Latest Travel Blog Entries

Thursday, February 25, 2010

General Tours World Traveler, the company that pioneered travel to Russia in 1955, is offering newly-redesigned tours for 2010, featuring the attentive personal services of their own St. Petersburg-based guides. These Affordable Luxury trips include landmark city-center hotels, daily buffet breakfast, all on-tour transportation and in-depth private car sightseeing.

Privately Guided Travel… for the Price of a Group Tour!

Priced from just $2,299 per person, the 7-day Discover Moscow & St. Petersburg trip features a choice of handpicked hotels, including the historic Hilton Leningradskaya in the capital and the legendary Grand Hotel Europe in St. Petersburg. Private sightseeing in Moscow features three UNESCO World Heritage Sites and a personally-guided tour of the Kremlin Armory Museum. The next morning, guests have their personal car, driver and guide at their disposal. This unique flexibility is an opportunity to explore personal interests, whether it’s World War II history, medieval art, Russian literature, Soviet architecture – or even shopping!

Then travelers can opt to fly nonstop or travel by rail to St. Petersburg. A leisurely 3-night stay in the heart of the city includes in-depth private car sightseeing with General Tours’ own St. Petersburg-based guides. A tour of the city’s architectural highlights is enhanced by a private visit through the Hermitage Museum and an excursion to the resplendent Catherine Palace.

For travelers wishing to focus on this fabled city, Splendors of St. Petersburg is a 6-day program featuring the luxurious Grand Hotel Europe. Guests can tailor this General Tours vacation with flexible, intimate sightseeing at their own pace; the company’s private car, driver and guide is at their disposal for three full days.

Aboard the intimate, 5-star MS Volga Dream

General Tours World Traveler also offers 8 and 12-day voyages from Moscow to St. Petersburg featuring seven nights aboard Russia’s finest river ship, the 58-cabin Volga Dream. Priced from $1,999, Splendid Waterways of the Czars includes all shore excursions, fine dining with wine at lunch and dinner, luggage handling and port charges. A special Music on the Volga June departure is highlighted by four shipboard opera concerts and an enriching lecture series featuring Henry Fogel, former president and CEO of the American Symphony Orchestra League.

With the company’s new Family & Friends Savings, travel agency clients save $50 to $150 per person whenever 3 or more guests travel together on a Russia trip of 7 days or longer. These savings can be combined with any of General Tours’ other offers, including exclusive AARP Member benefits and repeat traveler discounts for members of the company’s World Traveler Club.

Sunday, January 31, 2010

As you get ready to travel?

Here are some tips to give you peace of mind while you are away and make sure you do not make your house as a target of opportunity. These are some simple precautions from the experts.

• Be mindful of who is around when you are discussing your trip - there is no need to let too many people know or draw attention to the fact your house might be empty for a period.
• The best deterrent is to have someone housesit. If that is not possible, ask a trusted neighbor or friend to take in the newspaper, mail, and any other deliveries and keep an eye on the house. Give them your trip plans and an emergency phone number so they can reach you in case of an emergency. You can also arrange with the post office and newspaper to suspend delivery for the time you are away.
• Lock doors, windows and secure sliding doors (a metal rod or a broomstick in the sliding door track is an inexpensive lock), as well as the garage, the basement, and the attic. Some people even disconnect the power to motorized garage door openers.
• Move any valuables from plain sight.
• Check on your appliances, unplug anything that doesn't need to be on while you're away. Lower air conditioning/heating units to energy-saving levels.
• Set timers to turn on lights if you do not have someone staying at the house.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

With the introduction of its 2010 Exotic World Journeys, General Tours World Traveler announced new Family & Friends Savings. Now just in time for winter travel, the company is offering Double Family & Friends Savings on 66 vacations worldwide for travel in January and February 2010.

  With this special Double offer, General Tours guests save $100 per person when 3 guests travel together, $200 per person with 4 travelers and $300 per person when 5 travel together! Family & Friends Savings can be combined with any of the company’s other offers for even greater savings - up to $900 per couple!   "It’s timed perfectly for a warm winter getaway to sunny and exciting destinations like Latin America, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and South Pacific," notes company president Bob Drumm. The popular Highlights of Jordan, for example, is regularly priced at $999 per person. With this special offer, five friends could explore Petra and Wadi Rum together for just $699 each, or even less with the company’s exclusive Member Benefits.   Whether it’s a reunion of far-flung friends, a winter escape with best friends or a multi-generational family voyage, General Tours guests can take advantage of these special savings to explore the world together...   Central America… 6 to 9 days from $1,499, including coast to coast adventures in Costa Rica, the great Mayan sites of Tikal and Copan, Belize and Panama.   South America & Antarctica… 5 to 14 days from $1,699, including Small Group Escorted Tours and Small Ship Cruising through the Galapagos, Fjords of Chile, Amazon and Antarctica.   Asia, India & the South Pacific... 6 to 14 days from $999, including Angkor Wat, Vietnam, China and new tours to Australia and New Zealand.   Africa & the Middle East… 4 to 14 days from $999, including 3 distinctive Nile journeys.   Europe... 7 to 10 day sfrom $999, including the top-selling Italy by Rail.   In all these destinations, General Tours offers unmatched choice and flexibility - with Small Group Escorted, Privately Guided and FreeStyle Touring. Guests can choose Simply Affordable vacations or the company’s signature Affordable Luxury journeys.   Coordinating vacation schedules with multiple friends and family members can be a challenge, but General Tours guests can always plan with confidence. The company never cancels a departure.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Europe is a place of wonders, an intriguing past and timeless elegance.  Here, watch history come live as you explore the destinations of your choice.  Saver new foods and discover new passions.  Shop for exquisite fashion and wander bustling markets for the best bargains.  Let some of the most renowned theatres in the world excite and entertain you.  Discover lands where fairytale castles exist and real kings, queens and princess rule.  Europe is charming and positively magical, alluring, enchanting, enthralling and it's where Harry Potter, Shakespeare , Sherlock Holmes and "Angles & Demons" come to life.

Europe is defined in its thriving cities, breathtaking countryside, quaint pubs and the world's finest museums.  A day in Europe could be a day of sightseeing, romance or just a long afternoon sitting at a sidewalk cafe.

We welcome you to research your next European tour by destination, or by clicking on our preferred travel partners.

Here is our network of Europe travel destination sites:
Atlas Cruises & Tours| Christmas Market Tours | England Tours | Escorted Family Vacations | France Tours | Greece Tours| Ireland Tours | Italy Tours | Luxury Tour |Oberammergau | River Cruise | Russia Tours | Scandinavia Tours | Spain Tours

We also have specialty European Tour Operators sites:
Contiki Tours | Cosmos Tours | General Tours | Globus Tours | Insight Tours | Tauck Tours | Trafalgar Tours

Sunday, October 04, 2009

Think Maldives, just 340 miles southwest of Sri Lanka, to experience limited-edition Japanese sake, celestial sightings while sipping champagne, deep-tissue Balinese massages and signature orchard table settings.

Hailed as one of the world's most luxurious getaways, the Conrad Maldives Resort & Spa is perched on two private islands surrounded by a royal-blue lagoon and vibrant coral reef. Guests can choose from luxurious over-water villas, new exotic beach villas with private plunge pools and secluded gardens or fabulous new spa suites, over-water villas with private spa treatment rooms. Seven world class restaurants offer exciting dining options from organic spa cuisine served over-water to the fusion menu of Ithae, an underwater dining from 16 feet below the wavers with 30 degree views of a pristine coral reef.

Prices range from $700 per night during low season and $1,066 per night in high season. Rates include breakfast daily and private airport transfers.

The 130 villa "One & Only Reethi Rah (beautiful Island) boasts occupancies in the 90% range, as well as a high percentage of repeat guests and celebrities. Emirates Air flies non stop from New York to Dubai and a connection on to Mali, capital of the Republic of the Maldives. One & Only offers a one hour transfer by luxury yacht to the resort. There’s no winter season in the Maldives, although rain comes in May and June, bringing afternoon showers followed by steamy twilights.

Spa treatments and culinary offerings are the focus at Reethi Rah. The menus of the resorts three restaurants follow a theme of water, earth or fire, offering a total of 110 dishes complimented by a wine cellar of 20,000 bottles bearing 900 different labels.

The resort plays up to its culinary program with organic garden classes, wine tastings and sushi-making instruction. They cater to families with a Kids Only Cooking program for kids 4-12 years of age, where they attend cooking classes, learning how to roll sushi and make pastry. They also swim, snorkel, go on treasure hunts, attend drama workshops and have spa-themed day. The Kids Only Clubhouse is open 12 hours a day and has its own dining area, playroom, playground, pool, arts and crafts , sports facility, stage area and access to the beach. Teenagers have their own program and activities.

Reethi Rah has 12 beaches and three miles of coastline, a tennis academy, water sports, boutiques, 300 bicycles, classes in champagne tasting, flower arranging, cooking and wine tasting; an orchard garden and an afternoon tea service with mini Thai pancakes, called khanom krok.

Weddings are becoming very popular at the resort, with the services of an on-site wedding planner and online gift registry.  Honeymooners flock to the One&Only Spa by Espa, with 14 treatment rooms and several over-the-water spa suites. The spa and fitness consultants will design a program of exercise, sports, nutrition and treatments tailored to each guest’s lifestyle and requirements.

Each villa has a host, on call to attend to every need. The hosts move to the beach during the day, polishing sunglasses, spritzing imported water, taking orders for food and drinks and helping arrange the next day’s excursions. Popular activities include excursions to nearby fishing villages, private Island barbeques, trips to the market in Mali and diving and snorkeling lessons. Picnics under the night sky can be arranged by the Star Concierge.

Low season rates from June through September begin at $870 per room, per night, double in a beach villa with breakfast. High season rates begin at $1200 per room per night, double.

Written by C Kennedy
kennedy@atlastravelweb.com