Thomas J. Sharp 
Holland America and Viking both sell a calmer version of cruising. Neither is trying to turn the pool deck into a spring-break commercial. Both put serious effort into destination programming, decent food, and ships where a conversation is still possible after dinner. That is where the similarity ends. Holland America is still recognizably a traditional … Read more
Everyone who visits Santorini sees the sunset. The white-washed buildings of Oia, the volcanic caldera, the blue-domed churches. These images are why two million people a year make the trip. Almost none of them stay long enough to do anything else. The sunset takes 20 minutes. The flight is 8 hours. That math doesn’t work. … Read more
Most city walking tours are mediocre. A guide reads dates off a card, gestures at a building, moves the group to the next stop. You finish the tour knowing slightly more about the city than when you started but having spent 3 hours walking behind a person holding a flag. A good walking tour is … Read more
A cooking class is one of the best ways to make a trip stick. You learn something, you meet locals, you take home a skill, and the meal you cook is the most memorable meal of the trip. Most cooking classes on vacation are mediocre. The good ones are unforgettable. This is how to find … Read more
Most lists of “must-do” Mediterranean experiences are exhausting. They name fifty things, weight them equally, and leave the reader no better equipped to actually book something. This list is different. Ten specific experiences. Each one is genuinely worth flying to the Mediterranean for. Each is bookable. Each is sized for travelers who want quality over … Read more
The river-vs-ocean decision is the actual first decision for any first-time cruiser. They’re not smaller/larger versions of each other. They’re different trips with different appeals, and most first-timers don’t realize this until they’re on board. This is how to pick based on what you actually want from a cruise. The short version Pick river cruising … Read more
You’ve decided on a small-group tour. Now the harder question: how do you book one that won’t waste three thousand dollars and two weeks of your year. This isn’t about the operators themselves. It’s about the mechanics. What’s actually included. What isn’t. How deposits work. What “single supplement” means and whether you have to pay … Read more
Most lists of day trips from Florence lead with the same three: Siena, Pisa, San Gimignano. They’re fine. They’re also what every tour bus in Tuscany hits on the same day, at the same time, with the same gift-shop stop. This list is for the second-trip visitor, or the first-trip visitor who wants to skip … Read more
There’s a particular question that comes up at almost every dinner party once you hit 60 and start mentioning you’ve never cruised: “Why not?” The questioners have all been on cruises. They liked them. They can’t understand why you haven’t done it. The honest answer is that cruising had a reputation, and the reputation was … Read more
There’s a particular kind of vacation that a lot of us over 60 have quietly given up on. Not because we can’t physically do it anymore. Most of us can. We gave up on it because the format has changed. The package tour. The 47-person coach with the microphone-wielding guide. The hotel that looks nothing … Read more