Travelers' Intercom

The small country of Andorra lies in the Pyrenees between France and Spain. Because of its location, methods of getting there are limited.

If driving, you can enter from either France or Spain. However, an easy and economical way to enter is to take the public bus; frequent trips are offered between Barcelona and Andorra la Vella, the capital.

The bus company to use is Alsina Graells (phone 93 2656866), which leaves Barcelona several times a day from Estacio del Nord (North...

CONTINUE READING »

In September ’03 I took an independent tour to Norway traveling solo. When I began my planning in June, I had three main objectives in mind: visiting the cities of Oslo and Bergen, sailing the Geiranger Fjord and crossing the Arctic Circle. With a limit of 10 days (including the days for travel to and from the U.S. to Norway), I knew it would have to be a tightly constructed trip.

Having read several articles about Norway in past issues of ITN and doing some reading in a Fodor’s guide...

CONTINUE READING »

ITN asked its readers for essays centered on the subject “Travel is. . .” in 250 words or less. Small prizes were offered for the best five. We were hit by a flood of responses — and the writing was so good, we decided to increase the number of prize winners and print not just the top five but the top 10.

We selected for judges three well-read people: Steve Venables, owner of the travel agency Woodland Travel in Woodland, California; ITN Associate Editor Mary Beltran, and the very...

CONTINUE READING »

We took a 55-day voyage around South America, February-April ’03. We’d taken a similar trip 10 years before on an old, slow, former Matson ship, but we were ready to do it again.

This voyage was on the Olympia Explorer of Royal Olympia (New York, NY; phone 800/872-6400 or visit www.royalolympiacruises.com). We left Los Angeles Feb. 7 and arrived at Fort Lauderdale 55 days later, on April 3, after a counterclockwise circuit of South America. Twenty-two ports were on the schedule, many...

CONTINUE READING »

I stayed in London for two weeks, July 7-22, ’03, on a trip booked for $2,528 with Grand Circle Travel (347 Congress St., Boston, MA 02210; phone 800/221-2610).

I had a large, 2-room apartment with a full, furnished kitchen at the Somerset Apartments (Somerset Queen’s Gate Garden Hotel, aka Chequers Executive Apts., 58-66 Cromwell Rd., London, England; phone 020-7659-4321). My room wasn’t air-conditioned (although some rooms there are air-conditioned), but a large fan did the trick....

CONTINUE READING »

I visited the astoundingly beautiful, inspirational and impressive sites of Borobudur and Prambanan on Java, Indonesia, in September ’03 and am sad to report that both left a bad taste in my mouth because of what has been allowed to develop at these sites.

After climbing the 3-dimensional mandala of Borobudur and being awed by its 2.4 miles of bas-reliefs, in order to exit the grounds visitors are forced to walk a very long, Disneyland-like snake-line of stalls. This line seems to go...

CONTINUE READING »

In reference to the reader’s letter “Driver’s License Sufficient” (Dec. ’03, pg. 78), regarding International Driving Permits, years ago a friend of mine and her husband were on a trip to Italy when they had an accident in a rental car that was her husband’s fault. The police took his California license and kept it! He didn’t have an international permit, and my friend hadn’t taken her California license, so they couldn’t rent another car. This caused them a huge problem.

If her...

CONTINUE READING »

During the many years I have spent traveling throughout the world, I have used a number of private guides. None has provided such exquisite service as Francois Viljoen (P.O. Box 6178, Welgemoed, 7538, Cape Town, South Africa; phone/fax 27/21-9136150 or e-mail fransuz@mweb.co.za). For three days in October ’03, he was at our complete disposal in Cape Town.

Francois’ background aptly fits him for the role of presenting Cape Town and its environs to visitors to this beautiful city. He’s...

CONTINUE READING »