TRAVEL GUIDE | FEBRUARY 2018 EUROPEAN GEMS TRIPS TO TREASURE SO MANY COUNTRIES, SO MANY WAYS TO SEE THIS CONTINENT Passau, Germany, at sunset. An alpine snowscape in Switzerland. A CONTINENT OF MASTERPIECES Home to dozens of countries on nearly four million square miles of land, Europe is best consumed one country at a time. Whether you’re looking for a history lesson in Italy or shopping pointers for the Netherlands, the following pages are full of travel ideas and inspiration for your next journey across the Atlantic. We look forward to collaborating with you on your European travel plans of today, as well as those you’ve yet to discover. MARYNA PATZEN/GETTY IMAGES PATZEN/GETTY MARYNA IN THIS ISSUE TOURS & PACKAGES ...............................................4 See the best of what the world has to offer. CRUISING ................................................................... 14 Choose your destination and sail away. HOTELS & RESORTS ............................................. 44 Stylish stays around the globe. PLUS 2 Travel Unites The power of travel. 6 From Your Travels Virtuoso traveler Judith Hennessey travels the world to find herself. 25 Person of Interest A cruise ship captain’s tips and tricks. 30 Souvenir Fantastic finds in Amsterdam. Walk it off on Lisbon’s Rua Augusta. LORD RUNAR/GETTY IMAGES RUNAR/GETTY LORD FEBRUARY 2018 1 Quality time well spent in Florence’s Piazza della Signoria. TRAVEL UNITES At Virtuoso, we believe traveling the world not only changes lives, but brings people together across religions, cultures, and country lines. Here, some reasons why we should all travel more. Become a Global Citizen Travel opens minds and shows us there’s more than one way to live. Break down those boundaries and give yourself the gift of better understanding the world around you. Get Connected Step away from your daily life to spend more time with family, friends, loved ones, and (just as importantly) yourself. It's always a good idea to make room for reflecting on who you are and how you want to grow. Make a Difference The tourism industry is one of the world’s largest sectors, supporting 292 million jobs worldwide and generating 10.2 percent of global GDP. Sustainable tourism isn’t just about environmentally friendly practices; it’s also about support for the protection of cultural and natural heritages, as well as the social and economic benefits to local people. Venture Forth Create memories, make discoveries, and meet new people. IMAGES IMGORTHAND/GETTY 2 EUROPEAN GEMS VIRTUOSO 2018 LUXE REPORT Looking for some destination inspiration? The most popular European destinations in the international category of this year’s Virtuoso Luxe Report – a survey showcasing our advisors’ forecast of what’s trending in travel for the year ahead – are Italy, Iceland, France, Spain, Croatia, and Ireland. Peruse the following pages to see tips from our advisors and clients on each destination. Clockwise from top: Bol, Croatia’s true blue waters; Gran Vía night life in Madrid; a Northern Ireland sunset; and glacial spelunking in Iceland’s Vatnajökull. GETTY IMAGES: (CROATIA) MBBIRDY, (MADRID) KASTO80, KASTO80, (MADRID) MBBIRDY, (CROATIA) GETTY IMAGES: KLIKK DIETERMEYRL, (ICELAND) (IRELAND) FEBRUARY 2018 3 TOURS & PACKAGES MIKOLAJN/GETTY IMAGES MIKOLAJN/GETTY 4 EUROPEAN GEMS Similar to traveling with a friend who just happens to know the ins and outs of your destination, an insider tour can take you from point A to point B in an unforgettable way. Your advisor will work with the following experts so you can eat, shop, and sightsee like a local. VIRTUOSO LUXE REPORT PICK: ITALY “Italy is such an amazing place to visit and there is nothing better than a customized tour for our Virtuoso clients. I can’t wait to go back. It is my favorite destination to date!” – Kathy Wilton, Virtuoso travel advisor FEBRUARY 2018 5 FROM YOUR TRAVELS HOMEWARD BOUND Virtuoso traveler Judith Hennessey travels the world to find herself. Judith Hennessey doesn’t do anything a little lost to find yourself. Also, I just Our guide picked us up in a white small. For years, the Saint Louis native like talking to people. minivan and took us to our ancestral and raconteur ran her family’s auto village of Siculiana, where we waited dealership, one of the largest in the Travel incentives were a big part for things to unfold. country. When a craving for elbow of sales at DiSalvo Jeep/Chrysler. room lured her from the city, she My father traveled all over the world, The town is on top of a hill with a and her husband, Timothy, bought a and I got to join him on a few exotic castle, and the second we pull in, Missouri farmhouse on 50 acres. On trips. Those incentive trips were people start showing up. This one’s the side, Hennessey penned and sold always first-class plus – it’s probably the mayor. That one’s the building First Rodeo, a novel, which she then where I got a taste for the Virtuoso commissioner. They’re all dressed in adapted into a screenplay (she’s since travel style. suits; I’m in yoga pants, but they treat finished its sequel and started a third us like important people. Everyone’s novel). Whether she’s tracing family My father’s parents came to Saint waving their hands. They’re calling roots in Italy, decompressing in the Louis from Sicily, and those roots run us DiSalvo and Marino, our grand- desert, or seeking farm-fresh good- deep. I told Julie we wanted to find our parents’ names. My sister spots two ness in Missouri, Hennessey relies on family, and she reached out to a local ladies – one brunette, one strawberry Virtuoso travel advisor Julie Weinberg contact to help make arrangements. blonde – and goes, “Hey, Judy, they to handle her outsize travel plans. I’d heard you have to go to these tiny look like us!” Turns out they’re our villages and wait in line all day at city long-lost cousins. A little old farmer in I travel because it teaches me about hall, but I said, “Nope. I don’t do that.” his Sunday best starts crying, which who I am. Sometimes you need to get Julie arranged everything in advance. gets me crying. Virtuoso traveler Judith Hennessey (left) with her son and sister in Sicily. (SICILY) JUDITH HENNESSEY 6 EUROPEAN GEMS GO WHERE THE LOCALS KNOW Travel with Tauck along the scenic Yellow Roads of Europe and become part of the places you’re invited to discover. Explore the Louvre, the Vatican and Versailles on exclusive insider experiences for Tauck guests only. Make yourself at home in royal castles, restored convents, country châteaux, Spanish paradors, chic Alpine resorts, grand hotels and charming inns. Meet chefs, artists, dancers, equestrians and royalty who inspire you with their passion and perspectives. Wine and dine with the locals in their homes, palaces, pubs and vineyards. And return home with a real sense of what life is like wherever you travel with Tauck. Tauck makes flying to Europe easier in 2018 with the Take Off With Tauck air package! Please contact your preferred Virtuoso Travel Advisor for details, dates and availability. AVANTI DESTINATIONS Posh it up in Spain’s historical paradores. In Spanish, “parar” means to stop or stay, and some of Spain’s most luxurious stays are in its many paradores. Sleep in historical castles, palaces, and former monasteries during a self-drive tour. Watch a flamenco performance in Seville, and meet up with local guides for private tours of Toledo, Granada’s Alhambra, Ronda’s bullring, and Mérida. Paradores of Spain 7 Nights • Travel available daily Virtuoso Exclusive Experience Includes: • Two nights’ accommodation at Parador de Toledo • Private Toledo walking tour with cathedral and synagogue • Two nights’ accommodation at Parador de Granada • Private tour of Alhambra Palace and Gardens • One nights’ accommodation at Parador de Ronda • Private Ronda walking tour with bullring • One nights’ accommodation at Parador de Carmona • Flamenco show with tapas dinner in Seville • One nights’ accommodation at Parador de Mérida Virtuoso rates from $1,979 per person, double occupancy. These historical properties offer wonderful opportunities for The 14th-century Alhambra stands as one of the ADVISOR world’s finest examples of Moorish architecture. TIP gastronomic indulgence. Order the Andalusian gazpacho in Granada; in Seville, try the partridge or cod a la chartreuse. Night skies over historic COX & KINGS city buildings. Explore the English countryside by rail. Take a first-class rail journey around the United Kingdom, enjoying private, guided tours throughout. From London, explore the Roman city of Chester, quaint villages in North Wales, and the Beatles’ birthplace, Liverpool. You also spend a day in medieval York and the Yorkshire Moors before discovering Edinburgh’s UNESCO-designated Old Town. Explore England, Northern Wales, & Scotland 7 Nights • Travel available through July 2018 Virtuoso Exclusive Experience Includes: • Visit the Beatles Museum and see their childhood homes in Liverpool • Walk the old city walls of York, Yorkshire • Savor Welsh scones in a village tea shop • Travel back in time in historical Newby Hall and Castle Howard • Enjoy a free, pre-journey nights’ stay in London, or a post-journey nights’ stay in Edinburgh Virtuoso rates from $4,899 per person, double occupancy. Movie fans will appreciate visits to Castle Howard, featured ADVISOR TIP in Brideshead Revisited, and Goathland Station, recognized as Hogsmeade Station from the Harry Potter films. 8 EUROPEAN GEMS CIE TOURS INTERNATIONAL ADVISOR TIP Get the local perspective in Ireland, Britain, and Scotland. These tours have families in mind, with special offerings Discover the British Isles with an exciting array of local experiences that appeal to all ages. such as a thrilling falconry Encounter authentic Ireland, from a ranger-led tour of the Cliffs of Moher to a sheepdog experience in England and a treasure hunt on the grounds demonstration and hands-on cooking challenge.