It’s certainly worth checking out when a German couple you meet by the Rialto Bridge in Venice tells you that Dalmatia is even better… and you should split for Croatia.
We’ll never downplay the City on the Lagoon of course only I expect Wolfgang and Ingrid were hankering back to another stunning coastline without the hordes.
The good news though is that you don’t have to choose one over the other.
Adriatic see
Game for anything: Croatian Game of Thrones
As our old Irish Travel friends Cassidy Travel know only too well.
They are only offering a luxury Italy & Croatia fly/cruise all-inclusive offer for a week.
For August of this year.
Suite spot
Venice: & let’s catch a gondola to Padova
You’ll sail out from Fusina, across the lagoon on the mainland.
And as well as Venice on your doorstep you’ll visit Trieste with its James Joyce links, Zadar and Hvar.
While ‘the Pearl of the Adriatic’ Dubrovnik, Split and Opatija (Kvarner Bay) are also on your itinerary.
The price includes return flights from Dublin with luggage allowance, private door to door pick-up and private transfers.
Your seven nights cruise will be in a Vista Suite and include all excursions,
You’ll get $300 on board spend and your very own butler!!
And what’s more there is a January sale attached with the price from €4,600pp (Exclusive offer – Save €500!)
Trust Cassidy
Paradise on Earth: Dubrovnik
Now, of course, the cruise is the ultimate in you-do-it-yourself holiday where every one of your needs is taken care of.
And that’s always best when I try the old independent travel lark.
Having had to depend on my old Travel pal Constance Harris to get me and my pal ‘Dragon’ back on the train to Padova for a function.
While left to my own devices I had to get off my bus from Medjugorje to Dubrovnik because I had my old passport on me.
Best then to let Cassidy look after everything and help you split for Croatia…
And for those who like to hear the friendly sound of your Travel dream-maker at the other end, then call 01 8779890.
It’s up there among your holiday must-dos, watching the balloons in Turkey… or whirling dervishes if you like.
Or did you think that we were talking about the balloons above those rock-hewn villages in Cappadocia?
No, I’ve yet to savour that pleasure despite my oul’ pal Onur at Turkish Airlines flagging it up every time we meet.
And I will.
The only balloons on show when we visited Istanbul though were the dervish dancers in the early evening of a very busy day taking in the Great City’s sites and sounds.
Twirl power
How Bazaar: The Grand Bazaar
Bazaar, yes that too, but back to the dervishes and while they are enmeshed in Turkish culture and spirituality they are an acquired taste.
Entering the stage they freeze like statues before building up to a crescendo where they rotate their robes circulating as they go…
Hence the whirling dervishes. A kinda twirl power if you like.
To give it all context you can learn what it all means on the boards leading into the show.
And see for yourself up close the costumes and the history.
All of which came back into focus with the launch of our old friends’ Wendy Wu Tours Turkey special.
Treasures of Turkey
Turk that: Onur and me in Istanbul
Treasures of Turkey is a 16-day special from £2,690pp with varius 2023 & 2024 departures.
So you’ll get return flights, 4* accommodation, all meals, all transportation in destination.
There will be expert guiding, all sightseeing and entrance fees and authentic cultural experiences.
And Wu’s better at giving us a bullet-point rundown of what we’ll get.
Wu hu, Turkey’s for you
Up, up and away: Cappadocia
Explore Istanbul’s iconic landmarks, like the Blue Mosque & Hagia Sophia
Visit the moving war memorials of the Gallipoli campaign
Explore the ancient ruins of Troy and Pergamon
Discover the well-preserved roads, facades and theatre of Ephesus
Sample local wines and olive oil in the pretty village of Sirince
Visit Magnesia and enjoy an exclusive guided tour of archeaological sites which are not usually open to the public
Marvel at the spectacular calcium pools of the ancient spa city, Hierapolis
Explore the ancient Greek city of Perge and the Roman ruins of Aspendos
Spend 3 nights in Cappadocia soaking up the fantastical topography and exploring villages carved into the unusual rock formations and enjoying those balloons in Turkey.
Yes, the gloriously coloured canvas globes above your head amid those rock-hewn homes.
But also the whirling dervishes… each to their own and it’s a culture we love.
Certainly not us as my wee horticulturalist dragged me along to Keukenhof.
As payback for agreeing to see the Oranje national team play Greece in Rotterdam.
Keukenhof is considered by many as the ‘Garden of Europe’.
With approximately 7 million bulbs planted there every year, including 800 varieties of tulips.
And we all know how much the Dutch love their tulips.
And how they have enriched them and energised them over their history.
Admire the indoor and outdoor displays of bulbs, tulips, daffodils and hyacinths, which covers over 32 hectares with colour and fragrance.
Can I be trusted on a bike? In Amsterdam
Discover the Tea Garden of Jacqueline van der Kloet, the international garden designer.
Renowned for her artistry in combining bulbs with perennials, shrubs and trees.
You’ll also visit individual private gardens in the Northeast Polder, explore the Hortus Bulborum museum garden.
And drive along the famous Bulb route to see vivid displays of colourful tulips.
And there’s a full day in this three-day trip to uncover the highlights of Amsterdam, including a canal tour… and Amsterdam canal pilots are priceless.
This tour will be led by Rosie Maye aka the Insomniac Gardener.
And she will be available at all times to help and advise you, although I suspect my wee horticulturalist would fit that bill perfectly too.
The trip departs on 17th April and comes in at from €1479pp including return flights, transfers, three nights’ B&B in the 4-star Leonardo Boutique Museumhotel and guided by Rosie Maye (aka The Insomniac Gardener).
Cornish bestie
Pod’s plan: Eden project
Gardens of Cornwall: And the UK’s equivalent is Cornwall (whisper it around Kent) because of the Gulf Stream giving it one of the mildest climates on the island.
You’ll have an opportunity to see rare, exotic and tender plants, sent by plant collectors for over 200 years.
Magnificent rhododendrons, magnolias and camellias flower here in the spring.
You’ll be based on the coast in Falmouth, beloved too of football tours (and again apologies for past misdemeanours).
Wiser now I’d stay out of the nightclubs and lap up the day trips to the restored Lost Gardens of Heligan.
And the now fully developed and innovative Eden Project as well as other private gardens.
The tour will be accompanied by Iain MacDonald, a qualified and experienced gardener and guide throughout the tour.
Departs on 12th March from €1199 pp, including return flights, transfers, four nights accommodation on a half board basis at The Falmouth Hotel and garden expert.
All something to think about so start dreaming of a green Christmas.
When you climb every mountain as a pastime then if you have to relocate then you want some peaks around you, which is exactly the case with the Vermont Trapp family.
Vermont Trapp family, come again?
But while Salzburg, the hometown of the Von Trapps, naturally celebrates its most famous singing family, the Austrian singing troupe have more history by now with New England.
And more specifically Vermonters… they and their ancestors have lived in this Austrian-infused idyll for the past 80 years.
Just like Austria: Von Trapp Lodge, Vermont
With everything Von Trapp, it is best to start at the very beginning… that’s a very good place to start.
And join a Sound of Music tour in Salzburg where they’ll show you locations from the movie and put you right about a couple of things.
Such as the route Baron Georg, Maria and the kids took out of their home on their flight from the Nazis.
Which would have led them directly into Adolf Hitler’s retreat, the Wolf’s Lair.
The real Von Trapp journey
Team USA: The Vermont Van Trapps
Rather, the Baron, who had Italian citizenship, took the family to a train station in Italy from where they emigrated to America.
If you remember too from the movie that the Baron was a naval officer the that helps too in his story.
Because that dates back to the Austro-Hungarian empire when the now-landlocked Austria had a shoreline along the Balkans and most importantly in Trieste.
And it was because the Baron hailed from Trieste, by the 40s in Italy, that allowed him entry into Il Bel Paese.
All of which you’ll hear embellished, and much more besides, if you avail of the subject of today’s focus, the Platinum Premium Guide Tour, and their New England offering. And book and pay by December 5 to save up to 20 per cent.
A bountiful region
The highlight of their Beauty and Bounty of New England eight-day Guided Tour in the US for us would be staying in Stowe, the home of the Von Trapps.
You’ll also take in Boston, the cradle of the American Revolution.
But also more, much more, of New England and savour the many flavours of the region.
Including a maple syrup farm, where you can taste the sweet golden liquid tapped straight from the trees.
And ride a gondola at Loon Mountain Resort in New Hampshire‘s White Mountain Mountains and see as far as Canada.
Platinum flag up too Maine‘s oldest lighthouse in Portland and to celebrate your trip with a decadent fresh lobster dinner.
The world’s your oyster
Over the Loon: New Hampshire
Folks after our our heart as that is exactly what I did after my summer working in Boston when I bade a temporary farewell to my buddy Neily.
By insisting that we dine on my last night there at the most expensive, exclusive and oldest restaurant, the Union Oyster House, near Faneuil Hall.
And, of course, it is still there, and I daresay providing customers with bibs for their bucket of all that you can eat from the harbour.
Platinum’s offer is from €3440, and reserve with a deposit starting form €100.
Now that’s the sound of music to our ears… New England and the Vermont Trapp family had their home.
