations. And I have some Iberia points but after spending about an... Read More

We are a mature couple and have three nights to fill, from 08 October to 11 October. We finish a tour in Dublin on the 8th and need to be in Dubrovnik on the 11th of October to commence a yacht cruise on the 12th. We will have already toured Scotland. London is the easy answer, but fancy somewhere different, Done Paris, Barcelona, Rome, Venice,... Read More

Traveling for the first time in Europe with our 1 and 2 year olds. Have a couple of questions about airport travel. 1. We are flying into Rome and have a 1.5 hour layover until Naples. I've heard as long as the flight is under a single ticket you will not be going through customs until you reach your end destination. Is 1.5 hours enough to get t... Read More

TL: DR 48-ish Hours in Vienna and 23.5 in Istanbul. Don’t try this unless you’ve lived in one city and had visited the other. ~~~ It was a dark and quiet, and very early Sunday morning. DH had departed the previous day for Vienna; and as per usual on the first night of travel separation, I did not sleep well without him besid... Read More

I am planning a 20 day trip and I want to visit Northern Italy places such as Venice, Florence, Lake Como. Also Id like to stop by some places in Switzerland and southern France such as Marseilles and Nice. I want to rent a car, however I have read that I should not do it in Major Italian cities and only do it for the ride outside of the cities. H... Read More

I've read some articles about the new smoking laws in France, that they were going to ban smoking in parks and all public outdoor spaces at the start of this year. But I've not seen any recent articles about it, the only articles I can find are from last year, and none of them have been very specific. So, are they in effect now? What does that mea... Read More

My young adult kids are flying on AA from the US to London where they will transfer to Finnair to Helsinki and then to a smaller plane to Tromso. They only travel with a 22" roller carryon and a daypack. This is no problem to bring on board with AA. But Finnair has more strict weight restrictions and there is no way their bags will be under the... Read More