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How to Make Your Own D-Day Pilgrimage during the 80th Anniversary Year and Beyond

How to Make Your Own D-Day Pilgrimage during the 80th Anniversary Year and Beyond

All eyes were once again on the coast of Normandy as the 80th anniversary of D-Day was marked on June 6, 2024 by the UK, US, Canada, and France. The surprise landing of over 150,000 Allied soldiers on the shores of France in 1944 was described by Winston Churchill as “the most complicated and difficult” military operation in world history. Despite the incredible complexity, odds, weather, miscalculations, intense Nazi fortifications and thousands dead, D-Day was ultimately the beginning of the end...


VIDEO: Meet the Moselle River on an Avalon Active & Discovery Cruise

VIDEO: Meet the Moselle River on an Avalon Active & Discovery Cruise

The Moselle is one of the rivers less-traveled in Europe, and that’s just the beginning of the magical appeal of an itinerary that sails from Luxembourg, then the Rhine and Main into Germany. Three waterways with two wine regions, a famous stretch of castles, plus “Active” and “Discovery” shore excursions that give new ways to experience the countryside, cities and culture of the region fill a sunny week that also gives us time to relax.  Cruise/travel journalist Lynn Elmhirst sailed on...

VIDEO: Meet the Moselle River on an Avalon Active & Discovery Cruise

Trick or... Travel: Top Hallowe'en-Inspired Trips

Trick or... Travel: Top Hallowe'en-Inspired Trips

Supernatural and macabre films, TV series, and novels feed our gathered-round-the-fire love of a scary story. But there’s nothing like the real-life thrill of visiting in person places around the world whose histories of hauntings, bone-chilling tales and ghostly sightings get our primal senses tingling while we’re standing right there!We’ve rounded up some of our favorite spook-tacular trips:London, EnglandLondon’s long history of royal intrigues and political skulduggery – as well as its wealth of ancient towers, dungeons, prisons and places...


Another River Cruise Line to Begin Sailing on the Douro in Portugal

Another River Cruise Line to Begin Sailing on the Douro in Portugal

Douro river cruises are among the fastest-growing itineraries in European river cruising, and one river cruise line is building a new ship to join the rush to Portugal. Beginning in 2024, Avalon Waterways will be the latest river cruise line to embark on this increasingly popular route, joining Uniworld, Tauck, AmaWaterways, Scenic, Emerald Cruises and others on this western-most European river cruise route.Calling its new itinerary “a new view on the Old World,” Avalon Waterways says the new route will...

Another River Cruise Line to Begin Sailing on the Douro in Portugal

Caving Meets Wine Tasting on a River Cruise in the South of France

Caving Meets Wine Tasting on a River Cruise in the South of France

You’ve heard of wine caves - how about wine caving? WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE to learn more about this new, and one-of-a-kind experience on an Avalon Waterways river cruise on the Rhone River in the south of France that combines adventure - with the exquisite wines of the region. Lynn Elmhirst, producer and host of BestTrip TV, was one of the first guests to experience the new 'Active & Discovery' excursion that meant donning a caving suit, helmet, headlamp and...


Travel Company Leaders Dish on their Most Romantic Trips

Travel Company Leaders Dish on their Most Romantic Trips

Step away from the chocolates. Move over, diamonds. The most romantic gift is time together with your best-beloved, and shared experiences that ignite – or reignite – the flames. If it’s time to shake up your romance routine and create new memories of a lifetime on vacation, we have your back. The travel industry’s top executives are intimately familiar with the newest travel experiences and what makes them so special.We tapped that top level, insider expertise and asked a number...

Travel Company Leaders Dish on their Most Romantic Trips

Seeing is Believing: Health Protocols are No Barrier to Enjoying a European River Cruise

Seeing is Believing: Health Protocols are No Barrier to Enjoying a European River Cruise

If a picture speaks a thousand words, then a video is running commentary. That's why we wanted to share with you exactly what the health protocols on board an Avalon Waterways river cruise in France are in the Fall of 2021. We know some people have already begun traveling again - but others are still hesitant. Maybe you wonder if new health protocols take away from your river cruise experience. Or you wonder if it's safe enough. Lynn Elmhirst of...




Lest We Forget: The WW2 Site That's Trying to Gain UNESCO Status

Lest We Forget: The WW2 Site That's Trying to Gain UNESCO Status

It was a fabled event in military history and has become etched into popular culture, the subject of movies, documentaries, novels and real stories shared by veterans returning to their homes.2019 marked the 75th anniversary of D-Day. With every passing year, there are fewer and fewer veterans alive who landed on Canada's Juno Beach, Britain's Sword and Gold Beaches, and America's Omaha and Utah Beaches in the desperate effort to gain a foothold and begin liberating Occupied Europe. Their sacrifices and...

Lest We Forget: The WW2 Site That's Trying to Gain UNESCO Status