Join us on our exclusive tour of the Christmas Markets of Northern Italy. Rarely visited by Americans, these Christmas Markets offer an incredible experience without the tourist crowds you find elsewhere in Europe. This was a very popular tour for us for 3 years, and this one should sell out also. Our tour starts and ends in Verona; you get there, and we take it from there. … [Read more...]
Exclusive – Tuscany & Andrea Bocelli Tour – 7 Nts – July 22 – 29, 2027
Our Exclusive Tour of Tuscany includes an evening at an outdoor concert by the legendary Andrea Bocelli!!! We sell this tour out every year, and 2027 will be no exception, based on the waitlist we had before the group opened up for sale. Imagine a week in Tuscany with wine tasting, cooking classes, AND attending an outdoor concert one evening under the Tuscan stars with … [Read more...]
You Can Sleep in a Japanese Castle. There Are Exactly Two, and One Takes 30 Bookings a Year.
Japan has more than a hundred castles. It lets you walk through most of them between nine and five, but only two hand you a key overnight. At Ozu on Shikoku, you arrive at 5 pm after the public leaves. You are announced as lord of the domain in a reenactment of the 1617 procession with conch-shell horn and squad. You sleep on the ground floor of a four-storey keep rebuilt from … [Read more...]
A Castle Night in Europe Starts at $95. Most People Never Find Out
Most of Europe's great castles sell you a ticket and send you home at five. But here are ten of them that hand you a key instead — and the entry point isn't what you'd guess. However, at the Parador de Sigüenza, a 12th-century Moorish citadel ninety minutes from Madrid, a double room starts around $95. Additionally, in the Polish lake district, a 14th-century Teutonic fortress … [Read more...]
Twelve castles in Ireland you can actually sleep in
Ireland has more castles per square mile than almost anywhere in Europe, and nearly all of them hand you a ticket at the door and send you home at five. A dozen of them hand you a key instead. We reviewed the open castles that take bookings and are worth a two-night stay. The price range was wider, from $150 per night at a Dublin-area castle to a Gothic pile, the Mayo estate. … [Read more...]