One of the major stress points of travel is where to eat. There can be so many choices, it’s dizzying. What if you only have two nights in Florence? Ideally, those two nights should include some memorable dinners, right? With experience verging on four decades, European Focus Private Tours’ owner James Derheim can provide tips, […]
Tag Archives: driver
A visit to Siena, Tuscany
Visiting one of Tuscany’s most beautiful places on a hot day in June requires some creativity and planning. First – find a place to park that is not too far of a walk from the city center. With help from the hosts at our luxury villa hotel outside of Montepulciano, check. On this visit I […]
Last Minute to Portugal – Let’s Go!
Lance, Jan, Steve and Pat will join me in Lisbon for a jaunt around #Portugal to include #Porto, the #Duoro Valley and its rich wine regions, ancient #Evora with its thousands of cork trees and the beautiful southern region of the #Algarve from September 24 to October 5, 2025. The two couples are direct referrals […]
Getting to Know New Clients
As I enter the fourth quarter of my career, I am finding that I have some luxuries that I did not have in my first and second quarters. I now have more requests for my time than I have time. This is in part thanks to the many loyal guests who come back for their […]
Cyndi and Joe’s trip to Ireland
Cyndi and Joe will enjoy their second tour, this time to the Emerald Isle including Dublin, Cashel, Kenmare, Cobh, Kinsale, Baltimore (Cork) and Dingle.
Open Letter from Rick Steves to all Canadians
From our friend in travel Rick Steves. An Open Letter from an American-Owned Tour Company to our Canadian Travel Buddies Recently, we’ve heard from a few of our longstanding Canadian customers who signed up for a 2025 Rick Steves tour but are now considering canceling. They still love our style of travel, but they’re struggling […]
Let European Focus Private Tours Open the Door to Adventure
The 2025 Season is here and it’s going to be another exciting one. I have tours lined up in Spain, France, Italy (four trips to Italy this year) Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Poland. Joining me in Europe will be several repeat clients, some on their 5th and 6th trips. This kind of easy, […]
Gang of Six Return for Tour 2 – This time Bella Italia
Three couples from my home state of Minnesota return to Europe, this time to Italy. Their first trip was in Germany, Austria and Switzerland in September, 2024. Now they will experience Rome, Florence, Venice, Bologna, Parma, Pisa, Montepulciano and more over two weeks in the spring.




