Geotourism scores big at Classic Journeys

Our new issue of National Geographic Traveler just arrived and with it the most recent survey of how 133 iconic destinations rank in terms of sustainable toursim. I’m happy to report that of the 62 locales listed as “best rated” or “doing well”, Classic Journeys pays careful vists to 23 as part of our Cultural Walking adventures, culinary tours and family journeys.

If you’ve traveled with Classic Journeys, you know that our small group, low impact approach to travel meshes well with geotourism’s mission: tourism that sustains or enhances the geographical character of a place—its environment, culture, aesthetics, heritage, and the well-being of its residents.

Below you’ll find the list of the “Best-Rated Places” and “Places Doing Well” along with our tours that visit them:

Best-Rated Places
•Fjords Region, Norway – Scandinavia’s Fjords and Fields

•Kootenay/Yoho National Parks, British Columbia – Canadian Rockies Cultural Walking Adventure, Family Journey, and Deluxe Family Camping

•South Island, New Zealand – New Zealand South Island Cultural Walking Adventure and Family Journey

•Medieval Granada and the Alhambra, Spain – Southern Spain’s Andalucia

•Scottish Highlands, United Kingdom – Scottish Highlands

•Corsica, France – Sardinia and Corsica

•Brittany, France – Normandy and Brittany

Places Doing Well
•Cappadocia, Turkey – Turquoise Coast and Cappadocia

•Central Copenhagen, Denmark - Scandinavia’s Fjords and Fields

•Northern Coast, California – Napa and Sonoma’s Culinary Treasures

•Tuscany, Italy – Tuscany and Cinque Terre, Southern Tuscany to Rome, Tuscany to the Sea, Tuscany Family Journey, and Taste of Tuscany culinary tour

•Ring of Kerry, Ireland – Ireland Cultural Walking Adventure and Family Journey

•Taos and the Enchanted Circle Tour, New Mexico, U.S. – Santa Fe to Toas

•Lake District, Italy – Italian Lake Retreats

•Cornwall, England, United Kingdom – England’s Cornwall Coast

•Waterton-Glacier "Crown of the Continent" Region, Alberta-Montana-British Columbia – Montana Cultural Walking Adventure and Family Journey

•Grand Canyon/Tusayan, Arizona, U.S. – Zion, Bryce and Grand Canyon Cultural Walking Adventure and Family Journey

•Qin Emperor Mausoleum, Xi'an, China – China—Shanghai to Shangri La

•66 Dalmatia's Coastal Isles, Croatia – Dalmatian Coast Cultural Walking Adventure and Family Journey

•Patagonian Andes Region, Argentina – Argentina—Patagonia and the Wine District

•Arches/Canyonlands/Moab, Utah, U.S. - Canyonlands

•Rajasthan, India – India—Rajasthan, Tigers & Taj

•Hue, Vietnam – Vietnam & Angkor Wat

And in a fortunate connection to my blog last week, UNESCO works diligently with local governments to manage the impact of tourism so that even places “…in the balance” as the survey describes them (like Machu Picchu), can be shepherded carefully to where they are no longer in jeopardy.

How? For one, by limiting the number of travelers as they do on the Inca Trail, where the total number of people on the path any day is capped at 500 including tourists, guides, and porters. The results have been dramatically positive, showing how tourism can have a profoundly positive impact on a region.

If you have a favorite spot that you’d like to share with us, drop me a line at blog@classicjourneys.com.

Top 10 ways to see a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Experiencing cultural treasures in ways that are difficult to replicate on your own or with another travel company are hallmarks to how we travel at Classic Journeys. So I was thrilled recently when someone noticed that we visit UNESCO World Heritage Sites on 53 of our trips. When they asked me to share my favorite sites, it got me thinking and I developed my top ten list of UNESCO experiences, a la Classic Journeys.

1. Joining our local guide, Bertrand, for a barefoot walk across the tidal estuary to Mont-Saint-Michel on our Normandy and Brittany tour.

2. Exploring historic Quebec on your stomach during a progressive dinner on our Quebec and Charlevoix tour.

3. Tasting Siena through its gelato on our Tuscany Family Journey and our Taste of Tuscany Culinary Tour.

4. Seeing Machu Picchu through the Sun Gate following our included one day hike along the Inca Trail on our Peru Cultural Walking Adventure and Family Journey.

5. Enjoying a private breakfast at Stonehenge before the crowds arrive on our Cotswolds tour.

6. Overnighting on a private junk in Ha Long Bay on our Vietnam tour.

7. Watching sunset from the rim of Grand Canyon and join a mule ride into the canyon on our Cultural Walking Adventure and Family Journey.

8. Shopping the medina of Fez with our amazing local guide, Jalil, on our Morocco tour.

9. Kayaking under the Roman’s Pont du Gard aqueduct on our Provence Family Journey.

10. Lunching and wine tasting with a vineyard owner in the Wachau Valley on our Prague to Budapest tour.

Have you had some memorable UNESCO experiences of your own? Want some help making your own wish list come true along Munro Beach watching the penguins come ashore in New Zealand or on the Dalmatian Coast walking Dubrovnik’s city walls? Drop me a line at blog@classicjourneys.com

When comparing apples to oranges, don’t get squeezed…

Have you ever had difficulty making a comparison between two options? This can become particularly difficult with travel offerings, when you can’t hold the product or kick the tires before your purchase.

Recently, a family of 19 (three generations: grandparents, adult kids and grandchildren) from northern and southern California called to ask us to organize a private trip to the Canadian Rockies. The week-long holiday was designed to celebrate the grandmother’s 70th birthday.

In this family, there are four sisters, each married and with children. One of the sisters had already spent a fair amount of time speaking with a Canadian tour operator, constructing a program that included overnights in Banff, Jasper and Lake Louise, plus two nights on the Rocky Mountaineer train traveling between Jasper and Vancouver.

On first blush, the trip looked less expensive than what Classic Journeys could provide on our Canadian Rockies Family Journey. But then doubts began to seep in. They began to worry that the trip was not personalized enough for the family and the grandmother’s interests that ranged from fly-fishing to painting, photography to cooking. In addition, they were told a price and advised that it related to “gold” level accommodations (only to find out that the accommodations were really subpar). The final straw was hearing that they would have a different guide in each location, rather than someone who would get to know them and take care of the family throughout the week.

That’s when they called Classic Journeys. They gave us their criteria and asked us to turn around a suggested itinerary and pricing (complete with special inclusions unique to their interests) quickly as the departure day was fast approaching.

The first thing we did was construct a comparable program for them. This allowed everyone to make that real apples to apples comparison to see how much more they were paying for their vacation versus a similar Classic Journeys’ family program. Then we suggested how they could upgrade their hotels (Chateau Lake Louise, Jasper Park Lodge, Banff Springs Lodge) while still staying within their budget.

We also included two full time guides (their names are Trevor and Craig, but the family’s nicknames for them became the inside joke of Cheddar and Provolone). Finally, we added in some really one-of-a-kind events like a private fishing expedition on Maligne Lake in our guides’ own boats (the only private boats on the lake) so that the grandmother could fish with her grandkids.

In the end, the cost was lower than the competing company’s quote and provided the family with a much more personal and complete immersion into the Canadian Rockies than what they would have enjoyed otherwise.

Are we always lower cost? No. Can we always provide Classic Journeys’ guests with a richer more personal experience? Usually. And we can certainly let you know quickly if we have the expertise in an area to make a trip memorable for your family, group of friends, company or organization.

If you’d like to make an apples to apples comparison on your next holiday, send me an email at blog@classicjourneys.com.

Travel writers give advice on when to choose a group tour

Recently, two highly-regarded travel writers, Paul Lasley and Elizabeth Harryman, joined a small group tour in southwestern Ireland and then wrote an article about it for Westways magazine. It appeared in their May 2009 issue, and is titled “Going with the Group – When to consider taking an escorted tour”. Since they so eloquently summed up many of the frequently asked questions our guests have as they are considering traveling with us, I thought I would share it with you.

“Q: I’m an independent-minded traveler. But are there times when an escorted tour might be a good idea?

A: Before taking an escorted tour of Ireland, we were skeptical of the tour idea. But an experience in County Galway changed our minds.

A peat fire burned in the fireplace of the 220 year old thatched-roof farmhouse. “I was born in a pub,” said Frances, the woman who greeted us at the font door. She had green eyes that expressed gentleness. “Maybe that’s why I like meeting people,” she said. After she served us Irish soda bread and a soup of leeks, potatoes and carrots, our group went to see – and feed – a new lamb. We wouldn’t have thought that this kind of simple, intimate experience could be part of an escorted tour. But this encounter made us realize that escorted, or group, tours aren’t what the used to be.

What a difference 40 years makes. “Today people on escorted tours are sight-doing instead of sightseeing,” says Bob Whitley, president of the United States Tour Operators Associations (USTOA). “They’re climbing Mount Fuji instead of just looking at it.

“They’re visiting local residents in their homes. And many tours visit just one or two countries; they take in a lot of villages and explore back roads. Today’s tours have more free time built into them, so people can pursue their own interests or go shopping.”

Our experience taught us that there are times when it pays to take an escorted tour. Here are some examples.

• When you want to save money. Escorted tours can save you as much as 50 percent of the cost of paying for the trip components separately, according to the USTOA. “The cost of meals and attractions are typically included,” says Whitley. “That can add up to big savings.”

• When you want to avoid hassle. On an escorted tour, you don’t have to find your way around unfamiliar places. And if you have a problem with a hotel room, it’s the tour escort who sorts it out, not you.

• When you want to go to a special event. If you want to attend the Passion Play in Oberammergau, Germany, for example, which occurs every 10 years (the next performance will be in 2010), a tour will ensure that you have tickets and transportation to the event.

• When you want to travel to less-developed countries. You might feel comfortable navigating western Europe on your own. But if you’re heading to a destination that has a less-developed infrastructure, a group tour can ease the way.

• When you want to pursue a special interest. Many tours allow you to focus on one theme, such as cooking or history or art, as you travel through a place. Being with people who share similar interests can also add to the experience, as Bill Green discovered. The Los Angeles-based human resources consultant’s recent tour exploring Northern California was enhanced by the companionship of like-minded fellow travelers. “It made for stimulating conversation,” he says.

• When you want to make friends. Stimulating conversation can lead to lasting friendships. “My wife and I still keep in touch with people we met on that tour,” says Green.

We know how he feels. When we return to Ireland, we plan to look up a gentle woman named Frances.”

Thanks Paul and Elizabeth for the great checklist. I couldn’t agree more. So whether you are thinking about our Ireland trips (we offer a cultural walking adventure and a family journey), joining our Napa and Sonoma culinary tour, or you have a wish list of special events you’ve always wanted to experience during your vacation (like visiting Stonehenge privately at sunrise, observing the fjordland crested penguins with a naturalist on a private beach in New Zealand, or meeting a shepherd in Tuscany) we can help. And if you’d like to listen to a clip from our Irish guide Donal’s band in their local pub in Kenmare, just drop us a line at blog@classicjourneys.com

Sometimes a good deal isn’t…

A colleague of mine just hung up with one of our past guests. The lady, who has traveled with us twice previously to Bryce, Grand Canyon and Zion and Montana, said she thoroughly enjoyed our trips.

That’s when the call became a bit unusual…

She went on to say that she had recently purchased a tour to Morocco on-line in response to a promotional email that she received from one of our competitors. The email had arrived one evening, seemed like a great deal, and she had purchased it without speaking with anyone at the company. A true spur of the moment decision.

After purchasing the trip, she found that she had many questions for the tour operator and so phoned them several times over the course of a couple of weeks. Sadly for her, she said that no one at the company knew the trip well or could answer her questions. Feeling frustrated and a bit embarrassed, she called us knowing that we’ve operated tours in Morocco for over a decade.

My colleague, Sarah, was a bit confused as to why a guest on another company’s trip was phoning us to chat. Don’t get me wrong, we know that we have many fine competitors, and we realize that sometimes a guest will choose another company instead of Classic Journeys. (Maybe a date doesn’t work and they are not interested in a Private Journey, or they want to pursue a special interest or region that we do not cover.) That said, this was still pretty unique: a guest calling us to ask questions about their tour when they are not traveling with us!

Fortunately, many of us at Classic Journeys have been to Morocco and have been on our Morocco—Fes to Marrakesh trip. We have very good personal relationships with our head guides, Jalil and Saida, and our country manager Tarik; and we’ve spent a considerable amount of time with all 29 colleagues there who take care of our guests on tour. So Sarah was able to answer the guest’s questions completely, putting her mind somewhat at ease.

Why all this in a blog?

Sometimes a good deal isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. And sometimes that trip that is more expensive initially is actually a better value than the one with the lower initial price. That is not to say that dollars always dictate quality, but rather that tour operators with local knowledge can be worth their weight in gold.

We've carefully crafted all of our tours in over 65 regions around the world, combining years of research with careful scouting and relationships with local guides to operate exceptional trips. And if one of the reasons to go on a guided tour is to not worry about the logistics, we've done your homework for you and are there to make your trip seamless, even before you've left.

Sometimes prospective guests like to speak with other travelers who have visited a region with us, and we invite you to do that. And others like to know that well-known third parties like Travel + Leisure or National Geographic have rated us among the top of our peers, and you can review these on our awards page.

If we can assist with any of these requests, or you find yourself traveling with a company that isn’t helping the way you expected, just drop me a line at blog@classicjourneys.com

Guests share their feedback on Trip Advisor

A part of my daily routine that I thoroughly enjoy is reading through questionnaires our guests complete on their return home. It offers us great insight and ideas that we can implement right away on the next departure in a region.

This week, the mailbag included an email from four guests for whom we arranged a custom Private Journey to Tuscany & the Cinque Terre over the summer. In it, they let us know that one of the ladies had taken the liberty to post an entry on Trip Advisor recapping their experience with us. She wrote such a candid recap of what took place during the week that I thought other guests might find her comments helpful. So here you go!

“We took this tour in June of 2009 as a private group of 4 people (two couples). We had a fantastic trip! Classic Journeys (CJ) did a wonderful job in customizing our trip. Thanks to Julie at CJ for planning the trip.

The hotels were great, 4-5 star. Our tour guide was wonderful, knowledgeable and connected. I would highly recommend this trip to anyone wanting to see these local destinations on foot. Here are a few customizations to the trip that we made. Pre-tour: We arrived in Florence 36 hours before the tour began to explore and shop on our own and CJ added one night to our accommodations. It also allowed us some rest time (which will be needed). We went to dinner at great restaurant in Florence, L'Osteria Di Giovanni for dinner, which a friend recommended. The tour began the following midday with a Florence sites walking overview. (If you want to do any shopping or museum tours, plan to do it on your own time or allow extra pre/post day). The next day we left for Tuscany. Walking the roads into Chianti Classico Region starting with an Abbey/small village and then continued on to Greve was everything I had hoped it to be. We ate lunch in Greve at Caffe le Gogge and we would highly recommend. The hikes, which we enjoyed and were prepared for were just a little more challenging then we expected, but not overly difficult if you are in average to above average shape. You are after all hiking over hills and dirt roads (light hiking shoes highly recommended). The following days were filled with lots of walking and village overviews (very little to no time to go into museums or shops, so you must carve out some tour time and/or discuss with your guide how to fit that in if it is important to you. The hotel in Chianti, was wonderful. It is run by a very nice family, who goes above and beyond to make your stay enjoyable. We toured a local professional potter and got to watch him at work. (The town Colle was on the tour and I would have skipped it because we did not go into a museum to see how they make crystal, but did walk through the town.) We also added a cooking lesson in Tuscany with chef Massimo at his private castello. We had a great time and great food. I would add this to your tour if you can.

Next we drove to Santa Margherita, stayed at a beautiful hotel on the water. On our open dinner night in Santa Margherita, we had one of the best meals we all have ever had out of all of our collective international travels at "Da o Batti" on (via/street Ruffini 2. The best item we had there was the mussels and lasagna pesto, wow!). Don't miss this casual but fine dining experience. This part of the trip we walked to Portofino and walked parts of Cinque Terre. Lastly, we stopped in Pietrasanta and discovered that great sculptors that have their work reproduced here to a large scale, by local artisans.

Don't miss this tour. Two of the best things about of this tour were that after all the wonderful food and lots of wine consumed none of us gained weight because of the walking/hiking, (the two gals each lost a pound); and it is a romantic getaway! We can't wait to go back and Classic Journeys has the insight and resources to get you into intriguing places that you would not get into on your own. It was a trip of a lifetime for each of us. So what are you waiting for? Regards - PVB travel friends.”

That’s Jalene’s posting. If it’s sparked any questions about our Tuscany & Cinque Terre trip, our Private Journeys way of traveling, or our style of travel in general, drop me a line at blog@ClassicJourneys.com.

Lost in Wisconsin without a guide…

It’s catalog season at Classic Journeys, and that means that every year I pack up the family for a few days in central Wisconsin to attend the press check at our printer, and then drive down to Chicago for a weekend with friends and their kids.

For us, it’s the culmination of months of preparation on our annual adventure travel catalog, featuring our cultural walking tours, culinary tours and family vacations in over 65 destinations worldwide. Our whole team (tour operations, guest services, creative, marketing and sales, and accounting) comes together for several months to work on the project at various times. And at the end of it all, we spend a couple of sleepless nights at a 1.4 million square foot printing facility watching our catalog zoom along at 40,000 pages per hour on multi-million dollar presses the length of a football field. The goal is to make sure the books look their best and tell the story of traveling in Classic Journeys’ style well.


Since this was our 15th annual catalog celebrating international adventure travel, I thought I might have a couple of occasions to reflect about how it all fits into my year. That said, I never thought I’d consider how this trip might be a metaphor for traveling with (or without) Classic Journeys on vacation. Until two weeks ago…

You see, normally I am accompanied by our printing salesman, Paul, who meets us when we arrive in Wisconsin. He takes us around to local landmarks, introduces us to members of his team in manufacturing, creative, quality control, bindery…the whole works. He takes us out to dinner, drives us back and forth to the plant and other meetings, and makes sure everything goes seamlessly. If you’re playing along with me, you can imagine Paul in the role of a Classic Journeys’ guide. Friendly, smart and well-connected.

This year was a little different. Paul’s wife just had a baby and so I suggested that he stay home to attend to his family. I figured I knew my way around Wisconsin and could make everything work smoothly on my own. (In the same way many of us choose to vacation on our own…)
And that’s where the story deviates from a Classic Journey.

You see, I landed only to find that the “color” of the first signatures was ready for approval (in essence the books on press were ready to be proofed) even though I was still about three hours away. That never happened when Paul was with me managing things at the plant. We worked it out, the pressmen were fantastic, and the catalog printed beautifully (even though we ate a hasty dinner of sandwiches from the cafeteria at 1:00 am). The next morning, I woke to drive myself to another of the company’s plants for a meeting with their creative team. I had directions, the address, and my iphone to guide the way. And still I found myself lost in the middle of farmlands, losing time and arriving quite late for my meeting.

Again, locals took pity on me and I was fortunate to be surrounded by friendly and helpful people at our printer. They modified their schedules to accommodate mine, and the meetings went well. But I had to laugh to myself as I drove back to my hotel. I was reminded that whenever I travel with Classic Journeys, I rely on the expertise of our guides, their local connections, how seamlessly they make everything unfold, and how there is no wasted time figuring out where we are going to go, what to do or how to get there.

And in that moment, I vowed to send a special thanks to each of our guides—from Amalfi to Zion—for everything they do on our trips…and to invite Paul on the next press check with me…

If you’ve had a great moment where you were lost…or found…drop me a line at blog@classicjourneys.com. I’d enjoy hearing from you.