Flying tip

Here's a great flying tip, you don't have to fly into and out of the same airport.  This is a great option if your are planning on driving when you get to your destination.  As an example, say you are flying to France and plan on spending some time in Paris, then renting a car and driving to Provence where you will end your vacation.  Instead of driving back to Paris you could choose an airport closer to where you end your vacation, in this example Marseille would be a great option.

Some things to consider:

1. Always check the pricing, it typically will not add much to your ticket price to have an "open jaw" itinerary.
2. Make sure your car rental agency is not charging you a one-way drop-off fee.

The Five Best Airports for Filling Up on Fancy Fast Food || Jaunted

With in-flight food options worse than ever, many of us are subjected to whatever fried foods are available within the terminal. Thankfully some airports bring a little local love through TSA, and make city favorites available to folks like us. We took a look around and found the Five Best Airports across the country to get your Fast Food Fix. Here’s what we think:

The Five Best Airports for Filling Up on Fancy Fast Food || Jaunted

European Auto Deliver Program

Thinking of buying a new European Automobile?  Several European manufacturers offer a delivery program where you travel to Europe, take delivery of your new vehicle, drive it in Europe for your vacation, and then drop it off at a designated shipping port.  And then in a few short weeks your new car will be delivered to the dealer closest to your home where you can then take delivery.

Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and Volvo all offer a European delivery program.  Saab is in transition and may continue offering the program, still to be determined.

About.com Budget Travel has an excellent article on the European delivery program, as does each manufacturer, here is a quick summary:

About.com article link


How It Works

Each automaker has its own procedure for taking factory deliveries in Europe, but here's a general synopsis:

1. You arrange to purchase an eligible model at your home dealership.

2. Purchase and travel arrangements are completed.

3. You travel to the factory with the necessary documents, take delivery and travel the highways of Europe.

4. Your trip ends either back at the factory or some other drop-off point in Europe.

5. The car is shipped to your home dealership and arrives a number of weeks later, where you take final delivery.


Audi - Based in Ingolstadt, Germany, Audi is among the newest companies to offer European Delivery. One of the most popular features of the program is Audi allows you to end your European trip in one of 14 cities and there is no drop-off fee for any location.

BMW - As the name of the company implies, Bavarian Motor Works always starts its European Delivery program in Munich. But there is an array of geographic options for drop-off and shipment: 19 locations in six European nations with Italian locations involving an additional fee.

Mercedes-Benz - Mercedes offers two packages: the Standard Package, and the Black Forest-Alps Rally. Both include lodging at selected hotels, 15 days of zero-deductible comprehensive insurance, ground transportation to/from drop-off points, and ocean shipping.

Porsche - From its factory near Stuttgart, Porsche offers 18 drop-off locations throughout Europe. Porsche also offers a Travel Club that schedules road tours throughout Europe. There are also Porsche Weekends that feature scenic or challenging drives.

Volvo - Volvo offers free round trip airfare to Sweden for two via SAS and one night in a Gothenburg hotel. Keep in mind this is a popular program, and its availability often is limited. You may only use the airfares when your car is ready for delivery.

Davault Travel can assist you in planning your European road trip, airline tickets, hotels and tours.

European travel a bargain in 2010?

The Euro has dropped significantly in value against the US Dollar this year.  While it still isn't as  low as it was when it was first launched the current exchange rate of 1.25 is still a four year low. When added to the price reductions many 3,4 and 5 star hotels have made over the last year now is a great time to visit the Europe.

Deal of the day

Las Vegas - Mandalay Bay Resort

Please contact me for more details.

Where Daily - Halong Bay Vietnam

A cruise through the karsts of Halong Bay near Haiphong Harbor in Vietnam is an eerie one indeed. Strange rock formations crop up through the fog and haze, ghosts really, of some dismal times recalling French Navy boats that patrolled the waters in the earlier parts of the last century looking for subversives and smugglers among the fishing junks. And then later, of U.S. Navy vessels trawling the deserted coves in search of guerrilla activity and or just a reason to be there. 

But these calm waters have always been a place of ghosts - mostly of the ancestors of farming village residents in these parts who have lived here for hundreds of years.

A cruise on the Emeraude from Halong City on an overnight venture through the mystical outcroppings easily puts the visitor back a century. Time melts on this carefully reconstructed 1910 paddle steamer, and then stops altogether. The ship silently slips around a forest of limestone islands and rock formations - there are more than 1000 of them in this sleepy bay in northern Vietnam - as mesmerizing in their spectral presence as they are historic.

As a passenger, the lazy overnight journey requires a cocktail on the top deck lounge before reading on a chaise, perhaps The Lover by Marguerite Duras, and whiling the afternoon away in dreams. 

Emeraude Entertainment

But the boat is not without its bustle of activities. A tender takes brings passengers who want to go ashore to Sung Sot Caves (Cave of Surprises) on an out island by a small village. There are options for kayaking and swimming near Hang Trong. Vietnamese cuisine demonstrations reveal the secrets of really good pho and a night at the movies watchingIndochine under the stars upon the Emeraude sun deck simply sizzles. The trip ends the next morning with early t'ai chi and tea before a packed buffet.

Affordable Spa Treats

Pampering has a place here, too, and for a fraction of what it costs elsewhere. The recent onboard opening of the Hanoi-based Santal Spa adds another layer of relaxation to the dazzling views with massages, facials and body scrubs. Santal is best known for its signature massage: the "four hand" treatment performed by two therapists using a blend of Shiatsu, Thai, Swedish, Balinese and Hawaiian Lomi-Lomi techniques. Other available treatments include traditional Vietnamese massage, warm stone treatments, reflexology and foot massages as well as body wraps and scrubs and a range of facials, all using quality cosmetics from France and Germany. An hour-long Swedish massage here might cost $30, rather than up to $200 paid on luxury cruise ships.

Onboard Details

The ship's 39 air-conditioned cabins come in deluxe and superior classes (including three suites) and keep the style of simpler times with wooden floors, modest wood and rattan furnishings and a small bathroom and shower. Buffet meals offer an array of Vietnamese and Continental dishes, along with fresh caught seafood, to suit the preferences of the 74 passengers it can carry.

The Deal

Rates for the two-day, one night cruise experience run $308-$557 for one and $350 to $624 for two. Transfers from Hanoi hotels (Halong Bay is about three hours by car from the city) run $45 pp for a shared van or $125 for up to two people in a private car ($135 for 3-5 persons).

Please contact me for more details.

iPhone users - Free Lonely Planet Guides

Lonely Planet is giving away 13 of their European City Guides through Thursday the 22nd.

Lonely Planet Blog Posting

Stranded by a volcano?

In response to the widespread chaos caused by the eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano, Lonely Planet is offering 13 of its European iPhone guides free.

‘Travellers stuck in unfamiliar places need access to practical information as well as suggestions on what to do whilst stranded’, said Tom Hall, Lonely Planet Travel Editor. ‘That’s why we’re giving away iPhone city guides to major affected destinations.’

The 13 guides will be free until Thursday, 22 April from the iTunes app store. You can access them via the links below.

The cities included are:

* Amsterdam
* Barcelona
* Berlin
* Budapest
* Copenhagen
* Istanbul
* London
* Moscow
* Munich
* Paris
* Rome
* Stockholm
* Vienna