Enter the haggis! This past weekend, Scots in the UK and abroad gathered for a fun annual celebration of their national bard, Robert Burns. It is an important tradition in Scotland. Burns lived from 1759 – 1796. He wrote poetry about rural life as he ran the family farm in western Scotland, and the writing…
So much to see and do in Europe already, but why not plan your trip around some of the season’s special events? Festivals and fairs are a window into a culture, a signifier of what is important to a community, and an excellent way to rub elbows with the locals. Here is your 2020 trip…
Tuscany is synonymous with wine and food tradition, an Epicurean streak running through the region’s history, economy, and daily life. Our Wine & Food UnTour is a natural in the region, and truffles are a given for a fall food (un)tour in the region. Truffles grow underground in certain zones within the Val d’Orcia, the…
Porto is a new favorite destination for savvy travelers who love food, wine, scenery, and old world architecture. Marta, a proud Porto native, is busy with our popular new UnTour there! She is our UnTours staff person and welcomes UnTourists on this exciting new program in Portugal. Guests enjoy her hospitality and appreciate the knowledge…
UnTours Swiss staff person Margrit Winterberger celebrated her retirement at the end of our 2019 season. UnTours president Brian Taussig-Lux joined her and other Swiss colleagues past and present for a retirement celebration this past fall. A tribute to Margrit Hal Taussig brought the first group of Americans to Switzerland in 1975. Margrit Winterberger started…
We have just extended our Budapest UnTour season to go year round. Europe’s cities can be especially appealing in the off season. Plan to visit in the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas to enjoy festive outdoor Christmas markets. Or brighten the new year with a low-cost getaway. Budapest can feel just exotic enough to be…
This time of year we celebrate the end of a fun and exciting season of UnTours. We also celebrate UnTourists who have shared their photos. In November, we put 12 of our favorite UnTours Photo Contest entries up for popular vote, and the people have spoken. The 2019 winner is: Karen Munoz! She traveled with…
Jackie Johnson is a regular on our Ireland UnTour and has been generous with her photos and reports from the road. In her first dispatch from her most recent Kenmare sojourn, she shared the ups and downs of her travels. She also shared so many excellent food photos, I circled back and asked her for…
In our first in a series on overtourism, we talked about finding alternatives to very popular cities, like seeing Holland from a base in Leiden rather than Amsterdam. You can read more about that here. We still find ourselves in popular tourist cities though, and you will too. After all, we all want to see…
Maybe you have saved up for your UnTour. Surely you have shopped for the best airfare or used our services to help save you money. Everyone wants to stretch their travel dollar. Now how do you access money from Europe without paying exorbitant fees? Here are a dozen tips to help, from those of us…