International Travel News

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December 2013 issue | Appears on page 46

Private guide in Bulgaria

By Ed & Patte Sullivan

We traveled in Bulgaria with a private guide, Patrick Peneff (phone +359 887 364 711), July 27-Aug. 9, 2013, and had a wonderful time. We discovered Patrick through an article in ITN (Jan. ’13, pg. 32).

We told Patrick we were primarily interested in history, literature and politics, and the itinerary he arranged, with certain museums and places of interest, reflected these priorities.

For our 14-day, 13-night trip (and including a 10% discount for early booking), we paid €2,...

December 2013 issue | Appears on page 46

Guide in Sicily

By Linda Beuret

My husband, Peter, and I had a fabulous guide while in Palermo, Sicily, Oct. 9-11, 2013.

A Sicilian, Dr. Laura Lanza (phone 39 333 619 79 80 or email lauralanza@alice.it) speaks perfect English and is very knowledgeable and witty. She showed us churches, museums, Monreale Cathedral and food markets (a particular interest of mine).

Her fees are €150 (near $204) for four hours or €245 for eight hours. Highly recommended!

LINDA BEURET

Santa Barbara, CA

December 2013 issue | Appears on page 47

Savings in Oslo and Copenhagen

By Paula Prindle

The stave church from Gol at the Norsk Folkemuseum in Oslo, Norway, has been dated to at least AD 1212.

When in DENMARK, consider purchasing a Copenhagen Card (at tourist information centers and selected hotels, hostels and 7/11 stores in Copenhagen or online).

On our September ’12 trip, my husband, David, and I each bought a 24-hour card to “get out of town.” That may sound strange, but the cards work on the regional trains as well as in the city and we wanted to see two castles that day: Frederiksborg (the “Danish Versailles”) and Kronborg (“...

December 2013 issue | Appears on page 48

Rapa Nui ‘wonderful’ + Cuba CDs

By Louise Sherman

I would like to second the subscriber’s opinion in the letter “Found Easter Island ‘Beautiful’” (Aug. ’13, pg. 50). My husband and I spent three days on Rapa Nui in 2006 as part of a month-long visit to Chile. We had a wonderful experience exploring this fascinating island and enjoyed the people we met.

The next year, we returned on a day visit from a cruise ship. We hiked to the island’s highest point, got soaked in a sudden shower and, at the bottom of the hill, found ladies...

December 2013 issue | Appears on page 73

Great Pyramids of Giza by camelback

By William Terry Smith

My wife and I spent a month traveling independently in Israel, Jordan and Egypt in March ’10. We engaged several very good guides along the way, but we were especially impressed with our Cairo guide, Samir Fayek (phone +2 0122 399 5147, samirfayek@hotmail.com). Samir showed us a number of interesting sites that were well off of the normal tourist path, and his English was excellent. We really enjoyed the very special way that he arranged for us to see the Great Pyramids of Giza. While...

November 2013 issue | Appears on page 15

Applying for a Russian visa

By Lois Halunen

For any of you intrepid travelers who may be planning to attend the Winter Olympics in Russia in February 2014, it is not too early to take a look online at the Russian visa application form. It is daunting.

Although the Russian Consulate will not accept a visa application until 45 days prior to your trip, finding out what is required ahead of time will help.

After reviewing the application, myself, I decided to use a visa service company and chose CIBT (eight locations...

November 2013 issue | Appears on page 16

Bilbao Greeters

By Esther Perica

I spent a few days on my own in Bilbao, Spain, in August ’13 prior to joining a group tour. While researching the city, I came across the website for Bilbao Greeters, a volunteer organization and part of the Global Greeter Network.

Bilbao Greeters has a group of 70 volunteers who speak just about all languages. Its members are willing to help visitors to their city by providing general tours or tailoring tours to visitors’ interests.

I sent an inquiry...

November 2013 issue | Appears on page 17

GPS travails in Belgium

By Nancy Norberg

For our 10 days in Belgium, May 2-11, 2012, my husband, Ed, and I decided to buy our own GPS, a Garmin nuvi255 for $160, rather than opt for one (for an extra $210) with our Budget rental car. We did have to load it with European maps for an extra $100, but, this way, we had something we could take home and use in the US. We dubbed the GPS, which had a female voice, “Jill.”

Traveling through Belgium, we saw a great deal of road construction. This shows a prospering economy...