I took a 12-day tour and cruise in Portugal, May 14-25, 2016, with Vantage Deluxe World Travel (Boston, MA; 888/514-1845, www.vantagetravel.com).

I paid $6,346, which included air (Miami-Lisbon/Oporto-Miami), single supplement, insurance, an optional tour to Sintra and Cascais, an early-booking discount and a discount for having previously traveled with Vantage.

The trip began in Lisbon, where our group spent three nights at the Pestana Palace Lisboa (Rua Jau 54; www.pestana....

My wife, Victoria, and I have been visiting Italy for more than 50 years, but very rarely have we gone south of Rome. We decided that we really had to add the “toe and heel.”

We had never used a travel agent or tour guide before but did so this time. Through the online, luxury-travel-referral service Zicasso (www.zicasso.com), we found WAC Travel (Nyack, NY; 845/535-1300, italygreece.com), which specializes in travel to Italy and Greece.

In a chat with the agency...

Rebecca F. of Brownell Travel

When my wife and I began overseas travel in the 1970s, one of the few ways we were able to get airline tickets was through travel agents. This was especially true for us, since we lived in a very small town.

However, I soon discovered that the local travel agents didn’t really do much beyond selling group tours and airline tickets. For example, when I wanted a suggestion for a small hotel in Florence, Italy, the agent had no idea where to...