Holidays are around the corner. The Women’s Travel Group offers both Thanksgiving and Christmas trips. Thanksgiving is waitlisted this year. Christmas Rhine cruise might have space. Contact us asap. Holidays create emotional unwrapping of memories and of loneliness. Many of us especially, women who are single, miss families and friends.
There are some terrific surprises for you, ladies, with overseas travel during Christmas.
Flights are not that crowded if you do not leave on school/college semester end days. Early AM flights are more likely to be less busy; they are harder to book for flyers who have to make a connection. A night in an airport hotel might save you a bunch on your early AM airfare next day.
Many European cities celebrate and have open events, even on Dec 24 and 25. In the past some capitals like London shut down completely for 2 days. Today most large cities have restaurants opened especially ethnic food, church concerts as part of a service, Christmas walking tours. Most all have fantastic city lights.
Some general tips on Christmas and holiday travel:
Talk to people as you stand on line for events or at the hotel. Travelers are friendly.
English speaking walking tours on holidays attract other solo’s. They can be found on various sites including viator.com and getyourguide.com.
Don’t be nervous about enjoying a drink at a hotel bar. Order your well earned champagne. Sit near other guests so you engage in a chat. Shy? Ask some simple travel questions from your bar neighbors. When they hear your North American accent, they will likely converse with you. This year, they might ask you about our presidential election. Be prepared to be a good ambassador not a whiner.
Get information overseas groups you are involved with in your home town, Your church or synagogue? A professional organization? Charity? University alum group? Look for the many ex pat groups which exist everywhere.
Ask staff if they can suggest comfortable places to dine alone. Have the maitre d’ call ahead and tell them that you are coming alone and they should treat you as a VIP. Get the name of the maitre d’ with so you can greet them at the restaurant and thank them for extra attention.
—Book a day cruise on the Seine? Thames? Vltava River in Prague?
—Enjoy a concert at a church? In Rome in past years, the Harlem Gospel Choir sang in a Parisian church on December 25.
—There are nativity scenes, and beautiful mass services.
–Find and book a nice lunch. Take a quick look at Opentable for Christmas 2024. Opentable shows 67 Madrid restaurants open on Dec 25.
—Walking Tours operate all year around. Or make your own tour. One trip, I made up my own tour, to see all the Caravaggio church art in the area of the hotel. Free, simple, churches are open. I will not list books as there are too many self walking tour guides. But one I love, is Time Out Country Walks. It has a walk for every season, and you will very likely meet up with others on the train. The 52 walks include places to stop and rest, have a meal, where to cut the walk shorter. They all begin and end at railway stations.
Travel tips from The Women’s Travel Group. We can still take you on our Christmas Rhine cruise with special solo rates and a fun group of women to celebrate with. Contact us for more information about our award winning tour company.
