why London? | top five reasons

changing of the Guards (c) 2016 by David Ourisman, all rights reserved

The United Kingdom is a bargain. While the Pound Sterling was down to $1.37 last week, I just checked the exchange rates again, and the the pound is now down to $1.29. Just because something is a bargain is not a reason to buy it, but London is a most fabulous destination for a your summer vacation.

Here is my list of the top five reasons to visit London this summer.

1) comfortable weather... southern Europe is hot and humid, so unless you really enjoy a lot of summer heat, I encourage my clients to consider northern Europe. Consider places like northern France (Paris, Normandy, Brittany), Scandinavia (Denmark, Norway, Sweden), the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, and the British Isles (England, Scotland, and Ireland).

2) the English speak English... though with a touch of British accent. Some travelers are uncomfortable going to a country where English is not the primary language, but that's not even an issue in the British Isles.

3) the pomp and glamour of the royals...  No one can put on a parade quite like they do in England, and one of the top attractions in London is the daily Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. Crowds gather in front of the palace well in advance of the daily parade, but if you're in the know, you can avoid the crowds and come face to face with the new Guard before it marches out of the Wellington Barracks to replace the old Guard at the Palace. Ask me how you can have private access to the parade grounds above.

4) gardens and parks... Nobody does gardens quite like the British, and it's wonderful to get out of the city to tour some of England's most beautiful gardens. We can get you hard-to-get tickets to Prince Charles' gardens at Highgrove, his personal country estate in the Cotswolds — and there are lots of other opportunities for garden lovers to indulge this summer.

5) history and culture... London has so many great museums from the British Museum to the Tower of London to the Churchill War Room (where we can get you behind the plexiglass so you can sit in Churchill's chair from which he led his War Cabinet).

London's luxury hotels are all on sale this summer and available with Virtuoso amenities that will save you hundreds of dollars during a typical stay. Ask me about my favorites!

copyright (c) 2016 by David Ourisman LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell Travel. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

Gulbenkian Museum | a Lisbon must-see

On the advice of one of my clients, we visited the Gulbenkian Museum today during our tour of Lisbon. Clearly one of the most outstanding museums I have ever visited, I cannot recommend this highly enough.

Calouste Gulbenkian made his fortune in the petroleum industry, playing a critical role in forming some of the world's most prominent oil companies. Retaining a 5% interest in the companies he put together (he was known as Mr. 5%), he became an incredibly wealthy individual. Spending a lifetime assembling an art collection of over 6,000 pieces, Gulbenkian bequeathed his art to his nation, Portugal, upon his death. One thousand works are in the museum's permanent collection.

While the scope of the Gulbenkian's art collection rivals that of the Louvre, the scale is ever so much more manageable. You can get an overview of the entire museum in just an hour, although longer visits would be well worthwhile. Instead of glazing over the thousands of relics from Egypt you might find at the Louvre or British Museum, visitors can view a few dozen exquisite pieces on display. Persian carpets, Mesopotamian and Greco-Roman artifacts, far eastern art pieces, illuminated manuscripts, Lalique creations, and a representative collection of 15th - 19th century western paintings make for a stunning experience.

Gulbenkian Museum (search here on Google)

copyright (c) 2009 by David J. Ourisman. All rights reserved. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.
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walking in Wales

In today's column, I want to write about a destination, the United Kingdom (specifically Wales), and about my favorite way to explore any destination ... walking. The UK is an ideal destination for Americans for several reasons.

We speak the language. There's none of the insecurity that many experience when realizing they speak very little French, Italian, or Spanish (not to mention Chinese or Thai). While there's no need to brush up on a Berlitz list of travel phrases, visitors to the British Isles can look forward to hearing their own mother tongue spoken with a delightfully different accent. You definitely get the experience of being in a different culture.

The weather is moderate year-round. Italy is a hot destination in more ways than one. As crowded and warm as Rome was this past September when I visited, it will be even hotter, more humid, and more crowded come July and August. Many people don't mind heat, but I do, so when I think of a summer destination, my mind thinks of places like England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales.

There are fascinating things to see and do in the British Isles. Golfers can enjoy links golf in Scotland, the very place the game began. History buffs can spend endless hours exploring the British Museum or visiting Roman ruins. The anthropologically minded can marvel at Stonehenge and Avebury.

Me? I am attracted to beautiful landscapes -- shady woods and colorful fields, country paths and stone fences, craggy mountains and glassy smooth lakes, rocky shorelines and dramatic cloud formations. I love being alone with nature, taking in its beauty one step at a time. Nature nourishes me. Walking is a way of slowing down, contemplating the gift of life, and being filled with the wonder of this planet that nurtures life.

There are many ways of doing a walking trip, from a luxurious, meticulously planned trip with Backroads or Butterfield & Robinson ... to an economical do-it-yourself walking holiday based in strategically located bed-and-breakfasts (which I will be doing next month in Wales). This is my favorite kind of travel to plan, so feel free to call on me.