Editor’s note: like Sam, I preferred the east bank of Prague to the west, but found value on both sides. Make sure to click here to visit Sam’s article on the eastern part of the city, and when you fall in love with his writing, click here to visit his index page. As a travel…
Editor’s note: while I haven’t done a cruise on the Rhine, regular readers of The Royal Tour will probably remember time I spent in the region, based in Bonn. You can visit my guide to the amazing city here, and see my favorite castle experience here. Jackie, however, puts the whole length of the river…
Editor’s note: I spent ten days in Milan back in 2023, and I was very pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed my time and all the city had to offer. It is wonderful to read that our writer Sam Spector also enjoyed his time in Milan, even though he had only a single day.…
Yes, I know. If you visit Costa Rica - or are even considering making a trip there - it is not for the history. It is for nature, for animal spotting, for outdoor adventures, for pristine beaches, and for an incredible diversity of life and landscapes. But history? I’m sure not. And I don’t blame…
Editor’s note: I spent a day in Helsinki a number of years ago as part of a Baltic cruise. While I didn’t like it as much as some of its neighbors, I do recall thinking that my exploration was too brief, and my opinion not based on much more than a few hours. For me,…
It would seem a rather stupid place to build a city. Santiago de los Caballeros, now Antigua Guatemala, sits in a valley surrounded by active volcanoes, routinely subjected to major earthquakes. It isn’t exactly where I’d think that a Spanish regional colonial capital - the only one between Mexico and Panama - would be placed.…
Editor’s note: like many visitors to Portugal, my time there has been focused on Lisbon and Porto. The part in between is a blank spot. But today, Sam helps us all fill that in with this awesome look at some stunning monasteries. For more of Sam’s writing, click here to visit his index page. While…
Editor’s note: this is the second part of Jackie’s trip to Spain and Portugal. You can click here to read about her experience in Madrid. As for these cities, Seville is my personal favorite in Spain, and one of my favorites in Europe. Granada is stunning due to the Alhambra, and Cordoba is at the…
It is apparent from the moment my tour bus begins the approach into Kalabaka, a small town at the foot of the Meteora rock formations. Photos and descriptions just cannot do this place justice. They can’t capture the beauty of the monasteries atop narrow rock pinnacles. They can’t give proper scale to the enormity of…
Editor’s note: it has been a lot of years now since I visited Madrid in the early days of The Royal Tour. (Click here to read my guide from back then.) I loved it, and my visit to Toledo while there. Funny enough, I tried to also see El Escorial, but did a poor job…