Jetsettersblog

Düsseldorf’s Breidenbacher Hof Introductory Rates

Following a transformation and May 2008 re-opening, Breidenbacher Hof, a Capella Hotel, in Düsseldorf, Germany is offering special introductory rates.

Through Aug. 31 summer rates start at €225 ($354) for a Standard Room – proving anything but standard – with beautiful views of the hotel’s lush, inner courtyard. During this introductory period, Deluxe Rooms start at €325 ($512), and Capella Rooms, with separate living quarters and guest powder rooms, start at €500 ($788).

Beginning Sept. 1 rates will start at € 275 ($433), € 425 ($669) and €800 ($1,260) for the Standard, Deluxe and Capella Rooms, respectively.

Call 877-247-6688 or visit www.capellahotels.com

Croatia Hosts Summer Fests

Croatia is holding several festivals this summer. The Dubrovnik Summer Festival ( www.dubrovnik-festival.hr)  to Aug. 25, uses open-air stages to host about 80 plays, ballets, operas and musical performances, literary events, exhibitions, poetry recitals and more.

The Kastav Cultural Summer (www.kkl.hr) runs through Aug. 29 in Kastav, a small town close to the city of Rijeka on northern Adriatic coast. During summer months, Kastav becomes a center where many cultural events take place. Concerts, theater and dance performances and much more is happening in this small inland town that’s becoming more popular as a tourist destination in the past few years.

The Split Summer Festival (www.splitsko-ljeto.hr), to Aug. 14, features opera, theater, dance and music. It takes place on locations in and around the city, including the Diocletian’s Palace.

Call the Croatian National Tourist Office at 800-829-4416 or visit www.croatia.hr

Monte Carlo Fireworks Competition

Monte-Carlo International Musical Fireworks will run on July 25 and Aug. 11 and 22. This free event attracts thousands from the area to view some of the most beautiful and original fireworks around.

The competition has been held since 1966 and brings pyrotechnic specialists from around the world to show off their talent. Fireworks begin around 9:30 pm, or when it is dark.

There is good viewing from several locations: around the port sitting at a café, from the palace area or along the ramparts of Fort Antoine, and just off the Casino Terrace. The competition continues through the month of August and the winner returns Nov. 18 to create the fireworks display on the evening before the National Holiday.

Visit www.visitmonaco.com

Religious Travel Year of Faith Tourism

The World Religious Travel Association (WRTA) designated 2009 as The Year of Faith Tourism.

The year-long celebrations and activities will: Highlight the New Era of Faith Tourism; Increase the awareness of the personal and communal benefits of Faith Tourism;

and contribute to the overall growth and health of the global economy, travel industry, and individual travel providers.

The official host of The Year of Faith Tourism is the World Religious Travel Association, the leading organization dedicated to the $18 billion faith-based travel, tourism, and hospitality industry.

As part of its kick-off for The Year of Faith Tourism, the World Religious Travel Association (WRTA) is hosting this fall the World Religious Travel Expo & Educational Conference in Orlando from Oct. 29 to Nov. 1, 2008.

To learn more about The Year of Faith Tourism, visit the official website at www.faithtourism2009.com.

For more information about the World Religious Travel Association or the World Religious Travel Expo, call 800-657-1288 or visit www.religioustravelassociation.com

and www.religioustravelexpo.com

Scenic Tours’ Sapphire Cruise ship

Scenic Tours’ new riverboat Scenic Sapphire.  

The 2008 itineraries sail on the Rhine and Danube rivers, between Amsterdam and Budapest on the initial 15-day “Jewels of Europe” cruise.

More than 80 percent of cabins have private balconies measuring over 25 square feet. The superior Danube Deck also features services of a butler, who can be summoned at the touch of a button.

Scenic’s fares are all-inclusive with guided shore tours, gourmet meals, wine with dinner, airport transfers and all gratuities. Each day of the two-week trip offers Scenic FreeChoice, which allows passengers to select their sightseeing option. Since launching in 1987, Australia-based Scenic Tours entered the European river cruising market in 2005 and has invested $100 million to introduce a fleet of new ships in 2008.

For more information, visit www.scenictours.com

Tripwolf Free Guides to Europe

Tripwolf.com, a social travel guide that specializes in Europe but also offers content about other pats of the world, is targeting the U.S. market. It combines professional editorial content with user-generated content from travelers worldwide. Tripwolf is backed by MairDumont, Europe’s largest publisher of travel guides, including Baedeker, Dumont and Marco Polo. Through collaboration with tripwolf, MairDumont has put all of its content - covering more than 200,000 destinations and points of interest - online for free.

For more information, visit www.tripwolf.com

Future Vacations New Price Match Policy

Future Vacations launched a new Price Match policy. Under terms of the new policy that will match any competitor’s price on comparable vacation packages within three hours, ensuring that travelers always receive the best value for their vacation dollar.

Travel agents or consumers who book a Future Vacations package and find a lower price on a comparable package elsewhere can call Future Vacations’ new Price Match Hotline – 800-373-7801 – and speak directly to a Price Match Specialist for immediate service.

Comparable packages must feature the same airline, hotel, room category, travel dates and inclusions (e.g.: rental car, ground transfers, theme park/show tickets, etc.). For the fastest service, calls must be made during the following Price Match business hours: Monday to Saturday 9 am to 7 pm EST and Sunday 10 am to 4 pm EST.

Calls made outside of these hours will receive a return call the following business day. If Future Vacations is unable to match the price of a package, travelers will receive a $25 travel credit for future use.

The Price Match Policy is effective now and until further notice on all packages in the Future Vacations portfolio, which spans the U.S., Canada, the Caribbean, Central America, Hawaii, Mexico, Europe, South America, Africa and the Middle East.

For telephone reservations, call 800-456-2323.

Uniworld Cruises Early-Booking Incentives

Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection is offering travelers who pre-plan their cruises additional savings.

With Pay-In-Full and early-booking discount programs, travelers reduce their costs by booking and paying for all or a portion of their Europe cruises in advance. Couples who book a 2009 Uniworld Europe river cruise and pay in full before Sept. 30 can save up to $1,000 per person on select itineraries in Europe. By paying before this date, travelers are protected from any currency fluctuation. Those who place a deposit on a 2009 river cruise can save up $300 per person by booking and depositing by Nov. 30.

For more information, call 800-733-7820 or visit www.uniworld.com

Black Forest to the Danube Package

Explores Germany’s Southern Sights

Tour Visits Historic Highlights of Germany Cities Mainz, Heidelberg, Freiburg, Augsburg and Regensburg

Augsburg, Germany — Historic Highlights of Germany, a consortium of 14 historic German cities, has announced a five-day package that travels from the deep woodlands and rustic villages of the Black Forest in southwestern Germany to the waters of the Danube as it cuts across Bavaria.

Along the way, travelers experience some of Germany’s most ancient and historic cities rich with medieval abbeys and cathedrals, baroque castles and histories dating back 2,000 years to the Roman Empire.

The package includes visits to Mainz, Heidelberg, Freiburg, Augsburg and Regensburg, four nights’ hotel accommodations, breakfast daily, Frankfurt airport transfers, detailed tour information and a choice of an Avis rental car €409 ($645*) or first class rail tickets €509 ($802*) between cities. In several cities, visitors also receive “welcome cards” for free or discounted access to public transportation and many attractions.

The first overnight, in Mainz, allows guests coming from nearby Frankfurt airport the chance to recover from their overseas flight as well as visit the city’s architectural highlights such as the six-towered Cathedral of St. Martin and the 1,000-year-old St. Stephen’s Church. En route to Freiburg — with its Gothic Cathedral encircled by a medieval Old Quarter with narrow, meandering lanes and a vibrant marketplace — participants stop in Heidelberg to take in the city’s castle, among the most important Renaissance structures north of the Alps.

The program continues to Augsburg, nicknamed the “German Renaissance City” for its wealth of buildings from that era, and ends in the UNESCO World Heritage city of Regensburg with its meticulously preserved medieval houses, towers, churches and abbeys, and a City Hall and cathedral that escaped attack during World War II. Hotels throughout the tour are conveniently located near rail stations in each city and include the Novotel (Mainz); InterCity Hotel (Freiburg); Hotel Riegele (Augsburg) and Karmeliten Hotel (Regensburg).

Tours are offered by TOEUROPE GERMANY. For detailed information on these and other German “Dream Routes,” visit Historic Highlights of Germany at www.historicgermany.com  or www.germanydreamroutes.com  Bookings can be made online at www.toeurope.eu  by calling Nonstop Travel at (800) 949-6362 or through local travel agents.

Historic Highlights of Germany is a tourism consortium comprising Augsburg, Erfurt, Freiburg, Heidelberg, Koblenz, Mainz, Münster, Osnabrück, Potsdam, Regensburg, Rostock, Trier, Wiesbaden and Würzburg - cities rich in historic and cultural heritage.

Contact Historic Highlights of Germany at info@historicgermany.com or visit www.historicgermany.com

Germany’s Historic Highlights Package

Historic Highlights of Germany, a consortium of 14 historic German cities, has announced a five-day package that travels from the deep woodlands and rustic villages of the Black Forest in southwestern Germany to the waters of the Danube as it cuts across Bavaria.

Along the way, travelers experience some of Germany’s most historic cities rich with medieval abbeys and cathedrals, baroque castles and histories dating back 2,000 years to the Roman Empire.

The package includes visits to Mainz, Heidelberg, Freiburg, Augsburg and Regensburg, four nights’ hotel accommodations, breakfast daily, Frankfurt airport transfers, detailed tour information and a choice of an Avis rental car €409 ($645) or first class rail tickets €509 ($802) between cities.

In several cities, visitors also receive “welcome cards” for free or discounted access to public transportation and many attractions.

Call Nonstop Travel www.toeurope.eu at 800-949-6362

or visit www.historicgermany.com  

or www.germanydreamroutes.com