January 12, 2016 One of the advantages of taking a private, custom-designed tour in Europe is that you can shape the trip to just about anything you desire. What are your unique interests? Your passions? Let us build those into the perfect trip, which has been designed just for you and your alone (or your […]
Tag Archives: europe
Our Definition of a “Small Group Tour” is something entirely different
January 1, 2016 Happy New Year! About a third of all of the trips we led in 2014 and 2015 were booked in the month of January, as people’s minds and hearts start to turn to travel and adventure. With the busy holiday season behind us, we can now focus on “where are we going […]
Keep Traveling or the Terrorists Win
November 20, 2015 The recent events in Paris and also the bringing down of the Russian airplane full of tourists returning home from a holiday in Egypt has the world rattled, and rightly so. These events are horrible to contemplate. The wreckage left behind cannot be calculated. But the wreckage to come will only be […]
Where Do You Want To Go Next?
October 2, 2015 James just finished a very unique trip with a mother and her 29 year-old son from near Boise, Idaho. When asked where in the world he wanted to go, young Andrew said he wanted to experience the Alps and some of Southern Germany. We worked together on an itinerary which fit in […]
The Ancient Castle of Runkel, Germany
August 9, 2015 While on an ancestral discovery trip to nearby Oberursel, our guest Steffani from near Atlanta, Georgia had the opportunity to conquer her fear of heights AND explore an ancient medieval castle all at the same time. It was a bright and gorgeous July day when guide James Derheim offered a day trip […]
The Sacristy of the Augustinian Monastery at Vorau, Austria
June 23, 2015 With almost a divine intervention, the beautiful sacristy of the Augustinian Monastery was spared the destruction of Soviet bombing late in the Second World War. The ceiling frescoes were painted by artist J.C. Hackhofer during 1716. He and the other artists in his workshop did the Last Judgment and also the Last […]
The Library of the Augustinian Monastery at Vorau, Austria
June 23, 2015 We have been spending the last two weeks with three clients from Texas who have more than just a casual interest in history, philosophy, art and literature. So it was a natural to make a stop at the Vorau Augustinian Monastery at Vorau, about an hour and a half south of Vienna. […]
Off Limits Cities for July and August
June 4, 2015 This came up recently while discussing a potential future trip with a family from Canada. European Focus no longer takes guests to the following “Red Zone” cities and areas from mid-July through end of August: London Amsterdam Berlin Paris The South of France Italy (all of Italy) Portugal Spain Why? Because of […]