Tours in Review | International Travel News

December 2005 issue

Croatia and Slovenia with Vantage Deluxe World Travel

We highly recommend “Croatia and Other Hidden Treasures of the Adriatic” with Vantage Deluxe World Travel (90 Canal St., Boston, MA 02114-2031; phone 800/322-6677 or visit www.vantagetravel.com).

Our 15-day tour, April 20-May 4, ’05, cost $6,470 for the two of us, including air from Boston and optional travel insurance. Breakfast was included daily along with several lunches and nine dinners. Two optional day tours cost $128.

We flew on Lufthansa from Miami to Frankfurt, connecting with Adria Airways to Ljubljana, Slovenia. Seating on Lufthansa was tight, but the flight...

April 2006 issue

Belgium and France with Leger Holidays

“In Flanders fields the poppies blow/Between the crosses, row on row,/That mark our place;…

— from “In Flanders Fields,” John McCrae, 1915

For anyone interested in WWI, the 5-day tour “In Flanders Fields‚ Passchenendaele and the Somme,” organized by Leger Holidays, Ltd. (Sunway House, Canklow Meadows, Rotherham, England S60 2XR; phone 0800 018 9898 or visit www.leger.co.uk), is a must. Our tour, July 18-22, ’05, cost £249 ($437), which included hotel, breakfasts, bus and a superb, knowledgeable guide, Vic Piuk.

At Victoria coach station in London, we boarded the Leger...

August 2006 issue

Indonesia with Adventure Indonesia

The people of Java and Bali are warm and very friendly — and suffering severely from the lack of tourism. However, tourist areas are not crowded, the exchange rate is most favorable, and prices are very reasonable if not actually low. Consequently, I heartily recommend Indonesia as a prime destination for the soft-adventure traveler. I took the 15-day “Java/Bali Overland” tour, April 3-18, ’06, offered by Adventure Indonesia (Wisma 31 Kemang, Third floor, Jl. Kemang raya 31, Jakarta, Indonesia; phone 62 21 7182250/56 or visit www.adventureindonesia.com).

For a private tour for one...

December 2006 issue

Chilean Special Journeys tour

I should mention a word about the owners of Chilean Special Journeys (28 Morrill Rd., Montville, ME 04941; 888/345-6077 or www.chileanspecialjourneys.com):

Scott Jones, from Maine, and his charming Chilean business partner, Claudia. The word would be TRUST, as we found them to be enthusiastic and reliable.

Due to a sudden illness, my wife, Olga, and I had to cancel our original tour booked for 2005, and our refund check, less the normal penalty, was in the mail in a matter of days. We were so pleased that we were able to take the 2006 tour.

The 21-day tour “Chile in...

May 2005 issue

Japan with General Tours

I want to thank all the ITN readers who answered my “Person to Person” request for tips regarding an economical way to visit Japan. I chose General Tours (53 Summer St., Keene, NH 03431; phone 800/221-2216 or visit www. generaltours.com) and took their 9-day “Japan Sampler” tour, Sept. 18-26, ’04.

Tokyo, Hakone (for Mt. Fujiyama), Osaka and Kyoto were on the itinerary. All the hotels were excellent, with full breakfasts daily. One of the hotels had four restaurants to choose from.

There was free time to explore. I would suggest trips to the large department stores’ lower...

October 2005 issue

China with Grand Circle Travel

I had not been on an organized tour for over 30 years, preferring cruising and my own disorganized independent travel, but I decided that China was a place where I would be more comfortable relying on the expertise of a company like Grand Circle Travel (347 Congress St., Boston, MA 02210; phone 800/837-4735 or visit www.gct.com). Our 21-day trip, March 4-25, ’04, was the first “China and the Yangtze River Tour” conducted by GCT in almost a year after the outbreak of SARS.

For being the first group of the season, we went for the low price of $2,685, including air from most major...

February 2006 issue

Malaysia with Eldertreks

Eldertreks (597 Markham St., Toronto, ON M6G 2L7, Canada; phone 800/741-7956 or visit www.eldertreks.com) hosted my 20-day trip to BORNEO, Malaysia. It cost $2,195, not including international air; my total airfare from Denver was $1,461.

I traveled in October ’04, which was in the dry season, so it rained only in the mornings (in monsoon season it rains all day).

Our group of 11 was quite compatible and indefatigable; not one soul missed anything.

The hotels were comfortable and well located, although the Lemanak River Longhouse and the Turtle Island lodgings were...

April 2006 issue

Honduras with Maya Temple Tours

My husband, Maurice, and I had a remarkable trip to Honduras, Dec. 31, ’05-Jan. 10, ’06, thanks to Maya Temple Tours (Lobby Hotel & Suites Copantl, Residential Los Arcos, San Pedro Sula, Honduras; phone [504] 509 0555 or visit www.mayatempletours.com).

We dealt with Maya Temple Tours’ Dilcia Arriaga, explaining our interests: outdoor activities, cultural events, archaeological sights and so on. She arranged a full timetable for the two of us for a final cost of $4,100, land only, which included a full-time bilingual guide (Luis Cruz, the best we have ever had) and transportation...