Holiday Director Favourites

We asked some of our Holiday Directors what their favourite destinations to introduce travellers to on an escorted tour were. Here's what they told us...

Aideen Higgins - Irresistible Italy

My favourite country has to be Italy and if you’ve never been before, our ‘Grand Tour of Italy’ is a wonderful introduction to this fascinating land. It is quite literally a top-to-toe tour from Venice in the north, to Sicily in the south and is such an interesting journey. You get to see magnificent monuments and some of the greatest churches in the world and experience thousands of years of history first-hand. You’ll view incredible landscapes, from mighty mountains to stunning coastlines, and taste a variety of flavours and culinary delights created from delicious homegrown ingredients.

Jackie O’Donoghue - Magic of Spain

For me, there’s nowhere better than Spain and in particular, Andalucia, its most southerly and beautiful region. I love how its World Heritage Sites showcase so many different architectural styles. The awe-inspiring Mosque Cathedral in Cordoba will dazzle you, along with the Gothic Cathedral and Royal Alcazar Palace in Seville. And of course, there’s the Alhambra Palace in Granada, the most frequently visited monument in Spain.

Perhaps the thing I love best of all though is the food. Tapas was invented in Andalucia and Jerez is where the world’s sherry comes from. In my opinion, Iberico ham is the finest in the world, it comes from free-range black-footed pigs fed on a rich diet of acorns. As Rick Stein commented when in Andalucia, it slips down well with manchego cheese and a chilled Tio Pepe sherry!

Ricardo Lima - Perfect Portugal

I was born in Porto, so maybe I am biased, but I love how Portugal manages to preserve the character that so many other places have either lost or forgotten. A cruise along the Douro River is one of my all-time favourite experiences, and passing Peso da Régua into the Douro Valley, the world’s oldest demarcated wine region, never fails to fill me with awe. I love to share our passengers’ enthusiasm when they get to see this rather hidden part of my country for the first time.

A Douro River cruise is the perfect way to explore a little bit of Portugal’s not so well-known but absolutely beautiful north.