Browsing: History Tours

Lately I’ve had a lot of bad luck with my luggage while traveling on long-haul flights. My bags were delayed three trips in a row – reaching my destination only 1 to 3 days after I had arrived. After these three consecutive luggage mishaps, I was confident the airlines could not mess up a fourth time.

They didn’t – but my bout of bad luck did not end with that fourth flight. Arriving at Paris …

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DEAL (COUNTY KENT) & BENTLEY

Like all of England, the rural landscape is manicured, clean and precise – the habits of an old and fastidious land where the great British tradition of an afternoon tea in a quirky worn-around-the-edges Tea Room is a prerequisite. Driving a Bentley Continental GT Speed (Conti Speed) through the rolling vastness of Kent’s achingly beautiful countryside, I head to Deal and the promise of finding one such remote temple to …

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The name Rick Steves has become synonymous with savvy, frugal, no-nonsense travel. He’s established a veritable European travel empire, including dozens of guidebooks, tours, apps, travel products and even the beloved PBS series, complete with its own theme song. But in the case of Rick Steves, “empire” isn’t really the right word, not with his emphasis on meaningful cultural exchange and the publication of his award-winning manifesto, Travel as a Political Act. In a …

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Whales are one of the Earth’s largest mammals, the beauty of which is best seen in the open waters of the ocean. There are numerous destinations around the world where you can observe these gentle creatures swim, thrash, and play in the water. All that is needed is a quiet boat or even a motor-less sailboat to venture out to sea to experience whale watching at its best. And, with a little patience and understanding, …

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If you come away from Venice thinking, “It’s too crowded and it smells,” you’re doing it wrong. Sure, the labyrinthine city’s glory days are long gone, and many of the palazzos along the Grand Canal have been converted to restaurants or left to rot, their first floors already reclaimed by the sea, but the city is more than just a shadow of its former self. There’s a reason, after all, that the tourists still flock …

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Quebec is one of the safest cities on the world, especially for women, my new friend tells me.

That’s lucky, I think, because I’ve just jumped into his car and we’re driving up into deserted forests. If I disappear, nobody will ever know why.

All such thoughts vanish as my impromptu tour guide Philippe Guerriere starts telling me about the battles that raged in Quebec between French and English soldiers, leaving a stunning legacy of …

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Miami is probably best known to tourists as a popular cruise port and gateway to the sandy beaches of greater Miami Beach. But over the last decade, the downtown area of the city has been transformed into a magnet with world-class arts, culture, architecture and entertainment.

If you’ve never explored downtown Miami, here are five not-to-be-missed reasons to visit:

1) Attend a performance at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts

Open since 2006, …

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