This year I decided to take an Avalon river cruise to relax. I’ve taken many river cruises with Avalon before and loved it every time. The Romantic Rhine itinerary I went on starts in Amsterdam and ends in Basel for a total of 7 nights aboard the Tranquility II.
Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg are three of smallest countries in Europe but they have big things to offer a traveler – beautiful sights, great food, artwork from the Masters and interesting history lessons. My friend and I took the Trafalgar tour Best of Holland, Belgium & Luxembourg and we had a grand time.
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Have you ever dreamt of visiting London, Paris or both? Have you been there, done that, but want to do something different and off the beaten track? Have you ever noticed that everything you want to do is not even on an itinerary listed on a tour, and the dates are even wrong?
We flew into Zurich Switzerland two-nights prior to our cruise which allowed us enough free time to explore the city on our own. We purchased a Zurich City Pass (26 Euro) and this allowed us to transfer by train from our hotel to the city center, where we boarded a web of trams to get around the city. We stopped at some local coffee shops, sampled roasted chestnuts from a street vendor, and visited the Zurich Zoo as we explored the city. The next morning, we enjoyed a nice breakfast buffet at the Movenpick Hotel, which was included as part of our Avalon pre-night hotel package.
The strength of the American dollar this year has made it a particularly favorable time to travel, as the resultant exchange rates have caused prices for travel expenses such as hotels, restaurants, and shopping to drop anywhere from 15% to 50% from where they were last year. This makes for a great opportunity for anyone who wanted a vacation but didn’t think they could afford it to plan one, as well as for others to upgrade their travel plans with a little more affordable luxury. Here are some highlights of the places you might go where you can make the most of your dollar.