I’d rate the trip from Wellington (North Island), New Zealand, to Picton (South Island) aboard the Interislander ferry a “must” for the scenery, but my wife, Eva, and I did have some problems on our most recent visit, in December ’07-January ’08.
From Route 1, the signs were adequate for finding the ferry terminal in Wellington; we had to backtrack only one time.
On our trip to South Africa, we found that in any city, the local buses are a very cheap way to sightsee. Just get on a bus and don’t get off until you’re back to your starting point.
Tell ITN about the funniest thing that ever happened to you while traveling in a foreign country. There are no restrictions on length. (ITN prints no info on destinations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean.) The ITN staff will choose each month’s winner, who will receive a free one-year subscription to ITN. Entries not chosen cannot be acknowledged.
This month’s winner is PEGGY PARKER of Milwaukie, Oregon:
During a 14-day “Celtic Kingdoms” cruise on Holland America Line’s Prinsendam, on Aug. 31, 2007, I took a day-long shore excursion from Belfast to Giant’s Causeway.
The highlight of a March trip to Chile was the Lake Crossing (Cruce de Lagos), where we actually crossed the Andes by boat and bus from Puerta Varas to Bariloche in Argentina.
I went on the tour “Imperial China & the Yangtze River” with Go Ahead Tours, Oct. 5-22, 2007. Go Ahead’s hotels, riverboat and Chinese guide Jonathan all were very good. The buses, however, were not.
Jim Sill and his travel companion Jenna continue their January-February ’07 overland journey through West Africa, embarking a bus in Burkina Faso for Bobo-Dioulasso.
We highly recommend CIE Tours International (10 Park Place, Ste. 510, Morristown, NJ 07962-1965; 800/338-3964, www.cietours.com). We did their 12-day “Irish Odyssey” coach tour, May 19-30, 2007.
What really sold us on CIE was their “no options” policy. The cost of our tour was about $1,640 per person, land, and they did not ask us for extra money for dinners, tours, etc. We are getting weary of most tour companies asking for several hundred per person over and above the original tour price. Our price included an over-55 discount that is given on some tours.
On my Holland America cruise around the Mediterranean in October ’06, one of the ports of call was Gibraltar. The cruise line sold tours of “the rock,” but my wife and I wanted to go into the town first to do a little shopping and arrange for a tour by cab later in the day.
Many of us prefer traveling with a group, since it is cost effective. This often means, especially during busy travel seasons, being tightly packed in a big bus. In the last six months of 2006 my wife, Marlene, and I took three such tours, which I compare below. All prices are per person and include airfare to and from Chicago.
We started with a 17-day “Grand Tour of France,” Sept. 7-23, with Grand European Tours (6000 Meadows Rd., Ste. 520, Lake Oswego, OR 97035; 800/552-5545, www.getours.com). It cost $3,599 and we spent $180 on optional tours.