Mar 14, 2008
Tough travel times require new travel tactics, like staying in university dorms around Europe. How about the London School of Economics?
This past week, the British pound briefly touched a level of $2.05 to the U.S. dollar -- which means that you actually pay about $2.15 per pound by the time you factor in fees and commissions to various money-changers. The Euro has soared to $1.56 -- and is predicted to go higher. If you're to enjoy an affordable trans-Atlantic trip this summer, you have got to start thinking about alternative accommodations costing far less than hotels or even guesthouses.
I'll start with university accommodations. And then, in a subsequent post, I'll deal once again -- but more comprehensively than before -- with those greatly-misunderstood "youth hostels".
The campus digs, first. Nearly all universities in Europe throw open their (temporarily unoccupied) student housing to the general public (of all ages) when school is out, which can vary from late May or early June through late August or early September.
Though you can sometimes get deals as good as $150 for a full week, usually a university room in a major city like London costs between $24 and $60 a night. (The higher the price on that scale, the more likely the room with have a private bath rather than a shared one down the hall.) Your neighbors will likely be a mix of other savvy travelers, students sticking around for summer courses, and overseas visitors participating in summer study programs.
The best way to find campus housing open to tourists is to go directly to the tourist authority of a given country or city. For example, at the official tourism site Visit Britain (www.visitbritain.us) you can search the accommodations database under the category "budget and student" and find, alongside a dozen hostels, eight campus housing options in London alone. You can find links to official tourist office sites at www.worldtourismdirectory.com.
Write and read comments about this post.
I'll start with university accommodations. And then, in a subsequent post, I'll deal once again -- but more comprehensively than before -- with those greatly-misunderstood "youth hostels".
The campus digs, first. Nearly all universities in Europe throw open their (temporarily unoccupied) student housing to the general public (of all ages) when school is out, which can vary from late May or early June through late August or early September.
Though you can sometimes get deals as good as $150 for a full week, usually a university room in a major city like London costs between $24 and $60 a night. (The higher the price on that scale, the more likely the room with have a private bath rather than a shared one down the hall.) Your neighbors will likely be a mix of other savvy travelers, students sticking around for summer courses, and overseas visitors participating in summer study programs.
The best way to find campus housing open to tourists is to go directly to the tourist authority of a given country or city. For example, at the official tourism site Visit Britain (www.visitbritain.us) you can search the accommodations database under the category "budget and student" and find, alongside a dozen hostels, eight campus housing options in London alone. You can find links to official tourist office sites at www.worldtourismdirectory.com.
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Labels: accommodations, europe
Because Easter is unusually early this year, the month of April has suddenly become a time for thrifty travel to the Caribbean
Eastern Sunday falls on March 23, 2008, which makes an "off-season" to the Caribbean out of the entire month of April. Throughout April, round-trip airfares to St. Thomas, the U.S. Virgin Islands, will be as low as $224 from Boston (on American Airlines), $214 from New York or Newark (on Continental), $265 from Atlanta (on Spirit Airlines), and $241 from Chicago (on U.S. Airways) -- all unusually low rates for a time of year when it is still occasionally chilly up north.
I can't think of a better use of those knocked-down April airfares than to make a trip to the famous hillside camp of tented bungalows -- charging as little as $70 a night -- known as Maho Bay Camps (tel. 800/392-9004 or 340/715-0501; www.maho.org), on the island of St. John in the Virgin Islands. You reach St. John by ferry from St. Thomas.
As an indication that Maho Bay has plenty of vacancies at that time, let me quote from their recent appealing press release about conditions there in April and May: "The turquoise waters are warming up to their typical perfect swimming temperatures of 80 degrees and the snorkeling is incredible with recent sightings of turtles, spotted eagle rays, and more tropical fish than you can name swimming along the reefs."
Maho Bay Camps is an American vacation treasure, an eco-sensitive resort appealing to sensitive, unpretentious, intellectually curious people of all ages who value the back to nature quality of a resort made up of canvas-tented bungalows overlooking an enchanting ocean view. You owe it to yourself to enjoy a week or two at this remarkable place.
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I can't think of a better use of those knocked-down April airfares than to make a trip to the famous hillside camp of tented bungalows -- charging as little as $70 a night -- known as Maho Bay Camps (tel. 800/392-9004 or 340/715-0501; www.maho.org), on the island of St. John in the Virgin Islands. You reach St. John by ferry from St. Thomas.
As an indication that Maho Bay has plenty of vacancies at that time, let me quote from their recent appealing press release about conditions there in April and May: "The turquoise waters are warming up to their typical perfect swimming temperatures of 80 degrees and the snorkeling is incredible with recent sightings of turtles, spotted eagle rays, and more tropical fish than you can name swimming along the reefs."
Maho Bay Camps is an American vacation treasure, an eco-sensitive resort appealing to sensitive, unpretentious, intellectually curious people of all ages who value the back to nature quality of a resort made up of canvas-tented bungalows overlooking an enchanting ocean view. You owe it to yourself to enjoy a week or two at this remarkable place.
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Flash. A new "Chinatown bus" service, with A) $1 fares for some, and B) power sockets free Wi-Fi
A new bus venture called Bolt (www.boltbus.com) starts March 27 between New York and Washington, D.C., with service to Boston expected thereafter. Bolt will be charging as little as $1 for several seats per departure, and $5 to $15 for the other one-way seats. And as a bonus, it will provide power sockets for laptops at every seat, and free Wi-Fi aboard the bus. Who could resist?
Here's another phenomenon in transportation, which we can only hope will spread across the country. It already joins the British-owned Megabus (serving cities in the mid-west and west coast) and DC2NY.com, offering free mineral water and Wi-Fi on $20 rides between NYC and Washington, D.C. You'll get a kick out of BoltBus' website (its slogan is "bolt for a buck"), and you'll want to know that if you buy 8 tickets on Bolt Bus, you'll get one ticket free.
On Wednesday, I spoke about reports that Greyhound had matched the higher $20 one-way fares that the older "Chinatown buses" (a generic name for rock-bottom-priced buses; many no longer operated by Chinese-American entrepreneurs) are offering. With several attempts, and all sorts of stabs, you can sometimes manage to book one of these $20 "E-fare" on the Greyhound website -- but it takes an effort (and some luck).
The new Bolt Bus will pick up passengers from free-of-charge outdoor locations at 33rd Street and 7th Avenue in Manhattan, at Canal Street and 6th Avenue (on the border of Chinatown) in Manhattan, and at 17th and G Streets NW in Washington, D.C.
We'll breathlessly watch the development of Bolt Bus and hope to announce major extensions of its service. Long live the cheap bus!
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Here's another phenomenon in transportation, which we can only hope will spread across the country. It already joins the British-owned Megabus (serving cities in the mid-west and west coast) and DC2NY.com, offering free mineral water and Wi-Fi on $20 rides between NYC and Washington, D.C. You'll get a kick out of BoltBus' website (its slogan is "bolt for a buck"), and you'll want to know that if you buy 8 tickets on Bolt Bus, you'll get one ticket free.
On Wednesday, I spoke about reports that Greyhound had matched the higher $20 one-way fares that the older "Chinatown buses" (a generic name for rock-bottom-priced buses; many no longer operated by Chinese-American entrepreneurs) are offering. With several attempts, and all sorts of stabs, you can sometimes manage to book one of these $20 "E-fare" on the Greyhound website -- but it takes an effort (and some luck).
The new Bolt Bus will pick up passengers from free-of-charge outdoor locations at 33rd Street and 7th Avenue in Manhattan, at Canal Street and 6th Avenue (on the border of Chinatown) in Manhattan, and at 17th and G Streets NW in Washington, D.C.
We'll breathlessly watch the development of Bolt Bus and hope to announce major extensions of its service. Long live the cheap bus!
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Labels: bus
Mar 13, 2008
Were you aware that there were $29 one-way fares on Southwest Airlines?
A number of readers have reminded me that in addition to the Southwest Airlines (www.southwest.com) sales fares that I described in a recent post, that Southwest has year-around $29 fares between close-in cities for passengers who book at least 21 days in advance.
Remember that key condition: 21 days in advance. Make your plans that far in advance and you can fly one-way for $29 from all of the following cities:
Austin, Texas to Houston; Birmingham, Alabama to Nashville or New Orleans; Boise, Idaho to Spokane; Chicago to Indianapolis; Corpus Christi to Houston; Dallas to Tulsa; Houston to Austin, Corpus Christi or San Antonio; Indianapolis to Chicago; Jacksonville to Tampa Bay; Nashville to Birmingham; New Orleans to Birmingham; San Antonio to Houston; Seattle to Spokane; Spokane to Boise or Seattle; Tampa Bay to Jacksonville; and Tulsa to Dallas.
Amazing, huh?
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Remember that key condition: 21 days in advance. Make your plans that far in advance and you can fly one-way for $29 from all of the following cities:
Austin, Texas to Houston; Birmingham, Alabama to Nashville or New Orleans; Boise, Idaho to Spokane; Chicago to Indianapolis; Corpus Christi to Houston; Dallas to Tulsa; Houston to Austin, Corpus Christi or San Antonio; Indianapolis to Chicago; Jacksonville to Tampa Bay; Nashville to Birmingham; New Orleans to Birmingham; San Antonio to Houston; Seattle to Spokane; Spokane to Boise or Seattle; Tampa Bay to Jacksonville; and Tulsa to Dallas.
Amazing, huh?
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Though Moscow has the world's highest hotel rates, New York City is a close second; and guess which U.S. city is the cheapest?
A number of U.S. newspapers picked up the recent disclosure that New York City's hotels enjoyed an average room rate in 2007 of $325. But it remained for the British publication, TravelMole, to place that price in perspective. According to the British e-zine, Moscow was still more expensive (average room rate of $388), with Venice at $250, London at $230, Rome at $208, and Edinburgh at $206. The cities of Latin America were far less costly (Mexico City, $118; Sao Paulo, $125; Buenos Aires, $140), while the two best values in western Europe were Pisa ($132) and Berlin ($132).
The world's cheapest big city? Orlando, Florida, with an average room rate of $110.
In declining order of cost, other cities were ranked as follows: Dubai ($250 the average room rate, making it the third most expensive city), Geneva ($218, sixth most expensive city), Oslo $200 (tenth most expensive), Copenhagen $198 (eleventh most expensive), Paris $196 (twelfth most expensive), Barcelona $190 (#13), Tokyo $188 (#15).
Other cheapest cities in terms of their average hotel room rates: Beijing, Las Vegas, Shanghai, Bangkok, Tallinn.
We can all make our travel plans accordingly.
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The world's cheapest big city? Orlando, Florida, with an average room rate of $110.
In declining order of cost, other cities were ranked as follows: Dubai ($250 the average room rate, making it the third most expensive city), Geneva ($218, sixth most expensive city), Oslo $200 (tenth most expensive), Copenhagen $198 (eleventh most expensive), Paris $196 (twelfth most expensive), Barcelona $190 (#13), Tokyo $188 (#15).
Other cheapest cities in terms of their average hotel room rates: Beijing, Las Vegas, Shanghai, Bangkok, Tallinn.
We can all make our travel plans accordingly.
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Labels: accommodations, money
From now on, you'll need to consult Booking.com -- Europe's biggest hotel search engine -- when you're looking for a hotel room
In the U.S., Hotels.com (www.hotels.com) and Quikbook (www.quikbook.com) almost monopolize the field of hotel searches. In Europe, they run a remote second to a website called Booking.com (www.booking.com). And now, Booking.com has opened offices in New York and San Francisco and is flooding its list of available properties with American hotels, often naming unbeatable discount prices for their rooms. From now on, you'd do well to access Booking.com (an attractive, well-organized site listing many bargains) after you've first searched the offerings of Hotels.com and Quikbook.com.
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Labels: accommodations, websites
Mar 12, 2008
You have two and a half days left to book an outstanding fare: $139 each way between the east and west coasts
The lot of a new airline is often hard. And that's apparently the case with the new Virgin America (www.virginamerica.com) flying (mainly) between the two coasts. Despite lavish publicity, and super-modern innovations (a giant number of full-length movies viewed from your seat, restaurant-like service from flight attendants summoned to your seat), Virgin America has apparently found it necessary to offer a price of only $139 each way between Los Angeles/San Francisco, on the one hand, and New York/Washington, D.C., on the other. Tickets must be purchased by 11:59pm this Friday, March 14; they can be for flights March 25 to May 21, and they can be purchased at this price only via the airline's website.
This is probably the week's outstanding airfare sale, which is why we're placing it on our blog today. It enables you to fly between the West Coast/East Coast (or vice versa) for less than you'd pay for most shuttle flights between New York and Boston.
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This is probably the week's outstanding airfare sale, which is why we're placing it on our blog today. It enables you to fly between the West Coast/East Coast (or vice versa) for less than you'd pay for most shuttle flights between New York and Boston.
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Don't look now, but there appears to be a counter-reaction to user-generated travel websites, a growing skepticism as to their worth
I've been vindicated. After many months of serving as one of the few journalistic opponents to the user-generated travel websites (I've written that they are prepared by inexperienced amateurs who have no comparative judgment, who have only been to one hotel or one restaurant in the city they're reviewing), none other than Newsweek magazine has quoted a research specialist who claims that the public is growing weary of greenhorn dabblers. She cites, as support for the counter-trend, the popularity of About.com (www.about.com), which relies on experts for its judgments, and the similar success of bigthink.com (www.bigthink.com), "where depth of knowledge and expertise reign."
So now there's someone else who's crying in the wilderness (like me): Bring back the experts! Down with the dilettantes!
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So now there's someone else who's crying in the wilderness (like me): Bring back the experts! Down with the dilettantes!
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Labels: websites
Are the standard bus lines matching the $20 rates of the Chinatown buses, or simply appearing to do so?
It's being claimed by Greyhound Bus and Peter Pan Bus Lines that they have matched the $20 fares of the rock-bottom-priced "Chinatown buses" operating between New York and Boston, or between New York and Washington, D.C. And sure enough, if you go to the websites of the two long-established bus companies, you'll find repeated references to "E-Fares" as low as $20 for the one-way trip between those cities.
Only...
Try and book an actual date of departure for those itineraries. If you are lucky and hit the right buttons at the right time, you'll access a $20 rate "plus $3 convenience fee" (whatever that is) for a total of $23. If your own technological prowess is lacking, or you aren't lucky enough to click on the right buttons in the right sequence, you'll find yourself staring at a screen of rates often twice as high.
Since Greyhound's costs, and Peter Pan's costs are obviously higher than those of the Chinatown buses, it seems unlikely that the two big firms are anxious to sell many seats at the $20 price. Or were the difficulties I encountered simply proof of my own klutziness? So help me, I've tried to book an online $20 ticket for an actual date from New York to Boston or Washington, D.C., and succeeded only intermittently.
One thing is clear: if Greyhound's decision to match the rates of the Chinatown buses proves successful, and the latter are put out of business, you'll see the immediate disappearance of those $20 fares. For a giant company to match or undercut the rates of a tiny start-up is occasionally called "predatory pricing" -- i.e., a temporary price cut meant only to drive a competitor out of business. Naturally, I would never accuse Greyhound of such a thing.
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Only...
Try and book an actual date of departure for those itineraries. If you are lucky and hit the right buttons at the right time, you'll access a $20 rate "plus $3 convenience fee" (whatever that is) for a total of $23. If your own technological prowess is lacking, or you aren't lucky enough to click on the right buttons in the right sequence, you'll find yourself staring at a screen of rates often twice as high.
Since Greyhound's costs, and Peter Pan's costs are obviously higher than those of the Chinatown buses, it seems unlikely that the two big firms are anxious to sell many seats at the $20 price. Or were the difficulties I encountered simply proof of my own klutziness? So help me, I've tried to book an online $20 ticket for an actual date from New York to Boston or Washington, D.C., and succeeded only intermittently.
One thing is clear: if Greyhound's decision to match the rates of the Chinatown buses proves successful, and the latter are put out of business, you'll see the immediate disappearance of those $20 fares. For a giant company to match or undercut the rates of a tiny start-up is occasionally called "predatory pricing" -- i.e., a temporary price cut meant only to drive a competitor out of business. Naturally, I would never accuse Greyhound of such a thing.
Write and read comments about this post.
Labels: bus
Mar 11, 2008
The opponents of free speech in travel writing have been slapped down by a court in Belfast, Northern Ireland
Several months ago, I drew attention to a jury verdict in Australia that had found a newspaper journalist guilty of having defamed a local restaurant by writing a critical review of its food. Though at first glance the matter might have seemed comical, the possibility that courts might entertain such lawsuits by hotels and restaurants poses a grave threat to travel journalism. If more similar lawsuits are permitted, there will soon be an end to the critical appraisal of travel facilities in guidebooks, newspapers, and magazines.
As amazing as it may seem, there appear to be no specific constitutional guarantees of free speech in Australia. And though it seems inconceivable that our own courts would permit such lawsuits, it's obvious that in a great many jurisdictions all over the world, no free-speech protections prevail. The possibility that a foreign court may find a writer guilty of defaming a hotel or restaurant in an honest expression of views will prevent honestly written guidebooks from being published in the United States, since most such guidebooks are also circulated overseas.
That's why it's heartening to report that last week, a court in Belfast, Northern Ireland, threw out a lawsuit brought by a restaurant against a newspaper critic who had panned the restaurant's meals. The details are found on www.breitbart.com.
Nevertheless, we all need to remain vigilant against such threats to the honest expression of opinions. You may be interested in one of my own experiences in the world of guidebook-writing:
More than 30 years ago, I was criminally indicted in the courts of Athens, Greece, for having written, in our guidebook to Greece, that the local English-speaking newspaper of Athens, at that time, was "practically worthless." Those two words resulted in a heavy package of legal documents mailed to my home in New York, proclaiming that I was to present myself to a court in Athens to answer charges of criminal libel.
When I called an Athens lawyer to ask what I should do, he responded that I should come to Athens and defend myself.
"But if I come to Athens to defend myself and I lose", I said, "I will be imprisoned." "Oh, chances are you won't lose," he responded.
After making fruitless visits to the Greek embassy in Washington, D.C. (whose officials were too frightened to intervene, this being a period when military colonels had seized power in Greece), and making similar pleas for help to the frightened tourist officials of Greece, all to no avail, I finally and reluctantly settled the case for a small payment, so that I could continue to travel to Greece.
And by the way, that newspaper was "practically worthless."
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As amazing as it may seem, there appear to be no specific constitutional guarantees of free speech in Australia. And though it seems inconceivable that our own courts would permit such lawsuits, it's obvious that in a great many jurisdictions all over the world, no free-speech protections prevail. The possibility that a foreign court may find a writer guilty of defaming a hotel or restaurant in an honest expression of views will prevent honestly written guidebooks from being published in the United States, since most such guidebooks are also circulated overseas.
That's why it's heartening to report that last week, a court in Belfast, Northern Ireland, threw out a lawsuit brought by a restaurant against a newspaper critic who had panned the restaurant's meals. The details are found on www.breitbart.com.
Nevertheless, we all need to remain vigilant against such threats to the honest expression of opinions. You may be interested in one of my own experiences in the world of guidebook-writing:
More than 30 years ago, I was criminally indicted in the courts of Athens, Greece, for having written, in our guidebook to Greece, that the local English-speaking newspaper of Athens, at that time, was "practically worthless." Those two words resulted in a heavy package of legal documents mailed to my home in New York, proclaiming that I was to present myself to a court in Athens to answer charges of criminal libel.
When I called an Athens lawyer to ask what I should do, he responded that I should come to Athens and defend myself.
"But if I come to Athens to defend myself and I lose", I said, "I will be imprisoned." "Oh, chances are you won't lose," he responded.
After making fruitless visits to the Greek embassy in Washington, D.C. (whose officials were too frightened to intervene, this being a period when military colonels had seized power in Greece), and making similar pleas for help to the frightened tourist officials of Greece, all to no avail, I finally and reluctantly settled the case for a small payment, so that I could continue to travel to Greece.
And by the way, that newspaper was "practically worthless."
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This summer, Zoom Airlines will be flying to London from New York, Fort Lauderdale, and San Diego, too -- at surprisingly low rates
Remember Zoom Airlines (www.flyzoom.com)? That's the cost-cutting Canadian airline that's been crossing the Atlantic for years from Canada, but last summer did the same for the first time from New York City to London (Gatwick). Zoom has recently announced that this coming summer, it will not only be flying to London from New York, but from Fort Lauderdale and San Diego as well. And on scattered dates throughout the summer, it will be offering prices that undercut the other London-bound carriers by several hundreds of dollars.
There's no pattern for those ultra-low fares, and you simply have to go to Zoom's website and pull up various dates to find the bargains. In June, for instance, there are numerous scattered dates when Zoom will be charging only $225 each way from Fort Lauderdale (including fuel surcharge), plus taxes of about $161 per round-trip. If you'll look for other dates when it returns from London for $225 one-way, you'll have made the round-trip for a total of $611, including fuel surcharges and all taxes -- and that's a phenomenal summer price.
On other dates in both June, July and August, it will be charging $245 one way (including fuel surcharge), on still other dates $295 and even $495 (like on the travel-heavy July 4th weekend). By simply avoiding the $495 and $295 dates, and flying for $225-to-$245, you'll be able to undercut standard fares by a whopping amount. The same holds true for Zoom's flights from New York and San Diego to London.
You'd be wise to go right away to Zoom's website and learn how to use it. For London bound flights, Zoom will become the first, true, cost-cutter across the Atlantic, and a superb source of bargains.
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There's no pattern for those ultra-low fares, and you simply have to go to Zoom's website and pull up various dates to find the bargains. In June, for instance, there are numerous scattered dates when Zoom will be charging only $225 each way from Fort Lauderdale (including fuel surcharge), plus taxes of about $161 per round-trip. If you'll look for other dates when it returns from London for $225 one-way, you'll have made the round-trip for a total of $611, including fuel surcharges and all taxes -- and that's a phenomenal summer price.
On other dates in both June, July and August, it will be charging $245 one way (including fuel surcharge), on still other dates $295 and even $495 (like on the travel-heavy July 4th weekend). By simply avoiding the $495 and $295 dates, and flying for $225-to-$245, you'll be able to undercut standard fares by a whopping amount. The same holds true for Zoom's flights from New York and San Diego to London.
You'd be wise to go right away to Zoom's website and learn how to use it. For London bound flights, Zoom will become the first, true, cost-cutter across the Atlantic, and a superb source of bargains.
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Labels: airlines, deals, london
A low-cost cruise of the eastern Mediterranean is an excellent honeymoon trip for couples getting married in the next several months
When one of my step-daughters got married a few years back, she and her husband chose a cruise off the waters of Greece, Turkey and Croatia for their honeymoon. It was an excellent choice; all three countries are among the least expensive of European nations, and shore excursions (including restaurant meals) were far less costly than if they had cruised in the western Mediterranean.
I mention that choice because the newest ship of MSC Cruises (www.msccruisesusa.com), the MSC Poesia, will be making 7-day cruises of Greece, Turkey and Croatia departing from Venice every Saturday from April 19 to November 8, and inside cabins aboard those cruises will be available for as little as $899 per person. Here's a remarkable honeymoon trip at an affordable price, even adding round-trip airfare to Venice.
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I mention that choice because the newest ship of MSC Cruises (www.msccruisesusa.com), the MSC Poesia, will be making 7-day cruises of Greece, Turkey and Croatia departing from Venice every Saturday from April 19 to November 8, and inside cabins aboard those cruises will be available for as little as $899 per person. Here's a remarkable honeymoon trip at an affordable price, even adding round-trip airfare to Venice.
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Labels: croatia, cruise, greece, turkey
Mar 10, 2008
A weakened insurgency against the government of Colombia may permit the restoration of tourism
What a difference a week makes! Seven days ago, Venezuela and Ecuador threatened war against Colombia for crossing the Ecuadorean border to kill an anti-Colombia insurgent. This past Friday, at a summit conference in the Dominican Republic, all three South American nations shook hands, declared the crisis over, re-established diplomatic relations, and toasted each other in the warmest terms. As a side consequence, it now appears that the insurgency against the Colombian government has been seriously weakened.
That's a totally different situation from the one that prevailed until recently. Just a few years ago, the Colombian insurgents ("FARC") were a few miles from Bogota. Now, they have been greatly reduced in numbers and in their ability to function.
And as a consequence of that, Colombia may possibly re-enter the world of tourism.
Recently, fifty major tour operators from countries all over the world completed an extensive, government-sponsored tour of Colombian cities (especially the historic capital city of Bogota) in which they were asked to believe that the major urban areas are not only especially attractive but entirely safe.
I spoke three weeks ago with one of them -- Martha Tavera, sales director of the distinguished South American specialist, Marnella Tours (tel. 866/993-0033; www.marnellatours.com).
Though I continuously peppered Mrs. Tavera with skeptical doubts and strong negative comments, she held to her position and proudly announced that Marnella Tours is about to add several programs to Colombia to the many tours and packages it already offers to Argentina (especially Patagonia), Peru, Chile, and Brazil ("we'll do it within the next 30 days", she said). Although she admitted that the druglord-led groups are still in the field, she maintained that their strength has declined so greatly that they are now no threat to tourism. And though she admitted that nearly 100 people are still held as hostages by the insurgent groups, she maintained that these were all Colombian political figures and that no one on any side is targeting the tourist.
She waxed rhapsodic about the attractions of Bogota, in the interior of the country, about its superb hotels and restaurants, its historic neighborhoods and architecture, its sophisticated people. She was equally positive about numerous historic and cultural attractions in the countryside of Colombia. And she constantly returned to the point that no element in Colombia has any intention of bringing harm to any tourist.
The same views, she maintained, are held by nearly every one of the major tour companies that have recently visited Colombia.
Marnella Tours is so busy sending a greatly increased number of Americans to South America (a substitute destination for costly Europe) that it remains prosperous without the added lure of Colombia. She has no need, she maintained, for additional business. And yet she is so enthusiastic about this large country (twice the size of France) that she is taking determined steps to add it to her roster of travel programs.
Cautioning you that the travel "advisories" of almost every western nation continue to warn against going to cities in Colombia other than Cartagena ("while security in Colombia has improved significantly in recent years, violence by narco-terrorist groups continues to affect some rural areas and cities", says our State Department), I pass along the enthusiastic opinions of this well-reputed tour company, Marnella.
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That's a totally different situation from the one that prevailed until recently. Just a few years ago, the Colombian insurgents ("FARC") were a few miles from Bogota. Now, they have been greatly reduced in numbers and in their ability to function.
And as a consequence of that, Colombia may possibly re-enter the world of tourism.
Recently, fifty major tour operators from countries all over the world completed an extensive, government-sponsored tour of Colombian cities (especially the historic capital city of Bogota) in which they were asked to believe that the major urban areas are not only especially attractive but entirely safe.
I spoke three weeks ago with one of them -- Martha Tavera, sales director of the distinguished South American specialist, Marnella Tours (tel. 866/993-0033; www.marnellatours.com).
Though I continuously peppered Mrs. Tavera with skeptical doubts and strong negative comments, she held to her position and proudly announced that Marnella Tours is about to add several programs to Colombia to the many tours and packages it already offers to Argentina (especially Patagonia), Peru, Chile, and Brazil ("we'll do it within the next 30 days", she said). Although she admitted that the druglord-led groups are still in the field, she maintained that their strength has declined so greatly that they are now no threat to tourism. And though she admitted that nearly 100 people are still held as hostages by the insurgent groups, she maintained that these were all Colombian political figures and that no one on any side is targeting the tourist.
She waxed rhapsodic about the attractions of Bogota, in the interior of the country, about its superb hotels and restaurants, its historic neighborhoods and architecture, its sophisticated people. She was equally positive about numerous historic and cultural attractions in the countryside of Colombia. And she constantly returned to the point that no element in Colombia has any intention of bringing harm to any tourist.
The same views, she maintained, are held by nearly every one of the major tour companies that have recently visited Colombia.
Marnella Tours is so busy sending a greatly increased number of Americans to South America (a substitute destination for costly Europe) that it remains prosperous without the added lure of Colombia. She has no need, she maintained, for additional business. And yet she is so enthusiastic about this large country (twice the size of France) that she is taking determined steps to add it to her roster of travel programs.
Cautioning you that the travel "advisories" of almost every western nation continue to warn against going to cities in Colombia other than Cartagena ("while security in Colombia has improved significantly in recent years, violence by narco-terrorist groups continues to affect some rural areas and cities", says our State Department), I pass along the enthusiastic opinions of this well-reputed tour company, Marnella.
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Labels: colombia
An amusing request from Montana to use TSA security personnel for flights carrying two passengers
The lightly-populated state of Montana apparently has six airports servicing 19-passenger turbo-props that average two passengers a flight. Because TSA regulations require the screening of passengers only on larger planes, there have never been TSA security checkpoints at these airports -- and the nation has survived, despite that.
Now, Montana's congressional delegation is demanding an appropriation of $2,000,000 for hiring TSA personnel to screen departures of these tiny planes and their two passengers. "We will continue to hold TSA's feet to the fire until this screening is up and running," says Senator Max Baucus.
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Now, Montana's congressional delegation is demanding an appropriation of $2,000,000 for hiring TSA personnel to screen departures of these tiny planes and their two passengers. "We will continue to hold TSA's feet to the fire until this screening is up and running," says Senator Max Baucus.
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Labels: red tape
Though you may be determined never to stay in a hostel, you should nevertheless consult HostelBookers
When it was recently announced that HostelBookers (www.hostelbookers.com) contained listings of tens of thousands of hostels in 2,500 locations, it became clear that the word "hostel" was now being used in a broader sense than ever before. The world does not possess tens of thousands of traditional hostels.
And yet the assertion by HostelBookers is a truthful one. If you will play around with that impressive website, you will quickly see that it does not confine its coverage to traditional hostels (older buildings with dormitory accommodations, mainly for backpackers) but includes a great many traditional budget hotels that are now calling themselves hostels to broaden their appeal (and to charge hostel-like rates). Many of these latter properties consist mainly of private rooms, often with private bath (although many of them also place four-to-six and even more beds in a room).
To show how broad his coverage has now become, the general manager of HostelBookers recently stated that the average age of his customers had increased from 24 to 32. He also declared, in an interview with Britain's TravelMole e-zine, that today, "a hostel is more likely to have flock wallpaper, free WiFi, rainfall showers and a rooftop bar, than bedbugs and bad plumbing".
If you're at all interested in ultra-cheap accommodations around the world, including in ultra-costly London and New York, you might want to look at the well-presented website. You'll quickly discover that a great many budget hotels are now taking steps to re-designate themselves as hostels.
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And yet the assertion by HostelBookers is a truthful one. If you will play around with that impressive website, you will quickly see that it does not confine its coverage to traditional hostels (older buildings with dormitory accommodations, mainly for backpackers) but includes a great many traditional budget hotels that are now calling themselves hostels to broaden their appeal (and to charge hostel-like rates). Many of these latter properties consist mainly of private rooms, often with private bath (although many of them also place four-to-six and even more beds in a room).
To show how broad his coverage has now become, the general manager of HostelBookers recently stated that the average age of his customers had increased from 24 to 32. He also declared, in an interview with Britain's TravelMole e-zine, that today, "a hostel is more likely to have flock wallpaper, free WiFi, rainfall showers and a rooftop bar, than bedbugs and bad plumbing".
If you're at all interested in ultra-cheap accommodations around the world, including in ultra-costly London and New York, you might want to look at the well-presented website. You'll quickly discover that a great many budget hotels are now taking steps to re-designate themselves as hostels.
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Labels: accommodations, hostels
Fifty years ago, 
Arthur Frommer is generally acknowledged to be the nation's foremost travel authority. He is the founder of the
