My Blog

Grand Tourist is proud to be hosting a long weekend in Istanbul for the Worshipful Company of Furniture Makers. Participants will be arriving in Istanbul tomorrow - and a superb programme of sight-seeing, dining and cultural activities lie ahead.

Istanbul really is at the cross roads of Europe and Asia, both geographically and culturally. In the last ten years Turkey's economy has grown massively and the city of Istanbul is at the hub of this economic transformation.

 To learn more about Istanbul and posssibilities for visitors contact us for a personalised travel itinerary. Grand Tourist would love to welcome you to Istanbul. 

A wonderful country house in Italy is available 8th August for one week - can accommodate 14 adults and a couple of kids. Secluded gardens, wonderful private pool, gorgeous interiors, scrumptious cotton sheets, immaculate in every way. For more info e-mail me janet@grand-tourist.com or ring for more details 01829 751038. The house is divine and wonderfully located in Le Marche (nearest airport Ancona) or why not drive!!

I've spent the last few days in incredible Istanbul - a dynamic and thriving city. Here east really does meet west; spice markets and the grand bazaar on one hand, Porsches and Range Rovers on the other.

Istanbul was the final destination of Agatha Christie in the days of the Orient Express and the Pera Palace (where she stayed) is currently undergoing a massive refurbishment programme.

For total luxury in 2009 the Four Seasons, Sultanahmet is unbeatable - a restored former prison it is brilliantly located just minutes from Santa Sophia.

Just down the road and representing wonderful value is the charming Blue House Hotel (which has been my home this last week).  This boutique style hotel is very comfortable and has the most amazing roof terrace restaurant - giving a superb view of the Sea of Marmara and the Blue Mosque.

On behalf of Grand Tourist I am looking forward to welcoming our clients (both current and future) to Istanbul. 

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Summer is with us on the Cote d'Azur - the waves are lapping gently on the beaches and the elegant pink and white villas are shimmering in the sun. To join Grand Tourist at our newest and most spectacular boutique hotel the Cap Estel contact us now to check availability.

The property can be reached by car from Nice Airport - 35 minutes, helicopter - from Nice Airport - 12 minutes. Either way once you arrive you are on your own private peninsula - and you leave the rest of the world behind you. Magical!! 

janet@grand-tourist.com for more information!

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As the Adriatic Sea laps gently against the beach in Italy's seaside resort of Senigallia (twinned with the Roman city of Chester) the town gears up for its annual 'Festival of the Sea'. Award winning local chefs will create wonderful local fish dishes for an international audience of professional chefs.

Historic Senigallia

 Uliassi Ristorante & one of Mauro Uliassi's wonderful fish dishes.

To be able to participate in this amazing event for professional chefs is quite an experience. During the week chefs will be instructed by Moreno Cedroni and Mauro Uliassi (both living and working in Senigallia) and visiting superstar chef Leif Mannerstrom from Sweden.

For further details on this and other culinary and gastronomic events in Senigallia contact www.grand-tourist.com

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La Dolce Vita Show celebrates all things Italian, food & wine, travel, property, history and culture. Why not head down to Olympia this weekend and indulge in the sights and sounds of 'La Dolce Vita' albeit in West Kensington!

 Come and visit Grand Tourist at Stand T 219 (travel section) and we'll help you plan your next extraordinary trip to Italia.

Why not join us on a terrace in Italy to 'Learn Italian in Luxury'  this one week course runs from 03-10 October 2009. Everything is included (apart from flights) and it is fantastic - £1395 pp. NO SINGLE SUPPLEMENT!!!!!

See you soon, Ciao amici..........................Janet x

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Only ten days to go now until La Dolce Vita Show at London's Olympia. We'd love to see you there to chat about all things Italian and to help you plan an original and interesting trip to perhaps Ischia, Le Marche, Toscana or maybe Basilicata! We're running a competition and there's a great boutique b & b that we've just started working with right in the centre of Florence.

Ciao amici ci vediamo la settimana prossima! 

Grand Tourist would like to recommend a few days or a week skiing in Les Gets. The snow is wonderful, the village is picturesque and the Ferme de Montagne is magnificent.

Can't recommend highly enough a few days at this exquisite luxury chalet on the slopes. From Grand Tourist's point of view this is the best place to be in mid February. The chef Alan is awesome,  the ski guides led by Carol - great and the hosts Suzanne and Henry - in a league of their own.

e-mail janet@grand-tourist.com to book or go to: www.fermedemontagne.com and mention Grand Tourist.

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As I sit here in the cold and damp of a British winter I think of Italy's blue skies and warm terracotta shades. I think of a terrace in Italy where a small group of us are learning and improving our Italian.

I want to be back there now enjoying the views, the cadence of the language, the  aromas of coffee and brioches.

Galloping across St Mark's Square our posse of unruly teenagers invade the peace and tranquility of 'the finest drawing room in Europe'.

Buying bucket loads of trinkets and tat from the delighted stall-holders their laughter and merriment is truly infectious. Our first visit is to the top of St Mark's Bell Tower where the girls are overwhelmed by the breath-taking view. I try to explain to them the basic history of Venice, which they all listen to with great interest (apart of course from my daugther - who regards Mum's version of anything as entirely tedious)! 

For the full story check back very soon

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