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Les Andelys, Normandy

Planning a River Cruise: 7 Mistakes You Think You’re Too Smart to Make

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Contemplating a river trip in Europe? A river cruise is a scenic and effortless way to travel, for sure, but take heed: Many of the rules that apply when choosing a hotel or a big ocean cruise ship don’t carry over to river boats. To get the best value for your dollar, here are seven things to keep in mind. (I’ve illustrated these seven things with photos from my own trips on the Seine, from Paris through Normandy aboard Avalon Waterways’ Avalon Tapestry II and on multiple trips on the Danube, aboard AmaWaterways’ AmaSonata and Viking’s Alsvin).

Mistake No. 1: Splurging on a balcony

Avalon’s Panorama suites feature beds French balconies that open up one entire wall of your cabin. Photo via Avalon.

You’d probably assume a balcony is critical—for the view, the fresh air, the photo ops, the extra space, the privacy. A balcony is a big plus at a resort and on a huge ocean ship, but on river boats it can actually be a drawback: River ships have a width limit (so that they can fit through locks), which means that cabins can only be so wide, which in turn means that a balcony takes away from your interior room space. If it’s chilly or raining—as it sometimes is—you’ll value the interior room space more than the balcony. Also, a balcony lets you see only one side of a river, whereas elsewhere on the ship you can see both sides at once. And who wants to miss half a river?

This is why many savvy river cruisers opt for a “French balcony” instead of an “outside balcony.” A French balcony is a glass door or wall-to-wall window that opens to give you fresh air and the feel of a veranda, minus the outside floor, tables, and chairs. The best such pseudo-balcony I’ve seen is on Avalon Waterways’ newer ships. The outside wall of the cabin is floor-to-ceiling glass that stretches 11 feet wide and slides open 7 feet wide. Basically, it turns your whole room into a veranda.

The French balcony in my cabin on AmaSonata.

The French balcony in my cabin on AmaSonata.S

Avalon calls these cabins “Panorama Suites.” Technically, they’re not actually suites: Each is one room that measures 200 square feet and has a comfy sitting area (a chair, a loveseat, and a table) overlooking the water. The bed faces the view—a bed position that is unusual for river ships and is a nice touch, as the view is the first thing you see when you wake in the morning (unless you’ve drawn the curtains, you’re in a lock, or another ship is parked alongside you—which is a reason why most people do draw their curtains at night).

With cabins that transform into open-air terraces, who needs a balcony?

Mistake No. 2: Assuming that your whole itinerary is on the river

Riverscape on the Seine

If I’d opted to go with everyone on the bus, I would have missed riverscape like this.

The beauty of a river cruise is that it’s a picturesque and easy way to see towns and cities along a river. Typically, the ship drops you off in town, and you can choose to walk around and explore on your own (always my preference) or take a walking tour or bus tour with a group from the ship. Sometimes passengers are bussed to sights an hour or two (or more) away from the river. And sometimes those bus tours can mean missing whole stretches of the river. On the Seine, for instance, opting for the bus tour to Honfleur or Normandy’s WW2 landing beaches could mean missing a picturesque stretch of the river because the bus picks you up at one port and drops you off at the next. (Which is why, on one cruise, I opted not to go to Honfleur or the landing beaches.)

So find out whether the cruise line and itinerary you’re considering may force you to choose between the river itself and the sights away from it—and whether those stretches of river are not-to-be-missed picturesque or okay-to-miss industrial. A good cruise director will answer these questions honestly and accurately, and Google Earth can help too. If the cruise director can’t tell you which stretches of the river are most interesting, do what I do—even though technically it’s not allowed: Knock on the wheelhouse door, befriend the captain, and ask them (at a moment when they’re not busy steering around barges or into locks). Captains always know.

Don’t bother spending precious time attempting to find out where your ship will dock in each town. We choose hotels for their location, of course—so it’s understandable that you’d want to know where a ship will be situated—but, for the most part, they all dock in the same spot. Some ships might have better real estate in certain cities. In Budapest, for instance, Viking’s spot is right under the Chain Bridge. As a general rule, though, all the ships park in pretty much the same area—and, to some degree, where they park can’t be known far ahead anyway. In Passau aboard Viking, we docked in one spot and then later the ship moved several slips downriver.

Viking river cruise on the Danube

Viking river cruise on the Danube.

Mistake No. 3: Insisting that your ship have a gym and a pool

I want these in a hotel or on a giant cruise ship as much as the next person, but the fact is, on river ships, you rarely see anyone in the gym (which is tiny and only minimally equipped) or the pool (which is equally tiny except on some Uniworld ships that have gorgeous indoor pools and some AmaWaterways ships that have a relatively spacious pool with a swim-up bar). There just isn’t enough time to use the gym or pool, as you’re off the ship exploring all day. And if you’re not off the ship, chances are either it’s nighttime or you’re gliding down a significant stretch of river that you won’t want to miss.

The pool in the AmaSonata river ship.

The pool in the AmaSonata river ship.

Cruise-line execs keep gyms and pools on ships as marketing tools to get travelers to choose their ship, but the reality is that you likely won’t end up using either. That’s because there are so many opportunities to get exercise off the ship: Some lines carry bicycles and offer cycling tours. Others lend out Nordic walking sticks for ambitious strolling and hiking. And check with your ship’s cruise manager; oftentimes they’ll know where in port you can go to swim or get a massage at a resort or day spa.

Mistake No. 4: Choosing a ship based on the number of passengers
Most people I know, when choosing a hotel or an oceangoing cruise ship, veer away from anything too huge. But on Europe’s rivers there are pretty much only two sizes of cruise ship: 110-meter vessels (which hold about 128 passengers each) and 135-meter vessels (which hold about 166 passengers each). Viking’s longships squeeze 190 passengers onto a 135-meter ship, which competing cruise lines say make it feel crowded. Honestly, though, I sailed on a 190-passenger Viking ship and, other than chairs spaced close together in the observation lounge and trouble finding seats for my party of four at dinner one night, the ship didn’t feel crowded to me. (Then again, I grew up in Manhattan, so my definition of “crowded” may differ from yours.) Nor did I experience less personal service on Viking, partly because Viking (unlike other river cruise lines) has a dedicated concierge who provides such service.

There is an exception to this rule. AmaWaterways designed its AmaMagna, which debuted in 2019, to be almost double the width of the standard riverboat on the Danube. The plus? It’s got more amenities, such as more spacious suites, four different restaurants, a sundeck pool and whirlpool, a juice bar, two massage rooms as part of a zen wellness studio and, new this year, a pickleball court. The minus? This ship, due to its size, is limited to a stretch of ports along the Danube that don’t involve locks. Still, it can travel from Germany through Austria, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania, so the options aren’t too limited.

If I were you, instead of choosing among river ships based on the number of passengers, I’d choose based on factors that I think will affect your trip more—namely, itinerary, river landscape, cabin type, and like-minded fellow passengers.

Mistake No. 5: Booking the least expensive cabin
In a hotel it can make sense: Choose the lowest-category room at a fabulous property, so you can take advantage of everything the hotel offers, and use the room just for sleeping. On a river cruise, though, the least expensive cabin can be really tight—170 square feet or less—with small windows that don’t open. It’s usually worth the several hundred dollars more to get a French balcony. The aforementioned Avalon “Panorama Suite” cabins cost about $100 more per person per day than the ship’s lowest-category rooms. They’re worth it.

Mistake No. 6: Assuming you can dine on your own
In a hotel or on a megaship, it’s easy to stick to yourselves, but on a river ship, there’s a lot of forced socializing. Every night there’s a four-course (at least), two-hour (at least) dinner where you’re seated at tables with other passengers, some of whom you just met. I’ve made some great friends at these chance meetings, but I’ve also been stuck with some louts. Viking is the only river line I know that provides an alternative venue where you can grab a half-hour dinner on your own if you just don’t feel like making chit-chat with strangers.

Mistake No. 7: Assuming there’s room service
Room service is a given in hotels, and it’s usually free on ocean cruise ships, but on river ships it barely exists. On certain ships, in certain cabins, you can get a room-service breakfast. Avalon offers a complimentary continental breakfast option. Room service for lunch or dinner is very rare rate but Avalon does offer (again, complimentary) an option based on the day’s menus. You do have to order from the front desk but the food will arrive at your stateroom.

On most ships, early morning coffee and continental breakfast is available in the observation lounge starting at about 6 a.m.

“Early risers’ breakfast,” in Avalon Tapestry II’s observation lounge

“Early risers’ breakfast,” in Avalon Tapestry II’s observation lounge, precedes the regular breakfast buffet in the dining room.

Don’t expect to find an in-room coffee machine in most river-ship cabins. You really don’t need one, though: Every vessel I’ve sailed on has a fancy coffee machine mid-ship (either off the lobby or in the observation lounge) that whips up espressos, cappuccinos, and machiattos, plus there’s hot chocolate, an assortment of teas, and snacks such as cookies and fruit. In fact, on the Avalon Tapestry II, there are two such coffee set-ups—one in the front lounge, one in the back lounge. Which means coffee is never more than 15 seconds away.

Coffee machine in the back observation lounge of Avalon Tapestry II

The coffee machine in the back observation lounge of Avalon Tapestry II is one of two coffee-and-tea set-ups aboard the ship.

Finally, one mistake you are too smart to make: Assuming the Wi-Fi will work at all times
The good news: The Wi-Fi on river ships is free. The bad news: It comes and goes, depending on whether you’re in a lock or on a remote stretch of the river or the other passengers are sucking up all the bandwidth. Where you’ll have Wi-Fi and where you won’t is unpredictable—and none of the river lines are better or worse at providing it—so just know that, generally speaking, your best windows of connectivity are when you’re not in a lock and other passengers are off the ship or have gone to sleep. Know that coffee shops in towns along the way offer better and free Wi-Fi. Another option is to bring a portable modem that connects with systems on land. You can also pre-purchase international packages via your Wi-Fi provider that enable you to use your phone as a modem.

Also know that nobody requires more frequent Wi-Fi than I do, and a river ship is actually one of the best working environments I know: You can sit at your laptop for hours yet have an ever-changing view.

 

START PLANNING A RIVER CRUISE

 

This article was updated and fact-checked in March 2023. It was originally published in 2015.

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Mexico: after-hours museum visit, tequila tasting, a WOW Moment…

VANESSA HULME | MARCH 18, 2023

This was our second time using the services of Zach’s team, this time for travels to Mexico City and San Miguel de Allende and, yet again, they excelled.

The tours and activities they planned in Mexico City (historical city tour, visit to San Angel, Coyoacan, and Casa Azul, etc.) were exactly what we wanted. They even arranged a private after-hours visit to the National Museum of Anthropology–we had the entire museum to ourselves! Wandering through the galleries with an expert was definitely a magical experience, and brought the cultures to life. Our guide, Victor, was excellent throughout, always finding something extraordinary for us to see, including the fantastic murals at the Ministry of Public Education (a truly overlooked site). Before leaving Mexico City, we were treated to a WOW Moment with a special lunch at Los Danzantes, including our own personal mariachis (thanks, Wendy).

San Miguel was the “downtime” part of our trip, however, Zach’s office did arrange a marvelous tour of the city, a tequila tasting, and tour of the Botanical Gardens. They even managed to squeeze in a tour of Queretaro before we boarded our flight home.

As before, the efficiency and knowledge of the people at Zach’s office made the trip effortless for us. Other parts of Mexico are on our travel list, and we will definitely call on them again for their help.

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Southeast Asia: food, local connections, uncrowded sights…

CATHERINE MATHIS | MARCH 7, 2023

We just returned from a fabulous three-week plus trip to Thailand, Laos, Viet Nam, and Cambodia organized for us by Sandy. While we have traveled a great deal, this trip was among the best, if not THE, best trip we’ve taken. The diversity and specialness of our experiences made it stand out.

Like Napoleon’s army, we travel on our stomachs and the food we had on this trip was extraordinary. One evening in Laos we went to the home of our guide who Sandy has worked closely with for years. We helped prepare dinner, were blessed by the family elders in a baci ceremony for success on our journey, ate the delicious food we had helped cook, and danced and sang with the family. Another night in Cambodia, we ate at a local village restaurant. With travel to Cambodia down due to the pandemic, it’s a great time to visit and we were the only people at the restaurant. After a foot massage and passion fruit mojito, we were escorted to our table overlooking vibrant green rice fields while being serenaded by lovely music. In Hanoi, we went to Bun Cha Sinh Tu and had the famous soup it’s known for. It was table-pounding good. And our Vespa food tour of Saigon which Sandy had strongly suggested was both delicious and terrifying. Driving a motorbike in Saigon should be an Olympic sport and we just rode!

Our excellent guides in Laos and Viet Nam shared with us the experiences of their families during the War and recounted working with American veterans who returned years later as well as a reporter who had covered it. These personal and moving stories touched us and helped us better understand the profound effect of the War on the people who lived through it.

In Cambodia, we went to a Buddhist temple at 5:30 in the morning and meditated. Afterwards, we were showered with lotus petals as part of a blessing ceremony and had breakfast at the monastery as the sun rose. Early one morning in Laos, we gave sticky rice to saffron-robed monks who extended their begging bowls to us. Through this daily ritual, the monks demonstrate their vows of poverty and humility. Our guide took us to a quiet place where her family normally gives alms, avoiding other tourists.

It’s hard to encapsulate all we saw and did because there was so much — seeing the temples of Angkor, kayaking in Halong Bay, boating on the Saigon River, biking through Hoi An. Part of what made this trip so good was the flexibility we had in determining what we would do and not do each day. We had great guidance and suggestions from Sandy but he emphasized this was our trip. We did make last-minute adjustments. For example, on the spur of the moment we decided we wanted to see the Bamboo Circus in Saigon and our guide helped us get tickets four hours before the performance. (I would, however, recommend booking earlier.) Thoughtful planning and flexibility helped make this the trip of a lifetime.

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Rwanda & Tanzania: gorillas, rhinos, a community-owned lodge…

LISA RIGGS | MARCH 6, 2023

We had a great trip arranged by Katie and Cherri, to Rwanda for mountain gorilla trekking and then to the Serengeti in Tanzania for more wildlife viewing. The experience of being able to get so close to and observe elephants, giraffes, lions, gazelle, zebras, cheetah, wildebeest, Cape buffalo, leopard, hippos, golden and vervet monkeys, not to mention gorillas, in their natural habitat, is incomparable. Also incredible were the gorgeous birds including storks and flamingos. We were also lucky to see black rhinos both in the Serengeti and the Ngorongoro crater.

The Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge was outstanding. The cottages were lovely. A wood-burning fire was lit every evening in our room, and sometimes on very cold mornings as well, by Felicien, our butler, who also brought coffee to the room. He helped us gear up for the gorilla treks, and assisted with hiking boot and leg gaiter removal when we were done. The treks themselves were physically demanding at high altitude but well worth it, and we were completely pampered when we got back to the lodge.

The lodge is community owned, and many staff members are from the nearby village. Felicien gave us a great tour and we were delighted to meet many of the people, including the beekeeper, the doctor/herbalist, and some charming women who showed me how to grind flour from sorghum. Easier than it looks!

We stayed at two different camps in Tanzania and our guides were outstanding. The game drives were amazing and the guides well informed. Our favorite was the Namiri Plains Camp, where you could look out your deck and watch elephants stroll by.

Cherri and Katie arranged a very smooth and varied trip, arranging and navigating smooth entry and exit and Covid testing for each country. I highly recommend them!

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South Africa, Rwanda, Tanzania: wildlife, wine, delightful people…

KATHLEEN ROSS | MARCH 5, 2023

We have just returned from three FABULOUS weeks in Africa (February 8 – 27) — we visited Cape Town, Rwanda, and Tanzania. As I said to Frankie in Cherri’s office — who planned the most stellar adventure for us and was BEYOND accommodating of our crazy scheduling issues — I thought a visit to Africa would be a one-and-done. My was I wrong — thanks to her recommendations, we officially have the safari “bug” and can’t wait for the opportunity to return!

My first call to Cherri’s office took place last September when I shared my destination wish list: Cape Town to meet our son who was sailing there in The Ocean Race, Rwanda to visit the gorillas, and Tanzania to enjoy a safari. EVERYTHING we did was guided by Frankie’s stellar advice, every detail was covered, every highlight touched, every special moment experienced, every gourmet meal enjoyed — truly, everything we did far exceeded our expectations. I could NEVER have planned this adventure on my own. Kudos to her and the rest of Cherri’s team!

It is impossible to identify a single moment that stood out amongst the others — they were all spectacular!….

Cape Town, the drive “down south” to Cape Point, the PENGUINS, the dinner recommendations, the people, our FABULOUS guide, Chantal, from Chalan Africa and the South African wines were all a delight! We were presented with varied opportunities to observe the cultural issues that still penetrate every day living in South Africa — simply by being there. To say that history is alive and — almost well — in South Africa is an understatement! On a unique note, I must say I never expected there to be rolling blackouts throughout the country — or to have a schedule announcing the timing of the blackouts posted in the Cape Grace Hotel each morning!

Rwanda was a delight to experience and Joseph, our guide from Uber Luxe Safaris, could not have been more perfect for our visit. His knowledge about Rwanda’s history and culture and his willingness to share was a treat for all of us. We soaked up every word he said, learned so much about its history, its people and their lifestyle, their future, were dazzled by the climb up to see two separate gorilla families on two separate days, admired the hard work ethic of the people (the women — WOW…farmers extraordinaire!!!) , and absolutely melted at the many, many, many smiles we saw along the way. We left Rwanda filled with much more than we EVER expected, which was simply a visit to gorillas :-)! If you go, do not miss a visit to the Kigali Genocide Memorial — it was our first stop after we landed and it set the tone for the remainder of our time in a beautiful country filled with beautiful, kind people — oh, and some very cool gorilla families!

And then…there was Tanzania! I grew up watching Born Free over and over again. And absolutely sobbed over Out of Africa. My kids — and we — all saw The Lion King on Broadway three times and watched the movie countless times. While much of each of these stories take place in Kenya, every wild animal, beautiful vista, expansive landscape are alive, well, and SPECTACULAR in Tanzania! We stayed at Singita Faru Faru in the Grumeti Game Reserve in the Serengeti, at Nyasi Migrational Camp with 1.4 million wildebeest and their zebra friends in the Southern Serengeti, and Little Chem Chem Lodge on Lake Burunge in north-central Tanzania. Each lodge was a sight to behold and an experience like no other. Each of our guides brought a different perspective to wildlife watching AND each had fascinating histories growing up in Tanzania. We loved listening to their childhood stories of a very traditional Tanzanian lifestyle! Frankie’s recommendations to experience these three separate lodges gave us the unique opportunity to experience so many different safari elements! We were filled with awe and gratitude that so much open space has been protected to benefit the zillions of species who inhabit this beautiful country and were treated royally at each lodge located in the middle of nowhere!

As the dust begins to settle from this very epic adventure, we will relive our very vivid and fond memories of each country and each experience with enormous smiles on our faces! Cherri’s team made it all happen and we look forward to making our next call to them for our next adventure. Thank you for directing us to them!!!

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Egypt: savvy logistics, sneak peak of the GEM…

JULIE OLSON | MARCH 3, 2023

We just returned from a terrific 2-week trip to Egypt that was planned with the help of Jim Berkeley and Arlene Santos. Egypt has been on our bucket list for a decade, so with the pandemic winding down and the new Grand Egyptian Museum (“GEM”) set to open in November 2022, we figured early 2023 was a great time to go. Setting up a trip like this requires great planners that can provide expert guidance and adjust quickly as circumstances change, and Jim’s team worked with us interactively to plan the itinerary before we left and adjust it as things happened during it.

As one example, our plane to Cairo connecting through Europe left 7 hours late! That meant that we missed the last flight to Cairo from Frankfurt. We had engaged the flight advisor that Jim’s office recommended and were so glad that we did! She quickly responded to us on a Saturday night (!) and re-routed us Frankfurt-Munich-Cairo the same day. Jim’s office then had their Cairo team meet us at the plane with an electric cart (at 1:30 am), sped us through not only the airport but the immigrationeprocess, got us to our hotel and arranged for our next day to start a bit later. We woke up to see the Pyramids and Sphinx and visit the GEM that day as planned and didn’t miss a beat!

The story on visiting the GEM continued to morph for months as the opening was pushed back from 2022 to an indefinite 2023 date. Right before we left, Jim found a way for us to walk inside to see the fabulous architecture of this museum, which is spectacular! While we didn’t get to see it fully open with its acclaimed exhibits, seeing the building up close with the enormous statue of Ramses II was terrific. Once it is open, it will be spectacular!

Our ambitious itinerary covered Cairo, Aswan and an Abu Simbel side trip, a Nile cruise and Luxor. The only way to see everything we did is through careful planning with people on the ground who know the intricacies of how to put it together. For example, we are not sure how anyone in one day can see the key tombs in Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens without the help of experts, given the landscape and the ticketing system. Jim’s team helped us to plan so we had the tickets to everything we wanted to see there and a guide and driver to get us to each. We are convinced that there is no way to see these major sites without proper guidance.

We also recommend taking a dahabiya boat to cruise the Nile rather than a large cruise boat, as you get the opportunity to stop at sites along the Nile where the bigger boats can’t dock. With only 4 couples on our boat, it truly was an intimate and interesting experience and the food was amazing! And lastly, the value of a team on the ground was proven once again when one of us got food poisoning. Jim’s team sent a doctor to the hotel at night with necessary medication. That allowed us to continue the tour as planned the next day.

We highly recommend seeing Egypt now, as it is not overwhelmed with visitors, and also highly recommend employing Jim’s office to help plan it. Some trips can be planned independently, but in a destination like this, a knowledgeable team with great connections both on the ground and for flights is invaluable, as our experience proves!

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Norway: Northern Lights, herding reindeer with the Sami…

JUDY WIMPFHEIMER | MARCH 1, 2023

I first heard about Jan Sortland and his company through the Wendy Perrin WOW List. He deserves the accolades. Seeing the Northern Lights was on my bucket list and Jan helped me plan every detail of the trip. When the original estimate was more than I had budgeted, Jan figured it out so we could still go. And he did it graciously. From start to finish he was responsive and every question was answered thoroughly and quickly.

Our trip was planned impeccably. The hotels were excellent and we received many upgrades. Our hotel in Alta was particularly lovely and our dinners there were incredible.

Knowing how much we wanted to see the Lights, and being disappointed twice before in Iceland, Jan steered us to Alta, in the northernmost part of Norway. He said it would give us the best shot. How right he was! We saw them 3 out of 3 nights! Much of this is due to the incredible guides Jan arranged. Despite the fact that it was cloudy and snowing the first two nights, our guides looked at all the weather maps and found the area that had the most potential to clear up. It was a real drive, but the clouds disappeared and the Lights danced.

Jan also suggested a day trip, a visit to the area where the Sami live and herd reindeer. It was the best advice! These indigenous people live the same way their ancestors did and it was a privilege to spend the day with them. Mathis, a Sami elder, met us and drove us over 30 miles on snowmobiles to watch the Sami move a herd of 2,500+ reindeer to higher terrain. After that, we snowmobiled back to his home where he had prepared a delicious lunch of salmon and Arctic char. He generously and patiently answered all our questions and made us feel like welcomed guests. Our day with this incredible gentleman was truly the highlight of our trip and it is an experience that will not be forgotten.

Jan, my husband and I were the beneficiaries of your many years of experience. Thank you. Thank you!

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Florence: local artisans, private palazzo tour…

KEVIN HANEY | MARCH 1, 2023

Nancy and I were fortunate to have spent a wonderful week in Florence, Italy that was planned with Jennifer and her team. The trip went smoothly and more than met our high expectations, which we had from our previous experiences with trips that Jennifer has helped plan.

We had not even left the US when we realized how using a WOW expert like Jennifer is beneficial to a smooth and seamless travel experience. Our plane out of Denver was 6 hours late in leaving because of a mechanical issue and thus we were going to miss our scheduled connection in Frankfurt. However, because of the daily texts sent by Jennifer and her team describing the next day’s schedule, all we had to do was alert them as to the change in times and they took it from there so that our airport greeter was there to meet us and that our transportation into Florence was rescheduled to the appropriate time.

Jennifer arranged for us to have Veronica as our tour guide while we were in Florence. Veronica was so warm and friendly. She had a fantastic knowledge of the area and was able to explain things in a fun and educational way. We would definitely recommend Veronica as a guide if you are in Florence.

A highlight of the trip was a private visit to Palazzo Corsini where we not only had Veronica’s expertise but we also had the privilege of Countess Francesca, who grew up and still lives there, conduct the tour. We had such a wonderful afternoon. Another highlight was spending an afternoon visiting with local artisans of Florence. Veronica took us to places which we never would have found on our own. We also spent a morning going to various churches in Florence and saw some amazing artwork still in the churches; Veronica especially shined during this tour as she was able to put the art and the church into proper context so that you understood and appreciated the art you were seeing.

As we noted above, Jennifer and her office did a great job in planning and executing our Florence trip. We have only the highest praise for the services they provide and will undoubtedly utilize them again on a trip to Europe.

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Vietnam & Cambodia: best hotel rooms, tour guides, drivers…

GINA HAGEN | FEBRUARY 27, 2023

This trip was exceptional. Sandy and staff made everything easy for us, down to his guide to Southeast Asia that answered all our how-to questions. Sandy guided us before the trip to make sure we had trip insurance and visas to both countries to save time, and that we brought the right items with us, while also discouraging lots of luggage.

We had the best rooms in each hotel and knowledgeable (and kindest) tour guides, drivers that took care to ensure we had water and a cold washcloth every time we returned to the car, as well as navigating the motorbikes and cars in busy cities. Our guides met us without any hitches at the airport and were always on time to pick us up. They took us to local restaurants that we would never have found and explained the history of the location to us, as well as being very willing to tell us about their lives and how they lived. It was an immersion that we could not have done on our own. Each guide confirmed our air reservations, which was helpful.

The itinerary was well-planned, with the ability to change anything at any time to meet with our interests. We were able to see much more than we anticipated and fit in so many things, while also having some down time to go to the beach in Hoi An and a few-day cruise.

We could not have taken such an awesome trip without Sandy’s guidance and we appreciate his staff for a flawless trip.

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Vietnam: history, lunch with locals, sunset cruise…

NANCY RIEGER | FEBRUARY 21, 2023

My husband Armand and I just returned from a truly memorable trip to Vietnam, planned by Sandy. This was our first journey in Vietnam, and Sandy and his colleagues took the time to carefully plan a flexible itinerary that was exciting as well as comfortable.

First, our guide. Aster, a young, kind, lively, and intelligent woman who introduced us to the religous, political, and economic history of Vietnam in a marvelous, storytelling fashion. Aster was a delight, and always offered us options to add or subtract activities from the day. She introduced us to delicious “street food” at casual restaurants and secured the best tables (balcony tables with views) at more upscale restaurants. We learned about Vietnamese family life too, and Aster shared her own family’s history.

One particular highlight: a delicious homemade lunch with a Vietnamese couple in their home. They were in their 60s (my age) and in one of our conversations they talked about their experiences during the “American war.”

Another highlight: our own private sunset boat cruise in a lovely boat down the Perfume River in Hue. Seeing sights from the water always gives a different perspective and the cruise was romantic as well.

Sandy also secured the best rooms in our room category in each of the hotels we stayed: the Azerai La Residence in Hue, and the Four Seasons (heavenly!) outside Hoi An. Our rooms had great views, were quiet, and were in the primo locations at each hotel. Both had pools, which we made good use of.

In the COVID era I find myself worrying more about diseases of all kinds. Rest assured, Aster and Sandy’s team made sure that every place we visited had high health and cleanliness standards. When, at times during drives between the cities, we needed to use a rest room, Aster and our driver always found us a clean bathroom.

In a country where one doesn’t speak the language, a guide is essential. Aster and Sandy gave us an introduction to Vietnam that makes us want to return to this beautiful country–and turn to Sandy’s office again for an unforgettable trip.

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Argentina & Chile: Buenos Aires, Santiago, Patagonia

KATHYE FARIES | FEBRUARY 18, 2023

Hiking in Argentina.

Argentina. Photo: Kathye Faries

Maita’s office did a terrific job of helping plan our trip to Buenos Aires, Santiago and Patagonia. I initially worked with Maita to frame the trip and she zeroed in on exactly what would be perfect for us. She suggested outstanding lodges in Patagonia, as well as excellent restaurants all over South America. We are foodies and we were not disappointed. I worked extensively with Malena Feijoo, who is on Maita’s team, to plan every detail of the trip.

Malena listened carefully to our needs and put together wonderful itineraries for us. One of the highlights when we were in Buenos Aires was a trip to a neighboring town for a cooking demonstration and fabulous lunch with a well-known chef. It was a fantastic experience! Maita recommended a tango show in Buenos Aires which I thought might be too touristy but it was just perfect—a small, intimate dinner club and amazing, skilled dancers. When we were in Santiago we headed out to Valparaiso for a day and were wowed by the art murals all over this wonderful, funky seaside town.

We had a complicated itinerary with several flights between various cities and the need for lots of transfers to and from airports, hotels and lodges. We had total peace of mind from the first day — every guide and every transfer was on time (or early) to greet us. The tour guides in both Buenos Aires and Santiago were knowledgeable, flexible and fun. They altered the itinerary a few times en route at our request and we appreciated the flexibility. Maita’s team “followed” us via WhatApp throughout the trip to check in, make sure all was going well and to inform us of what to expect next. It was nice to have someone watching over us.

The biggest surprise was the beauty of Patagonia. We were awed by the spectacular scenery. At one of the lodges we had our own guide and 4×4 for the 5 days and we were able to tailor the exploration to our desires. During our drives and hikes in and around Torres del Paine National Park we saw pumas, condors, guanacos (like llamas) and lots of other birds. Pure air, pure water and nature’s majesty. It was perfect.

I give this trip a 12 on a scale of 10 and highly recommend Maita if you are going to South America. Without her team’s guidance and suggestions we would not have had the wonderful experience that we did.

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Cambodia & Vietnam: history, street food, Angkor Wat at sunrise…

DAVID WERTHEIMER | FEBRUARY 18, 2023

Angkor Wat

Angkor Wat, Cambodia. Photo: David Wertheimer

Our trip to Cambodia and Vietnam from January 21st to February 6th was spectacular. We started in Phnom Penh, and traveled from there to Siem Reap, the Angkor Wat temple complex, Saigon, Cu Chi, Hoi An, Hue, Hanoi and Ha Long Bay. Sopisith Oun, from Andy’s team, prepared our itinerary and arranged for personal guides at each of our stops. The guides were knowledgeable, friendly, and provided both historical information and personal stories that placed the horrors of the eras of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia and the U.S. military activities in Vietnam within the context of our visit and our understanding of current life in both nations. Our guides also provided us with street food tours that allowed us to sample some of the most unusual dishes we’ve ever eaten. (The sand worm pancakes were delicious!) We had postponed our trip for three years because of COVID, and felt safe and comfortable traveling, especially because the tourist crowds are still minimal. There were multiple “wow,” bucket-list moments, including Angkor Wat at sunrise (get there early!) and Ha Long Bay, to name just two of them.

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Colombia: contemporary art, colonial charm, coffee country…

TONY FORD-HUTCHINSON | FEBRUARY 7, 2023

Boris and his team put together a fantastic trip to Colombia for my wife and me, a country we had not yet visited. Contrary to what people may think based on past history, Colombia was very safe, but very busy, and we were well looked after by excellent guides. Our trip started in Bogota with an easy direct day flight from New York. Three nights there allowed us to explore the city, its food and the amazing gold museum. Boris’ office arranged a private art tour which included access to a private opening of the works of the famous Colombian artist Jim Almaral, where we met him and his more famous wife Olga de Amaral. For a change in pace we then spent a night in Villa de Leyva, a national heritage site with a stop in Zipaquira to see the spectacular underground salt cathedral. Next stop was Medellin with visits to Communa 13, with an understanding of conflict and cacao, and a visit to a large orchid collection. Four nights in the coffee country, staying in a wonderful hacienda, allowed us to explore that area, including a rafting trip, a visit to a coffee plantation and a day out with an excellent birding guide. The final stop was Cartagena, where we stayed in the Casa San Augustin in the middle of the old city; great for walking around the old areas with activities such as a rum and chocolate tasting, a private cooking class in one of the best restaurants and a salsa dancing lesson. An easy 5 hr direct day flight took us back to New York. Colombia is a country well worth a visit, even though it does not seem to be on the radar screens of many of our acquaintances, and Boris and his team are a great asset for organizing a diverse and interesting trip.

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Argentina: vineyards, colonial architecture, Iguassu Falls…

MARY LARONGE | FEBRUARY 7, 2023

Maita and Florencia gave us a truly memorable week in Argentina that began 4 hours after the World Cup-winning soccer team arrived home at EZE airport! I had many concerns about traveling over the Christmas holiday: the crowds, extra expense and pent-up travel demand from Covid. Despite all these obstacles, we had 4 great internal flights that Florencia booked and checked us in for all along the way, 5 terrific hotels and our guides were superlative. We saw such varied things, from the sun-kissed vineyards of Mendoza to the grand colonial architecture in Salta to the whole area around Purmamarca, a real discovery area for us. Ending at Iguassu falls was just perfect. We had to throw Maita and team some curve balls at the last minute: such as securing my husband and his 80-year-old mother last-minute back-up plane reservations and transfers from Ushuaia to meet me in BA on 12/20. They were able to help them on the run. We just loved our trip and we can’t wait to go back and discover more of remarkable Argentina! Next time: Lake district, glaciers and Patagonia! And maybe even more Purmamarca!

Travelers really should book all the internal air through Maita. The Aerolineas site does not work from the USA. Also, the private driver for crossing over to the Brazil side of Iguassu Falls is a must, the crowds were crazy there and we could not wait to get back to the relative calm of the Argentina side. Our driver Alex did a great job in tough conditions. Staying at the Melia right there is worth the extra money times 10!

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Morocco: wine tasting, Roman ruins, motorcycle sidecar tour…

SARAH BALASSA | FEBRUARY 5, 2023

Our trip planned by Radia was absolutely fantastic! The planning process with Radia was easy. I had a general idea of the cities and sites that we wished to visit ,which Radia developed into a thoughtful and exciting itinerary, including such highlights as a gourmet lunch and wine tasting in a beautiful vineyard near Fez, an excursion to the Roman ruins of Volubilis, a motorcycle and vintage sidecar tour through Marrakech’s medina and a sunset camel ride in the desert. Radia’s office helped us choose excellent restaurants for all our meals and handled all the reservations. Radia also arranged a very fun market tour and cooking lesson in Fez, where we learned to make chicken tagine in a rooftop kitchen overlooking the city. Our guide and driver chosen for us by Radia were both a perfect fit for our family, and they went out of their way to make sure we were having a wonderful vacation. We cannot wait to return to Morocco in the future.

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Southeast Asia: Angkor Wat, mountaintop temples, monk’s blessing…

SUSAN BAILEY | FEBRUARY 5, 2023

Sunrise at Angkor Wat in Cambodia

Sunrise at Angkor Wat in Cambodia. Photo: Seng Sophea

Our two-week trip in December to Thailand, Laos and Cambodia was a wonderful first visit to the region. There were so many highlights! Starting in Chiang Rai, our favorite stops were the White Temple, any food from street vendors, Golden Triangle and Princess Mother’s chalet-style villa and garden. And then sunset at a tea plantation was so picturesque. In Chiang Mai I highly recommend 137 Pillar House hotel. It is a beautiful oasis in the center of town. The street food, markets, cooking school, mountaintop temples and hikes there were all amazing in Chiang Mai. Northern Thailand has so much to offer we could have spent our whole two weeks there.

During our incredible two nights in the UNESCO city of Luang Prabang we enjoyed a dance performance, an up-close walk in the woods with the elephants at the MandaLao sanctuary and then swimming in the crystal blue Kuang Si waterfalls. The visit was then topped off with a special dinner and blessing ceremony with our guide’s family and making merit with the monks before daybreak.

Angkor Wat was our next stop and did not disappoint. The vast grounds were impressive and our guide did an excellent job sharing the art and history of that site as well as the culture and livelihood of the surrounding area. We ended our stay with a few nights in Bangkok, with a spontaneous visit to an outdoor high-rise rooftop bar at sunset, and the hotel along the river with a balcony was an ideal spot to stay.

Sandy’s guides, who have all been with him for many years, truly made this visit come to life. Their adeptness at crafting exciting, varied activities each day, sharing their own stories, and imparting the countries’ history and culture made for an excellent trip. When I look back at our itinerary, I am amazed at how many experiences we enjoyed and it never felt rushed or harried. We would have never been able to craft such a rewarding itinerary on our own. Highly recommend Sandy’s team and scheduling no shorter than two weeks to capture it all.

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Colombia: snorkeling, cacao farms, street art…

BONNIE GROSSMAN | FEBRUARY 2, 2023

Our trip to Colombia in January 2023 was so well-planned by Boris and his team! It was an adventurous choice for us, and we were rewarded with a vast array of experiences from deep countryside to wonderful cities. Colombia had apparently ended its rainy season—we enjoyed beautiful weather throughout. Boris and his team were so responsive, made itinerary adjustments easily, and always kept in touch. We felt safe, cared for. Our guides were excellent—knowledgeable, well-spoken, and easy-going while hosting us through many varied activities. Colombia is a diverse land, with incredible mountains, coffee plantations, small colonial towns and vibrant cities. Art, culture, and of course a notorious history abound! The Colombians are a welcoming, friendly people, and quite diverse. Our lodgings were lovely. Highlights ranged from orchid farms to art museums, from floating along a river in a bamboo raft, to a fascinating day on a small cacao farm with local farmers. The exotic fruits and juices are memorable, and many local cuisines. Our boat trip in Cartagena was first-class, and snorkeling was wonderful. Art has transformed many areas, especially with street art, and another highlight was our private art tour in Bogota! Thank you, Boris and team, for guiding us through a rich, multidimensional experience in Colombia!

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New Zealand: intimate lodges, wine tastings, helicopters…

HARRISON EARL | FEBRUARY 1, 2023

We just returned from 10 days in New Zealand at the end of January and Jean-Michel and his team planned an absolutely amazing trip for us. Jean-Michel quickly helped us hone in on a plan and some key properties, then Fabienne worked with us to get all of the details in place and arrange amazing activities. Both of them helped us secure some of the last rooms available at stunning intimate lodges, and put together helicopter adventures, wine tastings, and phenomenal local guides that really made the trip special for us. There’s no way we would have been able to find all of the locations and activities that Fabienne lined up for us, and we felt like we saw a lot more of the South Island than we would have on our own. We’re already plotting when we can return, and fully intend to let Jean-Michel and Fabienne help us again when we’re back in New Zealand.

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Portugal: oceanfront pousadas, city tours…

WANCHEE LOWE | JANUARY 29, 2023

Pousada de Sagres

Sunset. Pousada de Sagres. Photo: Benjamin Lowe

My husband and I went to Portugal for a week in mid-January 2023, spending two nights in Cascais (near Lisbon), then 4 nights in Sagres in the Algarve, and the last night in Lisbon. We spoke with Gonçalo, who gave us good suggestions of where to go. We told him we were interested in photographing land and seascapes, especially during sunrise and sunsets. After the Zoom conversation, his colleague Patrícia Gomes took over and I mostly communicated with her.

She drew up an initial itinerary and we went over it and emailed questions and answers back and forth etc. We paid a deposit after she secured the reservations and then paid the balance a few weeks before the trip began.

She booked pousadas for us because we like the historic nature of the accommodations and our rooms overlooked the ocean and we could see sunsets from our rooms in Cascais and Sagres. Free breakfasts were included in all our lodgings. She arranged a rental car and accommodated our request for a hybrid car. She also booked a full day of palace and castle tours in Sintra with a private driver and guide. In Lisbon we also did a private half-day walking/food tour, which she arranged.

I felt assured that if anything unexpected happened, it was a comfort to know that the travel advisor and team would help us. In fact, we got lost trying to find the Lisbon hotel (GPS failed) and I called them up and they were able to walk us calmly through where we were and direct us to the hotel. I highly recommend Gonçalo, Patricia and their team to help plan vacations in Portugal. We hope to use them again for another Portugal trip, maybe to the Azores and the eastern side of the Algarve, which we didn’t get a chance to see.

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Chile: Patagonia, Atacama, stargazing WOW Moment…

BARBARA SCHOENFELD | JANUARY 29, 2023

Alain Maury’s SPACE Observatory, Chile.

Alain Maury’s SPACE Observatory, Chile. Photo: Barbara Schoenfeld

Tom designed a Christmas/New Year’s trip to Chile for our family of six. He rose to the challenge of transporting us down and back up half the length of the continent. He organized visits to both Patagonia and the Atacama desert, securing rooms at Hotel Las Torres in Patagonia and Explora Atacama. Both were excellent choices for their top-notch adventure staff and boutique experience. He pretty much had to plan three trips because we originated in San Francisco, New York and New England, and we had three different time frames. He and his staff handled the transportation logistics smoothly. And, I’m not just saying this because I’m writing a review for Wendy’s WOW List, but the best part of the trip was the Wendy WOW Moment. We had a private stargazing evening hosted by French astronomer Alain Maury, at his observatory called SPACE (San Pedro de Atacama Celestial Explorations). We have a video he recorded on my son’s cell phone where he described what we were seeing on the Sea of Tranquility on the moon — particularly the smudge where the U.S. Apollo 11 landed.

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Egypt: urban & rural, iconic sites & hidden gems…

SHARONNE HAYES | JANUARY 29, 2023

The plan put together for our trip by Arlene Santos (Jim was in the process of moving to Nashville, so he was not directly available) was ultimately just perfect. The accommodation choices were spot-on-amazing properties that, while luxurious, were also good value, and the service of the local team was great. All that said, it was the pace of the 2 weeks that really made the trip a pleasure. I’ve wanted to go to Egypt for about 20 years and between my schedule and their revolutions, it’s not worked out. Our trip was even better than I’d imagined or hoped for and worth the wait.

What we loved was the perfect mix of seeing “the sights” that you’ve read about and seen in photos and getting a sense of contemporary life in Egypt—both urban and rural. Our notable highlights included Sakkara, Luxor and environs (tombs), the Old Cataract Hotel Nile View suite and the amazing Abu Simbel temples.

But hands down, the most special part of our experience was our 4 days and 4 nights on the Dahabiya Orient. We are SO glad we did this rather than a larger standard river cruise boat. From the moment we boarded to the moment we stepped off, we felt well cared for by the crew, who treated us both like honored guests and close friends. We opted for the “Terrace Suite,” which was at the stern of the boat and had a large private deck at water level. Honestly, we did not use it much, since the main deck space was so large and lovely and the other couples on the cruise were delightful. That said, it was a treat to have a 180-degree view of the river from our room (as opposed to the other cabins with only a standard window looking either starboard OR port). And had the other guests been less compatible, it would have been a nice space to escape for privacy. The food was Egyptian and extraordinary, and we, as vegetarians, were seamlessly accommodated. We were amazed what the chef was able to create in the tiny on-board kitchen.

Our guide on the cruise, Dr. Abdulla, was much more than a guide. He was the boat host and the English (and other languages) interface between guests and crew. He was not only extremely knowledgeable, but a gifted storyteller, bringing to life the history, geology, stories—and the stories behind the stories. He seemed genuinely to enjoy sharing the perspective of the life along the Nile. All the shore stops were great, but our sunset walk through a farming village one evening was special and our visit to the huge camel/livestock market and local market in Daraw was an exciting, novel and sensory-overloaded experience. We saw all manner of 4-legged animal sales, including camels. We would have NEVER even known about that as an opportunity, much less ventured to something like that on our own. And it was clear that not many tourists ventured there, since we seemed to be quite interesting to locals, some of whom had traveled from far away in even more rural areas and we were asked to pose with them for THEIR travel photos!

Other observations: Coordination by the team on the ground was excellent, although sometimes it was not completely clear what the role some of the people we interfaced with played. Also, we would suggest guides ASK if clients in advance want to go on “factory tours.” In Cairo, this happened twice without notice/asking. For instance, we were dropped off in front of a papyrus vendor and guided inside, having not been even told in advance where we were headed, much less given the option to pass on it. Even when we told the guide on arrival (as the driver drove away) that David had actually been to that VERY store on a previous trip, we were shepherded in and then obliged to watch the demo and (unless we wanted to make a scene or seem ungracious) view the wares. In Luxor and Aswan the guides gave us options to skip these “tours,” which we appreciated.

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Costa Rica: beach, wildlife, cloud forest…

TINA HUNT | JANUARY 28, 2023

We spent a week in Costa Rica from Dec 31 to Jan 6, planned by Irene. Since this was our first time, we wanted to spend time both on the water and in the mountains. We started our trip with a charter flight to the Osa Peninsula and spent 4 amazing days in Copa de Arbol. The staff at the resort is top-notch and we really enjoyed getting to know several of them as they took great care of us. The food and drinks are incredible — we looked forward to every meal in the open-air restaurant. The accommodations were very comfortable. We went for a day trip to the Corcovado forest and saw many colorful birds and animals. The highlight was getting to see a tapir (a rare large animal). Our guide was very knowledgeable and very good at spotting birds and setting up the scope quickly. We also did a snorkeling tour to the Cano island in Drake bay. Would highly recommend Copa de Arbol — it is remote and quiet, which appealed to us. The boat rides to the forest (an hour) and Cano (45 min) were choppy because of the windy weather.

From Osa, we went to Monteverde to see the cloud forest. We were picked up at the San Jose airport by Jonathan, who was our guide and driver for the next 3 days. Jonathan took us for a walk through the cloud forest (primarily flora versus fauna) and on another day for a hike through several sky bridges in the trees. He had arranged a night hike, which ended up being one of our favorite things — we saw 2 green vipers, a tarantula, owls, monkeys, tucan. Jonathan had also arranged a special surprise for us, with a sunset on a hill with absolutely incredible 360 views for miles and no one around. It was very magical watching the sunset with wine and cheese, as the full moon rose behind us. A very memorable evening! Jonathan took excellent care of us during the entire time.

In Monteverde, we stayed at the Senda Hotel with beautiful grounds. We saw many beautiful birds and animals right on the property during our morning walks. The small town of Monteverde is a 15 min walk away and we enjoyed a couple of great meals and shopping for a couple of art pieces. All in all, we really enjoyed our trip and look forward to going back and exploring new areas of this immensely diverse country.

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Belize: horseback riding, Mayan ruins, beach time…

GUNILLA BJORK | JANUARY 26, 2023

It was a long trip from San Francisco, but once we arrived in Belize it was all worth the effort. We chose two destinations: the Lodge at Chaa Creek, in the jungle, and the Phoenix Resort in San Pedro, on Ambergris Caye.

We used Patricia’s team to book the hotels and the experiences. We booked the flights ourselves with points. It was a pleasure to work with Patricia’s staff. They were professional, timely, and always available. In fact, they rescued us when the FAA fiasco occurred on January 10th, which delayed our trip two days. Miraculously within hours, they successfully rebooked our entire trip. We were amazed and very appreciative. If we had planned this trip without them, who knows what would have happened. We would highly recommend them to anyone traveling to Belize.

We loved the horseback riding, Mayan ruins visit, the cave tube-riding that we did while staying at the Lodge at Chaa Creek. The stay at the Lodge at Chaa Creek was wonderful and the meals were delicious. We would definitely stay there again.

We really enjoyed the Phoenix Resort. The room was beautiful and the staff was awesome. We liked being in the middle of San Pedro with all of the activities and restaurants that are available there. We rented a golf cart to spend a delightful day at Secret Beach.

All in all, we loved our Belize vacation.

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London: multigenerational Christmas trip

ELLEN WEINER | JANUARY 26, 2023

We recently returned from a trip to London with our family of 10 people that we had planned with Jonathan. We traveled over the Christmas holidays with our children and 4 grandchildren, aged 10-13. Jonathan and Katie’s attention to detail was superb! We stayed at the One Aldywich Hotel in Covent Garden. The hotel was amazing in every way! Our kids each had a 2-bedroom suite to accommodate their families of 4. We arrived the day after Christmas, and the kids had gifts waiting for them in each room with their names on them. The adults all had Christmas stockings filled with treats. All of the rooms were beautiful, and it was a perfect choice for people traveling with families. Our guide, Alex, was with us for 4 days. He and Olivia, our driver, exceeded all of our expectations. Alex was great with the kids and his scavenger hunt in The British Museum was a real blast! A highlight of the trip was traveling to Hampton Court to learn all about Henry VIII and his six wives. Later that same evening, we went to the theater to see Six, which is about all of the wives. The kids also loved their visit to the Chelsea Stadium. Everything went like clockwork, from our arrival in London to the time we left for home.

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Paris: wine tasting, front-row concert seats…

KATIE HAUSFELD | JANUARY 25, 2023

Jennifer and team knocked it out of the park again! After several trips to Paris in the past, my husband and I were looking to have a few special experiences organized by Jennifer’s team and leave the rest of our time open. From a seamless airport pick-up and departure experience, to a delightful private wine tasting, to front-row seats at the most magical harpsichord quintet performance in Saint-Chapelle after-hours, Jennifer made sure that no detail was overlooked and we were well taken care of every step along the way. When traveling to France, Jennifer has become my first point of contact (after Wendy, of course :)) and has never failed to delight!

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Egypt: beyond the usual tourist sites

JAN HEININGER | JANUARY 23, 2023

Long before Covid 19 stopped the world in its tracks, Jim planned a three+ week trip for us to Egypt and Jordan for October-November 2020. In November 2022, after several one-year delays caused by COVID, we finally completed an expanded five-week version of this trip. Throughout, Jim consistently looked out for us, patiently dealing with our questions and requests for modifications. However, the long delay made us vulnerable to certain unrelated factors. During the six months prior to the trip, I developed a back problem that required surgery as soon as possible after our return. As a practical matter, I couldn’t walk far or stand long without risking stabbing pains. If you’ve been to Egypt, you know that a trip there requires lots of walking and standing. As just one example, parking lots can be over a quarter- to half-mile from the site. Fortunately, Egypt has its own version of handicapped access. If your guide and driver are firm and persistent, the police/military barricades can be opened and you can drive right up to the entrance. In some places, electric golf carts are available. My new physical limitations also necessitated a lot of attention from Jim and his on-the-ground team to find ad hoc ways to accommodate my needs. In the end, Jim was successful in finding and implementing adjustments. We are extremely grateful to him and his team. What we ended up with was far more than expected. With their help, I not only got through the trip, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I had previously been to Egypt under highly unusual circumstances. Due to regional political issues, tourism was non-existent and I had the pleasure of seeing many of the “standard” tourist sites without a single other tourist present. But my husband, Jamie, had never visited Egypt. Jim did a superb job of planning a trip to meet Jamie’s needs but added things even in places I’d already visited that gave me a deeper understanding of Egypt’s past and today. He had us go far beyond the standard tourist circuit by adding multiple days at Siwa Oasis in western Egypt, near the Libyan border, and multiple days at Fayoum Oasis, three hours south of Cairo. What so impressed us is that Jim found ways to continually surprise and educate us, even in the usual places. While at Fayoum Oasis, we went way out in the desert to Wadi-Al-Hitan (Valley of the Whales)—a UNESCO World Heritage Site I’d never heard of that contains the world’s greatest number, concentration and quality of fossils that demonstrate how the whale evolved to an ocean-going mammal from its earlier life as a land-based mammal. The fossils here are of those mammals in the last stage of losing their hind legs and feet. Who knew? It was extraordinary. While at Fayoum, Jim’s team also linked us up with an excellent birding guide for an extraordinary bird walk that included many life birds. These two oases were just two of the places we visited that went far beyond what we’d expected of this trip. Similarly, besides going to Petra, as do most tourists to Jordan (and oh, is it worth it), our guide stopped off to visit his friend Abu Ali, a local “character” who lives in a cave below the Crusader-era Shawbuk Castle. He runs the world’s tiniest hotel (a VW bug). Abu Ali apparently took a shine to me, because he gave me a genuine and valuable Nabatean coin from the reign of Arestes IV. At Siwa Oasis in Egypt, we stayed at an eco-resort with no electricity lit only by candles and lanterns and built in traditional Egyptian mud and salt-brick style. We were the only guests for our four-night stay. We got to see the suite where Prince (now King) Charles had stayed for his visit. We also were treated to the best food and service of the entire trip.

We sailed up the Nile from Luxor to Aswan for five days on a traditional dahabiya that allowed us to see sites along the Upper Nile not available to those who take typical Nile cruises. We also had a relaxing interlude with only 18 other guests. It was a memorable week. Did you know you can swim in the Nile? We did. (Note: the crocodiles are all south of the Aswan dam.) It was amazing.

In addition to Petra in Jordan, we visited the amazing Roman ruins of the city of Jerash. I’ve been to lots of Roman ruins but these blew me away. Built on the edge of the Roman Empire, the city was massive and had surprising details both large and small. So, too, were the Roman mosaic floors that had been uncovered and were displayed on the walls of a simple but impressive church at Mount Nebo, reportedly near where Moses was buried. It is a pilgrimage site and I now understand why. Overall, Jordan was a far more interesting country to visit than we had expected.

Virtually any reputable travel agency can plan a nice trip to Egypt hitting the standard sites most tourists want to see. What you get with Jim is something different. Oh, you’ll see the Giza Pyramids, but if you give him the time, you’ll see how the pyramids evolved in Egypt’s Old Kingdom. Giza is only the most famous. At Saqqara we saw early attempts (including the “Bent” Pyramid, where the angle was wrong and had to be changed midway.) But we also visited some out-of-the-way pyramids with nary a tourist in sight – but lots of military and police in residence to stop looters. These included Meidum Pyramid outside Fayoum Oasis, a key interim step between the earliest (Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara) and the pinnacle (The Great Pyramid of Khufu at Giza) that helps fill in the gaps of the evolution of Egypt’s pyramids. We also saw the 12th-dynasty Pyramid of Hawara to see how Romans and local inhabitants stripped the exterior limestone coating and reused its blocks for local projects.

Other highlights included seeing Abu Simbel from the air. Thanks to Jim and his team, we had seat assignments on the “right side” of the plane (that is the left side) to get good photos. Sometimes, it’s the little details that make huge differences. The art in Ramses II’s famous temple is superb, naturalistic and not to be missed. The neighboring temple to his wife Nefertari gets far less attention but is almost as impressive (if only for his recognition of his Great Wife’s importance). Discovering a just-completed Avenue of the Sphinxes linking the Temple of Karnak and the Temple of Luxor, lined with 1,200 sphinxes, was a delight for me. It had not existed on my previous trip. Gorgeously lit by night, it has reconnected the temples as they had been in antiquity. For me, the trip’s most moving moment was my tour of the Royal Mummies in the new Museum of Egyptian Civilization (not to be confused with the grand, yet-to-be-opened Egyptian Museum.) Seeing these 3,000-4,000 year-old New Kingdom royal mummies brought to life historical figures I’d read so much about and touched me by their individuality. Seeing the best-of-the best tombs in the Valley of the Kings, Queens and Nobles (especially Nefertari’s stunning tomb) was worth every extra penny. Jim’s recommendations were right-on. Tour bus groups do not include the extra-cost tombs, so we saw them with almost no other visitors.

If you are a thrill-seeker as I am, head to Siwa Oasis to surf the dunes of The Grand Sand Sea with a driver as enthralled as we were zooming up, over and down the steep dunes of the vast eastern edge of the Sahara in a 4-wheel-drive SUV. Then stop on what looks like a rocky cliff amidst this vast sea of sand to discover below you the evidence that this was once truly a marine sea and now is covered with millions of marine fossils. Thanks to Jim, his excellent logistics staffer Arlene Santos, our guides on the ground and excellent drivers, this was a trip worth the long wait.

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Australia: eco-friendly villas, Sydney for New Year’s Eve…

DAVID WEINKLE | JANUARY 23, 2023

Just returned from a 3-week Australian vacation and can’t wait to return! A big shout-out to Jacki and Stuart for making our trip a seamless dream. Jacki planned not one, but two Australian vacations for us, as our first trip had to be cancelled a few weeks before our travel date due to the pandemic. Stuart’s office took the time to listen to what type of travel experience we were looking for and planned our trip accordingly. Hotel options were wonderful, including both classic city properties and isolated eco-friendly villas. Our private guides throughout were top-notch and flexible. It was wonderful getting to meet Jacki in Sydney upon our arrival! She was even able to make changes and schedule new excursions for us during our trip at the last minute!

With only 3 weeks to visit, we made the choice to concentrate our time in the southeastern portion of the country. Do not try and cover too much ground when visiting Australia. Remember, the country is truly a continent and traveling between cities can take up a good portion of your time if you aren’t careful! Dont underestimate travel distances! Make sure to visit small towns and rural areas to really get a flavor of the country!

New Year’s Eve in Sydney is an amazing experience, but the crowds are huge, locals tend to leave the city, and hotel prices skyrocket as you might expect. Also, many restaurants will close over the holiday, as this is prime summer vacation time Down Under. Make dining reservations ahead of time if there are any restaurants on your bucket list!

Finally, make sure to build in some down time in the places you visit!

Thanks to Stuart’s team for helping us plan this amazing Australian vacation! Thanks to Wendy for another amazing referral!!!

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Sicily: family trip in January

VICKI PORPIGLIA | JANUARY 22, 2023

Matteo did a wonderful job of planning our Sicily family trip! He had many great tour suggestions, as he lives there, so he knows the area very well. We were there on a Holiday week in January, so some restaurants and stores were closed. Matteo found great restaurants that were open and even made some restaurant reservations for us. We had private tours every day. Our tour guides were very knowledgeable and very friendly. The driver we had was exactly on time every morning. He knew our itinerary to have us to each location as scheduled. Every day ran so smoothly.

A highlight of the trip was having a wine-tasting luncheon at the winery owner’s home by Mount Etna. They were such gracious hosts. Matteo was always available with responses right away from many emails of planning the trip AND during the trip. He even surprised us and met up with us at a cafe in one of the towns.

I would definitely recommend Matteo! Our vacation was absolutely, perfectly enjoyable and worry-free because of his expertise and patience in planning!

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Australia & New Zealand: monthlong grand tour

NANCY BROOKS | JANUARY 20, 2023

Our family of four, parents and two late-20-year-old daughters, traveled to Australia and New Zealand in December 2022 for a 3+ week trip. Quite frankly, it would have been impossible to have put together such a wonderful trip without the guidance, counseling and bookings of our travel consultants. The itinerary that was proposed, the activities that were planned, the guides that were enlisted, and the hotel and travel logistics were perfect. Everything went without a hitch, which is saying a lot for an almost 4-week itinerary. We had initially thought we would only visit Sydney and Melbourne in Australia, but Jackie persuaded us to tour Queensland and the rainforests, snorkel on the Great Barrier Reef, fly to Uluru to ride camels and experience the deep Outback, and take tours out of the cities to spots we know most tourists miss. The same held true in New Zealand, where Sara and Sarah staged a helicopter tour, kayaking, a day at a 36,000-hectare sheep station (including an elegant lunch with the owners at their home on the station), and a three-night stay at a beautiful two-bedroom cottage on a private estate winery on the North Island. We are most appreciative and know that our trip would not have been nearly as enjoyable without this team.

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Costa Rica: jungle & beach with teens

SHELBY WILLETS | JANUARY 13, 2023

Thanksgiving Break, Costa Rica

Thanksgiving Break, Costa Rica. Photo: Shelby Willets

Priscilla planned a weeklong, adventure-packed vacation for two families traveling with 4 teenage boys! She was exceptional in working with both families to ensure each family’s preferences were met. Our private guide, William, was priceless and a perfect match! He made the trip amazing—I can’t imagine visiting Costa Rica without him! By visiting two distinctly different areas of Costa Rica as well as our quick stop in San Jose, we feel like Priscilla planned and William guided a comprehensive tour of their country. Thanks so much, the Willets and Yarmus families!

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Paris: making macarons, New Year’s fireworks…

ELIZABETH GOLDEN | JANUARY 10, 2023

We had a wonderful trip planned by Jennifer. She and her team planned some really great activities that our kids would enjoy, including the Retro Sidecar tour and the macaron-making class. I loved how her team texted our itinerary with addresses, phone numbers, and any museum/attraction tickets each day, so that we had everything handy. The dinners that were suggested were yummy. And our suite and adjoining room at the Hotel Grand Powers were absolutely perfect for celebrating New Year’s in Paris. We had a front-row seat to the Eiffel Tower and the fireworks over the Arc de Triomphe. It was an incredibly smooth experience in Paris, which is what we needed for such a short trip.

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Portugal & Spain: 3 generations over Christmas

MICHELLE BODINE | JANUARY 10, 2023

Sao Pedro do Corval, Portugal

Sao Pedro do Corval, Portugal. Photo: Michelle Bodine

Our family just returned from the most magical and well-planned trip to Portugal and Spain for Christmas and New Year’s! We were thrilled to have traveled at this time of year, and especially in Europe where the Christmas lights, trees and markets made it even better. We took our four children and their spouses and four grandchildren, so fourteen all together. Wendy lined us up with the perfect people to help us plan and then succeed on a 14-day excursion with 14 people, big and small, in Portugal and Spain. Gonçalo and Patrícia were phenomenal with their hotel accommodations, food and restaurant recommendations, tour guides that fit our needs of grandchildren ages 6, 3, 1 1/2 and 3 months, and activities that enriched our trip. The itinerary was just what we wanted! It truly was perfect in every way. There was even flexibility, so if we needed to cancel a restaurant because we were going on a food tour and would not be hungry, we could. The amount of scheduled activities and free time to explore more was perfect. Gonçalo and Patricia are experts in what they do, and I would trust them again to plan the most satisfying travel experience for my family! They both took the precautions necessary to help us feel safe with Covid and continued to help us along our journey with lost luggage and further restaurant recommendations. We could not have done this trip without our trip planners, Gonçalo and Patricia. We thank them from the bottom of our hearts for planning a Christmas to remember forever and ever!

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Morocco: Marrakech, Fes, the Sahara…

LAUREN SCHOR | JANUARY 9, 2023

Radia and her team put together a trip of a lifetime for our multi-generational family of eight. Our 10-day trip to Morocco over the Christmas and New Year’s holidays was one of the best we have ever taken together. It was the perfect combination of cultural experiences, food experiences, sightseeing, shopping and adventure! We spent three nights in Fes, one night in the Sahara and six nights in Marrakech (due to the holiday season some of the Riads had minimum stays, but there was plenty to do for the 5 days!). Radia suggested the perfect Riads for us (Palais Amani and La Masion Arabe), along with a luxury tented camp in the desert. Each day was a new adventure and our incredible guide, Bouch, really made the trip that much better. We have taken a lot of trips with a lot of different guides around the world, and Bouch really topped them all! He made sure everyone was always happy, from the kids to the grandparents, and changed things last-minute where he saw fit. We always seek out unique, local experiences when we travel and Radia and Bouch really made sure we had plenty of them! Highlights included a hike in the Atlas Mountains followed by a cooking class at a local Berber family’s home in the mountain village. Definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience we will not soon forget! There were even mules to help carry some of us up the mountain! We also loved the sidecar tour around Marrakech—such a fun and different way to see the city beyond the medina, where most tourists spend all their time. But, everyone’s favorite day of the trip was the time we spent in the Sahara. We felt like we were in the pages of National Geographic as we drove ATVs over the gorgeous sand dunes—so fun and thrilling with the most unbelievable scenery. And we drove the ATVs right to where our camels were waiting to take us on an unforgettable sunset ride and then on to our luxury tented camp for the evening, where our belongings were waiting for us. It was truly a dream come true. We also had another surreal experience in the Sahara when we had tea with a nomadic Berber family who lives in tents without electricity or running water. We were able to talk to them and ask them questions about their life (through our guide, who translated for us)—it was a very educational and eye-opening experience, especially for our teenagers. It is not easy to get to the Sahara, but it is most definitely worth it and there are different options for how to make the journey that can be discussed. Morocco is a feast for the senses. Even just walking around the medina and souks, the sights, sounds, tastes and smells you will experience will leave a lasting impression on you. It is such a special country, I could go on and on. My only regret is not seeing other parts of Morocco, but it is definitely a place I plan to return to and I will definitely be contacting Radia when I do (and requesting Bouch as our guide!).

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Chile: heli-hiking, rafting, cultural visits…

JEANNIE MULLEN | JANUARY 9, 2023

Traveler Jeannie inside the helicopter.

Traveler Jeannie inside the helicopter. The Lake District, Chile. Photo: Jeannie Mullen

Tom planned a fantastic two-week holiday hiking trip to a part of Chile that I had never been to … the Lake District south of Santiago … an outdoor enthusiast’s playground. Of the many activities offered (hiking, floating, white water rafting, cultural visits among others), I would say that the heli-hiking in Pucon with my guide, Patricio, who is also a professional photographer, was a standout. Our pilot, Benjamin, was great fun and anxious to show us private spots, tucked away in the mountains, that had phenomenal views and absolutely no other foot traffic. What a phenomenal experience. It’s like we had the world to ourselves for the day. This was the third time that I have used Tom for trip planning in South America. He chose terrific properties which offered impeccable service and every possible amenity. Vira Vira, an AndBeyond property, was exquisite.

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Australia: wine, beaches, behind-the-scenes tours…

JENNIFER MANN | JANUARY 9, 2023

We just returned from an Australian holiday trip with our 2 teenage daughters. Stuart and Jacki put together a phenomenal itinerary with something for everyone! We began our trip in Melbourne, where Liz picked us up at the airport and we were on our way to tour, hoping to see some of the city before things shut down for Christmas, the following day. On Christmas Day, we drove the Great Ocean Road outside of the city and were completely surprised with a WOW Moment of a helicopter ride over the 12 Apostles. It was breathtaking! The next day, we drove through the wine country of the Yarra Valley with tastings, lots of animal sightings and delicious food, followed by a 2-night stay at the Jackalope Hotel in the Mornington Peninsula area, about an hour-and-a-half from Melbourne. The Mornington Peninsula was also filled with award-winning wine and food, along with charming little beachside towns. After a few days of the relaxed area and beautiful hotel, we flew up north to Cairns and stayed in the coastal town of Port Douglas, about an hour north of the airport. This is an ideal location to anchor a trip to both the Great Barrier Reef along with the Daintree Rainforest. We had a magical first day snorkeling around the reef, followed by a day in the rainforest with our guide, Guy. Both days were incredibly special, where we created memories that will never be forgotten. Our last stop was Sydney. After a 3-hour flight from Cairns, we checked into the incredible new Crown Sydney Hotel. The 3 full days in Sydney were action-packed with sightseeing, behind-the-scenes private tour of the famous fish market, climbing the Sydney Bridge, shopping and a private opera house tour along with a show. My kids even got to see one of their favorite American singers in concert while we were in town. Jacki made sure that we had dinner reservations booked every night of our trip since it was the busy holiday time. After our 12-day trip, we are exhausted but definitely feel like this was a trip of a lifetime!

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Turkey: sunny & uncrowded in Istanbul

SUSAN SULLIVAN | JANUARY 8, 2023

Karen and her team did an excellent job planning our trip to Turkey. Every transfer and tour pick-up was prompt. The drivers and guides were excellent. We loved the hotels—The Four Seasons on the Bosporus was elegant and comfortable and the view spectacular.

Late December/early January turned out to be a great time to travel to Turkey. It was chilly (although luckily for us, it was a few degrees above normal, at least in Istanbul) but the sun was shining. In addition, there weren’t large crowds even at the most frequently visited sites.

We enjoyed the restaurants that Karen recommended, and appreciate that she switched restaurants between two evenings to avoid a traffic jam due to a soccer game being played along the route from our hotel to one restaurant. The tour plan was perfect and we maximized our time sightseeing. I would definitely recommend Karen to anyone going to Turkey.

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Chile: wine region, Santiago, Atacama…

PAM ANDERSON | JANUARY 8, 2023

My husband and I had a great trip to Chile over the holidays 2022. Tom did an excellent job planning and executing every detail of our travel. We visited the beautiful wine region, Santiago, and the amazing Atacama desert. We enjoyed so many activities from horseback riding, a cooking class and wine tasting at the Vik Chile to hiking sand dunes, photographing flamingos and the salt flats while at the Alto Atacama resort. Our guides and transfers were flawless, and Tom was even able to step in and negotiate a late checkout on our last day so we could have time at the spa before our long journey home. Next time we hope to make it to Patagonia and would definitely work with Tom again.

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Ecuador & Galapagos: family Christmas trip

ROBYN SMYERS | JANUARY 8, 2023

We just returned from a once-in-a-lifetime family trip to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. Allie was our true partner in the planning of this special experience. Allie is a great listener. She really learned the kind of trip we wanted and the diversity of activities and pacing we needed with three teenagers (ages 19, 16 and 16). As a consequence, Allie made great selections for us. We loved all of our hotels on the trip, including Hotel Mama Cuchara in Quito and Golden Bay Galapagos hotel in San Cristobal. She also made practical restaurant recommendations.

One of Allie’s best decisions was selecting Gustavo Cabezas as our guide on the mainland of Ecuador. He was the perfect guide for our family – deeply informative, fun, and energetic. Gustavo’s special connections enabled us to have special and unique experiences and his love of his country was contagious. Highlights of our time on the mainland include a visit to La Mitad del Mundo (the middle of the world at the equator line) and taking the TeleferiQo cable car up the Pichincha volcano.

Our time in the Galapagos Islands was flat-out incredible. We saw sea lions (including hundreds of newborns), giant tortoises, blue-footed boobies, pelicans, iguanas, sally lightfoot crabs, parrot fish, sharks, sting rays, eagle rays, sergeant fish, sharks and green turtles. We really enjoyed our hikes, snorkeling and kayaking. We also enjoyed the Coral I, the 35-passenger ship, selected by Allie. We met wonderful people from all over the world and our teenagers made friends.

One area in which Allie and her team really shine is logistics. Every pick-up and drop-off ran perfectly, including one pick-up at 3:15 a.m. The help at the airport at numerous points of the trip was outstanding too. The airport in Quito is strangely confusing and we were happy for the assistance. At one point, we decided to change a scheduled activity and Allie was responsive at 6 a.m. in the morning and helped us make some adjustments. Overall, the trip was an A+. We will be forever grateful to Allie and her team for a priceless experience.

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Panama: cloud forest, city sights, a WOW Moment…

SALLY BOLAND | JANUARY 6, 2023

Our family of three decided in November we wanted to travel somewhere for the New Year holidays and chose Central America for our general location. We contacted Pierre, a travel expert on The WOW List, for his help with travel options. We had used Pierre in 2017 for a fabulous trip to Nicaragua that we still fondly remember today. He suggested Panama and the trip planning began! Given that this was short notice and over the holidays, Pierre still put together another memorable trip for us.

We started out the first two days in Panama City and had an awesome guide, Rebecca, for our city tour. Rebecca showed us all the key city sights, but just as important was that she was very attuned to our interests and conversed rather than lectured. We had such a lovely day. One of my favorite stops was her recommended coffee shop, which we ended up going back to at least four more times!

The evening after the tour, we were given our WOW Moment — and what a Moment it was!! We were picked up in a Panama school bus — Diablo Rojo — with all the neon lights flashing and the salsa music playing! It took us from the hotel to the Historic Old City, where we had a great typical Panamanian dinner at a local restaurant, then enjoyed the view from a rooftop bar with a glass of wine. Finally, back to the hotel on Diablo Rojo! What a fun outing!!

Our next two locations were in the mountains of Panama — spending three nights at each place. Pierre did a phenomenal job getting rooms and guides arranged for us at these places. The first was in Boquete, at Hotel Hacienda Los Molinos. It was very charming with a gorgeous view of the area. We did two all-day tours. First was to an agro-organic farm called Hacienda Mamecillo. The family was such a gracious host, especially considering this was on Christmas Day. They produce all their food organically, as well as a special coffee. It was so interesting and impressive. The meal they served was, honestly, one of the best meals we have ever had — worthy of any fine dining anywhere.

The next day was spent with a well-known local expert birding guide, Raul, and we were rewarded with many sightings to add to our “life list.” But more than that, it was a pleasant day spent with Raul and learning about the local nature there in the cloud forest. We will request him again if we are able to return in the future.

Finally, we headed to our last destination at the Mount Totumas Ecolodge. Jeff, the owner, and his staff could not have been nicer. Panoramic views of the cloud forest from the main lodge deck were amazing and the variety of birds spectacular, all at arm’s reach. The local expert birding guide, Reinaldo, is highly skilled with sharp eyes. During our nature walks, we were again rewarded with many sightings added to our life list. Each day Alma, the head chef, prepared tasty meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It was fine dining in a remote cloud forest retreat. It was wonderful!

Even though we planned this trip on such short notice, and over the holidays, Pierre was able to put together a really wonderful and memorable trip for all of us. We couldn’t be happier! Its only been 5 days since we have been back — and we are still missing Panama!!

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Portugal: cooking class, VIP access…

LAUREN SCHOR | JANUARY 5, 2023

Goncalo and Patricia planned the perfect four days in Lisbon for our multi-generational family of eight. Right from the start they were super responsive, and we traded over 100 emails finalizing all of the details up until the week before we left. This was a stopover for us en route to another destination, so we really focused on Lisbon and immediate surrounding areas. Spending a day in Sintra was a must on our list, and after being told that we would likely have to wait hours to get into Pena Palace even with advance tickets, they planned a private evening visit after the castle was closed and we had the entire place to ourselves! This was a true VIP experience and a very memorable one for all of us! Our guide, Tiego, was so knowledgeable about everything and he really related to everyone in our group, even the kids. We love trying all different local cuisines when we travel, so we did a food tour/food shopping in the morning that evolved into a cooking class in the afternoon, which everyone enjoyed—this was a highlight! All of the restaurants they recommended were perfect, from the casual places while were still fighting jet lag to the amazing dinner and Fado music show experience. And visiting Lisbon around the holidays, we had the added bonus of all of the beautiful lights and decorations around the city! I can’t wait to plan another trip to see the rest of Portugal and when we do, I will most certainly be reaching out to Goncalo and his team!

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Vietnam: private experiences with local families…

ANDY HUTCHER | JANUARY 5, 2023

We worked with Dan’s office based on your recommendation, and they were terrific. They were flexible when we needed to postpone our planned trip to Vietnam in April 2020 due to COVID, and on several subsequent potential dates, until we actually got to go with our adult daughter in early December 2022. The two-week trip went without a hitch and included some truly special private experiences with local families. Each guide had a high level of expertise, spoke English well and brought something unique to the table for each of us. We feel like we really got to cover the country from north to south and never felt we were not in safe hands — even when hanging onto the back of a motor bike in Hanoi or Saigon. There were several times when our domestic flights were delayed or canceled and Dan’s office handled the logistics professionally. After action-packed days, we ended the trip at a Six Senses resort for some R&R, which exceeded expectations!

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Mexico: Mexico City & Puerto Vallarta

BONNIE RASKIN | JANUARY 4, 2023

Thanks to Zach, Gabriela and Amalia, my husband Kenn and I enjoyed an incredible trip to Mexico City and Puerto Vallarta over the Christmas holidays. We have been to multiple locations throughout Mexico, but knowing little about all of the available options in Mexico City and PV, we again went to Wendy’s WOW List for guidance. As always, our high expectations were surpassed at every step of our vacation. In both locations, Zach and his team put together a personalized itinerary that matched our entire wish list. The Orchid House in Mexico City had the charm and location we’d requested, and our driver and guide—Joel and Javier—took us to sights and places that we never would have found on our own with a knowledge, love and fluency that only native residents would have. The same for our five-star resort—Garza Blanca—just south of Puerto Vallarta. We utilized Zach’s referrals for all of our activities and restaurants and were never disappointed. Reservations were made and confirmed for us in Spanish, and Zach’s team greeted us at both airports to assure smooth passage during the crazy, busy holiday time. We truly would have been lost without these helpful people to guide us to the proper airline windows. Even when I requested information about a workout space in Mexico City, Gabi came through with a reservation and easy walking directions. We enjoyed a WOW Moment at a lovely restaurant in Puerto Vallarta where our table was located literally next to the ocean. Amalia actually showed up in person to make sure all elements of our wonderful surprise came to pass. We have never enjoyed that kind of personalized service! Communication with the team was immediate and nothing was left to chance. Even when we requested changes, there was never any hesitation or sense that I was “bothering” our team. The main focus and mission from Zach and every member of his team seemed to have one purpose: to ensure a WOW vacation for us, which they exceeded in every way. Zach also now covers Costa Rica, which we can’t wait to experience. Muchas gracias to his team.

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Belize: 50th anniversary with kids & grandkids

JUDITH RODWELL | JANUARY 3, 2023

To plan for our 50th anniversary family celebration adventure in Belize, Wendy introduced us to Patricia, a native Belizean with a passion for introducing her country to the world. A year of planning with Patricia and Juliannie culminated in a 10-day trip, five days in the jungle and five days on an island. With us were four grandchildren, ages 9-12, so a lot of thought went into making sure we had lots of kid-oriented things to do. We truly wanted to hear lots of “WOWs” from them and we weren’t disappointed.

Imagine four kids flying into Belize City airport and being escorted across the tarmac and realizing they were about to jump into two helicopters and fly to their jungle resort, or their excitement of being whisked from the jungle, via private plane, over to Placencia, then jumping on a boat and arriving on an island? Their reactions when they walked into their luxurious accommodations, complete with plunge pools, were priceless.

Chaa Creek Resort in the jungle didn’t disappoint, upping the “WOWs” to new levels each day. Our butler, Candi, and her trainee Ryan spoiled us with private dinners for 10, breakfast deliveries early in the morning, fresh fruit drinks when we returned from a day of touring, even babysitting so the adults could dine together. At 4:00 a.m. one morning Candi was helping decorate an outdoor pavilion so our granddaughter could have a fun 9th birthday celebration that night. The surprises never stopped, the staff was so generous and kind, the accommodations top-notch, and the food delicious. Our granddaughter with celiac even got special gluten-free desserts every day!

We had a dedicated driver and guide, Darryl, throughout our 5 days of touring the jungle, and when rising water closed the ATM cave tour, Darryl seamlessly changed plans. Darryl introduced us to the Mayan world, helped us explore their temples, took us to a local coffee plantation and to a women’s local co-op where the grandchildren were able to hand-grind coffee beans, fresh corn for our tortillas, and try their hands at ancient pottery making. A trip deep into the jungle delivered us to zip-lining at the end of our cultural immersion day!

Ray Caye Resort beach days were spent in total relaxation mode so snorkeling, jumping off the two-story diving platform, kayaking, canoeing, sailing the Hobie cat, and even scuba diving kept us engaged. But enjoying gourmet meals, sipping drinks around the pool in the near-perfect weather, and playing family volleyball and puzzle games brought us together after far too many years of separation. The island was magical, the staff always ready to help us, anticipating our every need, and on our last night there, they surprised us with a 50th anniversary family meal on the beach. The resort covered the whole island and at one point there were only 16 vacationers on it. Talk about a private and perfect post-pandemic place to be! Leaving “paradise” the last morning was difficult, to say the least!

Patricia ensured that the whole trip worked seamlessly and not once did we have a glitch! She also chose the very best people to support us throughout the trip. We couldn’t have asked for a better family celebration of our 50th!

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Belize: snorkeling, day with a local family…

RANDI MAIDMAN | JANUARY 2, 2023

We recently returned from an 8-day trip to Belize planned by Patricia and Julianie. We are a family of four with 17- and 21-year-olds. We wanted a mix of activities and relaxation. We wanted to explore Belize but also stay in only one hotel. Snorkeling was our first priority, and because we had recently been to Guatemala, seeing Mayan ruins and coffee and chocolate plantations were not important, because we did those in Guatemala. Patricia recommended we stay in the Placencia region at Naia Resort and Spa. It was the perfect location. The rooms are beautiful and well appointed, the staff is very attentive, the beach is very large and the food outstanding. We were able to do both land and water excursions, with nothing being more than 45 minutes from Naia. Patricia and Julianie were in constant contact with us during our stay, including making some last-minute changes to our itinerary due to unexpected rain. In addition to a private, full-day snorkeling excursion, we did a tour of the Monkey River, a hike and river tubing in the Jaguar Preserve and spent a day with a local Garifuna family. We loved every excursion and only wish we could have stayed a few days longer.

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Switzerland: anniversary trip with nature & history

DANYELLE OVERBO | DECEMBER 31, 2022

We planned a big trip to Switzerland for our 20th anniversary together. We originally tried to go in 2021 but decided to postpone due to Covid. We are glad we decided to go this year, though things were still busy even into October. We usually love travel in October during our anniversary, because there are fewer crowds. There were fewer crowds, but it was definitely much busier than trips to Europe in previous years during the same time.

Our trip planner did an amazing job with all of our requests. In fact, they kept everything we told them in mind, from the type of information we wanted to get during our tours, to the places we preferred to stay. We never ever would have gotten to do half the things we did if we hadn’t gone through this agency.

Switzerland was extraordinary, and everything we booked was personalized and incredible because of our trip planner. Every tour guide had information about us and what we wanted before we even met them. They took us on unique experiences we wouldn’t have even known about otherwise.

We got one-on-one guided tours through the Gotthard Pass, where they built bunkers into the mountains during WWII. We drove through the Lake Thun region with the most beautiful water and mountains we’ve ever seen. And yet another wonderful guide drove us around the gorgeous Appenzell region, where we got to see the Abbey Library of Saint Gall (omg, no words will ever do that location justice!). The travel planner even introduced us to the manager of the historic hotel in Bern where we stayed, and arranged for him to give us a personal tour of the hotel (a big deal as I’m a writer and used the trip to research locations for my book). It was a trip like no other. We can’t wait to go back! I highly recommend working with Nina’s office for any trip or activity in Switzerland. They are experts!

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Argentina & Uruguay: wine country & beach time

SUSAN CUNNEEN | DECEMBER 31, 2022

This was the second time that I worked with Maita and Santiago, and once again, the trip was everything I’d hoped it would be and more. My first trip with them was to Buenos Aires and then through Patagonia (Argentina and Chile). This time I wanted to go to Mendoza and then to Uruguay. I traveled from November 21 for 11 days, and everything was absolutely amazing. We had planned this trip to take place in the fall (U.S.) of 2020 and were finally able to reschedule. I stayed at Cavas Wine Lodge (where Santiago had spent a few days just a couple of weeks prior to me going), and I highly recommend it. It is located in a gorgeous vineyard, and has gorgeous views from all angles. The people who work there are absolutely lovely and will happily help you in any way they can. Maita’s team had arranged for me to go to several wineries, and each one was excellent and so much fun! Views abound, the wines are excellent, and with hundreds of wineries to chose from, I was delighted that Maita’s office found ones that were perfect for me.

After 5 amazing days at Cavas, I flew to Montevideo, UR and was then driven to the absolutely delightful and gorgeous town of José Ignacio. Maita and Santiago had recommended this over Punta del Este, and they were spot-on. I never would have found this little town and am now considering buying property there! I stayed at Playa Vik, which I will definitely go back to—it is one of the nicest properties I have ever had the chance to visit, and had very interesting tours (arranged by Maita’s office) to Garzon winery, lunch at Garzon Restaurant where I met Francis Mallman (!), Pablo Atchugarry’s amazing and beautiful art, as well as the must-see Casapueblo. I then had a short tour of Montevideo, and flew home the next day.

If you are thinking of working with Maita’s team, go for it! Maita and Santiago will listen to your likes/dislikes, what you want out of the trip, etc., and will then create a bespoke itinerary that you will absolutely love! I am already working on a third trip with them and I have no doubt it will be wonderful.

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Ecuador: Amazon jungle lodge with kids

JOHN STRACHAN | DECEMBER 30, 2022

We are living in Quito for a year. This little country offers so much magnificence to the curious traveler, and we are trying to cram it all into twelve months. Allie was essential to creating our trip to the Napo Wildlife Center in Ecuador’s Amazonia. She put our trip together, found the right lodge for our family, and got the perfect rooms at a time that was ideal. It was tough because we did not start planning long enough in advance, but Allie’s knowledge of lodges and the region made it possible to get everything lined up in an instant. Without her expertise, I would have spent weeks doing research, and that likely would have meant missing out on getting rooms. Allie also got us a private guide, which was not necessary, but we thought it would allow us greater flexibility since we were travelling with kids. Turned out to be a great idea.

Napo Wildlife Center is a world-class lodge owned and run by the small local Añangu Kichwa community. They have committed to using ecotourism to save their community and their corner of the Amazon rainforest. Bottom line: They are knocking it out of the park. I cannot express how impressive their work and commitment is. In 1998, they were a small community, dealing with acute poverty, threatened by development, oil exploration, and the contamination of their water and forest. In that year, with little knowledge or experience in tourism, they decided they’d stave off the despoliation of their corner of the rainforest by starting a five-star ecotourism program. Learning about where the Añangu community was when they started this idea, and seeing all they have achieved in a couple decades…well…I just cannot wrap my head around their achievements or put into words how remarkable it all is. I am just brimming with awe and admiration for the Añangu and what they have accomplished.

The reason to go to Amazonia (or El Oriente, as it is called in Ecuador) is to see wildlife in hyper-diverse Amazonia, and wow did we ever see wildlife. We flew 1/2hr from Quito to Coca, Ecuador, hopped in a comfortable (not fancy) power boat for two hours, then transferred to a six-person canoe for the two-hour paddle to the lodge with the two guides who would introduce us to the Amazon rainforest over the next five days.

On that trip we saw weaverbirds and innumerable weaverbird nests, which are two to four feet in length. Just a marvel of construction. On the paddling portion of that journey, about 50 squirrel monkeys crossed the creek above us, within 30 feet of us, many with babies clinging to their backs. We also saw woolly monkeys. And we hadn’t even arrived at the lodge yet!

The lodge itself was magical. The staff was as friendly and helpful as could be. Really made us feel at home. In the TV room out back where the employees live, my son and I watched the World Cup finals with a bunch of staff and locals who had paddled in for the game. We were welcomed warmly, and we joined in and cheered with (or against) the rest of the crowd.

The bartender made delicious drinks. The food was tasty and plentiful. (I have no complaints at all, but to be frank, the food wasn’t at the same level as the rest of the place. Not that the food was bad by any measure, but maybe just that everything else set a tough standard to meet. ) The rooms were comfortable. The other guests were interesting, and we had fun sharing experiences with them all.

The guides are top-notch. Ecuador has a great system for educating and licensing guides. Many were from the local community. They knew every animal and plant in Spanish, English, Latin, Kichwa, and often local nicknames. Their ability to spot animals in the jungle thicket was extraordinary, and they did a great job finding ways to get us closer.

We brought our two kids, both around 10yrs old. The schedule for viewing animals was full, and the heat and humidity were a factor (85 or 90 degree highs, 80%+ humidity at all times), and that exhausted our kids. The staff was great about helping them with their exhaustion. I mean, our kids were not in any trouble, they were just beat. But the staff went above and beyond to help. It didn’t feel like they were trying to provide great service; it just felt like they cared, and wanted the kids to bounce back and enjoy their stay. Our guides smoothly revamped our schedule on the fly so the kids could rest, and we didn’t miss too much.

Another good thing Allie helped us with was getting us the one room (or one of the only rooms) at Napo WC that has a jacuzzi. With young kids, we knew they’d need a diversion in the midst of a lot of structured activities and nature expeditions. The jacuzzi was a big help.

While at Napo Wildlife Center, we saw six species of monkeys, and so many parrots, macaws, grebes, flycatchers. We saw snakes, frogs, and crazy looking crickets. We watched caimans and paiche (400lb river fish) from the boardwalk in front of our room. All to the spectral drone of howler monkeys in the distance, like a cold north wind gusting outside your door.

And Napo Wildlife Center has nearly no biting insects! Magical place.

Amazing. A once-in-a-lifetime experience.

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Argentina: Buenos Aires, Mendoza, Patagonia…

LOIS CHESS | DECEMBER 27, 2022

A few years ago we went on a Seabourn cruise to celebrate a friend’s wedding anniversary and because some weather caused excursions to be cancelled, we received a credit. Not being confirmed cruisers, we decided that Antarctica would be a good choice, since it is the only way to get there! So we booked it. We thought it would probably be the last time we would be in this part of the world, so we planned to start in Buenos Aires and make several stops along the way to Ushuaia, where we would board the ship to Antarctica.

We contacted Maita from The WOW List. We worked with Malena, her associate. This trip was one for the ages! Malena helped us pick a total of six locations, starting from Buenos Aires to the Mendoza wine region to three hiking lodges in Patagonia, before landing in Ushuaia at the very southern tip of South America. We stayed three nights in each location.

This was complicated itinerary. Several flights, lots of drivers, guides in each location, and she pulled if off without a blip. The hotels were a real highlight — and we love our top-end hotels! — the food was very, very good, the guides terrific. So many highlights. Wine country surprised us. We did not know how good Argentine wine was. We get exposed to a lot of OK Malbec here at home, and it was so much more than that. We wound up sending five cases home! The hiking in Patagonia settings astonished. The lodges, especially the Explora in Chalten, are set up to maximize the terrain, the views, and the camaraderie among the other guests. Really fun.

Highly recommend Maita and Malena.

The cruise was pretty amazing too.

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Iceland: hot springs, ice caves, meeting locals…

MICHELLE KENNESON ST. JOHN | DECEMBER 25, 2022

Going to Iceland has been a dream of mine for many years. My friend Robyn and I started planning a trip. Then she found Chris, who helped turn a regular trip to Iceland into a Magical Icelandic Adventure full of private tours and adventures. His recommendations were amazing and he helped us create memorable experiences and remarkable encounters we never could have done without his help.

Iceland is a beautiful, unique island, and it has a very powerful positive energy. You are surrounded by nature everywhere you go. It wakes you up, it makes you feel alive, and you take notice of every remarkable and unbelievable view you see. It helps you appreciate nature in a brand-new way. With Chris’ help, we also met so many incredible and hospitable Icelandic people, who love nature and appreciate their land. They are easygoing, kind, and entertaining storytellers.

When we arrived early in the morning, our driver/guide Boga took us to an Icelandic Bakerí for our first taste of the many scrumptious treats. From there we went on a tour in a Super Jeep to a Hot River Soak in a geothermally-active mountain range. The views were incredible as we descended into the steaming geothermal activity in the Valley. The Hot River soak was very relaxing and really made us feel like we were connected with the gorgeous nature surrounding us. It was also invigorating, as the outside temps were in the low 40’s. After the soak and a very scenic lunch, which included fresh-caught salmon cooked in a hot spring and stories of Icelandic sagas from our entertaining guide Andreas, we continued along the Ring Road to visit the most well-known waterfalls on the South coast, Seljandsfoss and Skogafoss. We also saw the Black Sand beach in Dyrhoaley, which provided us with a sample of the crazy winds Iceland is known for.

Next came our tour of the Katla Ice Cave with our guide Ari. On the drive he entertained us with Sagas about Katla and other unique Icelandic facts. Arriving at the Glacier felt almost like we arrived on another planet, the environment was so unique. Once we climbed inside the Ice Cave, it made you feel incredible, you are standing in and around 800-year-old ice. It was beautiful and dazzling, it literally takes your breath away. It was also a little frightening, getting us outside our comfort zone.

Along the way, we had private shopping experiences at a Cooperative and then Petra’s Stone Collection with incredible Icelandic Gems and crystals. Once shopped out, we met our guide Engo to go on a Safari to look for Reindeer and discovered he had a private Car Museum that we added to our tour on the fly, after he learned we had classic car fever.

Driving North into the Lake Myvtan area was a land like no other. We heard Neil Armstrong and many other astronauts have come here to train due to the unique landscape. Traveling throughout the north of Iceland was an experience and we enjoyed all the activities, especially the Geospa. It was so relaxing, with an incredible view of the fjords.

We continued on our way with a dynamic, pastel-colored sunrise greeting us to another beautiful day in Iceland. Our journey today included a stop at Godafoss waterfall, which is powerful and tremendous to see in person. Then we spent a pleasurable afternoon in Aykureri and really enjoyed a side stop at The Christmas House, which was very whimsical in a fun way. Our drive to Sigluförður was very scenic and our view from our hotel room was stunning. I loved the deep blue color at dusk and it seemed more vibrant here. We enjoyed a beer tasting at Seagull 67 Brewery and a walk through town, which had beautiful Christmas lights shining.

Continuing to the Western side of Iceland was picturesque. We enjoyed the many beautiful Icelandic horses and farms. We had a lovely stop at Hvitserkur, a mystical stone dragon in the sea with incredible views in every direction. The night brought us to the 500-year-old seaport town of Stykkisholmur. We then headed to the Golden Circle and experienced a one-of-a-kind sensory experience at Friðheimar Tomato Greenhouse and restaurant. The scent, the views, the presentation, the sounds, the delicious tastes. Everything mixed together created an awesome experience!

At the end of our adventure, we spent a little time in Reykjavik and enjoyed exploring the beautiful architecture along with the shopping, museums, fun experiences, and lots of different tasty foods. Our last night we spent at The Retreat at Blue Lagoon. Just stepping into the lobby you could tell it would be a one-of-a-kind experience. The hotel, the Blue Lagoon waters, spa, and dinner at The Moss restaurant were the perfect way to end our magical tour of Iceland.

All the Hotels throughout our travels had enchanting views and each was unique and had its own character, charm or coziness to it. The breakfast buffets were always delicious, full of many choices and presented attractively.

Thank you Chris for the magical experience. All the drivers and guides were excellent and well chosen for this amazing adventure!

I think we have fallen in love with the country and its people, and plan to return very soon and often.

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Portugal: Lisbon, Porto, the Alentejo…

JENNIFER ANDREWS | DECEMBER 18, 2022

Our trip to Portugal was amazing. Goncalo planned every detail to perfection. We started in Alentejo — which we had not even thought of going to — and it was the perfect place to get over jet lag and recover in a gorgeous hotel and setting. From there we went to Porto, and he planned amazing day tours — walking tours and a day trip to the Duoro with an incredible winery visit and lunch. Porto was wonderful and we loved exploring it. We also had a WOW Moment at Claus Porto — a company that started in Porto in 1887 — and we had an incredible experience. After Porto, we went to Lisbon for seven nights. There had been a really bad rain the night before we got there, and Goncalo called us when we arrived and suggested canceling one of our tours due to the flooding damage. We actually had really good weather the whole trip, but it was a relief to know we were not going to trudge through wet areas after a deluge the night before.

Goncalo planned it so we had stops with tours on the way to each city, and our drivers were wonderful. All the restaurants they suggested and booked were so good. Everyone that toured us or drove us around knew so much about Portugal history and so much pride in their country. December was a great time to be in Portugal and we loved it so much, and Goncalo made it a truly wonderful experience from the second we landed until we got on the plane to come home. We did not have to think of anything — he already had it all figured out. We can’t wait to go back!

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Chile & Argentina: Patagonia, Buenos Aires, Iguazu Falls…

BARBARA LOUNSBURY | DECEMBER 18, 2022

We are 2 couples who wanted to see parts of Chile and Argentina, and other tour companies did not cover all of the places we wanted to see. On Wendy’s site we found Jordan’s team. They designed an itinerary for the places that we wanted to see, which included Torres del Paine (Chilean Patagonia), El Calafate and Perito Moreno glacier in Argentine Patagonia, Buenos Aires, Iguazú Falls on the border with Brazil, and colonial northwest Argentina (Salta, Purmamarca, and environs). Originally planned before COVID to include stops in Santiago, Valparaiso, and Easter Island, Carmen and company (in Jordan’s office) stayed in touch, allowing us to reschedule our trip without difficulty. When things reopened, they helped redesign the trip without Easter Island, as it did not reopen. They arranged air, transfers, guides, and hotels, working with our preferences and budget. They listened to us and truly were great planning partners. All went superbly and all lodgings were excellent, except for the one in El Calafate. Throughout the trip Jordan’s team left nice touches—bottles of wine in a couple of rooms, chocolates, and a few others. We highly recommend flying premium economy in South America, as often the seats are similar to U.S. first class, but more importantly, the check-in for premium economy is much faster and has shorter lines than coach. Communication with Jordan’s office was excellent, especially as we rescheduled and made changes as places reopened. The pleasant surprise was that all of this detail and quality, for two couples, was only a little more expensive than booking with one of the larger tour companies that has larger group trips. We would certainly use Jordan again if we traveled to South America.

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London: France: cultural immersion in Provence & Paris

DOUG HATCHIMONJI| DECEMBER 17, 2022

Mid-November found us in Provence and Thanksgiving in Paris. Philip, Laurie and Sarah put together an enlightening, expanding and enjoyable trip to France. A special shout-out to Laurie and Sarah for their hard work, patience, and flexibility making the many changes, additions and modifications to our plans, even on-the-fly when we were on the ground in France.

Before our trip, I don’t think we fully appreciated the many facets of France – cultural, gastronomic, viticultural, historical, artistic, and the physical beauty of the South – it’s overwhelming. Those many aspects made us appreciate the difficult task of creating an itinerary for clients unfamiliar with France, especially clients who insist on “less is more,” since there is so much more to the country than we understood. Laurie and Sarah did a marvelous job introducing us to France and her many facets, and our guides, Patrick, William and Sonia in Provence, and Marie in Paris, completed the task of opening our hearts and minds to the country and her people. (We will readily attest that the American reputation of the French is completely undeserved.)

Of particular mention was one stop on our itinerary Laurie arranged that was the highlight of our trip and exemplified our eye-opening and surprising introduction to France. We visited Patrick and Estelle on their manade in the Camargue, saw their massive black ornery bulls and majestic horses, gazed across the wide-open flat expanse of the land swept by the wind from the sea, and spoke to them about a lifestyle that we did not expect to see in France and that reminded us of Montana, where we spend much of our time. They were both such warm, open and engaging people, with quick honest smiles that easily bridged any language barriers. The rancher, Patrick, and I had a good laugh, because he and I wore the same Filson and Carhartt clothing – a nice touchpoint of lifestyles. Thanks to him and William we were able to make an unscheduled stop at a session of young men training in Camargue-style bullfighting. What a thrill!

Again we were reminded of the immense value in having a local travel professional put together tours and arrange local guides. Especially in Provence, our guides all made a point of mentioning they were personal friends of Phillip, saying that he was part of their “circle of confidence.” Although we arranged our own lodging and flights (because we used points and had family connections), we are very happy that we again found a local agent through The WOW List that put together a trip that exceeded our expectations.

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Laos and Thailand: family parties and monk blessings with a local guide

TERRY MACDONALD | DECEMBER 12, 2022

My husband & I recently returned in November from a Covid-postponed trip to Southeast Asia utilizing the services of Sandy. Originally we had requested assistance with travel in Laos but extended our travels to include additional time in Thailand.

Sandy made numerous Zoom calls to discuss options and listen to our concerns (a second time, after planning an April 2020 trip that was cancelled at the beginning of the pandemic) and put together a wonderful itinerary that allowed us to travel efficiently through four separate regions in Laos. We initially entered Laos after a brief visit to Northeastern Thailand in the southern Champasak Province, then traveled north by plane to the capital city of Vientiane. From there we took a high-speed train to the charming city of Luang Prabang and then traveled further to Pakbeng with a private boat up the Mekong & into Northern Thailand.

We were met at the Laos border & escorted throughout Laos with the delightful guide Paan, who provided us with interesting destinations & memorable experiences. She never met a stranger and was effortless in her ability to introduce us to the uniqueness of her country. We particularly appreciated her willingness to include us in some wonderful family moments, including an engagement party for her cousin in Vientiane. We learned some of the customs and protocol of significant family events; meeting many of her family & friends was the highlight of our trip. We also participated in a blessing event with a monk at her own private home with other members of her family. We always felt as if we were traveling with a friend who wanted us to see the real Laos. Even though we visited many of the tourist highlights, we were able to mingle with the locals in a more authentic environment.

We found the lodging choices in Laos spot-on, in excellent locations for our day trips in each region & felt Covid safe during all of our travels.
The additional travel in Thailand rounded out our previous trips in this country, including a few days around Bangkok and Ayutthaya, Khon Kaen in Northeastern Thailand near the border of entry with Laos and the Chiang Rai/Golden Triangle area of Northern Thailand. The Thailand guide in the Bangkok area, Kat, along with the private guide & driver, Chen & Whitia, in Khon Kaen & Chiang Rai, were also excellent professionals that added immensely to the time spent in each area. They quickly became trusted allies in showing us their country & we thoroughly enjoyed their company each day.

We usually handle our travel itinerary personally but know that we would not have had such a well-guided and personal experience in this part of Southeast Asia without the expertise of Sandy and his fellow staff. We were fortunate to not have any issues during our month-long trip but knew we would be taken care of efficiently if any medical or travel-related problem occurred. We highly recommend contacting Sandy for travel assistance in Southeast Asia!

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Costa Rica: jungle kayaking, treetop dining…

BEVERLY CAMERON | DECEMBER 7, 2022

Priscilla did a fabulous job of planning a trip to Costa Rica for us and our adult daughter. From our friendly welcoming guide and driver, who met us at the airport at 10:30 pm when we arrived and took us to our hotel, to the guide and driver who picked us up at 4:15 am to take us back to the airport, every detail was handled smoothly and efficiently.

Our hotel rooms were comfortable and as promised, the staff who met us and guided us were exceptional and all of our meals were delicious. We especially loved the plates of fresh fruit and the freshly squeezed orange juice that appeared every morning for breakfast.

In Tortuguero, a highlight was the kayaking trip down an inland waterway and a short detour into a small, seemingly endless series of creeks on the side of the main waterway. It was like going into another world, even in the other worldliness of the jungle. At the end of this trip our guide asked us all to stop paddling, close our eyes and just listen to the jungle sounds. It was magical.

In Monteverde, our guide into the high rain forest was enthusiastic and knowledgeable, and he had a high-end telescope that allowed us to easily see the rare Splendid Quetzal, who was some distance away. Our guide even used our own phone cameras to take photos through his telescope, leaving us with marvelous photos and short videos.

We had a special WOW Moment in Monteverde when we were taken to the San Lucas Treetop Dining Experience. Each of the delicious, small nine courses represented an area of Costa Rica that was explained to us as it was served. Our private table was in a glassed-in, small private dining area in the treetops overlooking the town. We were there at sunset and the view was amazing.

All in all it was a special family trip for us. Thank you Wendy and Priscilla for helping arrange this trip.

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Italy: food, wine, the arts…

LINDA UHLER | DECEMBER 5, 2022

When Italy beckoned for a return visit in September, we turned to Maria for assistance in building an itinerary that focused on food, wine and culture. Maria did an excellent job in finding new places to visit and new experiences. We got a firsthand look at several familiar Italian products with visits to the marble quarries at Carrara, the Ferrari Museum, a balsamic vinegar producer and a violin maker. Each was very interesting and highly recommended. We experienced the quieter side of Italy in the charming Tuscan town of Barga, as well as the more populous—and popular—Venice and Milan. All of our guides and drivers were excellent and knowledgeable. Our hotels were all comfortable with top-notch service. We never felt unsafe re: COVID. Maria’s recommendations opened up new areas of Italy for us to explore and gave us another memorable Italian journey.

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Egypt: anniversary trip along the Nile

JOE STUPAK | DECEMBER 5, 2022

A trip to Egypt has been on our wish list for quite a few years. We finally decided that the right time and opportunity would be for a celebration of our 50th wedding anniversary, November 4, 2022. We usually travel independently, sometimes arranging the trip details ourselves or on other occasions relying on a travel consultant. Early in our planning for this trip, it became apparent to us that working with a knowledgeable trip planner would be vital to help us sort through all the possibilities that Egypt offers. At that point and as we have done before, we looked to Wendy Perrin’s list of Trusted Travel Experts and found Jim and his team.

The planning process with Jim was a model of collaboration. In our conversations, Jim learned about our interests, dreams, goals and limitations. He then applied his knowledge to suggest a complete trip of an appropriate length, with stopovers and accommodations that were right for us, and specific guided, private tours in each location. The trip plan that resulted focused on the Nile River. We began in Cairo and Giza. Then we flew to Luxor, where our touring included extraordinary temples and tombs. After Luxor, we boarded the Dahabiya Zekrayaat and sailed for four nights up the Nile to beautiful Aswan. Jim’s expertise resulted in some unforgettable experiences in our trip plan. While we intended to include a cruise on the Nile by some means, Jim’s recommendation that we sail up the Nile on a dahabiya in one of the two panoramic suites on board was perfect. Queen Nefertari’s tomb and Abu Simbel were magnificent. Our exclusive dinner cruise on the Nile on a private yacht sailing from Aswan on the night of our 50th anniversary was an extraordinary highlight and most memorable celebration of our lives together.

The documentary output from Jim and his team that resulted from the planning process was impressive: a comprehensive, detailed and descriptive itinerary; entry visas for Egypt; a packing and preparation checklist; contact information for everyone who would support us during our trip; and lots of useful guidance that would help us feel comfortable, confident and prepared to make the best use of our time during the trip.

The trip plan produced by Jim and his office was executed virtually flawlessly by the staff and representatives in Egypt. The representatives in Cairo and Aswan were cordial, punctual and very effective in facilitating our interactions with hotels, airports and airlines, customs offices and any event venues. They coordinated schedules with our local drivers and guides. To the extent that any hitches arose, they resolved them. When adjustments to the schedule could enhance our experience, they suggested them and implemented them when we agreed. For example, our representative in Aswan suggested moving our attendance at the sound and light show at the Philae Temple to a different night when the primary audio presentation would be in English. Then he made all the contacts that were needed so that the remainder of our activities in Aswan were adjusted seamlessly to fit our time there.

Jim’s team arranged for the services of Egyptologists to guide us in Cairo, Luxor and Upper Egypt. Our guides in these locations – Reham in Cairo, Michael in Luxor and Amany in Upper Egypt – were outstanding. All were knowledgeable, fluent, flexible and interesting. They were adept at providing us with commentary about the sights in a conversational manner that was not pedantic. All were also effective in avoiding or overcoming obstacles that can come from crowded places, limited facilities, or other real-time complications. In just the first couple of hours on our first morning in Cairo, Reham and our local driver Mohamed felt like new friends that we had just met.

Jim, his team and all of their representatives and associates in Egypt created an awesome 50th anniversary celebratory trip that exceeded our grand expectations.

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Costa Rica: Thanksgiving trip with teens

ALANA JACOBSON | DECEMBER 3, 2022

3-toed sloth

3-toed sloth, Mauel Antonio, Costa Rica. Photo: Alana Jacobson

Irene helped our family plan a wonderful trip to Costa Rica over Thanksgiving week. After a long day of travel, Irene had a driver meet us at the airport & bring us to our historic hotel in San Jose. We had nice meal at the hotel restaurant and a good night’s sleep before taking a short flight the next morning to Quepos. Once again a kind driver picked us up and took us to our hotel—Arenas Del Mar in Manuel Antonio. We loved the resort! It was the only one on the beach & even had its own private beach. The monkeys and sloths were thrilling to watch. We saw them all the time! All of the staff was fabulous & so friendly! Our kids love activities, so Irene set us up with a zip line tour that was fun for the whole family. Some of us did a surf lesson too. The waves were pretty big because a storm had just come through, but it was fun. We also spent time with a guide in Manuel Antonio park. It was pretty busy, but our guide knew where to go for a quieter experience. The park is beautiful and there was so much to see!

Our other destination was the Osa Peninsula. A driver picked us up and drove us the 2 hours to the small town of Sierpe, where we took an exciting boat ride through the river & mangroves & into the ocean til we reached our hotel, La Paloma. It’s a lovely luxury eco-resort & we had a room with a spectacular view and plenty of space for our whole family. Once again the staff was wonderful, so thoughtful, kind and interesting to talk to. We enjoyed scuba diving (though visibility was not great after the storm), kayaking, exploring Corcovado National Park & we even did a guided night walk to see some of the evening creatures. Corcovado Park was amazing! We saw macaws, toucans, many types of monkeys, sloths, agouti, crocodiles and even a tapir! We did have some rain on our trip, we heard it had been a very rainy year, but we didn’t mind. Makes everything so lush & green! Irene was wonderful in seamlessly planning our trip and making sure everything went well. It was really helpful to have someone so familiar with the country & knowledgeable about all the hotels & activities. Thank you for making our trip great!

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Portugal: road trip from Lisbon to the Algarve

LESLIE AND RICHARD MORGENTHAL | DECEMBER 2, 2022

My wife Leslie and I traveled to Portugal this year from 11/7-17. Having never been to Portugal, the reasons we decided to venture there are twofold: to consider the possibilities for a dual passport, which we heard was easier there, and to experience the culture and climate in the off-season, which is when we would consider staying in the future for an extended period.

Through Wendy we reached Goncalo and his assistant Patricia Jesus in Lisbon. Based upon our intentions and the level of travel that we prefer, they were able to craft an itinerary that served our known needs and opened new horizons for us. Their suggestion for the itinerary was actually a road trip which included a rental car delivered to our hotel in Lisbon and then setting out east to a charming type of farm stay for 2 nights and then directly south to the eastern part of the Algarve, adjacent to Spain, which was an area that we wanted to research in depth. All of their suggestions included hotels and restaurants and areas along the way that might be of artistic or historical interest, and all were great suggestions. They arranged for a historically based guide in Lisbon for a 1/2 day and an artist as a guide for the next 1/2 day, knowing that the arts are a driving force in both of our lives. This type of experience was a tremendous opportunity for us and gave us a thorough appreciation of the art world there and informed our desire to learn more. It’s experiences like these that make Wendy’s recommendations so valuable to us, as the professionals that one comes in contact with through this service are fully vetted and of high caliber.

Since Covid was no longer much of a consideration, we were able to travel safely and carefully without worry. All of the accommodations and restaurants suggested were well thought out and to our liking, and perfectly coincided with our days of driving. After 3 days on the eastern edge of Algarve, we drove to just north of the western edge to the Costa de Vincentina, which was truly magnificent. The wind and surf and thrilling sky conditions there created an exhilarating experience, as Patricia strongly recommended a 2-night stay in another farm type country setting. A rare find indeed!

All in all we greatly enjoyed our time in Portugal, and the guidance afforded us by the superior team of Gonçalo and Patricia was instrumental in this. We will return and we will definitely knock on their door before we do so next time.

Read more reviews of Gonçalo. Or request your own trip.

Contact Goncalo

 

 

* Although we have compiled and reviewed these reviews for trip planners to earn a spot on The  WOW List, we cannot guarantee the accuracy or truthfulness of the reviews we receive and cannot assure that all travelers will have the same experience.

Where and when to travel in 2023.

Where and When to Travel in This Unprecedentedly Busy Year

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We are continually updating this article, as the travel landscapes shifts, to alert you to your smartest moves in 2023.

UPDATES
3/19/23: The Arctic is one of the rare travel values available for this summer.
3/12/23: Seeking European charm and value? Don’t overlook this Eastern European country.
3/8/23: Machu Picchu reopens without the crowds. Why South America is a smart choice this year.
3/5/23  The time is right for Southeast Asia and India now, before the big bus tours return.
3/1/23  France is crazy expensive now. Here’s where to go in Europe this spring instead. 
2/22/23  Italy is overtouristed this year. Here’s where and when to beat the crowds in Italy.

This is an unprecedentedly busy year for international travel. Most of the countries that had Covid-related entry restrictions in 2022 have dropped them, which means there are many more people worldwide making international trips this year than last. Depending on where they go, they may find service shortages, inflation, and the other conditions that apply when a destination is trying to ramp back up after a pandemic yet also handle a sudden flood of tourists. In our WOW Week Travel Talk on January 23, Wendy, Brook, and Carolyn shared advice for choosing the right destinations and timing. Below the video you’ll find top tips for choosing your destination wisely and timing your trip right in 2023. 

In a hurry? Start the video at 3:10.

TOP TAKEAWAYS

ASIA: This is the year to see Southeast Asia. It was among the last regions to reopen after Covid, and its bounce-back has been softer than Europe’s, so there is still time to see it before the large tour groups return. As for the rest of Asia, Japan has seen a huge surge in demand (and prices) since fully reopening last fall, and China isn’t currently issuing tourist visas to U.S. travelers, but India and Central Asia offer a lot of opportunity to travelers looking to get there before the big tour groups return. Read WOW Asia trip reviews.

EUROPE: Choose Northern Europe over Southern. As happened last year, we predict that in 2023, Italy, France, Greece, Spain, Portugal, and their neighbors will see overwhelming numbers of tourists. The city of Venice has begun charging day-trippers a fee to enter, and the Louvre Museum in Paris is now capping the number of visitors daily. If you must travel to Europe in peak season, then instead of Mediterranean locales, focus on more northerly places such as Scandinavia. Read reviews from travelers just back from Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium and the Netherlands, Iceland, Norway, and Romania.

SOUTH AMERICA:  Carpe diem. For sun in winter, value for money, and an outstanding diversity of landscapes and experiences, it’s hard to beat South America, especially in 2023: It is home to many of the countries that still have Covid-related entry requirements in place (Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia), so that should keep visitor numbers relatively low. Since WOW List destination specialists can make navigating these requirements a breeze, you can have a hassle-free trip in a place that feels unattainable to many others. South America is warm when Europe is cold, and there’s less jet lag and not nearly as many tour groups. From celeb-magnet beach towns in Brazil to coffee-region haciendas in Colombia to Amazonian lodges in Ecuador to heli-hiking in Chile to top-value wine regions in Argentina—not to mention the Galapagos Islands and Patagonia—South America doesn’t get old. Read reviews from travelers just back from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands, and Patagonia. (We’re keeping an eye on the situation in Peru and will keep you updated.)

PACIFIC: Consider Australia, New Zealand, and Japan only if you can travel at off-peak times. These countries did not reopen until 2022, so there is enormous demand for them this year. To find availability and affordability, avoid peak periods (e.g., springtime cherry blossom season in Japan, which sold out months ago). Read reviews from travelers just back from Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. 

HIGH-DEMAND PLACES: If you must travel to a place that’s in high demand, choose off-the-radar locations within it. Let’s say it’s your honeymoon in June, and nothing but Italy’s Amalfi Coast will do. WOW List destination specialists know the hidden-gem spots that will give you relief from the crowds—and they often have insider connections that can get you into sites after-hours, and behind-the-scenes access to places not open to the general public.

SHOULDER SEASON:  Traveling to a place during its “shoulder season” is smarter than ever. Shoulder season comes just before or after peak season, when the weather is still good but the crowds aren’t there, and prices are a bit lower.

EUROPE IN LOW SEASON: It has gained appeal. The pandemic lengthened Europe’s tourist seasons: What was once shoulder season (April/May and September/October) is now very popular. What was once low season (November and March) is now a smart time to go, with weather pleasant enough for outdoor dining (unlike last summer’s temps above 100 degrees). Hotels are lengthening their season to accommodate higher travel demand (hotels on Lake Como, for instance, now stay open through December). The pleasures of Rome in January are no longer a best-kept secret. Read Winter is Europe’s Secret Season for more ideas.

Opt for nonstop flights. Every connection creates an opportunity for something to go wrong: a missed flight, lost luggage, an inconvenient delay. As the airlines find their feet post-Covid, there are more and more flights from U.S. cities to interesting international locales. If a stop is essential, choose one of the smartest airports for making connections in. When you are making a domestic connection to an international flight, consider overnighting at the connection point. (For instance, if you’re flying to Africa via JFK, missing your connection could seriously disrupt your safari plans, so consider spending the night in New York.)

The larger your group, the earlier you need to plan. When you only need one hotel room, it’s usually possible to develop the ideal itinerary to suit your interests and trip goals, and then book suitable hotels. But when you need two or more rooms, you may have to patch together hotel availability wherever you can get it and let that dictate your schedule. With a multigenerational trip or other large group, booking early will maximize your options.

If you’re worried about Covid, know that safe trips are possible. Choose warm-weather destinations where all the sightseeing and activities are in the open air, where streets and public spaces are not crowded, and where you can eat every meal outdoors. Here are smart options that we ourselves road-tested during the pandemic (and we never got Covid). For more options, ask us here.

Buy travel insurance and evacuation assistance. It can protect your financial investment, cover any medical expenses, and give you peace of mind. If you’re sick or injured, the right travel insurance policy will cover your care at the nearest appropriate facility; you need a second layer of protection if you want to be treated at home.

Links to Useful Resources

Where To Go When: Ideal Destinations For Each Month of the Year

Where Everybody’s Traveling in 2023: The 10 Most Popular Countries For WOW Trips

Countries with No Covid-Related Entry Requirements

Nonstop Flights To Make Your Travels Easier in 2023

Smartest Airports for Making Connections

Winter Is Europe’s Secret Season

10 Top Dream Trips for 2023

The 2023 WOW List of Trusted Travel Experts

The Countries That Are Open to U.S. Travelers and How to Get In

 

Be a smarter traveler: Sign up for Wendy’s weekly newsletter to stay in the know. Read real travelers’ reviews, then use the black CONTACT buttons on Wendy’s WOW List to reach out to the right local fixer for your trip.

person swimming in clear blue water at Cheval Blanc Randheli resort in the Maldives

Honeymoon Ideas That Are Truly Special

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Daydreaming about a honeymoon is exciting, but planning it can be stressful: Expectations are high, yet—thanks to that other big event you’re organizing—the amount of bandwidth and time you have for planning are low.  To make things easier, we’ve combed through our travelers’ trip reviews—meaning, feedback from the travelers who have used our WOW system to get VIP’d and get the best trips possible—to find honeymoon ideas worldwide to inspire you. These honeymoons were easy to plan, magical, and delivered the special treatment that all honeymooners deserve.  Get inspired, even if you’re a longtime married couple.  Who says you can’t go on a honeymoon every year?

Tahiti, Moorea, and Bora Bora—because there’s no place dreamier than French Polynesia…if you plan it right!

Overwater bungalow and dock over turquoise water in Bora Bora, French Polynesia.

Bora Bora, French Polynesia. Photo: Shutterstock

“We married and honeymooned in French Polynesia. Kleon is a compassionate man who truly listened to all our quirks and wants and dreams, and then he turned them into a reality. He added experiences to our trip that brought me to tears because they were so beautiful. Each step of the journey just kept getting better and better.

As far as value, I joined Facebook groups for travel to French Polynesia and was surprised to see the cost others booked their travel for. Our travel costs were about the same, but we had upgraded rooms, drivers, guides, day rooms, etc., where others were asking for suggestions for where/when to go to various places, what to do with overlong layovers, etc. We never had to wonder where to go or what to do. We are ever so appreciative, and we would recommend Kleon to everyone!” —Margaret Arnold and Carl Hammerle

Read more reviews of French Polynesia trips. To get your own WOW trip, start with our trip questionnaire, reached via the black button below. 

START A TRIP TO FRENCH POLYNESIA

France, Monaco, Italy & Switzerland—for a road trip with romantic views, meals, and chateaux

Beautiful architecture in Saint Paul de Vence in Provence, south France.

Saint Paul de Vence in Provence, France. Photo: Shutterstock

“My husband and I booked a very special trip, our honeymoon, with Philip this past December. We wanted to do a road trip through Europe. Our trip consisted of multiple moving parts, and Philip helped give us the honeymoon of our dreams.  My husband and I wanted to enjoy romantic, luxurious hotels, and every single one Philip booked was incredible. What was so nice was he made sure each was different as not to compete with each other. Each time we arrived at a new place we both could not stop smiling and saying “Wow”!

We started off in Geneva, Switzerland, where we kicked off our trip with a Christmas market that was across the street from our hotel. Our next stop was Gstaad, which felt like a winter wonderland. After that we drove to Chamonix, where we stayed in what was my husband’s dream spot at the top of Mount Blanc. It was truly something, we had to take the most charming red train to get to our hotel. The stars there were unlike any we had ever seen. After Chamonix we drove to Fossano, Italy, where we visited a castle and stayed in a suite that felt as if we were in an old Italian romance novel.

Next, we went to Monte Carlo, where our hotel key gave us access to the Monte Carlo Country Club. My husband is an avid tennis fan and this was really special for us. We enjoyed the famous American Bar, and the people of Monte Carlo couldn’t have been nicer or more welcoming. We stayed on the top floor and had the most incredible view of the city and water. We even were across from Rafa Nadal’s suite.

Following Monte Carlo we went to St Paul de Vence, where we relaxed in a spa hotel with a Mediterranean influence. Our trip’s pace started to slow down a bit on this second half which was really nice. Philip was able to get us reservations for meals at some exceptional places. Next was Aix in Provence where we stayed at a dreamy chateau. After that we went to Avignon where we stayed across from the Pope’s Palace. It felt as if we were in a castle. We had a car and it was very difficult driving through the narrow roads, but we made it and it was a fun part to look back on. We ended our trip in Paris on New Year’s Eve. It was a trip of a lifetime and we both were thrilled with our experience.

I don’t think we could have planned such a remarkable trip without Philip’s help, knowledge, and expertise. We had just planned our destination wedding and were a bit planned out. We wanted something to remember forever, that would blow us both away. This trip delivered and then some. We are so grateful for your recommendation, and look forward to booking another trip in the future! Thank you so much!!” —Margaret Harvey

Read more reviews of France trips. To get your own WOW trip, start with our trip questionnaire, reached via the black button below. 

START A TRIP TO FRANCE

Egypt—without the crowds and with a hot-air balloon ride over Luxor

Queen Hatshepsut's mortuary temple in Luxor as seen from our hot air balloon just after dawn Egypt.

Hot air balloon, Luxor, Egypt. Photo: Stephen Behnen

“We haven’t even unpacked our bags from our Honeymoon tour of Egypt and we are already planning to return for another one! Arlene, Jim, and everyone on the ground in Egypt did a spectacular job making us feel cared for, and the trip went off without a hitch, even in these uncertain times. Our Egyptologists (Reham and Bassem) were so knowledgeable and on top of their game that we would often have temples to ourselves, avoiding all other crowds. Our only regret is that we didn’t extend our trip for another extra week. If you’re considering taking this tour to Egypt, just book it. You will not regret it. And don’t forget to add a hot-air balloon ride over Luxor. I promise it will be magical!” —Rebecca Switzer

Read more reviews of Egypt trips. To get your own WOW trip, start with our trip questionnaire, reached via the black button below. 

START A TRIP TO EGYPT

France—for WW2 history in Normandy and family-owned wineries in Burgundy

Etretat in Normandy. Photo: Fernando Grilli

“We had a wonderful honeymoon with Philip’s team. We had a great itinerary that helped us check many things off our bucket list and even add a few new things to it. From Bayeux in Normandy, we took a D-Day tour with a guide who had interviewed veterans of WW2, as well as people living in the area, and amassed a collection of stories that make the sites come alive and give you a more intimate connection to the events.

Another guide, Giselle, who came to France as a college student at the Sorbonne and has a doctorate in history, made Mont St Michel so interesting. We learned about the medical texts that were amassed there during the time of the abbey and how this knowledge was lost in the French Revolution when much was burned and destroyed. We saw the tides, and Giselle shared stories of how she has twice had to call for helicopters to rescue people.

From Normandy, we arrived in Beaune in Burgundy, and we met Brendan, a Brit who has been living in France for over 30 years. He started as a barge captain and has since become an expert on the wines of France. He has personal relationships with numerous wineries large and small. We saw the famous vineyards of Romanée-Conti and visited other vineyards and wineries. We mostly had tastings with smaller family houses that do not export to the U.S. We sat with family members tasting 5-15 different wines at each house. Each afternoon we were treated to a picnic consisting of local charcuterie and wine in a beautiful spot. At Domaine Daniel Séguinot et Filles, we sat at the table with the family and the bottlers who came in their special truck to bottle last year’s wine. Daniel is quite the character who kept bringing different wines, from premier cru to village appellation and different vintages.

We then moved north to Chablis and stayed at Chateau Vault De Lugny, a family-run hotel with a one-starred Michelin restaurant on site.  From this location, we continued with Brendan and visited other family wineries and learned about the northern wines of Burgundy.  We left feeling knowledgeable and with a better understanding of wine in general. Mostly we left with a huge appreciation of the families who have inherited and continue this vocation steeped in history, hard work, and a bit of the magic that the land gives to each vineyard, depending on where they are located.

We then had a driver take us to Paris to finish our honeymoon. We had planned this portion ourselves but were surprised with a WOW Moment: We were picked up and driven to a lovely afternoon cruise on the Seine, dining on a 3-course meal with a wine pairing from Alain Ducasse. It was a wonderful treat as we dined on gourmet food and wonderful wine, and cruised past some of Paris’ iconic sites.” —JoEllen Shelden

Read more reviews of France trips. Learn how to get your own WOW Moment. Or use our trip questionnaire (reached via the black button below) to start a WOW trip.

START A TRIP TO FRANCE

Australia and New Zealand—a cruise with private adventures and a WOW Moment

View of the Hauraki Gulf sea, taken from the Owhanake Coastal Track on Waiheke Island, New Zealand. Photo: Shutterstock

New Zealand’s Waiheke Island is affectionately known as the Island of Wine; locals take the ferry from Auckland for relaxed afternoons and long lunches. Photo: Shutterstock

“At every stop on our honeymoon cruise in Australia and New Zealand, Stuart arranged for terrific local guides to meet us at the port, whisk us away on a private adventure, and deliver us back to the ship in time to move on to our next destination. Highlights included a day hiking in the Blue Mountains with locals who have lived there their entire lives and a day on Waiheke Island visiting three vineyards, all different in style.

Thank you also to Wendy for a gorgeous WOW Moment: We had no idea what was happening until our driver delivered us to the Rose Bay Seaplane site for our flight over Sydney and the surrounding beaches. Tom and I were the only two passengers, so Tom sat in the co-pilot seat, enabling him to take fantastic photos of the beautiful city below us. Wendy, we have been fans of your WOW List for many years, using your trusted advisors all over the globe. You are providing a wonderful service to those of us who travel often and like to travel well.” —Susan Ketchum

Read more reviews of Australia trips. Learn how to get your own WOW Moment. Or use our trip questionnaire (reached via the black button below) to start a WOW trip.

START A TRIP TO AUSTRALIA

Sri Lanka and the Maldives—for “relaxation, adventure, culture, food, and luxury”

Beach views from Gili Lankanfushi, Maldives

Beach views from Gili Lankanfushi, Maldives. Photo: Gili Lankanfushi

“Miguel did an amazing job planning our honeymoon to Sri Lanka and the Maldives. We provided him with a rough idea of what we were looking for— a combination of relaxation, adventure, culture, food, and luxury—and he put together an outstanding trip. Not having to think about the itinerary, timing, schedule, etc., is a luxury in itself!  We simply were told when to show up and where and then went along for the ride!  Miguel and his team were  extremely helpful in arranging our accommodation in the Maldives, even negotiating an upgrade to half-board.

And Sri Lanka, for those who are considering it, is a special country that blew us away. It is amazing how so much history, culture, and diverse scenery fit into one tiny island. The people and food (food!!) were also a delight. We traveled the end of September through the first week of October, which was considered ‘shoulder season.’ We had AMAZING weather that was not too hot/humid and only experienced a spot shower or two. The crowds were light, so we never felt like cattle call through the sites. I cannot recommend visiting this nation enough… especially before more catch on to its charm!” —Shelley Devinny

Read more reviews of Sri Lanka trips. To get your own WOW trip, start with our trip questionnaire, reached via the black button below. 

START A TRIP TO SRI LANKA

Portugal—where even 19 days will leave you wanting more

Lisbon, Portugal skyline with Sao Jorge Castle

Lisbon, Portugal. Photo: Shutterstock

“Wendy calls it ‘The WOW List’ for a reason. Gonçalo crafted the trip of a lifetime for my new husband and me. We worked with him while deep in wedding planning, and he was extremely patient and responsive with us throughout the entire process, making our 19-day Portugal honeymoon the light at the end of the tunnel. I spoke with Gonçalo over the phone to kick things off, describing our interests and the cities we were wanting to visit. He was super kind and honest, letting us know what would be closed or perhaps unsafe to reach during the winter holiday (we traveled in the low season of December/January), but providing comparable options in other regions. We received the most well-thought-out and organized itinerary from him. It was the perfect balance of must-sees, off-the-beaten-path suggestions, and open days to relax and explore.

Over the course of the trip, we stayed at four properties, three of which were booked through Gonçalo (one was through my job, as I work at a hotel company) and, boy, were we treated like royalty. The properties were not only gorgeous and in prime locations, but we were upgraded to suites at each of them because they knew it was our honeymoon. We were also left various treats in our room on multiple occasions at each of the properties. To this day, we’re still talking about it!

It was very important to us to be able to experience Portugal’s wine regions, as Portuguese wines are our favorite to drink at home. Gonçalo arranged for three private tastings and tours for us, including a very special morning at Taylors in Porto. To explore Lisbon and Porto, Gonçalo arranged for private tour guides to show us around in style. For the sheer length of our trip and all that we did and indulged in, we felt that the prices were incredibly reasonable. Now we’re aching to go back. Forever grateful.” —Danielle Berman

Read more reviews of Portugal trips. To get your own WOW trip, start with our trip questionnaire, reached via the black button below. 

START A TRIP TO PORTUGAL

Tuscany and Florence—because all honeymooners should get to sleep in a medieval tower

Chiesa di San Biagio standing in a green landscape of Montepulciano Italy Tuscany

Chiesa di San Biagio, Montepulciano, Tuscany, Italy. Photo: Shutterstock

“With all the details we had to consider for the wedding, I didn’t want to feel overwhelmed by also researching and planning a big trip. Wendy Perrin’s WOW List made it easy to find a travel expert for Italy, and then it was simply a matter of describing my dream trip and hitting the submit button. Maria then emailed me to set up a phone call so we could discuss in more detail what we wanted to accomplish. Trying delicious food and wine were at the top of our list, but we also wanted to see the top landmarks and achieve a nice balance of art, culture, architecture and history. The itinerary she sent back was perfect and took all the stress out of the equation. Maria also provided location guides for both Rome and Florence, with suggestions for sightseeing, shopping and restaurants during our leisure time.

When we walked into our hotel room in Florence, in a 13th-century medieval tower, we jumped up and down because it was so awesome. The hotel even surprised us with a bottle of champagne on ice and snacks. Our favorite experiences of the trip included a lunch at a small family-owned vineyard and a cooking class in a private olive grove.

Without the help of Maria and her team, we wouldn’t have access to special experiences like these. Everything in our itinerary went according to plan, and we never had to worry about a thing. We are so happy we splurged, and are already dreaming of our next trip to Italy.” —Megan Sullivan

Read more reviews of Italy trips. To get your own WOW trip, start with our trip questionnaire, reached via the black button below. 

START A TRIP TO ITALY

Tropical Asia—for an adventure “perfect in concept, orchestration, imagination, and detail”

Sunrise at Angkor Wat Cambodia

Sunrise at Angkor Wat. Photo: Shutterstock

“Sandy planned a honeymoon trip for me and my bride to Cambodia, Laos, the southern islands of Thailand, and Bangkok. The experience he crafted was perfect: perfect in concept, orchestration, imagination and detail. I say this as a veteran traveler—I speak French and Spanish, have worked and lived in Paris, and have traveled throughout Europe, South and Central America, and to Hong Kong. Sandy’s work was the best I’ve had yet, and his in-country guides are thoughtful, dedicated folk who add their own magical touches to the experience. It is clear that he is very close to them and their families and cares a great deal about them. It is also very clear that he worked closely with them to make our experience into the adventure we’d hoped for.

I thought it might be helpful to describe a few of his guides that met us along our journey. Kheleur, our guide to Angkor Wat and Cambodia—welcoming, gentle, accommodating and masterful in his plans, and a subject matter expert in the temples. We loved how he created seamless transitions between touring and our wild events (for example, candle-lit dinners on rural tropical estates, sunset cocktails on the water about Angkor Thom) as much as we loved the archeological tours, evening cruises and dinners themselves. The boat tour and the villa dinner merit special praise—he made them appear as if magically created. The midday respite to allow for physical training (and swimming and napping) was brilliant.

Ek and Paan, our guides in Luang Prabang and the Laos countryside—warm, kind, absurdly welcoming. We were treated as family—I felt unworthy! They gave us love and generosity. Ek sparkles with goodwill and joie-de-vivre. He also seems to know every single person in town. When we threw a wrench into the plans he had made for us (we changed a lunch site and some afternoon touring) he cheerfully accommodated—and facilitated—our wishes as if it were nothing at all.

We loved Pablo, our guide in Thailand and Bangkok. Enthusiastic, a careful listener, an eager and engaged teacher of Thai culture and history, a gentleman whose goodwill and blithe spirit are as radiant as his smile. I am sure he has brought hundreds to the same five temples, has taken the same longboat cruise every week for years, and could apply for permanent citizenship at the flower market. You would be unable to tell—at each stop of the white van, he would genuinely brighten as he shared our discovery of each new scene. Truly, the journey Sandy crafted for us was educational, exciting, restorative. Cannot recommend highly enough.” —Charlie Mize

Read more reviews of Southeast Asia trips. To get your own WOW trip, start with our trip questionnaire, reached via the black button below. 

START A TRIP TO SOUTHEAST ASIA

Costa Rica—for “stunning nature and wildlife”

beach, coastline lined with green jungle at Costa Rica Carrillo and Samara Beaches in Costa Rica

A beach near Nosara, on Costa Rica’s Pacific coast. Photo: Shutterstock

“When we approached Irene in order to plan our trip to Costa Rica, she asked us in great detail about our lives, hobbies, and passions. We wanted an authentic and adventurous trip where we could immerse ourselves in the local culture and experience the stunning nature and wildlife. We began our trip by going to Irene’s mother’s house on the way to the Arenal volcano region. She was so welcoming and taught us how to make homemade tortillas and prepared an amazing Costa Rican lunch filled with Gallo pintos, chicken, yucca, etc.

In the Arenal region, Irene arranged for a beautiful hotel at the base of the volcano amongst the natural hot springs. It was an authentic Tico experience—Pura Vida all the way. We went ziplining, white water rafting, rappelling, and on a hanging bridge and wildlife tour. All in three days. It was amazing!!!

We then headed to Costa Rica’s Pacific side and to Nosara, a vibrant local beach village without major resorts or attractions but with everything we wanted. We surfed every day and stayed in an open-air hotel right on the beach, with a different menu each day and amazing staff.  We also got to see thousands of sea turtles arriving to lay their eggs, which only happens once or twice a year, for a few days!

Irene ensured we got the perfect honeymoon and that it was entirely hassle-free. We now are hoping to make this trip at least every two years and would not dream of doing so without her.” —John Allen Mixon

Read more reviews of Costa Rica trips. To get your own WOW trip, start with our trip questionnaire, reached via the black button below. 

START A TRIP TO COSTA RICA

South Africa and Mauritius—for a two-week safari-beach combo

Elephants, Singita Kruger, South Africa

An elephant family at Singita Kruger, Kruger National Park.

“My wife and I used Julian to plan our honeymoon to South Africa. We went away for two full weeks, and Julian provided thoughtful recommendations that met all our needs, from city exploration to adventure to relaxation. Our trip started in Cape Town, where we stayed at the gorgeous Cape Grace, then we headed to Kruger National Park where we stayed four nights on safari at Arathusa and Tintswalo—beautiful game reserves with excellent service and incredible sights. Then we stayed one night in Johannesburg at the African Rock Hotel, a gorgeous boutique hotel. Finally, we finished in Mauritius on the most beautiful beach at the One & Only. From start to finish, every single detail was accounted for, and all our transfers were seamless. We didn’t have to worry about a thing.” —William Giordano

Read more reviews of South Africa trips. To get your own WOW trip, start with our trip questionnaire, reached via the black button below. 

START A TRIP TO SOUTH AFRICA

Bali—for gorgeous scenery, snorkeling, cooking classes…

Green rice fields on Bali island Indonesia

Green rice fields on Bali island. Photo: Shutterstock

“My husband and I just returned from the most fabulous honeymoon in Bali. Diane arranged the perfect trip—which had us stay in three different parts of the island to enjoy all the activities we were interested in. Both her planning and hotel suggestions were fabulous. From snorkeling to cooking classes, we enjoyed so much on this gorgeous island. We had a wonderful guide who enlightened and took great care of us. The Ubud Village Resort and Hotel Tugu are two of the most incredible places I have ever stayed and I would recommend both Diane and those gorgeous properties to anyone.” —Amy Rosoff

Read more reviews of Bali trips. To get your own WOW trip, start with our trip questionnaire, reached via the black button below. 

START A TRIP TO BALI

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico—for a beautiful beachfront all-inclusive

aerial view of green coastline and ocean of Puerto Vallarta Mexico with hotels

Puerto Vallarta. Photo: Hotel Mousai

“Zach and his team, did an amazing job helping us plan our honeymoon to Mexico. They provided us many options to choose from in different areas of Mexico, with great tips on places to go and stay, and things to do in each place. It was through their vigilance that we found our eventual resort, Hotel Mousai.

This particular resort was not even on our radar until they brought it to our attention. But it completely blew us away with how amazingly beautiful it was, especially with its views of the coast surrounding the Puerto Vallarta area. They arranged for our stay, as well as our transportation to and from the airport, including transportation to and from the maritime terminal. Overall, we had a great experience on our trip, in large part because of Zach’s excellent service.” —Patrick Kirkendall

Read more reviews of Mexico trips. To get your own WOW trip, start with our trip questionnaire, reached via the black button below. 

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The Maldives—where you can get more and pay less by using the right trip designer

Maldives Islands Ocean Tropical Beach

Imagine two full weeks here in the Maldives. Photo: Shutterstock

“We went to Maldives for our honeymoon. We spent two full weeks there— 7 days at Emerald Maldives and 7 days at Amilla Fushi. We are older and this is our second marriage, so I wanted to make sure everything went smoothly. I reached out to Wendy Perrin and she assigned Justin to help us arrange the trip. He was extremely helpful and responsive. He recommended the two resorts we stayed at, plus some additional ones (and maybe we should have taken his advice more closely). He made all the arrangements and even got us some additional upgrades. I would highly recommend using a trip planner. There was no additional cost to us and, in fact, we got more and paid less than if we tried to do it on our own.” —Allen Bartman

Read more reviews of Maldives trips. To get your own WOW trip, start with our trip questionnaire, reached via the black button below. 

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Positano on the Amalfi Coast, Italy

Romantic Travel Ideas for an Anniversary Trip, or Any Trip

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Considering what we’ve all been through in the past few years, it feels more important than ever to celebrate joyous milestones.  So we’ve collected these unforgettable wedding-anniversary trips enjoyed by your fellow travelers. They all used The WOW List to find the right trip planner who could deliver the maximized experience and VIP treatment that people who are celebrating a special anniversary deserve.  Here’s how to get your own WOW trip.

Italy: “All of our dinner reservations included the best tables and the best views…”

Colorful harbor at Vernazza, Cinque Terre, Italy.

Vernazza, Cinque Terre, Italy. Photo: Shutterstock

“My husband and I had a fabulous trip to the Cinque Terre, Italy, for our 25th anniversary.

I had an initial meeting over Zoom with Anna to discuss the purpose of our trip and our style of travel, things we enjoy, etc. and then Anna basically took it from there. She came up with a suggested itinerary which we then discussed and finalized together.  I had no idea what to expect and we were WOWED from the moment we arrived. All of our transfers included first-class transportation services, each of our hotels provided a complimentary upgrade along with a welcome gift, and all of our dinner reservations included the best tables and the best views.

We especially loved our two boat days: One included a tour of Portofino and lunch at a restaurant overlooking the cove of San Fruttuoso, and another included a trip to Portovenere and lunch onboard in a beautiful bay. Anna’s advice was spot-on and we felt as though we were in excellent hands. We had the perfect balance of activities and down time and never felt overscheduled.” —Kim Brown

Read more reviews of Italy trips. To get your own WOW trip, start with our trip questionnaire, reached via the black button below.

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Italy: “Jennifer helped select a beautiful hotel and a room with a stunning view of the Mediterranean. Even the porter helping with our luggage shared that it was one of his favorite rooms…”

A postcard view of Amalfi Coast in Italy.

Amalfi Coast, Italy. Photo: Shutterstock

“We planned our trip to Italy to coincide with a friend’s wedding in Ravello and our own 25th wedding anniversary.  Jennifer made sure the transfer from Rome’s airport to our hotel in Capri was seamless. Given that this required planning a 2-hour car ride, 45-min ferry, and a taxi up to Anacapri, this was welcome expertise coming off of our long flight from the US!

In Capri, Jennifer helped select a beautiful hotel and a room with a stunning view of the Mediterranean. Even the porter helping with our luggage shared that it was one of his favorite rooms. For dining, Jennifer chose options that met our desire for terrific Caprese food, wonderful service, and exquisite views. For the most part, we just stuck to sitting out in the sun and going off to dinners in the evening. On one of the days, though, Jennifer chartered us a boat to explore the Amalfi Coast. Our captain and his crew were a perfect fit. We had a fantastic day on the water swimming, sunning, and posing for classic Amalfi photographs.

We left Capri to make our way to Ravello for the wedding. Jennifer made all of the arrangements, including a stop in the city of Amalfi itself for our favorite meal of the entire trip. We arrived for the wedding well rested, adjusted to the time zone, and ready to party.” —Stephan Roche

Read more reviews of Italy trips. To get your own WOW trip, start with our trip questionnaire, reached via the black button below.

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Portugal: “They secured one of the few very best rooms with the best view at our resort on the Algarve, which we could not have obtained ourselves…”

Beautiful sandy beach near Lagos in Ponta da Piedade, Algarve region, Portugal

Beach near Lagos in Ponta da Piedade, Algarve region, Portugal. Photo: Shutterstock

“Goncalo and his team planned a Portugal trip to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. They secured one of the few very best rooms with the best view at our resort on the Algarve, which we could not have obtained ourselves. Very few rooms at the very large hotel had ocean views, so this was a big deal (we even had two balconies facing the ocean). All of their recommendations as to where to stay were great and took into account our preferences, which we discussed in a planning call. They planned great activities, like a lovely large private sailboat from Sintra back to Lisbon, a visit to an observatory (at night of course), and a private cruise along the cliffs of the Algarve. We would not have known about the lovely hotel converted from a farming village in the Alentejo if we hadn’t used a Portugal expert, and we wouldn’t have known which towns to visit. We loved the itinerary they planned and will use them again if we return to Portugal!” —Rita Solomon

Read more reviews of Portugal trips. To get your own WOW trip, start with our trip questionnaire, reached via the black button below.

START A TRIP TO PORTUGAL

France: “We visited wineries, explored several old and charming towns, ate in 3-Michelin-star restaurants as well as fantastic low key cafes…”

the hilltop village of Gordes, Provence, France

The village of Gordes, in Provence. Photo: Pixabay

“My wife and I took a long awaited celebration of our 25th anniversary and our 50th birthdays to Provence, France April 15-23.  Philip planned a terrific trip which wound up being one of the best weeks of our entire lives!  He listened very carefully to our list of wants and desires and the result was a perfectly paced yet action-packed week. We visited wineries, explored several old and charming towns, ate in 3-Michelin-star restaurants as well as fantastic low key cafes, shopped and took a hike in the footsteps of Van Gogh. We have fallen in love with Provence and will definitely be going back. I am looking forward to seeing Philip’s plan for our next trip there!”—Brian Baltes

Read more reviews of France trips. To get your own WOW trip, start with our trip questionnaire, reached via the black button below.

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Belize: “While my husband played golf, she arranged a tour for me of the Mayan ruins at Xunantunich…”

Xunantunich Mayan ruins in Belize

Xunantunich Mayan ruins. Photo: Absolute Belize

“Patricia is my new best friend. We told her that our trip to Belize was to celebrate our wedding anniversary. She listened to our wants and needs and more than delivered. She suggested that we split our January trip between inland and the coast and set us up with activities that satisfied both of our desires, since they were not necessarily the same.

My husband wanted to play golf, and Patricia made the arrangements for him. She satisfied our interest in culture and history with the Garifuna Cultural immersion. Additionally, while my husband played golf, she arranged a tour for me of the Mayan ruins at Xunantunich and a day at the San Antonio Women’s Co-op to learn about the ancient Mayan life. Patricia joined me for my tour of Xunantunich, and my husband was jealous that he didn’t get to meet her in person.

On the coast we both wanted water sports. She arranged two wonderful boat/snorkel adventures for us, and one included a barbecue of freshly caught fish. Yes, my husband had the opportunity to reel in one fish while we were on the boat.  I cannot say enough good things about how we were treated by Patricia, our guides, the staff of the hotels that she recommended, and the activities that she arranged.” —Bonnie Warton

Read more reviews of Belize trips. To get your own WOW trip, start with our trip questionnaire, reached via the black button below.

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Peru: “We thought we would be having a simple picnic lunch…”

Peru's Sacred Valley mountains and rivers

Peru’s Sacred Valley. Photo: Aracari

“Our favorite experience in Peru was on the afternoon of our 10th wedding anniversary. We thought we would be having a simple picnic lunch, but when we arrived at our picnic, we were amazed to see a canopy tent popped up in a field that overlooked the Andes. The table was tastefully decorated with linens, lace, fresh flowers, and local decor pieces. Wow! A three-man cooking team prepared a lovely four-course meal in a separate tent while we sipped wine. There was even a portable toilet in a third small tent!  Nothing was overlooked. In fact, during our ten-day trip arranged by Marisol, no detail was left unturned, from our beautiful accommodations to our awesome local guide to the snacks in our vehicle. We had an incredible trip.” —Erica Stanforth

Read more reviews of Peru trips. To get your own WOW trip, start with our trip questionnaire, reached via the black button below.

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Australia: “Stuart must have told everyone that we were celebrating an anniversary…”

rustic beach bungalow overwater suite at Haggerstone Island resort at the Great Barrier Reef in Australia

The remote Haggerstone Island resort at the Great Barrier Reef. Photo: Haggerstone Island

“Stuart planned the perfect trip for our 30th wedding anniversary: We spent three weeks in Australia, taking multiple in-country flights and visiting Melbourne, Tasmania, Kangaroo Island, Uluru, the Daintree Rainforest, and Sydney. We wanted luxury lodges and unique experiences, and our expectations were exceeded.

Stuart must have told everyone that we were celebrating an anniversary because, at each location, we received not only cards and good wishes but sometimes cakes or champagne or chocolates. But this is what blew us away: In Tasmania, at Saffire Freciynet, we tasted several excellent local gins one evening and commented to the staff on how much we liked them, and when we reached Sydney at the end of the trip, there was a gift of three bottles of gin and a lovely note from Stuart. That is one of the above-and-beyond gestures that made this trip extraordinary.” —Robin and Josh Madden

Read more reviews of Australia trips. To get your own WOW trip, start with our trip questionnaire, reached via the black button below.

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Disney World: “Everyone knew it was our anniversary!”

Happily Ever After fireworks at Disney World.

Happily Ever After fireworks at Disney World. Photo: Disney

“While we take fairly involved adventure vacations (safaris, a dog-sledding expedition, and scuba diving, rafting and trekking trips), none have involved the degree of planning that our recent Disney trip did!  Disney World can be overwhelming: To maximize your time there, you need to carefully plan out your schedule for each day and manage restaurant reservations, show times, and Fast Passes.

Michelle’s advice was invaluable in this regard. She took into consideration that this was an adults-only vacation and made great suggestions such as visiting a practically empty and childless Magic Kingdom with an After Dark ticket. She managed to fit in a coveted reservation for Be Our Guest, and her recommendations for the Epcot Food & Wine Festival helped us navigate that fun event.  Michelle’s hard work enabled us to have a wonderful anniversary trip—and everyone knew it was our anniversary because Michelle told them!” —Barbara Sheridan

Read more reviews of Disney World trips. To get your own WOW trip, start with our trip questionnaire, reached via the black button below.

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Spain: “Pablo was able to secure reservations at three Michelin-star restaurants…”

Madrid, Spain. Gran Via, main shopping street at twilight.

Madrid’s Gran Via shopping strip lights up at night. Photo: Shutterstock

“I used Pablo to arrange a celebration trip to Spain—Barcelona, San Sebastian, and Madrid—for my son and his wife for their 2nd wedding anniversary. One of their interests was to try different exclusive restaurants and wineries, and Pablo was able to secure reservations at three Michelin-star restaurants. He arranged tours of boutique-style wineries, including a special wine-tour bike ride in Barcelona. Since my son is a guitar enthusiast, Pablo arranged for a Spanish guitar lesson and also got him into a special Flamenco show. Pablo had the ability to secure unique, private, and culturally enriching activities, allowing my son and daughter-in-law to experience Spanish cuisine and culture in a way that I am sure would not have been possible otherwise.” —Jeffrey Bernfield

Read more reviews of Spain trips. To get your own WOW trip, start with our trip questionnaire, reached via the black button below.

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France: “I wanted to…present her with the diamond ring she never got when we first got together 10 years ago”

Pont Alexandre III (Alexander the third bridge) over river Seine in Paris, France. Architecture and landmarks of Paris.

River Seine in Paris, France. Photo: Shutterstock

“I wanted to make the most of a short trip to Paris to celebrate my wife’s birthday and to present her with the diamond ring she never got when we first got together 10 years ago. Jennifer made a variety of suggestions, and we decided I would surprise my wife with the ring in a renewal proposal aboard a private yacht. I had originally requested a Venetian boat, but at the last minute it had mechanical problems, rendering it unavailable. Jennifer quickly replaced it with Sophia Loren’s private yacht and assured me that the furnishings and seating would be altered to make it more intimate and romantic. The result was spot-on, resulting in the highlight of our trip.” —William Harwayne

Read more reviews of Paris trips. To get your own WOW trip, start with our trip questionnaire, reached via the black button below.

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Italy: “Our favorite day of the trip, and arguably in our lives, was…”

Positano on the Amalfi Coast, Italy

Positano on the Amalfi Coast, Italy. Photo: Shutterstock

“My husband and I rarely use a travel agent because we love to do the research and plan every detail of our vacations. However, this trip to Capri and the Amalfi Coast was for our 10-year wedding anniversary, so we wanted the ultimate luxury experience without having to worry about anything. Andrea really listened to what we wanted and tailored the trip accordingly. And there wasn’t a minute of it that went by that my husband and I didn’t think, ‘This was worth every penny and more.’  From the knowledgeable drivers to awesome tour guides and boat captains, it was beyond perfect. Our favorite day of the trip, and arguably in our lives, was when our boat captain picked us up in Capri, toured us around the island, let us swim in the grottos, and eventually dropped us off for the rest of our stay in Positano. The views were stunning, but the captain really made our experience so special. Andrea has the connections with all of the right people, which makes the entire experience unlike any other.” —Meredith Still

Read more reviews of Capri and The Amalfi Coast trips. To get your own WOW trip, start with our trip questionnaire, reached via the black button below.

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France: “We had our 50th anniversary dinner in the two-Michelin-star restaurant…”

Leafy town square with fountain in a picturesque village in Provence, France

Saignon, Provence, France. Photo: Shutterstock

“My husband and I asked Philip to help us plan a week in Provence to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary. We stayed in the countryside in beautiful old hotels and especially loved the Baumanière in Les Baux. I originally thought it would be too fancy for us, but Philip persuaded me that it would be perfect, and it was. We had our 50th anniversary dinner in the two-Michelin-star restaurant there, complete with a chocolate anniversary ‘card.’  We particularly loved our canoe trip to the Pont du Gard and the private tour of the top level of the aqueduct—a perk not available to the general public. One whole day was devoted to a tour of the Luberon, including the towns of Lacoste, Menerbes, Gordes and Roussillon. It was a wonderful trip, perfectly planned and executed, and a memorable celebration for us.” —Barbara Rabin

Read more reviews of France trips. To get your own WOW trip, start with our trip questionnaire, reached via the black button below.

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Indonesia: “Diane lined up affordable luxury with a fascinating itinerary…”

Pura Ulun Danu Bratan, Hindu temple on Bratan lake landscape, one of famous tourist attraction in Bali, Indonesia - Image

Pura Ulun Danu Bratan, Hindu temple on Bratan Lake, Bali. Photo: Shutterstock

“Our trip to Bali was perfect for celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary.  Diane lined up affordable luxury with a fascinating itinerary.  We took in many diverse sites in the Ubud area from our base at the Komaneka Resort at Bisma, and the Nusa Dua Beach Hotel & Spa upgraded us to a lagoon-access suite, which was very relaxing.  Diane lined up the perfect English-speaking private guide and driver, and she also introduced us to Nadya, a clothing designer whose home we got to visit. Our trip was a great balance of guided travel and looking around on our own. We felt truly fortunate that we could make use of Diane’s excellent insight. She is a gem. Thank you!” —Charles Barber and Carolyn Roth

Read more reviews of Bali trips. To get your own WOW trip, start with our trip questionnaire, reached via the black button below.

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Hawaii: “She even managed to snag us an upgrade to a suite…”

Maui, Hawaii

Maui, Hawaii. Photo: Hawaii Tourism Authority.

“We used Dani’s help to put together our trip to Maui and the Big Island of Hawaii. It was a great trip packed with hiking, a sunrise visit to the top of Mt. Haleakalā and a subsequent bike ride down, surfing lessons in Lahaina, and a helicopter tour of the Big Island, including the active volcano. Dani was in constant contact with us throughout, which was greatly appreciated, as we had questions about various things while we were there. We had mentioned this trip was a celebration of our wedding anniversary, and at both of our hotels there was chilled champagne and sweet treats, courtesy of Dani. She even managed to snag us an upgrade to a suite at the Four Seasons Hualalai, which was a pleasant surprise.” —Joseph McBrine

Read more reviews of Hawaii trips. To get your own WOW trip, start with our trip questionnaire, reached via the black button below.

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Caribbean Cruise: “We were a family of 10 traveling for my parents’ 60th wedding anniversary…”

Idyllic tropical beach with white sand, turquoise ocean water and blue sky at Antigua island in Caribbean

Antigua. Photo: Shutterstock

“We were a family of 10 traveling for my parents’ 60th wedding anniversary. We had first-time cruisers and seasoned cruisers, and we wanted an itinerary that would enable us to spend time together as well as enjoy personal time. For our specific needs, Tom suggested Celebrity Cruises, and we selected an itinerary in the ‘ABC islands’ with several days at sea. Everyone was very happy.  Both the sea days and the days in port offered everyone enough sightseeing, shopping, and relaxation options to keep as busy (or not) as we wanted. Some of us went to the beach, while others went to town and sightseeing. We all met for cocktails in the Martini Bar before our family dinner each night. It was a fun and successful cruise for everyone, and my parents especially appreciated the special touches that Tom provided—including champagne, flowers, and a delicious chocolate cake in their cabin.” —Lorraine Victor

Read more reviews of cruise trips. To get your own WOW trip, start with our trip questionnaire, reached via the black button below.

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Brook and her family at the Sphinx statue with no other people around.

We’re Just Back: Brook’s Family Trip to Egypt

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When you use our Trip Questionnaire to get a WOW trip, you start by articulating your trip goals and challenges. That’s what Brook did when planning her kid-friendly adventure in Egypt. You can find the right Trip Questionnaire for you via The WOW List’s CONTACT buttons.

 

My trip request:
Seeing the Pyramids had long been my son Zeke’s dream. Egypt has been marked with a special pushpin on the world map in his bedroom since he was seven. When Zeke turned 11, we decided it was time to make his dream come true. We needed a kid-friendly itinerary for Egypt that hit all the highlights while avoiding the post-pandemic tourist crowds that afflict those iconic spots.

Biggest trip goals:
I had two goals: to make three-dimensional the ancient history Zeke had been learning about from textbooks, and to show him a slice of the country’s contemporary life.

Biggest trip challenges:
People from all corners of the globe want to see the last remaining wonder of the ancient world, so Egypt’s sights are notoriously crowded. I needed an itinerary that would allow us to avoid the lines, crowds, and tour-bus gridlock, fill our days with enough physical activity to burn kid energy, and keep Zeke from missing too much school.

Getting there:
We were starting in San Francisco. We thought about connecting in New York (JFK) to the EgyptAir nonstop to Cairo, but decided against it because we were nervous about domestic flight delays possibly interfering with our connection to an international flight. Instead, we flew nonstop from San Francisco to Istanbul on Turkish Airlines, spent a restful six hours at the YOTEL hotel on the airside of the airport (no need to pass through security), then connected for a short flight to Cairo.

The basic itinerary:
We contacted Egypt specialist Jim Berkeley via The WOW List. He timed our trip for Thanksgiving week, so that Zeke would miss only four days of school. Jim designed our 10-day itinerary thus: two nights in Cairo, one night in Luxor, a four-night Nile cruise on a small dahabiya, two nights in Aswan, and two nights in Giza.

Challenges solved:
Jim handpicked private, English-speaking, special-access guides for us who knew how to get around many of the crowds. At Cairo’s Egyptian Museum, for instance, our guide got us there as soon as the doors opened and made a beeline for the second-floor galleries containing King Tut’s treasures, while most other visitors started on the first floor. At the Pyramids, she took the opposite route that most tours take—letting us have the Sphinx completely to ourselves. To me, the best local guides are people I could imagine striking up a friendship with if we lived in the same town. I never found the boundaries of our guide Reham’s historical knowledge—indeed, she was studying for a master’s degree between our forays around Cairo—but even more memorable than her book learning were our shared commiserations over raising pre-teens while juggling careers in travel, and the apparently worldwide phenomenon of helicopter parents trying to solve their kids’ social quandaries.

Strolling El Moez Street in Old Cairo along locals and other visitors.

Brook and local guide Reham strolling El Moez Street in Old Cairo. Photo. Ryan Damm.

Jim also found ways to add physical activity that would be fun for the whole family: We sandboarded down dunes in Aswan one day. We rode bikes early one morning from Luxor to the Valley of the Kings. (For safety, we were led by a motorbike and followed by our van, with a spontaneous police escort waving us through one intersection—but next time I’ll remember to insist on helmets when planning to rent bikes abroad.)

Brook and her son biking on an empty road to the Valley of the Kings in Luxor.

Biking to the Valley of the Kings in Luxor, Egypt. Photo: Ryan Damm.

Brook sandboarding new Aswan.

Sandboarding near Aswan. Photo: Ryan Damm.

Our food tour of Cairo involved not just eating, but also walking a few miles on bustling city streets to visit ten different stops, from a juice bar to a falafel stand to a homestyle joint where all the signage was in Arabic.

Different fruit nets on a food market in Cairo.

A stop on Brook’s food tour of Cairo. Photo: Ryan Damm.

The highlight:
Our 4-night Nile cruise on a dahabiya. A dahabiya is a crewed sailing vessel that had won over even my boat-averse colleague Billie last year. Unlike the larger, Western-style cruise ships on the Nile, our 12-passenger dahabiya was able to stop at smaller sites the larger ships couldn’t navigate. For instance, we pulled up beside an ancient sandstone quarry; it was fascinating to walk amongst the cliffs from which stones had been cut and then rafted downriver to build the very temples we’d visited earlier in the trip. We strolled around a village where Zeke shared photos and Frisbee throws with local kids. We even stopped at a sandy shoreline where we could swim in the Nile (our captain chose a spot where the water was moving briskly enough to keep it clean, and crocodiles are rare north of the High Dam in Aswan). As the only kid on board, Zeke was occasionally restless, and the cabins were a tad shabby—but the deeper experience of life on the river made it well worth it.

Dahabiya Zekrayaat. Photo: Ryan Damm.
Just another shoreline view from the dahabiya. Photo: Ryan Damm.
Making friends in a Nubian village. Photo: Ryan Damm.
Playing frisbee with local kids. Photo: Ryan Damm.
Swimming in the Nile. Photo: Ryan Damm.
Exploring a sandstone quarry. Photo: Ryan Damm.
A larger cruise ship passes Brook's dahabiya. Photo: Ryan Damm.

A dahabiya is by nature a communal experience (the cabins are small, so we spent most of our free time on the sun deck, and all meals are shared), and we were fortunate to join a fabulously interesting group of fellow travelers. The Thanksgiving-night talent show with the other passengers was a blast. Zeke told two jokes, and we watched new friends sing and dance; all I had to contribute was a handstand. Everyone’s willingness to let their guard down among people they’d met just three days earlier bespoke the camaraderie and intimacy of our short time together.

Best surprise:

Brook looking at the mural painting inside Nefertari's Tomb.

Inside Nefertari’s Tomb. Photo: Ryan Damm.

Queen Nefertari’s Tomb. Jim made sure we didn’t miss this gem. The millennia-old tombs in the Valley of the Kings—and even more so, in the less crowded Valley of the Queens—are exquisitely well preserved, with vibrant colors, visible brushstrokes, and everyday scenes that suggest they could have been painted just last week. But Queen Nefertari’s tomb takes the cake, with multiple chambers and intricate carvings done in sophisticated high relief.

Worst surprise:
Losing Zeke for five terrifying minutes among the throngs at Luxor Temple after sunset. Already disappointed by the crowds that made the temple’s innermost sanctuary feel more like Grand Central Station—it proved to be my least favorite site of the trip—we decided to cut our visit short and lost track of each other on the way out. Our guide kept his cool and found Zeke by the entrance; I greeted them both with teary hugs.

Most underrated:

Looking at the ceiling of the Temple of Khnum in Esna.

The Temple of Khnum, in Esna, Egypt. Photo: Ryan Damm.

The Temple of Khnum. Just before boarding our dahabiya in Esna, we visited the local temple. The ruins are below ground level but have been fully excavated; you take a tuk-tuk through the streets of this unassuming town 35 miles south of Luxor, walk down a flight of stairs, and enter one of the most impressive sites in all of Egypt—at least to my eyes. Restoration work is ongoing, and centuries of soot, grime, and bird droppings still obscure the stone in one half of the temple; in the other half, rows of columns with capitals ornately carved into flowers and palm fronds, and pastel-toned vulture-winged goddesses painted on ceiling frescos, leave you tempted to simply lie down on the gravel floor to take it all in.

Most overrated:
King Tut’s tomb. It’s modest by comparison to other tombs in the Valley of the Kings; at least the mummy still lies in state. Enter for the nostalgic connection to your childhood fascination with Egypt—not for the elaborate carvings you’ll find guiding other pharaohs’ paths to the afterlife, but not Tut’s.

Best places we stayed:

View of pyramids from the balcony at the Marriott Mena House.

View from a room at the Marriott Mena House.

I couldn’t take my eyes off the view from our room at the Marriott Mena House in Giza: There was the Great Pyramid, framed between palm trees by day, and lit up in colorful lights at night. The hotel’s prodigious buffets at breakfast and dinner ensured that everyone in our family could find something they were excited to eat.

 

View of Palace Cataract Suite at the Old Cataract Hotel in Aswan.

Palace Cataract Suite at the Old Cataract Hotel, Aswan.

The bar at the Old Cataract Hotel in Egypt.

The bar at the Old Cataract Hotel. Photo: Ryan Damm.

You need not be an Agatha Christie fan to be charmed by the Sofitel Legend Old Cataract in Aswan. Most rooms in both the original and newer wings have broad Nile views that take in the weathered curves of granite on Elephantine Island, the graceful lines of the feluccas sailing around it, and the hotel’s own highly manicured grounds. In our suite, the ornate chandeliers and richly toned wood cabinetry with mother-of-pearl inlays felt fit for royalty.

Worst place we stayed:
In Luxor, the Sofitel Winter Palace oozes history in ways both good and bad: You can imagine Howard Carter grandly announcing his discovery of King Tut’s tomb from the hotel in 1922, but you also wonder if the furnishings haven’t been reupholstered since then. The main restaurant is adults-only (not to mention jacket-required), and we found the alternative buffet to be overcooked and overpriced. Jim thinks the Winter Palace will get a much-needed refurbishment in the next year or two; until then, he tells me, the other options in town have their own idiosyncrasies.

Traveler beware:
In four decades of traveling, I’ve never been to a place as dominated by group tourism as Egypt is. A smart local fixer employs strategies to avoid the busiest times at the iconic spots—and turns your gaze to smaller, out-of-the-way details, like the careful carving of the toenails on a statue of Ramesses II—but you can’t escape the crowds entirely. A single group of 25 travelers all following the same flag-toting, mic’d-up guide is more difficult to navigate around than a dozen independent couples or families. That shouldn’t stop you from going to Egypt. Just be sure to book your trip through an Egypt specialist like Jim who has the proven ability to outsmart and outrun the big groups when possible.

Brook with her son exploring the Karnak Temple with their guide.

On a busy day at Karnak Temple, Brook’s guide still finds a quiet corner to explore. Photo: Ryan Damm.

Thank goodness I packed:
$100 in one-dollar bills. Thanks to Jim’s pre-trip intel, I had plenty of cash for baksheesh, which I most often handed out unsolicited. In the tombs at Luxor, though, the security guards were persistent in their offers to take your photo or let you behind the ropes—and then equally persistent in seeking out the tip they expected in return.

I’m glad I didn’t pack:
Binoculars. While our early-morning boat ride to the sandboarding spot outside Aswan was a birdwatcher’s dream, and we could have seen more than the most obvious herons, egrets, and kingfishers with a bit of magnification, Jim warned me that customs officials often take binoculars away from travelers upon their arrival, deeming them a security threat to the country’s military installations.

Lesson learned:
A few days before the trip, Jim rejiggered our plans in Cairo, which meant we wouldn’t see the pyramids until the end of our trip—and boy, am I happy he did. This was the highlight of the trip for Zeke, and it allowed us to end on a high note in a way that city sightseeing (while plenty of fun early in the trip) would not have matched. I knew it was a risk to save the most anticipated site for last, but we had to fly through Cairo to get home anyway, and we vowed to extend the trip to see the Pyramids if a Covid quarantine or some other malady forced us to change up our itinerary. (Luckily, all went according to plan.) From now on, I’ll always make sure there’s an extra-special finale at the end of every trip.

Best trip memory:
Zeke still can’t stop talking about our exploits inside the cramped passageways of the Great Pyramid! Built long before the more elaborate tombs constructed during the dynasties of Egypt’s New Kingdom, most of the walls inside the pyramid are smooth but largely unadorned, and the King’s Chamber is a humble precursor of later pharaonic resting places. But nothing makes you feel more like Indiana Jones than clambering up the narrow wooden ramps that lead to that chamber, ever mindful of the tonnage of stone that has held fast above your head for 4,500 years…and counting?

Navigating the passageways inside the Great Pyramid.

Navigating the passageways inside the Great Pyramid.

START YOUR TRIP TO EGYPT

Transparency disclosure: So that I could experience Egypt, WOW Lister Jim Berkeley arranged reduced rates for my family’s trip. Everything I did on my trip is accessible to every traveler who contacts Jim via Wendy’s WOW questionnaire. Thanks to Wendy’s WOW system, you’ll get marked as a VIP traveler.

 

Be a smarter traveler: Sign up for Wendy’s weekly newsletter to stay in the know. Read real travelers’ reviews, then use the black CONTACT buttons on Wendy’s WOW List to reach out to the right local fixer for your trip.

Unusual Ways To See the World by Water

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There are parts of the world that are best seen from the water, and there is a growing array of unusual itineraries and small ships for doing so.  We’re not talking about Caribbean islands or Italian coastlines as viewed from a cruise ship so huge that it can only dock in the big industrial harbors. No, we’re talking about floating along France’s scenic canals by barge, sightseeing by houseboat through the backwaters of Kerala, India, or exploring remotest Antarctica by small expedition ship. Cruise expert Carolyn Spencer Brown joined Wendy and Brook for a WOW Week Travel Talk on new ways to explore the world’s waterways in 2023.  Watch the video and be surprised by everything you’ll learn.

Small-ship experiences you can find around the globe include:

Expedition ships: These small ships typically navigate parts of the world that it would be hard to experience any other way, such as the Arctic, Antarctica, and pristine portions of Alaska’s shoreline. In such pockets of the world, water-based travel is often your only option: You can’t drive from place to place, and it may be cost-prohibitive or too unreliable to get around via private, chartered aircraft. When these expedition ships are between seasons (say, repositioning between the Arctic and the Antarctic during the spring and fall), they may offer delightfully off-the-beaten-path itineraries that nip into tiny islands, landings, and anchorages. Carolyn and her husband sailed through the Swedish and Finnish archipelagos on a 100-passenger expedition ship, and he, a native of Finland, had never been to most of the small places they got to explore.

Yacht charters: Yachts and sailboats in the British Virgin Islands, Greece, Croatia, the Mediterranean, and many other parts of the world enable you to go where you want to go, drop anchor when you like, and choose who you want to vacation with (meaning, you’re not on a ship with strangers). You can even charter a private boat in India: In Kerala, traditional wood and thatched houseboats called kettuvallam ply the serene, rural backwaters, rivers and canals. You can charter a private boat or book a cabin on an 8-person “cruise” kettuvallam. Read about Wendy’s gulet charter on the Turquoise Coast and Brook’s catamaran charter in the Caribbean.

River boats: You may be familiar with the relatively large (160- to 190-passenger) cruise ships in Europe that ply the Rhine, Danube, Rhone and Seine, but there are many other rivers around the world where smaller vessels go to more exotic places, such as the Amazon in Peru, the Mekong for exploring Vietnam and Cambodia, and the Chobe River for the wildlife of Africa. On the Nile, instead of a Westernized river ship, you can opt for a wind-powered dahabiya. Dahabiyas are local boats that hold up to 12 people and can take you to places beyond the reach of traditional conventional vessels. Read about Billie’s experience sailing the Nile on a dahabiya.

European barge charters: Barges, often holding from 8 to 24 travelers, primarily ply the canals of France and are one of the best ways to explore the countryside, at a snail’s pace. Work barges have been repurposed as small passenger vessels—some quite luxurious, others cozy and comfortable. You’re provided with a captain and a cook, and you travel so slowly that you can easily grab a bike from your barge and meet it in the next village—with time to sip a glass of vino at an outdoor cafe. Read about the differences between a barge cruise and a river cruise.

For help finding and planning the right private-boat or cruise experience for you, use the black button below.

GET A PERSONALIZED RECOMMENDATION

 

Read more

The Perfect Anti-Pandemic Vacation: Wendy’s Family Trip

Sailing the Caribbean Sea in a Private Yacht. This Could Be You.

The Best Way to See Egypt. Especially If You Don’t Like Boats.

What a Barge Cruise Is—and Why Some Prefer It to a River Cruise

 

Be a smarter traveler: Sign up for Wendy’s weekly newsletter to stay in the know. Read real travelers’ reviews, then use the black CONTACT buttons on Wendy’s WOW List to reach out to the right local fixer for your trip.

View of Positano on the Amalfi Coast, Italy.

Where Everybody’s Traveling in 2023: The 10 Most Popular Countries for WOW Trips

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As you plan your travels for the year ahead, you’d be wise to keep in mind where everybody else is going. These are the 10 most-booked countries by travelers who have used our WOW system to plan 2023 trips:

1. Italy
2. United Kingdom
3. Australia
4. France
5. Japan
6. Spain
7. Portugal
8. New Zealand
9. Ecuador (incl. the Galapagos Islands)
10. Egypt

It’s great to see places that had some of the strictest Covid restrictions and that took two years or more to reopen—Australia, Japan, New Zealand—making such a strong comeback. The best way to find availability and affordability in these popular places is to be flexible with your travel dates. Avoid peak periods (e.g., springtime cherry blossom season in Japan, which is practically sold out) and go in shoulder season instead.

The House at Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef, Australia.

Of the countries that were closed the longest during Covid and did not reopen until 2022, Australia is the most popular now.  This is Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef. Photo: Elise Hassey

Five European countries on the 2023 Most Popular list were also on the 2022 Most Popular list: Italy, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, and Portugal.  You know what that means: These places will be in even higher demand this year than they were last year, given the greater number of people worldwide who will return to traveling internationally in 2023. So, if any of these places are on your Must-See-In-2023 list, avoid tourist crowds by focusing your itinerary on the best off-the-beaten-path locations within these countries.

The problem solvers who can maximize your experiences of these places are the trip-planning specialists on Wendy’s  WOW List. They have the connections and clout to find availability in “sold out” hotels, they know the smartest timing for your trip, and they can point you to the best under-the-radar locations. To get an unforgettable trip, use the black CONTACT buttons on The WOW List to reach out to the right local fixer. That’s how you’ll get a priority response and VIP treatment. Here’s why.

If you haven’t started making travel plans for 2023 yet, I encourage you to focus on places that are not on the above list. There are so many wonderful opportunities in South America, Asia, the South Pacific, and non-Mediterranean Europe where you won’t face as much competition from other travelers that drives up prices and crowds. There are also countries worldwide that reopened early during the pandemic and thus the pent-up demand for them has cooled a little.  Learn your smartest options by perusing our trip reviews from travelers just back from these very places.

READ TRAVELER REVIEWS OF THE LATEST WOW TRIPS

 

Be a smarter traveler: Sign up for Wendy’s weekly newsletter to stay in the know. Read real travelers’ reviews, then use the black CONTACT buttons on Wendy’s WOW List to reach out to the right local fixer for your trip. 

How to Get an Extraordinary Trip: Wendy’s WOW Approach

As a travel journalist and consumer advocate for the past 30 years—first as Condé Nast Traveler’s advice columnist, then as TripAdvisor’s Travel Advocate—I’m all too aware of the multifarious travel challenges that need to be addressed as a result of the post-pandemic combo of pent-up travel demand, inflation, understaffing, and ever-changing local rules.  For international trips in particular, you’d be wise to use an extremely well-connected, extremely knowledgeable, destination-specific, trip-planning specialist who can act as your local fixer and optimize your every step.  You’d be even wiser to find and contact that trip planner via the unique WOW approach to trip planning that I’ve created by popular demand from my longtime readers.  It’s the approach used by the travelers who are submitting these trip reviews. And it starts with filling out any one of the trip questionnaires on this website. 

Starting a trip with my questionnaire is designed to deliver these benefits:

1. Priority status and VIP treatment
2. Unbeatable value for a maximized travel experience
3. My advice from the start of your trip planning and at key stages of it
4. The right to review the trip planner after your trip (your reviews serve as a uniquely useful and empowering resource to our community of sophisticated, frequent travelers)
5. A surprise WOW Moment, custom-designed for you and complimentary, added to every third qualifying trip. 

I can’t monitor your trip if I don’t know about it. That’s why it’s important to fill out my questionnaire at the start of your trip planning. It’s the only way I can watch over your trip from the start to make sure it will turn out as great as it could be.  When you use my questionnaire, that’s how the trip planner knows that I sent you and I’m watching.

To find my questionnaire:
• Go to The WOW List and click on the CONTACT button of the travel specialist you want.  Your answers go directly to that trip planner, as well as to me.
OR
• Go to Ask Wendy.  We can recommend the best trip planner for your specific needs.

Because I stand by my words and my vetting, I will invite you to review your trip afterward here on WendyPerrin.com.  This review system ensures that my recommendations stay up-to-the-minute reliable. It safeguards my reputation by proving I can stand behind my recommendations. That’s what I get out of this. What you get is an excellent trip.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Can I hire Wendy to plan my trip?
2. What is a WOW trip?
3. Is a WOW trip better than what I can plan on my own?
4. When should I NOT use a WOW List trip planner?
5. Why should I use your questionnaire?
6. Is there a cost to using your questionnaire?
7. Are a WOW List planner’s trip arrangements more expensive than if I plan it myself?
8. Will I know what every element of my trip costs?
9. Why must I speak (rather than just email) with a WOW List trip planner?
10. How does a trip planner get onto The WOW List?
11. What is Wendy’s “trip support”?
12. What is The WOW List Pledge?
13. What if there’s no trip planner in my price range listed for where I want to travel?
14. How do you test new candidates for The WOW List?
15. Do we want readers to nominate trip planners for consideration and to help road-test WOW List candidates?
16. What are Wendy’s WOW Moments?
17. Is The WOW List pay-to-play?
18. So how do you fund this website and service?
19. I have a question that hasn’t been answered above.

1. Can I hire Wendy to plan my trip?

No.  I’m a journalist on deadline. But I can likely recommend the trip designer you’re looking for. My unique expertise is that I have spent two decades finding, vetting, testing, and monitoring trip-planning specialists for specific regions of the world and types of travel.

It started when I was Condé Nast Traveler‘s advice columnist (1996 – 2014).  As more and more Internet travel-booking sites were popping up in the late ’90s, readers kept asking me the smartest way to book their travels, and I realized they could use a list of the best destination-specific trip planners.  So I combed through my Rolodex (remember those?) and selected those destination specialists with the greatest depth of expertise and connections. Thus was born the magazine’s list of top travel specialists, in June of 2000.  It was literally called “Wendy’s Rolodex.”  It became so popular (and copied!) that I was forced to compile it (and improve it!) annually for the next 14 years.

When I left Condé Nast Traveler and launched WendyPerrin.com in 2014, I was inundated with email from my longtime readers, who were still asking me who to use for their trips. So I put up a WOW List of Trusted Travel Experts and an “Ask Wendy” button.  Colleagues of mine from Condé Nast Traveler, Billie Cohen and Brook Wilkinson, pitched in to help me cope with the overwhelming volume of inquiries. This ultimately led to our Get a Personalized Trip Recommendation service and an entire WOW system designed to make sure you end up with the best possible trip.  All of which is to say:  I can’t personally plan your trip, but I can—if you use our questionnaire—give you advice, and the other benefits listed above, to make it WOW.

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2. What is a WOW trip?

 A WOW trip is a custom-tailored, wisely designed, non-touristy, sophisticated, hassle-free trip that maximizes your experience of a place—like these trips that your fellow travelers have recently returned from—and minimizes your risk and unnecessary logistics.

  • It eliminates inefficiencies, crowds, lines, and other headaches and pitfalls.
  • It gets you priority status, insider access, and VIP perks.
  • It may cost more than a trip you plan yourself but is worth it.  It’s value for what you get.

The trip planners on The WOW List deliver such trips.

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3. Is a WOW trip better than what I can plan on my own?

You’re comparing apples and oranges. Some people like to plan their trip by finding and booking each separate component (hotels, restaurants, day tours, vehicles, English-speaking guides) on the Internet. By contrast, the destination-specific specialists who have earned a spot on The WOW List create one-of-a-kind, start-to-finish trips that you can’t find on the Internet—and the whole that they create is bigger than the sum of its parts.  Think of them as trip chefs:  They find, combine, and even create trip ingredients—in ways that you can’t, thanks to their local expertise and connections.  Even if you could buy the same ingredients from the same marketplace,  the meal you cook wouldn’t turn out the same.  That’s because WOW trip chefs leverage their relationships to spice up each day, creating a unique journey, customized to your personal tastes.  They eliminate unappetizing elements (lines, logistics, traffic jams, tourist traps), sprinkle in special touches (behind-closed-doors access, can’t-miss views you would have missed, introductions to noteworthy local people), and sometimes pull off the impossible.

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4. When should I NOT use a WOW List trip planner?

It does not make financial sense for you to use a WOW List trip planner (you will not get enough value for the money) in these circumstances:

  1. When you’re looking for a budget or off-the-shelf product. Here, we define value by how high-quality and personalized your trip is, not how little it costs. There are plenty of websites that can help you find travel deals (though you should beware phony “values”), but this isn’t one of them.
  2. When you’ve already booked much of your trip. To guarantee a world-class experience from start to finish, a WOW List trip designer needs control over your arrangements from start to finish.  The more of your trip you have already booked yourself, the less value you will get by using a human-being trip planner, and the less financial sense it will make to work with one.  Example:  Let’s say you’ve booked your hotels and you need only an English-speaking guide for a couple of days:  If you use a WOW List trip planner to book just the guide, you might be missing out on the hotel perks you could have gotten. You might get a lower-quality guide because trip planners save their best guides for the travelers who are making bigger arrangements. Or, the trip planner may be concerned that what you’ve booked already could negatively impact the portion they would arrange and, therefore, they may be reluctant to work with you at all.  The more of your trip a WOW List trip planner designs and books, the more they can save you wasted time, money, and pitfalls, and grout your trip with special touches.
  3. When you’ve already decided on a detailed step-by-step itinerary. When you know where you want to go, stay, and eat, and you just want someone to book all those components, book them yourself.  Do not use WOW List trip planners as order takers. They deliver the best trips when you give them the freedom to create an imaginative, outside-the-box itinerary that will surprise and delight you.
  4. When all you need is an airline ticket, a hotel room, and a rental car.  You can book those things on your own. The time to use a WOW List destination specialist is when you also want a brilliant itinerary, special experiences, and the savviest local fixers who will save you time and headaches, deliver insider access, and make your whole trip easy and delightful.  You can’t get that on your own.
  5. When you’ve redeemed points for your hotel stays or otherwise already booked your accommodations.  Trip planners do not earn revenue for hotel stays booked with miles/points.  The less you use the charming properties that the trip planner has negotiated special rates and perks with, the less that trip planner can embellish your trip with special treatment.  This means that, if  you use a WOW List trip planner for a trip where they won’t be booking your hotel, you will get less value for what you spend.

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5. Why should I use Wendy’s trip questionnaire?

    1. It’s like a personal letter of introduction from Wendy to the WOW trip planner. It marks you as a VIP traveler.  It tells the trip planner that Wendy sent you and is watching, and that you will be reviewing the trip afterward.
    2. It helps you to articulate your trip goals and needs effectively. This sets you up for a more productive conversation and successful collaboration with the trip designer.  We have spent years figuring out exactly what input on your end will lead to the most efficient and effective conversation (see FAQ #8) and help you determine what the trip planner can do for you and whether they are the right choice for your specific goals and needs.  The questionnaire works!
    3. It’s the only way we can know about your trip in order to monitor it.  Wendy designed this system because, throughout her decades as a consumer journalist, readers have contacted her about the same recurring issues over and over again.  Through her trip-monitoring emails of advice to the traveler, she can provide answers before those issues arise.  She can help prevent the common misunderstandings and mistakes that occur between travelers and trip planners.
    4. You get the benefits outlined in The WOW List Pledge. Every WOW List trip planner must sign The WOW List Pledge (see FAQ #11), promising that they will follow certain best practices that Wendy insists on because they are beneficial to travelers and lead to an excellent trip.  For instance, they pledge to reply to your request within 48 business hours.  They promise to have an in-depth trip-design phone/Zoom/Skype conversation with you (because such a live conversation is critical to a WOW trip—see FAQ #8).  They promise to offer the lowest pricing publicly available.  They promise VIP courtesies and treatment.
    5. You get to review the trip planner after your trip.  We continually monitor our recommended travel specialists in order to ensure they uphold the standards and values that got them onto The WOW List in the first place.  When you return from a trip that we’ve monitored, you’re invited to share your review of the travel specialist, for the benefit of your fellow travelers. These reviews from you help determine whether or not that travel specialist stays on The WOW List.
    6. It’s the only way your trip can qualify toward a WOW Moment on a future trip (see FAQ #15).

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6. Is there a cost to using Wendy’s questionnaire?

No.  There might be someday, but for now, we’re trying to keep our advice and service complimentary.  If you choose to work with a trip planner whom you contacted via our questionnaire, then The WOW List Pledge applies, and that Pledge requires that you get the trip planner’s lowest pricing.  WOW List trip planners are incentivized to comply with this requirement because they want to remain on The WOW List and because they want to get great reviews. If travelers feel they got great value from a trip planner, that translates into great reviews.  If enough travelers feel they did not get value, we remove that trip planner from The WOW List.
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7. Are a WOW List planner’s trip arrangements more expensive than if I plan it myself?

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. It depends on the destination and type of trip.  WOW List trip planners can save you money via reduced rates that they negotiate with hotels and other travel suppliers at their destinations. They negotiate special benefits and amenities too (e.g., early check-in, upgrades, complimentary meals). At the same time, their arrangements can cost more because they employ the best local private guides whom they have personally vetted, they use the newest cars and safest drivers who know all the shortcuts, they pay to eliminate time-consuming hassles such as lines and crowds, etc. Their trips include special touches and perks that you would not be able to procure on your own—and most of these special touches you won’t know about, or appreciate the value of, until you’re actually taking the trip. Their prices also include the local infrastructure to be able to come to the rescue in an emergency.  So, typically, you’ll pay more than if you booked on your own, but you’ll end up with a more rewarding trip in the end. If your conversation with a WOW List trip planner doesn’t convince you that the value he or she will add to your trip will be worth the higher cost, then don’t use that trip planner. Feel free to ask us for a different recommendation.
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8. Will I know what every element of my trip costs?

It is common for travel planners to quote a lump-sum price for your entire trip. Why? The local hotels and other businesses that provide the Trusted Travel Experts with exclusive reduced rates do so on the condition that the TTEs not reveal those rates. Sometimes a planner is able to provide a partial breakdown, either by day or by type of expense (e.g., accommodations, private guides, transportation). If you’re presented with a lump-sum price and need to cut costs, explain that you’d feel more comfortable investing X thousand dollars in this trip, and ask the planner how they would suggest that you reach that figure.

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9. Why must I speak with (rather than just email with) a WOW List trip planner?

Because, in the 20 years that I’ve been monitoring and scrutinizing feedback from travelers, I’ve learned that the single biggest factor affecting the outcome of a trip is the initial conversation between traveler and trip planner.  If you want a truly custom-tailored trip, it’s essential to have a live, in-depth conversation, preferably via video call.  Such a conversation gives the trip planner a nuanced understanding of your specific trip goals and needs and what would delight you. It also eliminates the misperceptions and disconnects that can easily mar a trip. This trip-design conversation should be with the specific person named and listed on The WOW List (not just any old employee).  These WOW Listers are very busy and frequently traveling, and many who are company founders/owners don’t speak with travelers anymore as a general rule. But when I put someone on my WOW List, the prestige is great enough that they agree to speak personally with “Wendy’s travelers.”

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10. How does a trip planner get onto The WOW List?

A trip planner earns a spot on The WOW List via the testing process detailed below (see FAQ #13).   We’re constantly testing a new crop of travel specialists to determine whether or not they warrant inclusion on The WOW List.  We’re always improving the List, by listening to feedback from travelers who use it, gathering nominees from our readers who understand the standard we insist on, and scouring the travel industry worldwide.

The WOW List is not static.  It changes all the time because we are always road-testing new travel specialists who come to our attention.  We send travelers to them, collect and publish those travelers’ trip reviews afterward, and then use those reviews to determine who belongs on The List.

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11. What is Wendy’s “trip support”?

When you use our questionnaire, it enrolls you in our trip support:  We’ll watch over your trip planning from start to finish, sharing important advice via email at key stages of the process. I designed this system because, throughout my decades as a consumer journalist, readers have been telling me about the same recurring issues over and over again, and I can provide insight and answers before those issues arise.  I can help prevent the common misunderstandings and mistakes that can occur between travelers and trip planners and that can spoil a trip.

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12. What is The WOW List Pledge?  

The WOW List is comprised of destination specialists, trip designers, and local fixers who have earned a spot on the List after a rigorous test for the specific location or type of travel they are listed for (see FAQ #13) .  They must also sign a Pledge agreeing to abide by these requirements:

1. I will reply to Wendy’s travelers, within 48 business hours of receiving their questionnaire, to schedule a phone appointment or video call.

2.  I will personally meet by phone/Zoom/Skype with each traveler sent by Wendy because I understand that an in-depth, live conversation (not just an email exchange) is essential to an extraordinary trip. (See FAQ #8 for why.)

3. I will extend my lowest pricing to the travelers who come through Wendy’s questionnaire.  I understand that Wendy’s system was designed so as not to increase costs for the traveler and, in fact, so as to save the traveler money in many cases.

4. I will extend any and all VIP courtesies and benefits that I am able to provide. I will make Wendy’s travelers top-priority clients.

5. I will make every effort to reduce Wendy’s travelers’ financial and health risks in light of Covid. I will detail the measures I am taking to protect their health, and how my booking, cancellation, and postponement policies will help protect their financial investment.

6. I will update Wendy frequently regarding the trip-planning status of the travelers she refers to me, so that she can send emails of advice to the traveler at specific times and stages of the trip planning.

7.  I understand that The WOW List is a list of people, not companies. The WOW List logo applies to me specifically and not to others in my company who are not on The WOW List.

8. If my WOW List designation is revoked, I will stop using the WOW List logo—from any and all years—in my marketing immediately. 

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13. What if there’s no WOW List trip planner in my price range for where I want to travel?

If you ask us, we may be able to recommend someone more affordable. Sometimes we are in the process of testing someone who is more affordable (see FAQ #13).   But remember that some countries are far more expensive than others. Also remember that The WOW List is a list of the best people out there; they provide trips you can’t buy elsewhere, and the prices they charge are considered a great value by your fellow travelers who have experienced the trips first-hand.  Furthermore, nowadays there is no viable business model for inexpensive human-being travel agents. If you want an inexpensive trip, book through a deals website.
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14. How do we test new candidates for The WOW List?

We are constantly road-testing destination-specific travel specialists, local fixers, and other trip designers who come highly recommended by your fellow sophisticated travelers.  First, we evaluate these candidates to determine whether they meet our high standard and have a good chance of ultimately earning a spot on The WOW List. Then we send travelers to them and monitor those trips closely, staying in touch with the travelers and asking them to review their trips afterward.  Eventually, if we receive enough stellar feedback about the WOW List candidate, then we conclude that the travel specialist has earned a spot on The WOW List. This testing process takes at least a year and more typically two or three years—because it takes that long for enough trips to get planned, booked, taken, and reviewed publicly, so that there is no doubt in our minds that the trip planner merits The WOW List.
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15. Do we want readers to nominate trip planners for consideration and to help road-test WOW List candidates?

Yes!  Hundreds of trip planners have asked to be considered for The WOW List, and dozens of readers have asked for distinct specialties that are not on The WOW List yet (usually because we’ve never found anybody good enough in those specialized areas, despite years of searching).  We want to fill these gaps, if possible.  So, if there is someone whose trips you have experienced first-hand and whom you recommend for The WOW List (even if you see others already listed for that region), let us know. If you have used at least three of our recommended people and thus have a clear first-hand understanding of the standard and level of service they represent, and you would like to be a road-tester, let us know.
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16. What are Wendy’s WOW Moments?

On every third qualifying trip you take, you’ll get a gift of a WOW Moment. This is our way of thanking you for helping us fine-tune our evolving WOW system. It’s also how we incentivize travelers to submit their trip reviews within three months of returning from their trip.  The WOW Moments rules are here:  Wendy Wants to Amp Up Your Trip!
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17. Is The WOW List pay-to-play?

Of course not. I’m a journalist and would never jeopardize my reputation, and all the years I’ve spent building up the trust and credibility that my readers and sources depend on, by publicly recommending a weak travel planner, no matter how much they wanted to pay me.  My name, and the standard of travel I stand for, are worth a lot more than that.  Besides, if The WOW List were pay-to-play, there would be 5,000 travel agents on it.

Getting onto The WOW List is like getting into a top college:  You need to pass a series of challenging tests.  Once you’re admitted, it means you’re the best of the best, and in our case, it means a trip planner becomes part of the WOW pool from which Wendy feels confident making her recommendations. (See FAQ #13 for how trip planners get approved for The WOW List.) There is no application fee, and there is no way to pay to bypass the test.  After approval, if the trip planner would like to purchase a special logo they can use to let people know they’ve been accepted (the same way proud parents buy a college bumper sticker), then we make that available to them for a fee.

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18. So how do you fund this website and service?

Perhaps we should charge for our advice, but we are journalists who have spent decades informing as many people as possible, regardless of the size of their wallets, and that is what we believe in.

So we have worked very hard to create a site that is self-sustaining, that enables us to continue sharing our honest advice, and that puts each traveler’s needs and bottom line first and foremost.  We accept advertisers, host conferences with sponsors, and earn speaking fees.  Trip planners who pass our rigorous WOW List test (see FAQ #13), as evidenced by the stellar trip reviews they earn, become approved for The WOW List.  Once approved, they may pay for the right to use The WOW List logo in their own company’s marketing materials.  If you decide that a trip planner we’ve recommended is a good match for your needs and you opt to work with that trip planner and buy a trip, then after you return we may (or may not) receive a referral fee.  In cases where we do, the fee does not impact your trip cost (see The WOW List Pledge).  To get a sense of the standard to which we (and our readers) hold WOW List trip planners, you can read these reviews.

To protect the traveler’s bottom line, we require every WOW List trip planner to sign The WOW List Pledge, ensuring that “Wendy’s travelers” will not pay one cent more when using our questionnaire and receiving our trip monitoring.  And the value that travelers receive shows through in their trip reviews. If we receive complaints that a WOW List trip planner is not delivering value for the money, we remove that person from The WOW List.
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Aquamarine blue waters of sea near Taormina resorts and Etna volcano mount. Giardini-Naxos bay, Ionian sea coast, Taormina, Sicily, Italy.

The 10 Most Popular Countries of 2022 for WOW Trips

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Drumroll, please: The 10 Most-Traveled-To Countries by the users of  Wendy’s WOW system during this comeback year for global travel were:

1. Italy
2. Greece
3. Portugal
4. France
5. United Kingdom
6. Spain
7. Morocco
8. Egypt
9. Kenya
10. Costa Rica

It’s really no surprise that the top six countries are in Europe. Or that seven are on the Mediterranean Sea, where you can find sunny coastlines most of the year.

You might be surprised, though, to see Morocco rank as the most popular country outside of Europe. But it makes sense: Morocco is exotic yet close to the U.S. (so you needn’t spend too many hours on a plane), you can do virtually all your sightseeing and dining outdoors, and Morocco was so careful as regards Covid that travelers felt very safe there this year.

Three countries in Africa made the top ten—and they are all so different!  In addition to Morocco, there was Egypt (for its ancient wonders) and Kenya (for its awesome wildlife). Egypt and Kenya are two countries that reopened early during the pandemic, as did the only country in the Americas to rank in the top ten, Costa Rica. That head start from reopening early helped set these countries up to welcome more travelers this year.

Popularity is a double-edged sword, of course: It can increase the crowds and hassles that travelers need to wrestle with—unless you’ve got the right local fixer in your corner, zapping the lines and logistics. To see what we mean, learn from these traveler reviews. And, to find such a local fixer, look to The WOW List.

READ TRAVELER REVIEWS OF THE LATEST WOW TRIPS

Be a safer, smarter traveler: Sign up for Wendy’s weekly newsletter to stay in the know. And read real travelers’ reviews of Wendy’s WOW List and use it to plan your next trip.

vintage phone

How Never to Wait on Hold with Airline Customer Service Again

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While there are many apps and online tools that you can use to get help when your flight is canceled, delayed, or changed, sometimes you just really need to talk to a live person at your airline. Of course, being put on hold forever doesn’t help anyone (you or the customer-service rep you’re about to unleash your frustration on), so here are a couple of tricks to help you avoid endless waits on hold.

Call the airline’s customer-service office in a different country.

Major airlines have overseas locations where staffers speak English—in the U.K., Germany, Australia, Hong Kong, and Singapore, for example—and they are typically just as able to help you as their U.S.-based counterparts, as long as their office is open (not all call centers are open 24 hours) and not dealing with a snowstorm.  So if you need to speak with someone at, say, American Airlines, try calling one of their worldwide phone numbers.  To keep the cost of the call down, use WhatsApp, Skype, or Google Voice.

Gary Leff, the airline expert who writes View From The Wing and founded Book Your Award, and who put me onto that tip years ago, points out that Delta Airlines has eliminated the overseas-office solution (if you dial their Singapore call center, you’ll get routed into the main queue). But Gary has a workaround:  Dial 1-855-548-2505 when you have travel within 48 hours. “This is the number that’s printed on the airline’s red ‘Need Help?’ cards and on their ‘Need Help?’ signs at the airport,” he explains. “They’ll only assist with travel needs in the upcoming 48 hours, but it circumvents the waits.”

Let someone else wait on hold.

Gary also taught me about GetHuman.com a few years ago when Snowmageddon hit. This site offers many sanity-saving aids, including: phone numbers (with shortcuts) to many companies, step-by-step guides on how to solve certain problems, and representatives who can solve the problem for you if you simply don’t want to deal with any of it. Its crown jewel is a free, automated callback service that gives you an estimate of the current hold duration, sits on hold for you, and calls you back and connects you when a representative answers. Just search the database for your airline to get started.

Let someone else handle it all.

CrankyConcierge.com offers urgent air-travel assistance, such as rerouting when your flight is cancelled or delayed. Run by longtime airline-industry expert Brett Snyder, the company can also plan your flights from the get-go. Emergency help starts at $175.

Something to keep in mind

When you give your credit card to a customer-service agent based in another country, your card may assess a foreign-transaction fee. So use a card that does not charge foreign-transaction fees.

Apps To Help You Survive Holiday Travel

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Airport delays, flight cancellations, and long waits in the security line are some of the not-so-welcome gifts we get during the holiday season. This year’s U.S. airline staffing issues have only raised anxiety about the coming surge, as the number of domestic airline passengers returns to pre-pandemic levels. Though we can’t avoid all holiday travel snafus, we can be prepared because our smartphones are a great resource. Check out this list of apps and other services that can help.

Your airline’s app 
Flight status, gate changes, alerts, nearby lounge info, and your mobile boarding pass—you’ll get all of these through your airline’s app.

Tracking flight delays and cancellations
Apps like FlightStats and FlightAware track flight status and can alert you to delays or weather cancellations, sometimes more efficiently than the airline will. If your flight does get cancelled due to a storm and you want to do what I do—which is to find alternate flights that connect in cities that are having no weather issues—it can tell you which large hubs are unaffected by the current weather situation.

An app for monitoring the wait at airport security lines
The line at security used to be one of the most unpredictable pain points in your journey. Luckily, that has changed, because a few apps can now show you what to expect. The TSA’s official app, MyTSA, shows you estimated wait times, provides tips on what you can and cannot bring through security, and has a handy “Ask TSA” live-chat feature. MiFlight has real-time info crowd-sourced from fellow travelers using the app (available on iPhone only). App in the Air crowdsources wait times too. You can also check the website of the airport; some (like JFK, EWR, and ATL) offer real-time waits at security and customs.  

Real-time updates and answers from your airline
Twitter may have its flaws, but following your airline’s Twitter feed is typically one of the quickest ways to find out about delays or cancellations. It can also be an effective way to get in touch with an airline rep fast: Tweet your question or complaint to the airline, and they’re incentivized to give you a speedy answer.

Emergency airline assistance
Cranky Concierge isn’t an app—it’s a website and (gasp!) a phone service—but when your flight is canceled or delayed, and you really need to get where you’re going, this is the help you need. Sure, you could choose to spend frustrating hours on the phone with unhelpful airline customer service centers, trying to reroute your own trip—or you could let the Cranky team handle it. They have knowledge of and access to info you won’t be able to get on your own, and they can research and rebook you with the best possible option while you get a drink at the airport bar. Cranky Concierge’s urgent assistance service starts at $175 and is accessible through the website and via phone (U.S.: 888-747-1011 x9; global: +1-74-200-4200 x9).

Finding an airport lounge 
You no longer need to hold special status or specific credit cards to access certain airport lounges—just pay a fee and you’re entitled to all the comfy couches, free Wi-Fi, and complimentary snacks the elite travelers get. LoungeBuddy (available for iPhone only) will help you find these pay-for-the-day enclaves, show you photos and reviews posted by other travelers, and let you book a spot in advance when possible. And if you do have special access via a credit card or frequent-flier program, LoungeBuddy can store your info and let you know when those free-access lounges are nearby too.

Priority Pass  is a lounge subscription service. For an annual membership fee between $99 and $429, Priority Pass grants its members access to over 1,300 airport lounges and experiences worldwide. Some credit cards, such as American Express Platinum and Chase Sapphire Reserve, offer Priority Pass membership as a free perk, so check out your card’s benefits package before signing up.

Navigating the airport
FLIO covers some 5,000 airports globally, connecting you with information on the airport you’re in—everything from where to find power outlets to hotels that offer day-use rooms for long layovers. Services featured vary, depending on the airport. A check of services offered by Newark International Airport (EWR) offers details on where to find nursing suites and how to transfer to other New-York-area airports. In Chile’s Santiago airport (SCL), you can find lounges and luggage storage. Here’s a tip: It’s helpful to know your airport’s IATA code, since airports are listed alphabetically, by their three-letter code, and these aren’t always obvious.

When you don’t speak the language
When you’re struggling to communicate with a taxi driver, a good translation app can be a godsend.  Google’s app lets you speak right into the phone, and then it can translate, out loud, into the selected language. Pass the phone back and forth, and you can have a complete (albeit slow) conversation with just about anyone. A new feature of Google Translate is the ability to “continuously translate speech in near real-time.” The app also has dozens of downloadable language dictionaries, so that you can use it offline.

Another good option is Apple’s Translate, which recently received a major update. It features type, voice, or picture translation, like Google, but only features 11 languages at the moment.

Last-minute hotel stays if your flight is delayed
Sometimes things don’t go as planned, or maybe you didn’t plan at all, and you need a hotel room right now. HotelTonight is made for those times, offering last-minute discounts on hotels of various star levels. The app doesn’t cover every destination in the world, but it does include a lot of big cities and popular travel spots in the U.S. and overseas. One helpful feature is that it sorts urban areas both by neighborhoods and by airports.

Getting to or from the airport, or anywhere else
When you need a ride and you don’t want to drive (or shouldn’t), Uber and Lyft are still the go-to rideshare apps every traveler should have in their phone. Uber is particularly useful in many other countries around the world.

Another alternative to airport taxis 
Landing in an airport in an unfamiliar city can be an unsettling experience if ridesharing is banned and you have no idea how reliable or reputable the taxis are. Welcome Pickups contracts with drivers and limo companies in 99 cities worldwide, and you can schedule a transfer from their app or site in seconds. For roughly the price of a local taxi, your driver will meet you at baggage claim or in a specified area and deliver you to your destination. Communication is done within the app, and you can pay by credit card.

Restaurant reservations 
The last thing a weary traveler wants after a long flight is to have to wander the streets looking for a meal. Google and Apple Maps will show you highly rated restaurants in your area, but we love the ease of the reservation app OpenTable to book a table. Particularly helpful, especially when visiting a new city, is the “near me” function. OpenTable, already well entrenched in the U.S., is expanding its international footprint and now serving countries such as the U.K., India, Singapore, Mexico, Australia, and beyond. One tip: You will want to establish your free account before you leave home.

Maps and navigation
What makes Maps.Me so useful is that it offers complete city and country downloads, perfect for touching down in a foreign country where you don’t want to incur roaming data fees.

Getting around town and beyond
Rome2Rio incorporates public transportation schedules with drive, walk, and even scooter/bike times to give you step-by-step travel options in each format within a clean, clear interface. It’ll even tell you which train car to ride in and what subway exit to take. It’s not just city-focused; you can plan trips between cities, and Rome2Rio will offer recommendations of flights, trains, and buses, along with how much they cost.

Just in case: Covid-related services at the airport
Airsiders is a German B2B company that builds software so that airlines work together on complex travel itineraries. What that means for us travelers is that it ends up providing really useful airport data for our trips. You don’t need an app for this, just go to its website’s Health section, type in any airport, and see the Covid-related rules and services there, including masking policies and on-site testing centers.

What other apps have saved you during holiday travel? Tell us about them in the comments below.

Packing Tricks For When You’re Flying Home with Souvenirs or Gifts

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Do you ever start a trip with only carry-on luggage but do so much shopping en route that you must check a bag on the return?  As just one example, on a Thanksgiving trip that started in the souks of Morocco and ended with Christmas markets and holiday shopping in Austria and Germany, I accumulated so much stuff that flying carry-on-only was no longer possible–certainly not on intra-European flights—and my luggage had to expand.

If you travel with certain types of bags and a few multi-purpose essentials that take up almost no space, it will make it so much easier to transport all those mementoes and gifts you pick up along the way.

Here are the five items that have proven most essential to me on countless trips. Consider them the next time you need to pack for a range of climates and activities, and for accumulating stuff as you go:

Three of my packing essentials, laid out on my bed at Royal Mansour in Marrakech, make it easy to pack light.

* A thin, lightweight duffel.
I always pack one of these in my carry-on wheelie. That way, if I collect too much stuff during the trip, I can check the wheelie on the return flight and use the duffel as my carry-on. Many duffels will do, but I happen to have a Le Sportsac Large Weekender I’ve used for at least a decade for this purpose.

* An expandable carry-on wheelie.
If you unzip a special zipper that wraps around my TravelPro 22-inch expandable spinner, it magically yields an extra 44 square inches of width.

* A backpack-style handbag with built-in laptop sleeve.
As female business travelers know, the easiest way to limit your luggage to one carry-on and one personal item is if the personal item is a combination handbag-plus-laptop-case. My Tumi Voyageur Backpack is stylish enough for business meetings yet rugged enough for hikes in the rain, keeps my hands free, and keeps all my electronic accessories safe, sound, and organized.

* An ultralight, compressible parka.
Mine happens to be a North Face Thermoball Jacket. It keeps me toasty warm in wind, rain, and snow, yet does not overheat, and it compresses to a tiny fraction of its bulk, folding into its own pocket, so I can also use it as a pillow on the plane.

* A warm yet lightweight pashmina shawl.
I bought the one you see in the photo on sale at the Frette shop in Florence, Italy, years ago. It doubles as an airplane blanket and a headscarf in the rain (or if I want to pop into a mosque).

For more essentials, here’s the complete Wendy’s Magic Packing List. What items are key to your packing strategy? Share your answers in the comments below.

Chicago O'Hare International Airport decorated for Christmas

10 Ways to Minimize Holiday Travel Hassles

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It’s that most wonderful time of the year when U.S. airports are jammed, overhead bins crammed, flights delayed, and travel headaches numerous. And this year will be no different. The price-charting app Hopper’s holiday travel outlook notes passenger totals for domestic U.S. flights are approaching pre-pandemic levels, while airline staffing issues have resulted in fewer flights (and increased delays and cancellations). It’s a perfect storm that’s pushed prices for holiday flights close to 40 percent higher than last year. Nerves understandably frazzle when delays hit on a tight travel schedule, so prepare yourself with the following tips, don’t forget your documents, and remember what’s ultimately waiting at your destination: family, friends, and holiday cheer.

 

1. Download must-have apps.

There are apps that tell you how long you’ll have to wait on your airport security line, help you get the assistance you need when your flight plans derail, and more. Here are a few of my favorites.

2. Don’t wrap gifts that are going into your carry-on.

The TSA can ask you to unwrap gifts in your carry-on for examination, slowing down you and everyone else in the security line (and ruining your crisp corner folds.) They can also unwrap gifts in checked luggage as well. Wrap them when you arrive or send them by mail.

3. Pack so it’s a breeze to get your holiday gifts home.

You may have figured out how to get to Grandma’s with only carry-ons (maybe you ordered all your gifts for your aunts and uncles and cousins online and had them shipped), but what about getting home again with the gifts they give you? Here’s my strategy for bringing home a lot more stuff than you started with.

4. Check in for your flight online 24 hours ahead.

Checking in the day before reduces your chance of getting bumped from an oversold flight and increases your chance of snagging a better seat—one made available 24 hours in advance. That’s when elite-status frequent fliers get upgraded from coach, leaving behind prime empty seats in the forward cabin or exit rows.

5. Leave for the airport earlier than usual.

You know all those drivers you battle with for a parking spot at the mall? You’ll now be battling them on the road to the airport. And in the parking garage. Allow time for being stuck in traffic. Use the predictor function in your favorite navigation app (Google Maps, Apple Maps, Waze, etc.) to estimate your travel time and alert you when to leave, based on the current traffic pattern and your desired arrival.  And if possible, pre-book a parking spot; we’ve had good experiences with The Parking Spot. If you can’t prebook, some airports offer frequently updated availability reports for their own parking lots.

And: If you’re scheduling a car service or you’re ride-sharing to the airport, add an extra 15 to 20 minutes to your start time to account for any traffic delays.

6. Flight delayed? Relax in an airport lounge.

More and more pay-as-you-go independent lounges have been popping up all over the U.S.  For $25 to $50 you can escape the circus in the terminal and kick back in comfy armchairs—with Wi-Fi, televisions, and snacks—or even shower or nap. As for club lounges run by airlines, many now sell day passes for $60—and give you access to airline agents who can be more helpful in fixing travel snafus than agents you talk to at the gate or on the phone. Use an app like LoungeBuddy to find and book lounges in your airport. Priority Pass is among the membership organizations that offer access to lounges; pre-paid packages start at $99 per year (Priority Pass is also offered as a perk with credit cards such as American Express Platinum and Chase’s Sapphire Reserve).

7. Be the first to know if your flight is canceled.

If a storm cancels your flight, you’ll be in a mad race with everyone else to grab what few seats are available on alternate flights. If bad weather is brewing in the days before your trip, sign up for flight status alerts, and also check your airline’s website frequently so that, as soon as the airline announces it’s waiving ticket-change fees, you can take action. Also monitor the airline’s Twitter feed; it sometimes provides the quickest updates. Be prepared for anything by downloading essential apps and tools for winter travel, and bookmark this tip on how to never wait on hold with an airline again.

8. Flight canceled? Look for a storm-free hub to connect in.

FlightStats.com tells you at a glance which airports and airlines are suffering weather-related delays and, just as important, which are not. Note which hubs are having no weather issues (Las Vegas, for instance) and rebook to connect through one of them. (Vegas may not be in the linear path to your final destination, but you could end up at your destination much quicker than if you remain in a snowbound airport. And, if you need to overnight in Vegas, there are inexpensive hotels and frequent flights out.)

9. Don’t waste time waiting on hold.

Rather than phoning the airline’s jammed U.S. customer service line and getting stuck on hold for hours while the few available seats to your destination vaporize, call one of the airline’s English-speaking overseas reservations numbers—say, in England, Germany, Australia, or Singapore. (You’ll find these numbers on the airline’s website.)  Here’s how to never have to wait on hold with an airline customer-service center again.

Or check your airline’s app. You can often rebook yourself without paying change fees.  Initiating a text chat session from the app (if available) will also result in quicker responses. Plus, your frequent-flier status can push you up the queue

10. Score a free future airline ticket.

‘Tis the season for oversold flights, so there’s a chance you could score a free or discounted ticket by volunteering to take a later plane. Delta and American are among airlines that actually ask flyers to name their own voucher amount when checking bags at their kiosk, so passengers compete with themselves and avoid escalating gate auctions. Another strategy: If you’re willing to volunteer to be delayed for a few hours in exchange for a discounted or free future ticket, consider approaching the gate agent before they have made an announcement, so you’re first on the list of volunteers. But don’t accept a voucher without making yourself aware of all the restrictions (blackout dates, expiration date, etc.) and ensuring you have a confirmed seat on a later flight.

Colorful empty adirondack Chairs lined up on a sunny Beach

How to Use Thanksgiving to Improve Your Summer Vacation

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If you’re gathering with family this Thanksgiving and could use a safe conversation topic, we’ve got a suggestion:  If those are the same family and friends you travel with for summer vacation, then while you’re passing the turkey and cranberry sauce, go around the table and ask everyone what sort of travel experience they’re dreaming about for next summer.

Why start thinking about this now for summer 2023?  Because it’s going to be busy out there, especially in Western Europe.  Remember, until mid-June of this year, U.S. travelers had to take a Covid test, and test negative, before they were allowed to fly back to the U.S.; as a result, many people put off making plans to leave the country last summer. That’s why we’re predicting even more pent-up demand for international destinations in summer of 2023 than we saw in 2022. If you can figure out now what sort of experience you and your family would enjoy most, it can save you money and headaches later.

Family summer-vacation options with limited inventory—Italian villas, charming hotels in the French countryside, African safaris, Galapagos expeditions—are already quite full.  But there are smart alternatives that are on savvy travelers’ radar and do still have plenty of availability, and we’re happy to help you find them and plan for them.  So use your Thanksgiving get-together to create a travel wish list for 2023, then use our WOW List or our Get a Personalized Trip Recommendation feature to make those wishes come true. By using our WOW approach to trip planning, you can avoid the crowds, minimize logistics, and enjoy WOW trips like these.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

beach and rocks at Anse Source d'Argent beach Seychelles

Where to Go in August: The Best Places to Travel

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A lot of people ask us where to go in August: It’s one of the few times of year when they can take a week or two off from work, yet it’s also when so many places are hot, crowded, filled with tourists, devoid of locals, and priced at their most expensive. If all you need is an easy beach escape with the family, consider the southeastern United States: Southeast kids are back in school by mid-August, which means lower rates at lovely, breezy, kid-friendly coastal resorts in places like Virginia’s Northern Neck and St. Simon’s and Sea Island, Georgia. If you’re itching for something more adventurous, though, consider the following options.

To understand what makes a trip WOW, read these recent reviews from our travelers. And don’t miss the rest of our “Where to Go” series on the best destinations for every month of the year.

Newfoundland and the Maritimes, Atlantic Canada

Newfoundland scenery

Newfoundland scenery. Photo credit: Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism

Ever since Wendy went there one August several years ago, she’s been urging other East Coasters to flee to Newfoundland in late summer, as an antidote to the crowds, heat, and beach traffic that choke the U.S. Eastern Seaboard. You get a foreign island with dramatic sweeping landscapes, lighthouses and fishing villages galore, roads to yourself (well, you plus a few moose), a distinct local culture, and incredibly friendly people, all without having to schlep too far from home. (You can fly there via Toronto or Halifax from many U.S. hubs.) A must on any Newfoundland itinerary is the Fogo Island Inn, a fascinating five-star philanthropic experiment that Wendy says has the most soul of any hotel she’s ever seen. Read why Wendy loved it there.  

Read reviews of WOW trips to Newfoundland and the Maritime Provinces. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Atlantic Canada

British Columbia, Western Canada

Heli-hiking at Kinuseo Falls in Monkman Provincial Park

Heli-hiking at Kinuseo Falls in Monkman Provincial Park, British Columbia. Photo: Hello BC

August days are usually clear and sunny (ideal for seaplane and helicopter flights). It’s prime time for kayaking, hiking, fishing, and river rafting, not to mention bear- and whale-watching. August is when Wendy chose to take her family to Whistler (see We Had the Best Family Trip in Whistler and We Never Put on Skis and I Can’t Believe We Did This: Mountain Climbing in Whistler), as well as to the Discovery Islands (see My Extreme Week in Canada and 6 Otherworldly Escapes That Feel More Remote Than They Are).

Read reviews of WOW trips to British Columbia. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Western Canada

Iceland

green hills and waterfalls by Kirkjufell mountain,Iceland

Kirkjufell mountain, Iceland. Photo: Shutterstock

Iceland’s high season starts to taper off in the second half of the month, meaning that you’ll find fewer crowds, more hotel availability, and somewhat better prices—but the weather is still pleasant for exploring the country’s awesome landscapes.

Read reviews of WOW trips to Iceland. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Iceland

London

A rib ride on the Thames River is a fun way to see waterfront sights such as the London Eye.

A rib ride on the Thames River is a fun way to see waterfront sights such as the London Eye.

England’s capital is a smart choice in August: It’s a short flight (relatively speaking), it’s not too hot or crowded, and London hotels that typically cater to business travelers have reduced rates (and many of the city’s museums are free). London in August is such a smart move that that’s when Wendy took her own family there—and you can read what each of her young sons had to say about it in Do’s and Don’ts For Your Trip To London.

Read reviews of WOW trips to England. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to England

Austria

Wachau Austria view of village and green field

Summer in Austria is all about beautiful weather, long days, and festivals. Photo: Austria Tourism Board

The days are relatively long, the weather is great, and there are music festivals—especially opera—all over the country. You can usually find good hotel deals in August, except in Salzburg, which hosts its six-week classical music festival (one of the biggest in Europe).

Read reviews of WOW trips to Austria. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Austria

Great Barrier Reef Islands, Australia

Great Barrier Reef aerial view

Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Photo: Shutterstock

August brings clear blue skies, good visibility for divers and snorkelers, and calm seas (the wind usually dies down at the end of July). It’s also a great time to view wildlife: dwarf minke whales visiting the northern reefs, manta rays off Lady Elliott Island in the region’s southern zone, and humpback whales—including Migaloo, the world’s only known all-white humpback—on their annual migration to Antarctica.

Read reviews of WOW trips to Australia. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Australia

Alaska Small-Ship Expedition Cruises

Guests explore on Zodiac in Southeast Alaska, Tracy Arm, calving ice

Guests spot calving ice while exploring on Zodiac in Southeast Alaska. Photo: Lindblad Expeditions/Michael S. Nolan

August is especially inviting for a small-ship expedition cruise to Alaska, as daylight remains long, wildlife is plentiful, and the glaciers are uniquely illuminated by the late summer sun. Stay up late at this time of year and you may even be treated to the gorgeous green glow of the northern lights.

Read reviews of WOW expedition cruises to Alaska. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Alaska

Yellowstone National Park

Grand Prismatic Spring view at Yellowstone National Park

Grand Prismatic Spring view at Yellowstone National Park. Photo: Shutterstock

In August you’ll find warm days and cool nights, wildflowers in bloom, and hiking trails mostly free of snow. Do keep in mind that this is the busiest time in Yellowstone, with prices to match, and skies may be hazy from wildfires. Things are noticeably quieter during the last week of the month, since families have headed home and retirees wait until after Labor Day to visit.

To get a WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to the American West

Washington State: The San Juan Islands

Lime Kiln Point Lighthouse, Haro Straight, San Juan Islands, Washington

Lime Kiln Point Lighthouse, Haro Straight, San Juan Islands, Washington. Photo: Shutterstock

August brings the clearest skies to the San Juans, making it one of the most popular months to visit the region.

Read reviews of WOW trips to Washington. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to the San Juan Islands

Jackson Hole and the Grand Tetons

kayaking in jackson lake grand teton national park

Grand Teton National Park is full of outdoor activities in the summer, including kayaking on Jackson Lake. Photo: Billie Cohen

July and August bring the best weather of the summer, with warm days and cool nights; wildflowers are blooming, hiking trails are usually free of snow, and rivers should be clear of spring runoff, making for perfect fly-fishing conditions. All other summer activities, such as biking, rock climbing, rafting, and horseback riding, are easily available. (Skies may be hazy from area wildfires in August.)

To get a WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to the American West

Kenya Safari: The Great Migration

Great Migration, Mara River, Kenya

The Great Migration on the Mara River. Photo: James Friedman

The best time to see the Great Migration—one of the grandest wildlife spectacles on Earth, with more than two million wildebeest and zebra on the move and predators lurking nearby—is July through September, and the best place to be is in the Masai Mara National Reserve. There are more than 15 different river crossings in the Masai Mara (bottlenecks along the migration route where the animals must avoid hungry crocodiles and lions), with great names like Smelly Crossing, Rekero Crossing, Football Crossing, Helicopter Crossing, and Double Crossing. You need to be patient, and in the right location at the right time of day. To increase your odds, consider staying at two camps in different locations.

Read reviews of WOW trips to Kenya here, here, and here. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Costa Rica

Monteverde Costa Rica

Monteverde, Costa Rica. Photo: Shutterstock

Mid-June through mid–August is the middle of the rainy season, but prices are relatively low, everything is lush and green, and weather patterns are predictable: You get beautiful sunny mornings for adventure activities, and the strong showers in the afternoon give you time to rest while listening to the tropical rain that cools things off for the evening.

Read reviews of WOW trips to Costa Rica. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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The Seychelles

beach and rocks at Anse Source d'Argent beach Seychelles

Chez Batista Villas, Seychelles. Image courtesy of Torsten Dickmann – STB

August is one of the sunniest months in the Seychelles. Rain can occur at any time of the year, but storms are typically short and isolated. Bear in mind that seas can be a little rougher from May to September.

Read reviews of WOW trips to the Seychelles. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Rwanda and Uganda: Gorilla Trekking

Gorilla in Rwanda

The best time for gorilla tracking in Rwanda is June through September. Photo: James Friedman.

The best time for tracking the gorillas in Rwanda and Uganda is June through September, when it’s cool and there is less precipitation (but remember, this is still the rainforest, and storms can hit any day).

Read reviews of WOW trips to Rwanda and Uganda here and here. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a gorilla-trekking safari

New Zealand

Milford Sound, Fiordland National Park, New Zealand

Milford Sound, Fiordland National Park, New Zealand. Photo: Rob-Suisted/New Zealand Tourism

Summer skiing, anyone? August is the top month for skiing in New Zealand: You’ll get the most reliable heli-skiing conditions in August—and combining that with a tropical island like Fiji can be fun.

Read reviews of WOW trips to New Zealand. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Cambodia and Angkor Wat

silhouette Sunrise Fisherman fishing on the boat at Tonle Sap lake Cambodia

Tonle Sap during sunrise, Cambodia. Photo: Shutterstock

Late May through early September is Cambodia’s green season. It rains two days out of three, but the mornings are almost always sunny and bright, with rain clouds gathering toward the late afternoon; get out of bed early to explore when Cambodians are most active ahead of the midday heat, and you’ll enjoy far fewer crowds and vibrantly green rice paddies. Plus, the money you save on shoulder-season hotel rates you can spend on massages, world-class golf, and fine food.

Read reviews of WOW trips to Cambodia. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Other Good Options This Month

Click on any of the destinations below to find out why August is a good time to go.

North America and Caribbean

Washington: Seattle

Central and South America

Bolivia

Brazil: Rio de Janeiro, Trancoso, and the Amazon

Colombia: Bogota

Ecuador: Quito and the Andes

Peru

Europe

European Canal Barges

Norway

Scotland

Switzerland: hiking in the Alps

Asia and Pacific

Fiji

French Polynesia: Tahiti

India: Agra and Ladakh

Mongolia: camel trekking

Nepal: Upper Mustang

Papua New Guinea: trekking

Africa

Botswana

Madagascar

Zambia

Zimbabwe (second half of the month)

 

 

 

 

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Beautiful sandy beach near Lagos in Ponta da Piedade, Algarve region, Portugal

Where to Go in May: The Best Places to Travel

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Mild. Temperate. Those are the words used to describe the agreeable climate in many parts of the globe come May. In many destinations, it’s an oh-so-lovely time to be hiking, sightseeing, or simply people-watching at an outdoor café.

To understand what makes a trip WOW, read these recent reviews from our travelers. And don’t miss the rest of our “Where to Go” series on the best destinations for every month of the year.

Japan

Beautiful Cherry Blossom, Japan

Cherry blossom trees, Japan.

May (after Golden Week, which ends on May 5) brings great weather throughout the entire country. While the cherry blossoms generally peak in April, you can still enjoy the sweet scent and beauty of the blooms in May, but without the crowds.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Japan. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Scandinavia

Reine, Lofoten, Norway. The village of Reine under a sunny, blue sky, with the typical rorbu houses. View from the top

The village of Reine in Lofoten, Norway. Photo: Shutterstock

After months of darkness, May’s longer days bring locals out to soak up the sunlight, making the outdoor cafes lively. You’ll also find an abundance of freshly caught seafood, and celebrations throughout the countryside leading up to the summer solstice.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Scandinavia. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Santorini and Mykonos, Greece

Oia town on Santorini island, Greece. Traditional and famous houses and churches with blue domes over the Caldera, Aegean sea

Oia town, on Santorini, is famous for its blue-domed churches and white houses overlooking the caldera. Photo: Shutterstock

May through early June is one of the most beautiful times to travel to the Cyclades—the group of Greek islands that includes the iconic spots of Santorini and Mykonos, but also less-crowded favorites of our travelers, including Naxos, Paros, and Sifnos. Days are warm, but the sun is not as relentless as it is in summer. Wildflowers blossom, beaches are empty, and locals welcome you with smiles.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Greece. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Portugal

Vineyards in the Valley of the River Douro, Portugal

Vineyards in Portugal’s Douro Valley. Photo: Shutterstock

The country’s weather is beautiful from March to mid-June. In the Algarve, the coastal towns are not too busy yet, so you can get a table in restaurants and enjoy uncrowded beaches. The Douro Valley’s rolling hills are lush and green from the winter rains, and there is excitement in Porto as the city prepares for summer festivities.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Portugal. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Spain

La Rambla, Barcelona, Spain

La Rambla, Barcelona, Spain. Photo: Ronny Siegel/Flickr

Café terraces open in May, and residents head outdoors to enjoy Spain’s beautiful cities before the heat sets in and the crowds arrive. Spring is the perfect time for strolling and picnicking in the sparkling Mediterranean light. In Madrid, everyone pours into the streets in mid-May to celebrate San Isidro.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Spain. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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France

Burgundy's rolling hillsides

Burgundy’s rolling hillsides. Photo: Truffle Pig

Paris is already crowded by late spring, but May is the optimal time to explore France’s countryside: Down south in Provence, the weather is lovely, there aren’t as many tourists, and fields of poppies are in colorful bloom. In Burgundy, temperatures have usually warmed up after the feast days of the Saint de Glace (which fall in the second week of the month and seem to bring showers or even frost). Later in May, flowers on trees bloom and the vineyards turn a bright springy green. May is also filled with bank holidays and tends to be any French person’s favorite—and it never hurts to see the French in the right mood.
Read reviews of WOW trips to France here, here, and here. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Croatia

view of water and town Rovinj Croatia

Rovinj, Croatia. Photo: Billie Cohen

In late April and May, you have glorious weather, the crowds are thinner, and prices are a little lower than at the height of summer.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Croatia. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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The Cotswolds, England

England, Cotswolds, Hidcote gardens. Photo: Jonathan Epstein

Hidcote Manor Gardens in the Cotswolds, England. Photo: Jonathan Epstein

By May, spring has taken hold, so flowers are blooming across the Cotswolds—fruit-tree blossoms, clematis, and wisteria are everywhere. The air smells fresh, and there are so many shades of green. Hotel rates are also lower than in the summer high season.
Read reviews of WOW trips to England. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Los Cabos, Mexico

a villa with a firepit and pool in Cabo Mexico

May in Los Cabos means less crowded beaches and restaurants—and more comfortable temperatures. Photo: CaboVillas

In May, the weather is mild and there’s little chance of rain. The bustle of spring break has passed, so it’s much less busy than just a month prior. That means less crowded beaches and restaurants—but more comfortable temperatures than the very hot summer months ahead. Plus, villa rates are lower than in high season (December through April), with great deals to be had.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Los Cabos. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Peru’s Sacred Valley

Springtime at Machu Picchu Peru

Springtime at Machu Picchu. Photo: Luis Felipa

May is a wonderful month to be outdoors exploring the Sacred Valley of the Incas. Choose from a wide variety of hiking trails for easy day hikes or overnight treks through the Andes. Skies are mostly clear, hillsides are green following the heavier rains that have ended by mid-April, and there are fewer crowds. Temperatures are also warmer on average than during the peak season (June through August). Base yourself in the Sacred Valley and enjoy convenient side trips to Machu Picchu and Cusco.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Peru. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Rio de Janeiro and the Pantanal, Brazil

a toucan in Pantanal, Brazil. Photo: Matueté Brasil Travel Design

Pantanal, Brazil. Photo: Matueté Brasil Travel Design

Given its large mass and varied geography, the perfect time to visit Brazil depends on what parts of the country you hope to see. May makes for a good city-country combo: some of the best animal sightings in the Pantanal wetlands, and the sunniest skies and a gentler mood in Rio.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Brazil. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Atacama Desert, Chile

Atacama desert, Andes, Chile

Atacama desert, Andes, Chile. Photo: Shutterstock

This geological wonder is typically dry by May—though the Atacama is one of the driest places on the planet, in recent years it’s seen rain showers and even flooding from January to March—and many dormant desert plants are in bloom, transforming the arid landscape. Try to visit during the new moon, when the Atacama’s famously dark sky is at its prime for stargazing.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Chile. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Bolivia

small piles of sand dot the Salar de Uyuni salt flat in Bolivia. A snowy mountaintop is in the background

Salar de Uyuni salt flat, Bolivia. Photo: Shutterstock

May is the sweet spot at the Salar de Uyuni salt flats: It’s not too cold, not too crowded, and the Salar is dry enough to cross in a vehicle but you still get some reflections off its surface.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Bolivia. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Scotland

Kinnoull Hill tower ruins, Perth Scotland, overlooking the River Tay on a clear day

Kinnoull Hill tower ruins overlooking the River Tay, Scotland. Photo: Shutterstock

In May the weather is mild and even warm on occasion, and you won’t have to deal with the August crowds. Since this month falls before peak season (June–September), you can find some bargains, and the hills and roadways are dotted with blooming gorse, a bright-yellow flower.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Scotland. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Mediterranean Cruises

Celebrity Reflection cruise ship

The Celebrity Reflection cruise ship. Photo: Celebrity Cruises

May is the sweet spot: The weather is gorgeous, temperatures are ideal for sightseeing, and crowds are not as abundant as in summer, when kids are out of school and both overseas visitors and Europeans flock to the Mediterranean.
Read reviews of WOW Mediterranean cruises here and here. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Aegean Coast, Turkey

view from a wooden gulet boat on Turkey's Aegean Coast

A wooden gulet is an enticing way to explore the hidden islands of the Aegean. Photo: Sea Song Tours

In May the sun is out but it’s not sweltering, the sea is calm, and summer crowds haven’t arrived. Plus, rates are up to 50% lower than during the high season of July and August.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Turkey. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Jerusalem

Tower of David, Jerusalem, Israel.

The City of David, in the eastern Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan, is an archeological site with remains dating back more than 5,000 years. Photo: Noam Chen

The optimal time to visit Jerusalem is after Passover—which ends on April 13 in 2023—but before summer: During this window, the weather is pleasant and the hotel rates are lower. Particularly wonderful is to be at any of the thousands of kibbutzes that dot the country for the festival of the first fruits for Shavuot (which runs May 25-27 in 2023).
Read reviews of WOW trips to Israel. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Fiji

aerial view of Savasi Island Fiji

Savasi Island is a 52-acre private island in Fiji with only seven villas. Photo: Savasi Island

May falls during the islands’ drier “winter,” but outside the peak months of June and July, when Aussie and Kiwi vacationers drive up airfares and hotel rates. During the winter, temperatures are at their coolest (with highs hovering around 80), and the occasional rain showers are brief. With less humidity there are also fewer mosquitoes.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Fiji. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands

Quito plaza, Ecuador

Quito Plaza, Ecuador. Photo: Myths & Mountains

Ecuador’s capital city, Quito, is called the City of Four Seasons for a reason: The weather can change in the blink of an eye. May falls during the shoulder season, when the temperature is mild, usually reaching the high 60s, and there are fewer travelers. It’s also a great month to combine mainland Ecuador with the Galapagos Islands, before all the families descend in summertime, filling the boats there.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Ecuador. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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A Safari in Namibia

Sorris Sorris Lodge, Namibia

Sorris Sorris Lodge, Namibia. Photo: Tino De Njis/Namibia Exclusive

In May, temperatures are mild night and day, the occasional rains tease the desert wildflowers into bloom, and the animals are fat and happy. Read what Brook and her son loved about Namibia in spring.

Read reviews of WOW trips to Namibia. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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A Safari in Zambia and Zimbabwe

two people paddle past elephants on the Zambezi River in Chiawa, Zimbabwe

Zambia’s Lower Zambezi National Park is one of the continent’s most magnificent wildlife reserves, in one of its safest and most welcoming countries. Photo: Explore

In May, everything is still verdantly green from the rains and the temperature is delightful, but it’s dry enough that you see plenty of wildlife and there are virtually no mosquitoes or tsetse flies. Game viewing during this time is not quite as intense as later in the season, when it is very dry and dusty, but the landscape is more beautiful and the animals more at ease.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Zambia and Zimbabwe. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Romania

The Corvinesti castle also known as the Hunyad castle, is a Gothic-Renaissance castle in Hunedoara (Transylvania), Romania.

The Corvinesti castle also known as the Hunyad castle, is a Gothic-Renaissance castle in Hunedoara (Transylvania), Romania. Photo: Shutterstock

May and June offer prime weather with the fewest crowds at the country’s dozens of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Available activities range from horseback riding and skydiving to truffle hunting and wine tasting.  Yes, we’re well aware that Romania shares its northern border with Ukraine, but Wendy and her family felt completely safe there last August, and even got to talk with refugees and hear about their experiences.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Romania. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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The Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon Kolb studio.

Kolb Studio, Grand Canyon. Photo: Mike Buchheit

Beat the summer crowds and head to the canyon in springtime, when the weather is still pleasant. The right local fixer can have you flying over the canyon, hiking or riding mules into it, and gazing into its vastness from the best vantage points along the rim. (The South Rim is open year-round; the North Rim opens in mid-May.)
To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Other Good Options This Month

Click on any of the destinations below to find out why May is a good time to go.

North America and Caribbean

Hawaii: Maui, Oahu, and the Big Island

Mexico: Puerto Vallarta and Riviera Maya

Montana and Wyoming: Yellowstone National Park

St. Barts: beach and villa vacations

Utah’s national parks

 

Central and South America

Costa Rica: Pacific and Central regions

 

Europe

England: castles, manor houses, and gardens

European canal barge cruises

France: Paris apartment rentals

Germany: Bavaria

Hungary

Ireland: Killarney and County Kerry

Italy: Umbria and Venice

Malta

Norway (in late May)

Turkey: Cappadocia and Istanbul

 

Asia and Pacific

China: big cities and small villages, and Yunnan Province

India: Trekking and tiger reserves

Indonesia: Bali without the crowds

Myanmar’s higher elevations

Nepal

New Zealand, including Queenstown hiking and cycling

Papua New Guinea

Southeast Asia

 

Africa and Middle East

Madagascar

Morocco

Oman

Seychelles

South Africa: Cape Town and Winelands

 

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Beautiful Trancoso beach near Porto Seguro in state of Bahia, Brazil

Where to Go in July: The Best Places to Travel

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Even in the peak summer travel month of July, there are still plenty of places in the world where you can escape the heat, crowds, and beach-bound traffic jams. Here are ideas for you, gathered from our Insider’s Guides to destinations worldwide.

To understand what makes a trip WOW, read these recent reviews from our travelers. And don’t miss the rest of our “Where to Go” series on the best destinations for every month of the year.

Newfoundland and the Maritimes, Atlantic Canada

Breaching humpback whale, Newfoundland

July and August are prime time for spotting humpback whales in Newfoundland. Photo: Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism

Ever since Wendy visited one summer several years ago, she’s been urging other East Coasters to flee to Newfoundland in summer, as an antidote to the crowds, heat, and beach traffic that choke the U.S. Eastern Seaboard. You get a foreign island with dramatic sweeping landscapes, lighthouses and fishing villages galore, roads to yourself (well, you plus a few moose), a distinct local culture, and incredibly friendly people, all without having to schlep too far from home. (You can fly there via Toronto or Halifax from many U.S. hubs.) A must on any Newfoundland itinerary is the Fogo Island Inn, a fascinating five-star philanthropic experiment that Wendy says has the most soul of any hotel she’s ever seen. Read why Wendy loved it there.  

Read reviews of WOW trips to Newfoundland. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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British Columbia, Western Canada

bear looking at camera on Nakina River in British Columbia canada

Summer is a good time for bear-viewing. Photo: Entree Canada

The days are usually clear and sunny (ideal for seaplane and helicopter flights) and the seasonal wilderness lodges, which typically open in mid-May, have been operating long enough to work out any kinks. The summer months are also prime time for kayaking, hiking, fishing, and river rafting, not to mention bear- and whale-watching.

Read reviews of WOW trips to British Columbia. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Norway

Reine, Lofoten, Norway. The village of Reine under a sunny, blue sky, with the typical rorbu houses. View from the top

The village of Reine in Lofoten, Norway. Photo: Shutterstock

July brings Norway’s best weather. The days are endless, with almost no night, the nature is at its peak, the waterfalls are still large, and you still have some snowcapped mountains in the fjord area.

Read reviews of WOW trips to Norway. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Bora Bora, Tahiti, and French Polynesia

Fakarava island in french polynesia with canoe on turquoise blue water

Fakarava atoll, French Polynesia. Photo: Julius Silver/Pixabay

The “Heiva” festival falls during July, with local contests on outer islands early in the month and a culmination of ceremonies in Papeete, Tahiti around the 20th. July also falls during the “Trade Wind” season, when the breezes keep temperatures in the low 80s and the humidity is down as well. It still rains, but in 30- to 40-minute bursts, and then the sun comes out again (a cycle that can repeat a few times through each afternoon and evening). The lagoons can be a bit choppy, but are still great for kite surfing, catamarans, or outrigger canoes with a sail and, of course, sailing.

Read reviews of WOW trips to French Polynesia. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Iceland

green hills and waterfalls by Kirkjufell mountain,Iceland

Kirkjufell mountain, Iceland. Photo: Shutterstock

In July Iceland sees about 20 hours of daylight, so you can pack your trip full of the outdoor pursuits that the country is famous for. It’s also when the weather is mildest—which here means average temperatures in the mid-50s—and the roads, hiking trails, and lava caves aren’t blocked by snow.

Read reviews of WOW trips to Iceland. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Belize

A row of thatched palapas on golden sand on the tiny island of Rendezvous Caye in the Belize Barrier Reef, off the coast of Belize, Central America

Rendezvous Caye in the Belize Barrier Reef. Photo: Shutterstock

While July technically falls during the country’s rainy season, the showers are sporadic and typically not a daily occurrence. Hotel rates are lower at this time of year, and it’s also the beginning of lobster season—so you can fish by day and enjoy the freshest possible crustaceans for dinner that very evening. Wendy and her family have enjoyed two idyllic trips to Belize in July/early August, including one when her son got SCUBA-certified right on the dock of their boutique resort.

Read reviews of WOW trips to Belize. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Great Barrier Reef, Australia

Great Barrier Reef aerial view

Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Photo: Shutterstock

July is the perfect time for whale-watching on the Great Barrier Reef: You can go swimming or snorkeling with dwarf minke whales, and cruise alongside humpbacks on their annual migration. This being the southern-hemisphere winter, both the air and water temperatures are in the 70s, with plenty of sun and almost no rain.

Read reviews of WOW trips to Australia. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Trancoso, Brazil

Beautiful Trancoso beach near Porto Seguro in state of Bahia, Brazil

A Trancoso beach near Porto Seguro in the state of Bahia, Brazil. Photo: Shutterstock

If you are after a taste of the international party scene that put Trancoso on the map, you need to go from January through March. But if you are after peace and quiet, July is pure bliss: Temperatures are still in the high 70s to 80s, and you will often have mile upon mile of palm-tree-backed beaches all to yourself.

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Switzerland

Couple at hiking in the area of Zermatt with the Matterhorn in the background.

Hiking in Zermatt with the Matterhorn in the distance. Photo: Switzerland Tourism/Ivo Scholz

July brings the best conditions for hiking in the Alps. In the Appenzell, you can chat with farmers in their fields; near Interlaken, ride the gondola to the summit of the Jungfrau. After a few days on the trails, rest your legs and soak up the Italian-influenced culture on the shores of Lake Maggiore.

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Alaska

Guests explore on Zodiac in Southeast Alaska, Tracy Arm, calving ice

Guests spot calving ice while exploring on Zodiac in Southeast Alaska. Photo: Lindblad Expeditions/Michael S. Nolan

Until mid-July the mountains are still covered in snow, the flowers are emerging, and the animals have just given birth, so you might see moose out with their calves, as well as just-born fur-seal pups. Plus, the locals are happy that winter is over and that visitors have returned. Temperatures are typically in the mid-60s during the days (which are the longest days of the year) and you’re likely to see active, calving glaciers. All in all, it’s a great time to see the 49th state via a land-based stay, a cruise ship, or a smaller expedition-style vessel.

Read reviews of WOW land trips to Alaska here, and WOW cruises of Alaska here and here. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Tetons, Wyoming

Wildflowers blooming in Grand Teton National Park

Wildflowers blooming in Grand Teton National Park.

You’ll find warm days and cool nights, wildflowers in bloom, and hiking trails mostly free of snow. In the Tetons, rivers should be clear of spring runoff, making for perfect fly-fishing conditions. And it’s prime time for a huge variety of activities—biking, rock climbing, rafting, kayaking, horseback riding. Summer can be busy, but there are creative ways to beat the crowds in national parks.

To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Glacier National Park, Montana

Going-to-the-Sun Road, Glacier National Park, Montana

Going-to-the-Sun Road, Glacier National Park, Montana. Photo: NPS/Tim Rains

High up on the Canadian border, Glacier has a very short season: The entire Going-to-the-Sun Road (the park’s star attraction, cut into an immense, craggy cliff with amazing vistas) is only open for a few months, typically from late June to October. In July, there will still be snow, but the weather is pleasant. These days, sadly, you’ll find only a few dozen glaciers left from the 150 that were here back in 1850. There are more than 700 miles of hiking trails to choose from, some of which skirt waterfalls and glacial lakes.

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Kenya and Tanzania Safaris

Great Migration, Mara River, Kenya

The Great Migration on the Mara River. Photo: James Friedman

The best time to see the Great Migration—one of the grandest wildlife spectacles on Earth, with more than two million wildebeest and zebra on the move and predators lurking nearby—is the dry season, since the animals come out looking for water sources. The best place to be is in the Masai Mara National Reserve: There are more than 15 different river crossings—bottlenecks along the migration route where the animals must avoid hungry crocodiles and lions.

Read reviews of WOW trips to Kenya and Tanzania here, here, and here. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Queenstown, New Zealand

Fiordland Lake, helicopter

See Fiordland Lake by helicopter. Photo: Jean-Michel Jefferson

In the southern-hemisphere winter, Queenstown is a snow-capped beauty, and there are not many people around; it is cold but heavenly, and a great time for snowshoeing and touring Fiordland by helicopter.

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The Arctic

Polar Bear, cubs, Arctic

Summer in the Arctic means great photo opportunities. Photo: Ashton Palmer

The early summer months not only bring reasonably warm weather but also have the advantage of the midnight sun, when the near 24-hour daylight conditions make for superb photo opportunities.

Read reviews of WOW trips to the Arctic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Other Good Options This Month

Click on any of the destinations below to find out why July is a good time to go.

 

North America and Caribbean

Caribbean Islands: off-peak rates

Seattle

St. Barts: off-peak rates

 

Central and South America

Bolivia

Brazil: Rio, Pantanal Wetlands, and the southern Amazon region

Colombia: Bogota

Costa Rica: green-season deals

Ecuador: Galapagos Islands and Quito

Peru

 

Europe

Austria

England: London

European Canal Barge Cruises

Malta

Scotland

Sicily: first half of the month

Turkey: Istanbul and Aegean Coast

 

Asia and Pacific

Cambodia: green season

China: Yunnan Province

Fiji

India: Agra and Ladakh

Nepal: Upper Mustang region

Papua New Guinea

Seychelles

 

Africa

Botswana

Madagascar

Rwanda

South Africa: Cape Town

 

 

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Iceland waterfall Skogafoss in Icelandic nature landscape. Famous tourist attractions and landmarks destination in Icelandic nature landscape on South Iceland. Aerial drone view of top waterfall. -

Where to Go in June: The Best Places to Travel

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In much of the northern hemisphere, June is an excellent time weather-wise to squeeze in a trip before most school vacations start, the summer crowds surge, and the heat descends. In some places, it’s also a great month for hiking and spotting elusive beasts of the wild. Here are our Trusted Travel Experts’ recommendations for the best places to travel in June.

To understand what makes a trip WOW, read these recent reviews from our travelers. And don’t miss the rest of our “Where to Go” series on the best destinations for every month of the year.

Iceland

View of basalt stacks Reynisdrangar, black sand beach near Vik and violet lupine flowers and lonely church, South Iceland

The black sand beach near Vik with violet lupine flowers. Photo: Shutterstock

Around the summer solstice (June 21), Iceland offers 24 hours of sunshine and an explosion of wildflowers as far as the eye can see. It’s also a good time for animal lovers: There are day-old foals, lambs, and wild chicks, and eggs visible in ground nests.

Read reviews of WOW trips to Iceland. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Iceland

Canada’s Maritime Provinces, including Newfoundland

The coastline of Twillingate, New World Islands, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

The coastline of Twillingate, New World Islands, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Photo credit: Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism

June is typically an optimal month for iceberg watching—a popular pastime in Newfoundland. On a warm day, you can watch these majestic mountains of ice flow along the province’s northern and eastern coasts.  It’s also the start of the summer season of food, festivals, and spectacular scenery in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island.

Read reviews of WOW trips to Atlantic Canada. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Canada’s Maritimes

San Sebastián, Spain

Beach and colorful houses of San Sebastian, Spain

San Sebastian, Spain, is ideal in June. Photo: Shutterstock

June is a great time in San Sebastián: The weather has cleared but it’s not yet warm enough for beach-goers, so the crowds are manageable. Enjoy the top pintxo bars while they are still filled with locals—most of whom will be replaced by tourists come July and August. And a lot of produce comes into season now, making the many Michelin-starred menus even more delectable than usual.

Read reviews of WOW trips to Spain. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to San Sebastian

The Mediterranean Island of Malta

Xlendi Tower, Malta

Xlendi Tower, Malta

If you must travel in summer and you want ocean temperatures that are warm enough for swimming, plan your Malta trip for the second half of June, when the island isn’t as busy—and the weather not as hot—as later on in the summer. There are also village feasts happening around the country just about every weekend from May through October, with parades, concerts, and fireworks. (If swimming isn’t a prerequisite for your trip, March is a fabulous time for Malta.)

Read reviews of WOW trips to Malta. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Malta

Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona

Grand Canyon view of the watchtower.

The watchtower in Grand Canyon. Photo: Mike Buchheit

The peak of summer sees crowds almost as huge as the Grand Canyon itself, which is up to a mile deep and 18 miles wide; go in June and you’ll have much more breathing room, as well as access to the far less visited North Rim (which is open only from mid-May to mid-October). The right local fixer can arrange helicopter flights over the canyon, mule rides down to where the rocks are 1.8 billion years old, float trips along the Colorado River, and behind-the-scenes tours of sites not accessible to ordinary travelers.

To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to the Grand Canyon

Alaska Cruises

An adult humpback whale breaching

An adult humpback whale breaches in Southeast Alaska.  Photo: Lindblad Expeditions/Michael S. Nolan

The first two weeks of June in Southeast Alaska—the region also known as the Inside Passage—typically offer drier days and better wildlife spotting on the beaches at low tide. This is also a prime time to spot transient orcas, migrating humpback whales, and hauled-out harbor seals. Winds coming off the snow-covered mountain peaks make the air crisp, and the forests showcase an abundance of colorful and diverse wildflowers.

Read reviews of WOW Alaska cruises. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about an Alaska small-ship expedition cruise

European Canal Barge Cruises

The eight-passenger barge Hirondelle cruising in Champagne, France

The eight-passenger barge Hirondelle cruising in Champagne, France. Photo: Barge Lady Cruises

In June, the weather is best (not too hot, not too cool), and the crowds haven’t yet arrived, making this a perfect month to get to know a small slice of the Continent intimately and thoroughly. The Champagne region is especially glorious for June cruises: Sip and savor the best bubbly both onboard and ashore, feast on seasonal gourmet cuisine paired with locally-sourced spirits, and stroll or cycle the miles of manicured towpaths, all under the first blushes of France’s sweet summer sun.

Read reviews of WOW barge cruises. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a barge cruise

Cappadocia, Turkey

Balloons over Cappadocia. Photograph courtesy of Earl Starkey

Balloons over Cappadocia. Photograph courtesy of Earl Starkey

In June the wildflowers are in bloom and everything is still green. The light is ideal for photography, the days are long, and the nights are lovely. It is also a perfect time for balloon flights over the fairy chimneys in Cappadocia.

Read reviews of WOW trips to Turkey. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Cappadocia

Italy’s Dolomites Region

The Dolomites, Italy

The craggy peaks and verdant valleys of the Dolomites, a.k.a. the Italian Alps, provide some of the country’s most spectacular scenery. In June you are guaranteed sunny days and warm evenings, with not too much humidity. Enjoy hiking and biking into the UNESCO-designated landscape, and afterward sample the local culinary delicacies over lunch at a mountain rifugio or from a picnic basket.

Read reviews of WOW trips to Italy. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Bali

Uma by Como, Ubud, Bali

Uma by Como, Ubud, Bali. Courtesy Como Resorts

June is the calm before—and after—the tourist storms that hit this island during the Christmas/New Year period and in July, August, and early September. It also has the most reliably pleasant weather (daytime temps in the 80s and gentle breezes to keep the sun from feeling too hot) and decent prices (high-season hotel rates don’t kick in until July).

Read reviews of WOW trips to Bali. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Koh Phangan, Thailand

small boat on beach of Koh Phangan island Thailand

Koh Phangan, Thailand. Photo: Journeys Within

While the rest of Thailand is entering the rainy season in June, the island of Koh Phangan is still sunny and dry, making it ideal for snorkeling, diving, and lounging on the beach. As it’s high season on Koh Phangan, you won’t see deep discounts for your stay there, but if you’re pairing the beach time with a larger journey around Thailand you can take advantage of the “green season” specials in the rest of the country.

Read reviews of WOW trips to Thailand. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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India’s Himalaya Mountains: Trekking and Tigers

royal bengal tiger in the ranthambore tiger reserve in rajasthan india

A royal Bengal tiger stretches in the Ranthambore Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan, India. Photo: Sanjay Saxena

June is an excellent time for hikers, as many Himalayan trekking routes are open, and the mountains (up to about 14,000 feet, at least) are covered with rhododendron blooms and other wildflowers. And while it’s very hot in the central plains, it’s also the best time for visiting that region’s wildlife parks—especially the tiger reserves.

Read reviews of WOW trips to India. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Rwanda and Uganda: Gorilla Trekking

gorilla group in the jungle, Uganda

Gorilla trekking in Uganda. Photo: Explore Inc.

Gorilla sightings are equally good all year long (though never guaranteed). However, the best time for gorilla tracking is June, when it’s cool and there is less precipitation (but remember, this is still the rainforest, and storms can hit any day).

Read reviews of WOW trips to Rwanda and Uganda. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Borneo

Malaysia Sabah Borneo Scenic View of Tun Sakaran Marine Park tropical island (Bohey Dulang) Semporna, Sabah.

Tun Sakaran Marine Park. Photo: Shutterstock

Borneo’s dry season (if you can have one in the rainforest) runs from May through September, and by June the fruiting season is in full swing; this is the ideal time to see orangutans and other animals swinging through the trees.

Read reviews of WOW trips to Borneo. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Yakushima, Japan

forest river in Yakushima Japan

Japan’s sub-tropical island of Yakushima is ideal for intrepid travelers. Photo: Sankara Hotel & Spa Yakushima

This sub-tropical island, located in the waters just south of Kyushu, is ideal for intrepid travelers: Its mountains and vast forest of ancient cedar trees are crisscrossed by a network of hiking trails, from easy walks to challenging ascents. June signals the end of the rainy season, so you’ll find stunning waterfalls along the trails; it’s also when endangered loggerhead sea turtles return to Yakushima’s beaches to nest.

Read reviews of WOW trips to Japan. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Bhutan

Punakha Dzong Monastery, one of the largest monestary in Asia, Punakha, Bhutan

Punakha Dzong Monastery, one of the largest monasteries in Asia, Punakha, Bhutan. Photo: Shutterstock

In June the higher mountainsides are dressed in the pinks, whites, reds, purples, and oranges of Himalayan rhododendron flowers. Iris, orchids, primula, and other flowers are blooming, spring plantings are poking their leaves up out of fields, and migratory birds are heading north across the mountains. Many travelers have gone home, so roads are not teeming with buses and other tourist vehicles (which is very important in a country with only one east-west road). Moreover, with fewer visitors, Bhutanese locals have time to sit and chat or cook special meals instead of the typical tourist buffets. Yes, you may have some clouds or perhaps a shower, but the more peaceful countryside makes the trade-off well worthwhile.

Read reviews of WOW trips to Bhutan. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Bhutan

Other Good Options This Month

Click on any of the destinations below to find out why June is a good time to go.

North America and Caribbean

American West: river rafting

Canada: British Colombia

Caribbean: off-season rates

Mexico’s Riviera Maya

Montana and Wyoming: Yellowstone National Park

St. Barts: value season and annual sales

Utah’s National Parks

Washington: whale watching in the San Juan Islands

 

Central and South America

Bolivia

Brazil: Pantanal wetlands, Rio de Janeiro, southern Amazon, and Trancoso’s off season

Colombia: Bogota

Costa Rica: green season

Ecuador: family trips to the Galapagos

Peru

 

Europe

England: London

France: Paris and Provence

Germany: Bavaria

Italy: Florence’s Festa di San Giovanni, Sicily, and Umbria’s festival season

Norway

Portugal, including the Algarve

Romania

Scotland

Switzerland

Turkey: Aegean Coast and Istanbul

 

Asia and Pacific

Australia: Great Barrier Reef

Cambodia: green season

China: Yunnan Province

Fiji

French Polynesia (second half of the month)

Laos: green-season deals

Mongolia (first half of the month)

Nepal

New Zealand: winter activities in Queenstown

Papua New Guinea

Seychelles

Uzbekistan

 

Africa and Middle East

Botswana

Egypt: value trips

Madagascar

Namibia (first half of the month)

South Africa: whale watching and shark-cage diving

Zambia

Zimbabwe

 

 

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Islas de Rosario, Colombia

Where to Go in March: The Best Places to Travel

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It may still feel like winter at home, but March finds wildflowers blooming in many parts of the world, and festivals of all sorts happening around the globe. Here’s a round-up of destinations that are at their prime in March.

To understand what makes a trip WOW, read these recent reviews from our travelers. And don’t miss the rest of our “Where to Go” series on the best destinations for every month of the year.

Belize

A row of thatched palapas on golden sand on the tiny island of Rendezvous Caye in the Belize Barrier Reef, off the coast of Belize, Central America

Rendezvous Caye in the Belize Barrier Reef. Photo: Shutterstock

The Caribbean trade winds that prevail in March and April make for ideal sailing conditions. The summer humidity hasn’t yet arrived, and evenings are fresh and breezy. You can charter a crewed catamaran that will take you wherever you want to go: tiny, palm-studded islands with hardly another soul in sight, or spots with open-air beach bars and restaurants.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Belize. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Belize

The Galapagos, Ecuador

underwater photo of a sea lion in the Galapagos islands

Snorkeling with Galapagos sea lions

In March, water temperatures and clarity are the best they get all year, making it ideal for swimming, snorkeling, and diving. It’s also hatching season for Galapagos tortoises, and male frigate birds can be seen with their telltale neck pouches puffed up and flared out to attract females. Adults who don’t want to travel with lots of kids should avoid the spring-break weeks that range from late March to mid-April. The opposite is true for families: Book way ahead for those peak spring-break weeks that often feature family-focused departures.
Read reviews of WOW trips to the Galapagos. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Cartagena, Colombia

Islas de Rosario, Colombia

Islas de Rosario, Colombia, near Cartagena. Photo: Shutterstock

March is a great month to visit Cartagena, on Colombia’s Caribbean coast: You’ll find sunny days, clear skies, and a fresh breeze that makes the temperature much more comfortable.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Colombia. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Andalusia, Spain

Skyline in the Old Quarter of Seville, Spain

Skyline in the Old Quarter of Seville, Spain. Photo: Shutterstock

By late March in southern Spain, temps are in the 60s, the aroma of orange blossoms is in the air, the light is beautiful, and there are fiestas (and bullfights) all over the region. Before the crowds descend for Holy Week and the spring festivals, March is a great time to visit the iconic sites in Seville and Granada, or go off-the-beaten path in Ubeda and Baeza.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Andalusia. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Puglia, Italy

Polignano a Mare, puglia, italy, seaside village

Polignano a Mare, Puglia, Italy. Photo: Pixabay/newneo47

Many of Puglia’s charming boutique hotels and seaside osterias reopen in March after the winter off-season, making this a lovely time to visit while the locals are still well-rested from their time off and the summer crowds haven’t yet arrived. Learn the art of making burrata—a local speciality of this food-focused region—picnic in an olive grove, and visit a glass artisan’s atelier. (Just don’t expect to go for a dip in the ocean, as water temperatures are in the 50s.)
To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Crete, Greece

Elouda villa, Crete, Greece. Photo: Blue Palace Resort

Elouda villa, Crete, Greece. Photo: Blue Palace Resort

While many Greek islands go into hibernation in the winter, with resorts and restaurants shuttering for the season, Crete is large enough that it stays vibrant year-round. It’s also Greece’s most southern—and thus warmest—island. Not everything will be open in March, but it’s a great time to get a dose of local culture, and hotel rates are lower than you’ll find later in spring.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Greece. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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London

The London Eye Ferris Wheel

The London Eye Ferris Wheel. Photo: Celebrated Experiences

If you think Notting Hill couldn’t get any more colorful, you should see it in the early spring, decked out with blossoms on its tree-lined streets. March brings glorious fields of daffodils to Kensington Gardens too—and everything’s in bloom in Chelsea. The icing on the cake is Kew Gardens, just a short trip outside central London and the perfect spot to celebrate the arrival of spring.
Read reviews of WOW trips to London. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Malta and Gozo

Ancient walls and streets of Valetta, the capital of Malta. Photo: Shutterstock

The ancient walls and streets of Valletta, the capital of Malta. Photo: Shutterstock

March sees few of the cruise-ship visitors who arrive daily in Malta come summer. With highs in the mid-60s and a lush green coating on the hills brought out by winter rains, this is a particularly great time of year for countryside walks and cycling on neighboring Gozo, which is smaller and more rural than Malta.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Malta. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Chile

A view of Torres del Paine's lakes from the French Valley

A view of Torres del Paine’s crystalline lakes from the French Valley in Patagonia.

Chile is roughly twice the length of California, so it covers vast latitudes and corresponding climates. March sees some of the best weather throughout the country: warm temperatures in Patagonia, dry days in the Lakes District, and lacking the oppressive summer heat in central Chile and Easter Island. You’ll also avoid high season, which starts before Christmas and lasts through February.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Chile. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Jordan

Alone in Petra at sunrise

The ruins at Petra, Jordan.

By March, the weather is warming up—making it possible to spend a night out in Wadi Rum—the almond and olive trees should still be in blossom, and the crowds are thin.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Jordan. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Cape Town, South Africa

harbor of Cape Town, South Africa with boats and table mountain

Cape Town, South Africa. Photo: HPBotha/Pixabay

By March, temperatures have begun to cool, and the fierce southeasterly wind calms down—which means that outdoor activities (sea kayaking, shark diving, trips to Robben Island) are seldom canceled due to weather. It’s also one of the best months for hiking and cycling, and the “March lilies” are flowering all over the city. This being harvest time, there is frenetic activity at the nearby wine estates, accompanied by many jovial festivals.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Cape Town. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Norway

Northern Lights, Norway

Northern Lights, Grøtfjord, Kvaløya, Norway. Photo: Gaute Bruvik – visitnorway.com

In March there is still a lot of snow for all of Norway’s great winter activities—skiing, of course, and also dogsledding, snowmobiling, reindeer sledding, snowshoeing, and so on—but also lots of sunshine, average daytimes highs in the 30s, and long days. Statistically, this is also the best month to see the Northern Lights.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Norway. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Queenstown, New Zealand

Mount Nicholas Station, Queenstown, New Zealand

Mount Nicholas Station, Queenstown, New Zealand

It’s the end of summer down south, and the weather is just warm enough: around 85 degrees Fahrenheit in the day, with nice cool evenings. You have access to all of the back-country activities that bring people to this world capital of outdoor adventure.
Read reviews of WOW trips to New Zealand. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Queenstown

Northern India

Holi Festival at Nandgaon temple complex, Uttar Pradesh, India

Holi Festival at Nandgaon temple complex, Uttar Pradesh, India. Photo: Abhijit Kar Gupta/Flickr

The date for Holi—India’s famous festival of colors—is set by the Hindu calendar, but it almost always falls during March; in 2023, the date will be March 8. (This is one celebration where you simply can’t be a bystander, and you don’t want to show up in your best attire: Everyone throws vibrantly colored powder and water at one another.) Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Jodhpur, and Udaipur are all great places to be during the merriment that is Holi.
Read reviews of WOW trips to India. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Other Good Options This Month

Click on any of the destinations below to find out why March is a good time to go.

North America

Alaska: winter activities

Canada: British Columbia spring skiing

Hawaii: Oahu whale-watching

 

Central and South America

Brazil: Salvador and Trancoso

Colombia: Bogota

Panama

 

Europe

Portugal: Algarve’s almond blossom

 

Africa and Middle East

Dubai

Israel

Morocco: Marrakech and the Atlas Mountains

Oman

 

Asia and Pacific

India: Mumbai and wildlife parks and Himalaya hiking

Nepal

Sri Lanka

Seychelles

 

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Lupins bloom above the ancient Inca ruins of Choquequirao in the Andes, Peru

Where to Go in April: The Best Places to Travel

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Flowers in full bloom, festive celebrations, and mild temperatures make April a lovely time to visit many parts of the globe. The best deals usually appear starting one week after Easter (which falls on April 9 in 2023).

To understand what makes a trip WOW, read these recent reviews from our travelers. For more pandemic travel solutions, see our Covid-19 travel advice. And don’t miss the rest of our “Where to Go” series on the best destinations for every month of the year.

Belize

Tiny island with coconut trees and boat in Belize

Belize. Photo: Shutterstock

In April, the trade winds are fresh, rains are rare, there are barely any bugs, and high season is winding down. Explore world-class coral reefs, visit uncrowded Mayan ruins, learn to scuba dive (as Wendy’s son did), fish for 100-pound tarpon (which kept her husband busy), laze beside sparkling Caribbean waters—or charter your own private yacht.

Read reviews of WOW trips to Belize. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Belize

Riviera Maya, Mexico

empty Beach at Caribbean sea in Playa del Carmen, Mexico with footprints

Playa del Carmen, Riviera Maya, Mexico. Photo: Shutterstock

Starting a week after Easter Sunday and running through May, rates are low, resorts aren’t too crowded, and the weather is pleasant (mid to high 80s) with little rain.

Read reviews of WOW trips to Mexico. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to the Riviera Maya

Hawaii

Makena, Maui beach Hawaii

Makena, Maui. Photo: Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) / Tor Johnson

April means an optimal combination of great weather and relatively low prices in the islands. (Just make sure to avoid the crush of visitors and higher rates that Spring Break brings.)

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Paris

view of the Eiffel Tower across the green treetops of the Tuileries Garden taken from a balcony at Le Meurice hotel

View from Le Meurice, Paris. Photo: Billie Cohen

Discover the first hints of spring in Paris while strolling through the Tuileries or pausing a moment under the blossoming trees by Notre Dame Cathedral; in April, the weather is usually mild and the city is bedecked in blossoms. You’ll beat the tourist crowds before they arrive later in the spring and likely catch some excellent art exhibits, too.

Read reviews of WOW trips to Paris. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Southern Spain: Seville and Andalusia

City Of Cazorla And Yedra Castle - Cazorla, Jaen, Andalusia, Spain, Europe

City Of Cazorla And Yedra Castle – Cazorla, Jaen, Andalusia, Spain, Europe. Photo: Shutterstock

Come April, the temperatures throughout Andalusia are pleasant, the aroma of orange blossoms is in the air, the light is beautiful, and there are fiestas (and bullfights) all over the region, including all the events during Easter Week.

Read reviews of WOW trips to Spain here and here. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Morocco

camel trek through the Sahara Desert, Morocco.

Wendy and family on a camel trek through the Sahara Desert, Morocco.

Contrywide, the weather is comfortable in April. Temperature extremes are common in the desert, but at this time of year days are warm and nights are just chilly rather than unbearably cold.

Read reviews of WOW trips to Morocco. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Peru

Lupins bloom above the ancient Inca ruins of Choquequirao in the Andes, Peru

Lupins bloom above the ancient Inca ruins of Choquequirao in the Andes, Peru. Photo: Adriana Von Hagen

April sees the best mix of weather both inland and on Peru’s coast; it’s sunny and warm in Lima, and dry and temperate in the Andes. Since the rainy season has just ended, the air is clear, and the fields are green and lush, dotted with the yellow, pink, and mauve hues of quinoa, amaranth, lupines, and potatoes ready to harvest.

Read reviews of WOW trips to Peru. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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The Netherlands

tulips and windmill at Keukenhof Gardens in the Netherlands

Spring is tulip time in the Netherlands. Photo: Keukenhof Gardens

April is bright and pleasant, and it’s prime time for Tulipmania, when the Keukenhof — one of the world’s largest flower gardens — is full of blooms. King’s Day (on April 27 in 2023) is the biggest street party of the year in Amsterdam; it’s very busy, but a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience the Dutch joie de vivre (you can also enjoy the parades and festivities in a more rural setting). By traveling in April, you’ll also miss the public holidays in May that bring out large crowds.

Read reviews of WOW trips to the Netherlands. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Crete

The island of Spinalonga, Crete, Greece. Photo: Blue Palace Resort and Spa

The island of Spinalonga, Crete, Greece. Photo: Blue Palace Resort and Spa

Renowned for its rich local culture, Crete is a wonderful place to visit in April when Greek Orthodox Easter falls during that month, as it does in 2023 (on the 16th). Experience renowned Cretan hospitality throughout the festive celebrations, which are distinctive to Greece’s most southern (and thus warmest) island. There are also beautiful wildflowers in April, fewer crowds, and lower hotel rates than you’ll find later in spring.

Read reviews of WOW trips to Greece. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Istanbul

gardens and flowers around a pond at Dolmabahce Palace Istanbul Turkey

Dolmabahce Palace, Istanbul.

During the annual tulip festival in April, the city is awash in millions (literally) of colorful blooms. The weather is temperate, perfect for visiting the outdoor ancient sites that can be scorching in summer — and the tourist hordes have not yet arrived. Since it’s shoulder season, there are deals to be had at hotels.

Read reviews of WOW trips to Istanbul. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Istanbul

Mediterranean Cruises

Seabourn Ovation cruise ship

Seabourn Ovation anchored off Montenegro.

April is the perfect month to enjoy the brilliant blue skies in the Mediterranean, when the sunny days start to outnumber the cold and cloudy ones of winter. Cruise ships have just repositioned to the region, so you can explore iconic ports such as Barcelona, Monte Carlo, Rome, and Venice without the crowds and heat of summertime. And fares are lower, since this is considered the off-season.

Read reviews of WOW Mediterranean cruises here and here. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a cruise in the Mediterranean

Maldives

overwater bungalow at Joali resort in the maldives

The cantilevered hammocks at JOALI Maldives’ villas. Photo: Brook Wilkinson

European vacationers drive up prices from Christmas through Easter, but for the few weeks after this period, you’ll find a sweet spot of lower hotel rates and ideal weather: Temperatures are consistently in the high 80s year-round, but in late April there is almost no rain or wind, so the water is calm for snorkeling and diving.

Read reviews of WOW trips to the Maldives. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to the Maldives

Namibia

Namib Desert, Namibia

Namibia’s Namib Desert is right on the Atlantic Ocean. Photo: Shutterstock

Starting in mid-April, the temperatures are mild night and day, the occasional rains tease the desert wildflowers into bloom, and the animals are fat and happy. (Brook took her own family on a fun-filled trip to Namibia in April.)

Read reviews of WOW trips to Namibia. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Namibia

Laos

Luang Prabang, Laos - 26 November 2016: Buddhist monk and the details of architecture of Buddhist temple Wat Xieng Thong in Luang Prabang - UNESCO World Heritage Site

Wat Xieng Thong Buddhist temple in Luang Prabang, Laos. Photo: Shutterstock

Songkran, the Lao New Year, is celebrated in mid-April with a whole week of parades, street markets, and concerts. Tradition holds that revelers douse one another with water in order to wash away the past year’s sins; unlike in Thailand, where you might well be ambushed outside your hotel in the morning, in Laos the locals usually ask before splashing you.

Read reviews of WOW trips to Laos. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Laos

 

Austria, Hungary, and the Czech Republic

Cityscape views of one of Europe's most beautiful town- Vienna. Peoples on streets, urban life in Vienna Austria

Vienna’s city streets, Austria. Photo: Shutterstock

April means mild weather, springtime flowers, and no bus-tour crowds in Central Europe. In 2023, Easter falls on April 9 and there are charming holiday markets and festivals in Vienna leading up to the holiday. In Prague, popular Easter Markets are running through April 16. In Budapest, the Spring Fair runs all month long with folk music, dancing, and concerts. Crowded summertime destinations, such as Lake Balaton in Hungary and the Wachau Valley in Austria, are relatively tranquil. In the Czech Republic, all the countryside castles are just reopening from their winter dormancy.

Read reviews of WOW trips to Central Europe. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Central Europe

Papua New Guinea

mean with lakatoi boats on beach of Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea. Photo: Pixabay/freesally

In April the rainy season is just ending, so prices are better than in the high months of May, June, and July.

Read reviews of WOW trips to Papua New Guinea. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Papua New Guinea

 

Other Good Options This Month

Click on any of the destinations below to find out why April is a good time to go.

North America and Caribbean

California: Yosemite National Park

Mexico City

St. Barts

Utah’s national parks

 

Central and South America

Bolivia

Brazil: Rio de Janeiro

Colombia: Bogota

Costa Rica: Pacific and Central regions

Ecuador: Galapagos family travel

Patagonia

Peru: Machu Picchu

 

Europe

Croatia (second half of the month)

England: Castles, Manor Houses, and Gardens

European Canal Barge Cruises: deals and tulips

Germany: Bavaria

Greece: Athens

Ireland: Killarney and County Kerry

Italy: Amalfi Coast, Florence, Lake Como villas, and Sicily

Portugal

Romania (second half of April)

Scotland: wildflowers and deals

Spain: Madrid

 

Asia and Pacific

Asia Cruises

China: big cities and small villages, and Yunnan Province

India: trekking and tiger viewing

Indonesia: Bali without crowds

Myanmar

Nepal

New Zealand, including Bay of Islands and Queenstown hiking and cycling

Seychelles

Vietnam: north and central regions

 

Africa and Middle East

Israel and Jerusalem (after Easter and Passover)

South Africa: Cape Town and Winelands

Zambia (second half of the month)

 

 

 

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Where to Go in November: The Best Places to Travel

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While November can be a dreary time of year in the U.S., the weather in many other parts of the world is positively delightful. It’s also a smart time to travel—between the summer and holiday high seasons—given the current pent-up travel demand to many of these places during their peak seasons. If any of these destinations are on your must-travel-to list within the next year, you’d be wise to plan for November 2022 or November 2023.

To understand what makes a trip WOW, read these recent reviews from our travelers. For more pandemic travel solutions, see our Covid-19 travel advice. And don’t miss the rest of our “Where to Go” series on the best destinations for every month of the year.

Northern Italy

view of Canelli, a town in the Piedmont region of Italy with greernery, old buildings and blue skies

November is truffle season in Piedmont.

In November head to Piedmont for truffle season (the White Truffle Fair in Alba runs the entire month). Try truffle hunting, taste the local Barolo wines, watch artisanal cheese makers, cycle among the vineyards (electric bikes are available!), hike the rolling hills beneath the crisp blue skies…or do it all with your family in a villa for Thanksgiving. This is also harvest time for olives and wine. Learn to cook al fresco in an olive grove, on a goat-cheese farm, or in a vineyard. Remember, November is when Billie took her dream Italian cooking vacation.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Northern Italy during the pandemic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Northern Italy

Provence, France

the hilltop village of Gordes, Provence, France

Provence and its pretty villages, like Gordes, are incredibly popular so try to visit in shoulder season. Photo: Pixabay

The light in Provence in winter is why so many famous artists moved there, and the sunshine makes al fresco lunches possible well into November. Provencal markets bustle in the fall, and truffle hunting starts in November. Hike amid the glorious autumn landscapes and hilltop villages of the Luberon, and cycle through the wine country around Gigondas and Vacqueyras, where there are few cars and great eateries.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Provence during the pandemic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Provence

Andalusia, Spain

Skyline in the Old Quarter of Seville, Spain

Skyline in the Old Quarter of Seville, Spain. Photo: Shutterstock

One highlight of this magical part of Spain is the culture—an aspect that can be very hard to experience during the summer high season, when the numbers of tourists and residents are imbalanced. In November, by contrast, most of the visitors are gone, making it much easier to interact with locals (and to enjoy some breathing room in the region’s UNESCO World Heritage sites). The weather is still quite pleasant, with temperatures near 70 degrees during the day.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Spain during the pandemic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Spain

Portugal

Beautiful nature view on Azores with small villages, tows, green nature fields. Amazing Azores. View of typical Azores village in Sao Miguel island, Azores, Portugal.

Sao Miguel island, Azores, Portugal. Photo: Shutterstock

Temperatures remain in the 60s well into November, when it’s still warm enough for dinner outdoors at the many restaurants that now have significant sidewalk seating; heat lamps aren’t needed till late in the month. Private river boats—which are much better for sightseeing than your typical river cruises—sail the Douro through the end of the month too. And the weather is even more mild on the subtropical islands of Madeira—known for outstanding hiking opportunities—and the Azores, where you can also hike, bike, and off-road around the postcard-perfect lagoons.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Portugal during the pandemic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below.

Ask about a trip to Portugal

Greece: Crete, Corfu, or Rhodes

Corfu is one of a few Greek islands that stays open and lively through the winter months.

Many Greek islands shut down in late October or early November, but Crete, Corfu, and Rhodes operate year-round, offering traditional cultural and culinary experiences and festivities in the winter months. November is a great time for sheep farms, olive orchards, and the wine harvest.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Greece during the pandemic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Sicily

Aquamarine blue waters of sea near Taormina resorts and Etna volcano mount. Giardini-Naxos bay, Ionian sea coast, Taormina, Sicily, Italy.

Hike Sicily’s Mt. Etna in the fall. Photo: Shutterstock

If your goal is to combine culture and outdoor beauty, fall is this island’s best season. Autumn brings the olive, almond, and wine harvests, and sunny, mild weather. Outdoor activities include exploring Sicily’s Greek and Roman ruins, hiking Mt. Etna, and cycling though nature reserves and wine country.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Sicily during the pandemic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Sicily

St. Barts

Le Guanahani, St. Barts

Le Guanahani, St. Barts. Photo: Le Guanahani

Come November, many resorts, boutiques, and restaurants that closed during the height of hurricane season have reopened, and everything feels fresh and new. The Saint Barth Gourmet Festival also takes place this month, attracting star chefs from France and elsewhere. Plus, hotel and villa rates don’t jump up until mid-December.
To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to St. Barts

Morocco

Earlier this year Wendy and her family traveled through the #2 country on our list: Morocco. Here they are at the Ksar of Ait-Ben-Haddou.

Ksar of Ait-Ben-Haddou, Morocco.

The weather is perfect at this time of year: sunny days and crisp, clear evenings that make for great star-gazing in the desert. It’s also ideal for hiking in the Atlas Mountains, as it’s starting to cool down and the peaks are often photogenically snowcapped. Plus, it’s harvest time: You can see saffron being picked, and olives turned to oil, right in front of your eyes.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Morocco during the pandemic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Morocco

Patagonia: Argentina and Chile

Torres del Paine National Park view of mountains and water

Torres del Paine National Park, Patagonia, Chile. Photo: Luis Felipa, Southwind Adventures

Most of Argentina and Chile are great at this time of year (think Buenos Aires, the Atacama Desert, even Easter Island), but Patagonia is an especially smart move in November because the lodges have a quieter, more relaxed ambiance and there is less traffic on the roads than during the busiest weeks of December and January. November is also the best time to spot Patagonia’s elusive wildlife, such as nandu, guanaco, puma, huemul, and condor, as all of the animals are more active during their breeding time. The region has a reputation for changeable windy weather, but November feels like spring, with snows melting off the high peaks and flowers beginning to bloom. Rates are sometimes also a bit lower this early in the season.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Patagonia, and elsewhere in Chile and Argentina, during the pandemic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Patagonia

The Brazilian Amazon

Aerial view of Anavilhanas National Park Islands, Rio Negro, Brazilian Amazon

Aerial view of Anavilhanas National Park Islands, Rio Negro, Brazilian Amazon. Photo: Shutterstock

River levels are lowest in November, so all of the beaches are out in their full splendor. (People are often shocked by the beauty of the white-sand beaches that form here, making a trip to Brazil’s region of the Amazon unique from the experiences one can have in Ecuador or Peru’s swaths of the same river system.) An ideal trip extends over five days, so it’s easy to fit into a Thanksgiving break. And the area around the Negro River, which is acidic, is not good for mosquito reproduction, so there is little chance of malaria or zika.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Brazil during the pandemic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to the Amazon

Belize

aerial shot of Belize ocean with sailboat

Explore Belize on the water or in the jungle. Photo: Belize Sailing Vacations

Before Thanksgiving, hotel rates are at their lowest. The days are hot, but the humidity is dropping, and the evenings are cool and breezy. November 19 is Garifuna Settlement Day and is best spent in either Dangriga or Hopkins, where the Garifuna people celebrate—with drumming, dancing, and parades—the arrival of their Afro-indigenous ancestors more than 200 years ago.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Belize during the pandemic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Belize

London (for Thanksgiving break)

christmas tree by London Tower Bridge

London’s Tower Bridge at Christmas. Photo: London Perfect

November is a great month for museum lovers, as many of the blockbuster exhibitions open in the fall; there’s also the London Jazz Festival, where world-class stars and hot emerging artists share the bill. And the Christmas spirit is already in the air starting in mid-November, with holiday lights on all the shopping streets, a plethora of Christmas markets, high tea at gorgeous hotels, and holiday cheer everywhere. If you can’t wait until then, Guy Fawkes Night is celebrated with bonfires and fireworks on November 5.
Read reviews of WOW trips to London during the pandemic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to London

Israel

Hula Valley National Park bird migration Israel

The great bird migration through Hula Valley National Park in Israel. Photo: Oren Cohen

While November falls at the beginning of the rainy season, temperatures are still mild and there are no crowds (unlike October, which sees many Jewish and Christian travelers visiting for Sukkot). Millions of birds stop in Israel at this time of year, on their way from Eurasia to Africa; arrange a private tour of the Agamon Hula Reserve and the Hula Valley National Park to witness this great migration.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Israel during the pandemic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Israel

Egypt

pyramids in egypt

Temperatures in Egypt are perfect in November. Photo: Jim Berkeley/Destinations & Adventures

By November the summer and fall heat has ebbed and Egypt is at the beginning of its cooler season: Temperatures average 80 to 85 degrees during the day in Cairo and 85 to 90 in Upper Egypt (the area around the Nile that is south—but also upriver—of Cairo). Rain is not a factor, and the air is clear, making it the perfect month for photography, especially in the early morning, when the sun’s rising rays highlight the rich hues of the temples and monuments, and at sunset, when the fading light always gives a lovely red glow to images. (Read about Billie’s October 2021 trip to Egypt.)
Read reviews of WOW trips to Egypt during the pandemic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Egypt

The Galapagos Islands

underwater photo of a sea lion in the Galapagos islands

Galapagos sea lions.

The Galapagos is a magnet for families with kids during summer and other school vacations; if you’re looking for a quieter time, think November (except Thanksgiving week). Blue whales, humpback whales, and whale sharks—the largest fish in the sea, growing up to 40 feet in length and weighing as much as 40,000 pounds—are most likely to be spotted in the Galapagos from June through November.
Read reviews of WOW trips to the Galapagos during the pandemic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to the Galapagos

Nepal

Durbar Square in Patan village Nepal

Patan’s Durbar Square, Nepal. Photo: Shutterstock

November is the perfect time in Nepal, whether you’re a trekker or just want to explore a fascinating culture. And there’s more to tempt the latter crowd than ever before, with roads leading to villages once accessible only on foot. In November, the air is crisp and clear, without the pre-monsoon dust, so the mountain views are best. And festivals abound: Near Everest, Manu Rimdu is an exorcism festival designed to purge evil from the area, ensure a bountiful harvest, and confer blessings on the villagers and all sentient beings with dancing, prayers, and comic relief. Then there is the very important Festival of Lights, or Tihar, honoring the gods, humans, and animals, which falls each year in either November or late October.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Nepal during the pandemic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Nepal

Thailand

The view from Anantara Golden Triangle Resort in Chiang Rai, Thailand

The view from Anantara Golden Triangle Resort in Chiang Rai, Thailand. Photo: Anantara

Much of Thailand is at its very best in November, when the mountains are lush and green from the recently receded monsoon, the mornings are diffused with a subtle mist suspended in the valleys, and the sun is gentler as the seasons ease into cooler weather. The rivers are deep and navigable, and the waterfalls are at optimum volume. All in all, it’s an ideal window to travel, before the crowds and costs rise in December.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Thailand during the pandemic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Thailand

India

Drummers at the Kalapthy Festival in Kerala, India

Drummers at the Kalpathi Festival in Kerala, India. Photo: Sanjay Saxena

November is an ideal time to visit almost all of India—except the Himalayas—thanks to the temperate weather. The just-passed monsoon season has given way to relatively clear skies in Delhi and Mumbai, and there are festivals throughout the country, from the Pushkar Camel Fair in Rajasthan to the grand Kalpathi Chariot Festival in Kerala.
Read reviews of WOW trips to India. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to India

Norway

Northern Lights, Norway

Northern Lights, Grøtfjord, Kvaløya, Norway. Photo: Gaute Bruvik – visitnorway.com

If you’re prepared for some unsettled weather, the benefits of visiting Norway in November include seeing the aurora borealis; trying out glass-blowing, ceramics, or knitting with local artists; and discovering the Norwegian art of “kos,” roughly translated as the practice of gratitude and of consciously appreciating one’s surroundings. During this quieter period locals have more time to share with visitors, now that the busy summer months have passed. There’s also plenty of hiking, kayaking, and even arctic surfing when the weather allows, and whales to be spotted along the country’s coast at this time of year.

Read reviews of WOW trips to Norway during the pandemic here and here. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Norway

Australia and/or New Zealand

aerial view of the Great Barrier Reef from an airplane

The Great Barrier Reef, seen from above. Photo: Tourism Whitsundays

Australia and New Zealand were off-limits for so long that now everybody is clamoring to go; airlines are bringing back nonstop flights, making the long journey that much easier. This coming November is one of the few times when there is still availability, and it’s one of the best months for a wide-ranging trip to several different parts of these countries: The water around the Great Barrier Reef is calm, making for good visibility; and the weather is spring-time pleasant in Auckland, Sydney, Kangaroo Island, and the outback; and the peaks on New Zealand’s South Island are still picturesquely snow-capped.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Australia and New Zealand. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Australia and/or New Zealand

 

Other Good Options This Month

Click on any of the destinations below to find out why November is a good time to go.

North America and Caribbean

Arizona: Grand Canyon

Florida: Disney World, Orlando

Hawaii: Maui and Oahu (for whale-watching)

Mexico: Los Cabos beach vacations and villa vacations, Puerto Vallarta, Riviera Maya, and Mexico City

 

South America

Argentina: Mendoza

Colombia: Cartagena and Bogota

 

Europe

England: The Cotswolds

Greece: Athens

Iceland (for Northern Lights)

Sicily

Scotland

Malta

 

Asia

Cambodia: Angkor Wat

China: Beijing

Indonesia: Bali

Myanmar

Thailand: Bangkok

Vietnam (southern)

 

Africa

Madagascar: whale sharks

 

Australia and Pacific

Fiji (for November deals)

 

Cruises

Africa Cruises

Antarctica Cruises

 

 

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Boarding Pass with Global Entry Card and USA Passport

How to Renew Global Entry, Even If It’s Expired

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We recently heard from a panicked traveler who had run into a difficult situation. She’d accidentally allowed her Global Entry to expire, and she needed to renew it ASAP for an upcoming trip.

Even before the pandemic, it was common to hear that the interviews required for new Global Entry applications were hard to come by, and that can still be the case in some areas. Travelers can start the application online but then might have to wait weeks, months, or even longer to land an interview slot. (Similarly, passport renewals were backed up for a while, but turnaround time has returned to pre-pandemic levels; see more on how to renew your passport.)

Here’s what you need to know about renewing your Global Entry membership.

If your Global Entry membership has not yet expired

Start early. You’re allowed to start to the renewal process within one year of your membership’s expiration date.

Log into your Trusted Traveler account and click Renew, then follow the instructions, answer the questions (eg., countries you’ve traveled to since you first applied, any change of contact info, etc.), then pay the fee. Depending on how much information you have to update, this could take a little while, so give yourself time to complete it.

You can find more info in the Homeland Security Department’s FAQ.

(If you only need or want TSA PreCheck, TSA is partnering with IdentGO to send mobile enrollment trucks to select cities this fall that can do interviews and fingerprinting onsite; you can find locations here.)

If your membership has expired (or you’re applying for the first time)

There is a relatively new option for Global Entry called “Enrollment on Arrival,” which means that you don’t have to wait for an appointment to open up at a nearby airport. Instead, you apply for a new Global Entry membership (if your membership has already expired, you can’t apply for a renewal), and after you receive conditional approval, you can do the interview for full approval when passing through customs and immigration the next time you re-enter the U.S. after a trip abroad.

The process to get conditional approval can take 90 days or more. After Brook applied for Global Entry in January 2022, she received notification of her conditional approval while in South Africa in April and was able to complete her Enrollment on Arrival when she landed at Newark a few days later—no appointment necessary. (If you find yourself in that situation, learn from Brook’s mistake: You must go through the regular immigration line first, and then go to the Global Entry counter for your interview.)

If you’ve had Global Entry in the past, Customs and Border Control already has your photo and fingerprints on file, so you may also be eligible for a virtual interview—and those are easier to schedule than the in-person interviews.

Here is the page where you can apply for a new Global Entry membership.

Tropical beach background as summer landscape with beach swing or hammock and white sand and calm sea for beach banner. Perfect beach scene vacation and summer holiday concept. Boost up color process

Travel Visas and Expediters, Explained and Made Easy

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We all remember the era of waiting in long lines at embassies and consulates to get visas, but these days most visas are available electronically—if they’re required at all. Here’s what you need to know about finding and getting the right ones for your travels, including when to use an expediter.

Of course, when you plan a trip with a WOW Lister, you can always expect plenty of guidance during the application process. But to get you started, here are answers to the most common questions we get about visas.

Do I need a visa?

With a few exceptions, Americans can travel without a visa for up to 90 days to countries in Europe and Central and South America. In Africa and Asia, many countries still require advance visas,  but the days of booking interviews at consulates and getting physical stamps are essentially over.

Use the State Department’s Country Information page to see if your destination requires a visa.

When should I start looking for my visa?

Six months out, if possible. (Many countries also require your passport to be valid six months after your arrival date, so check your passport’s expiration date and start the renewal process if necessary, as it can take about three months.

Early in the process, check what paperwork is needed. Some countries require proof of plane tickets, hotel bookings, and health information such as vaccines or Covid test results.

To find out if a visa is required for your trip, go to the State Department’s Country Information page and type in your destination. The “Quick Facts” and “Entry, Exit and Visa Requirements” sections have useful info.

In the time of Covid, health restrictions can pop up at any time, even in visa-free countries. So keep an eye on the country’s tourism pages and talk to your trip planner (we have a list of useful resources and websites in our article The Countries That Are Open to U.S. Travelers and How to Get In).

Should I use an expediter?

Expediters, like CIBT, are travel-assistance companies that act as intermediaries in the visa or passport application process for an extra fee. These companies can be helpful for travelers on very tight schedules or doing business abroad, as they will ensure no information is missing (which could delay the delivery of a visa) and they monitor the process to completion.

However, expediters do not actually reduce the turn-around time for a visa. You’re not likely to get your visa any quicker than if you carefully follow the instructions on a consular website, and the vast majority of them are pretty straightforward these days. (And if you’re on a guided or planned tour, don’t branch out on your own for a visa. Let that organization help you.)

To find an expediter, ask your travel planner for a recommendation or check the Better Business Bureau’s listings.

How do I find an official government site to use to submit my visa application?

Every country represented on The WOW List has an official government website with visa application information—even if it looks like an old web page from the 1990s.

To find one, do a Google search and skip the top results marked “Ad.” Although some countries use “.com” addresses, most official sites use a country suffix at the end of their URL (for example, Turkey is .tr.). You’ll often find a “gov” in the URL too. Another tip is to look for an official tourism logo, registered trademark, or “country name”© at the bottom of the page. Look for “https” (versus “http”) in the URL address. And finally, double-check your browser’s encryption status to ensure the site’s transactions are secure.

Complete their online form, pay, and you should have your visa filed electronically or emailed to you as a printable PDF within days or a few weeks. When Wendy and her family traveled to Turkey last year, they got their visas online. “It was fast and easy,” she said.

I’m going to multiple countries; do I need to apply for multiple visas?

If you plan on leaving and reentering countries in Asia and Africa, read the application guidelines thoroughly to see if you need a Multiple Entry visa. Some country networks allow you to enter several countries on one visa. For instance, the East Africa visa gives you access to Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda.

 

Be a smarter traveler: Sign up for Wendy’s weekly newsletter to stay in the know. Read real travelers’ reviews, then use the black CONTACT buttons on Wendy’s WOW List to reach out to the right local fixer for your trip.

The popular Red frog beach on Basimentos Island, Bocas del Toro, Panama.

Where to Go in February: The Best Places to Travel

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The depths of winter make for the heights of sightseeing in many destinations that are usually overcrowded: Think U.S. national parks and UNESCO World Heritage sites. It’s also a prime time for extreme climates on either end of the spectrum, from the Middle East to Antarctica.

To understand what makes a trip WOW, read these recent reviews from our travelers. For more pandemic travel solutions, see our Covid-19 travel advice. And don’t miss the rest of our “Where to Go” series on the best destinations for every month of the year.

Belize

Tobacco Caye - Relaxing at Cabin or bungalow on small tropical island at Barrier Reef with paradise beach, Caribbean Sea, Belize, Central America

Tobacco Caye overwater bungalow, Belize. Photo: Shutterstock

Nonstop flights to Belize take off from several U.S. cities that are only about three hours away. Once you’re there you can explore world-class coral reefs, visit uncrowded Mayan ruins, learn to scuba dive (as Wendy’s son did), fish for 100-pound tarpon (which kept her husband busy), and laze beside sparkling Caribbean waters—or you can charter your own private yacht, enjoying fabulous snorkeling, sunbathing, kayaking, and plenty of distance from everyone except your captain and first mate.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Belize during the pandemic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Belize

Mexico

Palmasola villa pool Punta de Mita CR Journey Mexico

Picture yourself at this private villa in Punta de Mita. Photo: Journey Mexico

Got the late-winter blues? A Mexico getaway could just be the cure. In addition to the mandatory dose of beach time, a savvy Mexico specialist can also sprinkle into your itinerary visits to Mayan ruins, strolls through indigenous villages, and excursions to top snorkeling spots.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Mexico during the pandemic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Mexico

Costa Rica

Quetzal, Costa Rica. Photo: William Grandados R. Photography

Quetzal, Costa Rica. Photo: William Grandados R. Photography

February falls in the middle of Costa Rica’s dry season. Fill your days with hikes through the jungle, birdwatching in the cloud forest, visits to small sugar-cane and coffee plantations—and of course, plenty of time relaxing along the country’s storied coastlines.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Costa Rica during the pandemic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Panama

The popular Red frog beach on Basimentos Island, Bocas del Toro, Panama.

Basimentos Island, Bocas del Toro, Panama. Photo: Shutterstock

January and February see the best weather, with less humidity and a cool breeze in the mornings and afternoons. The sun goes down a bit earlier, but the sunsets are amazing.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Panama during the pandemic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Chile and Argentina

Atacama Desert Chile night stars

Atacama Desert, Chile.

It’s summertime in the Southern Hemisphere: That means ideal weather just about everywhere in Chile and Argentina, from Chile’s Lakes District to Mendoza’s wine region to Patagonia. (But be warned: Temperatures in Buenos Aires can reach the high 90s.) If you’re headed to the Atacama Desert, time your trip for early in the month, when the lack of moonlight makes the night skies even more impressive than usual.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Chile and Argentina during the pandemic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Chile or Argentina

Lake Titicaca, Peru

dancer in traditional Andean dress at the Fiesta de la Candelaria Lake Titicaca Peru

The Fiesta de la Candelaria is one of the largest festivals in Peru.

Every February, a mix of Catholicism and Andean traditions are brought together in the Fiesta de la Candelaria, which takes place in Puno, on the shores of Lake Titicaca. This is one of the largest festivals in the country, celebrated by dancers who come from all over Peru and Bolivia for several days of performances, processions, and competitions.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Peru during the pandemic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below.

Ask about a trip to Peru

Iceland

 

northern lights over snowy flat plateau and lake in iceland

Northern Lights. Photo: kamilgrygo/Pixabay

February is one of the darkest months of the year in Iceland, bettering your chances of seeing the spectacular display of the Northern Lights. It’s also when the Winter Lights Festival takes place, with beautiful art installations and cultural events happening all around Reykjavik. Winters can be harsh and unpredictable, and some activities will be unavailable, but the dramatic snowy scenery—not to mention the extra time that locals have available for visitors—can make this a particularly satisfying time to visit and enjoy glacier hiking, horseback riding, snowmobiling, and heli-skiing, topped off with a dip in a natural hot spring (which you may well have to yourself at this time of year) to rest your weary muscles.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Iceland during the pandemic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Antarctica Cruises

Zodiac cruise through the ice, Antarctica. Photo: Abby Suplizio

Zodiac cruise through the ice, Antarctica. Photo: Abby Suplizio

By February the sea ice has melted, allowing for longer voyages and prime whale-watching when the humpbacks surface and feed. These shorter autumn days also allow glimpses of the Aurora Australis, or Southern Lights. What’s more, the icebergs have been beautifully sculpted by summer winds—reflecting the sun’s rays like giant crystal chandeliers—and special offers often come available for these late-season departures.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Antarctica during the pandemic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Southern Thailand

boats on turquoise water of Ko Phi Phi Le with limestone cliffs coming out of the water in Thailand

Ko Phi Phi Le, Thailand. Photo: Juan_Luis Pixabay

Southern Thailand is ideal in February, when the oceans are still relatively calm after the crowded peak season, and sunny skies and cooler temperatures prevail before the heat returns in April.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Thailand during the pandemic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Cambodia

Angkor Wat at sunrise

Angkor Wat at sunrise. Photo: Timothy Baker

In early February, the worst of the hot and steamy weather has not yet arrived—but the huge crowds that descend on Angkor Wat in January have already departed (just make sure to arrive after February 5 in 2023, to avoid Chinese New Year).
Read reviews of WOW trips to Cambodia. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Cambodia

United Arab Emirates and Oman

Abu Dhabi Qasr al Sarab camel caravan

Qasr al Sarab camel caravan, Abu Dhabi. Photo: Timothy Baker

February is one of the cooler months of the year for Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Oman, with highs in the 70s and lows in the 50s. This makes it a great time to camp out in Oman’s Empty Quarter, where the sand dunes seem endless; visit the Louvre Abu Dhabi (a good portion of which is outside); or stroll among Dubai’s towering skyscrapers.
Read reviews of WOW trips to the United Arab Emirates and Oman during the pandemic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to the United Arab Emirates or Oman

Botswana

Elephants tussle in Botswana. Photo: Wilderness Safaris/Caroline Culbert

Elephants tussle in Botswana. Photo: Wilderness Safaris/Caroline Culbert

Prices are as much as 40 percent cheaper in February than during peak season, and the vegetation is lush and green from the rains. The periodic thunderstorms that roll through often provide beautiful rainbows, which form a great backdrop for your photos. Plus, many of the wildlife have babies—zebra, wildebeest, antelope—and the predators tend to be more prolific with the greater availability of prey. This is also a time when migratory birds in full, exquisitely colored breeding plumage are in residence.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Botswana during the pandemic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Botswana

Israel

Baha’i Gardens, Haifa, Israel. Photo: Touring Israel

Baha’i Gardens, Haifa, Israel. Photo: Touring Israel

In February Israel is virtually empty of tourists, so you have unfettered access to almost all of the sites without waiting in lines. If you are looking for the best rooms in the best hotels and the best tour guides—all at fabulous prices—this is the time to go. Temperatures are mild, in the 50s and 60s for the most part, and although you will have some rain, the scenery makes it feel like springtime in Vermont or Switzerland: green hills, colorful wildflowers, snowcapped peaks, and flowing streams and rivers.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Israel during the pandemic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Israel

Other Good Options This Month

Click on any of the destinations below to find out why February is a good time to go.

North America

British Columbia: snow sports & Northern Lights

Jackson Hole & the Grand Tetons: skiing

Oahu: whale-watching

The Rocky Mountains: skiing (first half of the month)

 

South America

Brazil: Rio de Janeiro and Trancoso

Colombia: Cartagena and Bogota

Galapagos Islands: swimming and snorkeling

 

Europe

Athens

Norway: winter activities

Paris: winter sales

Switzerland: skiing and winter fun

Venice: Carnevale

 

Asia

Asia Cruises

China: Yunnan Province

India: Delhi, Agra & the Taj Mahal and Mumbai

Myanmar

Nepal’s lower elevations

Seychelles

Sri Lanka

Vietnam: central coast

 

Africa and Middle East

Africa Cruises

Cape Town and Winelands, South Africa

 

Australia and Pacific

New Zealand: Bay of Islands and Queenstown

Sydney

 

Be a safer, smarter traveler: Sign up for Wendy’s weekly newsletter to stay in the know. And read real travelers’ reviews of Wendy’s WOW List and use it to plan your next trip.

Wild caribbean beach of Manzanillo at Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica

Where to Go in January: The Best Places to Travel

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Ring in the New Year at home, then get on a plane: Though prices are high through New Year’s, there are deals to be found starting later that first week in January. Tropical and Southern Hemisphere destinations work especially well for those needing a dose of sunshine.

To understand what makes a trip WOW, read these recent reviews from our travelers. For more pandemic travel solutions, see our Covid-19 travel advice. And don’t miss the rest of our “Where to Go” series on the best destinations for every month of the year.

U.S. National Parks

snowy scene of hot spring steaming in winter in Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park in winter. Photo: tpsdave/Pixabay

From snowshoeing in Yellowstone to hiking in Joshua Tree, adventures abound in our national parks—even in the middle of winter. If you’re lucky, you might even get to see the Grand Canyon with a magical dusting of snow, or have a view of Yosemite Falls all to yourself.
Read reviews of WOW trips to U.S. national parks during the pandemic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to U.S. national parks

Belize

Goff’s Caye Island, Belize.

Nonstop flights to Belize take off from several U.S. cities that are only about three hours away. Once you’re there you can explore world-class coral reefs, visit uncrowded Mayan ruins, learn to scuba dive (as Wendy’s son did), fish for 100-pound tarpon (which kept her husband busy), and laze beside sparkling Caribbean waters—or you can charter your own private yacht, enjoying fabulous snorkeling, sunbathing, kayaking, and plenty of distance from everyone except your captain and first mate.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Belize during the pandemic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Belize

British Columbia

two people watching the northern lights in british columbia canada

You’re likely to catch a glimpse of the Northern Lights if you visit British Columbia in January. Photo: Cyndie Martinez

January and February have the most reliable snowfall, making it ideal for not just skiing, but also ice-fishing, snowshoeing, and snowmobiling in Western Canada. You also have a good chance of seeing the Northern Lights. Those looking for an extra dose of adventure can even mush their own dogsled team from lodge to lodge—led by an expert guide, of course.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Canada. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to British Columbia

Costa Rica

Monteverde Costa Rica

Monteverde, Costa Rica. Photo: Shutterstock

January is one of the nicest times of the year weatherwise for a winter escape, right in the middle of the Costa Rican dry season. It is often the only time in the high season that you can plan a last-minute trip and still have your first choice of the top properties.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Costa Rica during the pandemic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Mexico

Gorgeous view of Teotihuacan, The Sun´s Pyramid surrounded by hot air balloons, shot take at the dawn.

Mexico City is vibrant with arts, restaurants, and parks—and the historic Teotihuacan pyramid is nearby too. Photo: Shutterstock

Mexico is much more than a one-dimensional beach destination. Sure, fabulous oceanfront resorts and sumptuous private villas abound on its long coastlines. But the country is also home to charming colonial towns, captivating pre-Columbian ruins, and a vibrant scene in Mexico City—which sees more sun and less rain (and smog) at this time of year.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Mexico during the pandemic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Mexico

Argentina

vineyards with snow-capped mountains in background Mendoza Argentina

Mendoza, Argentina. Photo: Shutterstock

January is prime season for hiking in Patagonia, which gets just a bit quieter after the holiday rush. Meanwhile, at the foothills of the Andes, the grapevines in Mendoza sit heavy with ripening fruit. Temperatures hit the 90s in Buenos Aires, so the locals hit the beach—leaving the city easy to navigate, with so little traffic.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Argentina. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Italy’s Cities

Florence, Italy. Photo: Shutterstock

Florence, Italy. Photo: Shutterstock

There are plenty of reasons to fall in love with Rome, Florence, and Milan in January. Temperatures will typically be in the high 40s and 50s during the day, but plan on bundling up to fit in with the locals. Perhaps a new pair of leather gloves to complete your Italian look? They’ll be on sale. Italy generally has only two times during the year when they extend sconti (discounts) in retail shops: January and July. You can find deals at both boutique shops and international-brand stores after the holiday craziness, and you won’t have to fight the crowds so common at other times of the year. Enjoy Rome’s decadently rich hot chocolate as an afternoon treat, or post up next to a funghi (the mushroom-shaped outdoor heaters) and dine al fresco in one of Florence’s beautifully lit piazzas.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Italy during the pandemic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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The Maldives

overwater bungalow at Joali resort in the maldives

The view is grand from the cantilevered hammocks at JOALI’s private overwater villas.

It’s a breeze to socially distance in the Maldives: Many of these idyllic islands in the Indian Ocean are home to just one resort; secluded beach villas and overwater bungalows are the norm; restaurants are open-air, toes-in-the-sand kinds of places; and the closest interaction you might have is with a manta ray while snorkeling. Here’s how Brook spent a blissful five days there during Covid.
Read reviews of WOW trips to the Maldives during the pandemic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Thailand

small boat on beach of Koh Phangan island Thailand

Koh Phangan, Thailand. Photo: Journeys Within

Southern Thailand is ideal from mid-January through March, when the oceans are still relatively calm, and sunny skies and cooler temperatures prevail before the heat returns in April. Bangkok, meanwhile, is a year-round destination: There’s always great food and off-the-beaten-path adventures to uncover, and short bursts of rain can easily be dodged while in the city.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Thailand. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Thailand

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Sugarloaf Mountain and Botafogo Neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro by Sunset with Full Moon in the Sky

Sugarloaf Mountain and Botafogo neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro. Photo: Shutterstock

January is the best time to visit Rio—assuming you don’t mind temperatures that regularly hit 105 degrees: It’s the height of summer, Cariocas (Rio residents) are at their most relaxed, and the nightlife is at its peak.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Brazil. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

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Nicaragua

Nicaragua mountains

Nicaragua. Photo: TPS Dave/Pixabay

In January, the country is lush and green, there is no rain, and the breezes keep temperatures in the high 80s during the day on the coast—perfect for chilling out by the ocean—and in the 70s in the mountains—ideal for hikes in the cloud forest.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Nicaragua. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Nicaragua

Sri Lanka

Adams peak also known as Sri pada in Sri Lanka over the Maskeliya reservoir and tea plantations

Adams peak, also known as Sri pada, in Sri Lanka over the Maskeliya reservoir and tea plantations. Photo: Shutterstock

The weather in mid to late January is delightful—spring-like temperatures and blue skies—and it’s a quieter period sandwiched between two busy times: Christmas/New Year’s and Chinese New Year.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Sri Lanka. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Sri Lanka

Dubai

Burj Al Arab hotel and beach in Dubai

In January, Dubai is still warm enough for beaches, but also has a shopping festival. Photo: Pixabay

January is the cooler season—which in this part of the world means temperatures in the high 70s and low 80s. Designers descend upon the city for the Shopping Festival, when shops and boutiques offer discounts all month long. Read how Brook spent a multi-day layover in Dubai’s desert during the pandemic.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Dubai. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Dubai

Sydney, Australia

boat sailing in water on Sydney Harbour Australia with famous bridge in background

Sailing on Sydney Harbour. Photo: Tourism Australia

Sydney’s summer months (December to February) bring beach weather, as well as festivals and harborside celebrations: After the world-renowned New Year’s Eve celebrations comes the Sydney Festival, a three-week celebration of the arts culminating with Australia Day on January 26. It’s also the right time to take a surfing lesson at Bondi Beach, go sailing in Sydney Harbour, hike waterside trails, picnic on city parklands, catch an outdoor movie screening or concert, or attend one of the city’s many professional surfing, tennis, cricket, and rugby competitions. (Remember that prices are also at their peak in summer, so book accommodations and tickets early, before they sell out.)
Read reviews of WOW trips to Australia. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Australia

Other Good Options This Month

Click on any of the destinations below to find out why January is a good time to go.

North America and Caribbean

Florida: Disney World, Orlando

Hawaii: Oahu (whale watching)

 

Central and South America

Brazil: Salvador and Trancoso

Ecuador: Galapagos

Panama

 

Europe

France: Paris apartment rentals

Iceland: northern lights

Norway: winter activities

 

Asia

Cambodia

China: Yunnan Province

India: Mumbai and Rajasthan

Myanmar’s tropical areas

Nepal’s lower elevations

 

Africa and Middle East

Abu Dhabi

Israel

 

Australia and Pacific

New Zealand: Bay of Islands and Queenstown

Papua New Guinea: diving in Milne Bay

 

Cruises

Africa Cruises

Antarctica Cruises

 

 

Be a safer, smarter traveler: Sign up for Wendy’s weekly newsletter to stay in the know. And read real travelers’ reviews of Wendy’s WOW List and use it to plan your next trip.

orange life preserver on hook at lake

How to Buy Travel Insurance: What It Covers, When You Need It

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UPDATE ON AUGUST 24, 2022
Answers to the questions we’re hearing most frequently from travelers now:

WHAT IF I NEED TO CANCEL MY TRIP BECAUSE I TEST POSITIVE RIGHT BEFORE I’M SUPPOSED TO TRAVEL? 
Most comprehensive travel insurance policies include Covid diagnosis as an allowable reason for trip cancellation and will therefore reimburse your nonrefundable trip costs. 

WHAT IF I TEST POSITIVE BEFORE MY RETURN FLIGHT TO THE U.S.?
If you are sick enough to be hospitalized, travel insurance will cover your medical expenses, and a Medjet membership will get you home. If your symptoms are mild, some insurance policies will cover self-isolation costs under your “Trip Delay” benefit. There are often both daily and total limits to this benefit, so you may not be reimbursed for all of your additional hotel, meal, and airfare costs. 

WHAT IF THE RUSSIA/UKRAINE WAR SPREADS, OR THE STATE DEPARTMENT ISSUES A LEVEL 4 “DO NOT TRAVEL” ADVISORY FOR MY DESTINATION, AND I WANT TO CANCEL MY TRIP?
Standard travel-insurance policies rarely cover cancellation due to war, border closures, lockdowns, or government travel warnings/advisories. And none will pay out if travelers cancel because of fear of the virus, as opposed to actually contracting the virus. (Also note that the 20 countries currently with a Level 4 advisory are not common travel destinations right now, but rather places like Russia and Afghanistan.) Some insurance providers offer “Cancel For Any Reason” (CFAR) coverage; for the pros and cons of that, read “Cancel For Any Reason” Travel Insurance: What It Is and How It Works. If security is a concern, consider a MedjetHorizon membership, which includes access to a Crisis Response Center if at any point during a trip you feel that your safety may be threatened—because of a political incident, terror attack, or other crisis.

I DON’T HAVE TIME TO COMPARE THE PROS/CONS OF TRAVEL-INSURANCE POLICIES. WHICH SHOULD I BUY?
Travelex’s Travel Select policy covers Covid medical and evacuation costs, along with reimbursement for trip cancellation or interruption/delay due to a Covid diagnosis. It operates as primary coverage, allows a wide range of reasons to cancel, and, based on the feedback we’ve heard, is relatively likely to reimburse you quickly.  This policy must be purchased at least 14 days before your trip starts (this is waived for last-minute trips if you are still within 15 days of your first trip payment). Travelex also offers an optional “Cancel for Any Reason” upgrade that must be bought within two weeks after making your first trip payment. 

IF I GET SICK AND END UP IN THE HOSPITAL, HOW CAN I GET HOME? 
If you are hospitalized—for any reason, Covid or not—a Medjet membership will transport you to a home hospital of your choice.

Transparency disclosure:  Medjet is a sponsor of WendyPerrin.com. That’s because Wendy has had a membership herself since her kids were little and believes in it. Travelex Insurance Services pays WendyPerrin.com a referral fee when a policy is purchased through this link. Wendy chooses Travelex because it has generous policies (see above) and good customer service. When you use our links for your insurance/assistance purchases, it allows us to continue the rigorous and honest work we do on behalf of consumers, as well as to continue our Get a Personalized Trip Recommendation service. Thank you for your support. (Travelex Insurance Services is not related in any way to the defunct currency-exchange business Travelex.)

Now, back to our original article covering all the basics of travel insurance, as well as the fine print that’s most likely to affect you:

Travel insurance can be confusing—which is why we’ve received countless questions about it from readers. So we’ve created this primer that lays out the basics of travel insurance, including when you need it—and when you don’t.

What is travel insurance anyway?

Essentially, travel insurance serves two purposes, both financial. The first is to protect the investment you’ve already made—the cost of your trip—in the event that you need to cancel. The second is to cover future potential costs because of unforeseen events—for example, the cost of medical evacuation, should you get injured during your trip.

What does travel insurance cover?

Travel insurance policies cover some or all of the following (“comprehensive” policies cover most or all of these situations):

  • Trip cancellation or interruption (if the reason for doing so is one allowed by that policy)
  • Medical expenses, and sometimes evacuation (transportation to an appropriate medical facility)
  • Expenses related to a trip delay and lost, stolen, damaged, or delayed baggage
  • A lump-sum payment if you’re injured or killed while traveling
  • Emergency assistance
  • Financial default of the travel supplier

A policy kicks in only if your situation fits within its specific conditions (those are the pages of fine print at the back of every policy). You can’t, for instance, get your money back if you decide to cancel because your cousin dies; that’s because most policies cover cancellation due to the death of only certain close family members. Another example: You won’t get a refund if you cancel due to fear of Covid, because the pandemic is a foreseen event.

Here are three examples of how travel insurance can help. These are scenarios that a traveler might run into—and ways in which the right travel insurance policy could protect the traveler in each scenario. Remember that every policy’s benefits are different:

At the end of his trip to Costa Rica, Paul tests positive for Covid. He is vaccinated and boostered and doesn’t exhibit any symptoms, but he must quarantine at his hotel for 10 days.
Paul’s insurance policy covers $2,000 worth of quarantine expenses under its “Trip Delay” benefit, with a $200 per diem. If his costs go beyond that, Paul will be responsible for the difference.

Beth is headed to the Caribbean during hurricane season, since she knows that prices are lower at that time of year and that the chance of a storm hitting any particular island is low. But a week before she leaves, Hurricane Peter wreaks havoc at her beachfront resort.
Since Beth purchased an insurance policy with trip-cancellation coverage before the storm was named and her hotel is now uninhabitable, she can cancel the trip and get all of her money back.

Halfway through a hiking trip in the Alps, Joe slips and falls, breaking his ankle.
Joe’s travel insurance policy has a medical expense limit of $10,000, so it covers some—but not all—of his medical bills. Because he can’t continue with his trip, his trip-interruption benefit reimburses him for the unused portion of his prepaid expenses.

While Amy is walking from the train station to her hotel, a thief steals her luggage.
Amy’s insurance covers the value of the items in her luggage, up to her benefit limit of $750. Too bad she didn’t leave that diamond necklace at home, though; her policy will only reimburse up to $500 total for jewelry and electronics.

Do I really need travel insurance?

It depends on whether you’re making large nonrefundable advance payments, and whether you’re concerned about potential medical bills.

Are you reserving rooms at hotels that let you cancel up to 24 hours before check-in, and renting a car that you don’t have to pay for until you show up at the counter? In that case, don’t bother with a comprehensive policy that covers cancellation, since you’re not out of pocket for many expenses. (Even so, you may still want medical insurance, which is very affordable; you can get quotes for this coverage by entering $0 as your trip cost when researching policies online—see “Which policy should I buy?” below.)

Or are you prepaying for most of the pricey elements of your trip—hotels, private guides, transportation, a cruise—which often means that your deposit and subsequent payments are nonrefundable? In that case, you probably want travel insurance. When you choose a policy, consider the specific reasons you may end up filing a claim. For instance, most policies will cover Covid-related medical bills, but not all of them will cover the costs of a quarantine at your destination because you’re sick but not hospitalized.

Don’t I already have insurance?

You might. Some—but not all—medical plans, homeowners’ or renters’ insurance policies, and credit cards offer benefits to travelers. But Medicare, for instance, doesn’t cover members when they are overseas (though some Medigap plans do), and most health plans won’t cover evacuation (meaning, transportation to an adequate medical facility), which can be expensive if you’re somewhere remote. Check with your insurers to see what’s included.

Some premium credit cards include a level of protection. This coverage probably isn’t itself worth the card’s annual fee—but if you already have such a card, you should know what benefits it offers so that you don’t pay for redundant coverage. For example, Chase Sapphire Preferred (one of Wendy’s favorite credit cards for travelers) has some good insurance benefits, but with set limits (so, for instance, you can get back only up to $10,000 per traveler and $20,000 per trip if you cancel a trip you paid for with the card—even if your African safari cost your family of four $15,000 per person).

Some travel firms and tour operators also include certain insurance coverage in all of their trips. Don’t waste your money buying coverage that’s already built into the cost of your trip. However, don’t assume that this coverage is comprehensive; depending on your circumstances, you might want to buy an additional policy.

How much does travel insurance cost?

A comprehensive policy costs about four to eight percent of your total trip cost, according to the U.S. Travel Insurance Association. So if you and your spouse are spending $20,000 total on a week in France, expect to pay $400 to $800 per person for travel insurance.

Each premium is calculated based on the length and cost of the trip, where you’re going, and how old you are. For travelers above age 50, policies get significantly more expensive, while children can often be added to a parent’s plan for free: Travelex’s Travel Select Plan allows you to add any children under 18 to a parent’s or grandparent’s plan at no additional cost, while most Travel Guard plans include one child under 18 for every paying adult.

At what point during my trip planning should I buy travel insurance?

Purchase your policy as soon as you put down a deposit toward your trip. That’s because certain desirable benefits (e.g., coverage for cancellation because of pre-existing medical conditions, coverage for financial default of the travel supplier, a cancel-for-any-reason upgrade) may kick in only if you buy your policy within 14 days or so of your initial trip payment. Your premium will be lower if you cover only your nonrefundable costs; however, not covering the full amount of your payment(s) may invalidate coverage for pre-existing conditions. Requirements vary from one insurance provider to the next, so read a policy carefully when calculating the amount of coverage you need.

What is third-party travel insurance?

Some travel companies—cruise lines, tour operators, and the like—sell their own insurance or “protection” policies, whereas third-party insurance is sold by someone other than the travel company that is operating your trip. Third-party policies are usually a better choice: They pay you back in cash rather than trip credits, they can protect you in case the travel company goes out of business, and you can choose the plan with the coverage that best fits your specific circumstances.

My travel planner recommends that I purchase a policy through a specific insurer; should I follow their advice?

Some travel planners, tour companies, and outfitters have relationships with a particular insurance provider. They might push you to buy a certain type of insurance because they’ll earn a commission; on the other hand, their relationship with that insurer could benefit you if you have to file a claim. Wendy has seen many cases where Trusted Travel Experts on her WOW List, thanks to their relationship with a particular insurer, have been able to act as advocates for their travelers and get their claims paid.

Should I cover the cost of my flights too?

That depends. If you have to cancel your trip, you can usually put the cost of any unused airline tickets toward a future flight, sometimes minus a change fee. Calculate how much your premium will increase if you insure your flights; if the difference is less than the airline’s change fee, it’s worth insuring the flights. (You might also want to insure flights on any local carrier that you aren’t likely to fly with again—in which case a credit toward future travel would be worthless.)

What does it mean if a travel medical insurance plan is primary or secondary?

“Primary” means that the plan pays any bills first, without having to go through your home health insurance provider; “secondary” means the plan will only cover whatever you owe after you’ve filed a claim with your health insurance provider. You’ll typically get a bit more coverage per dollar with a secondary plan—but you’ll have to deal with more paperwork if you file a claim.

I have a medical condition. Will expenses related to it be covered?

Pre-existing conditions are generally excluded from coverage—but some plans will waive that exclusion if you purchase them soon after making the first payment on your trip (generally within 7 to 21 days of that initial deposit). You also usually have to insure the entire nonrefundable cost of your trip, including flights. Without coverage for pre-existing conditions, you’re on the hook for any expenses related to a condition that wasn’t medically stable at the time you booked.

What if I’m hurt doing an adventure activity (say, bungee jumping)?

Most policies won’t cover injuries you receive while taking part in certain “hazardous activities”—a category that can include everything from skydiving and rock climbing to scuba diving and heli-skiing. Some plans will allow you to pay a higher premium to cover these activities. (Dive Accident Insurance from the Divers Alert Network, for instance, covers most bills related to scuba-diving accidents.)

Will insurance pay for me to come home if I get sick or injured on the road?

Not usually. Most policies will pay for transportation to what they consider to be the nearest adequate medical facility (such transport is known as medical evacuation)—but that could be thousands of miles from your loved ones and the doctors you trust. If you want to know that you can get home, you’ll need to purchase additional coverage from a company such as Medjet, which arranges and pays for transportation from an inadequate or inconvenient hospital to one back home. For more details, read What Medical Evacuation Coverage Do You Need?

Can I call off my trip for any reason and be reimbursed?

No. Each policy defines the allowable reasons for which you can cancel and get your money back. To cancel your trip because of a terrorist attack, for instance, the attack typically has to happen in a city listed on your itinerary—not just anywhere in the country you’re visiting.

You can purchase additional “Cancel For Any Reason” (CFAR) coverage, but it’s pricey, and even then, you’ll generally only be reimbursed 50% to 75% of your trip cost. As with pre-existing condition benefits, you usually have to purchase CFAR coverage soon after your initial trip deposit; you also have to insure the total cost of the trip, and you must cancel more than 48 hours prior to your departure. Read more about CFAR coverage in our article “Cancel For Any Reason” Travel Insurance: What It Is and How It Works.

How do I protect myself against the travel company I’m working with going out of business?

If you paid by credit card—which we always recommend—your first step should be to file a billing dispute with the credit-card company. The Fair Credit Billing Act stipulates that you are protected against charges for goods or services you do not receive. If you can prove that’s the case, those charges will be credited back to your account.

Some third-party travel insurance policies also cover trip cancellation due to financial default—meaning that an airline, tour operator, cruise line, or other supplier ceases operations, leaving you without a trip. (Travel insurance usually will not cover you if the company declares bankruptcy or if you booked the supplier via a travel agency or other intermediary that goes out of business.)  Click here to read more about insurance coverage for financial default. As with pre-existing medical conditions, financial default clauses often require that you purchase the insurance soon after making your first payment, and the coverage typically doesn’t start until 10 to 14 days after you’ve purchased the policy.

Here are a couple of examples: Let’s say you’ve booked a Mediterranean cruise and flights to Venice, where you’ll board the ship. The day after paying your initial deposit, you insured the entire purchase with a carrier that protects against financial default. Two days before you’re due to leave, your airline goes belly-up, and all other flights to Venice from your hometown are booked, so you’re unable to make it to the ship. Your insurance provider reimburses you for the costs of your flights and the cruise you missed.

In another scenario, let’s say you’ve booked a trip to see the Pyramids in Egypt. A month after putting down a deposit on the trip, it occurs to you to insure your considerable investment. A few weeks before your departure, your Egypt tour operator ceases operations, and it turns out that none of your in-country arrangements have been confirmed or paid for. Even though your insurance policy covers financial default, it won’t pay out in this case because you didn’t purchase the policy within 15 days of your initial trip payment.

Which policy should I buy?

It would be so easy if one size fit all—but it doesn’t. To know which policy is right for you, think about what keeps you up at night. Are you most concerned about testing positive for Covid a day before your trip? Or about covering the costs if you test positive during your trip and must quarantine at your five-star hotel for 10 days? Or having to fly home early because a loved one there falls ill? Or deciding to cancel your trip because of a terrorist attack at your destination?

Several websites allow you to input your details and compare multiple policies at once, narrowing in on which one is right for you: Check out TravelInsurance.com, InsureMyTrip, SquareMouth.com, and, if you just want medical coverage and don’t need cancellation protection, Medical.TravelInsurance.com. Before you purchase any policy, though, it’s important to get on the phone with that insurer and ask how their policies would work, if the hypothetical reasons why you’re considering travel insurance (e.g., you end up hospitalized with Covid in your destination) were to actually occur. Transparency disclosure: If you use our links above for these websites and purchase insurance through them, we receive a referral fee, which helps support the rigorous and honest work we do on behalf of consumers. Thank you for your support.

 

Be a safer, smarter traveler: Sign up for Wendy’s weekly newsletter to stay in the know. And read real travelers’ reviews of Wendy’s WOW List and use it to plan your next trip.

How to Get a Quick Covid Test for Travel

27 Replies

Many of us would like to ensure we’re coronavirus-free before we travel. Pre-trip Covid tests are required by some foreign countries, with the test administered anywhere from 24 hours to a few days before your arrival.

Thankfully, it’s become much easier to get quick Covid test results, whether you are seeking a mail-in option that eliminates having to visit a public-health clinic or testing site, or you require an in-person or video-proctored test on a short timeline.

Below are several of your best options for a test with the last-minute results you need for some destinations: We’ve listed in-person options for PCR tests in select U.S. cities, mail-in PCR test kits that you can do from home (note that some places will not accept results from mail-in tests), and proctored, self-administered antigen tests that you can take in a foreign country. If you’re looking for a PCR test in a location not listed below, do a search for quick Covid test—not “rapid,” as that is the term commonly used for antigen tests—and your desired location. In my reporting, I’ve found that urgent-care centers are a good bet for quick Covid tests.

Jump to: In-Person Tests

Jump to: Mail-In Tests

Jump to: Tests That Can Be Self-Administered Abroad

In-Person Tests

Nationwide

  • ARCpoint Labs offers tests at dozens of labs across the country. The cost is $150 for same-day results.
  • Curative conducts saliva-based tests at pop-up sites across the country. There is no out-of-pocket cost, and results are usually available (but not guaranteed) in 1-2 days.
  • DM Covid-19 Test will send a clinician to your home almost anywhere in the Lower 48 states to conduct a curbside test, with 3-4 days’ advance notice. Results are available the same day in Orlando, Philadelphia, northern Virginia, central Maryland, Washington, D.C., and New York for $349, or the next day at any location that they cover for $299.
  • CVS has drive-through testing—as well as walk-up testing in some locations—and reports that the average turnaround time is 1-2 days. Tests are free for those who meet certain criteria related to symptoms and exposure, and $139 otherwise. (Note: Pharmacies’ turnaround times are not as reliable as testing centers that guarantee results in time for travel.)
  • Walgreens offers drive-through tests at select locations; turnaround time varies by location and by the lab used to obtain results. There is no cost for most individuals. (Note: Pharmacies’ turnaround times are not as reliable as testing centers that guarantee results in time for travel.)
  • Passport Health is offering tests at some of their clinics at a cost of $200, with results in 72 hours.

Arizona

  • Worksite Labs conducts tests in Phoenix; the cost is $90 for results in 24 hours, $150 for results in 12 hours, or $250 for results in 90 minutes.
  • Saguaro Bloom sells test kits with a self-administered swab at their Scottsdale location; the cost is $149 for results in 24 hours, or $279 for same-day results.

California

  • Covid Check Today will send a clinician to your home (or any other location) in Los Angeles, San Diego, or Orange County to conduct a test. The cost is $199 for results in 24 hours ($149 with insurance), or $349 for results in 6 hours.
  • Cosmos Health Solutions offers tests in Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Tustin. Tests are free with insurance, with results in 24-48 hours; you can pay $75 for results in less than 24 hours, or $150 for results in 1 hour.
  • Good Life Medical Services has drive-through testing in Los Angeles that is free if you have insurance, or they will send a clinician to your home for $250. Results are returned in 48-72 hours; 24- to 48-hour turnaround is available for an additional $250-$350.
  • Worksite Labs conducts tests in Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Long Beach, and Los Angeles; the cost is $90 for results in 24 hours, $150 for results in 12 hours, or $250 for results in 90 minutes.
  • Reliant Urgent Care conducts tests at locations across Los Angeles county; the cost is $175 for same-day results.
  • OnSite Safe conducts drive-up testing in Van Nuys and Sacramento, using saliva samples. The cost is $164-$215 for results by midnight 2 days after your test; in Van Nuys, you can pay an additional $24.75 for results by midnight the next day.
  • US Specialty Labs does drive-through testing with documentation for travel in San Diego for $135, with results in under 24 hours.
  • McCampbell Analytical offers self-collected test kits, which you pick up and drop off at their lab about an hour outside San Francisco in Pittsburg. Options range from results the next day for $99, to results in 3 hours for $699.
  • IGeneX offers testing in Milpitas, next door to San Jose; their staff will assist as you collect your own sample using a nasal swab. It is $250 for results in 24 hours, and $400 for same-day results.
  • Wellness 4 Humanity conducts saliva tests in San Jose, with results in 24-48 hours for $189, or guaranteed the next day for $439.
  • CityHealth conducts tests in Sacramento and throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, with costs billed to your insurance and results in 48 hours; you can pay $120 for results in 24 hours.
  • Med2u Inc. does home/office visits in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The cost is $200, plus a travel fee of $100 or more; results are available late the next day.
  • OpenClear is a concierge service that brings a clinician to your home or office in the Los Angeles area for Covid testing. Costs range from $499 for results in 48-72 hours to $899 for results in 12-24 hours.

Colorado

  • Covid Check Today will send a clinician to your home (or any other location) in the Denver area to conduct a test. The cost is $199 for results in 24 hours ($149 with insurance), or $349 for results in 6 hours.

Delaware

  • DM Covid-19 Test conducts curbside tests in Middletown; it’s $219 for next-day results.

Florida

  • Get Result Today performs tests at several locations throughout Florida. The cost is $139 for results within 24 hours, or $249 for results in 30-60 minutes. At-home testing is available in some locations for an additional fee.
  • Covid Check Today will send a clinician to your home (or any other location) in the Miami area to conduct a test. The cost is $199 for results in 24 hours ($149 with insurance), or $349 for results in 6 hours.
  • Covid Testing LLC does testing at several locations in Orlando and Central Florida. Testing is free with insurance, plus a $35 charge for next-day results or $75 for same-day results.
  • Worksite Labs conducts tests in Ft. Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, and Atlantis; the cost is $90 for results in 24 hours.
  • LAB Doctor offers tests in Ft. Lauderdale for $179, with results the next day.
  • BayCare is conducting tests at the Tampa airport for $150, with results typically returned in 48 hours.
  • OnSite Safe conducts drive-up testing in Tampa, using saliva samples. The cost is $164 for results by midnight 2 days after your test; you can pay an additional $24.75 for results by midnight the next business day.
  • Med2u Inc. conducts tests at their Hollywood office, and will do home or office visits in the surrounding region. The cost is $200, plus a travel fee of $100 or more; results are available by late evening of the next business day.
  • Physician Partners of America will come to clients in the Tampa and Orlando areas to conduct a test for $300, with results in 24 hours.
  • OpenClear is a concierge service that brings a clinician to your home or office in the Miami area for Covid testing. Costs range from $499 for results in 48-72 hours to $899 for results in 12-24 hours.
  • DM Covid-19 Test conducts curbside tests in Daytona Beach; it’s $219 for next-day results, or $299 for same-day results.

Georgia

  • Viral Solutions offers drive-up testing in several locations around Atlanta at no cost. Results are typically available in 2 days.
  • Worksite Labs conducts tests in Atlanta; the cost is $90 for results in 24 hours.
  • Wellness 4 Humanity conducts saliva and throat-swab tests in Atlanta, with results in 24-48 hours for $169, or guaranteed by 2:00 a.m. for $209. They will also come to your home or office for an additional $249.
  • DM Covid-19 Test conducts curbside tests in Atlanta; it’s $219 for next-day results, or $299 for same-day results.

Hawaii

  • Wellness 4 Humanity conducts saliva and throat-swab tests in Honolulu, with results in 24-48 hours for $199.

Illinois

  • Prime Care Physicians offers drive-up tests at their clinic in Schaumburg with results in 15-48 hours; they accept some insurance or charge $125 out of pocket. They also do in-home or in-office tests for an additional $100-$150 fee.

Maryland

  • Brookville Pharmacy conducts tests in Chevy Chase; the cost is $200 for results in 48 hours, or $250 for results in 24 hours.
  • DM Covid-19 Test conducts curbside tests at their Columbia office; it’s $219 for same-day results, or $299 for results in one hour.

Massachusetts

  • Tufts Medical Center conducts tests in Boston, with results in 48-72 hours. If your insurance does not cover the test, the cost is $135.
  • Veritas offers tests at locations in Manchester-by-the-Sea, Ipswich, Andover, Beverly, and Newton Center. The cost is $120; results are available the same day if your sample is collected before noon, or the next day for afternoon tests.

Nevada

  • Covid Check Today will send a clinician to your home (or any other location) in the Las Vegas area to conduct a test. The cost is $199 for results in 24 hours ($149 with insurance), or $349 for results in 6 hours.
  • Worksite Labs conducts tests in Las Vegas; the cost is $90 for results in 24 hours, or $150 for results in 12 hours.
  • Phamatech, Inc. conducts shallow-nasal-swab tests in Las Vegas. The cost is $120 for results in 24-48 hours.

New Jersey

  • LabQ offers walk-up testing at various locations in New Jersey. The testing is free, with results in 24 hours.
  • Urgent Medical Care & MRI in Jersey City conducts tests with a 30-minute turnaround at a cost of $250.

New York

  • Get Result Today performs tests in Manhattan, Glen Cove, and Merrick. The cost is $139 for results within 24 hours, or $249 for results in 30-60 minutes. At-home testing is available for an additional fee.
  • LabQ offers walk-up testing at various locations in New York City. The testing is free, with results in 24 hours.
  • Bloom Labs sells test kits with a self-administered swab at their Manhattan location; the cost is $299 for results in 3-4 hours.
  • Worksite Labs conducts tests near JFK airport; the cost is $90 for results in 24 hours.
  • CareCube offers tests at their locations in Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Queens. The cost is $100-$150 with insurance, or $225 without, with results in 4-6 hours.
  • The Medical Offices of Manhattan performs tests at their three locations in Manhattan, with results in 1 hour. The office visit costs $199 (your insurance may cover this), and the test costs $225.
  • Venistat will send a clinician to your home anywhere in New York’s five boroughs or on Long Island. The cost is $115 with insurance, or $185 without. Results are guaranteed in 24 hours; the average turnaround time is 14 hours.
  • OnSite Safe conducts drive-up testing in Manhattan, using saliva samples. The cost is $184 for results by midnight 2 days after your test, or $208.75 for results by midnight the next business day.
  • The New York Center for Travel and Tropical Medicine offers tests with same-day results in Manhattan; the test costs $395, an official certificate for travel an additional $35.
  • Urgent Care of New York performs drive-up tests at its four locations in Westchester and Rockland counties for $75 (they accept most insurance for the $120 cost of the visit), with results in about 20 minutes.
  • Med2u Inc. does home/office visits in New York City. The cost is $200, plus a $100-$200 travel fee; results are available in 24 hours.
  • OpenClear is a concierge service that brings a clinician to your home or office in the New York area (including Connecticut, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania) for Covid testing. Costs range from $499 for results in 48-72 hours to $899 for results in 12-24 hours.

North Carolina

  • DM Covid-19 Test conducts curbside tests in Wilmington; it’s $219 for next-day results.

Oregon

  • Worksite Labs conducts tests in Portland; the cost is $90 for results in 24 hours, $150 for results in 12 hours, or $250 for results in 90 minutes.
  • AFC Urgent Care Center offers tests at their 5 locations in the Portland area. The cost is $139 for results in 24-72 hours, or $199 for results in 15-60 minutes.

Pennsylvania

  • AFC Urgent Care Center conducts tests in South Philadelphia. They bill insurance for a standard test with results typically returned in 1-3 days; same-day results are available for $150.
  • Frontage Lab does testing at its Exton facility. The cost is $200 for same-day results.
  • DM Covid-19 Test conducts curbside tests in Philadelphia and East Falls; it’s $219 for next-day results, or $299 for same-day results.

South Carolina

  • Phlebo on the Go offers mobile testing in Hilton Head and the surrounding area; the cost is $165 for results in 24 hours.
  • DM Covid-19 Test conducts curbside tests in Fort Mill; it’s $219 for next-day results.

Tennessee

  • At their two locations in Nashville, Complete Health Partners offers a package that includes a medical exam and a Covid test for $250, with results in 30-45 minutes.

Texas

  • APC Health offers drive-through tests in Pearland. The cost is $60 for results in 24 hours.
  • DevLab bio conducts tests at their lab near Dallas-Fort Worth. The cost is $115 for next-day results, $215 for same-day results, or $290 for results in 30-45 minutes.
  • BioExcel Diagnostics performs saliva tests at their lab in Houston. The cost is $60 for results within 48 hours.
  • OpenClear is a concierge service that brings a clinician to your home or office in the Houston area for Covid testing. Costs range from $499 for results in 48-72 hours to $899 for results in 12-24 hours.
  • iGenomeDx conducts drive-up tests at its San Antonio lab for $125. Results are available by 6 p.m. for tests done before 10:30 a.m.; otherwise, results are available in 24-48 hours.
  • ADL Health conducts drive-through tests at its San Antonio testing center; the cost is $169 for results in 24-48 hours.
  • Worksite Labs conducts tests in Austin; the cost is $90 for results in 24 hours, $150 for results in 12 hours, or $250 for results in 90 minutes.

Virginia

Washington

  • The City of Seattle offers free tests with results in 48-72 hours.
  • Worksite Labs conducts tests in Seattle; the cost is $90 for results in 24 hours, $150 for results in 12 hours, or $250 for results in 90 minutes.
  • Discovery Health MD conducts test at the Seattle Airport and at the DoubleTree Suites by Hilton nearby. The cost is $176 for next-day results or $349 for results in 1 hour.

Washington, D.C.

Mail-In Tests for the U.S.

ADL Health

  • The price: $119 for travelers flying on United; $169 for all others
  • The promise: Results are typically available 24-48 hours after the lab begins processing your sample.
  • The process: Order a kit online; when you’re ready to conduct your home test, return to ADL’s website to activate your kit. Collect your sample via a shallow nasal swab, then send it to the lab using the enclosed, prepaid UPS Next Day Air shipping label.
  • Get more info on ADL Health.

APC Health

  • The price: $100
  • The promise: Results are available within 24 hours of your sample arriving at their lab.
  • The process: When you request a kit from APC, you can choose to collect your saliva sample independently, or during a video call. (Some countries require that you be supervised while taking the Covid test necessary for entry.) Return your specimen via the prepaid UPS materials. Results include a QR code.
  • Get more info on APC Health.

Azova

  • The price: $114.99
  • The promise: Results are expected 12-36 hours after the lab receives your sample.
  • The process: Choose from a nasal-swab or saliva test kit. Once you receive your kit, you can schedule a video observation to collect your sample. Return it via the prepaid next-day air shipping materials.
  • Get more info on Azova.

Carbon Health

  • The price: $145
  • The promise: Results are expected within 72 hours of shipping your sample to the lab.
  • The process: Order online and your testing kit will be shipped to you via FedEx overnight delivery. Collect your saliva sample and return it in the overnight packaging provided.
  • Get more info on Carbon Health.

The COVID Consultants

  • The price: $199 (+$25 if you need a Saturday delivery label)
  • The promise: Results are guaranteed within 24 hours of your sample arriving at the lab.
  • The process: Fill out their form and The COVID Consultants will immediately send you a kit (you can choose between a sputum test or nasal swab) and an invoice. Collect your sample and send it to their lab via the included packaging for overnight shipping.
  • Get more info on The COVID Consultants.

empowerDX

  • The price: free with insurance, or $99
  • The promise: Results are normally available with 24-48 hours of the lab receiving your sample.
  • The process: Order a kit online and you will receive it within 2 business days. Collect your sample with the shallow nasal swab, then return it via the enclosed FedEx next-day packaging.
  • Get more info on empowerDX.

Everlywell

  • The price: $109
  • The promise: Results are reported within 24-48 hours of the lab receiving your sample. The stated time of your sample collection may default to midnight. You must be 18 or older to use the test.
  • The process: Order a kit online and it will arrive within 2-8 business days, depending on the shipping method you choose. Once the kit arrives, insert a swab about one inch into each nostril, then return your sample to the lab via the prepaid UPS next-day service label.
  • Get more info on Everlywell.

ImmunitiRx

  • The price: $225, with a 10% discount on orders of 4 or more kits (+$15 if you need a Saturday delivery label)
  • The promise: Results are reported 24-36 hours after their lab receives your sample.
  • The process: Order a kit online and ImmunitiRx will send it out via FedEx two-day shipping. Spit three to four times into the supplied cup, then deliver it to a FedEx DropBox for overnight shipping to the lab (box and shipping label provided).
  • Get more info on ImmunitiRx.

LetsGetChecked

  • The price: $109
  • The promise: Results are usually available 24-72 hours after the lab receives your sample.
  • The process: Order a test online, then activate the kit via the company’s website when you’re ready to use it: Collect your sample with a shallow nasal swab, then mail it to the lab via the enclosed express UPS shipping label.
  • Get more info on LetsGetChecked.

Med2u Inc.

  • The price: $200, plus $39 shipping fee per order (+$10 if you need a Saturday delivery label)
  • The promise: Results are available 12-14 hours after the lab receives your sample.
  • The process: Order either a nasal-swab or sputum testing kit and collect your sample. Return it to the lab via the prepaid overnight shipping label.
  • Get more info on Med2u Inc.

Quest Diagnostics

  • The price: $135
  • The promise: Results are typically available 1 to 3 days after your sample arrives at the lab. You must be 18 or older to use this test.
  • The process: Quest’s kit includes materials to collect an upper respiratory nasal sample and a prepaid overnight Fedex shipping label. (Quest also offers drive-through testing at a number of Walmart locations across the country for $125.)
  • Get more info on QuestDiagnostics.

Reliant Health Services

  • The price: $129
  • The promise: Results are usually available 24-48 hours after your sample arrives at the lab.
  • The process: The kit includes materials to collect a saliva sample and a box to return it to the lab via prepaid Fedex overnight shipping. When you’re ready to take the test, register it online, indicating that you are using it for travel. If your destination requires video observation, you will be connected to a practitioner for a telehealth visit.
  • Get more info on Reliant Health Services.

VaultHealth

  • The price: $90
  • The promise: Results are returned 24-48 hours after your sample arrives at their lab. The provided documentation lists the date of the sample collection, but not the time.
  • The process: Receive your testing kit in the mail (or via Doordash delivery in select cities), then do a Zoom video call with a test supervisor, who will guide you through the process of saliva collection. The kit includes prepaid materials for overnight shipping.
  • Get more info on VaultHealth.

Tests That Can Be Self-Administered Abroad

Note: These kits are antigen tests, which many countries now also accept for entry (typically within a shorter window prior to arrival than PCR tests). Internet access suitable for a video call is essential. 

Abbott BinaxNOW + eMed 

  • The price: $150 for a pack of 6 tests via eMed; $70 for a pack of 2 via Optum
  • The promise: eMed sells Abbott’s BinaxNOW test kits that you can self-administer anywhere you have broadband internet access and a device with a camera. Results are determined in 15 minutes during your guided testing session.
  • The process: Order the kits online and you can self-administer them via a video visit with an eMed Certified Guide. The test involves a shallow nasal swab. You must download the NAVICA app before departing the U.S. and bring two tests per person.
  • Get more info on eMed.

Ellume + Azova

  • The price: $26-$45 for test kit, $15 for video observation visit
  • The promise: Ellume’s test kit meets the testing requirement to enter the U.S. only when conducted under video observation, which Azova provides. Results are sent via SMS and email within 24 hours.
  • The process: Purchase an Ellume kit online or in a pharmacy, then go to Azova’s website to schedule a video visit during which you will take the test. Video observations are available 24/7, but it is recommended that you schedule your session as soon as you have booked your flight back to the U.S.
  • Get more info on Ellume.
  • Get more info on Azova.

Lucira + Azova

  • The price: $89 for test kit and video observation
  • The promise: Results in 30 minutes.
  • The process: Order a kit online, then schedule your video observation. Results are available via QR code and pdf.
  • Get more info on Lucira + Azova.

On/Go + Azova

  • The price: $55 for test kit and video observation
  • The promise: Results in 15 minutes.
  • The process: Order a kit online, which includes two tests. Take the first test 24-48 hours prior to your scheduled video observation, during which you will be instructed to take the second test. Results are available via QR code and pdf.
  • Get more info on On/Go + Azova.

Qured

  • The price: $45
  • The promise: Take a kit during a telehealth visit and receive results in 2 hours.
  • The process: Order a kit online, schedule your video consultation, and at the appointed time one of Qured’s health advisors will walk you through the testing process. The kit includes a second test, which users are advised to take 24-36 hours later to confirm the result.
  • Get more info on Qured.

Reliant Health Services

  • The price: $69; discounts for boxes of 2, 6, and 10 tests
  • The promise: Results are typically available within 15 minutes of your telehealth session .
  • The process: Order a kit online. When you’re ready to take the test, register your kit on the website during operating hours (9:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Sunday); you will be sent a link to access a video-observation session.
  • Get more info on Reliant Health Services.

 

Be a safer, smarter traveler: Sign up for Wendy’s weekly newsletter to stay in the know. And read real travelers’ reviews of Wendy’s WOW List and use it to plan your next trip.

Positano on the Amalfi Coast, Italy

Where to Go in October: The Best Places to Travel

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Pleasant temperatures, fewer tourists, and shoulder-season deals make October a great time to travel to a large swath of the globe. Since you can’t go everywhere (sad, I know), we’ve pinpointed a few of the optimal spots. From vineyard-hopping in France to whale-shark-spotting in the Seychelles, the following destinations and experiences belong on your October travel list.

This list represents U.S. travelers’ best bets for October 2022 specifically, when it comes to a combo of good weather, reduction of Covid-related risks, and favorable conditions for local activities: With the right local expert arranging your trip, you can spend most of your time in the open air, keep socially distanced, and limit your activities to places with higher vaccination rates and lower rates of local spread, all of which greatly reduce your risk of testing positive just before returning to the U.S.

To understand what makes a trip WOW, read these recent reviews from our travelers. For more pandemic travel solutions, see our Covid-19 travel advice. And don’t miss the rest of our “Where to Go” series on the best destinations for every month of the year.

Utah’s National Parks

Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah.

Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah. Photo: Mark Campbell

October is one of the best months to explore Utah’s stunning national parks: The temperatures are generally moderate and the crowds thin. An insider can show you the parks on foot, by vehicle, and even from a helicopter.
To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Utah’s National Parks

Big Island, Hawaii

Wai'pio Valley Lookout, Hawaii

Wai’pio Valley Lookout, Big Island, Hawaii.

October is the choicest month for the Big Island, as the weather is driest—with daytime temperatures hovering around 85 degrees—and families aren’t traveling, so prices are lower. (The only thing it’s not an ideal time for is surfing.)
Read reviews of WOW trips to Hawaii during the pandemic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Hawaii

Olympic National Park, Washington

A beautiful sunset on the ocean among the rocks, Cape flattery trail , Olympic Peninsula, Washington state

Sun on the ocean among the rocks, Cape flattery trail, Olympic Peninsula, Washington state. Photo: Shutterstock

In October, the weather is usually pleasant across all three of the park’s environments: the Olympic Mountains, the temperate Hoh Rain Forest, and the rugged Pacific coastline. There may be snow at the high elevations and some rain lower down, but the waterfalls will be flowing, and the area is very lush. Sunsets also tend to be spectacular at this time of year.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Washington during the pandemic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Olympic National Park

Italy: From the Cinque Terre to Puglia

Castello di Grinzane and village in Piedmont - one of the most famous wine regions of Italy

Castello di Grinzane and village in Piedmont – one of the most famous wine regions of Italy. Photo: Shutterstock

From the northern coastline to the boot of the heel—and just about everywhere in between—Italy is gorgeous in October. The weather is pleasant, hotels aren’t charging their peak-season rates, and you’ll enjoy a more authentic experience when the people dining beside you at the trattorias are locals, not tourists. On the Amalfi Coast, October is when the throngs of cruise-ship passengers have thinned, prices have dropped (a little), there’s plenty of sun, and the sea is still warm enough for swimming. In Tuscany, festivals for the olive and grape harvests abound, and the fall foliage is stunning. In Rome, you don’t need to wait in line for an outside table in the city’s iconic piazze.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Italy during the pandemic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Italy

Burgundy, France

Burgundy's rolling hillsides

Burgundy’s rolling hillsides. Photo: Trufflepig

The chaos of harvest is over and the grapes are in—which means there’s still lots of activity in the wineries, since the wines are fermenting and the vinification is in full throe, but the winemakers themselves have a little more time to spend with visitors. It’s also the prettiest time: The leaves on the vines turn yellow and gold, and you realize why they call it the Côte d’Or (the golden slopes). And beyond the wines, it’s the most interesting time for seasonal produce: Mushrooms and squashes complement wild game on the menus of the local restaurants.
Read reviews of WOW trips to France during the pandemic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to France

Madrid, Spain

Old cozy street in Madrid, Spain. Architecture and landmark of Madrid, postcard of Madrid

Cultural events pick up in fall in Madrid. Photo: Shutterstock

In September and October, the blistering summer heat abates and cultural events pick up, with festivals, theater shows, and concerts. It’s also much easier to get a room at one of the new luxury hotels that has opened in the city in recent years, from the Four Seasons to the Rosewood to the Edition.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Madrid during the pandemic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Madrid

Austria’s Danube Valley

The Wachau Valley, Austria

The Wachau Valley, Austria. Photo: Austrian Tourist Board

October is at the end of peak season, there’s gorgeous fall scenery, and it’s harvest time in the vineyards, which means that the Heuriger (wine taverns) are especially fun and lively and you’ll probably get to try new wines. More important, especially for wine buffs, many of the smaller (and better) Heurigers aren’t open year-round, but they’re all open in October.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Austria during the pandemic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Austria’s Danube Valley

Sicily and Malta

Mt. Etna, Sicily.

Mt. Etna, Sicily. Photo: Pixabay

October is one of the most colorful and flavorful months in Sicily and Malta. It is the season of the harvest in Sicily, which means fresh olives, almonds, and chestnuts—not to mention wild mushrooms, prickly pears, and carob—complement the island’s always-bountiful variety of culinary offerings. In nearby Malta, it is still warm enough for swimming, snorkeling, scuba diving, or a romantic overnight sail to the island of Gozo with nobody else around. Throughout the region, the air and sea temperatures are still warm and inviting, flights and accommodations are less expensive than during the summer, and the fewer tourists mean you get a more intimate experience with the local people.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Sicily and Malta during the pandemic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Sicily and/or Malta

Croatia

aerial view of Hvar island and surrounding sea Croatia

On Hvar, it’s still swimsuit season but the party crowds have gone. Photo: Exeter International

Visit Croatia in the first half of October and you’ll find good weather, fewer tourists, and lower hotel prices than during peak season.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Croatia during the pandemic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Croatia

Greece

sunset over sailboats Naxos Town Greece

Boats off the island of Naxos. Photo: Billie Cohen

Smart travelers will let the summer crowds die down, then go to Greece in the fall. As with Croatia, at that time of year you’ll find pleasant temperatures, quieter streets, and lower prices.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Greece during the pandemic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Greece

Turkey

rainbow umbrellas hover over a street of shops and restaurants in Istanbul turkey

Istanbul, Turkey. Photo: Tim Baker

The fall shoulder season is a sweet spot for Turkey: Istanbul and Cappadocia are sunny and mild, while on the Aegean Coast, it’s warm but not sweltering, and the sea is calm.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Turkey during the pandemic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Turkey

Bali

Pura Ulun Danu Bratan, Hindu temple on Bratan lake landscape, one of famous tourist attraction in Bali, Indonesia - Image

Pura Ulun Danu Bratan, Hindu temple on Bratan Lake, Bali. Photo: Shutterstock

While October falls during the rainy season, showers are usually limited to a few hours in the afternoon or overnight. It’s also less busy than the high season, making hotel rates more attractive.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Bali. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Bali

Northern Thailand

The view from Anantara Golden Triangle Resort in Chiang Rai, Thailand

The view from Anantara Golden Triangle Resort in Chiang Rai, Thailand. Photo: Anantara

Northern Thailand is at its best at the end of the green season: From mid-October to mid-December, the rains have diminished but the waterfalls and rivers are full, and the crowds and higher prices of the late-December to mid-January peak season have yet to arrive. The mountains are lush and green, and morning mists hanging in the valleys send shivers up your spine. (Bangkok is a year-round destination, and short bursts of rain can easily be dodged in the city.)
Read reviews of WOW trips to Thailand during the pandemic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Thailand

Northern Chile and Argentina

the red sand of Chile's Atacama desert with tall mountains in the distance

The Atacama Desert of Chile has an otherwordly and beautiful landscape. Photo: Awasi

While both the Atacama Desert in Chile and the region around Salta, Argentina, are year-round destinations, October and November see fewer visitors than other times of year—leaving your vistas of these wide-open landscapes largely free of other travelers. (These are also excellent months to hop a flight to Easter Island, when the place is nearly empty and the weather ideal.)
Read reviews of WOW trips to Chile and Argentina during the pandemic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Northern Chile and Argentina

Jordan

The dunes in Wadi Rum, Jordan. Photo: Timothy Baker

Jordan is ideal in October, when the heat of summer has passed but the cold of winter—which can be particularly harsh in desert regions such as Wadi Rum—has not yet arrived.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Jordan. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Jordan

Oman

Dhow boat Cruise in Arabian Peninsula, boat on blue water with desert mountains in background

A dhow cruise on the Arabian Peninsula in Oman. Photo: Shutterstock

From mid-September through October, Oman’s weather is perfect: It’s not too hot in the desert and not too chilly in the mountains.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Oman. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Oman

Mongolia

An eagle hunter on horseback in Mongolia holding an eagle

An eagle hunter in Mongolia. Photo: Chris Rainier/Nomadic Expeditions

October is when you can attend the one-of-a-kind Golden Eagle Festival—a colorful celebration of a centuries-old Kazakh hunting tradition in the Altai Mountains. When the festival was founded in 1999, only 40 families still hunted with eagles; today more than 400 do so, and many locals rely on the income they earn during the event. Our Trusted Travel Expert can even arrange for you to have dinner with the competitors.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Mongolia. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Mongolia

Vietnam

Wonderful view of the East Gate (Hien Nhon Gate) to the Citadel and a moat surrounding the Imperial City with the Purple Forbidden City in Hue, Vietnam. Hue is a popular tourist destination of Asia.

View of the East Gate (Hien Nhon Gate) to the Citadel and a moat surrounding the Imperial City with the Purple Forbidden City in Hue, Vietnam. Photo: Shutterstock

Since the monsoons hit northern, central, and southern Vietnam at different times, weather across Vietnam varies widely. If your goal is to travel throughout the country, the driest months to visit are October and March. Fall is when you’ll find the best weather conditions in Ho Chi Minh City and the south.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Vietnam. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Vietnam

The Seychelles

Maia Luxury Resort, Anse Louis Beach, Seychelles

October brings a mix of good weather and value. Photo: Maia Luxury Resort/Lindsey Wallace

October represents a nice balance of great weather (not too hot and little to no rain) and great value (since many of the resorts still have low-season rates). It’s also the best month for snorkeling and diving with whale sharks.
Read reviews of WOW trips to the Seychelles. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to the Seychelles

Other Good Options This Month

Click on any of the destinations below to find out why October is a good time to go.

North America

California Coast

Hawaii: Maui

Jackson Hole and the Grand Tetons National Park (first half of the month)

Mexico City (second half of the month)

Puerto Vallarta (second half of the month)

Riviera Maya (second half of the month)

Yellowstone National Park (first half of the month)

Central and South America

Bolivia

Brazilian Amazon

Buenos Aires

Colombia: Bogotá

Costa Rica: fishing, wildlife and turtle hatching

Patagonia (second half of the month)

Peru

 

Europe

Algarve

Andalusia

Athens

Canal Barge Cruises

Cotswolds

Czech Republic

Hungary

Killarney and County Kerry

London

Paris

Portugal

Romania (first half of the month)

Scotland

 

Asia

Agra

Delhi

Laos

Mumbai

Nepal

Trekking in the Himalayas

 

Africa and Middle East

Botswana

Cape Town and the Winelands

Egypt

Israel

Jerusalem

Madagascar

Marrakech and the Atlas Mountains

 

Australia and Pacific

Fiji

French Polynesia (first half of the month)

Great Barrier Reef

Papua New Guinea: trekking

Queenstown hiking and cycling

 

Be a safer, smarter traveler: Sign up for Wendy’s weekly newsletter to stay in the know. And read real travelers’ reviews of Wendy’s WOW List and use it to plan your next trip.

Fakarava island in french polynesia with canoe on turquoise blue water

Where to Go in September: The Best Places to Travel

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Leisure travel usually slows down after Labor Day, as kids go back to school and adults go back to work. That makes September a smart month for many places around the world.  This list represents U.S. travelers’ best bets for September 2022 specifically, when it comes to a combo of good weather, favorable conditions for local activities, and reduction of Covid-related risks: With the right local expert arranging your trip, you can spend most of your time in the open air, keep physically distanced indoors, and limit your activities to places with higher vaccination rates and lower rates of local spread, all of which reduce your risk of testing positive just before returning to the U.S.

To understand what makes a trip WOW, read these recent reviews from our travelers. For more pandemic travel solutions, see our Covid-19 travel advice. And don’t miss the rest of our “Where to Go” series on the best destinations for every month of the year.

Norway

Northern Lights, Norway.

September is the sweet spot for Norway, when it’s still warm enough to spend your days exploring the fjords but the night sky gets dark enough that you have a good chance of catching the Northern Lights.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Norway. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Norway

Mediterranean coastlines and islands

colorful boats in Marsaxlokk Harbour, Malta

Marsaxlokk Harbour, Malta. Photo: Exclusively Malta

In September, the Mediterranean region is still sunny (but not too hot) and it’s warm enough to go swimming—and yet the crowds have thinned because kids are back in school. From the Algarve in Portugal to the French Riviera to the Cinque Terre in Italy to Turkey’s Aegean coast, the weather is great for strolling through villages and indulging in the local culinary treats. Don’t forget about islands like Corsica, Sicily, or Malta, either: On the latter, there are village feasts happening in September, with parades, concerts, and even fireworks.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Portugal’s Algarve, France’s Riviera, Sicily, Malta and Turkey during the pandemic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a Mediterranean trip

Ireland

Sheep grazing in Killarney National Park Ireland.

Sheep grazing in Killarney National Park, Ireland. Photo: Celebrated Experiences

September and October, when the summer crowds have gone but relatively warm weather remains, is one of the best times to visit. It certainly might rain—this is Ireland, after all—but that just means you’ll have rainbows!  In September, which is considered high season, leaves start turning, ushering in fall.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Ireland during the pandemic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Ireland

Tuscany

tractor harvesting grapes in a vineyard in Tuscany Italy

Vineyards in Tuscany, Italy.

Come September, the vineyard-covered hills across much of Tuscany come alive for the vendemmia, or grape harvest. The rumble of small tractors rolling along the long rows of vines, the chattering of families and farm hands as they snip off individual clusters by hand, the tinkling of glasses and forks against plates as long tables are set up outdoors for everyone to take a break for lunch al fresco…these are the sights and sounds of autumn in Chianti, Montalcino, Montepulciano, and the rest of Tuscany’s wine country.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Tuscany. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Tuscany

Porto and the Douro River Valley, Portugal

Grape harvest in the Douro Valley, Portugal

Harvest in the Douro Valley, Portugal. Photo: Porto Tourism

Late September and early October are typically the time for the grape harvest in the Douro. You can participate by picking grapes (more fun than it sounds) or—better yet—stomping the fruit à la I Love Lucy with your own two feet. There are also some amazing hikes just north of Porto, which are at their best in fall when the weather and landscape are starting to change; options range from easy strolls to expert-level routes.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Portugal during the pandemic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Portugal

Germany

Bamberg Bavaria, Germany. Photo: Claudia Schwenger

Bamberg Bavaria, Germany. Photo: Claudia Schwenger

September hits the sweet spot of pleasant weather and minimal crowds, and there are many charming, open-air harvest festivals taking place. Plus, there’s Oktoberfest, most of which actually falls during September.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Germany during the pandemic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Germany

Grand Canyon, Arizona

Grand Canyon view of the watchtower.

The watchtower in Grand Canyon. Photo: Mike Buchheit

After Labor Day, the Grand Canyon gets much quieter, prices fall from the highs of summer, and the weather is still pleasant.
To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to the Grand Canyon

Jackson Hole and Grand Teton National Park

Grand Teton National Park in fall, Wyoming.

Grand Teton National Park in fall, Wyoming. Photo: NPS

From mid-September to mid-October, the aspens are golden, the area isn’t crowded, and hotels often discount their rates; plus, the grizzly and black bears are more visible as they stock up prior to hibernation, and the elk are bugling. While the weather can be cooler, it’s a good excuse to take advantage of the fireplace in your room.
To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Jackson Hole and Grand Teton

Cruises: Alaska, Eastern Canada, Mediterranean

Star Breeze

Setting sail on the Star Breeze. Photo: Windstar Cruises.

As the summer winds down, you can often find the lowest pricing on cruises in iconic destinations like Alaska and the Mediterranean. For those seeking a getaway that’s closer to home, many ships sail routes through New England and Eastern Canada, stopping in places like Boston, Nova Scotia, and Quebec City.
Read reviews of WOW cruises during the pandemic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a cruise

French Polynesia

The Brando Resort, French Polynesia

The Brando Beach Villa, French Polynesia. Photo: Brando Resort

Humpback whales approach the islands (mostly Rurutu and Moorea) to give birth and feed from August to October. The waters hold a lot of food that fatten up the babies before they head to the Antarctic. If the whales are calm and the weather is good, you can even snorkel with them and listen to the sounds they use to communicate with each other; it’s really quite an amazing experience.
Read reviews of WOW trips to French Polynesia during the pandemic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to French Polynesia

Kangaroo Island, Australia

kangaroos on kangaroo island Australia

Kangaroo Island, off the coast near Adelaide, is a top destination for animal lovers. Photo: South Australian Tourism Commission

Kangaroo Island is Australia’s own Galapagos, a time capsule of the region’s native plants and animals, largely undisturbed by civilization for thousands of years. Kangaroos, wallabies, echidna, koalas, dolphins, sea lions, fur seals, and scores of birds can be seen in their natural habitats all year round; however, antipodal spring is a particularly special time to visit, with clear and warm days returning, wildflowers blooming, and joey kangaroos emerging from their mothers’ pouches. (It’s also before the Australian school holidays hit and families start arriving in October.)
Read reviews of WOW trips to Australia. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Australia

Trancoso, Brazil

The beach lounge at Villas de Trancoso Brazil

The beach lounge at Villas de Trancoso. Photo: Villas de Trancoso

If you are after peace and quiet, Trancoso’s off-season (i.e., June through September) is pure bliss: Temperatures are still in the high 70s to 80s, and you will often have mile upon mile of palm-tree-backed beaches all to yourself.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Brazil during the pandemic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Brazil

South African Safaris

Elephants, Singita Kruger, South Africa

An elephant family at Singita Kruger, Kruger National Park.

September is glorious in South Africa. The winter chill has left, and spring is on its way. The grasses that grew high after the rainy season have been chomped down, leaving the animals in full view. Cape Town is warming up, and the rains have more or less gone for good. Whales can be seen off the coast, the vineyards are green, and safaris are spectacular throughout the parks and reserves.
Read reviews of WOW trips to South Africa. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a South African safari

India

Agra Fort - Medieval Indian fort made of red sandstone and marble with view of dome at sunrise. View of Taj Mahal at a distance as seen from Agra Fort.

Agra Fort, with a view of Taj Mahal in the distance. Photo: Shutterstock

September is ideal in Northern India: In Delhi, the monsoon rains have given way to clear skies and pleasant temperatures. At the Taj Mahal, you’ll find the fewest people and the best photographic conditions. It’s also a good time for trekking, with fall color in the Himalaya.
Read reviews of WOW trips to India. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to India

Uzbekistan

View over the mausoleums and domes of the historical cemetery of Shahi Zinda through an arched gate, Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

View over the mausoleums and domes of the historical cemetery of Shahi Zinda through an arched gate, Samarkand, Uzbekistan. Photo: Shutterstock

After the summer heat, Uzbekistan’s weather is once again comfortable for touring the ancient cities of Bukhara, Samarkand, and Khiva, and for hiking in the mountains or camel riding in the Kizil Kum Desert. Click here to read about the trip Wendy and her family took to Uzbekistan.
Read reviews of WOW trips to Uzbekistan during the pandemic. To get your own WOW trip and VIP treatment, use the black button below. 

Ask about a trip to Uzbekistan

 

Other Good Options This Month

Click on any of the destinations below to find out why September is a good time to go.

North America

The California Coast

Maui

Newfoundland and Labrador

Yellowstone

Central and South America

Argentina: Skiing in Mendoza

Bolivia

Brazilian Amazon

Chile: Atacama Desert

Colombia: Bogota

Ecuador: Quito

Peru

Europe

Arctic

Croatia

Czech Republic: second half of the month

European Canal Barges

Hungary: second half of the month

Iceland: northern lights

The Italian and Swiss Alps

Italy: Florence

Italy: Lakes Region

Italy: Umbria

Italy: Venice

London

Paris

Romania

Scotland

Spain: Andalusia and Madrid

Switzerland

Turkey: Cappadocia

Turkey: Istanbul

Asia

Bali

Beijing

Bhutan

Mongolia

Myanmar

Nepal

Seychelles

Thailand: Bangkok

Africa and Middle East

Botswana

East Africa Safaris

Jerusalem

Madagascar

Morocco: second half of the month

Oman: second half of the month

Rwanda: Gorilla Trekking

Zambia

Zimbabwe

Australia and Pacific

Fiji

Great Barrier Reef

New Zealand: Queenstown

Papua New Guinea: Trekking

 

 

Be a safer, smarter traveler: Sign up for Wendy’s weekly newsletter to stay in the know. And read real travelers’ reviews of Wendy’s WOW List and use it to plan your next trip.

Wendy’s Travel Advice for 2022

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Of the thousands of you who arranged international trips via our WOW system last year during Covid, many of you said in your trip reviews that it was the best trip of your life and that you felt safer overseas than you do back home. This was not just dumb luck. It was the result of careful orchestration of the pandemic-travel experience by people with the expertise and connections for navigating the new international travel landscape. Based on everything we’ve learned throughout the pandemic, if you’re looking for the best travel experiences in 2022, here’s my advice:

Let your timing dictate where you go. Flexibility regarding choice of your travel destination is key. Smart windows for travel will differ by country, as the factors that help determine a destination’s Covid-safeness (e.g., local vaccination rate and type, availability of open-air dining, optimal conditions for outdoor activities, etc.) fluctuate. When you know when you’ll be able to travel, write to Ask Wendy, and we can recommend where you’re likely to have the best experience during that window.

Embrace last-minute opportunities. Given how quickly the travel landscape keeps changing, the next smart opportunity may come sooner than you think, so be ready to jump. (My family, for instance, is ready to jump because we’ve already ordered, and received, the mail-in PCR tests and at-home antigen tests we’ll need for our next international flight, even though we haven’t chosen our destination yet.) Fair warning, though:  Last-minute arrangements are a bad idea for popular countries such as France, Greece, and Italy that are seeing sky-high demand (and consequent sky-high pricing) for spring/summer/fall 2022.

Favor travel to countries that require vaccination and/or a negative test for entry. So many of your trip reviews mention you felt safer in the foreign country than you do back home, thanks to local protocols and private, Covid-safe arrangements. Even the international flight feels safer because everybody onboard is vaccinated, or has just tested negative, or both. If you choose the right country at the right time, you’ll get better service, fewer tourists, and a more rewarding experience than in crowded, understaffed resort areas in the mainland U.S.

Stick to one country per trip. With entry requirements in constant flux, every border crossing introduces the possibility that something could go wrong and ruin the rest of your trip.

Fly nonstop, if possible, to reduce time in airports and avoid more requirements.

Don’t discount a country because you’ve already been there: It’s easy to get a trip that’s completely different from your last trip to that place if you use a WOW List local expert. Just ask your fellow travelers who made return trips in 2021 to Belize or Croatia or Morocco or Italy or Tahiti or Greece or….

Give yourself something to look forward to. Anticipation of a trip helps your mental health. If prepaying for a trip, protect yourself financially by using the right WOW Lister and/or buying the right travel insurance (and using a credit card to purchase your trip; here’s more on that). A WOW Moment is something to look forward to as well, so if you’ve traveled with us recently, don’t forget to submit your trip review within three months of your return date so you’ll earn WOW Moment credit for that trip. Here’s how to get a WOW Moment.

Remember that you must test negative before boarding your flight back to the U.S…
Especially if you’re traveling with kids, you will want all family members to test negative the day before your return flight.  So, even if sickness caused by Covid is not a concern for you, it’s still critical to travel in a way that avoids infection. See 5 Testing Tips for an Easy Return to the U.S.

…and for that reason, make your last hotel a good one.
On the off chance that you test positive at the end of your trip, make sure you’re staying somewhere comfortable, ideally with private outdoor space that you could access while isolating.

Keep checking back, and reading our newsletter, for smart trip ideas now (you’ll find more here) plus answers to your most pressing Covid-related travel questions. There are a ton of would-be travelers out there who could use our help de-complicating the new international travel landscape, so please share our newsletter with your friends. Billie, Brook, Kristine, and I wish you safe and extraordinary travels this year! —Wendy

 

We’re Here to Help

As a travel journalist and consumer advocate for the past 30 years—first as Condé Nast Traveler’s advice columnist, then as TripAdvisor’s Travel Advocate—I’m all too aware of the travel concerns that need to be addressed as a result of this pandemic. For many trips, you’d be wise to use an extremely well-connected, extremely knowledgeable, destination-specific, trip-planning specialist who can act as your local fixer. You’d be even wiser to find and contact that trip planner via The WOW List, which is the first step in my WOW approach to trip planning, created by popular demand from my longtime readers. It’s the approach used by the travelers who are submitting these trip reviews and getting benefits including priority status, VIP treatment, my advice from the start of your trip planning, and the chance to win a surprise, custom-designed WOW Moment on a third qualifying trip. It all starts when you tell us about the trip you want via the questionnaires on The WOW List. —Wendy

LEARN HOW WE HELP

 

 

This article was originally published January 2, 2022. It has been updated.

palapa with two beach chairs on a beach with turquoise ocean and palm trees

Last-Minute Tips For Traveling During Covid

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Wherever you’re headed, a little pre-trip preparation will help you have peace of mind while traveling these days. Here are Wendy’s last-minute tips, ideas, and solutions for travel during Covid—covering Covid tests, packing, travel insurance, flying, and more. Most are for international trips, but many are useful for domestic travel too.

Testing / Covid-Related Prep For International Flights

  • It’s the airline’s employees who will be verifying your paperwork when you check in, so reconfirm with your airline(s) the entry requirements for all countries on your itinerary.  That includes countries you’re only transiting through.
  • If a pre-trip test is required, here’s how to get it. Use a lab that specializes in tests for travel. (A local drugstore’s test may be cheaper, but be sure it guarantees your results in time.)
  • Complete any forms or paperwork required by your destination, and download any required apps. These could include an entry form, contact tracing information, or health affirmations. Argentina, for example, requires that you fill out an online affidavit.
  • Even if it’s not required, take a PCR test before you go. You can do it quickly and easily by mail or at numerous locations across the country. A negative result will give you peace of mind that is important, especially if you’re flying to a foreign country.
  • Have a plan to get tested at the end of your trip.  All travelers entering the U.S. via air must show a negative Covid test (either PCR or antigen) taken within one day of their departure. A WOW List trip planner can arrange for a fast and convenient in-person test at your destination, and/or there are official, video-monitored self-test kits that you can pack in your luggage. You might want to pack an extra self-test: Many manufacturers include two tests per kit or recommend that each traveler bring two tests.
  • Consider taking extra precautions to avoid infection in these last days before you depart. The more careful you are now, the less likely a positive test could cancel your trip.

Remember to Pack

  • Vaccination card if traveling internationally. (For domestic trips, a photo of your card usually suffices.)
  • A print-out of your negative Covid test result. Carry a printed copy of your results and any other necessary paperwork (and keep electronic back-up copies securely in the cloud or on your phone).
  • N95 or KN95 (medical-grade) masks. For a long flight, for ear relief, you might want a mask-strap extender or a N95 that straps around the back of your head instead of around your ears. On my flights, I bring both types of N95s.
  • Hand sanitizer and wipes.  The TSA allows air travelers to bring one liquid hand-sanitizer container, up to 12 ounces per passenger, in their carry-ons now. It’s helpful to pack a smaller bottle also, to carry with you in your day bag at your destination, or in case international airports have different liquid allowances.
  • Snacks you can eat when masked.  Some airports and airlines are limited in the food they are providing nowadays. Be prepared with an energy bar or similar.
  • A Covid self-test, so you’ve got one handy in case you need it.

Optimize Safety on Your Flight

  • Mask up. Even though masks are no longer required on domestic flights—rules on international flights depend on the arrival country’s requirements and the airline’s policy—health experts say it’s still wise to mask in airports and on planes.
  • Sit as far as possible from the nearest stranger. If you see on your airline’s website that a stranger is occupying a seat next to you, try to move to a seat with adjacent empty seats. At the airport gate before your flight, reconfirm with the gate agent whether you are still next to an empty seat; if not, ask about moving.
  • For ventilation, turn on the air nozzle above you and keep it at full blast throughout the flight. Studies have shown that it does work to scatter viral particles. Since that might make you cold, bring a sweater.
  • The airplane bathroom is the most germ-filled place on the plane, so use an airport bathroom right before you board, to increase the chance that you can avoid the airplane lavatory entirely or at least minimize the number of visits.
  • If you’re seated next to a stranger, don’t remove your mask to eat or drink while your seatmate’s mask is removed. Wait until your seatmate’s mask is back on.

Consider Travel Insurance

 

 

We’re Here to Help

As a travel journalist and consumer advocate for the past 30 years—first as Condé Nast Traveler’s advice columnist, then as TripAdvisor’s Travel Advocate—I’m all too aware of the travel concerns that need to be addressed as a result of this pandemic. For many trips, you’d be wise to use an extremely well-connected, extremely knowledgeable, destination-specific, trip-planning specialist who can act as your local fixer. You’d be even wiser to find and contact that trip planner via The WOW List, which is the first step in my WOW approach to trip planning, created by popular demand from my longtime readers. It’s the approach used by the travelers who are submitting these trip reviews and getting benefits including priority status, VIP treatment, my advice from the start of your trip planning, and the chance to win a surprise, custom-designed WOW Moment on a third qualifying trip. It all starts when you tell us about the trip you want via the questionnaires on The WOW List. —Wendy

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The Best Credit Cards for Travelers

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Whether you’re actually traveling or working your way toward a trip, the right credit card can be a big help in getting you there.

There are three things that rewards credit cards can do for you, and it’s important to know why you’ve taken a particular card, and to use it accordingly.

Some are best for the initial bonus miles. They’ll give you a ton of points for taking the card, but there’s not really a reason to keep the card after you’ve earned the bonus.

Some are be