August 5, 2004 -- Have you ever seen a travel deal, and thought, "No way. That can't be"? Or how about when you find out the savings are real? You're left sitting at your screen with your mouth agape and eyes wide like you just put a quarter in the slot machine and won five thousand dollars.
That "jackpot!" experience is exactly what it feels like when first finding the travel deals offered by Idyll Ltd.'s Untours vacation packages. Providing travelers with European travel deals that include airfare AND lengthy two weeks or more accommodations in comfortable vacation rental apartments or rural farmhouses at European travel hot spots, Untour vacation packages are travel the way it should be -- inexpensive, laid-back and so relaxing you could literally sleep the time away.
The company, founded in 1974 by an ex-history professor searching for the perfect European sabbatical, has just announced their fall travel specials. And, after three decades, they still continue a tradition that allows travelers to experience the city, country and surroundings like the locals do -- a far more genuine way to travel than being on the beach in an all-inclusive hotel.
Get ready to pack your bags, throw your schedule out the window and say "What the heck!" because these deals are for real. Travelers arriving at these Untour destinations before October 20, 2004 can benefit from these savings of up to $250.
- A one-bedroom apartment in too cool for school central Paris's for $2,039.
- An apartment or farmhouse (one even has a swimming pool) under the Tuscan sun just outside of Medieval Siena for $1,999.
- Pisa and it's surrounding countryside for just $2,039.
- A quaint apartment inside Venice for $2,209
- A farmhouse in the Spanish jewel Andalusia near Grenada for $1,979.
Remember, airfare is included and prices are per person for two weeks stays (that's right, two weeks) for travelers departing from New York or Boston. And those are just the specials. Other U.S. departures are slightly more expensive. Go to www.untours.com or call 888/868-6871 to speak with an Untours representative for information on other destinations such as Switzerland, Austria, Prague, Portugal, Provence, Germany, Budapest and other Untour European destinations. "Switzerland and Italy are always popular for us," says Brian Taussig-Lux, general manager of the company and nephew of Hal Taussig, the company's 79 year-old founder. "Prague is in big now too and we're expanding operations into Eastern Europe."
In addition to great deals on great places to stay, Untours offers their travelers ground transportation with a rental car or train passes, airport transfers and an English-speaking local available round the clock at each destination ready to help you with the in restaurants, fresh food markets, directions to sites and neighboring towns, local bars, and other insider info to help you enjoy your lengthy stay.
Other packaged deals offered by Idyll include "Untour Samplers" which allow travelers to enjoy two or more European destinations in one trip. The Prague-Paris two-city tour includes airfare and an apartment for one week in each location. The cost, $2,249 in the Fall/Spring; $2,379 for summer availability. Music lovers (or people who dig Weinershnitzel) should jump all over the Salzburg-Vienna "Sample" which comes in at $2,329 in the Fall/Spring or $2,539 in the summer months. You can already smell those sausages and beer, can't you?
What do we like even more about Idyll Ltd. and its Untours vacations? They turn all profits into the Idyll Development Foundation that provides low-interest loans to smart business ideas from entrepreneurs in low-income neighborhoods worldwide. "My uncle was never very comfortable making money," said Taussig-Lux. "So he found a way to give it back." With prices on European travel like these, he already is.
