how to explore the byways of Europe

Roman amphitheater in Verona (c) 2017 by David Ourisman, all right reserved

Excellent advice was offered in today's column by Rick Steves in many Sunday newspapers: avoid destinations congested with tourists and look for what he calls back doors. In Steves' words, "Many travelers go to crowded, touristy places — then complain about the crowds." Here's my takeaway from his article.

Seek out secondary destinations. Rome is a very crowded tourist destination, and the Colosseum has long ticket lines. If getting up-close-and-personal with an ancient Roman colosseum is on your bucket list, consider the smaller (and very walkable) town of Verona in northern Italy. Pictured above is the Arena di Verona, a historical colosseum minus the crowds. You can even attend live opera there in the evening.

Avoid (what have become) tourist traps. While the Louvre and the Musée d'Orsay are both world class museums in Paris, you'll have to contend with the crowds. If you want to check the Louvre off your bucket list, enjoy the spectacular but relatively empty Napoleonic bedrooms and avoid the hundreds of tourists pushing up in front of the (tiny) Mona Lisa. If you love the French impressionists, visit the lesser-known Marmottan Museum (that houses the world's biggest collection of Monet's art).

Spend the night in destinations that are crowded during busy daytime hours — but are perfectly delightful in early morning and evening. Saint-Paul-de-Vence is a cute little town near the French Riviera. The pedestrian pathway through the town's center is inundated by day with visitors from bus tours and cruise ships ... but if you spend the night at Virtuoso hotel Le Mas De Pierre, you'll have the town practically to yourself.

Look for ways to skip the lines. Google secret entrances to the Louvre; you don't have to queue up in front of the pyramid. Purchase museum passes — or timed admission tickets — and bypass ticket lines entirely. It's even possible to arrange private tours before and after regular hours for many popular attractions.

Best of all, you don't have to figure this out on your own. Together with our trusted Virtuoso travel partners all over Europe, we get you Insider Access. Do you want to plan a trip that maximizes your precious time? that explores the byways of Europe? that takes advantage of the lesser-known back doors that local experts know best? Just drop us an email, and we'll help you Discover More.

copyright (c) 2017 by Ourisman Travel LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell, a Virtuoso® Member. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

Amangalla | explore Sri Lanka and its culture

Yatagala Temple, Galle, Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is a mostly undiscovered destination for most of us. An island in the Indian Ocean off the southern tip of India, it was called Ceylon while under British colonial rule.

Every itinerary should include Amangalla. Galle Fort, built by the Dutch East India Company in 1694, was originally home to the Dutch commander and his officers. Amangalla guests have the opportunity to stay in this centuries-old UNESCO heritage site. It's an easy walk from the resort to the Old Dutch Church, space warehouses, lighthouse, and Court Square. You can also visit Yatagala Temple (pictured above), a 2300 year old Buddist temple about five miles from Amangalla.

The nation is well known for its tea production. Ceylon Tea Trails is an oft-requested resort by our clients. Located in the Ceylon tea region, this Relais & Chateaux resort offers the chance to stay in one of five tea planters' bungalows.

Sri Lanka is a fascinating but logistically challenging destination. We recommend working with one of our in-country partners to put together a customized tour just for you. You won't need to spend your vacation worrying about how to get to the next point in your itinerary. You'll be able simply to relax, enjoy, and Discover More about the history and culture of Sri Lanka.

copyright (c) 2017 by Ourisman Travel LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell, a Virtuoso® Member. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

three great ways to explore London

London phone booths at Berkeley Square Gardens (c) 2017 by David Ourisman

How do you explore a new city? One way is to step out the front door of your hotel and start walking. You don't need to have a destination in mind. Just meander in whatever direction suits your fancy. Wander down the little side streets. Window shop (or engage in more intensive retail therapy, if that's your thing). Go into the stores and markets. Reward yourself with that incredible-looking pastry, as you'll be walking off the calories! This is the first of three great ways to get to know a city.

1. Get lost ... and find yourself again. Last spring when I was in London, I came across some picturesque parks (Berkeley Square Gardens and Grosvenor Square) as I wandered through Mayfair. I spotted a duo of old London phone booths by the side of Berkeley Square (pictured above).

2. Join a scheduled walk. Very reasonably priced, London Walks offers a weekly schedule of experiences. No reservations necessary, just show up at the scheduled time and meeting place. 10£ for adults, 8£ for senior and students, and free for kinds under 15 walking with their parents, this small investment will pay instant travel dividends. You'll get a local resident's insight on what you're seeing, the neighborhood you're in, and something of the history and culture of the place.

3. Plan exclusive, skip-the-lines experiences. This can get pricey, but you'll have a lifetime of travel stories to tell. Here are some of my favorite experiences in London:

• watching the changing of the guard from inside the Wellington Barracks
• visiting the Churchill War Rooms before opening and sitting in Churchill's chair
• seeing the Crown Jewels after closing
• climbing the spiral staircase at St. Paul's cathedral

We have travel partners in London, Paris, Rome, and many other cities who can make this kind of travel magic happen for you. Discover More!

copyright (c) 2017 by Ourisman Travel LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell, a Virtuoso® Member. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

textures of the Alhambra

Golden Arches at the Alhambra (c) 2017 by David Ourisman, all rights reserved

Travel photos bring back treasured memories. I was just perusing my photographs from a 2009 trip to Spain, and they brought to mind one of that country's true treasures, the Alhambra. We enjoyed the services of a superb private guide, and I most remember how much his stories added to the experience.

One of the highlights of the Alhambra is the Tower of Comares, containing the Throne Room. Just like ambassadors seeking an audience once did, we entered the Tower after passing along this pool. This picture shows the dazzling reflection of the tower in the brilliant sun, but what it really can't convey is how intensely bright the light really is.

reflections at the Alhambra (c) 2017 by David Ourisman, all rights reserved

Because our eyes adjust to the intense sunlight, anyone who enters the throne room is overwhelmed by its relative darkness — but not so the King, already on his throne, his eyes acclimated to the darkness. This clever architectural design put the King at a distinct advantage over his visitors who are effectively blinded in his presence.

Granada belongs on everyone's bucket list. Team Ourisman, in conjunction with our travel partners in Spain, can help you Discover More™!

Australia | first time? many times?

I visited Australia earlier this year, but this You Tube video from Tourism Australia has me ready to go back. It's an easy trip with non-stop flights to Sydney from Vancouver, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas and Honolulu. I was able to use United miles to fly business class on United's Boeing 787 Dreamliner — highly recommended. It's a l-o-n-g flight, but the Dreamliner's lie flat seats, higher air pressure, and diverse entertainment possibilities let me travel in comfort. Just one tip when flying United: bring your own travel pillow, as UA's supplied pillow is too thick and stiff for comfort.

Even better than the flight is the destination. Sydney is a gorgeous city with stunning views. At Wolgan Valley, I saw numerous kangaroos and other marsupials. And nothing surpassed the luxury and sea vistas at Kangaroo Island's Southern Ocean Lodge.

Australia is as large as the United States, and I have two outstanding items on my bucket list — (1) snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef and (2) staying at Longitude 131º to see the iconic Uluru.

We will work with you and our travel partners in Australia to orchestrate the bespoke vacation of your dreams. Just drop us an email, and we'll help you Discover More ... Down Under.

copyright (c) 2016 by Ourisman Travel 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.

Paris | I'll be there next Saturday

woman by the Seine (c) 2014 by David Ourisman, all rights reserved

Though I've been to Paris more than a dozen times, this is one place I can never get enough of. I inherited my love of travel from my grandparents who were intrepid world travelers in the 50's and 60's, and I always enjoyed my grandfather's slide shows of their travels. He traveled with his Leica, and I've photographed Paris with all sorts of cameras from a Minolta SLR and a Contax rangefinder to a Canon DSLR and a tiny Ricoh GR (which gets the credit for the photo above taken during my last visit).

Places to visit and things to do — here's a summary of the things I'm looking forward to this time around (and my travel partners who have helped organize the two walking tours).

Musée Marmottan Monet
Occupation & Liberation of Paris walking tour (Paris Personalized)
day trip to Giverny
Art Street tour of the 13th Arrondissement (W Travel France)
Quai Branly Museum
Bois du Boulogne

Hotels and places to stay — no visit to Paris would be complete (for me) without the chance to visit hotels. I'll be staying at and/or doing site inspections at the following:

Le Meurice
Le Bristol
Four Seasons George V
Grand Hotel du Palais Royal
Ritz Paris
La Reserve
Plaza Athenee
Peninsula Paris
d'Aubusson
Relais Christine
Saint James Paris
OneFineStay (apartment on rue Saint André des Arts, 6th arr.)

Please reach out to us for hotel bookings in Paris (with value-added amenities such as free daily breakfast and hotel credits that will save you hundreds!) and to consult with us to Discover More during your stay.

I'll be live blogging during my three weeks (!) in France, so subscribe to Travel Horizons or friend me on Facebook so you don't miss an article.

copyright (c) 2016 by Ourisman Travel 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.

travel and terrorism

http://www.hemenwaystreet.com/2012/08/wild-precious-life.html?showComment=1348280588715

[Note: the disappearance of EgyptAir Flight 804 early this morning happened subsequent to the publication time of this article].

Terror strikes infrequently and randomly, and that's the essence of its horror. There's no predicting when or where a psychopathic individual will attack, and every incident becomes a cause for worry. Different folks, of course, respond differently.

But I'm not going to stop traveling! Traveling and travel photography are the passions of my life, and I always proceed with the assumption that "lightening doesn't strike twice." Terror depends on unpredictability. Once it's hit a certain place, I believe that place becomes the safest place in the world for quite awhile, as the authorities there are on full alert while the terrorists go back into hiding.

Travel Weekly contains an insightful article by Richard Turen. He cites some interesting statistics about terrorism, starting with the fact that (in 2011) only 17 U.S. citizens were killed by terrorist acts (and that figure includes civilian deaths in war zones). Here's his [abridged] list of the statistics about how unlikely an individual is to die from a terror incident. Statistically, you're...

6 times more likely to die from hot weather
8 times more likely to be killed by a police officer
404 times more likely to die from a fall
1,048 times more likely to die in a car accident
23,528 times more likely to die from obesity

But here's an even more important reason to keep on traveling and doing the things we love. We have, in the words of Mary Oliver's poem, one wild and precious life to live. We go around just one time on this magical experience called life. If you wait until all risk is gone, you ensure only one thing: that you'll never make it to Paris, London, Bora Bora, or any of the other places on your bucket list!

Travel the world ... and Discover More!

P.S. — the artwork at the top of this article was created and copyrighted by Sarah Morgan Shepherd. 

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.

do less, discover more!

scene from the Ring of Dingle, County Kerry

A traveler planning a trip to Ireland next May asked for suggestions for her itinerary on fodors.com. Her plan is to drive all the way around Ireland in three weeks, beginning in Dublin, going to Belfast, and continuing counter-clockwise all the way around the island.

It was exhausting just to read her twenty-one day itinerary! She had something planned virtually every day. Lots of one-night stays. Lots of long driving days. Lots of attractions to see. Lots of things to do. Lots of places to visit. Lots of questions about even more places she might add to her trip.

The one thing missing from her itinerary was time … time to relax, time to soak in the culture, time to feast her eyes on Ireland's forty shades of green, time to unwind and spend a day in a small Irish village just doing nothing but relaxing, time to meet the locals, time to hang out in the pubs, time to listen to Irish music, time to discover Ireland.

Do less, discover more! Fodors definitely has a bias against using travel consultants. Too bad, because travel can be the realization of a dream … if we can get away from the mentality of checking off items on a bucket list. Focus instead on the travel experiences we want to have. Here is where a trusted travel advisor can be so valuable. She will ask you the right kinds of questions:

• Tell me about the trip you want to take. What's important to you about it?
• What would make this a wow trip for you?
• When you come home from your trip, what will you want to say about it? How would you describe what you've just experienced in Ireland?

Discover More is Brownell's tagline, and our entire purpose is to listen to your dreams, then collaborate with you to design a life-enriching travel experience … and not a twenty-one day endurance test of a road trip.

copyright (c) 2013 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.