Travelers' Intercom

My husband, Jim, and I took a month-long road trip through northern Spain and Portugal, May 24-June 23, 2011. After picking up our car in Biarritz, France, we drove into Spain and visited Bilbao in the Basque country; La Rioja (famous for its red wines); spectacular, Yosemite-like Pico de Europa, and the region of Galicia, with its rugged coastline and the Christian pilgrimage city of Santiago de Compostela.

In Portugal, Montesinho Natural Park has wonderful views and hiking trails. We also toured the Douro River Valley, explored Coimbra and Porto and stayed in the area of the...

I have lived and worked in Germany for the last 28 years and have become a seasoned European traveler.

You can get around easily in Germany via the train. It is very fast, timely and efficient. In the ’80s it used to take four hours to get to Paris from the outskirts of Germany, but now, on the ICE (bullet train), it takes a mere 1¾ hours. There are still regional trains with several stops, but the ICE trains make fewer stops.

At www.deutschebahn.de, you can plug in your departure and destination cities and find out how long the trip takes plus the cost and whether or not...

To arrange our trip to Peru, April 28-May 13, 2009, my husband, Graham, and I followed a reader’s recommendation (March ’08, pg. 55) and decided to use the services of Eliu Campos and ECS Travel (Los Pinos St. 156 Of 502, Miraflores, Lima 18, Peru; phone +51 1 242 9716, e-mail info@ecstravel.com or visit www.ecstravel.com).

We are very glad we did. Prompt in responding to e-mails and very responsive to our wishes, Mr. Campos put together an excellent custom tour for us.

The price was $3,100 per person, which included five flights; 14 nights in 4-star hotels and one night in a...