LAST- MINUTE DEAL: Holiday Week in Paris from $1,269 with Air

Plunk your money (or credit card) down by August 28 and you can spend Thanksgiving or Christmas in Paris starting at $1,269 from New York or $1,377 from Chicago. This phenomenal deal includes round-trip air fare to Paris, 6 nights accommodation in the 3-star Comfort Hotel Mouffetard, and daily breakfast. Departures are every day from November 1 to December 27, but the package must be booked and paid in full by August 28.

Now that you can get an authentic turkey dinner in many Paris restaurants, Thanksgiving is a great time to enjoy the city. You can zoom to the top of the Eiffel Tower, see the Mona Lisa at the Louvre, visit the Palace of Versailles, or even relish a cup of the world’s best hot chocolate at Angelina on the rue de Rivoli—all without the summer crowds. (TourCrafters offers optional tours of many Paris attractions.)

Christmastime, when the City of Light lives up to its name, is magical. There are Christmas illuminations on the Champs-Elysées and Place Vendôme, window displays at Printemps and other department stores, Christmas markets and ice skating rinks in several squares and wonderfully festive meals in many hotels and restaurants. Most impressive of all, there are Christmas services in the beautiful Gothic Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris.

The cozy, contemporary Comfort Hotel Mouffetard is on one of the most interesting old streets in Paris, close to the Latin Quarter, the famous Mouffetard Market and a metro stop, and surrounded by charming little shops, cafés and restaurants. Those who want something grander can upgrade to a 4-star hotel in Montparnasse, from $1,607.

TourCrafters has a similar last-minute deal to Vienna and Prague that includes some extras. The price starts at $1,539 from New York, $1,595 from Chicago.

All prices are per person, double occupancy, and are subject to availability. Fuel charges are included, but are subject to change by the airline. Airport taxes of $109 per person are not included and must be paid prior to departure. A supplement will be charged for weekend departures.

For more information, visit www.tourcrafters.com, click “Special Offers” and then “Deal of the Week.” For reservations, call 800-482-5995.

For more travel features, visit:

www.examiner.com/eclectic-travel-in-national/karen-rubin

www.examiner.com/international-travel-in-national/karen-rubin

travelwritersmagazine.com/TravelFeaturesSyndicate

moralcompasstravel.info

‘Like’ us on facebook.com/NewsPhotoFeatures

Twitter: @TravelFeatures

TourCrafters Offers Air-Inclusive Deals for Fall Travel to Spain, Italy, Booked by Aug 28

TourCrafters is offering air-inclusive packages to Florence, Italy, in September and October © 2014 Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

TourCrafters is offering air-inclusive deals to Spain and Italy for September and October, booked and paid for by August 28.

This is the ideal time to travel to Europe: the weather is pleasant, the sidewalk cafés are open, but the summertime crowds have gone home.

TourCrafters’ six-night Madrid and Barcelona deal, for example, costs only $1,919 including round-trip air fare from New York, daily breakfast, three nights’ accommodation in a 3-star Madrid hotel, a half-day Madrid sightseeing tour, high-speed AVE train from Madrid to Barcelona, three nights in a 3-star Barcelona hotel and a half-day Artistic Tour of Barcelona.

You’ll have a chance to see such Madrid highlights as the Royal Palace, the Paseo del Prado and the Gran Via, and then take in some of the capital’s great museums and fine shops on your own. TourCrafters even offers an optional excursion to Toledo. In Barcelona the tour covers Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi’s masterpieces—the Sagrada Familia, Park Guell, and buildings on the Paseo de Gracia—but you’ll also have time to see the Gothic Quarter and the fascinating life (cafés, market, canaries, flower stalls) along Las Ramblas, as well as to dine in some of its celebrated restaurants.

TourCrafters is also offering the following September/October air and land deals: Rome and Florence, from $1,919; Madrid, Mallorca and Barcelona, from $3,079; Madrid, Ibiza and Barcelona, from $2,559; and Italy by Train, from $2,379.

In addition, for a limited time only, TourCrafters is having an Airfare Sale from New York (JFK) to several European destinations including London, Paris, Munich, Vienna, Prague and Athens.

All prices are per person, double occupancy. Air fare add-ons are available from many other cities than New York. Fuel charges are included but are subject to change by the airlines. Airport taxes ($109 per person) are not included and hotel taxes in Italy must be paid directly to the hotel in euros.

For more information on these last-minute fall deals, visit www.tourcrafters.com, click “Special Offers,” and then “Deal of the Week.” For reservations, call 800-482-5995.

For more travel features, visit:

www.examiner.com/eclectic-travel-in-national/karen-rubin

examiner.com/international-travel-in-national/karen-rubin

travelwritersmagazine.com/TravelFeaturesSyndicate

moralcompasstravel.info

‘Like’ us on facebook.com/NewsPhotoFeatures

Twitter: @TravelFeatures

Spend Holidays in Italy with Tourcrafters’ 6-Night Holiday Package for $1265 with Airfare from NY

The Vatican in Rome at night. Tourcrafters has 6-night holiday package in Italy for the holidays for $1265 including air fare from New York. © 2014 Karen Rubin/news-photos-features.com

Why not have a vacation over the holidays and spend Thanksgiving or Christmas in Italy? TourCrafters has put together a very affordable week-long Roman Holiday package that starts at only $1,265 and includes round-trip air fare from New York to Rome, six nights’ accommodation at the Hotel Rome Garden, daily buffet breakfast and fuel surcharge.

Rome is a delight any time with attractions like the Coliseum, Roman Forum, Trevi Fountain, Vatican Museums, and restaurants and cafés galore, but it is especially appealing over the holidays. On Thanksgiving, which is not an official holiday in Italy, everything—stores, museums and restaurants—is open and some restaurants even serve tacchino (that’s Italian for “turkey.”)

At Christmastime the city is dressed up in holiday splendor. Piazza Navona offers a Christmas market complete with carousel, the smart shopping street Via Condotti is aglow with lights, there’s an enormous Christmas tree in Piazza Venezia and St. Peter’s Square displays a famous nativity scene and another huge lighted tree. TourCrafters can arrange an optional tour of St. Peter’s Basilica and the Vatican Museums (Sistine Chapel) or even an optional excursion to Naples (pizza’s hometown) and the ancient ruins of Pompeii.

The 3-star Hotel Rome Garden is special, too. It’s an elegant 19^th-century villa located in a residential neighborhood that is close to a choice of good restaurants.

TourCrafters also has a 9-day/7-night Holiday Package to Rome and Florence that costs from $1,339 and includes airfare from New York to Rome returning from Florence, four nights at the 3-star Hotel Rome Garden, SMART class train from Rome to Florence, three nights at the 3-star Hotel Meridiana in Florence, daily buffet breakfast and fuel surcharge. (TourCrafters can provide add-on air fares from many other U.S. cities.)

Both packages offer daily departures from November 1 to December 28 but the packages must be booked and paid in full by August 28. The prices stated are per person, double occupancy, and are subject to availability. They do not include airport taxes of $109, city taxes (which must be paid in euros directly to the hotel) or the weekend supplement. The fuel surcharge is included but is subject to change by the airline.

For more information about the Rome and Rome & Florence holiday packages, visit www.tourcrafters.com, click “Special Offers” and then “Deal of the Week” For reservations, call 800-482-5995.

For more travel features, visit:

www.examiner.com/eclectic-travel-in-national/karen-rubin

www.examiner.com/international-travel-in-national/karen-rubin

travelwritersmagazine.com/TravelFeaturesSyndicate

‘Like’ us on facebook.com/NewsPhotoFeatures

Twitter: @TravelFeatures

TourCrafters Offers D-Day Anniversary Trip to Paris and Normandy Beaches

If ever you thought about visiting Normandy and the D-Day Beaches, this —the 70^th anniversary of D-Day—is the year to do it. It’s also an amazing World War II history lesson for the kids’ spring vacation.

To commemorate the anniversary, TourCrafters has designed a 7-Day/6-Night D-Day package that starts at $1,659 per person, based on four persons traveling together.

TourCrafters’ land-only price includes three nights hotel accommodation in Paris, three nights in Bayeux, daily buffet breakfast, round-trip 1^st-class train Paris-Bayeux, transfers to and from the rail stations and a tour of the D-Day Landing Beaches. It does not include air fare. Departures are daily through October.

There’s free time to explore the “City of Light,” to see the Eiffel Tower, visit the Louvre and Notre Dame, walk around the beguiling streets of the Left Bank, have a croque monsieur in a café, or even take a photogenic Bateau Mouche cruise on the River Seine.  The Paris hotel, the 4-star Emeraude Louvre Montana boasts a perfect location—steps from the Tuileries and the Louvre—and a friendly, helpful staff.

In Bayeux, the  first  French  city to be  liberated in June of 1944, you  will be picked up for a D-Day Tour of the American Sector, to visit Omaha Beach where the Americans landed, to see the site of the German gun battery at Pointe du Hoc (where Rangers famously scaled the impossible 100-foot cliffs), and to wander through the thousands of white crosses and Stars of David in the very moving American Cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer.  There’s also free time in Bayeux, to stroll its medieval streets, tour its 11^th-century cathedral, visit the Memorial Museum of the Battle of Normandy, and see the famed Bayeux Tapestry, a 230-foot embroidery that tells the story of William the Conqueror’s invasion of England.  The charming 3-star Hotel Churchill has an equally perfect location—in the very center of Bayeux—and its lovely, gracious  owner speaks perfect English.

All prices quoted are per person, double occupancy, and are subject to availability.  (They are higher from April to August.) For additional information about the land-only  70^th Anniversary D-Day package, visit http://sales.tourcrafters.com/tour.lasso?ID=220.  For reservations, call 800-482-5995.

For more travel features, visit:

www.examiner.com/eclectic-travel-in-national/karen-rubin

www.examiner.com/international-travel-in-national/karen-rubin

travelwritersmagazine.com/TravelFeaturesSyndicate

‘Like’ us on facebook.com/NewsPhotoFeatures

Twitter: @TravelFeatures

 

TourCrafters’ Has 10-Night $2,085 Italy by Train Package for Fall

Autumn–when air fares are  lower and the weather is idyllic—is the perfect time to travel to Italy. So TourCrafters, the Italian specialists, have designed an Italy by Train package that covers the highlights… and packs in a lot of extras.

The 10-night, land-only package, which has daily departures from September 1 to October 31, costs $2085 and includes: an arrival transfer; daily buffet breakfast; four nights’ accommodation in Rome; 48-hour Hop On Hop Off bus tour of Rome; a walking tour of Rome; 2^nd-class train ticket to Florence; four nights’ accommodation in Florence; cooking class with dinner; full-day tour to the Cinque Terre; full-day tour to Siena, San Gimignano and Chianti; 2^nd-class train ticket to Venice; two nights’ accommodation in Venice; and a walking tour of Venice.

The hotels chosen for this package are all 4-star deluxe and are conveniently located. Rome’s Quirinale is an historic hotel with classic décor and a passageway to the Rome Opera House in its leafy garden.  The recently-renovated Hotel Kraft in Florence is a modern hotel with a rooftop garden and swimming pool.  And Venice’s Hotel Carlton on the Grand Canal is an elegant hostelry near the train station, with roof terrace and an internal courtyard.

But it’s the extras that make this package so special.  The included tour to the Cinque Terre, for example, visits five picturesque fishing villages on a beautiful stretch of the Italian Riviera that is a World Heritage Site.  Another day there’s a tour of the Tuscan countryside, to see the splendid rose-colored city of Siena, the photogenic village of Monteriggioni, and the medieval town of San Gimignano, as well as the luscious landscape of churches and castles, olive groves and the vineyards that produce the celebrated Chianti wine.  There are also several optional tours available.

All prices quoted are per person, double occupancy, do not include air fare and are subject to availability.  For more information about the Italy by Train package, visit http://sales.tourcrafters.com/itinerary.lasso?ID=203.  For reservations, call 800-482-5995.

For more travel features, visit:

www.examiner.com/eclectic-travel-in-national/karen-rubin

http://www.examiner.com/international-travel-in-national/karen-rubin

travelwritersmagazine.com/TravelFeaturesSyndicate

‘Like’ us on facebook.com/NewsPhotoFeatures

Twitter: @TravelFeatures

TourCrafters Offers 7-Night Self-Drive Northern Spain Tour with Stays in Deluxe, Historic Paradores for $1180

For an affordable, enjoyable fall trip to Europe, consider TourCrafters’ “Northern Spain in Paradores” package.  The 8-day/7-night self-drive package costs $1,180 per person (land only) and includes accommodation in seven of Spain’s deluxe, historic paradores, seven breakfasts and an 8-day (automatic) car rental with pickup and drop off in Madrid.  The price is valid—with Sunday departures–from August 25 to November 24.

Starting out from the exciting city of Madrid, you’ll first visit Guadalupe, a charming and historic village of cobbled streets and traditional houses that also boasts a World Heritage Site.  Here you’ll overnight at the Parador of Guadalupe, a 15^th-century palace-turned-hotel famed for its Extremaduran cuisine.  Then it’s on to Plasencia  on the ancient Silver Route, where palaces, ancestral homes and  religious buildings make up a unique old quarter.  In the Parador de Plasencia, a Gothic-style former convent, you’ll sleep and dine well. 

The next stop is Ciudad Rodrigo, a famous fortified town, whose walls enclose a cathedral, castle and other historic buildings.  Here you will stay in the Parador de Ciudad Rodrigo, an ivy-covered 14^th-century castle.  In Salamanca, a provincial capital that’s a treasure house of monuments, you’ll see two cathedrals and the famous 15^th-century university and sleep in the Parador de Salamanca, which has a wonderful view of the historic center.  In Zamora, another Silver Route city, you’ll visit an old town full of Romanesque art  and overnight in the Parador de Zamora, a Renaissance palace with swimming pool.  And in Benavente, another historic town,  you’ll stay at the Parador de Benavente,  another Renaissance castle, this one with beautiful gardens. 

Finish up in Leon, a city of incomparable beauty, which offers many places of historic interest: churches, palaces, houses and even Roman walls.  Here you will enjoy staying in the Parador de Leon, a regal 16^th-century monastery-hospital.  And then it’s time to return the car to Madrid.

All prices quoted are per person, double occupancy, and are subject to availability. For additional information about this package, visit http://sales.tourcrafters.com/tour.lasso?ID=202

For information or reservations, call 800-482-5995, tourcrafters.com.

For more travel features, visit:

www.examiner.com/eclectic-travel-in-national/karen-rubin

http://www.examiner.com/international-travel-in-national/karen-rubin

travelwritersmagazine.com/TravelFeaturesSyndicate

‘Like’ us on facebook.com/NewsPhotoFeatures

Twitter: @TravelFeatures

TourCrafters Offers Winter Week in Paris for $1139

Paris is marvelous to visit in winter: You won’t wait in line at the Louvre or Musée d’Orsay, you won’t suffer un-air-conditioned buses and restaurants, and prices are a lot lower.

To take advantage of the lower prices, TourCrafters is offering a land-only Classic Paris in Winter package until March 17 that starts at $1,139 and includes private airport transfers, six nights’ accommodation in a charming 3-star hotel, six breakfasts, one lunch, a sightseeing cruise on the Seine, a 5-day Paris Visite Pass, a 2-day Museum Pass, and a 1-day Hop On Hop Off sightseeing tour.

The Hop On Hop Off bus tour introduces the city’s major sights: the Eiffel Tower, Louvre, Notre Dame, Musée d’Orsay, Opera Garnier, Champs Elysées and Arc de Triomphe; and the Paris Visite Pass provides free public transportation so you can explore the rest of the city on your own. The Museum Pass gives free access to 60-some museums and monuments (including the Louvre and Musée d’Orsay).

One day there’s a cruise on the River Seine in a glass-covered boat, which provides the best views of the city (photographers, get ready!), followed by a typical French 3-course lunch in a riverside café-restaurant.

The $1,139 package includes a room in the charmingly-decorated boutique Hotel Relais Monceau in the fashionable 8^th arrondisement or the trendy modern Standard Design Hotel near the Place de la Bastille. But upgrades are available: The stylish 4-star Concorde Opera Hotel, near the Opera Garnier and the big department stores, costs $1,456, and the luxurious 5-star Hotel du Louvre, steps from the Louvre and Palais Royal, costs $1,668.

All prices are per person, double occupancy and are subject to availability. TourCrafters offers the best transatlantic air fares available at time of booking. For more information, visit http://www.tourcrafters.it/tour.lasso?ID=140.

For more travel features, visit:

www.examiner.com/eclectic-travel-in-national/karen-rubin

http://www.examiner.com/international-travel-in-national/karen-rubin

travelwritersmagazine.com/TravelFeaturesSyndicate

‘Like’ us on facebook.com/NewsPhotoFeatures

Twitter: @TravelFeatures

Tourcrafters has great travel deal to Greece

LIBERTYVILLE, IL – With both the euro and the Greek economy in the pits, this is the year for an affordable trip to the Greek Islands. TourCrafters is offering a midweek 9-day/8-night package to Athens, Mykonos, and Santorini for US$1,849 in October, US$1,999 in September – the optimum months when the weather is warm and sunny, the Aegean is perfect for swimming, and the tourist hordes have gone home. The package is also available in July and August, but high-season air fare means the price is higher.

The package includes round-trip air fare from New York or Boston to Athens; two nights at a modern, conveniently-located Athens hotel; three nights at a deluxe beach hotel with pool on Mykonos; three nights at a Santorini hotel with pool in Fira town; daily breakfasts; a half-day Athens city tour with English-speaking guide and entrance fees; dinner in a typical restaurant on Mykonos and Santorini; ferry tickets Piraeus-Mykonos and Mykonos-Santorini; air fare Santorini-Athens; and arrival and departure transfers in each destination (6 total). All hotels are air-conditioned.

The Athens sightseeing tour covers city highlights, as well as the Acropolis and the new Acropolis Museum. On Mykonos, there’s time to relax on the beach, browse the streets and sophisticated shops of the blue and white town, enjoy an ouzo in a waterfront café, or even take a day-trip to Delos. And on Santorini, travelers can explore the fascinating Minoan ruins at Akrotiri, visit a winery, relax in a picturesque Oia café, and watch the sensational sunset over the Caldera.

Air fare add-ons are US$75 from Miami and Chicago and US$130 from Los Angeles. All prices quoted are per person double occupancy, are subject to availability, and do not include the fuel surcharge and taxes of approximately US$461, which are subject to change. Reservations must be paid for within 72 hours of booking.

For additional detailed information, visit www.tourcrafters.com . For reservations, call 800-482-5995.