Hotels and Lodging

I traveled on a 12-day Trafalgar tour, “Italian Concerto,” in September 2014. The group consisted of 48 congenial participants, a couple of whom looked after me. 

My longtime friend, John, and I took a trip through northwestern Bohemia in the Czech Republic the first week of May 2015. It was my fifth time driving through Bohemia since 1990. The roads we took through the picturesque countryside were mostly good and had little traffic. We stayed off the expressway.

My daughter, Kelly, joined me in a trip from Hong Kong to Bali, Indonesia, for a 4-night stay at a lovely hotel, the Ayodya Resort Bali (Jl. Pantai Mengiat, Nusa Dua Bali, 80363, Indonesia; phone +62 [361] 771102, fax 771616, www.ayodyaresortbali.com). 

As two senior females who travel extensively for six to seven months at a time around every winter, we look for our basic needs to be met: comfort, cleanliness, safety and a convenient location for either access to good public transportation or for walking.

During a 5-week visit to Kerala on India’s southwestern coast, this and much more was provided at the Aroma Home Stay (1/1469[1], Fort Kochi, 682 001, Kerala, India; phone +91 9387 856 294, www.aromahomestay.com), opposite St. Antony’s Chapel and near Pattalam Market.

Iceland is a beautiful country that is very affordable in the winter, but the weather can change quickly. When my parents and I traveled there independently, Feb. 21-25, 2015, we had three days of gale-force winds and two days of significant snow, but we made the most of our vacation due to careful pre-trip preparation. Here are a few travel tips.

• Wear good walking shoes. They’re essential. In the snow, slush and ice, most travelers wore boots. 

In a rental car, my husband, Bernard, and I toured the Loire Valley and Normandy beach areas of France in September 2014, staying in two excellent B&Bs. You’ll want to have GPS to locate these.

• The first B&B, located near the Normandy beaches and not far from the abbey Mont Saint-Michel, was Le Manoir les Quatre Etoiles (Turqueville, 50480 Sainte-Mère-Église, France; phone +33 233 10 27 70, www.quatre-etoiles.net).

In the Dordogne region of France, my wife and I had the privilege to stay for seven nights at Moulin de la Ville (Le Village, Beaumont-du-Périgord, France; phone +33 5 53 22 47 35, www.moulindelaville.com) in September 2014.