Today in Provence

By James Derheim | July 29, 2010

The view from the terrace outside of our room, at the lovely Balcones des Luberons, just on the north edge of the hill town of Gordes. We have two lovely nights here while we scout future tour locations in the Luberon region of Provence. The “mistral,” or strong wind, is blowing and it is creating the most perfect conditions for sleep.

Topics: France Tours, New Discoveries | No Comments »

Want to Travel in 2011? Reserve Now Please

By James Derheim | July 24, 2010

We just added eight more happy travelers to our growing European Focus Family. About half of the trips we do each year are with repeat clients. Join our family!

Prime dates are going faster than usual for 2011 mainly due to pent-up demand from 2008 and 2009 when people choose to stay at home.
If you have dreams of seeing Europe in style, start the process now in order to travel when you want to go.

Topics: Private Tours in Europe | No Comments »

Riding into Venice in Style

By James Derheim | July 13, 2010

We enter with our group of eight this afternoon into the heart of Venice where we’re staying two nights at a lovely hotel in the San Marco district. It’s hot in Venice, so what better way to cool off than with a quick trip via water taxi?

Crusing into Venice in European Focus Private Tours style

Topics: Italy Tours | No Comments »

Gimmelwald Switzerland Picnic Adventure

By James Derheim | July 13, 2010

One of our guests walking past the little cheese hut

We took our current guests to the hamlet of Gimmelwald, in the Lauterbrunnen Valley of Switzerland the other day for a picnic lunch prepared by the staff of our hotel. It was magnificent! The weather cooperated and we had the most beautiful of views looking at the back side of the Jungfrau mountain. Photos are from our day in this village without cars or other motorized transportation.

View of the Jungfrau from Gimmelwald


Part of our current group enjoying the view at Gimmelwald

Topics: Switzerland Tours | No Comments »

Kerry, Cork and Tipperary Ireland Private Tour Opportunity in August

By James Derheim | July 1, 2010

A recent guest of ours captures the majestry of the cliffs of Kerry

The Best of Ireland – now available on a private, relaxed tour

Experience Ireland’s charms on this 11-day trip, now available for booking. Extremely limited, we’ll take only four people on this tour and prefer a family or two couples who already know one another for maximum cohesiveness and enjoyment.

Day 1: Arrival at Shannon. We drive about an hour into the heart of Ireland and County Tipperary for a night in a Georgian mansion surrounded by hundreds of sheep – yes, this is Ireland! Relaxation for the afternoon. Unlike big bus tours, we don’t believe in pushing our weary guests too hard on their first day. Tonight, dinner in a pub in the colorful town of Cashel followed by a visit to an ancient abbey.

Day 2: Visit the “Rock of Cashel” and then a drive to the coast where we show you the bright and cheery town of Cobh. It wasn’t always so cheery, this is the place where millions of Irish left their homeland forever during the famine years. We then continue to the little town of Kinsale for two nights. Kinsale is well-known as Ireland’s culinary capital. We enjoy some of that reputation tonight.

The Rock of Cashel

Day 3: We explore the Old Head of Kinsale, a hauntingly beautiful old abbey and have lunch at a sparkling bay, taking in the gorgeous countryside of southern Cork before returning to Kinsale for another great meal.

Colorful Kinsale

Days 4, 5 and 6: We drive past Cork City on our way to Kenmare. (No, we don’t stop to kiss the Blarney Stone. That’s for the big bus tourists, and besides, yuck! Kissing a stone which has had 4,000 people before you kiss it? No thanks) Three nights at Kenmare’s oldest house, lovingly restored to a very high standard private inn with fabulous breakfasts. During our time here, we explore the Rings of Beara and Kerry.
Kenmare also has a host of excellent restaurants.

Days 7 & 8: Dingle Town and the peninsula where there are hundreds of reminders of Ireland’s ancient past. People have been living here for more than 4,000 years, and we show you some of the remains of that ancient civilization. We stay at a lovely, modern inn located on a bluff high above the town with a spectacular view. By the way, the owners of our inn have been chosen many times as the “Best Breakfast” in Ireland by esteemed travel writers. Experience for yourself!

Day 9: We travel the backroads up to the Cliffs of Moher, one of Ireland’s most famous natural landmarks. Afterwards, we drive to the hamlet of Bunratty where we stay at a B&B just 15 minutes away from Shannon Airport. Dinner tonight in an excellent pub next to our B&B.

Day 10: Departure back to the USA

Minimum guests: 2
Maximum: 4

Price: Provided without obligation, just ask, but don’t wait too long! This “Best of Ireland” Tour will book up fast. We can do two of these in the month of August only.

Topics: Ireland Tours, Undiscovered Places | No Comments »

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