Travelers' Intercom

There has been much discussion of tour-group travel versus independent travel in ITN, as there should be.

Tours are planned for you and usually entail no hassles. They’re safe, and you will see the outstanding tourist attractions. Independent travelers never quite know how the trip will go, and they like it that way. They often get the chance to meet and mix with locals and see spots that are off-limits to tours.

For example, on a business trip to China in the late ’90s, I was taken by a local woman to the hutong where she had lived with her family after moving to Beijing...

I read the article “The Great Train Journey — Vladivostok to Moscow” by Jack Ogg (March ’13, pg. 20) with great interest, as my longtime companion and I also were booked on the MIR Corporation trip, ours to take place March 9-23, 2013.

This was our first experience with MIR Corp., and we consider it to be one of the top travel companies we have dealt with over the years. Andrew Barron, Director, Scheduled Group Tours, is extremely efficient and responsive, and our air reservations, transfers, hotel bookings, etc., all were arranged flawlessly.

For the two of us, we paid about...

The Mexican town of San Miguel de Allende offers a number of cultural events every week, as my husband and I found in February and March 2012 (Nov. ’12, pg. 14).

Anything sponsored by Pro Musica, which offers classical music at its finest, will be first rate. All performances are held at St. Paul’s Church (Callzada del Cardo #6), and tickets cost 100, 150 or 250 pesos (near $7.75, $11.50 or $19). We buy the 100-peso tickets because the seats are folding chairs rather than church pews.

Another interesting venue is La Casa Verde (Prolongación de Pila Seca 65C), an art gallery...