Italy is a beautiful and diversified country.  Great food, history, culture, architecture and more. The big problem with Italy is that the crowds have become overwhelming. It's not uncommon to wait for hours to get into the Vatican Museum in Rome or the Accademia to see David in Florence. The streets of Venice are packed with tourists, many from cruise ships.  Who wants to go on vacation and be in the press of humanity or wait in line for hours?  Listen to The Traveling Professor on how to beat the crowds in Italy.

Lodging is probably the most expensive component of any trip and one of the most important factors in making a trip successful. Over the years, through his small group tours or booking hotels personally, The Traveling Professor has lots of experience in booking hotels. Look at The Professor's blog post today and save yourself a few bucks on your next hotel booking and maybe even get a better hotel (and perks) than you ever thought you could.

So far, The Traveling Professor has done 3 small group tours to Iceland. But what are the best things to do in Iceland? Iceland can be enjoyed just about any season and there are admittedly more activities to do outdoors than indoors.  Check out The Traveling Professor's blog post on the 4 best things to do in Iceland, and I have also added in some bonus seasonal activities to do while in Iceland.

Earlier this month, The Traveling Professor sent out a questionnaire to all mailing list members and all social media (Facebook and Twitter) followers.   Hundreds and hundreds of email subscribers completed the questionnaire. The answers were revealing.  We learned who our subscribers are.  We learned where they wanted to take our small group tours to.  We learned what they liked (and didn't like) about The Traveling Professor's small group tours.    Check out the results in the travel blog post.  You will be surprised!

Everyone wants to see Rome, Florence and Venice.  And why not?  They should be seen.  However, the larger cities of Italy are expensive and full of tourists, trinket shops, ordinary restaurants, and standard chain hotels.  Why not relax and visit the REAL Italy on your next trip? Enjoy the tastes and culture of smaller authentic cities. Avoid the crowds and long lines, eat real Italian food, see amazing sites, and stay at outstanding hotels all less expensively than can be done in the large cities.

Today is the 74th anniversary of the Normandy Invasion.  The Traveling Professor just completed a small group tour to the Normandy Invasion Beaches with 12 travelers.  There are quite a few ways to do a tour of the Normandy Invasion Beaches.  Some people do it as a one-day big bus tour from Paris, some people do a self-drive tour, some people hire a private guide.  Then, there is the issue of how many days to spend on the beaches and where to stay.  The Professor gives his opinion on all of this with today's blog post on how to do a D Day tour of the Normandy Invasion Beaches.

After completing almost 3 weeks with his small group tours in Paris and the Normandy Invasion Beaches, The Professor headed to Spain for 3 days of rest and relaxation.  Madrid was surprisingly cool at this time of the year which made exploring comfortable. Check out what The Traveling Professor did on his short stay in the charming city of Madrid.

We just completed 2 small group tours to Paris.  Each group had 7 travelers and we completed our "Paris Beyond the Eiffel Tower Tour".  Our guide, the well-known Michael Osman, took us past the typical tourist destinations of Paris and opened our eyes to lesser-known but wonderful sites like the Musée Jacquemart-André, Musée Nissim de Camondo, Parc Monceau, a walk through the passages of Paris, and the Musée National Eugène-Delacroix.  An important part of each day on our small group tours of Paris was lunch.  In today's blog post I will point out 3 bargain lunches in Paris, 2 of them at some of the most elegant locations to be found.