Tag Archives: travel tips

Malta: The Mediterranean Islands To See Now, Before the Secret Gets Out

Imagine a magical place where:

there are ancient temples older than Stonehenge and the Pyramids; in fact, they’re the oldest freestanding structures in the world.
there are Blue Grottoes and a Crystal Lagoon.
so many different civilizations and empires have left their mark that the culture, art, and traditions are uniquely fascinating.
you’re still in Europe but it’s warm in winter.
the flight time from Rome or Athens is less than two hours, and English is an official language.

It’s not just a dream. There IS such a place. It’s called Malta. And if it’s not on your radar, it should be, especially now that the first nonstop airline route from New York (JFK) to Malta is launching on June 7, 2026.

Wendy Perrin having a picnic on the beach on Gozo Island, Malta.

A private picnic on the Maltese island of Gozo. Photo: Timothy Baker

That’s me on the Maltese island of Gozo in October 2024. (Yes, Malta still has beach weather in mid-October.) It was my third time in Malta, and each time just keeps getting better. That’s because this trip was arranged by the Malta experts on The WOW List.

Malta may be 8,000 years old and well-known to Europeans, but right now its medieval cities and dramatic coastlines are being “discovered” by everyone else. Tourism in 2024 grew more than 20% over 2023, thanks to an increase in flights and the addition of new cruise-ship piers. The mostly uninhabited island of Comino will be getting a Six Senses resort in 2027! Need I say more? Go now!

Wendy Perrin with a medieval church in the background, in Malta.

Wendy in Mdina, the fortified city that was the island’s former capital. Photo: Timothy Baker

The coast of Gozo. Photo: Timothy Baker

St. John's Co-Cathedral in Valletta, Malta.

St. John’s Co-Cathedral, the Baroque masterpiece in Valletta. Photo: Timothy Baker

MALTA HAS IT ALL: HISTORY, CULTURE, ADVENTURE, AND SUN IN THE OFF-SEASON

In addition to its historic importance and cultural riches, Malta is a place for beach-vacation-style adventures, from quad biking to scuba diving.

Wendy Perrin driving an ATV in Gozo, Malta.

Wendy went quad biking all over the island of Gozo. Photo: Timothy Baker

Timothy Baker scuba diving in Gozo, Malta.

That’s Wendy’s husband, Tim, scuba diving in Gozo in mid-October. Photo: Lotta Partanen

Malta’s got beach and boat weather from March through October. This was the beach scene in mid-October on the island of Gozo:

People swimming and sunbathing on the beach in Gozo, Malta.

In Malta it’s bikini weather through the end of October. Photo: Wendy Perrin

And it’s warm enough for dining al fresco through much of November. This was the evening scene in the capital city of Valletta in mid-October:

View of a busy street and restaurants in Valletta, Malta.

Malta’s capital city of Valletta has a vibrant dining scene. Photo: Wendy Perrin

Malta is even that rare Mediterranean island that’s a great choice for Christmas or spring break. To understand why, read these Malta reviews shared by travelers who arranged their trips the WOW way, including this Christmas review and this spring-break review.

WOW INSIDER EXPERIENCES

Many of you love getting special access to places and people that are normally behind closed doors. If you book through the right Malta expert, there are many such experiences to be had.

Room in Palazzo del Prelato, in Mdina, Malta.

Inside the Palazzo del Prelato. Photo: Timothy Baker

I made a private visit to the Palazzo del Prelato, for instance. It’s a medieval mansion in Mdina that was once home to the prelate of the grand cathedral across the square. The palazzo’s owner, Francis Lanfranco, showed us his private home, which his family has lived in for centuries.

Chapel in Palazzo del Prelato, in Mdina, Malta.

Francis Lanfranco shows us Christian relics in the Palazzo del Prelato’s chapel. Photo: Timothy Baker

From the ancient Christian relics in his chapel (upstairs between the stairway and the dining room) to the Egyptian funerary mask in the parlor, the house is practically a museum…with glorious rooftop views.

I also got to meet sixth-generation gilder and restorer Pierre Darmanin in his studio . If you’re Maltese nobility or a church and you have a gilded treasure that needs restoration, Pierre is probably your go-to.

Restorer Pierre Darmanin in Valletta, Malta.

Sixth-generation gilder and restorer Pierre Darmanin in his studio in Valletta. Photo: Timothy Baker

I loved learning about his disappearing craft and seeing the 17th-century tools passed down from his ancestors. What’s special about experiences like this is the visceral, unforgettable glimpse you get into local people’s lives. It’s living history.

Wendy’s husband with the curator of Ggantija, the world’s oldest freestanding structure. Photo: Wendy Perrin

Even with sites that are open to the public, such as Malta’s 5,600-year-old megalithic temple of Ggantija, it’s special when you can see it through the eyes of the people who know it best. Above is curator Albert Zammit explaining the world’s oldest freestanding structure—yes, older than the Pyramids of Egypt—to my husband.

IT’S THE PEOPLE YOU MEET

The itinerary arranged by our local fixers in Malta introduced us to their friends all over the Maltese islands. As happens on most WOW trips, the WOW fixer’s local friends become your new friends too.

I met Gulinu and Nancy Scicluna, for instance, who taught me how to make pastizzi, a traditional Maltese savory pastry, in their kitchen. Very few people make pastizzi from scratch anymore—it’s just too much work—but Gulinu learned how as a child and still does it that way as a labor of love.

Pastizzi makers Gulinu and Nancy Scicluna ccoking.

Gulinu and Nancy Scicluna in their kitchen, teaching me how to make pastizzi. Photo: Wendy Perrin

I also met Manny Buhagiar at a bocce club on the island of Gozo. Manny grew up in Malta and then spent years working in Manhattan two blocks from where I grew up! Now he’s back in his beloved Gozo. While we traded stories, he taught me how to play bocce (and let me win).

Wendy Perrin talking to Manny Buhagiar in Gozo, Malta.

Meeting Manny Buhagiar over bocce on the island of Gozo. Photo: Timothy Baker

Speaking of meeting people, meet Wendy’s WOW List Malta experts Jason and Damon Camilleri Allan, who surprised us at the airport.

Wendy Perrin with Jason and Damon Camilleri Allan at the airport in Valletta, Malta.

Jason and Damon Camilleri Allan, Malta specialists who make the magic happen. Photo: Timothy Baker

To be recognized as a VIP traveler, with priority status and the other benefits of my WOW way of trip planning—in other words, to get the maximized experience you read about in these reviews —click the black button below and fill out my trip questionnaire. You’ll hear from the experts shortly!

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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.

Where Everybody’s Traveling in 2026: The Most Popular Countries for WOW Trips

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When planning your travels for the new year, it’s wise to keep in mind where everybody else is going. These are the most popular countries for 2026 trips already booked the WOW way:

1. Italy
2. Japan
3. New Zealand
4. France
5. The United Kingdom
6. Spain
7. Argentina
8. Australia
9. Norway
10. Chile
11. Egypt
12. Greece
13. Costa Rica
14. Vietnam
15. South Africa

It’s no surprise that Italy is #1. It’s perennially the most popular country among WOW List travelers, and the good news is that there are many new nonstop flights to get you there. The #2 and #3 countries, Japan and New Zealand, have been in high demand ever since the pandemic: They were two of the last countries to re-open post-Covid, so they were off-limits for a long time, and picky travelers tend to book them many months ahead, since the most in-demand experiences and places to stay are intimate and have low capacity (think three-room ryokans in Japan, or sheep stations in New Zealand).

If a country you’re thinking about for 2026 ranks high on the list, reach out to us early so we can ensure that you see it free from crowds and lines, lock in the unique places to stay, and get the coolest insider experiences. If you’re headed to a classic favorite—say, Italy’s Amalfi Coast or the Greek island of Santorini—we’re happy to guide you as to smart off-peak timing. If you’re able to travel only in high season, we can suggest unexpected locales.

We’ve got hundreds of tested-and-proven ideas for you below, covering all 12 months of 2026. We bet you’ll be surprised by all the clever possibilities! For a personalized recommendation, we’re at the black button below.

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When It Rains, How to Save Your Trip

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With severe weather growing more frequent, the chance that rain may impact a trip is increasing. You already know the obvious solutions:

Have an indoor Plan B for each outdoor day or activity.
Pack wisely: Ultralight rain jacket with hood, quick-dry socks, waterproof shoes….

But here’s the not-as-obvious antidote (which you’d know as well as I do if you’d read as many hundreds of trip reviews as I’ve read): When it rains, spend that time connecting with local people!

Whether you find those people in a cozy indoor spot, or outdoors stuck in the same situation you’re stuck in, the rain is something to bond over. You may find yourselves helping one another and laughing together, and it could end up being the highlight of your trip.

That’s what happened when I was in Romania, on the horse farm that you see above. I was there for a Sonoro Musikland concert of classical music by instrumentalists from all over Europe. Two minutes after the outdoor concert began, a torrential rainstorm struck. Drenched, we all squeezed into the barn…and built a makeshift theater out of bales of hay.

Musicians playing at Sonoro Musikland concert in Romania.

This barn was our haven from the rain at the Sonoro Musikland music festival in Romania. Photo: Timothy Baker

The musicians played valiantly, despite the heavy beat of raindrops that went on for hours. Everyone in the barn felt a visceral sense of connection, knowing we had overcome a challenge together, and excitement that we were reaping the reward. No matter what language we spoke, we had bonded because we were all in this together. And there has never been a more joyous concert.

Sonoro Musikland concert performance in Romania.

The musicians played valiantly despite the thunderstorm a few feet away. Photo: Timothy Baker

My point is: When it rains, turn lemons into lemonade. If you didn’t book through a WOW travel fixer (they know the best back-up rain plans and implement them daily), then spend your rainstorm connecting with local people in a pub, a food hall, an art gallery, a department store, a cooking class, a library, a community center, a wine cellar, a cheese cave, a crafts workshop, a church concert…. Not sure what’s on offer? Check the local newspaper’s website, or ask your hotel’s concierge.

If you did use a WOW travel fixer, then you won’t need to worry: They, and the private guides they connect you with, will have back-up plans (and umbrellas) ready before you even ask. Read the traveler reviews below to see how a WOW travel fixer rainproofs a vacation.

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ITALY: “Experiencing the heaviest rains in 40 years in Lake Como, but a little rain did not dampen our spirits. …”

A view of Lake Como from a boat at night.

Rain didn’t derail a boat ride, walking tour, hikes, or Ferrari test drive. Photo: Traveler Michael Ruma

“Pondering how to celebrate a decade birthday milestone, I reached out to Wendy and Italian aficionado Andrea, who proposed an out-of-this-world villa on Lake Como for a fun-filled, week-long celebration with friends, capped off with a week in Umbria, the green heart of Italy. I’ll detail a few of the highlights and surprises along the way.

The first surprise included experiencing the heaviest rains in 40 years in Lake Como, but a little rain did not dampen our spirits. We warmed up in the hot tub at the villa and tasted numerous antipasti at a lakeside bar. With sun breaking through the morning clouds, we ventured by private boat to Villa Balbianiello, on to beautiful Bellagio, enjoyed an enoteca wine tasting, and returned to our villa with an evening boat ride. In the coming days we hiked to Tremezzo, made homemade pasta at a local cooking class, sampled the first crop of porcini, and dined at a Michelin-star venue.

The first highlight included the opportunity to meet the skilled travel planners who helped create our spectacular itinerary over lunch in Bellagio. It was incredibly meaningful to finally meet Marta, Eleonora, and Giulia in person and share some wonderful food and great conversation with them. I look forward to the next time.

After a wonderful week on Lake Como, we ventured south to Umbria. On our way, we stopped in Maranello, home to Ferrari headquarters. Filled with images of gleaming red race cars, we made our way to our countryside hotel, Borgo dei Conti. Our time in Umbria was filled with Sagrantino wine tasting, sampling torta al testo in Assisi, learning about ancient pottery technique in Deruta, and wandering in sunflower fields.

But the highlight began when I walked out to find a shiny red Ferrari waiting outside, along with a professional driving team. To help celebrate my milestone birthday, Andrea’s team had helped coordinate a day of driving a Ferrari throughout the mountain towns of Umbria.

A childhood dream fulfilled, I can say this day was one of the best days of vacation I have ever experienced. The driving guides provided us an overview of the vehicle, how to put the convertible top down, ensured us of our safety, and took care of us every step of the way. We drove to Todi, where we stopped for a morning cappuccino, on to Orvieto to take in the Duomo and lunch, and then sped back to the hotel to relive the winding, adventurous, thrilling day of driving an Italian supercar in Italy.

In the past, I would do my own travel research and do my best to patch together a vacation. With the help of Wendy Perrin and her Trusted Travel Experts, I can consistently rest assured our travel will not only be a vacation, but an experience filled with many memories and new friends…because it truly is the human connection that keeps us traveling.” —Michael Ruma

To get your own WOW trip, start with our trip questionnaire, reached via the black button below.

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VIETNAM: “The weather was rainier than expected, so we had to pivot from the plan some days…”

Carol Zuckerman and Barry Goldstein at a private cooking class in Vietnam.

“We just returned from nearly three weeks in Vietnam. Sandy and Ethan were indispensable through the planning of our itinerary, choice of wonderful local hosts, and flexibility so that our days were seamless and stress-free.

Unfortunately, the weather was rainier than expected, so we had to pivot from the plan some days. Rather than hiking in Ba Vì in the rain, our guide Trang took us to a yogurt manufacturing shop, then arranged a visit to a village with lunch in a historic home. In Huế, our guide Ngoc suggested a rickshaw ride and arranged a visit to a calligrapher’s home where we were able to try the art; we loved our private cooking class at a hotel restaurant. Ngoc also was instrumental in pointing us to the right tailor for sport coats to be made in a day in Hội An. In Can Tho, when we asked our local host Sue An to recommend a restaurant where locals go, she pointed out a place and was kind enough to come order for us. The impromptu visit she planned to a cacao farm, with a tour by the owner, also was a real treat. And in Saigon, the Củ Chi tunnels, which we reached by speedboat on the Saigon River, and the evening Vespa food tour were some of the trip’s most memorable highlights.

We highly recommend experiencing Vietnam with the assistance of Sandy and Ethan. We weren’t sure what to expect with the flexibility built into the itinerary, but the spontaneity it allowed clearly enriched our trip. It allowed us to visit art galleries, an herbal medicine museum, and several markets on the last-minute recommendations of our local hosts, or just because we passed by a place that seemed interesting.” —Carol Zuckerman and Barry Goldstein

To get your own WOW trip, start with our trip questionnaire, reached via the black button below.

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ITALY: “The BEST was our day in Pompeii and climbing Vesuvius in a rainstorm…”

Footpath road and ruins in ancient Pompeii, Italy.

Pompeii, Italy. Photo: Shutterstock

“Outstanding 12-day trip to the Italian Riviera. Andrea was so patient with me, listening to what I was looking for and helping me design the ideal trip. Outstanding day in Milan getting to see The Last Supper when it opened, with a driver who waited for us, then on to the Serravale Designer Outlet for great shopping before arriving in Santa Margherita. Yacht tour of the coastline canceled and refunded with one phone call when the weather forecast looked rough. So easy. Great food tour with Guido in Ravello, amazing drivers, spectacular day with guide in Cinque Terre and loved Sorrento with yacht day in Capri. Amazing hotels chosen by Andrea.

The BEST was our day in Pompeii and climbing Vesuvius in a rainstorm with guide Carmine. Storm front came in suddenly and somehow he found us a ride down the mountain…literally the only car on the mountain! What is that worth? I would have bought a car!

I felt like every day we were being watched from a distance by Andrea’s office to make sure we were safe and on schedule. We felt so well taken care of, and every time I called Marianne in the office to confirm something, she picked up the phone on the first ring. Best guides, best drivers, and always on time. What is that worth?” —Stephen Lichtenstein

To get your own WOW trip, start with our trip questionnaire, reached via the black button below.

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PERU: “There is something truly magical about watching the clouds part, on a misty, rainy day high in the Andes, to reveal the dramatic mountain peaks of Machu Picchu…”

Machu Picchu on a cloudy day with mountains in the background.

Machu Picchu, near Cusco, Peru. Photo: Brook Wilkinson

“There is something truly magical about watching the clouds part, on a misty rainy day high in the Andes, to reveal the dramatic mountain peaks of Machu Picchu and the extraordinary Incan ruins! From our trip to Machu Picchu, our travels through the Sacred Valley, our boat trip on the Amazon, and our Belmond train trip across the Andes’ high-altitude plateau, we can only offer gratitude and applause for everything that Marisol and Mark did to make our month-long trip to Peru one of our best ever!

The weather didn’t always cooperate (we were traveling at the end of the rainy season), but we had exceptional people experiences and really appreciated the knowledge and warm personalities of all the guides and drivers Mark selected for us. The detailed pre-planning with Mark, the beautiful boutique hotel choices (and many much appreciated room upgrades), and incredibly fast communication with the team while we were on the ground in Peru all contributed to make this an exceptional trip.

In the Sacred Valley we had a fabulous picnic organized by our guide, Juan, with a beautiful vista and great food from the highly rated Cicciolina restaurant in Cusco. A hike and lunch high in the Andes made for us by villagers from the Lamay community, whose elders still wear their traditional dress. A four-night small-boat cruise (Delfin 1, with four cabins) on the Amazon River out of Iquitos, where we not only got to visit several remote communities, we had the opportunity to develop new friendships on the boat.” —Catherine Olsen and Paul Bennett

To get your own WOW trip, start with our trip questionnaire, reached via the black button below.

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IRELAND: “We experienced rainy, cold, blustery winds….Nevertheless, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!”

Sheila Morse and husband Dick Smith at Killarney National Park’s Torc Waterfall.

“My initial approach was to downplay the importance of nice hotels, as we intended to spend so little time in our rooms. Thank goodness Jonathan convinced us otherwise. Each of the three hotels reserved for us were not just great places to sleep. The ambiance, breakfasts, locations, special welcomes in each room, staff—all were superb and much appreciated after a full day of exploring and learning.

Windows in our room in the Great Southern Killarney hotel opened onto an inner garden. We thoroughly enjoyed an Irish whisky tasting one evening after dinner.
Mount Juliet near Kilkenny was beautiful! Our ‘windows’ were doors opening into beautiful green spaces. It was lovely to have a delicious cake and local honey waiting for us in the room!
The Dylan Hotel in Dublin was extraordinary! Again, superb breakfasts and drinks on the house one evening. It was within walking distance of every place we wanted to see.

We had naively thought that it was possible to drive far greater distances than the itinerary we finally settled on. Again, Jonathan’s gentle guidance proved wise. We traveled from Shannon to Killarney and ventured out from there for three days, then to Kilkenny for two days, and on to Dublin for three. That, in fact, was a lot to take in.

Weather was the only thing that didn’t synch up with all these extraordinary arrangements. We experienced rainy, cold, blustery winds, and moments of sunshine. Nevertheless, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves! (See wet slickers and cold noses in the photo!)

Brendan Glynn was our driver/guide for all but Dublin. He met us at Shannon and spent five full days with us. When we parted company, I felt that we were saying goodbye to a brother. Brendan took us to Dingle Crystal, a small, seemingly out-of-the-way artisan craft shop where we saw some of the most beautiful crystal designs we’ve ever seen. Despite the fact that this place seems to be on at least a few tour guides’ itineraries, we were made to feel uniquely welcome by Sean Daly, the owner, and his sons. We spent time in the glass cutting room, getting a glimpse of how they ply their craft, and my husband purchased two beautiful whisky-tasting glasses.

The drives and views were incredible, all day every day!” —Sheila Morse

To get your own WOW trip, start with our trip questionnaire, reached via the black button below.

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SLOVENIA, CROATIA, BOSNIA: “We arrived in the pouring rain, with all our plans cancelled. Within no time, Ala used her local network to arrange a visit to a small family-run dairy farm…”

“On our first day, we arrived at our mountain chalet in the pouring rain, with all our plans cancelled. Within no time, Ala used her local network to arrange a visit to a small family-run dairy farm. With their grown son translating, the parents welcomed us and proudly showed their traditional cheese-making process—with samples, of course. They had never hosted visitors before! It was one of the highlights of our trip.

Ala knew we were looking for less touristy and more authentic experiences. She chose unique places for us to stay, especially an 18th-century authentically furnished Ottoman house and a boutique hotel within an archeological site. She arranged four different guides, all of which were excellent; each was eager to share local gems beyond the well-known attractions. One of our favorites was sitting in a charming family-run restaurant, eating traditional Bosnian foods and hearing stories of our guide’s life growing up in Bosnia. We can’t thank Ala enough for sharing her knowledge and experience to create such a memorable trip!” —Aimee and Steve Adashek

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COLOMBIA: “When our morning bike ride was canceled due to inclement weather, we switched internal flights to fly earlier to our next destination…”

Cartagena de Indias/Colombia, 06/05/2020: The vintage colonials facades of San Diego neighborhood in the heart of walled city

The San Diego neighborhood is lined with colorful facades. Photo: Shutterstock

“We traveled to Colombia for 12 days in early March, arranged by Boris. We understand some people are reluctant to travel there, but there should be no hesitation: It’s a beautiful country filled with lots to do, wonderful people, fabulous food—and completely safe!

We started in Bogota, then went to the coffee region, Cartagena and Medellín. Hotels were luxurious with excellent service. In each location we had a guide and driver. The quality of the guides was superb—and that’s what really made the trip extra special. We had many fun excursions—food tours, cooking class, coffee and cacao plantations, art gallery tour, bamboo rafting—just to name a few. And our WOW Moment luncheon at the home of a local farmer/landowner was a special highlight.

I should also mention that the back-office support was excellent. When our morning bike ride was canceled due to inclement weather, our activities were moved around, and we switched internal flights to fly earlier to our next destination. The changes were completed quickly and efficiently. We can’t recommend Colombia and Boris enough—you will not be disappointed!” —Carol Cozen

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ITALY: “When our boat trip was rained out, Maria pivoted nicely and toured us through a historic villa…”

View of the Town of Menaggio and lake Como, Milan, Italy.

Town of Menaggio on lake Como, Milan, Italy. Photo: Shutterstock

“Maria put together a wonderful trip for us to northern Italy. We were coming to Milan for the Italian Grand Prix and wanted to be sure to see some of the sites after the race.

Highlights include visiting the Duomo and The Last Supper in Milan. The Ferrari museum in Maranello was so fun, and my husband was like a kid doing simulation drives around the Monza track. We fell in love with the city of Bologna, and our guide Tamara was an absolute riot. Then we headed to Parma for tours of Parmesan and prosciutto factories.

Finally, we ended in Lake Como. When our boat trip was rained out, Maria pivoted nicely and toured us through a historic villa and arranged for a lovely lunch. An absolutely fantastic trip.” —Christina Taylor

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New Entry Requirements For Countries Around the Globe

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Several countries and regions have recently changed their entry requirements—some adding hurdles, others making a visit easier:

Much of Europe started implementing a new Entry/Exit System in October, with a full roll-out by April 2026. Travelers will get their picture taken and/or their fingerprints scanned at the border. Biometric data will be stored to ensure that visitors don’t stay longer than allowed (for U.S. travelers without a visa, the limit is 90 days within a 180-day period). The EES is a preliminary step toward the E.U.’s travel authorization program, ETIAS, which is expected to launch in late 2026, with a fee of about $23. Subscribe to our newsletter or bookmark this page for updates on when ETIAS will go into effect.

Remember that Romania and Bulgaria are now part of the E.U.’s Schengen Area, which allows free movement across member states’ borders.

As of January 1, 2026, Uzbekistan will allow U.S. travelers to visit the country for up to 30 days without a visa.

Brazil now requires that U.S. travelers obtain an eVisa; the process typically takes five business days—though it’s recommended to apply two months prior to travel—and costs about $80. You can upload the application, including scans of your passport and a photo, via this website. Be prepared to show a printout of your approval on arrival.

Thailand now requires that all non-Thai visitors complete a Digital Arrival Card. You can do so online within three days of your arrival.

The U.K. now requires that U.S. travelers submit an Electronic Travel Authorization before entering the country. The process typically takes up to three business days and costs about $21. (You don’t need an ETA if you are stopping at a U.K. airport between connecting flights, unless you plan to leave the “airside” of the airport and pass through border control.)

Similarly, Israel now requires that U.S. travelers submit an ETA-IL, which costs about $7 and should be requested at least 72 hours before a trip.

China is making it easier to see a bit of the country on a long layover: U.S. travelers can now spend up to 10 days in China without a visa when they are passing through on their way to a third country or destination (which could be Hong Kong or Taiwan).

And Bolivia lifted its visa requirement for travelers from the U.S.

Wherever in the world you’re headed, always check the U.S. State Department’s website to get up-to-date entry requirements for your destination. And if you’d like help planning your next trip, just ask us: Click on the button below to get started.

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How to Use Thanksgiving to Improve Your Summer Vacation

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If you’re gathering with family this Thanksgiving, we’ve got a suggestion: If they’re the same family or friends you travel with for summer vacation, then while you’re passing the turkey and cranberry sauce, go around the table, ask everyone what their favorite travel experiences have been, and brainstorm where you want to go next. It’s a safe conversation topic, it’s a reminder of things you are thankful for, and if you can figure out early where you want to go next, it can even save you money.

That’s because you can take advantage of December’s availability of summer airfares and mileage-award seats. (Don’t forget that new nonstop flights announced for 2026 will open entirely new locations to U.S. cities with faster, easier flights.) And you can reach out to the right local trip-planning specialist before the January onslaught of travelers making summer plans.

Family summer-vacation options with limited inventory—villas on Italy’s Amalfi Coast, African safaris, Galápagos expeditions—tend to book up months ahead. By starting in December, you can lock in the best experiences, the most charming small hotels and resorts, the most well-connected private guides, the hottest tables, and hard-to-get-into activities. And you can avoid the time-consuming struggle a few months from now to pull together a logistically sensible trip. Wait till April or May, and you’ll likely have to pay more and get less.

So use your Thanksgiving get-together to create a travel wish list for 2026. These WOW trip reviews will give you ideas and help you brainstorm. Then go to our Get a Personalized Trip Recommendation feature to make those wishes come true. By planning your trips the WOW way, you can avoid tourist crowds, minimize annoying logistics, and maximize your fun.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

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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. 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 which security line at your airport has the shortest wait time, 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 before you travel with them.

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 unwrap gifts in checked luggage as well. Wrap your gifts 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 (which can sometimes save you money); 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.

6. Flight delayed? Relax in an airport lounge.

More and more pay-as-you-go independent lounges have been popping up. For anywhere from $30 to $60, 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 to $70—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. 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 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 social-media feeds; they sometimes provide the quickest updates. Be prepared for anything by downloading essential apps and tools for winter travel.

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

FlightStats and FlightAware tell you at a glance which airports and/or 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.)

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. 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.

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. 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—they 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 MyTSA app 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). 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
X (formerly Twitter) may have its flaws, but following your airline’s 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: Direct your question or complaint to the airline’s social media, and they’re incentivized to give you a speedy answer.

Urgent 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 urgently need to get where you’re going, they’re the help you need. 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.

Priority Pass is a lounge subscription service. For an annual membership fee between $99 and $469, Priority Pass grants its members access to more than 1,700 airport lounges worldwide. Some credit cards, such as American Express Platinum, Chase Sapphire Reserve, and certain Capital One cards, offer Priority Pass membership as a free perk, so check your card’s benefits package before signing up. Do keep in mind that some lounges pause access to Priority Pass members during select hours or when they near capacity.

Navigating the airport
FLIO covers nearly 6,000 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 at Newark International Airport (EWR) includes 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. And at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, the app tips you off to baby lounges, an in-airport park, and locations of massage chairs. 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.

A quicker Global Entry experience
Global Entry members can use this app to skip the lines and kiosks at more than 75 airports: Snap a selfie with the app, flash the submission receipt on your phone screen to the Customs and Border Control officer, and you’ll be quickly waved through immigration.

The shortest immigration line without Global Entry
If you don’t have Global Entry, download the Mobile Passport Control app, which allows you to submit necessary customs and immigration paperwork electronically. I’ve seen much shorter lines for app users at airports that recognize this speedier immigration option.

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 Translate lets you speak right into the phone, and then it can translate, out loud, into one of more than 240 languages. The app’s Google Lens function also decodes written text via your phone’s camera—super-handy for reading menus or museum display panels—and it’s all available offline with dozens of downloadable language dictionaries. Another option is Apple Translate; it features type, voice, or picture translation, like Google, but only offers 20 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 is 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, 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 357 cities worldwide, and you can schedule a transfer from their app 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 pay by credit card.

Calling and texting for free
Forego costly international calling charges and use WhatsApp to communicate when you’re abroad—both with friends and family back home, and with your private guide or other locals in your destination. With WhatsApp, texts and calls are free anytime your phone is connected to Wi-Fi.

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 the reservation app OpenTable makes it especially easy to book a convenient table, thanks to 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, Italy, and beyond. One tip: Establish your free account before you leave home.

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 mode of transport. 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.

Calculating currency conversions
An app like Currency lets you skip the mental math of currency conversions—and it saves the latest conversion rate so that it works offline too.

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

Where to See the Northern Lights and When: The Best Locations and Best Months

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UPDATE ON NOVEMBER 17, 2025: This coming winter may be your last best chance to see the northern lights for a decade. Click here to read why.

Are the northern lights on your bucket list? If so, you can improve your chances of seeing this spectacle, also known as the aurora borealis, with smart planning. That’s because, in order to see the northern lights, you need to achieve “the big three”: First, you need a location under the auroral oval—a band that shifts over time but typically crosses through Alaska, northern Canada, southern Greenland, Iceland, and northern Norway. Second, you need dark nights. And third, you need clear skies.

We turned to the folks on our WOW List of Trusted Travel Experts for those northerly locales—Jan Sortland (Norway and Iceland), Torunn Tronsvang (Norway), Mads Christensen (Iceland), and Marc Telio (Canada)—to learn the best times and places to see the lights, and for insider tips on fun ways to pass the days between your nighttime viewing opportunities. Before we dive into their favorite places to experience the northern lights, here are some overall tips:

Understand the auroral oval. The northern lights appear when the earth’s magnetic field attracts charged particles thrown off by the sun, the result of solar storms. The particles form a halo around the magnetic pole; this is the so-called auroral oval.

Plan a longer trip. Build in extra time in case of stormy weather. Ideally, you want to spend at least three nights in a place where you have a shot at seeing the lights. If it’s cloudy on any of those nights, the lights could be spectacular, but you won’t see them.

Don’t assume you’re guaranteed a light show in Sweden, Finland, or Greenland. Sweden’s too far south (most of Finland is, too), and Greenland’s weather can be stormy in winter, resulting in skies that obscure the lights. So those countries tend to be more unpredictable for northern-lights viewing than Norway, Iceland, and Canada.

Did you know you can see the northern lights in summertime? They occur year-round; the only reason they’re perceived as a winter phenomenon is that you need a dark sky to actually see them—and in very northerly parts of the world, there’s very little darkness in summer. But, in certain spots, you can sometimes see the northern lights as early as late August.

Here are our experts’ top places to witness the northern lights:

Alta, Norway — Best Viewing Months: August to March

View of the Northern Lights in Alta, Norway.

Northern lights are a common sighting in Alta, Norway—but no less spectacular for it. Photo: Shutterstock

This town is ideally located right under the auroral oval and at the meeting point of three different microclimate zones; this betters your odds of seeing the aurora borealis, since it’s unusual to have overcast skies in all three zones at the same time. Alta is also warmed by the gulf stream, so daytime temperatures are higher there even than in spots farther south. In the past 20 years, every traveler whom Jan Sortland has sent to Alta for at least three nights has seen the northern lights. Says Torunn Tronsvang, “Venturing up to the top of Bjørnfjell Mountain to watch the northern lights around a bonfire is magical.” She adds that another benefit of Alta is that you don’t have to drive around to see the lights: “You can see them from your accommodations, such as the the Isbreen domes outside of Alta in Jøkelfjord.”

When to Go

“The best time of year is March,” says Sortland, “but you can see the northern lights there from the end of August until the end of March.”

While You’re There, Don’t Miss…

Ice fishing and dog sledding. “Spend a day in the wilderness as a musher, followed with a 12-course organic dinner prepared by Sámi chef Johnny Trasti at Trasti & Trine,” Tronsvang tells us. “The feeling of mastering the dogs and having to work hard outside in a stunning winter landscape, followed by culture told through local ingredients prepared like simple art, is amazing!” Sortland can also arrange for you to go reindeer herding with the Sámi.

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Iceland’s South Coast – Best Viewing Months: October to March

northern lights over snowy flat plateau and lake in iceland

Wide-open spaces make for fantastic dark-sky light shows in Iceland. Photo: kamilgrygo/Pixabay

Iceland’s south coast, including the Vik area and Jökulsárlón—the country’s best-known glacier lagoon—are prime destinations for northern lights. But because Iceland is an island and subject to offshore fronts, the weather can be unpredictable, and it’s common for clouds to block the light show.

When to Go

October to March.

While You’re There, Don’t Miss…

By day, Mads Christensen can send you snowmobiling, dog sledding, ATVing across black-sand beaches, on foodie tours of Reykjavik, and to hot springs and waterfalls in Iceland’s countryside.

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Northern Canada – Best Viewing Months: January to March

Dog sledding in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories in Canada.

Dog sledding is a fun way to fill the daylight hours in Canada’s Northwest Territories. Photo: Shutterstock

Northern lights displays are likeliest in the northern third of Canada: The Northwest Territories often sit directly under the auroral oval, as does part of Yukon.

When to Go

The absolute best time of year for the clearest and darkest skies is from the third week of January to the end of March. November and December also have the dark skies, but they produce more precipitation and cloud cover. Peak-season dates book up early, so plan well in advance. (A typical stay in the region is four nights.)

While You’re There, Don’t Miss…

To occupy yourself in the daytime, go snowmobiling, snowshoeing, dogsledding and ice fishing. Also, says Marc Telio, “there are some profoundly beautiful Indigenous storytelling and cultural experiences, including one where guests have the opportunity to eat Muktuk [whale] and meet with elders in a community.”

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Read These Northern Lights Trip Reviews For More Intel and Cool Trip Ideas

September in Norway
“We stayed in a rorbu in Reine and stepped outside to a show of the northern lights—right there on our own porch!!”

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

The mountains around Reine make for a spectacular northern lights backdrop. Photo: Shutterstock

“We started in Bergen, driving north through the fjords, and had constant awe-inspiring scenery. Jan arranged two different times we would be on the water in a fjord. We spent half a day on a RIB boat—just the two of us and the captain—gliding along the fjord waters.

Then we flew to the Lofoten Islands, where we stayed in a rorbu in Reine. We had a fun WOW Moment when an excellent halibut dinner was prepared for us in our own room and we were able to enjoy this private time together watching the harbor with a great meal! Thank you for arranging this!! A couple of hours later, we stepped outside to a show of the northern lights—right there on our own porch!!

Finally, we flew up to Alta, above the Arctic Circle. The Sorrisniva Arctic Wilderness Lodge was absolutely incredible. Our room, with floor-to-ceiling windows, looked out over the Alta River, and you really felt a million miles from everything. We would have been content to stay there and never leave the grounds—but there was much to see and do! We took a boat ride on the Alta River, with a BBQ lunch of salmon along the way. Very memorable. The visit to the Sámi was so interesting—we were so glad to learn about this culture. And each night, we had our Chasing the Northern Lights Safari.” —Sally Boland

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October in Canada
“We viewed polar bears continuously for four days…”

Polar Bear walking on snow with northern lights in the background

Two-thirds of the world’s polar bears are found in Canada. Photo: Shutterstock

“My husband and I traveled with another couple to Seal River Heritage Lodge, a short plane ride north of Churchill, Manitoba, from October 21-27. Marc was wonderful in helping us plan the trip. It was a trip of a lifetime! Everything went perfectly. Our two biggest wishes were to see polar bears and the northern lights. We were not disappointed. We had seen the trips that involve the elevated buses and knew we didn’t want that experience.

What Marc provided was so much more. We viewed polar bears continuously for four days. The photos we took were incredible. We weren’t promised anything, but what we received was so much more than what we expected. Thank you for an amazing experience!” —Mike and Sue Mrdjenovich

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December in Norway
“We spent our days crab fishing, relaxing in our sauna, visiting the local reindeer sanctuary…”

Visiting a Sámi family included a covered snowmobile ride and feeding baby reindeer. Photo: Traveler Laura Probst

“Torunn helped us choose Christmas time for what we were looking for—northern lights, unique animal encounters, authentic local interactions.

Arriving the day after Christmas, we were still in time to visit Oslo’s festive Christmas market and enjoy some of the city’s holiday decor and seasonal foods. Then getting to Alta, we stayed in beautifully small lodges with exceptional hospitality and got to see the northern lights almost every night. We also got to really understand Sámi culture, as Torunn arranged special experiences like New Year’s Eve with a Sámi family…who after cooking us reindeer stew for dinner, packed us up on their covered snowmobile to go for an adventure in the woods to make a hot chocolate pit of snow and feed baby reindeer (after taking us to the best view to see the northern lights show for the night).

We then moved to the Engholm Husky Lodge where the owner Sven has hand-crafted all eight lodges along with every furnishing and decoration in each. We could not stop taking photos of every unique fixture and item—all so cool and smart. And living with the dogs and going out with the local Sámis there was incredible.

Torunn encouraged us to go to Nesseby Bay on the Varanger fjord for our last stop in Finnmark, and I’m so glad she did. There are only two cabins and a sauna there, and we had the place to ourselves with our host Edgar. The cabins are pods with glass sides that look out at the bay—Edgar makes everything himself, and we spent our days crab fishing, relaxing in our sauna, visiting the local reindeer sanctuary and using Edgar’s skate-sleds to move around the quiet roads along the bay. We could sit and look at the moon and Saturn and every constellation starting by 1pm every day, and just felt like we were on another planet.

We have done many trips with Wendy’s planners and this was definitely one of the best. So unique and special—we will be talking about it for years to come.” —Laura Probst

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January in Norway
“I knew it would be cold in northern Norway, so I said to myself, ‘I’d like to see the aurora from a hot tub!’”

Jerry and Carol Huller in Alta, Norway, in front of Aurora Borealis.

Travelers Jerry and Carol Huller in Alta, Norway, in front of the much-anticipated aurora borealis.

“A bucket-list trip of mine has been to travel to see the aurora borealis (northern lights). I visited Iceland a year ago, but only saw the aurora for a few minutes on two nights of a four-night trip; they were not very prominent. I learned that seeing the aurora is somewhat a matter of luck. You need dark skies, mostly clear skies, and solar activity causing favorable aurora viewing conditions as measured by the Kp Index (measure of global geomagnetic disturbance), HPI or Hemispheric Power Index (total energy of the aurora), and Bz (solar magnetic direction).

In Wendy Perrin’s newsletter, I have read about successful trips to Tromsø and Alta, Norway, to see the aurora. So I decided to travel about 400 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle to Alta, which is less commercialized and less crowded than Tromsø. I chose to visit in the winter around a new moon for darker skies. I knew it would be cold in northern Norway, so I said to myself, “I’d like to see the aurora from a hot tub!” I knew I would need mostly clear skies, which is not always guaranteed, so I decided on a five-night visit to enhance my chances of success. I knew I would need someone with specialized knowledge about the area, so I contacted Wendy’s WOW List planner, Torunn, to arrange my trip.

Thanks possibly to an intervention by Torunn with the Norse gods, I was lucky to see the aurora on two of the five nights, including from hot tubs at two different locations in the Alta area—the Björnfjell Mountain Lodge and a cabin at the Onga Boutique Hotel with a private outdoor hot tub (and sauna). So all my expectations were met!

We enjoyed a snowshoe hike with a local insider, lunch in a lavvu, a bonfire dinner (but no stargazing because of the cloudy skies), a tour of the Sorrisniva Igloo Hotel with a drink at the Ice Bar, a reindeer sled ride, and stories by a Sámi (indigenous person) around a fire.

Torunn also arranged for an Aurora Dome for us at the Onga—it’s basically a geodesic glass igloo with a wood pellet stove for warmth for observing the aurora; you could sleep there if you wanted. To me, there was too much light reflection from the stove for stargazing or observing the aurora. At the Onga, the staff did have daily aurora walks, weather permitting; one night was cancelled due to cloudy weather; the other night we saw the aurora prominently in the night sky.

Aurora tips: bring a tripod if you’re interested in getting time-lapse videos of the northern lights. Wear a glove liner that will work with your camera or smartphone; it’s cold in the winter. Locals told me the best aurora viewing is when the temperature is -10 to -20 degrees Celsius or colder; there tend to be few clouds in such conditions. The best viewing we experienced of the northern lights was at the Sorrisniva (we saw the lights from horizon to horizon) and at the Onga (in a valley, but great views). Find and use a good aurora app or Internet website, or check with your hotel or lodge staff; I used https://northernlightsmap.com and https://aurorasaurus.org.” —Jerry Huller

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February in Finland
“Finnish myths say the lights are caused when a fox runs across the arctic landscape whipping up snow from its tail…”

The northern lights captured by the traveler from his suite's porch at the Arctic TreeHouse Hotel in Finland.

Traveler Michael Ruma shot this view of the northern lights from his porch at the Arctic TreeHouse Hotel.

“My wife said she’d like to see the aurora borealis and with Wendy’s help, we were quickly introduced to Greg’s colleague Leigh. Leigh quickly answered our call, listened carefully to our wants and needs, and created a delightful week of fun in Finland.

We hopped an easy flight from Helsinki to Rovaniemi, which lies directly on the latitude of the Arctic Circle. An efficient, private transfer brought us to the Arctic TreeHouse Hotel. Met with warm blueberry juice, we checked into our Glass House suite. Our room had a centrally located living room with an enclosed wood-burning stove along with two bathrooms, one of which had our very own dry sauna.

Advised to download the Aurora app, we learned about the KP index, which predicts the probability of witnessing the northern lights. Fortunately, after dinner at the hotel, a notification from the app informed us at 9pm the chance was high! Intent on seeing the natural phenomenon, we bundled up and hiked up a trail to a 50-foot observation tower specifically designed for viewing the lights. Finnish myths say the lights are caused when a fox runs across the arctic landscape whipping up snow from its tail, sparking the lights in the night sky. Regardless of the cause, we were blessed by an hour display of a gray hazy line emerging in the distance and evolving into a bright green glow right in front of our eyes. As we watched and photographed the sky, the lights blew around us along our walk back to our room.

Our next two days were filled with other Arctic adventures, which included an exciting jaunt by snowmobile to learn how to ice fish on a frozen lake and then dog sledding on a snowy day in the beautiful and vast northern Finnish countryside. We concluded our trip with a train ride from Rovaniemi back to Helsinki. On our last day in Helsinki, we splurged and dined at Restaurant Savoy.” —Michael Ruma

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March in Canada
“Northern lights, and then some, in the breathtaking Yukon…”

Northern Lights in Dawson City, Yukon Territory, Canada.

“The sky was on fire during two of the nights. A yurt with a hot stove was much welcomed.” Photo: Shutterstock

“Northern lights, and then some, in the breathtaking Yukon. Marc put together a well-organized and well-crafted itinerary that had a little of everything—nature, a wide variety of activities, culture, and history—for my sister and me. Our excursions were all private, from a director-led museum visit, snowmobiling, ice fishing, snowshoeing, hiking in Tombstone Territorial Park and then flying back in a Cessna, formulating a skin cream with an herbalist/healer, to a city walking tour with a guide who had keys to all the historic buildings.

Marc astutely provided us with five opportunities to see the aurora, and we saw it on three nights. The sky was on fire during two of the nights. A yurt with a hot stove was much welcomed. We were having so much fun taking pictures, we begrudgingly went in to warm up only when our fingers started to go numb.

The other highlight, much to our surprise, was dogsledding. I have gone dogsledding in the past, but this experience was totally different. Our guide, Ben, is a musher who participates in races. We loved meeting his dogs and learning how he cares for them during a race and outside of racing. The dogs have distinct personalities and are hysterically adorable.

We told Marc that seeing the northern lights was our priority, and we let him choose the dates and locations. We placed our trust in Marc, and he nailed it. And because it was low season, we felt we had the breathtaking, snowy landscape and vast wilderness of the Yukon all to ourselves. Does life get any better than that?” —Linda Bailey

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March in Norway
“We had activity-packed days in which we went dogsledding, snowshoeing with ice fishing…”

Alta’s stable climate and minimal light pollution make it one the best places to view the aurora borealis. Photo: Shutterstock

“We went on a wonderful trip to Alta, mainly to see the Aurora Borealis. On our way we had a short stopover in Copenhagen. The trip was meticulously planned by Jan’s team.

In Copenhagen, we had a wonderful guide and driver who were both very knowledgeable and accommodating to our interests. We stayed at the beautiful and centrally located Hotel d’Angleterre. While in Alta we stayed at the Sorrisniva Arctic Wilderness Lodge, which was beautiful with a delicious restaurant, Maku. We had activity-packed days in which we went dogsledding, snowshoeing with ice fishing, and went on a snowmobile looking for stray reindeer. After dinner we went looking for the aurora borealis.

We had gone on dogsledding ‘rides’ before where they put you on a sled with a driver and you ride around a track and get a good photo op as you go by. This dog sled experience was much more interesting. We put our dogs into their harness, hooked them to the sled, and drove for a few hours’ ride through the countryside. We also had a great time snowshoeing with Kristine who went at a nice, easy pace for us and made us a delicious lunch in a lavvu (Sámi dwelling). On another day, our guide Rikki took us on a full day trip visiting a Sámi reindeer herder where we ‘helped’ him round up stray reindeer on snowmobiles.

To see the northern lights, we had a guide that was ready to take us out every evening. We were lucky and had two beautiful nights with the aurora borealis (and two snowy nights). The northern lights were spectacular.” —Marianne Hane

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Northern Lights: Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best time of year to see the northern lights?

The best time to see the northern lights is during the darker months of the year, generally from late September through early April, with peak viewing between January and March. During this period, nights are long enough for auroras to be visible, especially in high-latitude destinations.

Where are the best places in the world to see the aurora borealis?

The northern lights are most commonly seen at high northern latitudes located beneath the auroral oval, a shifting ring around the magnetic pole that typically crosses through Alaska, northern Canada, southern Greenland, Iceland, and northern Norway.

What factors increase your chances of seeing the northern lights?

Aurora visibility is influenced by several factors, including solar activity, clear skies, darkness, and low light pollution. Even in prime locations, cloudy weather or bright city lights can prevent you from seeing the northern lights, making location and timing as important as solar forecasts.

Planning to stay at least three nights in a viewing locale greatly improves your odds, and reduces the risk of missing them due to unfavorable conditions.

I Did, I Do, I Will: Romantic Travel Ideas for an Anniversary Trip

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Anniversary trips may be even more of a joyous milestone than a honeymoon: It’s a getaway dedicated solely to the durability of a love that has stood the test of time—whether it’s one year or fifty. What better reason to plan a truly special trip?

Below, we’ve collected the most unforgettable 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 celebrating a special anniversary deserve. Here’s how to get your own WOW trip.

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20th Anniversary in Venice & Paris: “We were transported to the most glamorous era of travel…”

Katie Gray traveling on the Orient Express.

Traveler Katie Gray and her husband rode the Orient Express to celebrate their 20th anniversary.

“We traveled to Venice and Paris in April, taking the Orient Express between these two most romantic cities in the world. We were reluctant travelers without specific plans other than to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary in a way we would never forget.

Jennifer and her amazing team members in Italy and France made our trip a VIP experience from beginning to end. Jennifer helped us find a daily adventure for exploring each city, with guides who made us feel like friends visiting their towns for the first time.

Our favorite experience in Venice was a visit to the Luigi Bevilacqua workshop, an artisan weaving company in business since the 18th century. That visit made the history of Venice come to life with some of the most beautiful fabrics ever created.

The Orient Express is a fantasy trip. We were transported to the most glamorous era of travel, passing through Austria, Lichtenstein and Switzerland along the way to Paris.

In Paris we stayed an ‘extra’ day to see the famous Saint-Ouen markets, where an expert took us through the treasures of the Paul Bert Serpette antiques market. We would be happy to do the entire trip again, but agreed a regular visit to Paris and the markets was definitely in our future.” —Katie Gray

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30th Anniversary in Belize: “We had a fantastic day on a private catamaran to Moho Caye…”

Laurie and Michael Schuftan having a picnic on a beach in Moho Caye, Belize.

Travelers Laurie and Michael Schuftan celebrate their anniversary with a beach BBQ at Moho Caye.

“My husband, Michael, and I had a wonderful time celebrating our 30th anniversary in Belize! With Patricia’s guidance, I opted to spend three nights in the jungle and four nights in the beach area. Our private villa at the Lodge at Chaa Creek was beautifully appointed and set amid the lushness of the jungle. Anniversary wishes, fresh fruit, and a ready-to-hatch butterfly pupa greeted us in the villa.

For the next three days, our driver, David, expertly navigated the very rustic roads to our private jungle cruise on a pontoon boat, tours of Xunantunich, Cahal Pech & Barton Creek Cave, and down to Placencia. He knew people everywhere!

Our home for the last four nights was a gorgeous beachside villa at Naia Resort & Spa. Again, we were greeted with anniversary wishes, flowers and balloons. We had a fantastic day on a private catamaran to Moho Caye, where we snorkeled and our guide Mike and Captain Leo grilled a delicious BBQ lunch on the beach. We found Belize to be an enchanting country, with its diversity of topographies and cultures and very warm, welcoming people.” —Laurie Schuftan

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50th Anniversary in Greece: “A renewal of our vows with our entire family on the beach…”

Ron Klausner and his wife, renewing their wedding vows on a beach in Sifnos, Greece.

Travelers Andrea and Ron Klausner renewed their vows in Sifnos.

“We went to Greece to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary. We had gone on our honeymoon to Greece. This time we brought our entire family, which includes our four children, their spouses, and seven grandchildren. First my wife and I traveled by ourselves for 2 1/2 weeks to Athens, Crete, and Santorini, then one of our children and her family joined us in Paros, and finally we rented a villa in Sifnos for 10 days for our entire family of 17.

We started planning this trip two years in advance with Jacoline, and she was fantastic! The first part of the trip we had an amazing time experiencing true Greek culture. Ten days in Crete included a five-star dinner at an olive estate (think of dinners at vineyards), dinner with a shepherd at his home in the mountains with two musicians serenading us, and a cooking course where we picked all the produce from the farm and made cheese from a freshly milked goat. We also visited villages in the countryside that haven’t changed in hundreds of years. We stayed in amazing properties. Casa Delfino in Chania was previously a private home in the center of the city, Kapsaliana Village was previously an abandoned Greek village, and Minos Beach Art Hotel is a five-star beach resort outside Heraklion. In Santorini we stayed in one of the properties overlooking the caldera built right into the cliffside. It felt like we were in a cave in the 1500s, but with all the modern amenities and very romantic views.

The ten days in Sifnos with our entire family were magical. Jacoline helped arrange the highlight of our trip, which was a renewal of our vows with our entire family on the beach. As we walked down the beach to a very private cove, everyone was clapping, taking photos and sending their congratulations. It felt so very Greek.” —Ron Klausner

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48th Anniversary in French Polynesia: “A highlight we’ll always remember was the romantic private anniversary dinner on the beach…”

David Sabritt and Mina Miller having a private anniversary dinner on the beach at Le Taha’a in French Polynesia.

Travelers David Sabritt and Mina Miller celebrated with a private anniversary dinner on the beach at Le Taha’a.

“With Kleon’s meticulous planning, we celebrated a wonderful 48th wedding anniversary in French Polynesia. After a brief stay on Tahiti to rest from the trans-Pacific flight, our two-week trip included three other islands—Mo’orea, Taha’a and Bora Bora, each with its own distinctive feel—and we appreciated being able to experience the contrasts.

Our lodgings were spectacular. At the Sofitel Kia Ora, our oceanfront bungalow just a few feet from the water gave us the feeling of a private beach all to ourselves. Our overwater bungalow at Le Taha’a was warm and intimate and felt perfectly attuned to its surroundings. And the Westin Bora Bora had every facility one could imagine.

On Mo’orea we had our Wendy Perrin WOW Moment—a private sunset lagoon cruise with an engaging young boatsman who enjoyed sharing his love of the island. It was topped off with a champagne toast at sunset.

A highlight we’ll always remember was the romantic private anniversary dinner on the beach at Le Taha’a. Kleon crafted our itinerary so that we would be in this boutique hotel for our special anniversary celebration—and it was truly special.” —Mina Miller Sabritt

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25th Anniversary in Malta: “A great, relaxing way to experience the Mediterranean…”

Mdina, the old capital of Malta surrounded by nature.

Traveler Tracy Reller called Malta “easy, seamless, and carefree.” Photo: Exclusively Malta

“In one word, our 8-day Malta trip in July was awesome! Our schedule included a lot of activities, but they didn’t feel rushed and were all so interesting. Having drivers show up everywhere felt so indulgent but made things easy, seamless, and carefree—perfect for our 25th anniversary!

Our guide, Matthew, was incredible—so knowledgeable, gracious in answering our many questions, and kind in making any changes on the fly. He’s exactly why I like to use Wendy’s travel experts! We learn so much about the country, its people, history, customs, food from locals that we would never get on our own.

Some of our favorite excursions included exploring Valletta, the private Grand Master’s Palace visit, the Ta Betta wine tasting (wish we could get the wine in the U.S.), exploring Mdina including private palazzo visit, meeting a pastizzi maker in his home, sunset dinner with Charlie (very interesting guy who showed my gardener husband how to graft and propagate trees/bushes), and meeting a pipe organ restorer. Most surprising excursion was ancient Malta—visiting the Hypogeum and Hagar Qim and Mnajdra Temples. They were fascinating to see and to think about ancient people building them 1,000 years before the pyramids of Giza!

Do not miss Gozo island when in Malta—it’s quieter, less crowded and fun to explore. Traveling there by sailboat was also a great, relaxing way to experience the Mediterranean and see the islands from a different viewpoint.” —Tracy Reller

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40th Anniversary in the Maldives: “A special anniversary dinner on the beach, with a view of the stunning sunset…”

Barbara Mace and husband Joe at their anniversary dinner on the beach at the Vakkaru Maldives resort during sunset.

Traveler Barbara Mace and husband Joe celebrate with dinner on the beach.

“We worked with Justin to plan the trip, and he did a fantastic job. We traveled to Malé, the capital of the Maldives, and then took a seaplane to Vakkaru Island and the Vakkaru Maldives resort. While waiting for the seaplane, Vakkaru had a private lounge for its guests. The seaplane was a great experience, taking off from and landing in the water, and we had beautiful views of the Indian Ocean.

At the Vakkaru International Airport (a pier off the island), we were greeted by many, including Emma, our butler, and Patrick Duff, the resort manager. Emma was the Best Butler Ever! Emma greeted us by name, and then took us on a quick tour of the island. Our overwater bungalow was beautiful. In addition to the indoor living room, bedroom, dressing area, and luxurious bath, we had an outdoor living room, outdoor dining room, lounge chairs, and a full-size pool with ocean views. We were also given a bottle of champagne in the room.

Vakkaru is in the Baa Atoll, which has blue holes. These suddenly deeper bodies of water, denoted by the sudden deep blue color, have more and varied aquatic life. There were several blue holes right off the island—so beautiful.

The resort has complimentary bikes for our use; we biked to breakfast every morning! We enjoyed lounging by and luxuriating in our residence pool immensely. Our room had steps to the ocean, which we used for snorkeling.

Emma arranged for a special anniversary dinner at Vakku (the resort’s signature restaurant) on the beach, with a view of the stunning sunset. Emma and Chili (housekeeping) decorated our bed and drew a bath for us in the huge tub that evening. Emma also wished us a happy anniversary in sand art outside our door. There were so many special touches for our stay as well as for our anniversary—we are grateful for the personal service!” —Barbara Mace

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15th Anniversary in Paris: “Only Philip’s office could arrange an over-the-top private river cruise on a Venetian river craft…”

The Eiffel Tower with the river Seine in the front.

The 16-day adventure culminated in Paris. Photo: Shutterstock

“Philip and his team did an outstanding job in planning, delivering and communicating our dream 15th Wedding Anniversary trip. In our initial interview with Philip, he listened to our interests in art, architecture, history, food and wine. From that point, he and his team began to develop an itinerary for us that was everything we dreamed of and more.

We started our 16-day adventure, beginning with Provence, then Lyon, and ending in Paris. In Provence, our personal guide, Cedric, drove us through beautiful countrysides loaded with red poppies, Market Day, beautiful historic hillsides villages and led us through the worlds of Impressionist artists, like Van Gogh, Cezanne, Dora Mar, and a modern art sculptural collection in a vineyard. We visited the best wineries in the region of Chateauneuf du Pape, walked inside the UNESCO Roman aqueduct of Le Pont du Gard, toured small historic villages learning about the impact and historic value.

In Lyon, we were met by Sebastian, our private tour guide for the next two days. We learned besides Lyon being the Food Gastronomy center of the world, the historic importance of Lyon in French history and how the weaving industry and craftsmanship made this city. An unexpected experience was the private time we spent with a craftsman, Philibert Virginie at Maison des Canuts, who took us through the labor-intensive loom weaving of the Renaissance. For our final day, Sebastian took us to his family-owned vineyard and winery in Beaujolais.

In Paris, for our last night, we had to do the Seine River Cruise. But only Philip’s office could arrange an over-the-top private river cruise on a Venetian River craft. Looking at Paris from the River gave us the full glory of this beautiful city. A bottle of Roederer champagne aboard our tour added the sparkle and the effervescence to enjoy the Eiffel Tower, Alexander Bridge, Notre Dame and Île de la Cité even more. What a great way to end our French adventure.” —Tom Festa

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25th Anniversary in Panama: “I never would have found this hotel on my own. It is on a private island…”

Bungalow of a private resport in Panama.

An eco-friendly private-island resort, Isla Palenque is on Panama’s Pacific coast. Photo: Isla Palenque

“My husband and I had a fabulous 25th anniversary trip to Panama planned by Pierre. We started out with one night staying in the Old City in Panama City. At Pierre’s suggestion, we stayed at the American Trade hotel. It was fabulous. It was like a throwback in time but with all the modern luxuries. And the location was perfect for exploring the Old City and going out to eat. Pierre arranged a dinner reservation at a nearby restaurant that could accommodate all of my husband’s dietary restrictions. To our surprise, they seated us at a secluded table on a balcony overlooking a plaza.

The next day was on to Isla Palenque. Absolute paradise. Pierre arranged all of the travel, from the car to the airport to the pickup at the airport in David and the boat ride then to Paradise. I never would have found this hotel on my own. I have never been to such a fabulous hotel. It is on a private island. 400 acres. Eight casitas and one villa. There are nearly 50 staff members for less than 20 guests. The water was 85°. The sand was soft as silk. The restaurant was excellent and very accommodating to our dietary restrictions. We went snorkeling, see kayaking, paddle boarding and dolphin watching. We still had plenty of time to do nothing on the private beach.

On the final day we had about 8 hours in Panama City before our evening flight back to the States. Pierre arranged a private guided tour of the Canal and the city. That was also fabulous.” —Randi Maidman

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30th Anniversary in Antarctica: “When we entered the igloo, the ship’s crew had it decorated with anniversary décor along with champagne…”

Cold hands, warm heart: Travelers Jeff and Lisa Wellen clowning like kids in Antarctica.

“From the first Zoom call with Ashton and Christine, we knew we were in great hands for our dream trip to Antarctica. On this trip, we were celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary and I asked if there could be something special I could do to surprise my wife on the trip. They took care of everything. They first surprised us with an anniversary bottle of champagne and a cake at our hotel in Santiago.

One of the things you can do on the ship is sleep in an igloo on the top deck. It was first come, first serve. We were able to get the igloo reserved for one night. When we entered the igloo, the ship’s crew had it decorated with anniversary décor along with champagne and treats. It was so emotional that it brought my wife and I to tears.

The National Geographic Resolution was spectacular, and we are so thankful Ashton pushed us to take this ship. This is their newest ship and we saw every day why this is the best ship to take to the Great White Continent…. This ship’s capabilities allowed us to go to the eastern side of the peninsula. Not one of the other sixty ships in the area had the capabilities to do that. It allowed us to sail through the Weddell Sea and see enormous tabular icebergs the size of three or four football stadiums, 100’s of Emperor Penguin chicks, thousands of penguins, pods of killer whales and watched pods of humpbacks eating fifty yards from the ship.” —Jeff Wellen

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47th Anniversary in southern Spain and Mallorca: “Our room had the most extraordinary view of the sea…”

View to the sea from Jumeirah Mallorca hotel in Mallorca, Spain.

This is the panoramic view from the Jumeirah Mallorca. Photo: Ivan Ricoy

“As a concert pianist, I had always wanted to visit the village of Valdemossa and see the monastery where the composer Frédéric Chopin spent a winter and composed several important piano works. In celebration of my milestone birthday and our 47th wedding anniversary, we decided that this was the moment.

We told Iván that we were not going to Mallorca for the beach and wanted to avoid crowds and mass tourism. We also knew that we would arrive exhausted and wanted a place where we could relax and be pampered at the start of our trip. Iván found us a magnificent hotel that met all of our needs and more. Our room had the most extraordinary view of the sea.

Iván planned a Mallorca itinerary that focused on the history and culture of the island, and six days in Catalonia, first in the beautiful seaside village of Cadaqués, and then the Penedès cava region. In the popular Penedès region, he managed to secure excellent hotel accommodations, drivers and guides—not an easy feat for a very busy holiday weekend at peak harvest time. He informed the hotels of our celebration, and on Mallorca we were greeted at our dinner table with beautiful flowers and a bottle of cava. Our trip went beyond all expectations because of Iván’s care and expert planning.” —Mina Miller Sabritt

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50th Anniversary in Croatia, Italy, Slovenia, and Switzerland: “Following in some of the footsteps of our original honeymoon…”

Lisa Redburn at a cooking lesson at Tatjana Ciciliani’s home in Trojir, Croatia. Photo: Traveler Tom Redburn

“Lisa and I have had a lot of wonderful adventures in our more than 50 years together, but for our 50th wedding anniversary trip to Italy, Croatia, Slovenia and Switzerland, the extraordinary planning of Claudia and Luisa took our travel experience to a whole new level. It’s true that Europe was already getting overrun with tourists during our six-week trip, but we rarely felt it because time after time Claudia and Luisa arranged guides and outings that took us away from the crowds and to hidden corners we never would have found on our own.

There are too many highlights to include all of them, but some of our most memorable moments were a gastronomic walking tour of Bologna with Giacomo, a guided E-bike ride along the Appian Way in Rome with Gioia, who spontaneously added in a visit to the multi-layered Church of San Clemente when we expressed interest in it, a guided cable car ride and walk to the top of Anacapri with Melania, and two hikes in the Dolomites with Paola, who revised her plans to reflect our own capacities for strenuous walking (there’s a theme here: nearly all our best guides were women). And that’s just Italy.

In Croatia and Slovenia, we enjoyed a guided walk up Mt. Srd above Dubrovnik, where two women from Piknik Dubrovnik had set up an extraordinary sunset picnic dinner just for us, two guided trips (one by E-bike, the other walking) in the backcountry of the islands of Korcula and Hvar that both included amazing private lunches far from the madding crowds, and an extraordinary tour by the charismatic Mario Bartulovic of his family’s winery and steep-sided vineyard on one of our only rainy days. We nearly cancelled but are so thankful that we didn’t. We also had a food shopping and cooking session with the charming Tatjana Ciciliani at her home in Trojir, near Split.

And the discovery of the trip, for us, was Slovenia, where we dined at the famous Hisa Franko (a 3 1/2-hour, 18-course tasting menu from chef Ana Ros), with a stay at tiny Chalets Nebesa, which is not to be missed if you are anywhere in the area. Four-room Nebesa (reserve far in advance!) is owned and run by Ana’s charming mother, father, sister and brother-in-law, and enjoys an extraordinary view in the Julian Alps over Kobarid, where there are still trenches from the devastating fighting along a front of World War I.

I could go on and on, but suffice it to say that, with only one or two exceptions, every guide was sensational, just about every accommodation was terrific, and nearly all the reserved dinners were a delight. And that’s not to mention our WOW Moment from Wendy of a lunch and wine tasting at the extraordinary BIBICh Winery, on a day when we traveled from Split to Zadar, right after visiting Krka National Park.

Luisa and Claudia took my idea of following in some of the footsteps of our original honeymoon trip to Europe (10 months on $6,000 in 1973-74 to Italy, Yugoslavia, Austria, Greece, Switzerland and France) and built it into an equally memorable highlight in our lives together. We spent our actual anniversary at a pension in the car-free Fex Valley in the Engadin that was one of the top places we stayed on our honeymoon. Our trip lived up to everything I had been dreaming about since we first thought of the idea more than two years in advance.” —Tom Redburn

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50th Anniversary trip in the Galápagos Islands: “A bouquet of five dozen roses and a bottle of wine…”

Blue-footed Booby on rocks, in Galapagos Islands.

Something blue: Blue-footed boobies in the Galapagos Islands. Photo: Shutterstock

“We just returned from Ecuador and the Galápagos Islands celebrating our 50th Anniversary. We shared with Allie our desire to focus on the Galápagos: the variety of wildlife, geography, and culture. The trip was wonderful. Celeste, our mainland guide, met us at the airport and checked us in at the Hilton Colon Guayaquil. Our room, on the executive floor, was decorated with rose petals covering the bed and an assortment of chocolates in celebration of our anniversary (thanks, Allie).

We flew to the Islands and boarded the Endemic, a 16-passenger catamaran with floor to ceiling windows and balconies in each large stateroom. Carlos, a native of the Galápagos Islands, was our terrific naturalist guide. We visited the islands of Santa Cruz, Santiago, Bartolome, Isabella, Fernandina, and Rabida. We snorkeled with marine iguanas, crabs, sharks, penguins, green Pacific turtles, flightless cormorants, and sea lions. We also saw land iguanas, flamingos, blue-footed and Nazca boobies, giant tortoises, pelicans, hawks, frigatebirds and many other endemic species. We took numerous hikes learning about the geology and geography of the Islands and viewing wildlife. Carlos kept us very busy, with four planned activities each day, including hiking, snorkeling, kayaking, paddleboarding, and panga rides. Guests were welcome to stay and relax onboard if they wanted to skip an activity.

Celeste escorted us from the Guayaquil airport to the Hotel del Parque on our return to the mainland. We were greeted in our suite with a bouquet of five dozen roses and a bottle of wine in celebration of our Anniversary (thanks again, Allie). With Allie’s advice and help, this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.” —Scott and Lorna Conroy

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20th Anniversary in Italy: “Exploring the gardens and farm, all set in a serene oasis in the heart of Tuscany…”

Traveler Andrea Phillips and family enjoying a summer evening in Tuscany during their WOW trip.

“My family of four, with two teen girls, had a wonderful and action-packed trip to Italy in mid to late June covering Umbria, Tuscany, Florence, Bologna, Lake Como and Milan, planned with Maria. We stayed at hotels that were the perfect fit (like the one in Florence that had a rooftop pool to beat the heat!), had the best rooms and locations and such personal service, all due to Maria’s connections. Italy was busy with travelers while we were there, but I can honestly say that it did not affect our plans at all, as Maria had it coordinated and timed out so perfectly.

This trip was also to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary and Maria had suggested two stops along the way that were very special. Wow, were they ever! Borgo Santo Pietro, a working farm & wellness resort in west Tuscany, and Grand Hotel Tremezzo, near Bellagio in Lake Como. Both resorts resembled something made out of a dream. Beautiful landscapes, amazing service, delicious food, gorgeous rooms, and so many amenities. At Borgo Santo Pietro, you had the feeling of being in a fairy garden wherever you went and around every corner, there was something new to discover. Bicycles & e-bikes, animal-tending sessions, exploring the gardens and farm, tennis courts, the spa & classes, eating the farm-to-table food in their lovely restaurants, all set in a serene oasis in the heart of Tuscany. We did not want to leave!

The other amazing stop was the Hotel Grand Tremezzo, which is a standout feature on any Lake Como ferry ride with its striking architecture, gardens and in-lake floating pool in front, so actually staying there was quite a treat! The inner decor of the hotel and outer gardens were magical and so were the concierges and staff that were always ready to help. We enjoyed the spa, the many pools and casual restaurants and even had a private wakeboarding session one morning on the Lake! That is a memory that will never be forgotten and made this stop my girls’ favorite! Maria also arranged a great private boat tour to visit Bellagio and the famous villas of the lake with a lovely private guide, who had access to go inside the villas and educate us on all of the historic collections and stories. It was fascinating!

We had many other activities that were also highlights. In Umbria, we went canyoning through a roaring mountain river, had an in-depth local cooking class, a gelato-making class, and went truffle hunting with the cutest, yet very talented dogs. In Siena, we had lunch on the exact alleyway where the Mille Miglia Race of Classic Cars were driving through to enter the Il Campo (definitely because of Maria’s connections in Italy!). In Florence, we climbed the Brunelleschi Duomo, took a lively pizza-making class, saw the awe-inspiring David & the Uffizi Gallery, and took a relaxing Arno River boat ride. In Lucca, we rode bikes around the medieval walls where we crossed paths with a special parade of classic Fiat 500’s. In Bologna, we visited one of the world’s oldest universities, and in nearby Maranello, drove Ferraris through the streets of the town where they are made! In Milan, we had the privilege of being able to see the Last Supper, which was breathtaking. Needless to say, we were very busy on this trip!

It was a trip full of variety, which I had specifically asked Maria for when planning this vacation last fall, and she delivered! When we head to Italy again, I will definitely have Maria help me plan our route around the country, but next time, we will stay longer than 3 nights at each stop to really experience the culture and have some more free time to explore on our own!” —Andrea Phillips

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50th Anniversary safari: “A bush dinner with an open bonfire and full moon celebrating our anniversary…”

Two young lion cubs ( Panthera Leo) looking at the camera, Samburu National Reserve, Kenya.

Two young lion cubs at the Samburu National Reserve in Kenya. Photo: Shutterstock

“To celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary, we decided we wanted to take our two daughters and their families on an African safari. The trip Daniel planned for us was fantastic. Since we and our daughters live in 3 different U.S. cities, we met in Nairobi and stayed for 2 nights. The accommodations at the House of Waine were outstanding and the staff very accommodating, given two of our arrivals were very late and the 4 grandkids varied in age from 6 to 13. This gave us time to get over some jet lag and see some of Nairobi. We then flew via private charter for 4 nights to a Saruni camp in Samburu, followed by another private charter to a Saruni camp in Maasai Mara for 4 nights, before returning to Nairobi for our flights home.

The staff and guides at the camps were friendly and went out of their way to please us. They had a special celebration for our anniversary at all three locations. They also celebrated one of our son-in-law’s birthdays while we were on the trip with a cake and singing at each location.

Seeing all the animals with our extended family at each location made this a special travel experience. Some of the most outstanding were seeing the 5 animals unique to the Samburu area, lions along with some cubs, leopards, cheetah, elephants, giraffes and hippos. The sundowners and meals in the bush also were very special times. Of these, the most memorable was having a bush dinner with an open bonfire and full moon celebrating our anniversary. Local folks came in their native dress, danced and sang. They encouraged the kids and adults to participate and we all had a grand time. We would not have had all these wonderful experiences if it had not been for Daniel.” —David Magdanz

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Anniversary in Norway: “We were serenaded by a musician playing a Norwegian Hardanger fiddle…”

Reine village with traditional red rorbu cottages, fishing boats and high mountains in the background on Lofoten islands in Norway.

The village of Reine is surrounded by high mountains in Norway’s Lofoten Islands. Photo: Shutterstock

“We traveled from Oslo to Nesseby, which is past the Arctic Circle near the Russian border, spending 3 nights each in 7 venues. Torunn tailored the trip to our preferences, which lean toward a bit of adventure and agri-tourism. In the north we stayed at a 2-room lodge run by a Sami fisherman and spent a morning crab fishing on his boat and an afternoon on an archaeological walk with his wife. He was an excellent cook and served foods he and his wife had caught, shot, or foraged from the landscape. He served the crab we caught in 3 different preparations, each of which was excellent.

The next day we toured the area with a Sámi reindeer herder. We also spent time on a small island well out in the Atlantic where we kayaked along the seashore to a lighthouse; foraged in Trondheim with a professional forager picking plants for our lunch; visited a dairy near Oslo producing a unique cheese product and advocating a more humane way to treat dairy cattle; and spent 3 nights at a farm with a gourmet chef specializing in dishes featuring fruit and vegetables from the farm. We received very personal treatment from the hosts at our smaller venues and each of them indicated how much they valued their relationship with Torunn.

Our wedding anniversary occurred during the trip and Torunn arranged a WOW Moment for us that was great fun. We were in Aurland at a farm set in a stunningly beautiful valley with steep mountainsides and many waterfalls. We were serenaded by a musician playing a Norwegian Hardanger fiddle, a type of double-strung violin. The venue was a small shelter with a magnificent view, and we toasted ourselves and the trip with homemade pear Kombucha made by the chef. We thoroughly enjoyed it.” –George Stephens

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20th Anniversary in Tahiti: “No noise other than the wind, the waves, and the coconut trees…”

The Tahiti journey, like life, evolved in “ever-better chapters.” Photo: Traveler Michael Ruma

“We traveled to Tahiti, visiting three different islands. I had held off on faraway, remote beach destinations for decades under the notion of the value for your money and the ease of travel of Mexico and the Caribbean. But given this trip was meant to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary, I threw caution to the winds and went all in.

Getting to Tahiti is not the hard part. The adventure starts as soon as you begin booking your inter-island air travel, boat transfers, a sundry of activities, and actually coordinate all of the above to achieve a relaxing visit to the islands. We did not have to worry about any of this with Kleon at the helm. He asked important questions about our likes and dislikes and then crafted an itinerary which slowly evolved into a spectacular journey with three ever-better chapters in a jaw-dropping beautiful region.

Our first stop was Vahine Island Resort and Spa. With nine acres and only a handful of rooms, this small island stop helped us relax, reset and realize what truly is Tahitian beauty and calm. No noise other than the wind, the waves, and the coconut trees. No thinking about meal choices with simple, but elegant prix-fixe dinner menus. No people (there were a few other couples which we visited with over meals and activities), but a private tranquil island where my wife and I watched the sunset on the dock with baby blacktip reef sharks swimming underneath, cracked open fresh coconuts when thirsty, and went paddle boarding in the large bay between Vahine and Tahaa…all alone. The privacy, intimacy, and peace on this island with such a limited number of guests began to open my eyes to why we made the long journey to this beach.

We traveled to Bora Bora next. While significantly more tourists visit this island, the number of hotels and additional guests did not diminish the striking beauty of Mount Otemanu. We enjoyed our overwater bungalow immensely, in particular, leaping off the deck into the refreshing turquoise lagoon water. We chose to refresh our diving skills and were incredibly fortunate to have two massive reef mantas swim two feet over our heads while we gazed upward from 40 feet below on the white-sand bottom.

Immensely relaxed, in beach mode and thrilled with our first two hotel stays, we topped off our travel with our final nights at the Brando in Tetiaroa. Lunch at your private pool, scuba diving amongst a mountain of colorful coral, cocktails at sunset at the bar above the treeline…simply ask and your wish is their command. And for my wife who seems to attract mosquito bites wherever we may be, the hotel has an answer for that as well. Their island scientists eradicated the pest from the island without the use of any chemicals, allowing for outdoor enjoyment unlike any other experience where you may encounter the often annoying bugs. The experience at the Brando can only be described as sublime perfection, where any of your needs or desires instantly come to fruition.

Tahiti is burned into our memories with its unforgettably blue waters, tranquil relaxing days, vivid and abundant sea life and unique island vibes. Now home, we daydream daily of when we will return.” —Michael Ruma

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25th Anniversary in Italy’s Cinque Terre: “All of our dinner reservations included the best tables and the best views…”

Colorful harbor at Vernazza, Cinque Terre, Italy.

Cinque Terre, Italy: “We especially loved our two boat days.” 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

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30th Anniversary safari: “At each stop we were made to feel so special, with an incredible ‘sundowner’ experience at Old Drift…”

Rainbow over Victoria Falls on Zambezi River, border of Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The trip included two nights at Victoria Falls, on the Zambezi River. Photo: Shutterstock

“Our 30th wedding anniversary was coming up, and I landed on an African safari as the perfect way to celebrate. We’ve just returned from this spectacular trip: Four days in Cape Town visiting Table Mountain, Boulders Beach, the Cape of Good Hope, the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens and of course the Winelands, along with a fantastic lunch at Glen Carlou; two nights at Victoria Falls in the lovely Old Drift Lodge; and six nights in Botswana: two at Savute, two at Camp Moremi, and two at Shinde. All the accommodations were outstanding, and the transport between camps was flawless.

At each stop we were made to feel so special, with an incredible ‘sundowner’ experience at Old Drift, along with cakes and celebrations at each safari camp for our anniversary. It was clear that Julian and team had taken exceptional effort to ensure all the camps were aware of our special event, which was a wonderful surprise that we really appreciated.

This complicated trip was made so easy! While I often plan trips myself, I can highly recommend arranging a trip like this through an expert. Julian’s services took all the stress out and we were left with nothing but fantastic fun and great memories.” —Nancy Megehee

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10th Anniversary in Peru: “When we arrived at our picnic, we were amazed to see a canopy tent popped up in a field that overlooked the Andes…”

Peru's Sacred Valley mountains and rivers

A complex anniversary picnic was set amid simple Peruvian beauty. 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

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30th Anniversary in Australia: “Stuart must have told everyone that we were celebrating an anniversary…”

Uluru was a stop on this couple’s anniversary trip Down Under. Photo: Tourism Australia

“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

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Anniversary in Disney World: “She took into consideration that this was an adults-only vacation and made great suggestions…”

Happily Ever After fireworks at Disney World.

Happily Ever After fireworks can be part of an anniversary celebration 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

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2nd Anniversary in 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

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10th Anniversary on Italy’s Amalfi Coast: “This was worth every penny and more…”

Positano was part of what this couple called possibly their best day ever. 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 private 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

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Anniversary in Hawaii: “A sunrise visit to the top of Mt. Haleakalā and a bike ride down, surfing lessons in Lahaina, a helicopter tour of the Big Island…”

Action-packed days on Maui were capped with champagne. 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

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60th Anniversary 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 beaches were one stop for the traveling celebration. 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

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25th Anniversary in Portugal: “We wanted the trip to be special, and it was everything we hoped it would be…”

Vineyards in the Douro River region in Portugal.

Traveler Heather McDowell and her husband enjoyed a a private, all-day river cruise in the Douro Valley. Photo: Shutterstock

“My husband and I recently returned from a spectacular visit to Portugal. This year is our 25th anniversary, so we wanted the trip to be special, and it was everything we hoped it would be. In Lisbon we kicked off our first evening with a delightful walking tour that introduced a few special spots and a wonderful meal sampling traditional petiscos dishes. Our expert guide led us through a fascinating mix of historic, cultural, and artistic sights throughout Lisbon’s different neighborhoods and during a half-day visit to Sintra. Virginia’s team also arranged for a lovely dinner of Portuguese specialties while enjoying a performance of Fado music.

We then headed to the Douro Valley, stopping in the charming Óbidos and coastal Nazaré along the way. Our stay at the Six Senses was extraordinary, giving us a chance to really appreciate the beautiful landscape, especially during a private, all-day river cruise with a stop for an exceptional lunch and tour at a local winery.

Throughout the trip, a balanced mix of walking and having a driver made navigating a lot of ground (and hills!) very manageable. Our days were full and varied but not rushed, the accommodations were top-notch, and every driver and guide was extremely knowledgeable, as well as fun to be around.” —Heather McDowell

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35th Anniversary in Australia: “We always had beautiful rooms, each filled with champagne, chocolate treats and anniversary and birthday wishes…”

Kathy McDermott and her husband Bob on the Dart River Adventure in New Zealand.

Traveler Kathy McDermott and her husband Bob on the “exhilarating” Dart River Adventure.

“I’ve been planning and organizing our trips for almost 40 years, but to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary and my husband’s birthday, I decided to use Wendy Perrin’s WOW List. I chose Jacki and Stuart (Australia) and Sarah and Sara (New Zealand). I never knew I even needed a planner, but this group did a splendid job.

We landed in Sydney—and what a treat it was to meet Jacki at the airport. She had a chauffeur-driven car waiting to drive us to the beautiful Capella Hotel, centrally located near Circular Quay. We flew from Sydney to Kangaroo Island, where Southern Ocean Lodge is a must. The huge windows show the stunning turquoise water, and the included excursions provided us the opportunity to see kangaroos, koalas, wallabies, seals and coastal rock formations.

Then in Adelaide we picked up a rental car and started our journey to the Great Ocean Road, with jaw-dropping views of rugged cliffs, pristine beaches and lush rainforests. We spent two nights in Port Fairy at the Drift House, walking distance to Griffiths Island. Driving next to Apollo Bay, we stayed at Chocolate Gannets in a very large villa with gorgeous views of the ocean and sheep grazing next door. Thanks to Jacki and Stuart, we always had beautiful rooms, each filled with champagne, chocolate treats and anniversary and birthday wishes.

We dropped off our car in Melbourne and flew to Queenstown, New Zealand, where we picked up another rental car. Sarah booked us a lovely room at Hotel St Moritz, with gorgeous views of Lake Wakatipu and snow-capped mountains. Our Dart River jet boat adventure was an exhilarating ride.

We booked the Doubtful Sound overnight cruise on the Southern Secret yacht and got the Master Suite. Captain Dave and his wife Jenny provided such a wonderful experience, and it was worth the time it took to get there. We saw dolphins and penguins, kayaked, and brought in lobster traps that Jenny cooked for our dinner.

Our last stop was Rosewood Kauri Cliffs, a beautiful golf resort overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Our Junior Suite was huge, with great views of the golf course and ocean. It’s located within a working farm, so sheep and cows are abundant.

We will never forget this once-in-a-lifetime trip and the people who made it possible, truly miracle workers! We will definitely be using Wendy Perrin’s WOW List for our next adventure.” —Kathy McDermott

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Packing Tricks For Flying Home with Holiday 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 mementos 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 need to cover my head in order to be allowed inside a house of worship).

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

Make the Most of Your Kid Studying Abroad

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With more and more students spending a semester studying abroad, we’re seeing more and more families travel to visit them. I’m just back from visiting my son Charlie in Australia, and many of you are arranging ever cooler trips to meet up with your own favorite undergrad, everywhere from Copenhagen to Botswana. So I thought I’d share some hard-earned wisdom:

When you reunite with your child in their foreign homebase, they won’t have jet lag, but you will. For our Australia trip, we knew Charlie would run us ragged playing tour guide. That meant we needed to get over jet lag before joining him in Sydney. So we opted to start our trip by recovering from jet lag first, at Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef. As it turned out, half of the people we met on Lizard Island were parents from the U.S. who had just been in Sydney visiting their student! (And many wished they’d eased in at Lizard Island first.)

Wendy's son and other people studying at State Library in New South Wales.

Charlie studying in the grand State Library of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. Photo: Wendy Perrin

- Consider Thanksgiving or spring break. Of course you’ll want to visit when your college student has free time and doesn’t have exams. But if you’re bringing other children who are on a U.S. school schedule, your best timing during the fall semester is likely to be Thanksgiving, and your best timing during the spring semester is likely to be spring break. Such timing works well in many popular Study Abroad cities, such as Barcelona and Florence: Prices are lower and tourist crowds fewer than in peak season (Thanksgiving is not a holiday in Europe).

- Make advance reservations. Many college students today have a last-minute lifestyle, which might not work well if you’ve got a group of people. Let your student show you their adopted city through their eyes, but if they’re not accustomed to planning activities and meals for a group, consider using the right local itinerary-planning expert who can cater to the special interests of each family member, optimize your itinerary for the month and days of the week that you’re visiting, and reserve hard-to-get-into restaurants or activities (such as a twilight Sydney Harbour Bridge climb, which Tim and Charlie did, below).

Two travelers climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge climb.

Charlie and Tim atop Sydney Harbour Bridge.

- Don’t forget about other nearby countries. The study-abroad kids I know are exploring a different city within their new country almost every weekend. So think about other countries nearby where your student might not travel on their own. I’ve seen parents take a Spain-based student to Morocco, for example, or an Italy-based student to Malta.

There is a vast array of study-abroad programs now, not just for a semester but for January term, “Maymester,” summer, and more. Read on to get ideas for experiences that might resonate with your own family. We’re happy to help you with more ideas if you click the black “Get a Personalized Trip Recommendation” button below.

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Berlin, Prague, and Vienna: “My daughter was studying abroad, and we decided to meet in Europe at the end of the semester for a mother-daughter trip…”

Christmas market at Rathausplatz, in Vienna, Austria.

Christmas markets in Central Europe are a festive backdrop to celebrating semester’s end. Photo: Shutterstock

“My daughter was studying abroad in Europe, and we decided to meet in Europe at the end of the semester for a mother-daughter trip. We didn’t know where to go, especially in early December when it would be cold! I specifically wanted a trip that wasn’t too busy to have time to explore and would also appeal to a fickle older teen who doesn’t love extensive sightseeing. Brook helped us narrow our options to Christmas markets in Central Europe and connected us to Gwen.

Gwen turned out to be the perfect choice because, also the mother of a teen, she understood exactly what I was dealing with! Gwen recommended a few itinerary options, and we ultimately decided on a trip to Berlin, Prague and Vienna, spending three to four days in each city.

Everything was amazing! Gwen’s guides took us on exclusive tours—that even my daughter found ‘cool’—of the library in the Strahov Monastery in Prague and the attic of St Stephen’s Cathedral, where we were able to sit in the Pope chair! We had requested centrally located boutique hotels so that it was easy to wander around and walk to restaurants, which is exactly what we got.

Best of all were the activities geared toward my daughter. There was a Christmas market tour in Vienna and jewelry making in Prague. She loved the guided vintage shopping in Berlin and the traditional-food cooking class in Vienna. Gwen’s planning checked all of our boxes so that both my daughter and I had a wonderful trip!” —Wendy Minocha

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Munich, Prague, and the Czechia Highlands: “We traveled to Freiburg, Germany, with our daughter’s friend, to pick her up from a semester of studying abroad…”

PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC - mathematical hall of the Strahov convent library

A private tour of the library at the Strahov Monastery is a rare glimpse into Prague’s arts in the 1700s. Photo: Shutterstock

“We traveled to Freiburg, Germany, with our daughter’s friend, to pick her up from a semester of studying abroad. The four of us then had a fabulous week of travel across Germany to Prague, planned by Gwen. We spent time in Munich and toured the Dachau labor camp. We also had a delicious food tour of Munich: From white sausages and beer for breakfast to sweet delights and a picnic in the beer garden, we came away with full tummies and an appreciation for the history and culinary delights of the city.

The train travel across Germany to Prague was uneventful, aside from a last-minute train cancellation. Gwen notified us immediately and rebooked us without difficulty. Our stay at the Aria Hotel in Prague was incredible, and the history of the city was revealed to us by our guide Kamila. We had a private tour of the library at the Strahov Monastery, which dates back to the 1700’s. Honestly, we were in awe of the culture and history of the city and can’t wait to come back.

After we sent the kids home, my husband and I drove into the Czechia highlands for a 3-day stay at the 800-year-old castle hotel, Chateau Heralec. The experience was awe-inspiring, from the large luxurious rooms to over-the-top spa treatments at the only L’Occitane spa in the country. The meals were gourmet, to say the least, and the service was some of the best we have ever experienced.” —Susan Tobert

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Scotland: “We wanted our son to get acquainted with the University and the city before his program starts…”

The Archibald Room in 100 Princes Street Hotel.

“100 Princes Street has become our home away from home in Edinburgh.”

“This was our second trip to Scotland planned by Katie, a member of Jonathan’s team. I can’t imagine using anyone else for the U.K. Our son will be getting his master’s degree at the University of Edinburgh, and we wanted him to get acquainted with the University and the city before his program starts in September.

Katie arranged great accommodations at 100 Princes Street. What a fantastic property! We encountered a majority of the hotel staff from our first trip, and most of them remembered us and greeted us by name. 100 Princes Street has become our home away from home in Edinburgh.

Katie was able to arrange a walking tour of the city with Jill, the same guide we had on our first trip. Jill is so knowledgeable about so many things—history, architecture, religion, politics, philosophy, etc. She really gave our son a great overview of the city, past and present. We sampled local fare at a number of places Katie recommended. One particularly memorable experience was sitting in a local pub and getting tutored on the finer points of snooker by one of the pub’s regulars as we watched the U.K. Snooker Championship on TV.

We will be visiting Scotland several times while our son is studying there and will rely on Katie to help us plan those trips.” —Adam Amsterdam

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Germany’s Black Forest, France’s Alsace Wine Country, and the Bavarian Alps: “Picking up our 16-year-old son in Munich, following his school exchange trip…”

Riquewihr village in Alsace, France. Photo: Shutterstock

“My husband, our 23-year-old son, and I traveled to Germany, picking up our 16-year-old son in Munich for the last two days, following his school exchange trip. We specifically requested hiking, so Jay recommended three days in the Black Forest, then some time just over the border in Strasbourg, France, before taking the train to Munich.

Starting in Baden-Baden, we enjoyed a day-long hike through the countryside, visiting the new castle, old castle ruins, vineyards, country lanes, small towns, a monastery, and many Black Forest trails. We completed 12 miles with 1,800 feet elevation, exactly as we had requested. The following morning, we indulged in the Caracalla baths neighboring our hotel before a driver took us to Strasbourg, France.

A surprise wine tasting was a thoughtful introduction to the wine country of Alsace. Christophe steered us on a 6-hour driving tour of the countryside, where we explored the fascinatingly restored 14th-century Château du Haut-Koenigsbourg. We also visited the town that Disney reproduced for Beauty and the Beast, Riquewihr, and learned about developing biodynamic wine at a tasting at the Achillée winery. Learning about the unique culture of Alsace added so much to our trip.

Next, we took the train to Munich, as we love train rides. We rode the train an hour into the Bavarian Alps and hiked from the town of Tegernsee on deserted forest trails. We saw many peaks, alpine meadows, walked through pastures with cows with bells on, and had a delicious alpine lunch at a chalet on the mountain.

This was our third family trip planned with Wendy Perrin’s help, and I can’t praise her services enough. After Wendy passed us to Jay, he called us and asked for an outline of our wishes. He easily stuck to our budget. The hotels recommended were each an exceptional level of service for the price level we requested. We had the perfect mix of activities and time on our own, and we had VIP service and little surprises everywhere we went.” —Jarvis Weld

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Spain: “My youngest daughter, who loves art, did a private art workshop with a local artist in Barcelona…”

Gaudi’s Park Guell in Barcelona. Photo: Shutterstock

“It was the easiest, least stressful, most enjoyable trip our family has ever taken. Much of the credit for this goes to Iván. This trip came about because our oldest is spending a semester abroad at the University of Granada. My mom told us about Wendy’s WOW List, and we soon connected with Iván. My wife and I had a one-hour Zoom call with Iván where he asked about our family, what we like to do, where we wanted to go in Spain, and our ‘must-see/do’ list. Within 48 hours, he sent us a detailed itinerary that blew us away. It checked all the boxes we were looking for and then some.

The main cities we visited were Madrid, Granada and Barcelona. Since college, my wife has been fascinated by Gaudi and has always dreamed of seeing his work, so in Barcelona, Iván planned a ‘Gaudi Day,’ so she could get her fill. The day included visits to Park Güell, La Pedrera, Casa Batlló, and La Sagrada Familia.

Some of our favorite activities during the trip were under-the-radar experiences that Iván set up for us. My youngest daughter, who loves art, did a private art workshop with a local artist in Barcelona where she created a tile mosaic of an octopus in the style of Gaudi.

My favorite was the photography workshop we did in Granada. It was run by a couple with a studio and darkroom in one of the cave houses in the Sacromonte neighborhood of Granada. The workshop focused on wet plate photography, one of the oldest types of photography. They took a photo of our daughters to show us how the process works and then let the kids take and develop a few photos, which are now proudly displayed in our dining room. They were such a lovely couple, and we could have spent many more hours with them. It was truly a special trip.” —Alex Kovac

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

START A TRIP TO SPAIN

New Zealand: “We saw a lot of the South Island by helicopter, we hiked, we kayaked, went to a mountaintop whisky bar and hot tub…”

The Hancock family on top of a glacier in New Zealand's South Island.

The Hancock family explored New Zealand’s South Island by helicopter, flying past waterfalls, high alpine lakes, river valleys, and sharp mountain peaks before landing on a glacier.

“Our 21-year-old son was studying in Australia. He was going to wrap up his trip in New Zealand. The idea came to us to make it a family holiday and meet him over there. The stars aligned and all schedules allowed it to happen. First off, Jean-Michel responded to our email inquiry immediately, and we were chatting with him 10 minutes later. We tossed ideas around and he assured us we could cover a lot of ground in the 8 days we had.

We saw a lot of the South Island by helicopter, we hiked, we kayaked, went to a mountaintop whisky bar and hot tub, went off-roading, drank lots of wonderful NZ wine and cheese. Our accommodations were fantastic. We have traveled the world, and Jean-Michel and his team are probably the best trip planners we have used to date.” —Susan and Blake Hancock

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

START A TRIP TO NEW ZEALAND

Italy: “Our private boat ride on the Arno was a huge hit; my niece who is studying there had not ever seen a private boat trip on the river…”

Beautiful cityscape skyline of Firenze (Florence), Italy, with the bridges over the river Arno

View over the Arno river in Florence. Photo: Shutterstock

“I had Maria plan a special family trip for three family members to spend 11 days in Italy in Oct. I had some specific requests to see some things I had not seen before, as I have lived and worked in Italy 30 years ago. Maria from the outset understood my needs and she crafted an amazing trip from the start (a private transfer from Malpensa to lunch at Villa D Este & on to Bellagio on Lake Como) to finish…High-speed train back to Milan to catch our flight home. Everything was seamless and very special.

All of the hotels were perfect for us, and Maria pulled off the virtually impossible: finding a lovely quiet room overlooking a piazza without crazy noise and in the shadow of important Renaissance architecture. She also mentioned the rooftop pool and bar at the Minerva in Florence, where we had drinks each night in the soft evening light, with gorgeous views of the Duomo. Her private excursions to the Factory floor of Lamborghini, to lunches at small wineries run by families who have been there for centuries… it was all beyond terrific. Our private boat ride on the Arno at night was a huge hit; my niece who is studying there had not ever seen a private boat trip on the river in the evening. This is the edge Maria offers, access and know-how that only a seasoned specialist can uncover for their clients.

I can’t thank Wendy enough for linking me up with Maria, we enjoyed every day of our trip and we will certainly reach out to her again to plan some more special moments in other spots in one of my most favorite countries on earth, that I have visited more than 20 times! Mille Grazie Maria and team!!! —Mary Munn

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

Australia: “A private sunset cruise of the Harbour (one of our favorite moments!)”

Karri Schildmeyer and her family during their private sunset cruise of Sydney Harbour, Australia.

The Schildmeyer family on their private sunset cruise of Sydney Harbour.

“We cannot imagine our trip to Australia going any better than it did, simply because we learned about Wendy Perrin’s company from a dear friend, and their connection to Stuart and Jacki. We spent two weeks visiting our daughter, who was studying abroad in Sydney. Our trip began in Sydney, where we spent the first five days learning about the city, climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge, hugely enjoying a private tour of the Sydney Opera House and our e-bike tour of Manly Beach. Then we ventured outside Brisbane to Lockyer Valley and the quiet, peaceful Spicers Hidden Vale. How fun to chat with the kangaroos outside our cabins! This retreat was perfectly quaint, with incredible views, meals and service.

After three days in the Valley, we flew to Cairns to spend three days at the Niramaya Villas & Spa. This leg of our trip was the most tropical, as we experienced an amazing day on the water snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef and an afternoon at Four Mile Beach. Port Douglas was an incredible seaside town with fantastic restaurants and a must-see sunset at the Marina.

We flew back to Sydney for a private sunset cruise of the Harbour (one of our favorite moments!) and headed stateside after our two-week adventures in beautiful, friendly Australia. This vacation exceeded every expectation and will undoubtedly be remembered in our family as a trip-of-a-lifetime.” —Karri Schildmeyer

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

START A TRIP TO AUSTRALIA

Copenhagen: “We had a truly special evening at the home of a local couple. They prepared a Danish Easter dinner for us…”

Cari Bender and her family with the dinner's local hosts in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Cari Bender and her family with their local hosts in Copenhagen.

“We just returned from a wonderful trip to Copenhagen to visit our daughter who is studying abroad there. Mads helped us plan a lovely vacation where we got to explore all over the area. We learned about Danish food on a food tour and loved seeing the city from a private boat excursion along the canal.

Our favorite day was the Danish design day! We love Danish design, and Mads arranged for us to have a private tour of a furniture manufacturer and meet some current local artists in their own studio. It was a special and memorable day. My son and I probably took 1,000 photographs, and we all loved learning about the history of prominent furniture design. We had a terrific hotel right in Nyhavn, the famous canal with the colored buildings that was centrally located and super charming.

The other incredibly memorable adventure was Dine with Danes, where we had a truly special evening at the home of a local couple. They prepared a Danish Easter dinner for us—they must have cooked for two days! We simply adored them and we had a wonderful evening together. It was very special.” —Cari Bender

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

START A TRIP TO DENMARK

African safari: “We had so many up-close encounters with all sorts of wildlife…and have a shared album of over 1,000 pictures…”

lion sitting in savannah grass in botswana africa

A lion in Botswana. Photo: Shutterstock

“Thanks to Julian for arranging an absolutely fabulous trip to the Okavango Delta, Victoria Falls and Cape Town during March 2024. We had travelers on different itineraries from the USA and needed to connect with my daughter in Gaborone, which complicated our agenda, and they all met up as planned. I appreciated the extra help with arranging an additional tour in Maun while we waited for our last friend. After the tour, we were the first guests at the Great Plains lounge, which just opened that day, while we waited until our departing flight to the Delta. We were met and escorted exactly as expected and did not encounter any snags along the way—relatively amazing, given we were on a total of 14 flights in the two weeks.

We thoroughly enjoyed each of the three camps in the Okavango Delta. The accommodations, service, food and animal experiences were so beyond our expectations at all three that we couldn’t pick out our favorite and wished we had another night at least to spend at all of them. We had so many up-close encounters with all sorts of wildlife—lions, elephants wild dogs and more—and have a shared album of over 1000 pictures :) In Zimbabwe, the Old Drift Lodge was also very nice, and Victoria Falls is spectacular. We had animals close to our tents in each of the camps, which was amazing—elephants, baboons, hippos and others. Each of the camps had great views of wildlife from the tents and common areas.

Our guide in Cape Town, Malcolm, was a wealth of information and really helped to show us the city and surrounding areas with a minimum of delay and made sure we had a good amount of time at each stop. We made full use of the Table Bay Hotel’s amenities, surrounding area and attached mall.” —Lori Kirk

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

START AN AFRICAN SAFARI

Sources of Help in a Travel Medical Emergency

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When a medical emergency strikes abroad, what are the best sources of help? In my own personal experience, everywhere from Andorra to Zimbabwe, the best local help has come from a WOW expert.

The last time I needed medical treatment in a foreign country, for instance, was in Australia: I was snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef when a blood vessel burst in my eye, possibly because of suction from a snorkel mask, and it turned the eye bright red. It felt like something was stuck in my eye, and people were advising me to make sure it wasn’t a foreign object (say, a speck of sand or a microscopic sea creature). By the time I got to Sydney, the eye really needed to be looked at, but where to go? An opthalmologist’s office? Urgent care? A walk-in clinic? Which one?

An email to Stuart Rigg, the Australia specialist on The WOW List who had organized my trip, yielded the answer—and I was off to Sydney Eye Hospital. Two nurses and two doctors in the E.R. examined my eyes, diagnosed a conjunctival inclusion cyst, and prescribed an antibiotic ointment and eye drops. The whole process took 75 minutes and cost $220. A couple of days later, my eye was so much better that I was able to meet Stuart for lunch in the bright Sydney sunshine.

Wendy Perrin and Stuart Rigg at a cafe in Sydney.

With my eye on the mend, I was able to have lunch overlooking Sydney Harbour Bridge with Stuart Rigg.

When you’ve arranged a trip on your own (meaning, when there’s no WOW expert to help), here are other sources to try that I, or people close to me, have used successfully:

The International Society of Travel Medicine’s Global Clinic Directory.
IAMAT’s (International Association for Medical Assistance to Travellers) Travel Health Resources.
A top hotel concierge—say, one who belongs to Les Clefs d’Or—for a recommendation of a reliable local doctor.
A premium credit card that offers travel-related emergency assistance, such as the American Express Platinum Card.
Membership in Medjet to get you from the hospital abroad to the hospital back home where you want to be.

Remember: Sometimes the help you need goes well beyond getting in to see the right doctor at the right hospital. Sometimes it’s about assistance with negotiations, paperwork, and rearranging your travel plans (changing your itinerary, cancelling reservations, booking new reservations, getting refunds for the cancellations…). Read on for reports from other travelers who’ve become ill or injured in a variety of countries—and how they got the help that was needed.

PLAN YOUR NEXT TRIP SMARTLY

PERU: “We got on e-bikes and I had a surprise encounter with a huge pig…”

Adam Amsterdam and his wife on an e-bike tour in Peru.

Traveler Adam Amsterdam (at left), with his wife and e-bike guide, before the accident.

“We just returned from a wonderful trip to Peru designed by Mark on Marisol’s team. On the way to our hotel in the Sacred Valley, Sol y Luna, we got on e-bikes and rode through beautiful farm areas. Our e-bike guide Jimmy was excellent, and it was a lot of fun.

Unfortunately, along the path we rode, I had a surprise encounter with a huge pig and got separated from my bike saddle. I took a nasty fall and ended up in a clinic in Urubamba where I received eight stitches in my knee. Jimmy was great in bandaging my knee and getting me to the clinic ASAP. My injury kept us from touring Machu Picchu on this trip, but Sol y Luna is such a lovely property that it was no hardship to spend a day relaxing there.

Our final hotel was the Belmond Palacio Nazarenas, one of the best hotel experiences we’ve had anywhere. We were checked in by our dedicated butler Saul, who connected with us via WhatsApp and seemed to be available 24 hours a day. Our last full day in Cusco found us tourig through the Plaza de Armas, the Cathedral, and the Inca ‘Sun Temple’ Koricancha. The tour was capped by a delicious lunch in a perfect location with breathtaking views of Cusco.” —Adam Amsterdam

FRANCE: “An ambulance had taken my poor husband—who’d fallen along the Seine just seven hours after our arrival in Paris—to the emergency room…”

Travelers taking selfie in in front of a shop in Paris.

Jan Heininger’s husband, Jamie, with their daughter and granddaughter, in Paris just before Jamie’s accident.

“There were two trips during the ten days my husband and I spent in Paris. The first was a wonderful week of Paris with kids—with grandparents (us), our daughter and son-in-law, and their three kids (ages 2, 3, and 6). The second was my husband breaking his leg/hip on the first day and having to spend the entire time in a Paris hospital.

Jennifer’s role and assistance for both trips was essential: When calamity strikes, you need the kind of assistance that no regular travel agent or group-trip company can provide.

Jennifer knew exactly how to design a trip geared toward introducing three very young children to Paris. While the rest of us were doing these wonderful activities, an ambulance had taken my poor husband, Jamie Reuter—who’d fallen along the Seine just seven hours after our arrival in Paris—to the emergency room. He’d broken his leg badly next to his artificial hip.

Once Jennifer found out, she dispatched her head of French and U.K. operations, Albin Fady-Bonnet, who devoted his already busy week to shepherding us through a very frustrating ten days of dealing with a vastly different medical system from ours. My husband languished in hospital for six days before he finally had surgery.

He was in Hôpitaux Universitaires Pitié Salpêtrière, France’s best hospital with the best doctors. But, as this was Paris’s trauma hospital (where Princess Diana was taken), my husband kept getting bumped by other, more traumatic cases.

My French is passable, but insufficient for medical nuances. In a medical system where doctors rule all and feel little need to communicate with patients and not at all with their families, I was constantly scrambling to get information, trying to arrange for medical evacuation, setting up matters for our U.S. doctors to operate if necessary when we got back, negotiating with our health insurance company, and dealing with our financial adviser.

There is no way I could have handled it all without the assistance (multiple times daily) of Jennifer and French-speaking Albin, who intervened repeatedly with the hospital on our behalf to get information we could not get ourselves. It involved much more than I’m going into. Suffice it to say, we were the nightmare clients that no one ever wants to be (or have), and Jennifer and Albin handled it with grace and aplomb, rearranging our itinerary at the drop of a hat and getting me a (wonderful) hotel to stay in after the kids departed.

We’ve taken at least twenty trips with Wendy’s experts. For rare glitches, they jump in to fix things immediately. I had confidence that Jennifer, just like every one of Wendy’s carefully vetted specialists, would jump in to do whatever was needed to get us safely home. Even Wendy herself helped out and checked in to see how Jamie was doing.

FYI: Follow Wendy’s advice and get travel insurance. I should have. No one wants to have to put up what I was asked for to medically evacuate my husband: 140,000 Euros in cash, up front. Fortunately, we were able to avoid the medical evacuation route. We flew home five days after the surgery in business class (the only way the French doctors would let him go), with Jennifer having arranged a car and driver and a person who expedited our way with wheelchairs through the airport to the plane.” —Jan Heininger

CHILE: “My husband found that walking and being active kept the pain level down…”

Karen Lindfors and her husband in the Atacama Desert, Chile.

Karen Lindfors and her husband enjoy a river hike in an Atacama red rock canyon.

“We arrived in the Atacama Desert of Chile following a trip to Antarctica. Mark on Marisol’s team planned our journey to the Atacama, which was supposed to be followed by an overland traversa into Bolivia (more on that later). We stayed at the Explora Atacama Hotel and we cannot say enough about how wonderful it was. We did a wondrous variety of things, from soaking in a private natural hot spring to sliding down sand dunes to doing a river hike in a beautiful red rock canyon. Our visit was capped off with a trip to see the geyser field on the altiplano at 14,000 feet of elevation, which included a breakfast while we watched vicunas roam. Magnificent!

We were only supposed to stay at the Explora Atacama for three nights before journeying into Bolivia, but on our first full day there my husband developed a kidney stone. The hotel staff and our guide could not have been more helpful or kinder. Maureen, the hotel manager, arranged for a doctor to come to the hotel. She also drove us to the pharmacy in San Pedro de Atacama several times. They were in contact with the folks from Aracari who kept track of our situation. My husband found that walking and being active kept the pain level down so he was able to enjoy all but one of the excursions.

Knowing that we were going to be in a remote part of Bolivia at high altitude, we decided it was best to cancel that part of our trip. We returned home, kidney stone and all, after staying at the Explora for five nights. Mark has been very helpful and prompt in getting documents to us so that we can make a claim on our insurance. Three days after we returned home, my husband passed the stone and is pain free. We are so grateful that both Mark’s team and the Explora folks took such good care of us. We would not hesitate to use them in future travels.” —Karen Lindfors

NORTHERN ITALY: “During those days I was comforted by how well I was taken care of. This trip was worth every penny I spent…”

Old cozy street in Lucca, Italy. Lucca is a city and comune in Tuscany. It is the capital of the Province of Lucca

Yes, it’s possible to eat like a local even when you’re stuck in quarantine. Photo: Shutterstock

“EXTRAORDINARY! I am an experienced and, if I say so myself, a super-critical traveler. Maria and her team went beyond my expectations. The guides were inspiring, the drivers wonderful. All fabulously flexible, so if I wanted to change the plan, they could fulfill the new idea.

I told Maria I wanted to focus on food, visits with artisans, small villages, and wanting to stay at least three nights in each location. We had private cooking classes, meetings with a violin maker, textile designer, hunting for truffles, tastings of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, Parma ham, various cheeses and seeing how all were made.

I had my own private excursion with Covid mid-way through the trip. The staff joined together to find a second hotel room for my friend, contacted the people who were doing the private tastings to see if they could arrange to do everything outside. Upon checking in to one of the hotels that didn’t have a restaurant, to find they had contacted the manager, who informed me they could provide my meals by picking up food at nearby restaurants. Thankfully, I tested negative after 5 days. But during those days I was comforted by how well I was taken care of. This trip was worth every penny I spent, and I cannot recommend Maria highly enough.” —Ellen Salwen

SRI LANKA: “Their advice to go to a private hospital, even though it was a lengthy drive, was spot-on…”

Woman standing alone in Sri Lanka green rice field.

Sri Lanka has great hiking. Photo: Timothy Baker

“My husband and I had an amazing 16-day trip to Sri Lanka, organized to perfection by Miguel and Nicola. Sri Lanka is a fascinating place to travel, with so many things to do, from ancient cultural spots to leopard safaris, from whale watching to staying at a renowned architect’s home, from great hiking on the Pekoe Trail to artist visits, from city walking tours to a final delicious dinner at Colombo’s Ministry of Crab.

Where the service of Miguel’s team really came through was when I suffered a dislocated shoulder while hiking, partway through the trip. Their advice to go to a private hospital, even though it was a lengthy drive, was spot-on. They quickly reorganized our itinerary to get us to our next stop with barely a hiccup. Our driver made a very lengthy drive to retrieve our luggage while we traveled in comfort via seaplane.

A shout-out here goes to the staff at the Castlereagh bungalow of the Ceylon Tea Trails hotel, who packed up our luggage for us and got our documents to the seaplane stop. I know that if we hadn’t had Miguel’s office and the hotel staff helping us, the whole incident would have ruined our trip. As it was, we continued to enjoy all Sri Lanka had to offer.” —Chris Zufelt

SPAIN: “Unfortunately, during our trip, my husband fell quite ill, and Virginia’s team shone during these challenging times…”

Travelers Mary Arzt and her husband Len seized a photo op during the annual Cordoba Fair in Spain.

Mary Arzt and her husband Len at the annual Cordoba Fair in Spain.

“Since both my husband and I are on the older side, we needed to pace ourselves and still see everything we wanted to see. Virginia helped us accomplish this by pacing the trip perfectly. Lifetime memories of our trip include the view of the Summer Palace from our room at the Alhambra, the timeless Granada hammam, the shady garden courtyard outside our room in Cordoba during an otherwise hot afternoon, an amazing three-hour jewel-like lunch in Seville, multiple delicious tapas tours with gracious guides showing us where the locals go, a delightful tutorial on Cervantes in the neighborhood where he lived and worked, seeing Velazquez’ Las Meninas at the Prado in Madrid, visiting the amazing Guggenheim in Bilbao, seeing San Sebastian’s bay for the first time—to name just a few.

Unfortunately, during our trip, my husband fell quite ill, and Virginia’s team shone during these challenging times. They helped us get medical service in multiple hotel rooms, navigate the medical system in a foreign country (no small thing), and guided us in the use of our travel insurance policy in order to have him get well as quickly as possible. Their ongoing check-ins and authentic concern helped us feel supported and cared for while we were far away from home. It also allowed my husband to feel better more quickly and get back to enjoying our trip.” —Mary Arzt

NEW ZEALAND: “I got the flu and was so sick and had to cancel our 5-day Milford Track hike…”

Milford Sound, in New Zealand from a touristic aircraft.

Milford Sound, in New Zealand. Photo: Shutterstock

“It was so valuable to us to have experienced, proven, on-the-ground travel experts who knew the area, could design an amazing trip and, most importantly, provided support 24/7 when unexpected problems arose. And we unfortunately had three unexpected problems, so we can attest first-hand to how important it is to have proven travel experts on the ground.

The first unexpected problem was a flight cancellation from Canada to New Zealand and the fact that our new available flight added three more days to our trip. Sarah and her colleague Sara worked their magic and were able to extend our stay at the Auckland Hyatt, add activities, adjust our itinerary, and coordinate all logistics, making everything seamless.

Then, when we were in Queenstown, we needed their help again. The night before we were to check out of our hotel, I got the flu and was so sick and had to cancel our 5-day Milford Track hike. We then had no place to stay, no plans, and I was sick. Fortunately, Sarah had booked us into the Hulbert House, a fabulous family-feel boutique hotel with amazing staff who Sarah knew well. Together the manager and Sarah’s team worked on finding us lodging and later let me know Hulbert House had a last-minute cancellation and we could stay right where we were. Hallelujah!

Sarah’s team also put together some ideas of things we might do in Queenstown and surrounding area when I felt better. Which brings me to the third problem we faced and needed assistance. From the list, we decided we should go on the Milford Sound cruise before the weather changed. This was a popular activity. The cruise had room, but all the flights to get there were booked. Sarah’s team worked hard and finally were able to find two different planes, each with one hopper seat left. We were in! The Milford Sound cruise and flight were definitely a highlight of our trip!” —Julie and Jim Clark

AUSTRALIA: “Jacki provided a list of doctors (outside of regular hours and during the Christmas holiday!), and the concierge made repeated calls to get us an appointment…”

View of Sydney from the Harbour BridgeClimb Australia

Family members daring enough to climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge enjoy this view. Photo: Destination NSW

“Stuart and Jacki prepared an amazing itinerary for our trip to Australia in December. Jacki suggested the Langham Sydney, and we would be using it as a home base, as we went to Uluru (Longitude 131—an amazing hotel that even prepared a bed outside if you wanted to sleep under the stars), back to Sydney, followed by a trip to the Blue Mountains (Spicers Sangoma Retreat), and then a final five-night stay in Sydney. Our guide in the Blue Mountains was Tim, and he knew every back road and all the locations for a beautiful view. Our WOW Moment was a sunset boat ride with drinks, and the weather was perfect for it.

The children and grandchildren arrived for the last four nights, and she planned a great itinerary for all of us, ages two to 70: a Christmas carol concert at the Opera House, drivers for everything (the driver even took a video of us from above taking the Bondi Beach walk—all nine of us), a harbor boat trip with lunch and swimming, the Sydney BridgeClimb, a private tour of the Rocks, an Aussie Backyard Tour at the zoo, and a lovely day in Hobart, visiting Russell Falls and Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary.

Our granddaughter needed a doctor, and Jacki provided a list of doctors (outside of regular hours and during the Christmas holiday!), and Tyler (the Langham’s concierge that day) made repeated calls to get us an appointment. Both Jacki and Stuart followed up with her status. The parents were very impressed with Children’s Hospital in Sydney where she was treated, and we went on with our trip. We will be using Stuart and Jacki again for our next trip to Australia—they just made it so easy!” —Denise Staal

VENICE: “She made it possible for my husband, who walks with a cane, and me to travel around Venice and the lagoon with private boats…”

Narrow canal with bridge in Venice, Italy. Architecture and landmark of Venice. Cozy cityscape of Venice.

A savvy planner can help you navigate Venice even with mobility challenges. Photo: Shutterstock

“Luisa made our trip to Venice extraordinary. We have been to Venice many times, but now we are older and were skeptical that we could manage this trip. She made it possible for my husband, who walks with a cane, and me to travel around Venice and the lagoon with private boats, with a charming captain and a private guide.

Luisa organized a tour of the Museo Fortuny and an amazing artisanal weaving workshop with looms from the 16th century. We saw the Palazzo Grimani (Roman statues in Venice!) and San Giorgio Degli Schiavoni, with its stunning Carpaccios. We requested, and she arranged, a private tour of the Marciana Library. In addition, she arranged amazing dining experiences. Luisa was always available by phone for last-minute changes. Grazie mille for enriching our trip to Venice.” —Ellen Marks

Don’t Overpay for Travel Medicine

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For some trips, like the African safari I took this past summer, it’s wise to be up-to-date on certain vaccinations and bring along some prescription medication. But I discovered that those shots and scripts can vary wildly in cost—and a lot depends on how you obtain them.

For convenience’s sake, before our trip my husband made an appointment at the travel clinic closest to us. With little transparency into the costs of what the health practitioner there recommended, he walked away with a bill north of $3,000. We submitted the charges for reimbursement to our medical insurance (travel insurance doesn’t cover pre-trip preventative medicine), but were denied because the clinic was out-of-network.

Aghast at the expense and willing to trade a few hours of research for a lower bill, I found ways to get the same shots and services that could have saved my husband almost $2,000. Here’s how I managed that:

I searched the International Society of Travel Medicine’s Travel Clinic Directory for other clinics near me and called those offices to find out what they’d charge for a travel consultation and various vaccines. I also contacted my primary-care physician, who told me over the phone what vaccines and medications I should procure from a local pharmacy. I only had to pay out of pocket for one of the vaccines he recommended; the others were covered entirely by the same insurance plan that had denied my husband’s claim for those very shots.

If it’s hard to reach your doctor, know that some pharmacy chains provide travel-health consultations at certain locations (subject to state laws), and some local public-health departments operate very affordable immunization clinics. There’s also Runway Health: For a flat fee of $30, their doctors will prescribe vaccinations and medications based on your travel destination and medical history, and communicate with you via a chat portal during your trip—say, if you miss a dose and aren’t sure what to do. Runway Health will mail you most of the medications you might need, with prices ranging from $29 to $129 (shipping is free), and they can send prescriptions for any shots to your local pharmacy (and, crucially, tell you where rarer vaccinations like yellow fever are available, something I found incredibly time-consuming to do on my own).

A pre-trip health consultation is wise medicine for many destinations. Just make sure that you’re as savvy about choosing your health provider as you are about choosing your local travel fixer!

GET A PERSONALIZED TRIP RECOMMENDATION

Unusual Spring Break Ideas for College Students (and Their Parents)

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Hi everyone, it’s Wendy’s son Doug here. A reader asked where to take her 21-year-old for college spring break:

“Hi. This question is for Doug: I’m thinking about a trip with my 21-year-old son for college spring break in March. Like you, he and I (I’m the Mom) have traveled together all his life. We are looking for your best ideas/suggestions. We’ve traveled to most of Europe. I’m primarily concerned that we only have a week. Can we see Dubai during that short time? I enjoyed your trip reports and would appreciate your suggestions. Thanks, Rosalind”

I’m happy to help, and Dubai (pictured above) is a fantastic idea for spring break! In fact, it’s one of my top five suggestions, based on my own experiences. As a college sophomore, I can tell you that these suggestions are well suited to college students—and kids of all ages. These are destinations where you can get the combination of relaxation and adventure that you want for spring break, plus cultural exploration too.

DUBAI AND ABU DHABI

This was us dune bashing in Abu Dhabi’s Empty Quarter. Photo: Timothy Baker

You can easily experience both Dubai and Abu Dhabi in one week! You can go dune bashing (above is our thrilling 4×4 ride in Abu Dhabi), sandboarding, snowboarding (there’s an indoor ski slope), and still have enough time for the beach. You can drive a test Ferrari, take a hot lap in a Formula 1 car, or ride the world’s fastest roller coaster. Dubai is so technologically advanced that it lets you see and experience what the future will be like, which any college student wants to do. It’s also a big airline hub, so there are nonstop flights from many U.S. cities.

BELIZE

That’s me earning my scuba-diving certification in Belize. Photo: Timothy Baker

One week is more than enough time to get your scuba diving license in Belize. (That’s me above, following the instructor, during my certification course there.) On the barrier reef, you can snorkel with stingrays, dive with sharks, adventure into a cave filled top to bottom with lobsters, and explore the Blue Hole. On Ambergris Caye, you can bike or drive a golf cart around the island, and at night you can go to beach bars and sip your favorite drink while sitting in a pool or eat in restaurants with your toes in the sand. You can read about our family trip to Belize here.

PANAMA

That’s me and my older brother, Charlie, on a boat in the Panama Canal. Photo: Timothy Baker

Panama is known for its biodiversity. You can hike and zipline through the jungle, see the incredible wildlife by boating down the Panama Canal, one of the world’s most impressive engineering feats (my brother and I are doing that above), visit the Biomuseo designed by Frank Gehry, explore the Old Town, or hit the beach. It’s on East Coast time, so there’s no jet lag to cope with when classes start again, and there are nonstop flights from many U.S. cities.

WHISTLER, CANADA

When I was in Whistler, I was too small to ride the Olympics bobsled, but I watched Charlie do it. He says it went so fast it felt like a blur. Photo: Timothy Baker

Whistler is a place for thrill seekers and extreme sports lovers. Some of the best skiing and snowboarding to be had are in these world-class mountains less than a two-hour drive from Vancouver. You can also go snowmobiling, ziplining, and bungee jumping in winter. My older brother, Charlie, got to zoom down the 2010 Whistler Winter Olympics bobsled course (I was too small), and he says it happened so fast that it felt like a blur—which is how the world’s fastest roller coaster in Abu Dhabi felt too—but it was still amazing.

MOROCCO

Here, I’m with Mom and Charlie in Morocco’s Dadès Gorges during spring break when I was 12.

You can go sandboarding and ride camels in the Sahara, hike in the mountains, and still have time to go surfing in Essouaira and enjoy a hammam. With its incredible architecture, markets, and cities, Morocco provides many experiences that are Instagram worthy, especially the rainbow of spices they put on their food. And it’s just across the Atlantic Ocean. You can read more about our spring break in Morocco here.

The reviews below from other travelers attest to how well these places work for everyone in the family. Happy spring break!

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Dubai and Abu Dhabi: “We visited Museum of the Future, went to the ‘top of the Burj Khalifa,’ went on a private sunset palm cruise…”

Diane Thormodsgard with her husband and grandsons on a private sunset cruise in Dubai.

“My husband and I took our grandsons (ages 14 and 13) to the U.A.E. for 10 days. Nicholas designed an itinerary that suited all of us perfectly. We started in Dubai with a stay at Atlantis the Palm, including exclusive Imperial Club access, after being met with VIP service at the airport. The boys enjoyed Aquaventure and the pool. We also had a Dubai historical tour, visited Museum of the Future, went to the ‘top of the Burj Khalifa,’ had a helicopter ride, and went on a private sunset palm cruise with a crew of four that provided excellent service.

After leaving Dubai, we ventured to Al Maha, a luxury desert resort. What a great experience in the desert with private pools at each suite (boys had their own Bedouin suite), a desert jeep ride, camel rides, beautiful sunset, early morning falconry presentation for the grandparents, and excellent food. Our only regret is we wished we would have spent more than one night there so we could have enjoyed other activities like archery, more time in the pool and watching the many gazelles and rare Arabian Oryx on the property. As the boys said, ‘this is really cool!’

The next stop was Abu Dhabi, where we stayed at the WB Hotel by Hilton, which is conveniently located near many of the theme parks. After touring Abu Dhabi, which included a tour of the Grand Mosque, we finished our trip with visits to Warner Bros. World, Ferrari World and the recently opened Sea World. The new Sea World is absolutely incredible. Ferrari World was the highlight, however, with an individual Ferrari car ride on nearby roads with a professional driver for each grandson. The trip was a nice mix of history, amazing architecture, and entertainment. We were definitely able to experience a ‘trip of our lifetime’ for our grandsons and us!” —Diane Thormodsgard

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Belize: “Relaxing on, and snorkeling off of, idyllic islands…”

empty white sand beach with a few green trees and light turquoise water in Belize

A white sand beach in Belize. Photo: Shutterstock

“In a matter of days, Patricia organized a world-class 12-day trip for our family to Belize, with features that kept our three kids (ages 17, 17 and 20) engaged and happy, including climbing Mayan ruins, riding horses, lounging at the pool, and snorkeling. Lots of snorkeling. Christmas Day was spent relaxing on, and snorkeling off of, idyllic islands near the village of Placencia.

New Year’s Eve was spent on a ‘catch and cook’ adventure off the coast of Ambergris Caye with dive master and boat captain extraordinaire Carlos Cordova. We fished for bait, dove for conch and lobster, and went fishing. Then we cooked our catches on the beach. The highlight was ceviche made with fresh conch, lobster and fish. We particularly enjoyed the accommodations at Hidden Valley Wilderness Ranch and Naia Resort & Spa in Placencia. We couldn’t have asked for a better family trip.” —Robyn Smyers

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Panama: “It still retains the charm of cloud forests without the commercialization of Costa Rica’s Monteverde…”

Old hanging bridge in the jungle of Panama. Photo: Shutterstock

“My husband, 21-year old son, and I had a fabulous time in Panama, organized by Pierre. We stayed in the old part of Panama City—very charming and beautifully decorated for the holidays. Seeing the Panama Canal was the highlight of the trip for us—an absolute must-do for anyone visiting. We also visited Monkey Island (taking a boat next to big ships in the Canal was awesome) and the sloth sanctuary.

We visited Boquete in the mountains for three nights and absolutely loved it. It still retains the charm of cloud forests without the commercialization of Costa Rica’s Monteverde. Highlights there included an adventurous 4×4 jeep ride to the top of Baru Volcano for sunrise and to see both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, a fun cooking experience with the chef of Ngädri restaurant, hanging bridges, and a tour of a coffee plantation.

We celebrated New Year’s in Panama City at one of the rooftop restaurants with great music and an excellent multi-course dinner and Champagne. Very memorable. All three of us really enjoyed Panama and look forward to going back again.” —Tina Hunt

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Andalusia, Spain: “The highlights were the bull ring and views in Ronda, the equestrian show and mini food tour in Jerez…”

Aerial evening view of New Bridge over Guadalevin River in Ronda, Andalusia, Spain.

The city of Ronda spreads out beyond the New Bridge over the Guadalevin River. Photo: Shutterstock

“For the first of two weeks in Spain arranged by Pablo, my wife and my daughter who is about to graduate from college hit Seville, Cordoba, Jerez de la Frontera, Ronda, and Granada. It would be hard to pick a favorite, but the highlights were the bull ring and views in Ronda, the equestrian show and mini food tour in Jerez, the old town in Seville, and the Alhambra in Granada. The hotels were just what we asked Pablo for: small, boutique hotels with charm to spare.

Our second week saw us dropping our oldest at the airport and meeting our youngest, who is studying in Madrid for the spring. The highlight was being able to work with Pablo’s guide Alfonso, who took us through the Prado and through Toledo, El Escorial, and Segovia.

In Madrid we stayed at the Totem Hotel, which was absolutely fabulous. A sneaky favorite for us in Madrid was an unplanned visit to Alfredo di Stéfano stadium to see the Real Madrid Femeninos play a match. Another was an impromptu visit to an Arab bath in the lower part of a privately owned building in Toledo. This was only possible because of Alfonso’s incredible connections.” —Neil Theberge

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Baja California, Mexico: “We were interested in a nature-focused experience…whale watching, sea lions, whale sharks, etc.”

Sea lions swimming and playing, Baja California Sur, Mexico.

Sea lions swimming off Baja California Sur, Mexico. Photo: Shutterstock

“Zach and his wonderful team planned the most outstanding mother-daughter spring break trip to Baja California, Mexico, for my 20-year-old and me. We were interested in a nature-focused experience, spending all of our time on whale watching, sea lions, whale sharks, etc. Zach was so thoughtful, spending a series of phone calls with me figuring out what kind of travelers we were and what kind of experiences would be right. He then proposed the perfect itinerary, including four days in a remote whale-watching camp alongside time in La Paz on private boat excursions to key wildlife sites.

We weren’t excited about spending time in busy Cabo, and he found us an under-the-radar boutique hotel that checked all our boxes (quiet, beautiful, excellent service). His colleague Carolina went out of her way to figure out where we could skip logistics steps and bypass lines. It couldn’t have run more smoothly during a very crowded time in Baja.” —Cate Bradley

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May Trip Ideas: Traveler Reviews to Inspire You

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May is a month of opportunity. Foliage is blooming and temperatures rising in so many places, but crowds are not yet at their peak: Vacations for families ruled by school-break weeks have come and gone, and summer travel is still a glimmer on the calendar’s horizon. For travelers with flexibility, Memorial Day holds the potential for a long weekend, creatively expanded.

Read on to see what your fellow travelers have done to make the most of May, from visiting Europe’s growers and artisans to studying archaeology of Cambodia to taking in the tranquility of Tahiti (“no noise other than the wind, the waves and the coconut tree”).

These travelers all booked their trips the WOW way: Their trips were optimized for the month of May by the local fixers on our WOW List of Trusted Travel Experts. You’ll find even more ideas in the May installment of our Where to Go When series, and you’ll find more traveler reviews here.

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Iceland for exploring glaciers when it’s not too cold, too hot, or too crowded

Daren and Sue Tobert on the Sólheimajökull glacial tongue after a hike.

Daren and Sue Tobert on the Sólheimajökull glacial tongue after a three-hour hike.

“After a two week vacation in Europe we did a six day stopover in Iceland on our way home. We worked with Mads in Denmark. Mads arranged a fantastic tour of Reykjavik, and the west and south areas of the island for us. We had a ton of fun exploring the waterfalls, beaches, caves and glaciers. The accommodations at the Black Pearl, Hotel Budir and Hotel Ranga were top notch. We had so many wonderfully surprising experiences as we immersed ourselves in the history, culture and landscape of the island we couldn’t help but fall in love with Iceland. It is on our list to return to soon.

Some highlights included a self-guided driving tour around Snaefellsnes Peninsula, exploring the rift valley at Thingvellir National Park, and sampling a variety of foods with our knowledgeable guide, Nori. Who knew Rye Bread ice cream was a real thing? Our WOW came while hiking on the glacial tongue at Sólheimajökull in the south. The three-hour hike included peeking over the edges of crevasses and glacial moulins where meltwater pours in making deep shafts. We remain humbled and in awe of the power of nature in Iceland!” —Susan Tobert

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Switzerland for active outdoor adventures

Andy Shafran and family spelling OHIO during private kayak trip on Lake Brienz

Andy Shafran and family spelling OHIO during a private kayak trip on Lake Brienz.

“Switzerland was a beautiful country and our active hiking, kayaking, paragliding trip was exactly what we were looking for. We booked a trip with our 18- and 21-year-old children to celebrate graduation and be outdoors as much as possible. Nina and her staff helped us build an itinerary that maximized the experiences and minimized the hassle and travel time. We spent two days in Zurich/Rhine Falls, three days in Grindelwald, and three days in Lucerne.

Our major interest was hiking, and we had a guided tour up Mt. Grindelwald first, which included a gondola ride up and a Trottibike ride down (highly, highly recommended). Then we took the train to the Jungfrau and even though it was pricey for that part of the trip, well worth it for the views and incredible Alpine experience. Thumbs up: Rhine Falls, Trümmelbach Falls, Aare Gorge hike, Lake Brienz kayak trip, and our full-day peak-to-peak hike on Mt. Rigi, where we ate lunch at Berghaus Unterstetten on the side of the mountain with incredible views and good food.

All three hotels we stayed in were unique, terrific locations, and have fun quirks, such as the private funicular car that takes you up from Lake Lucerne to the Art Deco Hotel Montana.” —Andy Shafran

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Malta for history and archaeology before the busy summer months

Malta’s Blue Grotto of dramatic sea caverns on the south coast. Photo: Shutterstock

“In the fascinating old walled city of Mdina, we stayed at the Xara Palace and had the delightful experience of walking through the streets after dark, when it seemed as though we were the only people in the city.

Damon arranged for us to have a driver and a guide for our entire week in Malta. This was crucial to the success of our trip, as our itinerary was very full. Our guide Pierre is hands-down the best guide we’ve ever had. He is extremely knowledgeable about Malta’s very complex military and political history and is equally well versed in architectural and art history. We simply would not have had as rich an experience in Malta, had we not had the benefit of his wonderful story-telling style of explaining what we were seeing and experiencing.

The food in Malta was great. Everything we saw and did in Malta was interesting and enjoyable. Some of the more unique experiences (lunch in an olive grove with a surprise presentation by a scholar/maker of traditional Maltese musical instruments, a picnic on the beach in Gozo, a visit to a private palazzo hosted by the owner) were possible because of Damon’s personal connections in Malta.” —Samantha Michaels

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Thailand for high to low foodie experiences and off-season rates

Tony Ford-Hutchinson and his wife Jane having a drink in Bangkok, with Wat Arun aglow in the background.

Tony Ford-Hutchinson and wife Jane in Bangkok, with Wat Arun aglow in the background.

“A two-day board meeting in Bangkok gave us the opportunity to combine this with a two-week trip to Thailand. We worked with Dan to figure out where to go and decided to start with Bangkok and then spend time in Northern Thailand.

We explored the waterways of Bangkok in a private longboat and drove out to Ayutthaya, the ancient Siamese capital. Other highlights of Bangkok were a foodie’s tour around Chinatown, a cooking experience for Jane while I was in meetings, and dining at two of the top 50 restaurants in the world, Gaggan and Le Du.

We then flew up to Chiang Mai and stayed at the wonderful 137 Pillars House. We drove around in an electric tuk-tuk, ate local specialties in the night market, and went bamboo rafting. We had specifically requested to learn about some of the textile weavings for which Northern Thailand is famous, so Dan arranged for us to go to Studio Naenna to meet Patricia Cheeseman, a renowned textile expert and author, where we had a hands-on experience with tie-dying with natural indigo dye.

Our road trip to Chiang Rai was no ordinary road trip, as we skirted the Myanmar border, stopping at various points including cooking lunch in bamboo containers with the Lahu hill tribe. In Chiang Rai we stayed at Pa Sak Tong (at very off-season rates!) where we had a whole three-bedroom villa to ourselves, complete with exercise room, steam room, and private pool. All this on 28 acres looked after by 13 gardeners and overseen by the estate manager, John Dunbar!

Needless to say, we tried to maximize our stay in the villa, although we did make a day trip to the Golden Triangle, where we set foot in Myanmar, Laos and Thailand all on the same day. Another bonus for this location is that the dining experience at Locus Native Food Lab is a short walk from the villa.” —Tony Ford-Hutchinson

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Turkey for hiking, balloon rides, and a private sailing experience

Tina Hunt and family on the rooftop of Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar.

“If you like to travel and experience diverse culture, food, history, and enjoy meeting welcoming people, then Turkey is not to be missed! We started with a three-day gulet voyage on the Prima Donna. After the relaxing gulet, we did a whirlwind tour of Ephesus, which was not to be missed if you enjoy ancient history and beautiful ruins. Cappadocia was a place of pure joy for us. The fairy landscape with the ‘mushroom’-capped chimneys and cave churches and dwellings provided a much-needed bit of exercise with short hikes. Our sunrise balloon experience was pure early-morning magic. The-8 person gondola was piloted expertly over the otherworldly landscape. Even after seeing photos of how beautiful it could be, in-person was jaw-dropping.

All too soon it was time to head back to Istanbul for our last three nights of our adventure. We typically aren’t much for big cities and were surprised by the playfulness and welcome vibe of Istanbul. Our guide Cenk helped make this very memorable with his quick wit, fast pace, and love of the city. Our foodie tour was a blast, with a mix of local tasty bits, drinks, and followed up with some sweets from one of his favorite shops.

Our WOW Moment was extra special—reminiscent of Skyfall on the roof of the Grand Bazaar. We found ourselves wishing for more time at almost every stop in Turkey and can’t wait to return!” —Tina Hunt

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France for Roland-Garros tennis and the beaches of Normandy

Marsha Friedli and her husband at the French Open.

“Magnificent! That is the best word to describe the experiences Jennifer put together! We wanted to visit the beaches of Normandy as my father-in-law was part of the invasion support during WWII, and finish with Paris and the Roland-Garros competition. We also visited Giverny and the Bayeux tapestry museum. Our stay at Château La Chenevière was just lovely.

Even though the weather did not cooperate in Paris—it was mostly light drizzle and cloudy skies—our time at Roland-Garros, center court, was under cover. Excellent seats and transportation arranged by Jennifer. We had tickets for both day and night sessions. Jennifer made our trip into an experience of a lifetime.”—Marsha Friedli

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Budapest, Prague, and Vienna for rich history and storybook cities

Travelers Yehuda and Tammy Schmidt enjoying their WOW Moment during their private Danube cruise in Budapest, Hungary.

Yehuda and Tammy Schmidt during their private Danube cruise in Budapest.

“We are still in a glow from our amazing trip to Eastern Europe. Gwen organized the trip of a lifetime! We began in Budapest, a gorgeous city with a very rich history. We absolutely loved our WOW Moment of an evening wine tasting floating down the Danube at night, seeing Budapest’s Parliament and other buildings glowing at night. Simply gorgeous!

We traveled by train to Vienna, one of Europe’s most beautiful cities, where we got a behind-the-scenes visit to one of the oldest libraries in Europe. We visited the Belvedere Palace and Gardens and enjoyed its art collection, including the Gustav Klimt collection. When we arrived at the new ‘Shoah Wall of Names,’ a quartet was playing music. We were very moved.

We love trains, so off we went to Prague by train! We loved storybook Prague, especially behind-the-scenes tours in so many places. Prague has a rich history and beautiful architecture. We toured historic buildings, palaces and libraries as old as any in Europe. Our private guide, Kamila, also took us to the historic sites of Terezin and Lidice, both terribly impacted by World War II. She talked through our emotions with us so we felt heard and understood. It was such a powerful visit. Kamila was able to arrange behind-the-scenes visits and was able to tweak timing to optimize our visit. We loved it!” —Tammy and Yehuda Schmidt

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Japan for traditional lodging and experiences after the cherry-blossom crowds disperse

A traditional onsen ryokan hot spring inn Japanese hotel in the middle of nature.

Onsen ryokan are traditional inns with hot springs bathing. Photo: Shutterstock

“Our family of 6 (mom, dad, and four 20-something kids) recently got home from a 16-day trip in Japan created by Scott’s colleague Jason. Jason helped us shape a trip that worked well for our family and really took into account our interests and preferences. We started in Tokyo with our guide Narumi, who stayed with us for the whole trip. Our guide met us the first day and suggested we go ‘off itinerary’ for a special local event, the Kanda Myojin Shrine Parade, and we watched hundreds of people from many neighborhoods celebrate and dance with their shrines. We also saw all the major sites and had a few special and memorable experiences: our favorites in and near Tokyo were a cooking class at the home of a chef with an amazing history, visiting a sword maker, and a sake (actually nihonshu) tasting class. For the rest of our trip we had fun finding and ordering sakes of different types.

We next visited Kanazawa to see several UNESCO World Heritage Sites that were beautiful and interesting and stayed in a fantastic onsen ryokan that gave us a taste of hot-spring bathing and provided more of a Japanese feeling than traditional western hotels. In Kyoto, we visited temples—some with amazing views—a bamboo forest, a building housing 1,000 Buddha statues from the 1200s, and some terrific shrines. We had a Taiko drum class—a real hoot for the whole family—and had a moving and relaxing Zen Buddhism experience. We saw many gorgeous meditative gardens where we could have spent hours. Our daughter also found a ‘Pig Café’ (think ‘Cat Café’ but with little pigs) which was…different and fun.

We specifically requested a stop in Hiroshima, which we found particularly moving and profound and such a testament to the evil of nuclear weapons and resilience of the Japanese people. Another favorite location was Naoshima, which was completely Jason’s suggestion. We’ve told several friends about ‘the art islands’ since we’ve been back. We could have easily spent an extra day or two, and the art and experience was truly memorable.” —Andy Kaplan

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The Balkans for coastal beauty, hiking, and bringing rich complex history to life

Mostar Bridge in Bosnia and Herzegovina, traveler Jeannie Mullen’s “most pleasant surprise of the trip.” Photo: Shutterstock

“It is really difficult to condense a 28-day, five-country trip into a review that does justice to the incredibly detailed work that went into my recent solo trip to the Balkans. Ala and Arina listened attentively, offered a lot of variety to choose from, provided counsel when necessary, and followed through on every single detail.

The trip included five of the six Balkan countries formerly known as Yugoslavia: Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro. While a complicated and extensive political and religious history connects these countries, each has its own fascinating identity, culture and people. My local guides were phenomenal, most having been born and raised in each city/town that I toured, which made their storytelling all the more rich with unique detail. Milan, my guide in Belgrade, was also a professor of art history at the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, as well as an opera singer and actor. He had just published a book, which he graciously signed and gifted to me.

Old Town Ljubljana was a delightful mix of history, art, architecture, nightlife and shopping. I could plan a trip there this fall and do ALL of my Christmas shopping.… A day trip to picturesque and historic Lake Bled provided a great contrast.

Croatia was a fascinating combination of food and cultures (depending upon which border we were close to): truffle hunting with a cute young brother and sister in Prodani, casual strolls through picturesque historic walled towns in the mountains of Istria, fresh oysters and mussels prepared by a local farmer in Ston, a stunning flight along the Adriatic coastline from Istria to Dalmatia, waterfront dining in harbors tucked away among the Pakleni Islands, a private cooking class in Split, and a sunset boat ride accompanied by dolphins off the coast of Rovinj.

In Belgrade I did a deep dive into the history of Yugoslavia and Tito’s regime from a scholar’s perspective, had personal time with a master violin maker and local ‘naive’ artists in Kovačica, and shopped at a local grocery store for the foods Serbs like to eat.

Bosnia and Herzegovina was my biggest and most pleasant surprise of the trip. Sarajevo was a fascinating city with something to see and learn about around every corner. My local guide, Muhammad, was instrumental in describing a very complicated history, but also showing me the vibrant multicultural atmosphere that is now his adopted city.

Montenegro…a coastline and atmosphere that consistently make you think you are on a movie set. I took a boat tour of the hidden submarine tunnels from WWI, and a day trip up the historic Serpentine Road (22 switchbacks that follow the caravan route that Roman traders used) to the Old Royal Capital of Cetinje.

A few weeks before my departure, I developed some concerns about political unrest in Bosnia and Serbia. Arina, who lives in Belgrade, was able to assure me that everything remained very peaceful. I’m really pleased that I followed her advice because I didn’t find anything remotely similar ‘on the ground’ to what I was reading in the international press.” —Jeannie Mullen

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Norway for fjord country and summer stays in the Arctic Circle

Susan Freeman on the fjord swing at Trandal.

On a wing and a prayer, Norwegian wind in her hair—traveler Susan Freeman soars on the fjord swing at Trandal.

“We just returned from a 25-day trip to Scandinavia planned by Torunn. In my opinion, Norway is THE most beautiful country on earth. It simply must be experienced for travelers who want beauty of nature, few people, and a place where everything works!

We spent five nights in Oslo, two in Bergen, and the rest of the time in gorgeous fjord country, ending with stays just north of the Arctic Circle. We e-biked to an 11th-century stave church on the Romantic Road, visited an artisanal brown cheese maker, had dinner with a farmer and his wife in their summer pasture cabin high above the fjords, fished, sea kayaked, and of course hiked.

The most unusual part of the trip was visiting a former trading lodge in the Arctic Circle on a private island owned and run by the first Norwegian woman to summit Everest, as well as the highest mountains on all seven continents. We loved meeting her and learning from her. This was one of our all-time favorite trips anywhere in the world!” —Susan Freeman

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France for markets and villages with a local feel

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

The Seine glows at night in Paris. Photo: Shutterstock

“We started in the South, staying at the world-renowned Hôtel du Cap—unavailable if you try to book it yourself, but available if you have Philip’s team working with you. We spent four days touring Southern France with expert driver-guides arranged by Philip, having the opportunity to compare places like Cannes, Nice, and Monaco—all excellent, yet each very unique. We enjoyed a personal glass-blowing experience where we made our own sculpture (I can’t believe we were shaping 1,000-degree glass by hand, with only a wet newspaper to insulate us) and ate at some of the best restaurants on the French Riviera. The Picasso museum in Antibes, the hilltop villages of Eze and St. Paul de Vence were all amazing experiences.

From the South of France, we moved on to Aix-en-Provence, where we stayed for three nights at the superb Villa Gallici, a beautiful hotel tucked into the hillside above Aix with an easy walk into town. Wonderful tours of Provence, including a stop at the weekly markets in Cucuron (highly recommend!) and St. Remy, along with a Vincent van Gogh tour. Our driver-guides helped us compare and contrast the various villages and markets that were touristy vs. those that were frequented more by the locals—both were great and yet very different. An excellent way to get a feel for the uniqueness of Provence and the people that live there.

From Provence we took the 3-hour bullet-train ride from Aix to Paris, absolutely the best way to travel from the South of France to the North—takes less than half the time that driving would take. On our final night in Paris, Wendy surprised us with a WOW Moment—a tour of the Paris monuments by night in an open-top deux-chevaux. What an amazing way to see the city on uncrowded streets and with all of the famous landmarks lit up at night.” —Larry Bridge

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Italy’s countryside with smart planning that avoids the crowds

Typical stone houses with stunning vineyard in the Chianti region in Tuscany.

Tuscany is filled with artisans as well as vineyards. Photo: Shutterstock

“We traveled through Umbria and Tuscany with a focus on food, wine, and culture. Montefalco is a charming Umbrian town nestled in the hills with a focus on wine and olive oil. Maria had booked us into a charming hotel and made dinner reservations for our first night. The next day we went truffle hunting and shared perhaps the best meal of the trip with the family.

The next morning was our WOW Moment. WOW does not do justice to the opportunity to meet Marta Cucchia, the great-granddaughter of the founder Giuditta Brozzetti who has carried forward the textile workshops. Working on looms from the 15th century, she provided us with a look into the art of weaving. Her joy in the work and understanding of the complexity and history of this art form was enthralling.

This experience set the tone for the remainder of the trip: meeting artisans, wine stewards, wine growers, balsamic vinegar artists, parmesan cheese makers, prosciutto ham makers, sculptors, cooks and guides and hoteliers that made us feel welcome. Although it was crowded already in Italy, we always felt as if we had our own private pathways to each activity.

One of the most surprising events was a last-minute opportunity provided by Maria to go to the opera in Parma. My husband, who is not an opera fan, has been telling everyone that one of the highlights was seeing the opera with 280 performers on stage. This may be the highest of compliments for a perfect trip.” —Lynne Golomb

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Egypt for early-bird Giza touring, cruising the Nile

Travelers Jeff and Linda Stengel on camels, near Giza pyramids in Cairo, Egypt.

Travelers Jeff and Linda Stengel in Cairo.

“Jim did a wonderful job of planning a trip that met our preferences for the right amount of history with modern comforts. Our Egyptologist and guide did an amazing job of showing us all the sights while avoiding large crowds. At the impressive Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), which is undergoing a soft opening, we were the first visitors in the complex prior to its opening time and seemed to have the entire place to ourselves for over 30 min.

The best part of Cairo for us was the morning we toured Giza. We entered through the back gate to the Pyramid complex when it was just opening and the vendors were arriving, including a group of at least 50 camels and their handlers. What a spectacular sight to see all these huge animals entering the historic Giza plateau. As we continued inside the gate we were the only people in the area of the Sphinx. Our guide was able to explain the history of the Pyramids and the plateau to us in the shadow of the Sphinx, with no tourists to be seen. From Cairo we flew to Aswan, enroute stopping to visit Abu Simbel. The next day we boarded the Oberoi Zahara for a Nile cruise.

Our last stop was Luxor. The temperature had become unusually high—about 20 degrees above normal—with the high approaching 115 degrees. Thanks to Jim, we had a private guide the entire time who made sure we avoided the hottest part of the day and took well-spaced breaks when we explored all the important sites.

During all of our travels, we felt completely safe. The arrangements made by Jim and his team of operations people, guides and drivers were spot-on and flexible enough to meet any changing conditions.” —Jeff Stengel

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Bolivia & Chile for hiking, wildlife, and the salt flats

Salar de Uyuni salt flat during the starry night, Bolivia

Bolivia’s Uyuni salt flats are a great place for stargazing. Photo: Shutterstock

“Mark created a 14-day adventure that catered to each of our individual interests from hiking, food, tapestries, and photo opportunities. Our trip would not have been as enjoyable without our amazing drivers—who somehow got us to each of our destinations and who spotted and stopped so we could photograph foxes, llamas, vicunas, guanacos, viscacha, flamingos, ducks, Suri alpacas, and were always on the ready to stop for an armadillo.

It was fascinating to learn about traditional indigenous life not only through food, but by visiting the Tarabuco market, visiting master weavers in their homes, and visiting Elizabeth’s (our Sucre guide) hacienda in Candelaria, where we helped to make a traditional countryside lunch (we are looking forward to making the Sunday soup for our families). We also enjoyed the stunning views of the Uyuni salt flats—we had a delicious lunch alongside a small patch of water with flamingos; hiked a small island; were mesmerized by the reflections on the water at sunset where we enjoyed a lovely bottle of wine and some treats; and were awed at seeing the sky full of stars twinkling over the salt flats!” —Peggy Murphy

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Uzbekistan for high-speed trains to Silk Road gems

Poi Kalon Mosque and Minaret in Bukhara, Uzbekistan

“Eye-catching” mosques and minarets are around every corner in Bukhara. Photo: Shutterstock

“After much planning and two false starts at the beginning of the pandemic, we finally made it to Uzbekistan. Our first stop was Khiva, where we explored what could be best described as a ‘living museum,’ with some of the best-preserved historical architecture. The city is a delight to wander around—with its eye-catching towers, mosques, and medressehs—and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site where people still live within the city walls.

Our next stop was Bukhara. Staying in the center of the old town allowed us to explore on foot the many sites and also allowed for breaks to sip green tea in the various caravanserais. In Bukhara we had a WOW Moment when we attended an Uzbek wedding ceremony and participated in the singing and dancing and admired (and tried on) the traditional attire. A wonderful introduction to Uzbek culture!

A high-speed train took us on to Samarkand, the other major gem on the Silk Road, with its famous Registan Square and the mausoleum of Tamarlane. A day trip took us to Shahrisabz, the birthplace of Tamarlane and the site of the remains of his giant summer palace. Another high-speed train journey brought us back to Tashkent. This is a very modern city but it has the best food, an extraordinary subway system, and we will never forget seeing from a distance a performance of The Lion King in Uzbek, with a background of pulsating fountains in multiple colors. It was also a great base to head up to the mountains, ride a ski gondola, and see the snow-capped mountains.

Uzbekistan is full of European tourists, but we met very few Americans. More Americans should go to this unique destination.” —Tony and Jane Ford-Hutchinson

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Sicily for food markets and historic ruins

Aquamarine blue waters of sea near Taormina resorts and Etna volcano mount. Giardini-Naxos bay, Ionian sea coast, Taormina, Sicily, Italy.

Sicily’s Mt. Etna is the highest Mediterranean island mountain. Photo: Shutterstock

“We spent two full weeks in Sicily, the first near Noto (east) and the second in the southwest (near Menfi). The first week, we had a wide variety of historic, cultural, and food-centered activities in the east near Noto. Matteo kept the geographic range of each day’s activities pretty tight so we were not in the car all day. We enjoyed everything, and sometimes the unexpected delighted. For instance, I had to persuade my husband to do the experience with a chef in Siracusa, where the chef took us through the food market, then we went back to his restaurant and helped him prepare a meal for us. Some of the best activities were out in the countryside, like a visit to a sustainable family farm and lunch of home cooking, and the discussions we had with the farmer about his way of life (through our guide translating).

The second week, we saw various historic and cultural sites in the west, including Agrigento/Valley of the Temples, Trapani, and Salemi, a beautiful small village on a hilltop. We had several relaxation days built into that week. The only place that was crowded was Valley of the Temples, but the ancient temples and ruins were about the best I’ve seen anywhere, including Athens.” —Dana Perry

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Greece for local experiences and island culture

Karrie Evans and family on a private catamaran cruise in Santorini.

“We had the privilege of working with Jacoline on our trip to Greece. Our trip included Athens, Hydra and Santorini. She made the most of our short trip and somehow turned every single day into a highlight. There were 5 adults on this trip and we all had our favorites, which is a credit to her. Jacoline created experiences that we would have never done on our own, like spending time with a wonderful family on their farm feeding their animals and making spanakopita as part of a huge feast on their terrace, as well as private wine tours, personal guides to archeological sites, pottery classes, and a private cooking lesson on more amazing Greek food. We loved really getting to meet the people and understanding the culture. We loved the unique boutique hotels especially on Hydra, an island we never knew existed but quickly became our favorite. We never felt like a ‘tourist’ but more like students in history class which we found fascinating.

Jacoline is also gifted in providing us with balance. We pushed hard upon our arrival in Athens to make the most of the few days we were there before heading off to the island of Hydra. We had never heard of this island but after talking with Jacoline, she booked us in a wonderful mansion-turned-boutique hotel (Hydrea) that served us breakfast each morning on the terrace overlooking the water/town. There are no cars or motorcycles so we enjoyed the peace and quiet, especially after a few days in Athens. If you get a chance, don’t miss this gem!

We left Hydra to spend our last days in Oia (Santorini). Our pace picked back up for a grand finale day, touring vineyards before boarding our own catamaran for a half-day excursion which concluded with chasing the sunset.

I didn’t understand what the big deal was about sunsets in Santorini. Now I know!!” —Karrie Evans

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New Zealand for mild, pre-winter hiking, fishing, boating

Epic scenery in Milford Sound. Photo: Shutterstock

“We were traveling with 6 people from 13 to 80 years old, and Jean-Michel did a great job finding activities that we would all love. We had only 9 days so we stayed on the west coast of the South Island and there was plenty to explore. We started in Te Anu at the Fiordland Lodge and loved the beautiful lodge and surroundings. We hiked, went fishing, and explored Milford Sound by boat. The scenery was beyond breathtaking everywhere we went! Our next stop was Queenstown and we stayed at the historic Eichardt’s Private Hotel. We had a lovely wine-tasting day in Central Otago and our daughter even went bungee jumping from the Kawarau Bridge. She loved it!!

The city of Queenstown & surroundings were great—plenty of walking trails, gardens, gorgeous lake and mountain views. The last place we visited was Wild Earth Lodge in Makarora. It was the most serene and beautiful little inn run from the home of Pete and Janine. They took great care of our whole family & cooked the most delicious meals! We spent our days there hiking to the Blue Pools and having some relaxing down time. We also had our most exciting day—a helicopter tour over Mt Aspiring National Park, a hike through Siberia Valley, and a thrilling jet boat ride back down the Wilkin River.” —Alana Jacobson

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Italy for Puglia’s biking and homemade burrata

The Schoenfeld and Silverman friends biking in Puglia.

“A highlight of our slow and ‘smell the poppies’ week in Puglia was the day we biked and made burrata. We passed by brilliant fields of red flowers and lush grasses on quiet roads. The outfitter supplied us with e-bikes and a van following behind. Couldn’t have been a more delightful afternoon gliding between the trulli houses—the round white limestone structures capped with interlocking stones for roofs. People in Puglia have lived in them for centuries and still do today.

Our route took us to Itria Bonta, an organic dairy farm. There, we watched the owner stretch out the mozzarella he had made hours earlier and stuff it with stracciatella to make balls of burrata. He let us make some too. I can testify that it’s delicious because at the end of the visit we had a ‘snack’ of cheeses, bread, sausage, olives and wine. Everything except the water and the salt was produced on the farm.” —Barbara Schoenfeld

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Morocco for villages, markets, and a camel ride in the dunes

Camel trek through the Sahara Desert, Morocco. Photo: Traveler Geri Krauss

“My husband and I recently returned from a trip to Morocco planned by Michael. The trip was superb. To begin with, we had a wonderful guide who stayed with us throughout the two-week-plus trip. He was not only a talented guide—sharing with us his deep knowledge of the country and its culture—but a kind, thoughtful and devout person who truly cared about our enjoyment, well-being and how we experienced Morocco.

The trip spanned much of the country—from the cities of Marrakesh and Fes to the Atlas mountains, the Sahara desert and the seashore. While we had to drive long distances to cover everything we wanted to see, the time passed quickly, as the scenery throughout the country was gorgeous and dramatic.

The hotels Michael recommended were each special in their own way (riads in the cities, kasbahs in the mountains and a tent in the desert) and the experiences he planned for us—cooking classes, dinner with a university professor to speak to us about the Sufis, walks through villages, markets and the old cities—were truly special. Wendy treated us to a WOW Moment in the desert—a camel ride up the dunes with hor d’oeuvres and champagne as the sun set—which was truly WOW!” —Geri Krauss

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Cambodia and Laos for a nearly tourist-free experience in shoulder season

Jeannie Mullen at the Mandalao Elephant Sanctuary near Luang Prabang, Laos.

“On a lark, and with spot-on advice and counsel from Wendy about where to go on short notice, I booked a trip to Southeast Asia. I don’t think I’ve been to that many UNESCO World Heritage Sites in one single trip, ever. Siem Reap, Cambodia—the place around which the entire trip was planned—was phenomenal. Traipsing in and around the temple complexes and experiencing sunrise at Angkor Wat was a major bucket-list item. Major shout-out to Silen, my guide and Ethan’s friend, for her attention to every detail and working our way into and out of the temple complexes in such a way as to avoid other tourists. She was also a master at pacing the day so as to provide relief from the heat and humidity.

Surpassing those experiences was the day that I flew by helicopter to the even more remote and off-the-radar locations of Preah Vihear and Prasat Banteay Chhmar with Po-Thai Khan, a renowned Cambodian archaeologist. Walking these temple complexes with Thai was one of those pinch-me experiences… He was so interesting, engaging and affirming. And the temples were totally without tourists. Something I will never forget.” —Jeannie Mullen

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Spain for flamenco, tapas, and architecture

Ken and Jeryl Rempell with guide, David, in Besalu, touring Spain’s south and east.

“Wendy hooked us up with Iván, specializing in Southern Spain. Iván listened to what our wishes were—to see cultural, historical, and architectural highlights as well as obscure places, enjoy nature, walk a lot, meander, and eat well, and crafted a terrific itinerary that nailed our wishes.

We ought to say by way of an overall description, we have A LOT of energy and love packing a lot into a day, and also don’t mind covering a lot of territory staying in several hotels. We visited Madrid, Toledo, Cordoba, Seville, Granada, Barcelona, Figueres, Besalu, and Gerona. The guides were all just plain terrific. They were professional, knowledgeable, warm, responsive and easy to be with. All were exceptionally educated, with specialties ranging from history and architecture to landscaping and cuisine. We had a terrific variety of experiences—from a sherry bar in Madrid, numerous extraordinary cathedrals and mosques, a flamenco show, tapas bars, Gaudí’s blend of nature and architecture, Dalí’s whimsy, and finally, to a medieval village, to offer just some of what we saw. We loved every moment.” —Kenneth Rempell

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Tahitian Islands for tranquil beaches—“wind, waves, and coconut trees”

“This small island stop helped us relax, reset and realize what truly is Tahitian beauty and calm.” Photo: Traveler Michael Ruma

“We traveled to Tahiti, visiting 3 different islands. Our first stop was Vahine Island Resort and Spa. With 9 acres and only a handful of rooms, this small island stop helped us relax, reset and realize what truly is Tahitian beauty and calm. No noise other than the wind, the waves and the coconut trees. No thinking about meal choices with simple but elegant prix fixe dinner menus. No people (there were a few other couples which we visited with over meals and activities), but a private tranquil island where my wife and I watched the sunset on the dock with baby blacktip reef sharks swimming underneath.

We travelled to Bora Bora next. While significantly more tourists visit this island, the number of hotels and additional guests did not diminish the striking beauty of Mount Otemanu. We enjoyed our overwater bungalow immensely, in particular leaping off the deck into the refreshing turquoise lagoon water. We chose to refresh our diving skills and were incredibly fortunate to have two massive reef mantas swim two feet over our heads while we gazed upward from 40 feet below on the white-sand bottom. Immensely relaxed, in beach mode and thrilled with our first two hotel stays, we topped off our travel with our final nights at the Brando in Tetiaroa. We were immediately impressed by the impeccable service, manicured grounds, and natural beauty.

While I had delayed a foray into long distance travel to a beach vacation, I must admit Tahiti is burned into our memories with its unforgettably blue waters, tranquil relaxing days, vivid and abundant sea life and unique island vibes.” —Michael Ruma

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7 Keys to Traveling Without Fear by Understanding the Risks

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Between terror attacks, mass shootings, and other violent incidents, we’re living in a world where anything can happen anywhere at any time—in an office building in midtown Manhattan, at a school in Austria, on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, at a Christmas market in Magdeburg, at a synagogue in Pittsburgh, at a nightclub in Orlando…and, of course, at a music festival in Israel.

The answer is not to stop traveling or to avoid huge swaths of the globe out of a misperception that your risk is greater there than anyplace else. The answer is to keep traveling, to make friends around the world, and to be a thoughtful ambassador for your country.

Of course, while your head may agree with me, your gut may be apprehensive. You may be making travel plans—or trying to—and you can’t help but wonder: If I go, what is the risk that I will get caught in a physical attack? How do I minimize that risk? If I can’t minimize it, how do I get over my fear?

I believe the solution is to put your risk in perspective. Here’s how:

1. Grasp how minuscule the statistical probability is of getting caught in an attack abroad.

In terms of street crime and gun violence, most of the U.S. cities we live in are statistically more dangerous than the places we visit abroad. Your risk of being killed in a car crash (one in 19,000), drowning in your bathtub (one in 800,000), or being killed by lightning (one in 10 million) far exceed your risk of dying from a terror attack (one in 20 million).

2. Don’t confuse the probability of an attack with the probability of becoming the victim of an attack.

Is it virtually certain that there will be a terror attack in Europe within the next 12 months? Yes. Does that translate into a high degree of risk for the individual traveler to Europe? No.

3. Know where the real dangers lie.

When planning a vacation, we tend to worry more about spectacular risks—say, an exploding bomb, or an epidemic of norovirus on a cruise ship—than about mundane risks like, say, overexposure to the sun, even though one in five Americans will develop skin cancer in the course of a lifetime. Remember that the single biggest cause of death for Americans traveling overseas is motor vehicle accidents.

4. Understand the reasons why your fear of an attack is out of proportion to the risk.

There are psychological reasons why we are more afraid of terror attacks than logic would dictate. We’re more afraid of risks that are new and unfamiliar than of those we’ve lived with for a long time (e.g., heart disease, which accounts for one in every three deaths in America each year). We’re more afraid of risks that kill us in particularly gruesome ways—say, a plane crash, a shark attack, or the Ebola virus—than in mundane ways. We’re less afraid of risks we feel we have some control over, such as skiing and driving, even if it’s only the illusion of control. (Most people think their driving is safer than it actually is. We’re all one text message away from death on the road.) We’re more afraid of human-made dangers than of those with natural causes, such as solar radiation or earthquakes. We’re more afraid of risks that are highly publicized, especially on television, and those that involve spectacular events. One incident with multiple deaths has a much greater impact than many incidents each involving a single death. That is one reason why we fear plane crashes more than car crashes (even though the latter are far more likely).

5. Don’t focus so much on unlikely risks that you ignore common risks that are far more likely to hurt you.

Frightened people make dangerous choices. As an example, after 9-11, people chose to drive rather than to fly. As another example, cruisegoers may be so focused on washing their hands frequently in order to avoid norovirus that they forget to reapply their sunscreen.

6. Appreciate that what’s bothering you is not risk itself but your uncertainty as to the degree of it.

The problem you face as you try to plan a trip is that you don’t really know what your risk is, or how safe one country or venue is versus another. We try to weigh the risk of one destination over another by looking at the historical record of violent incidents there. What’s tricky is that we don’t know how relevant the historical record is. Will the future be different than the past? We don’t know. Even when you can’t know the degree of risk, though, you can…

7. Lessen those risks you do have some control over.

You can say to yourself: “What is the likelihood of the situation affecting my trip? Pretty tiny.” And you can lessen those risks you do have some control over. You can drive very carefully on your way to the airport.

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