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10 Reasons Why Guided Tours are a Top New Family Travel Trend

10 Reasons Why Guided Tours are a Top New Family Travel Trend
Even if you’ve never considered taking an escorted or guided tour before, this might be the best time to see why more and more people – and even families – are signing up for an escorted vacation.

There are a lot of myths about guided tours, and images of exclusively older singles and couples on buses.
Read on! Not only does a multi-city guided tour give your family a ‘tasting menu’ of destinations to revisit for a longer duration another time, which is one of the reasons they are such a great introduction to places like Europe for a family.

You may be surprised how many ways any type of escorted tour is your best option for a low-stress, high-reward family vacation.

By: Lynn Elmhirst, producer/ host: BestTrip TV

Let’s start with the ‘return to travel’ reasons why booking your next family vacation with a guided tour company provides you with the easiest and most reassuring travel options.

1.    Post-Pandemic Ease: Why navigate the health rules of one or more foreign destinations yourself? Your guided tour company will help you make sure you are well-prepared for all the requirements of your trip.
2.    Post-Pandemic Safety: Many people are still cautious about travel and their exposure to many new people. Traveling with the same, (often tested, with vaccines required) people, in the same luxury coach, maximizes your ‘safe’ time, with less time spent in public transit around or between cities.

Now onto the timeless ways that escorted tours tick a lot of boxes for family travel:

3.    Leave the Planning to an Expert: As much fun as planning travel can be, a lot has changed in the last couple of years, and anyway, do you have the time for all that research and reviews and planning? Booking a guided tour means someone else is investing in precious planning time – and you benefit from it. And tour companies have direct access to their own sources. That current, most expert local knowledge ensures you get the best experiences – and you know every aspect of your trip has been vetted and someone else is responsible for making sure it all comes together.
4.    Focus on Family Time: When someone else is taking care of all the logistical details, you can concentrate on what family travel should be all about: good times with family members. No juggling of reservations and train schedules, or even struggling with a ‘lost in translation’ moment of communication confusion. You’ve downloaded that onto people who do it every single day.
5.    Someone Else is the Timekeeper and Box Ticker: No more family travel time spent ‘herding cats’ or worse, being the ‘bad guy.’ Your tour guide is tracking what time you have to leave for the airport, or how long it will take to get to your dinner or show reservations. It’s not left to one member of the family to keep all the balls in the air. You can relax and enjoy.
6.    Jump the Line: One of the best things about places like Europe is the landmark museums, historic sites and scenic view points like funiculars and tower tops to enjoy. Many also come with long line ups that can test the patience of not only the youngest, but even the more mature members of the family. The good news is that tour companies book blocks of tickets and can often walk their tour group right past the long line ups of independent travelers. So you don’t have to miss a thing because it creates too much stress to wait in line.
7.    Keep Every Family Member Interested: Escorted tours give you a broad overview of the best of the best of a destination, plus often access to unique, in-depth experiences in special interests you might not be able to access yourself. There’s enough of a change of pace, scenery, and activities to keep everyone in the family on their toes.


8.    Get Off the Beaten Path: You might think of Paris for a family trip to France. Guided tours will often also take you to smaller, outlying destinations you don’t know about or don’t want the hassle of organizing a side trip to. Often, these smaller, local destinations and activities in these less crowded destinations can be the most memorable of your trip.
9.    Local Expert = Better Experiences: Translator, timekeeper, fountain of historic knowledge… and current lifestyles. Your tour guide gives you that ‘friend in town’ experience you can’t get traveling on your own, unless you have an actual friend in town. Furthermore, they are the best sources of advice on ways to spend your unscheduled time, so you can also find experiences to enjoy your family’s special interests or get tickets to a local event.
10. Customize Your Travel Experience: Just because you’re booking a guided tour doesn’t mean you can’t experience a destination in your own way. You can book a top or tail custom extension of your guided tour to remain in the destination you’re now familiar with for an extra couple of days to take in a sports game, event, markets, shops and more. Even without a trip extension, different types of tours give you different amounts of escorted and free time to pursue your family’s interests. Your expert travel advisor can help match your family to the style of guided trip that best suits your interests, attention span, and energy levels.

Bonus: Group Discounts
If you take an extended, or multi-generation family group tour, you may be able to get discounts for the size of your group. In fact, it might even make sense to arrange for a private family group tour, with all the benefits of group travel- customized for your own family. Another way guided group tours may be the perfect way to get together with your extended family group after a couple of years without travel.

Your travel advisor has the expertise of the different types of guided tours, and ways to get the best value guided tour for your family.
 

Start Your Guided Tour Trip!





Post-COVID's Biggest Travel Trend is...Small

in Anywhere, Anywhere
Post-COVID's Biggest Travel Trend is...Small
As the world prepares to travel again, there’s a huge trend emerging: going small.
 
We know what the ingredients of travel are going to be in the immediate post-pandemic future of travel:
 
More space. More privacy. More flexibility.

The travel industry is rising to the occasion with an innovative sweep of new, and newly-important touring options that make touring with your own ‘bubble’ – whether it’s your family, extended family, group of friends or couples on their own – suddenly easy. Smaller groups. Private departures. The options for ‘smaller is safer’ travel are growing.
 
And in many cases, they’re more affordable than many travelers might think. 
 
This list of tour ingredients used to be exclusively available on only high-end touring options. But it’s not just the luxury touring options that are seeing spiking interest. 
 
More affordable touring companies are developing new options for land journeys that maintain favorite elements returning guests will love… with more space, privacy and flexibility that meet the new expectations travelers are looking for to feel comfortable embarking on a journey in this new era.
 
Here are some standout opportunities to think ‘small’ on your next journey:
 

Globus: Small Group Discovery Tours

 
This fan-favorite group touring company (pictured, top) has always offered travelers an incentive to put its own small groups together, with savings and benefits for groups of as few as 8 people travelling together within a larger tour group.
 
It also has a ‘European Private Touring’ program that makes more sense than ever, with a sliding scale of surcharges for private tours of 1-24 guests with your own dedicated Tour Director, private transportation and private guides on existing Globus itineraries.
 
There’s another timely option now: Small Group Discovery Tours on ALL of its 2021 tour departures through Central & South America, Asia, Africa and select departures in the South Pacific. It tightens up traditional group tours, with an average of only 20 guests per departure you’ll be spending most of your time with. That means a coach is less than half full, providing extra space along with its new health and safety measures along with flexible booking and changing policies so you can make informed decisions until the last minute before your departure.
 

Monograms: The best of two touring styles, now with off-season and closer to home options

 
Sister company to Globus group tours, it’s like Monograms was designed for post-pandemic travel, even though its style of touring has been around for a while. Monograms cherry-picks the best elements of private travel and group travel. 
 
You are personally picked up and dropped off, have a Local Host who gives your group its own tour of must-see sights, have VIP access to jump to the head of the line at popular attractions, like larger tour groups do. You can choose among a selection of hand-picked hotels that meet new health and safety standards, and even personalize your journey according to your interests. The company also has flexible booking and re-booking policies for your peace of mind.
 
It also recently opened up new, off-season Europe options, for Fall, Winter and Spring departures when there are fewer people (so more space and less crowding than Summer/high season), and lower prices, translating to savings for travelers of up to 40%. It’s also introduced a selection of Monograms tours in North American destinations for guests wanting their next trips to be close to home. 
 

Insight Vacations: Small Private Group Option

 
This global leader in premium guided vacations is offering travelers a ‘Small Private Group Option’ on 38 trips departing late 2020 through Spring of 2021 throughout Europe, as well as Egypt, Morocco, Israel, Jordan and Canada. It also includes Christmas Market journeys, where the company has received many inquiries.

You can create your own travel ‘bubble’ and personalize your journey. Insight provides a private, customized coach, tour director, the opportunity to tailor-make trips based on your group’s interests, all including enhanced health and safety practices and flexible change policies.

Groups of 12 qualify for Insight’s Small Private Group journeys. There’s a sliding scale of surcharges on the original price of the trip, beginning with a 30% surcharge, dropping to no surcharge once the group reaches 26 people.
 

G Adventures: Book Your Bubble Collection

 
This Active/Adventure tour company has introduced a ‘Book Your Bubble Collection’ featuring 80 tours spanning the globe from Europe, Central/South America, Asia, North Africa and the Middle East.
 
The company encourages people to assemble your own bubble of fellow travelers, choose a date that works for you, and offers savings for private groups, with 50% off the 8th person in a group of 8, or the 12th person in a group of 12 traveling for free. It’s easy to picture a group of 4 couples or a multi-generational family taking advantage of these new G Adventure trips that include its new health and safety measures as well as flexible booking policy.
 
The 80 tours in the Collection feature the freedom and safety found on all of the company’s private tours. ‘Book your Bubble’ applies to the new, designated bubble Collection, and in addition, your bubble can enjoy a Tailor Made private journey, or even choose any of G Adventures’ existing itineraries, and arrange for them in a private tour. Optional activities from the company’s list of tour experiences can be added to personalize any of the Bubble journeys.
 

Butterfield & Robinson: Singular Stays

 
The company whose motto is ‘Slow Down To See The World’ combines an active approach to travel, from biking to hiking to even camel rides! with luxurious lodging, insider access, extraordinary food and wine and cultural immersion. It already offered Small Group Trips and a Private Travel collection of Ready-to-Book and Bespoke itineraries, that are prepared to allow your ‘bubble’ private group to go when, how, where – and of course, with whoever you want.

It’s also recently launched a new option that provides the highest amount of space and privacy for your small bubble group. Singular Stays are a curated collection of private accommodations paired with the creativity of B&R's Experience Designers.
 
The new, Singular Stays program means you can relax in one accommodation for the duration of your trip – from private villas and castles in Europe, to ranches, resorts and glamping in the Americas, and private lodges in Africa, while the B&R team brings your destination to life with exclusive activities and events that take advantage of your setting.

(Abercrombie & Kent)

Abercrombie & Kent: Luxury Small Groups, Private Stays, Chartered Yachts and Planes and New Tailor-Made and Road Trips close to home

 
Luxury tour operator A&K is no stranger to private and small group touring, with Luxury Small Group Journeys, Luxury Family and Marco Polo journeys, offering opportunities for all-ages adventure as well as itineraries to exotic locales and exclusive festivals and events. All journeys are led from start to finish by an A&K Resident Tour Director and local guides, with an average of 14 guests on each departure, and feature hand-selected accommodations and A&K’s renowned insider access.
 
It also offers the ultimate in physical-distancing travel with its Luxury Private Stays, fully crewed chartered yachts, and chartered air.
 
What’s new are its collection of 6 new ‘Tailor Made’ journeys as well as 2 new iconic Great American Road Trips across the American West and Alaska that take advantage of A&K’s baked-in distancing and privacy, in destinations closer to home where travelers may feel more comfortable. Private guides, access to sites off the beaten path, customized itinerary, vetted accommodations that offer added space and privacy, and in the case of the Road Trips, a private luxury car and driver/guide.
 

These new and innovating touring options meet the new expectations of travelers by going small in a big world still waiting for you to discover.

 

#DreamNowTravelSoon




Copyright BestTrip.TV/Influence Entertainment Group Inc or Rights Holder. All rights reserved. You are welcome to share this material from this page, but it may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.





Video: Top 5 Things You'll Do Like a VIP on a Monograms' Tour of Rio

in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

We can't get enough of the Monograms way of travel. Have someone else do the legwork while you get to have all the fun? Count us in.

All Monograms tours give guests the VIP treatment: a Monograms Local Host and driver to pick you up and drop you off when you're arriving and departing from the city (no matter how you travel – we arrived by cruise ship and departed by air); a private guided tour of the city to see the highlights and get your feet under you; a selection of experiences integral to life in Rio or any of Monograms' world-wide destinations; plus your Local Host is available throughout your stay to provide tips and advice to make sure you get the very most out of your trip.

Watch the video above to see how we got the VIP treatment on a Monograms' tour of thrilling Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

It's the perfect combination of independent traveling and having an expert local friend in town.

You can even cherry-pick from a number of optional experiences and excursions to customize your visit to your own personal interests. And you didn't have to do any of that research to find or check reviews to ensure you'll have a quality experience; the local experts have already done that for you.

And here are our top picks of optional experiences in other Monograms South America tours:

Argentina Highlights

See exciting Buenos Aires and some of the natural wonders of South America's most southern country. Your local host ensures you experience the best of one of South America's most exciting cities including the grave site of Eva Peron, heroine of the musical Evita!, the majesty of the world's widest boulevard, and the vivid colours of the port area La Boca. Fly to Patagonia to the foothills of the Andes to experience some of the world's most breathtaking vistas, then further south to a glacier park UNESCO World Heritage Site to see one of the world's few advancing glaciers as it 'calves' with chunks breaking away into the water.

Don't Miss these Optional Tours: the world's sexiest dance, a traditional Tango show in Buenos Aires, and the opportunity to visit a working Argentine ranch to see authentic gauchos at work.

WATCH THE VIDEO: Click here to see our Monograms Tour of Buenos Aires and optional Tango show.

Magical Columbia

Columbia is one of the world's travel hot spots and Monograms provides you with the insider guidance and local expertise to help you see the best of Columbia in this 8-day tour. Your local host connects you with local food and colonial architecture in Bogota, and also takes you up a funicular car ride 10,000 feet up to the best view of the city. In the coffee triangle area, you'll visit a coffee farm for a tasting and exploration of the coffee production process, and enjoy views over the Andes mountains. And you'll also get a private tour of the can't-miss sites of Cartagena's UNESCO World Heritage walled colonial historic district and get an insight into the area's Pre-Columbian culture, too.

Don't Miss this Optional Tour: Go 600 feet underground to a Columbian pilgrimage site and architectural masterpiece, a church unbelievably constructed in multiple tunnels of an old salt mine.

Ecuador Discovery

From the Pacific coast to Amazonian tropics to the heights of the Andes, Ecuador is one of the most geographically and ecologically diverse countries in South America. Your local host helps you get a taste of it all, beginning with Quito, near the equator, with its colonial Old Town, a fascinating local market and a nearby local school. You'll get into the countryside for a visit to a highland national park, a natural hot springs at your hotel, and a plantation that grows one of Ecuador's most famous and sweet-smelling export: roses. And you'll take a mountain top train ride of a lifetime to visit Incan, sun-worshipping ruins. Your visit also packs in a cocoa plantation, a panama hat factory.

Don't Miss this Optional Tour: to the Middle of the World.There's a monument in Ecuador at latitude 0 where you can literally straddle two hemispheres. It's a can't-beat photo op!

Peru Highlights

Peru's lost mountain top city of Machu Picchu is on every travel bucket list, and this Monograms tour even gives the opportunity to overnight in this mystical location. Start in Lima with a city tour with your Local Host and experience the 16th century Spanish colonial historic and modern sides of Peru's capital. After you fly to Cusco, you'll also get a guided tour that includes monasteries, ruins, an amphitheatre and a red fortress. You'll visit the sacred valley of the Incas and learn about the importance of alpaca/llamas in Inca culture as well as modern weaving and craftsmanship. Then a train takes you to Machu Picchu, the 'Lost City of the Incas' with your Local Host ensuring you see all its secrets.

Don't Miss this Optional Tour: Lima is home to the largest electronic water fountain complex in the world, and you won't want to miss the spectacle of the water, sound and light show in its Park.

Amazonia Voyage with Rio and Iguassu Falls

This will be 10 of the most memorable days of your life, including 3 days on a ship on the Amazon river. Monograms' Local Host takes you to Rio's mountain-top Corcovado, just like in our video. Then you'll fly to the record-breaking Iguassu Falls for a private guided tour of this 2-mile wide falls. You'll also get a private tour of Manaus' spectacular architecture constructed during the incredible 19th century rubber boom before boarding your Amazon river cruise ship where you'll experience jungle and wildlife and local river communities and their connection to the jungle around them

Don't Miss This Optional Tour: A Panoramic City Tour and Visit to Sugar Loaf Mountain gives you more view points over spectacular Rio and its waterfront as well as one of the best cable car rides on the planet.

- Lynn Elmhirst, Producer/Host, BestTrip.TV

Copyright BestTrip.TV/Influence Entertainment Group Inc or Rights Holder. All rights reserved. You are welcome to share this material from this page, but it may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.





Video: The Best of Buenos Aires: A Monograms Tour with a Local Host

in Buenos Aires F.d., Argentina

Buenos Aires ranks high on travel bucket lists: an exciting, European-influenced city in a remote country, renowned for a passionate history and punching above its weight in contributions to global culture.

Argentina has given the world the breathtaking music and dance of tango, the legendary Eva Peron (immortalized in the timeless musical Evita!), some of the New World's best wines from its vineyards, finest beef from its ranches, not to mention its famed polo players, soccer stars, and rabid soccer fans.

With a European familiarity, but its own uniquely Argentine and Latin sensibility, Buenos Aires is a world capital where you want to make sure you don't miss a beat. So my colleagues and I decided to try Monograms.

It's a hybrid way to travel that cherry picks the best parts of doing it on your own, and combines them with the benefits of groups. Monograms promised all the pleasures of Buenos Aires, with someone else doing the hard work – and a Local Host to provide tips and insights and recommendations. Sounds like the dream way to travel, doesn't it?

Here are 6 Reasons to Take a Monograms Tour of Buenos Aires:

The Local Host

The Local Host is the hero of any Monograms story. Our guide Analia is a local who loves her city and is passionate about sharing it with guests. Even when she wasn't with us, she was available by phone. It's like visiting a friend in another city: they take you to and from the airport, help you with logistics, provide you with essential insider tips like the coolest restaurants and local tipping practices, take you to some places and recommend other places for you to explore on your own in your free time.


The Airport:

Independent travelers are used to that moment in Arrivals. You're tired after that long flight, you haul your bags off the belt, go through Immigration… then you're in Arrivals and you have to rally again to figure out the lay of the land as you longingly file past the signs being held up to greet other new arrivals that promise a warm welcome and assistance.

That VIP treatment is yours on a Monograms tour. Our guide Analia was waiting for us, her Monograms sign a welcome beacon in a busy airport. It's not like a large group tour either. No waiting for 30 other people to join us; our group of 3 was whisked off to a waiting mini van.

Luggage and Tipping:

Lugging luggage is the least fun part of any trip. Our bags were taken from us, loaded into the van, and at our hotel, unloaded, and handed to bellmen to take care of from there. A seamless hand-off with no fuss for us. We breezed into our hotel, all without lifting a finger. Or opening a wallet and fumbling with local currency. Tipping had already been taken care of.

Hotel:

Monograms tours include hotels, but you still get to customize your Buenos Aires experience. You can choose among different hotels at different price points and different neighborhoods to suit your own budget and interests in the city. Breakfast is included, so you can start your day off right and without having to figure that out.

In Buenos Aires, the breakfast buffet was so much more than a generic, 'international' meal. It was hard to resist delicious local dulce de leche (how do you make fresh pastries even better? Adding the local caramel sauce) and some of Argentina's famous meat in the form of thinly sliced cold cuts and sausages.

Our guide Analia escorted us in; the hotel staff knew her, and while our bags were being taken from the van to the lobby to our rooms, she smoothly arranged a late check out for us to accommodate our travel schedule. Our hotel was in a busy neighborhood, steps from local shops and cafes and on our first evening, we found the best restaurant around the corner, full of locals and only local dishes and wines – fantastic!

The Private Tour

What a wonderful way to get the lay of the land. And a private tour of the city with your guide is part of every Monograms tour.

Essential Buenos Aires includes the world's widest avenue (which Analia explained to us as we drove in from the airport), the famously and fabulously European architecture, the colorful and eccentric La Boca neighborhood, and even the cemetery in the Recoleta neighborhood, where Eva Peron's final resting place still draws fans and floral tributes. When we were chatting with Analia and she learned of my foodie side, she offered to change the private tour to include the wonderful local market. Although there are 'must see's' in every new city, we were so thrilled our Local Host and the tour was responsive and customizable to our own interests.

The Customization

Some of the customization, like changing up the private city tour to swing by the market, is spontaneous, but other ways to make the Monograms tour your own are baked in so you can put your own mark on your holiday.

Your choice of a selection of vetted hotels, your choice of additional, curated experiences that range from a hands-on culinary experience where you learn to make the famous beef empanadas, a tango show, or even exploring outside the city – a cruise on the Tigre river, or a visit to a real Argentine ranch where you can see 'gauchos' in action.

Plus, of course, plenty of non-programmed free time so we could do exactly what we wanted. I'd heard about the woman who makes the world's most famous tango shoes, so one free afternoon, we went on our own to the atelier of Comme il Faut for an extravaganza of extravagant, limited edition tango/party shoes. Wow!


Our Verdict:

Even in our short stay, we discovered the best of Buenos aires with Monograms. We loved having a 'back up team' even while we did our own thing, taking the inconveniences of travel off our hands, and providing us the that local contact during our tour and transfers in person, but available by phone throughout our stay who gave us that private, insiders' experience of the 'Paris of Latin America'.

By Lynn Elmhirst, Producer/ Host, BestTrip.TV

Copyright BestTrip.TV/Influence Entertainment Group Inc or Rights Holder. All rights reserved. You are welcome to share this material from this page, but it may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Intrepid Doubles Family-Themed Itineraries

in Anywhere, Anywhere

Intrepid Travel is doubling its family-themed tours for 2017 with 48 itineraries tailored to families in two new styles of travel, Comfort and Active Family.

The decision to launch more than 20 tours comes as a result of the increasing demand for multi-generational travel. Intrepid Travel has also experienced significant demand for its teen trips, designed for ages 12 and up, inspiring the launch of teen trekking itineraries in Peru and Nepal, among other destinations.

“Intrepid Travel’s kid-friendly tours shake up the typical family vacation, offering a sense of adventure suited for all generations,” says Leigh Barnes, North America director for Intrepid Travel. “By significantly increasing our Family tours for 2017, we hope to be the go-to operator for family adventure travel.”

Ideal for meeting like-minded families, Intrepid Travel’s family-only adventures offer action-packed experiences steering off the beaten track, away from ball pits and buffets. Transforming travel into a form of education, the tours encourage families to use the world as their textbook by immersing into the destination and culture. With an average group size of 12, travelers can hop aboard local transportation, eat at family-run restaurants and kick back in home-stay accommodations. Family-friendly tours with 2017 departures offer one-of-a-kind experiences including:

  • Act like Mowgli in search for Shere Khan and other Bengal tigers for a true “Jungle Book” experience on the Comfort Northern India Family Holiday.
  • Visit Chiang Mai’s Elephant Nature Park, recognized by World Animal Protection for its protection of elephant welfare, on the Thailand Family Holiday.
  • Punt along the waterways of the Okavango Delta’s vibrant ecosystem by traditional canoe, greeting grunting hippos on the Namibia & Botswana Family Adventure.
  • Take on life as a local Gozitan shepherd for the day, tending to animals, cutting corn, making ‘gbejniet’ cheese and preparing lunch with the host family during the Malta and Gozo Family Holiday.

Start your Trip!

A version of this article previously appeared in TravelPress.com

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in Fort Lauderdale, Fl, United States
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in Perth, 08, Australia
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Cruise Over to Russia, and Don’t Fail Miss Its Grand Cities

in Russian

Ascension of Church, Moscow

 

 

From the centuries-old Church of the Ascension found at Kolomenskoye and the graveyard of fallen monuments displaying the former Soviet Union’s statues in Moscow to St. Petersburg’s huge collection of Russian sculpture and paintings at its Russian Museum, Russia truly has something for every type of traveler.
 
In addition, Derek Whitfield of the Daily Mail UK Travel suggests other things to do in these great Russian cities as he shares his experience during his 15-day cruise around the country (“Enjoy the Russian Evolution: Cosmonauts, Vodka and an Island Church with 22 Domes”). Here’s an excerpt of his travel post:
 
 
The itinerary also included visits to the Moscow Circus and the Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics, while in St Petersburg we could look forward to a boat trip along the famous canals and a private ballet performance in one of the city's oldest palaces… There was also the chance to learn Russian and get tips on Russian cookery and how to drink vodka – down in one, as you ask! Our adventure began at Moscow's northern boat station where we joined Scenic Tsar, a ship catering for 112 guests. More than 90 per cent of cabins have private balconies, en suites and satellite TV – my wife Alison and I were in a Panorama Suite with views rivaling those from the bridge. 
 
 

So contact us now to get started with your next vacation in Russian!

Photo Credit

 

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in London, Eng, United Kingdom
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Get Closer with Nature by Birding in Essex

in Essex, Eng, United Kingdom

Rainham Marshes, Essex

 

Just on the borders of East London are a haven of various bird species and wetland insects and plants. In the rural of Essex, you’ll not only find Medieval sceneries but also the RSPB nature reserve of Rainham Marshes.

With almost 2,000 bird-watchers visiting this marshland, only the residents of the London Borough of Havering and Thurrock enjoy a free entrance to this Metropolitan Site of Importance for Nature Conservation, which particularly doesn’t only consist of the Rainham Marshes but also of the Aveley and Wennington Marshes.

The Daily Mail UK Travel correspondent Gareth Huw Davies traveled into this part of the UK just to see the various birds that flock to its wetlands (“Perfect for Beak Breaks: The Only Place is Essex for a Spot of Bird-Watching”). In here, he delights himself with local birds like the avocet, “with its elegant upturned beak”.

Below is a short snippet from his travel article:
 

The birds needed no encouragement to flood on to the 1,015-acre site. Left to itself, nature will make a home almost anywhere… Nowadays, compared with the average theme park, this wildlife paradise is a real bargain, with a family ticket costing just £9… There’s a playground and children’s adventure play area and plenty of information in the bird watching shelters to inspire the next David Attenborough.


Get the rest of his article here, and learn more about his birding activity in Essex.
 

Contact us as early as now to get started with your next trip to the UK!

Photo Credit

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Travel Tip: The Guinness Storehouse

Anglo Brampton Travel - in Dublin South, L, Ireland

The Guinness Storehouse is reputedly Ireland's No. 1 Dublin tourist attraction. Come stand inside the world's largest pint glass, which rises up through the center of the seven story building (seriously!), and learn about the ingredients of Guinness and the craft of brewing this internationally enjoyed stout.

Located in the heart of the St. James' Gate Brewery, the Storehouse was constructed in 1904 in the style of The Chicago School, the first major, steel-framed, multi-storey building in the British Isles. The building was, up until 1988, used for fermenting beer. It is now an awesome spot to learn some history and throw back a pint. 

Here is a list of places and experiences to enjoy inside the Storehouse.

Unfortunately there are no public tours of the brewery itself for health and safety reasons. The Storehouse is a self-guided visit, and usually takes about an hour and a half to see everything. 

Definitely arrive early because by mid-day the Storehouse gets crowded.

You don't have to book in advance, but if you do book online there is a 10% discount on adult admission, and you skip the lin on arrival to pick up your ticket at the Information Desk. 

Website

Hours: Open Daily, 9:30am-5pm (Sept- June); 9:30am-7pm (late opening during July-August)

Directions

Address: St. James's Gate, Dublin 8

Tel: +353 1 408 4800\

And Remember!

Dublin is an AMAZING trip to take. And it can be even better without the stress of planning and booking your travel. We can take care of all your accommodations so the only thing you'll have to worry about is having a good time!

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