Jennifer and Lin traveled with me before, this time they invite friends Ward and Karen for a 2-week adventure in Bella Italia. Highlights will include Rome (Arrival), the Amalfi Coast region centered around Amalfi and Ravello, Positano plus Florence, Pisa, Montepulciano and the Val d’Orcia, Montalcino and Pienza as highlights.
2024 Rundown with “/” separating trips. With 35 years of experience, only European Focus Private Tours can take you to all of these places and many more, with one guide, one driver, one organizer even in multiple countries on the same trip. No hand off to third parties, no uncertainty, no missed opportunities due to […]
Repeat guests Sam, Judy, Colleen and Don enjoyed a night at Dromoland Castle in County Clare at the tail end of their recent tour in Ireland, Sept 13 – 23, 2023. This was Don’s sixth tour with European Focus, Colleen’s seventh, Sam and Judy’s fourth.
Dromoland should be called “Dreamland,” because it’s so… yes. The estate was owned by the O’Brien family, and it was not burned during the Irish Revolution of the early 1900s because the family had good relations with the locals, whom they treated with respect. The estate has an 18-hole golf course, extensive woodlands, wonderful paths for walking, a large lake with free rowboats and a gorgeous, peaceful walled garden. Inside, at least three large fireplaces are kept going all day long, adding to the warm atmosphere punctuated by reds, browns and blues. Lush doesn’t begin to describe Dromoland.
I look forward to bringing many more guests to this special place in the future.
Images from our September 21, 2023 stay at Dromoland Castle
In this time of lockdown and travel restrictions, it’s been fun and interesting to explore what is just around the corner, less than half an hour away from my home base of Rothenburg ob der Tauber. There are so many historic, pretty hamlets and towns. On January 1, we visited Burgbernheim, Middle Franconia, Bavaria. The […]
A gorgeous place in any weather, medieval Rothenburg and the nearby hamlet of Detwang are splendid after a fresh snowfall. This is the European headquarters since 1999 for European Focus Private Tours. Owner James Derheim lives here full-time. Starting with the winter season of 2021-22 James will be offering winter tours in Bavaria as well […]
With the recent decision by the European Union to ban travelers from the United States from entering (As of July 1, 2020) my calendar has been cleared for July and August, with those tours not able to move forward due to this restriction. My calendar is now open for tours with clients who are coming […]
I’ve been in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, my European home base, since March 15. Soon after arrival, I started making little movies lasting less than 4 minutes and posting them to my Facebook page (European Focus Private Tours) as well as YouTube. Here’s the link: https://www.youtube.com/user/DowntownSRQ/videos?view_as=subscriberhttps://www.youtube.com/user/DowntownSRQ/videos?view_as=subscriber During this time of upheaval and no travel, I […]
I started European Focus three decades ago as a custom-designed, private tour service. When I proposed the concept to the owner of a travel agency (who happened to be a family member) he scoffed and said “no one will pay that much to travel.” Now, 321 tours later, travel in general is in a “pause” […]