Buon viaggio! Take a Roman holiday soon.

The city of Venice is breathtaking

Italy is one of the most beautiful places in the world. Simply put, a trip to Italy will change your life. From the lakes to the mountainsides, the beaches and villages, the history and romance, Italy is a country that will take your breath away. The people are gracious and fun, the food is perfection, the wine is the juice of the gods!

Whether you are traveling alone, with your special someone, or with a huge family or group, we at Destinations Galore can create an itinerary for covering Italy from the ground up, or you can take advantage of any number of great packages currently being offered.

Right now, we know a tour operator giving $600 off per couple on ANY of their 2010 air-inclusive vacations to Italy. But you must book by May 28, 2010!

What about a 14-day First Class touring vacation starting at $3199* land only. You’ll visit Italy’s most popular cities: Rome, Sorrento, Venice, Lake Maggiore, and Florence.

Maybe an 8 day First Class touring vacation from $1725* land only to Rome, Venice, Lake Garda, and Florence

Rome at Night is a most romantic place

There are many, many tours and specials running right now. All of the great cities of Italy are covered. Don’t wait to book your next spectacular vacation.

It’s All Happening at the Zoo

Simon and Garfunkel had it right…..It’s All Happening at the Zoo. Which zoo were they referring to? One of the New York zoos, of course, but nearly every city in our nation (and the world, for that matter) has a great zoo. One of our travel consultants is a self-declared “zoo fiend,” and shares her weekend trip with us. If you and your family are zoo fanatics, make sure to ask us to find out where the zoos are when we plan your next trip to anywhere in the world.

Here’s what our travel consultant tells us about her weekend visit to the Chattanooga Zoo in Tennessee:

My family loves visiting as many zoos as we can in every city we go to. I decided to take a family outing to the Chattanooga Zoo. Since it’s only 2 ½ hours from Nashville, it made for a very nice day trip. Located just outside of downtown Chattanooga it was very easy to find.


The price of admission was very reasonable at $6 per adult (16yrs-up), $4 per child (3yrs-15yrs) and under 2 yrs old is free. I was told that as of June 1, 2010 the rates increase only by $2. Still very reasonable. We did not eat onsite, but they do have a nice concession stand with hot dogs, chips, soda's etc, that is also where you will find the indoor carousel for $1. The public restrooms were a little icky, but then again what public restrooms are perfect…not many. The grounds were kept up and the animals had nice enclosures....not too big, not to small. Employee's were eager to help and liked their jobs. The Gift Shop had good prices on their merchandise. I actually got a Diet Dr. Pepper in a can for .75 cents, amazing.


The Zoo is not all that big in size compared to others my family has been to, but has a nice variety of smaller animals. They did not have elephants, giraffe's, lion's or tigers, but they did have a nice variety of primates, snow leopards and two adorable red pandas. I think the petting zoo portion was the best part for my little guy. He was able to feed the goats, pet the miniature horses and camel. It was not overly crowed which was nice, you didn't feel like you were running over people.

The price was right for a 2-3 hour outing. I would recommend visiting if you do not mind the few imperfections listed above. Check out the website: www.chattzoo.org


We have been to the DC National Zoo, Washington DC; Nashville Zoo, Nashville, TN; Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo, Gulf Shores, AL; Pet a Pet Farm , Reston, VA (got to ride an elephant here :) and New Orleans Zoo, New Orleans, LA.




Next stop, the Memphis Zoo!

READY, SET, SUMMER – PLAN FOR YOUR SUMMER VACATION NOW

The grass has turned green and the warm, spring air is making your stuffy winter home fresh again. Before you know it, summer will be here and before you blink, summer will be over, kids (if you have them) are back in school, and everyone ramps up and gets ready for Thanksgiving break. Life moves pretty quickly and if you are not on top of it, you may miss your summer vacation. So, plan now and an exciting summer vacation is yours!

Whether traveling by your self, your significant other, a bunch of families with lots of kids or a group on tour, planning now will ensure a great summer getaway for all.

Some of our standby tips. Some of these are oldies, but goodies. Some are just common sense. Some tips you may have never thought of before. Here’s some of our wisdom.

Know what you want to do so your travel specialist can help you decide where to go – you can’t surf in the hotel pool so you really must share your desires with your agent to help unravel exactly the fun things you want to do while on vacation.

Book now – don’t wait too long. Hotels run out of rooms, airlines run out of seats, car rental companies run out of cars….you get the idea. Book now for all the best stuff.

Work with your travel specialist on all bookings. Qualified travel specialists know how to help customers avoid travel problems. They provide advice and service and can help you find the right (and the wrong) places to travel during a particular time of year – like summer. (You really don’t want to end up traveling to a foreign country during the rainy season, or worse, the locust season….ick!) Plus, your travel specialist can help you with regulations and restrictions and passport needs.

Work with your travel specialist to plan itineraries for tours and sightseeing. Special needs for small children, special needs for the handicapped, special dietary needs? Your travel specialist can help make accommodations. Ask about restaurants and know some places you really want to check out before arriving. Try to get tickets/reservations beforehand.

Plan some down time too to just roam around and enjoy the lifestyle of wherever it is your are visiting

Get travel insurance – seriously, just do it. Life is too unpredictable and travel insurance is cheap!

Our favorite places
There are thousands of places in the world to travel. We have been to, well, to almost all of them. Our travel specialists have been around the world, back and back again. There are getaways that accommodate every lifestyle, every need, every desire, well, just about everything.

For couples – couples love Western Europe in the summer – romantic, energetic, trendy –Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece and France ..or a combo of a few or as many countries as you can fit. Further east, Prague in the Czech Republic is a city that has really found its exciting side in the past few years. Or, travel further to eastern countries including Thailand, Vietnam, or Cambodia, especially if you love the heat because our US summer is their hot, hot, hot time of year! Maybe a Costa Rican adventure trip, an African safari or a cruise.

For families – Disney …..enough said. Okay, okay, everyone loves Disney either in Florida or California. But there are other wonderful options for families that may have already done Disney or didn’t get bit by the Disney bug or just don’t want to deal with summer Florida heat. What about the Atlantis in the Bahamas? They have a water park there that rocks, plus other kid friendly fun. We can help you book Beaches Resorts in Turks and Caicos or Jamaica – those properties are partnered with Sesame Street and Crayola for loads of kid fun. Adventurous family? What about St. Lucia for Zip Lining, hiking, horseback riding.

Group tours – Tours to Europe or an African Safari are the post popular trips for large groups. Cruising is also an excellent option for groups of friends, a company bonus or a family celebration.

For the solo traveler – there are some great vacation ideas for singles whether you want to be left alone, meet someone or meet many new friends. Any destination is a great idea and we can work with you to plan for whatever you want to do while vacationing.

Really, these are just the tiniest tip of the iceberg. Call or email and we can plan an exciting, personalized vacation just for you (and whomever else you want to take with you!). Right now there are some “sizzling” summer deals to Montego Bay, El Dorado Royale spa resort in Mexico, Sandals Royal Bahamian Resort, with some packages starting at $499.

All Aboard -- WiFi comes to Amtrak

Amtrak tells us they have launched Internet service aboard 20 high-speed Acela Express Trains for passengers in business and first class. They have also added Internet service in six major stations (Washington, Philly, Baltimore, Boston, NYC and Providence). The service will be free during an introductory period and reviewed based on customer demand.

Avoid the TRAVEL NIGHTMARE and Enjoy a Relaxing Trip

Many have heard, or experienced them on their own. THE TRAVEL NIGHTMARE!

Whether it’s the getting-somewhere-that-looks-nothing-like-the-beautiful-photos-on-the-web-site scenario or the getting-bumped-from-a-flight-on-a-no-name-airline scenario or worse, the getting-stranded-or-rerouted-for-days scenario -- the stories are endless.

Who do you call? What do you do? When there is no travel specialist in the mix, choices are limited.

Of course we encourage the use of travel specialists – we are travel specialists. It’s how we earn our living. But, we have seen and heard enough of the horror stories to want to do our very best to help customers avoid the traps and we continue to advocate the use of qualified travel specialists/consultants. Here’s why:

Travel specialists can provide advice and service and have a built-in knowledge reserve that you just can’t get off the Internet.

Don’t know when is a good time to travel to Europe or one of the islands? A travel specialist can tell you in a second when to, and more importantly, when NOT to travel to a certain place.

In today’s viral world, many think it’s easy to book online. But, let’s face it, when looking on the Internet, all resorts, beaches, rooms, cruises look perfect. The difference someone booking with us at Destinations Galore, for example, might experience is that every one of our travel specialists has traveled the world. They can help you sort through the pretty pictures and really get down to what will work for you and what won’t. A computer screen can’t do that for you.

Something else to consider is that recent media reports show a shift from booking travel on the internet mainly because people are discovering that they don’t necessarily save time or money and there are so many unanswered questions and limitations. Plus, if sudden changes arise or a problem crops up during the trip, calls to Destinations Galore, will get answered around the clock and on weekends. Not so with Internet services.

Our travel specialists are constantly updating their skills and visiting places. Recently, our consultants recertified as specialists in more than a dozen categories including certification as spa and golf specialists and have either visited or earned certificates of achievement for their knowledge and understanding of countries and islands and their travel markets including in places like Egypt, Thailand, Tahiti, Barbados, Antigua, Jamaica, St. Lucia
Turks and Caicos, among others.

And, more importantly, specialists, particularly our group, work diligently on your behalf to find upgrades. Because we know managers at nearly every resort any where, we find all options and opportunities to get our customers on the concierge level. It’s all stuff that almost never happens when you book yourself.

Let’s face it, travel is one of the best gifts in life, but can be horrible if circumstances are not what you expected. Let a travel expert ensure your good times when you travel and always book with a qualified travel specialist.