luxury travel in the age of EasyJet | 4 tips

I am in Venice and am struck by how different the city seems this time. No, all of the same attractions are still there — the Piazza San Marco, the Doge's Palace, the Campanile, the Rialto Bridge. What's different is how crowded the city is. Thousands upon thousands of tourists crowding every passageway. Getting from Point A to Point B requires walking around (or through) groups tourists blocking the way

I've experienced the same thing in other parts of the world. Long lines waiting for tickets to Versailles, the Musee d'Orsay, the Louvre, or the Vatican Museum. Dense crowds inside museums, making it impossible to spend quality time in front of, say, the Mona Lisa. Things were so bad in Capri, when I was there, that I escaped back up the hill to Anacapri to avoid the throngs.

Travel has become very popular, as it should be. Discount airlines such as EasyJet make it easy for Europeans in particular to travel all over Europe. As many as three cruise ships dock at Venice in a day, releasing an extra 10,000 tourists to gum up the works.

Is true luxury travel even possible any more? Here are four tips:

1. Travel during "shoulder season." Especially avoid school holidays, if you possibly can. (This tip doesn't work for families who want to expose their children to the world of travel.) By choosing less popular times of the year, you may not get the best weather, but you'll experience lower prices, fewer crowds, and a less hectic time discovering your destination.

2. Seek out exclusive experiences that the crowds (a) are not likely to know about and (b) can't afford. A before-hours guided tour of the Vatican Museum may cost several hundred euros, but you'll experience the Sistine Chapel in peace and quiet, not packed in shoulder-to-shoulder. Your luxury travel consultant has local connections in most destinations who can suggest and arrange these unique experiences.

3. Wander away from the crowds, through parts of the city with relatively few tourists. Or to put it another way, get lost (not difficult to do in Venice), then find your way back. It's the best way to explore a new destination and discover its secrets.

4. Explore off the beaten track destinations. Before going to Venice, I spent the day in Hampshire County, England. Instead of spending time in crowded London, I stayed out in the country, visited Winchester and its cathedral, drove through charming English villages, and ate a great meal at an authentic English pub.

Luxury travel is a matter of time and space, having enough time so that you don't feel rushed, and having enough space so that you don't feel crowded.


luxury travel consultant (search here on Google) copyright (c) 2012 by David Ourisman LLC. All rights reserved. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.