Whether
you are looking for a relaxing cruise through the rivers and canals of Europe, a
final trip down the Yangtze before the Three Gorges are altered forever,
exploring the heartland of America or a journey deep into the rainforest,
Cultural Travels tour hosts can accommodate your every wish.
While...
Tour Host Review
Established in 1974 as the Society for the Preservation of Archaeological Monuments, this company began life offering excursions to Easter Island. The profits of those first expeditions were donated to aid the restoration of the great statues. Since then it has expanded to offer trips to destination throughout the world.
Renamed Society Expeditions in 1976, the company added new destinations b...
Host of the Month
For years before Seattle rose to international prominence in the 1990s, the city loved to tout that its population owned more boats per capita than any other in the U.S. It wasn’t hard to see why: With two large lakes within its city limits and the inviting labyrinthine byways of Puget Sound’s deep waters stretching from its western edge all the way to the Pacific, few people could res...
Festival Pick
Until this month we’ve been scrupulous about following UNESCO’s official list of World Heritage Sites. But as we searched for a Heritage Site that had a clear relation to this month’s water theme in The Cultured Traveler, none really called out to us.
We did find the Vietnamese city of Hoi An, an ancient port that in its day had seen the Chinese. Dutch, French and English drop ...
World Heritage Site
My son, Sam, used to pal around with a kid named Dmitri, who looked like a Ukrainian poster boy – round face, high cheekbones and hair close to platinum in color. “Mitri,” as we all called him, lived in a house built on stilts at the edge of San Francisco Bay. To visit him, you had to walk down a long boardwalk, breathing salt air and passing over tidal flats that alterna...
Museum Pick
North America has some of the most spectacular scenic drives by water in the world. The 80-mile highway that snakes above the Big Sur coastline of California rivals the Amalfi coast of Italy, and the 100-mile stretch from Key Largo to Key West along the Hwy 1 in Florida is as close to driving on water as you can get.
Canada has its share of great maritime drives, too. Perhaps the better known ...
National Park Pick
Cruising the Danube
Written By Christophe Buszkiewicz Posted on Seven Seas
The magnificent Danube River, Europe’s second longest, is at the heart of some of Europe’s most celebrated cities: Budapest, crowned “Queen of the Danube;” Vienna, where Mozart composed some of his greatest operas and symphonies; and Melk with its grand Benedictine abbey. Touted as the “King of the rivers of Europe” by Napoleon, the river Danube connects eight countries from the Black Forest to the Black Sea. Experiencing the pleasures of a river cruise down the Danube allows you the opportunity to explore the art, history and culture of these historic cities while being conveniently docked at a downtown river port.
It’s hard to believe that now is the best time to travel, but it is. Airlines are more secure and more comfortable, prices everywhere have dropped, waiting lines are shorter and usually crowded places are virtually empty. Security everywhere has been heightened and, truth be told, we are safer exploring the world beyond our borders than we are driving on our local highways. (The chances of being involved in a car accident within five miles of our home are...
Exploring fjords and glaciers in a small cruise ship
It sounded like the crack of a rifle shot.
Instantly a wall of ice, the size and shape of the Empire State Building, sheared away from the Tracy Arm portion of the huge Sawyer Glacier, some 50 miles south of Juneau, and crashed with a roar into the water below, setting off...
I am in Southwest France lounging on the deck of a comfortable barge that is floating down a canal flanked by poplar trees. There is a large quantity of excellent wines on board and in the evening I'll share another gourmet dinner with stimulating companions. It sounds like the ultimate indulgence – and it is.
Photos by Kate Hill
On June 9, 1763, the Mozart family – Papa Leopold, Mama Anna Maria, their son Wolfgang (seven and a half years old) and daughter Nannerl (some five years older than Wolfgang) – left Salzburg to undertake a tour. Its purpose was to exhibit the children’s, in particular Wolfgang’s, musical talents and would last three and a half years, with the Palace of...
"It seems like a long way to go to look at ice and penguins," said an acquaintance when I told her I was going to Antarctica. It wasn't the distance that bothered me, though. I was concerned about ruffling the feathers of the tuxedoed birds.
As it turned out, I needn't have worried. The penguins took me and my shipmates in stride, waddling around us...
Before my eyes a New York city lawyer turned 12-year-old boy as his sky blue eyes scanned the busy Mystic River while directing our two-masted schooner out to sea. Like Frank, Earl and Jen, and myself, Chuck was a guest aboard the Mystic Seaport’s training schooner. No computers here, no TV or even music to distract from the sounds of rigging and hull responding to the wind...
It begins with the water. 85-degree water that is of a color and a clarity that could only be Caribbean. Right now it teems with exotic sea life that puts on a show just for us. Because the boat on which we're traveling is anchored by itself in the most beautiful secluded bay we've ever seen. We frolic in our private paradise, snorkeling around the coral reef and then soaking up...
As we were planning this water-oriented issue, we realized that almost everybody who produces The Cultured Traveler lives near water or has had his life profoundly affected by it.
Our publisher grew up in Santa Monica, Calif., and had only to casually turn her head at any time to catch a view of the ocean.
Our editor lives on the edge of San Francisco Bay, and our webmaster was once a U.S. Navy submariner and later the owner of a 43-foot ocean-going...
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Established in 1974 as the Society for the Preservation of Archaeological Monuments, this company began life offering excursions to Easter Island. The profits of those first expeditions were donated to aid the restoration of the great statues. Since then it has expanded to offer trips to destination throughout the world.
Renamed Society Expeditions in 1976, the company added new destinations b...
For years before Seattle rose to international prominence in the 1990s, the city loved to tout that its population owned more boats per capita than any other in the U.S. It wasn’t hard to see why: With two large lakes within its city limits and the inviting labyrinthine byways of Puget Sound’s deep waters stretching from its western edge all the way to the Pacific, few people could res...
Cruising the Danube
Exploring fjords and glaciers in a small cruise ship
I am in Southwest France lounging on the deck of a comfortable barge that is floating down a canal flanked by poplar trees. There is a large quantity of excellent wines on board and in the evening I'll share another gourmet dinner with stimulating companions. It sounds like the ultimate indulgence – and it is. 
On June 9, 1763, the Mozart family – Papa Leopold, Mama Anna Maria, their son Wolfgang (seven and a half years old) and daughter Nannerl (some five years older than Wolfgang) – left Salzburg to undertake a tour. Its purpose was to exhibit the children’s, in particular Wolfgang’s, musical talents and would last three and a half years, with the Palace of...
"It seems like a long way to go to look at ice and penguins," said an acquaintance when I told her I was going to Antarctica. It wasn't the distance that bothered me, though. I was concerned about ruffling the feathers of the tuxedoed birds. 
“Alaska! What cruise ship are you going on?” 
Before my eyes a New York city lawyer turned 12-year-old boy as his sky blue eyes scanned the busy Mystic River while directing our two-masted schooner out to sea. Like Frank, Earl and Jen, and myself, Chuck was a guest aboard the Mystic Seaport’s training schooner. No computers here, no TV or even music to distract from the sounds of rigging and hull responding to the wind...
It begins with the water. 85-degree water that is of a color and a clarity that could only be Caribbean. Right now it teems with exotic sea life that puts on a show just for us. Because the boat on which we're traveling is anchored by itself in the most beautiful secluded bay we've ever seen. We frolic in our private paradise, snorkeling around the coral reef and then soaking up...