Join Kingwood Travel and Lipstick Digest for the

First Annual Girlfriends’European Christmas Market Tour of Austria, Germany & Switzerland

December 1-9, 2010

$2650, per person, includes airfare, hotels, travel insurance, 7 buffet breakfasts, 3-three course dinners plus Farewell dinner with wine in Lucerne, plus pre-trip party to meet, greet and swap packing ideas

Call up your gal pals and experience a Christmas shopping experience like no other. Visit the traditional Christmas markets of Vienna, Salzburg, Munich, Innsbruck, Zurich and Lucerne. See Europe decked out for the holidays in picture postcard splendor. Camera bugs will have a field day! Yes, this is your chance to wear that fur in your closet!

We will fly British Airways to Vienna (returning from Zurich) to begin our adventure with the services of a full-time Trafalgar guide and multi-lingual speaker traveling on a luxury coach with 30+ fun-loving women. Diane Blanco, author of Lipstick Digest.com and frequent European travel host, will be our tour director. In addition to shopping in the traditional Christmas markets and shops, we will see some of the most amazing scenery, landmarks and highlights of each city. King Ludwig’s castle in Neuschwanstein will literally take your breath away.

We will possibly overdose on laughter and fun, but that is the price of traveling with friends. This tour will fill quickly so if you wish to join us, and believe me, you do, sign up ASAP. Our deadline for this amazing price is September 15, 2010. To sign up, call Ann Chamberlain at Kingwood Travel, 281-359-5464 or e-mail diane@lipstickdigest.com. Don’t wait too long, we may be full!!!!

Our Itinerary:

Day 1 – Depart USA

Overnight flight to Vienna.

Day 2 – Arrive Vienna (2 nights)
Welcome to the Austrian capital city, Vienna, at this festive time. There is time to relax before enjoying a Welcome Drink with our Tour Director and fellow travelers.

Hotel: Hilton Danube (SF)

Day 3 – Vienna sightseeing and Christmas markets
Our sightseeing tour with a local guide includes a drive along the Ringstrasse with views of the Hofburg, the Parliament, City Hall and the State Opera House. Then there is time to visit Vienna’s ‘Christkindlmarkt’ in traditional decorated wooden huts which display handmade wooden toys, local gingerbread and warming ‘Glühwein’. (Buffet Breakfast)

Day 4 – Vienna – Salzburg – Munich (2 nights)
A scenic drive along the Danube Valley brings us to Mozart’s Salzburg, where the Christmas markets are held in and around the ancient Cathedral. Our guided walking tour shows us the Mirabell Gardens, Mozart’s birthplace and the Old City. Then we drive through fairy-tale Christmas landscapes to the Bavarian capital of Munich, with its festive Christmas markets and bustling beer-halls. (Buffet Breakfast / Dinner)

Hotel: Hilton Munich City (SF)

Day 5 – Munich orientation and at leisure
Our orientation shows us the Hofbräuhaus, the Marienplatz and the ornate Glockenspiel on the impressive town hall. Then time at leisure to browse through the stalls at the Christmas market and maybe visit one of the famous beer halls of this hospitable and charming city. (Buffet Breakfast)

Day 6 – Munich – Neuschwanstein Castle – Oberammergau – Innsbruck
This morning, with views of snowcapped mountains, we drive to visit Neuschwanstein, the most extravagant of King Ludwig’s castles. Then to Oberammergau, where the Passion Play was performed in 2010, and on to Innsbruck, where, after an orientation tour, we have time to enjoy the Christmas Market in the Old Town Square. (Buffet Breakfast / Dinner)

Hotel: Grauer Bär (F)

Day 7 – Innsbruck – Liechtenstein – Zurich Christmas market – Lucerne (2 nights)
We head westwards to Vaduz, the capital of Liechtenstein, before entering Switzerland and reaching Zurich the financial capital. Time to visit the lively indoor Christmas market before continuing on to lakeside Lucerne in central Switzerland where we spend the next two nights. (Buffet Breakfast / Dinner)

Hotel: Schiller (F)

Day 8 – Lucerne orientation and at leisure
This morning our Tour Director shows us the poignant Lion Monument, the covered wooden Chapel Bridge and the Jesuit Church, before there is time to shop for Swiss watches and chocolate. Tonight, we all enjoy a festive Farewell Dinner with wine together with our Tour Director and new found friends. (Buffet Breakfast / Farewell Dinner)

Day 9 – Lucerne – Zurich – USA
Morning transfer to Zurich airport. (Buffet Breakfast)

Yes, I do have the travel bug! And I want you to have it too!

For the past 7 years, I have been taking local groups on a annual trip to Europe or a cruise as a host or co-host. We have had some wonderful adventures and made some lifelong friendships. I always work with some of the best professional tour companies to plan and guide our trips so everything is taken care of and we have great and fun experiences. By working with a tour company, we avoid lines at museums and places of interest and we see only the best and most interesting locales.

Our professional tour guides meet us at the airport in the country we are visiting and stay with us the entire time. In each new city, have a local guide, an expert to take us on museum or historical site tours for a true indepth understanding of what we are seeing. In Pompeii, our guide was a doctoral student whose dissertation was on Pompeii. These add so much to the experience.

We save money on our travel because of the buying power of a large tour company. Having traveled extensively solo abroad as well as with a group, I can tell you that the savings is substantial but quality is never compromised.

All this is to say that I am making plans for trips for the coming year and possibly later this year as well. I have had readers inquire about a fall trip possibly to New England or even a Napa Valley Wine/Food tour. I am looking at the possibility of an early spring or even January trip to Costa Rica. I was there last December and it is just wonderful, there is a 92% high school graduation rate and they love Americans, plus very low crime. All good!

I have thought about the European Christmas markets as a possibility. It would be cold, but most of our time would be spent inside shopping and seeing the incredible holiday decorations.

Next summer, we plan to go to either Ireland or Scotland or possibly both. The weather is best at that time.

What I need to know is what your interest is in traveling with a group of fun, like-minded people. My groups have always been a nice mix of singles and couples. We do not have kids along unless they are 18 or older and are traveling with a parent.

I work with Kingwood Travel for all my trips and they are just the best people in the world to handle your travel arrangements whether you are traveling with a group or just planning your family vacation. Their resources are world-wide and they will never steer you wrong whether it is a cruise ship or adventure travel.

Please e-mail me and let me know where you want to go and when. If you have friends who would like to be part of a group, please let me hear from them as well.

Best to you

Diane