My Escorted Tours

Jun 01 - Jun. 20, 2022   3 nights Barcelona, Spain - Hotel Gaudi .. great hotel close to cruise port and Las Ramblas 9 nights  - Celebrity Constellation sailed from Barcelona to Venice, stops in Mallorca, Toulon, France, La Spezia (Cinque Terre) , Rome, Naples.. went to Sorrento and Pompeii, Kotor Montenegro, Split and Trogir, Croatia, end Venice 2 nights Venice - Mercurio Hotel on San Marco island.  great location, small rooms no elevator. 4 nights Lake Garda, Italy - Porto Azzurro Hotel - Fabulous hotel and location close to the castle in Sirmione.  Free bikes to use and the 1000 Miglio car race rally was right in front of the hotel to watch.  Lots of fun!

G ADVENTURES - 15 DAY  'COSTA RICA ADVENTURE''TOUR We flew on the new non stop Air Transat flights from Vancouver directly to San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica. The flights were approx. 7 hours each way. The tour started and ended in San Jose, and we travelled first to the West coast,  staying in Quepos and visiting the beautiful Manuel Antonio National Park. We saw howler monkeys, lots of birds and sloths in the trees! It was amazing! We went on a Catamaran sunset cruise and spent time on the beautiful beaches. Next we drove to Monteverde in the Cloud Forest and went on a night walk tour in the jungle. After we drove to La Fortuna which is at the foot of the Arenal Volcano.  There is lots to do here, including river rafting, hanging bridges, ziplining, swimming beneath waterfalls and hot springs.  We then drove to a real Jungle lodge in the Sarapiqui rainforest, where we had ride a tractor to, as cars could not get there by road. We were literally off the grid here!  We were able to blend in with wildlife and we saw tucans, more sloths, and butterflies.  This was a real experience!  Next we stayed at the all inclusive Baula lodge in Tortugero National Park where kayaked through the mangroves and saw more sloths, monkeys and even caymans along the way!. The last place we stayed was in the beach resort town on the east coast called Puerto Viejo and stayed at the Hotel Escape. This is a small town full of surfers and laid back beach types.  It was a great way to end our vacation, except that in the last few days COVID19 was starting to arrive in Costa Rica so we were so fortunate to be able to fly home just on time!!

June - July 2019 IRELAND - ROYAL IRISH TOURS 15 NIGHTS I escorted a  small group tour of 17 around the entire island of Ireland. We travelled with Royal Irish Tours, it was awesome.  This was on of my private custom designed tours,  but was similar to the "Shamrock Royal" itinerary with a few changes.  We had an extra day in Westport and some of us hiked up Croagh Patrick Mountain which was a great challenge!  It is one of the oldest religious sites in Ireland, and is home to an 11th century monastery.  Ireland is a beautiful country, good food and very friendly people.  I highly recommend including the north with Belfast, Giants Causeway and Derry Derry included if you have time.. We visited Quill's for an authentic  farmhouse dinner, a Medieval Castle dinner, enjoyed a Riverdance show in Dublin, saw the Titanic Museum,  Guinness Brewerey, Kissane Sheep Farm demonstration,  the Cliffs of Moher, and of course kissed the Blarney Stone! In Dublin we stayed at the Camden Court Hotel, not far from the Temple Bar !  Scotland - July 2019 We flew to Edinburgh and stayed for 4 nights at the Old Waverly Hotel which was very central to walk to all the sights.  It is a very historical and beautiful city which on the Royal Mile street you feel like you are in a movie, as all the buidings are so old with the beautiful Edinburgh Castle on top of the hill.   London - July 2019 I stayed in London at the Sidney Hotel, which is located very close to Victoria Station.  This is nice 3 star hotel , which has smaller rooms but all the conveniences needed and a full breakfast included.  It was very easy to walk to the Victoria station to catch the Gatwick Express. We took a day tour to see Bath and Stonehenge which was incredible!    

SOUTH AFRICA & VICTORIA FALLS March 31 - April 22, 2018 I designed a custom itinerary for a small group of 16 to travel to South Africa and Victoria Falls. We started in CAPE TOWN, the hotel was SUNSQUARE CITY BOWEL.  The hotel is only one year old, in a great central location and has a rooftop pool and bar with a fabulous view of the city and Table Mountain! Some of us (myself included) hiked up Table Mountain on a beautiful sunny day and the view was well worth the 5 hour climb up!  We took a tour to the Cape of Good Hope and saw the cute little penguins at Boulder Beach! We then travelled along the Garden Route and first stayed at STELLENBOSCH for 2 nights and along the way stopped at a Cheetah Outreach centre where we got to pet a cheetah!  In the winelands we had many tastings including a brandy tasting!  We stayed in a 5 star luxury Safari Lodge, BOTLIERSKOP PRIVATE GAME RESERVE in tented rooms.  The food service and game drives were all excellent and I would highly recommend to anyone. We then travelled along the coast and stayed in KNYSNA, at the PROTEA HOTEL KNYSNA QUAYS, which is located right on the waterfront marina.  We took a lagoon cruise and tried oysters for which this area is famous for.    We travelled and saw the Cango Caves, and 2 of our group jumped at the at the Worlds Tallest Bungee jump along the way!  Next stay was at CAPE ST. FRANCIS.  This is a small beach town and the beaches are fabulous here. After we spent 2 nights in JOHANNESBURG, took a tour of the Apartheid Museum, Freedom Square and went through Nelson Mandelas house in Soweto.       

VICTORIA FALLS - April 18 - 21, 2018 We stayed for 3 nights and saw the beautiful Victoria Falls, the highest in the world.  The hotel CRESTA SPRAYVIEW, was a 3 star but the service was friendly and overall a good place to stay.  The country is having major issues so a lot of the hotels have become more rundown recently.  CHOBE PARK - BOTSWANA We took a full day tour to Chobe Park which included a Chobe River cruise and a Safari Game drive.  We saw many animals, mostly elephants , but we were lucky to see a lion that had just made a recent kill and was eating the buffalo. Our group also did the "Walk with the LIONS" tour which was another highlight!    

Oct. 2018 Stayed in Rome and saw all the main attractions including the Vatican, Collossuem,  Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, it was all spectacular! We took a train from Rome to Figline Valdarno in Tuscany.  It is a small village 30 min by train to Florence.  We stayed in a beautiful hotel /villa called Villa CasaGrande and can highly recommend. They have a winery and spa and also offer cooking classes.  You can walk to the train station and go to Florence which we did, for a day trip.  The town of Figline has a market square and lots of old historical buildings with great restaurants and even Sting has a villa close by!. We took a 9 day cruise on the Royal Caribbean Jewel of the Seas from Rome roundtrip.  We stopped at the following ports: Sicily, Malta, Santorini, Mykonos, Athens, Naples Each port was amazing and my favorites were Santorini, Malta and Mykonos!      

  NEWPORT BEACHSIDE RESORT, Newport Beach Florida We stayed at this condo/hotel for 3 nights which is located between Fort Lauderdale and Miami.  The hotel is situated directly on a sandy beach and has a lovely pool and poolside bar.  The rooms are 1 or 2 bedroom units with a living room area with fridge and microwave.  This is a great hotel to stay before or after a cruise with your family.   CELEBRITY REFLECTION - March 2017 - 7 day cruise roundtrip Miami sailing to San Juan, St. Maarten and St. Kitts. I highly recommend the Celebrity Reflection which is the newest ship with Celebrity at this time.  The ship has a beautiful spa and indoor pool as well as 4 hot tubs and 2 outdoor pools.  The is a grassy area up top with a specialty grill restaurant and bar.  There is a Kids club , a basketball court and jogging track along with a large fitness room with all the equipment you could want plus many fitness classes available.  The entertainment is excellent with a mix of singing, dance, comedy and theatrical.  There is something for everyone! San Juan, Puerto Rico - The ship docked right in old town which was easy access to walk right into old town which has good restaurants and shopping St. Maarten - This island is part Dutch and French, and we took a private tour around the entire island with a stop at famous Maho Beach where you can stand right below the airport runway and watch the planes take off and land. St. Kitts - This is a nice island with many beaches, there are lots of shops right at the dock you can walk to, and we took a taxi to the beach for the afternoon where there was white sand and clear water.  We saw small monkeys roaming around which were fun to watch, but not to touch!    

Oct.30 - Nov.12, 2016 I escorted a small group of 22 to Vietnam, Cambodia and Hong Kong. We flew on Cathay Pacific which was amazing service all the way!  We first flew to Hanoi and then spent a night on a junk boat on Halong Bay.  This was a 5 star experience on the Bhaya Classic which included all meals and had cooking classes, tai chi on the deck, plus local entertainment.  We went to explore caves and there was an opportunity to swim in the beautiful water. Next we flew to Hue, and then stayed in Hoi An, the Lantern City.  Here we could special order any clothing or even shoes custom fit that were ready in 24 hours!  This is a beautiful city along the river, and we enjoyed a dragon boat cruise plus riding through town on rickshaws! We then flew to Saigon (Ho Chi Mingh City) and saw the War Museum, and went to see the Chi Chi tunnels where the Vietamese hid underground during the war.  Some of us took a Vespa Saigon City by Night tour which was fabulous and I highly recommend doing.  We rode into the local suburbs and ate local food and entertainment. The food included frog legs, crab legs, fish, lettuce wraps, spring rolls and lots of local beer! Next stop was Siem Reap, Cambodia.  This was a beautiful country and we got to see Angor Wat ruins at sunrise.  We also went to Angor Thom (where Raiders of the Lost Ark was filmed) Some of the group took a ride on elephants throughout the ruins.  It was an amazing experience to see. We ended our trip with a 2 night stopover in Hong Kong.  We took a city tour which included going up the Gondola to Victoria Peak where we had a great view of the city.  We took a boat cruise and saw the vast differences of the old and the modern lives that are there. Many old junks with fisherman are on the marina together with new yachts. Hong Kong has a very modern feel and every store you can imagine is there for shopping and we had a visit to shop at the famous Stanley Market. I highly recommend anyone to visit these 3 countries, they are reasonably priced, great shopping and food, and most of all , very friendly people!