Welcome
Welcome to Grumpy's Getaway Guide where, despite the name, I appreciate your visit.
This is a travel site which, hopefully, will introduce you to the world and inspire you to travel to places near and far.
Here, we encourage discussion about destinations, places to stay, eat, shop, modes of transport, experiences, likes, dislikes, loathes and loves – and we love to learn your travel tips and tales.
Please feel free to join in.
Latest News
Cunard's New European Cruise Program
Australians can embark on a royal tour of Europe aboard one of Cunard’s three magnificent Queens in 2013, choosing their ideal itinerary from more than 100 voyages on offer in Cunard’s new European program. The offerings include the chance to cruise in the heart of the Mediterranean on Cunard’s youngest liner Queen Elizabeth, which will operate a series of 11 voyages cruising the waters between Venice, Rome and Athens. The voyages will introduce guests to the wonders of this ancient corner of the world in a setting of unrivalled grandeur and luxury. The remainder of the season will see Queen Elizabeth sailing roundtrip voyages from Southampton to the Mediterranean and Northern Europe including Iceland, Norway’s fjords, British Isles and the Baltic Sea.
Travelport Lets Agents Track Clients Travels
Travelport, the business services provider to the global travel industry, has launched Travelport Journey Reporter to customers in the Asia-Pacific region. Journey Reporter is a new web-based reporting solution that offers travel management companies the ability to track and monitor the location of business travellers around the world. Operating in real time via a secure login, Journey Reporter allows Travelport-connected agents to immediately identify the country, city or airport location of business travellers. As reports are run instantly from the GDS, travellers are located within minutes, which is especially important in crisis situations where timely communication is crucial.
More Latest News
Jetstar Japan Expects To Take Off Shortly
The new Japan based low-cost carrier is on track to start flying five months ahead of schedule, according to the airline’s chief executive after receiving its Air Operators’ Certificate late last week. Receiving the certificate of regulatory approval on operating policies and procedures from Japan’s leaders this month meant fares would go on sale “soon”, with the airline’s head Miyuki Suzuki expecting a May 2012 takeoff instead of its 3 July target. The low-cost airline is expected to kick-start with domestic services to Tokyo, Osaka, Sapporo, Fukuoka and Okinawa with plans of short-haul international flights expected to be added next year.
Starwood Plans to Open Ski Resort in China
The Westin Changbaishan and Sheraton Changbaishan Resort will become Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide first dual-branded ski resort, set to open in August this year. Adjacent to one of China’s leading ski areas, the slopes of Changbai Mountains, the highly anticipated resort complex extends Starwood’s reputation as the largest international luxury and upper upscale hotel operator in China. The Westin and Sheraton resort complex is a short drive from Changbaishan Airport (NBS) and close to the Yingfu Expressway.? The Changbai mountain range extends through several countries and where guests can enjoy winter activities including downhill trails surrounded by unspoiled pine forests, ice skating and ice fishing.
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Tracing the Tudors
By Steve `Grumpy' Collins, on December 2nd, 2010
 The House of Tudor was a Royal dynasty which led England from 1485 until 1603, and it was a time which saw great change in England ranging from a split from the Catholic Church to declare King Henry VIII Supreme Governor of the Church of England, to the ascension of England as the mightiest power in Western Europe thanks to the exploration of great seafarers such as Sir Francis Drake, and the domination of England’s navy.
It was during the reign of the Tudors that saw great strides in the intellectual and artistic maturity of the English; during this period writers, poets and playwrights such a Francis Bacon, Christopher Marlowe, Ben Johnson and William Shakespeare re-defined the English language to express ideas that remain fresh 400 years later.
For history buffs, and those who just like to delve into the past, there are now a number of tours which relive those times by visiting many of the sites at which historical events took place.
Designed by Ambient Events, there are four organised tour itineraries which are labelled On the Trail of the Tudors. Each tour is of 7 days/6 nights duration. 
The first tour centres around the Tudor Monarchs and its aim is to brings alive the story of the scandals and intrigues surrounding the Tudor Kings and Queens, particularly King Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth 1. This tour visits Hampton Court Palace and includes a visit of the King’s Apartments. It also visits Hever Castle, home of Anne Boleyn and Anne of Cleves, Sudeley Castle, Ludlow Castle and Kenilworth Castle.
The Influential Tudors tour concentrates are re-visiting the sites where the powerbrokers wielded their influence with often brutal consequences. This itinerary includes a walking tour of Cambridge and an authentic Tudor feast.
For the Tudor Poets and Playwrights tour you visit bith the Globe and the Rose Theatre, there are visits to Cambridge and Oxford and, naturally, to Stratford-Upon-Avon where guests attend a performance of the Royal Shakespeare Company.
The fourth of the On the Trail of the Tudors tours is devoted to the adventures and explorers and follows the adventures of Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Richard Grenville and Sir Francis Drake. This tour is necessarily nautical in nature and visits Greenwich and the National Maritime Museum, Portsmouth, Plymouth and Southampton.
These tours visit many stately castles and homes, each of which has a history that is relevant to the Tudor Kings and Queens, and those around them who had political, military and artistic merit. The Tudors and their minions were very interesting characters, and these tours give you the opportunity to re-live a period which saw England enhance its influence to become a super power.
Related posts:
- A minor way to tour London
- Succulent 16th Century suppers
- The Chelsea Garden of World Medicine
- Burghausen fairytale castle
- Waiting for devils in Tasmania
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Join My Forum
Introducing My Forum
It occurred to me that I don't give my site's visitors much of an opportunity to ask questions or contribute to any conversations about travel, so I've created a forum (see the "Forum" tab above).
Feel free to participate to your heart's content. Either join a discussion, ask a question or put forward your point of view. Any reasonable discussion is allowed - which means that I won't tolerate foul language or abuse.
Disagreement with others is fine, and your views are welcome.
Of course, you can always comment on any of my stories, but the forum will give you an opportunity to start your own topic, or to respond to someone else's thread.
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The House of Tudor was a Royal dynasty which led England from 1485 until 1603, and it was a time which saw great change in England ranging from a split from the Catholic Church to declare King Henry VIII Supreme Governor of the Church of England, to the ascension of England as the mightiest power in Western Europe thanks to the exploration of great seafarers such as Sir Francis Drake, and the domination of England’s navy.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Steve Grumpy Collins, Steve Grumpy Collins. Steve Grumpy Collins said: Historical @tour – On the Trail of the #Tudors http://ow.ly/3iN4Z #England #escorted_tour #travel #tourism [...]