The Vacation Guy Blogs

If it isn't on your calendar already, get out a red pen and mark November 26. That's National Cake Day, and although we don't need any excuses to enjoy the star of any birthday, wedding, or Tuesday afternoon, it got us thinking: where is the best travel destination for a day dedicated to celebrating cake?Our conclusion: Austria, with not one, but...

We wanted to share some travel stories to make you smile, give us hope, shine a spotlight on people and companies in travel doing good for their communities, and help keep your travel imagination active until we can all travel again.And even with all travel temporarily shut down, there IS great news in travel.By: Lynn Elmhirst, Producer/ Host BestTrip TVTravel...

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...

The small Bavarian village of Oberammergau has become synonymous with the Passion Play – a recreation of the biblical story of Easter that consumes the entire village for over a year. A 2020 audience will find it ironic that the origin of its performance was a prayer and promise to God to save the village from the plague in the 1600’s…WATCH...

If you're like me, Spring can never come too soon. And nothing says Spring like new flower blossoms. This year, treat yourself to an abundance of Spring in one of these famous floral travel destinations.By: Lynn Elmhirst, Host/Producer, BestTrip TV Tulips in the Netherlands Where: Keukenhof Gardens and surrounding tulip fieldsWhen: April It's the world's largest spring flower garden. The Keukenhof Gardens are...

Have you resolved to travel more AND be more fit and well? Why not put these life goals together on your next cruise? Cruise lines have upped their health, wellness, and fitness games in recent years. In fact, some of the best wellness experiences in the world are now at sea.BestTrip's Lynn Elmhirst has put together her list of wellness/fitness opportunities on river,...

Everyone wants to try 'real' local food when they travel. But we don't always have a real local to point us in the right direction. That's why we loved our Avalon Waterways' culinary tour of the Jordaan, a walking-sipping-snacking tour of the revitalized neighborhood in Amsterdam. It gets you out of the tourist core and into the heart of the Dutch...

Not every travel experience is about whooping it up. Not every essential, bucket-list destination has to be fun. Uplifting, yes. Transformational, too. The Juno Beach Centre in Normandy, where the Canadians landed on DDay in 1944, is that kind of place.Many of us who have thought of how our lives might be different if pivotal moments in world history had...

There are fewer and fewer veterans of the DDay Landing Beaches to tell their stories, but Canada's Juno Beach Centre introduced us to Jim Parks, who shared his memories of landing on DDay as a young soldier, and why he believes all of us should travel there today.DDay remains the iconic symbol of Allied unity and sacrifice to end World...

What happens when you put three non-painters in a painting workshop? Can you really learn to paint like Van Gogh in an afternoon?  Those were the questions on all our minds as we walked to an art atelier near where our river cruise ship, the Avalon Vista, was docked in the heart of Amsterdam.By: Lynn Elmhirst, BestTripTVI'm creative but I have...