Travelers' Intercom

December 2015 issue

Homeaway rentals in Portugal
By Neil Johnson

My wife and I spent two weeks in Portugal, mainly focusing on Lisbon and Porto, in September 2015. In each city, we rented an apartment for six nights. I would highly recommend these apartments, both of which were booked through Homeaway.com (www.homeaway.com).

• In LISBON, we booked Homeaway Rental No. 841261, for which we paid €100 (near $110) per night plus a €40 cleaning fee. A 30% deposit was made via PayPal at the time of booking, with the remainder paid in cash upon arrival.

This apartment was located in a residential area of the Bairro Alto neighborhood. The location...

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August 2016 issue

Hotel Takachiho dining
By Jane B. Holt

During our 6-week koyo (autumn foliage) trip to Japan in November-December 2015, my husband, Clyde, and I took many of our dinners at small, family-owned restaurants and izakayas (taverns), also exploring the side streets and back alleys where such places abound. 

Only at the posh Hotel Takachiho (1037-4 Oaza Mitai, Nishiusuki-gun, Takachiho-cho, Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan; phone 0982 72 3255, fax 0982 72 3257, http://h-takachiho.com [in Japanese only; for English, use Google Translate]) did we book half-board, for the dinner. We were not disappointed.

We booked the...

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May 2016 issue

Black Sea to Rhine valley with Vantage
By Philip A. Shart

I took the “Grand European River Cruise – Black Sea to Rhine River Valley,” plus a pre-cruise option in Transylvania, with Vantage Deluxe World Travel (Boston, MA; 888/514-1845; www.vantagetravel.com). I flew from Miami, Florida, to Bucharest, Romania, on Oct. 22, 2015, boarded the ship on Oct. 27 and returned from Frankfurt, Germany, to Miami on Nov. 21, the day the cruise ended.

I had reserved one of the River Splendor’s eight single cabins, and there was no single supplement. With early booking, a discount for having taken trips with Vantage previously and...

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January 2017 issue

England, Scotland and Wales with Grand Circle
By Jack Dini
Anne and Jack Dini with a piper in Edinburgh.

London is about 415 miles from Edinburgh, but in getting from one to the other, my wife, Anne, and I ended up traveling about 1,400 miles on a bus tour of England, Scotland and Wales with Grand Circle Travel (Boston, MA; 800/221-2610, www.gct.com). 

Our 16-night tour took place April 28-May 15, 2016, and the cost was $3,490 per person, not including airfare. 

As had been our experience before with Grand Circle, it was a great adventure. Our delightful program director, Elaine Sloane, was a font of knowledge who provided many surprises along the way.

What I...

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December 2016 issue

Upgrade on Canada’s VIA Rail
By Martha Spring

Canada’s VIA Rail (888/842-7245, www.viarail.ca) offers upgraded service on selected train routes, including amenities like larger seats with adjustable footrests, frequent beverage service at your seat, hot meals, free Wi-Fi and access to the business-class lounge in the terminals of major cities.My husband, Frank, and I, in February, purchased coach-class tickets for the 7¼-hour journey from Montréal, Québec, to London, Ontario, via Toronto, for Aug. 6-13, 2016. The ticket agent in Montréal recommended an upgrade for the 5-hour portion of the trip from...

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March 2016 issue

Bogotá, Cartagena & Medellín
By Tony Leisner

In his letter “Advice for Visitors to Bogotá” (Nov. ’15, pg. 12), Stephen O. Addison, Jr., gave a great overview of Colombia’s capital city. I can only add that my wife, Patti, and I had no difficulty getting pesos from ATMs when we were in Colombia, Oct. 20-29, 2015, and automatic teller machines are more often called cajeros automático or something similar. We found chip-and-PIN card readers to be more common in shops and hotels in Colombia than in Peru or Bolivia, where we were in late April/early May 2015. This was our second trip arranged by Viventura (Tampa, FL; 888/238-1602, www....

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November 2015 issue

National Trust sites, England
By Helen Harper

A few years ago, the Royal Oak Foundation, the American partner of the British National Trust, began offering tours of the UK through Just Go Holidays, now known as Albion Journeys (Festival House, Jessop Ave., Cheltenham, Glos., GL50 3SH, U.K.; in the US, 866/834-8358, www.albionjourneys.com/royaloak). 

Having taken two of these tours, my friend and housemate, Mary Campbell, and I highly recommend them as pleasant ways to see properties otherwise inaccessible to those of us who no longer drive in England.

The accommodations were lovely, the food was delicious, the...

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September 2016 issue

From airport to Oslo and Frogner Park
By Lorenz Rychner
Bronze tiger in front of the old Oslo Central train station

While traveling from Boston to Warsaw, May 23-24, 2016, I had a 7-hour 15-minute stopover in Oslo/Gardermoen, Norway, during which I visited Frogner Park to see the Vigeland sculptures.

The Oslo Airport in Gardermoen is modern and well laid out. Providing good ground transport options, a train station connects the airport with the city of Oslo to the south and also with points to the north.

Departing from adjoining platforms, two trains take you into central Oslo. The state-run NSB train goes to the Oslo S (Sentral) Station in 23 minutes and travels beyond Oslo on the...

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