There was a time where The Traveling Professor was an inexperienced traveler.  He packed too much, spent much more money than he should have, wasted a lot of time, and missed out on great local culture and food.  But after years on the road, The Professor has learned much and is happy to pass his wisdom on to you.  Here are his Top Ten Traits of the Experienced Traveler.

On The Traveling Professor's small group tours to Paris, we always find time to visit at least two or three of the best markets in Paris. Every market has its own distinctive features and characteristics.  Some may feature food, some may feature only organic products.  Some may feature clothes and accessories.  Some of the best markets in Paris feature a combination of all of the above. In any case, there are few things as authentic as strolling through a market in Paris. Check out The Professor's blog post and find out about the best markets in Paris.

No one can figure out how airlines price fares. There are a lot of theories like always fly on a Tuesday or Saturday, buy airfares on a Tuesday, and many other ideas.  The Traveling Professor prices out airfares for hundreds of travelers each year, and although it is difficult to find any consistency to how airfares are prices, check out some of the techniques The Professor uses to find the best fares.

While we appreciate the concern for tight security at airport screening stations at every airport, London's Heathrow Airport has a particularly thorough procedure.  Along with lengthy times to transfer between any of its 4 passenger terminals (terminals 2-5), passing through LHR to transfer to another flight can be a particularly stressful exercise in making a connection on time.  For instance, on a recent trip from Glasgow to LHR to Dallas, we had a 2 1/2 hour layover.  We needed almost every minute on that layover in London to make that connection.  In this blog post, I give tips on what to consider, and how to deal with transferring through London's Heathrow airport.

On our small group tours to Florence and the rest of Italy, The Traveling Professor usually stays at 3 star deluxe or 4 star hotels. But sometimes when traveling on your own, you want a good 2 or 3 star hotel at a reasonable price.  This is understandable since the most significant part of a travel budget is usually lodging.  In today's blog post, here are two selections from The Traveling Professor's Guide to Florence, by Melanie Wilson and Professor Steve Solosky, recently published on Amazon.com.

Last month, The Traveling Professor took 11 travelers on a scenic tour to the Scottish Highlands. Scotland has some of the most beautiful scenery to be found, and much of it can be seen via stunning train rides.  In today's blog post The Professor will summarize the highlights of the small group tour to the Scottish Highlands.  At the end of the post, please view our photos from the tour.

Everyone knows the Eiffel Tower, Louvre, Orsay, Rodin and the Arc de Triomphe.  They are some of the most popular places to visit while on a tour to Paris. However, Paris has many more attractive options to visit. In this blog post The Traveling Professor lists 3 of his "almost off the radar" places to visit on your next trip to Paris.

Linda and I will be departing on a 21-day small group tours to Paris, Normandy Invasion Beaches, Edinburgh and the Scottish Highlands.  Everything, as usual, goes in our carry-on.  We will take one suitcase each and a small backpack.  We will take into consideration the weather, the terrain we will be walking on, the sites to be visited.  21 days is actually a short trip for us, we have gone on trips as long as 44 days with just a carry on.  Look at the blog post to see how we pack and what we pack.

Our dear friends, Tess and Elena have been running wonderful tours to Southern Italy for some time now.  Their company is called The Heart of Southern Italy.  Like us, they love to show small groups the real Italy, especially in Puglia, one of the most beautiful places all in Italy.  Puglia is the home of the best food in Italy and wonderful scenery.  It is far away from the throbbing crowds of Rome, Florence, and Venice.  Now they have introduced a tour The Traveling Professor highly recommends, Discovering Southern Italy's Jewish Heritage.  Read all about it in their guest blog post.

Who in their right mind would go to Italy without trying one of the best foods ever invented? And by that, we mean gelato.  There is nothing better than ending a wonderful Tuscan meal in Florence by stopping by a gelato shop afterwards and picking up one of your favorite flavors (I like straciatella myself) in a cone or cup, then strolling around the wide open streets of Florence taking in the views. In today's blog post, Steve Solosky and co-author of "The Traveling Professor's Guide to Florence", Melanie Wilson give you their best picks for gelato in Florence.