Tag Archives: wow experiences

How to Get Fast-Tracked Through Foreign Airports

One of the perks that well-connected travelers appreciate most is being expedited through airports. Did you know that WOW List travel fixers in many countries can make airport lines and hassles disappear and whisk you through like a VIP? It’s a great way to start or end a trip.

There was the time my family landed in Casablanca, for instance: We were led off the plane to a VIP lounge where we had canapés and cocktails while our passports were collected and stamped (by officials in some other room), then we scooped up our bags and were ushered to a waiting van. And there was the time we landed in Paris, were met at the jetway, and were led via back-door shortcuts to the front of the immigration line and then to our car—a process that took all of ten minutes. One place where fast-track treatment was a particular relief? Tel Aviv, where we were able to skip to the front of the long passport lines on both arrival and departure. (Above you see me with my airport fixer at Ben Gurion.) This VIP treatment is available to anyone who knows the right expediter and can pay the fee.

The tricks that WOW Listers have up their sleeves for expediting the airport process vary from country to country and from airport to airport. Learn more from the traveler reviews below. Most WOW Listers only offer these services when they are arranging your entire trip. But even if you’re already booked your trip and would like to add airport expediting in Europe this summer, we may be able to help; ask us via the black button below.

GET A PERSONALIZED TRIP RECOMMENDATION

Cairo: “We loved this VIP process, since the airport was a madhouse when we landed at 5:30 AM…”

Travelers at the pyramids of Giza all by themselves.

Sandy and Art Collins felt like VIPs in Giza too, when they had the Pyramids to themselves.

“We just returned from a 15-day trip to Egypt that Jim and Arlene expertly planned. We felt perfectly safe in Egypt and well cared for. The VIP process once we stepped off the plane in Cairo was flawless. At the jetway our first rep had a sign with our name and whisked us through the airport to a lovely private lounge with food and refreshments. We gave him our passports and luggage claim checks and he told us he would deal with immigration and fetch our luggage. We loved this VIP process, since the airport was a madhouse when we landed at 5:30 AM and doing this ourselves would not have been fun.

Thirty minutes later we were driven by private car to the Four Seasons Nile Plaza, which is a beautiful hotel. We already had a Nile-view room but somehow Arlene got us upgraded to a suite overlooking the Nile!! She also alerted every hotel and our cruise ship that it was our 35th anniversary, and we had a small cake with our Anniversary inscribed everywhere we visited—very thoughtful!” —Sandy Collins

Read more reviews of Egypt trips. To get your own WOW trip, start with our trip questionnaire, reached via the black button below.

START A TRIP TO EGYPT

Paris: “The WOW touch was apparent as soon as we stepped off the jet…. We effortlessly glided through the immigration process…”

The “WOW touch” continued for Cindy Kennedy and her husband when they got private access to Roland Garros, home of the French Open.

“Jennifer, for a second time, helped us plan a trip to France. The WOW touch was apparent as soon as we stepped off the jet. We will forever choose the Meet and Greet service! We effortlessly glided through the immigration process, guided by our greeter, Sofiane, who then introduced us to our driver. Upon returning to the airport at the end of our trip, our driver gave us over to the greeter, who expertly and quickly guided us to our gate. The ease at which we breezed through the airport each time was impressive!

In Paris, we thoroughly enjoyed an evening drive through the city in a vintage open-air Citroen that Jennifer arranged. Our knowledgeable driver made stops in front of several monuments that allowed us time to take some fun photographs. The monuments and the city take on a new look at night, swathed in lights. Paris is truly the City of Light.

Jennifer arranged a private tour of Roland Garros Stadium. We toured the stadium, getting a behind-the-scenes experience inside and out, top to bottom. As we walked through the hallway that leads to the main court, our guide replayed an announcement once used to introduce Nadal and Djokovic before a finals match. Goose bump time! Another highlight of our trip was a fabulous concert at Saint-Chapelle. Jennifer secured VIP front-row seats. Incroyable!” —Cindy Kennedy

Read more reviews of France trips. To get your own WOW trip, start with our trip questionnaire, reached via the black button below.

START A TRIP TO FRANCE

Turks & Caicos: “Michelle also provided Fast Track services at the small and extremely crowded airport…”

Aerial view of the beach in Turks and Caicos

A quintessential white-sand beach and turquoise waters in Turks and Caicos. Photo: Shutterstock

“Our WOW trip advisor, Michelle’s magic touch made for the perfect vacation for my husband, 2 daughters, son-in law and 2 grandsons (ages 6 & 11). Michelle recommended Beaches All-Inclusive Resort Turks & Caicos to us, and it was the perfect spot to fulfill our needs and made every family member extremely happy.

At her suggestion we splurged on Butler services, and that made all the difference: We had reserved and fully stocked Cabanas at the pool or beach of our choice each day. Never a wait at any of the restaurants as the butler escorts us in. Happy hour and late-night snacks brought to our villa each day etc. etc. etc. The amenities received were well worth our ‘splurge’ indeed.

Michelle also provided Fast Track services at the small and extremely crowded airport in Turks. We were met by a rep upon arrival as well as departure and quickly escorted through the processes without having to wait on hours-long lines. A blessing indeed! ” —Anita Kreitman

To get your own WOW trip, start with our trip questionnaire, reached via the black button below.

START A TRIP TO THE CARIBBEAN

Amsterdam: “We would HIGHLY recommend the VIP treatment when you arrive in Amsterdam if you were flying all night…”

Canal in Amsterdam surrounded by bikes and colored buildings.

With VIP arrival service, you’ll be fresh enough to walk Amsterdam’s canals on your first afternoon. Photo: Shutterstock

“Our trip to Holland and Belgium was fantastic. Tom was great to work with. Every hotel was unique to the city we were in, and all 4/5 star. Transportation was seamless as we changed locations 8 times in 16 days.

We would HIGHLY recommend the VIP treatment when you arrive in Amsterdam if you were flying all night like we did. We were served breakfast in a very nice living room while our luggage went through customs. When we were finished with breakfast, we went downstairs where we showed our passport and jumped in the car. Well worth it.” —Mike Hartmann

Read more reviews of trips to the Netherlands and Belgium. To get your own WOW trip, start with our trip questionnaire, reached via the black button below.

START A TRIP TO THE NETHERLANDS OR BELGIUM

Athens: “The in-airport assistance they arranged in Athens was something I’d never had, never thought I needed, and will never live without again…”

Sunny summer landscape with rocky island, Cyclades in Greece.

Naxos Island, Greece. Photo: Shutterstock

“This was a pretty flawless trip. I’ve been to the Greek Islands several times at different points in my life. I was bringing someone new to Greece as a celebration of her retirement. Mina and I debated Santorini (because of the insufferable crowds) and decided everyone has to see it once, so we went. Her choice of a small, four-room mini-hotel on the Caldera in Fira was perfect. The view was breathtaking, and they brought us fresh breakfast to be eaten on our porch every morning. We never wanted to leave.

We also wanted a nice mix of free time and planned touring to see beyond the main harbor town or commercial area of the island. Again, home runs. The tours we had of the villages in Naxos and Paros and the cooking class were really well done, and our guides were all interesting, insightful and willing to talk about anything.

Basic logistics were beautifully handled. Tickets always appeared at our hotels the day before we needed them. The in-airport assistance they arranged in Athens was something I’d never had, never thought I needed, and will never live without again. They smoothed over so many details that are just complicated and anxiety-producing for the average traveler.” —Laurie Richter

Read more reviews of Greece trips. To get your own WOW trip, start with our trip questionnaire, reached via the black button below.

START A TRIP TO GREECE

Paris: “They arranged greeters for us at CDG who whisked us through the airport and worked their magic so that we avoided the very long lines…”

Old cozy street in Rouen with famos Great clocks or Gros Horloge of Rouen, Normandy, France.

An expedited airport process means more time for must-sees such as the Gros Horloge of Rouen in Normandy. Photo: Shutterstock

“My husband and I just returned from a great 10-day trip to France organized by Michael and his staff. The itinerary they developed was perfect for us. First stop was the Loire Valley, where we toured several amazing chateaux and stayed in a lovely hotel in Amboise, a charming town. Next stop was St. Malo, where we got a great feel for the lovely region of Brittany and a hotel room overlooking the English Channel. Then on to Mont Saint-Michel, which was a highlight (and surprisingly crowded for May, good thing we had an excellent guide to get us around the crowds!). Then on to Bayeux, our base for the Normandy/D-Day beaches tour. Next stop was an amazing hotel in Honflour after a guided tour of the highlights of the Pays d’Auge region—and stops at a cheese factory and a picnic at a cider/calvados producer. The final stop was in Giverny, where we saw the Monet sites in all their springtime glory and had an amazing final dinner at our small but beautiful hotel.

All of our dinner reservations were made by Michael’s office as well, after consultation with us, and every meal was excellent. We requested “non-tourist” places that were within walking distance from our hotels, and they delivered in every location. They also arranged greeters for us at CDG who whisked us through the airport and worked their magic so that we avoided the very long lines at passport control and customs. We were through the airport in no time, and that was amazing.

We are convinced that the value provided by local travel planners on The WOW List is absolutely worth it. Seamless transportation and transfers, no worries about luggage security, amazing guides, and great attention to detail throughout our time in France made the trip extra special.” —Lisa Newmark

Read more reviews of France trips. To get your own WOW trip, start with our trip questionnaire, reached via the black button below.

START A TRIP TO FRANCE

Be a smarter traveler: Sign up for Wendy’s weekly newsletter to stay in the know. Read real travelers’ reviews, then use the black CONTACT buttons on Wendy’s WOW List to reach out to the right local fixer for your trip.

WOW Experience: Sunrise Ceremony with Cambodian Monks

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sun rise over the Tonle Sap Lake valley Cambodia

After our private ceremony with the temple's monk, we watched the sun rise over the Tonle Sap Lake valley. Photo: Billie Cohen

young monk prepares a water blessing at Phnom Krom Pagoda Cambodia

A young monk prepared a special water blessing for us at Phnom Krom Pagoda in Cambodia. Photo: Billie Cohen

beautiful pagoda at Phnom Krom outside Siem Reap Cambodia

Another beautiful pagoda at Phnom Krom. Photo: Billie Cohen

temple painting at Phnom Krom pagoda outside Siem Reap Cambodia

The pagoda was painted with intricate medallions. Photo: Billie Cohen

Phnom Krom temple ruins atop a small mountain outside Siem Reap Cambodia

The Phnom Krom temple ruins atop a small mountain outside Siem Reap are more than a thousand years old. Photo: Billie Cohen

The Phnom Krom mountaintop complex is dotted with statues and shrines. Photo: Billie Cohen

buddha statue with monks and a banyan tree at Phnom Krom temple in Cambodia

A statue of Buddha sits under a real-life banyan tree. Photo: Billie Cohen

tamarind juice and lotus yogurt breakfast in Cambodia

My favorite parts of our picnic breakfast: tamarind juice, lotus and bean yogurt, and croissants. Photo: Billie Cohen

pink lotus flower in a field near siem reap cambodia

Bright pink lotus flowers stood out in a field of green, outside Siem Reap. Photo: Billie Cohen

Travel often involves a lot of running around. In an almost compulsive effort to see, do, eat, and experience as much as we possibly can, we go all out, nonstop. But on one wonderful morning in Cambodia, I was reminded of the immeasurable value of sitting still. And, ironically, it took one of the most accomplished travel planners in Southeast Asia to make it happen. Sandy Ferguson has lived in Asia for most of his life and he’s been planning people’s trips throughout the region for more than four decades. Maybe that long-lived experience is what helps him think past the usual sightseeing checklists and identify the intangible wonders that his longtime home has to offer. It’s definitely what helps him know where to find them.

In this series of articles on “WOW Experiences,” we spotlight the special-access opportunities you can look forward to when you book a trip via a WOW List expert. If you’ve taken a trip arranged by Sandy, please add your review to help other travelers.

The What:

A sunrise meditation at Phnom Krom Pagoda in Siem Reap. The early-morning drive to the temple takes you through a lovely village, then up a winding road to a hilltop overlooking the Tonle Sap Lake and miles of fields. The temple complex includes pagodas, terraces, some working buildings used by the monks, several statues and artworks, and the preserved ruins of a ninth-century temple, similar to what you’d see in Angkor, but in a very different (and very tourist-free) context.

The Where and When:

Phnom Krom Pagoda is about a half-hour drive outside central Siem Reap. The experience is available year-round; since sunrise is generally the same no matter when you visit (around 6am), you’ll be picked up at your hotel at approximately 4:30am.

The WOW:

I am a frequent solo traveler. I like to explore by myself, at my own pace, and on my own schedule. But by no means am I a solitary traveler—I talk to everyone: The gentleman scooping my gelato in Locarno, the young woman running a wool shop in Lisbon, the ticket taker at the La Chaux-de-Fonds history museum, the playful little kids from Dubai in my train car, the Azerbaijani family on the funicular at the Reichenbach Falls. I’m a sponge, and my main goal (and joy) when I travel is to soak up everything else and everyone else.

So I admit I was a little nervous about the morning activity Sandy Ferguson recommended for me during my stay in Siem Reap: meditating with the monks of a historic temple at sunrise. He met the former abbot of this mountaintop temple back in 1989, very soon after tourists were first even allowed into Cambodia, and it’s one of the exclusive experiences he’s able to offer as a result of such relationships (which he’s developed extensively in Asia over the years, in addition to all his family and friends). His excitement was contagious, but nevertheless I was daunted. Sure, watching the sun come up over the valley of the Tonle Sap Lake after a morning of meditation sounded lovely in theory, but I was already feeling my legs twitch and my restlessness get the better of me. How long would I have to be silent for? What if I couldn’t sit still for the whole time? And I have to wake up when?

Despite my trepidation about our 4:30am pick-up time, I ended up feeling wide awake as the car drove through the pre-dawn darkness. Around us, Siem Reap was silent and unmoving; it was such a rare view of a destination that is usually buzzing with people and activity.

When we arrived at the hilltop complex, the early morning was still dark, and inside the pagoda, all was quiet. A young monk was already kneeling on a rug in front of a giant golden Buddha statue, waiting for us next to a pile of fresh flower petals and a bowl of water. The scene was beautiful, serene, and also a little thrilling. The world hadn’t woken yet, but here we were on top of a mountain. We settled ourselves on the rug and, through our guide’s translation, learned some background about the monks’ lifestyle and traditions, how to sit for meditation, and about the upcoming water blessing ceremony, meant for purification and good fortune. And then it was time. The monk showed us a few options for how to arrange ourselves comfortably and what to do with our arms and legs, and we began.

You know those times during a trip when you’re hyper-aware that this is a moment and you know you should try to imprint every detail on your brain so you can remember it forever? That’s what was going through my mind as we crossed our legs and closed our eyes and tried to concentrate on our breathing. Of course, the pressure of the moment was exactly what kept popping my eyes open; I was so eager to look around, to take in the murals on the painted walls and the shapes of the statues, to observe my fellow travelers, to watch the intriguing young monk who yawned once or twice himself. I had so many questions about what I was seeing that I spent the first few minutes just cataloging them in my brain so I could ask them afterward; there was so much to see and learn that shutting my eyes seemed (to the reporter in me) like a waste of an opportunity. And then my guide caught me with my eyes open, and I felt like a kid who’d disobeyed the teacher. He smiled knowingly (he must see this stubbornness in so many of his guests) and gently motioned for me to try again.

So I did. Honestly, my compliance was more out of duty and respect than anything else, but as my eyes finally relaxed and breath finally steadied, I became more and more surprised by what I’d been missing:

I heard the roosters crowing outside.

I sensed the growing lightness in the room as the sun rose.

I heard the shuffling of my fellow meditators as they too struggled, and I felt a kinship with them.

I felt the stillness of our leader who despite his very young age had so much more practice at this.

I felt my head clear and my breath even out, and for a brief second, I allowed myself to let go of the constant pressure to experience everything. A pressure I didn’t even realize I was putting on myself so heavily.

When I opened my eyes, I was refreshed—and no one was more dumbstruck than I. Because somewhere in that pre-dawn temple, as the sun rose through the windows, I realized the gift I’d just been given: the opportunity to simply stop. On a trip where I’d done nothing of the sort for weeks on end, this was a pretty powerful revelation—a reminder to experience the destination around me, rather than trying to wring an experience from it. I laughed to myself, because obviously Sandy knew this.

Once we completed the meditation, I sat in wonder as the monk intoned a blessing, sprinkled each of us with water and flowers and tied a string around our wrist while he chanted in Pali, the language of Cambodia’s Theravada Buddhism. The string, which is traditional throughout the region, is a way to take the monk’s blessing with you, to remind you of it no matter where you are. “Everything that comes out of the temple is designed to be a blessing,” Sandy explained to me later. “Whether they’re feeding people or teaching people, that’s the prime drive.”

The sun had started to come up, and we strolled outside and around the complex to watch the sun rise and enjoy a picnic breakfast next to thousand-year-old temple ruins. From the hilltop we could see all the way to the horizon—field after field after field, dotted with villages that were now waking up below us.

As we drove back through the now-bustling village, we saw residents preparing food and decorations for a wedding, and we stopped at a lotus field to admire its hot pink flowers. That afternoon, we returned to our more active pace of sightseeing, but the peacefulness of the morning never left me. I’d been given an uncommon glimpse into a key part of Cambodian culture, and a reminder to slow down enough to truly experience it.

How to Make it Happen:

This experience is organized exclusively by Sandy Ferguson, who is one of our Trusted Travel Experts for Southeast Asia; you can read his Insider Guides to Southeast Asia, to Bangkok, and to Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, and the Best Beaches, and read reviews by travelers who’ve used him to understand the caliber of trips he arranges. To be marked as a WendyPerrin.com VIP traveler and get priority attention and special benefits, request your trip here.

Be a smarter traveler: Read real travelers’s reviews of Wendy’s WOW List and use it to plan your next trip. You can also follow her on Facebook, Twitter @wendyperrin, and Instagram @wendyperrin, and sign up for her weekly newsletter to stay in the know.

Have Angkor Wat To Yourself: A Cambodia WOW Experience

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Angkor Wat is the most famous of Cambodia's temple—the park is named for it, after all—but it's usually the most crowded and, in my opinion, it's not even the most interesting. With ABOUTAsia, we got to see several temples off the beaten path. Photo: Billie Cohen

Barely another tourist was in sight when we began our day of temple visits. Photo: Billie Cohen

Ta Prohm—alone! Photo: Billie Cohen

We entered Ta Phrohm through this little-used gate, and avoided pretty much everyone else. Photo: Billie Cohen

Kanha helped us understand what we were looking at, which made us appreciate it that much more. Photo: Billie Cohen

Another tourist-free temple. Photo: Billie Cohen

We stopped for a picnic breakfast amid a garden. Photo: Billie Cohen

Fresh croissants, fruit, tea, and juices. Don't miss the tamarind juice—very refreshing in the heat. Photo: Billie Cohen

The view from the top of Ta Keo. That's Kanha in the tan shirt at the bottom, and just one other guide with a few visitors. Photo: Billie Cohen

Bayon Temple, one of my favorites. Photo: Billie Cohen

Pheakdey picked a fresh mango right off the tree for us. It was much juicier and sweeter than the ones we get in Brooklyn! Photo: Billie Cohen

Rice, beans, and coconut are baked inside a bamboo shoot. When it's done, you peel back the bamboo and enjoy! Photo: Billie Cohen

The journey to Villa Chandara, Siem Reap, Cambodia.

The journey to Villa Chandara includes an oxcart ride and, when the weather cooperates, a boat trip. When I visited, the area was suffering unusual drought conditions, which meant I couldn't take the boat trip, but the oxcart was fun. Photo: ABOUTAsia Travel

Villa Chandara dining, Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Thanks to all that open space, the sunset at Villa Chandara is stunning. The fields were pretty brown when we visited due to the drought, but this is what it usually looks like. Photo: Ethan Crowley, ABOUTAsia Travel

Villa Chandara private circus performance, Siem Reap, Cambodia.

In addition to a musical concert, your Villa Chandara experience might include a circus performance. Ours did not, but I was convinced to check out the Phare circus on another night and was blown away—do not skip it. Photo: ABOUTAsia Travel

Angkor Wat is one of the most visited tourist attractions in the world, which also means it’s one of the most crowded. But you don’t have to battle your way through this bucket-list experience with the more than one million visitors who converge on it each year. There is a better way: One of Wendy’s Trusted Travel Experts for Cambodia has figured out how to avoid the worst crowds of the Angkor Archaeological Park. Now, that’s a bold claim but, as I found out when I tested this WOW Experience myself, it works like a charm.

In this series of articles on “WOW Experiences,” we spotlight the special experiences you can look forward to when you book a trip via a WOW List expert. If you’ve taken a trip arranged by Andy, please add your review to help other travelers.

The What:

Touring Angkor temple complex without the usual onslaught of tour groups and noisy crowds that ruin the monument’s majesty, not to mention your photos.

The Where and When:

Angkor Archaeological Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located about 20 minutes outside of the small Cambodian city of Siem Reap. The 150-square-mile park includes the famed Angkor Wat temple, but also dozens more—dating from the 9th to 15th centuries—that are just as magnificent, and in varying states of preservation.

Our Trusted Travel Expert can accommodate you whenever you visit Siem Reap, but for the best chance to have some temples all to yourself, he recommends visiting between late May and early September, during the green season. As he explains in his Insider’s Guide: “Sure, it rains two days out of three, but the mornings are almost always sunny and bright, with rain clouds gathering toward the late afternoon; get out of bed early to explore when Cambodians are most active ahead of the midday heat, and you’ll enjoy far fewer crowds and vibrantly green rice paddies.”

To be fair, I road-tested this WOW Experience outside that recommended window, toward the beginning of May, which was still very hot as the rains had not yet started. The temperature inside our comfortable air-conditioned SUV was kept in the cool 70s, but the outside temperature was well above 100. As a result, my timing wound up as both the best and the worst for being in Siem Reap. It’s hot and sticky, but it’s much less crowded. Cold bottled water and icy washcloths kept us cool enough, and the occasional juicy mango picked fresh off a tree kept us energized.

The WOW:

Andy Booth is an Oxford-trained physicist who found an incredibly logical and fool-proof way to tackle the challenge of touring the megapopular Angkor complex: He used science. Andy founded ABOUTAsia, a travel firm that has earned a coveted spot on The WOW List, and his team periodically collects data on the number of tourists visiting each temple at various times of year in order to ensure that ABOUTAsia guests can find sweet spots of solitude and quiet. Those sweet spots are very rare things, considering that Angkor is one of the world’s most popular tourist attractions—so popular, in fact, that in 2017, authorities nearly doubled park admission prices in an attempt to control the crowds and imposed strict rules for dress codes and behavior (because the hordes of visitors wearing short shorts and carrying selfie sticks were taking too many liberties). You can therefore imagine the immeasurable value of spending your day with an experienced guide who knows exactly how to avoid all moment-spoiling bus groups.

Our guide to the temples, Ms. Kanha, was wonderful, warm, funny, and full of information—along with interesting personal stories. Private guides make the experience at Angkor Wat (yes, any tuk-tuk driver can take you around for about $25, but to transform the piles of ancient rocks into living history with connections to past kings and current events, you need a well-trained guide). Kanha smartly had us enter one of the most popular temples, Ta Prohm, first thing in the early morning (we got picked up at 6:30am), knowing that the crowds peak there later in the day—and she took us in via an alternate entrance so that even if we did encounter other people, we’d be touring the temple in the opposite direction. Astonishingly, we nabbed photos of the temple’s famous wall-straddling giant tree roots with no one else around, and we didn’t run into any group until we were more than halfway through that temple. From there, Kanha led us to various other beautiful temples, some literally off the beaten trail, where she illuminated artistic details and architectural themes that served to differentiate the structures from one another (all those ruins can blur together after a while) and to link them together into a story that reflected not just Cambodia’s history but the history of Southeast Asia too. At most sites we saw only a handful of other tourists, and at one little-visited monastery, Ta Nei—accessible by an offshoot path you have to know about to find—we had the place entirely to ourselves.

Even for Angkor Wat itself—the park’s main attraction, which we visited on our own on another day—Kanha had insider tips for us: what time to get there for sunrise, which side of the walkway to sit on for the best views, which direction to turn once we entered the temple so that we’d beat the queue to climb the central spire’s staircase, and what spots to view first so that we’d skirt most of the noisy tourist flock.

On the second day of our tour with AboutAsia, we saw an entirely different Cambodia. Leaving behind any other tourists and the usual sites you’d expect to see here, we were instead granted access into the local lives of the area’s farmers, out in the countryside not far from Siem Reap. We visited a family home where we sampled a tasty bamboo-rice-and-bean snack the kids were cooking in an outdoor oven; we ate juicy mangoes picked fresh off a tree; we bumped along in an oxcart through a farmer’s dusty field; and all the while, we got to know another excellent guide, Pheakdey, who grew up not far from there and could pepper the day with his own personal stories and experiences.

We ended the day feeling like royalty, watching the sunset at ABOUTAsia’s private villa Chandara, a traditional home overlooking green fields. Here, a private chef prepares a gourmet multicourse meal, while musicians serenade you with traditional Cambodian instruments. The dinner party can be enjoyed privately, ABOUTAsia’s general manager Ethan Crowley had told me earlier, but sometimes guests enjoy pairing up with other ABOUTAsia travelers. We dined alone due to scheduling, but it was easy to see how a slightly larger dinner party could be a fun and fulfilling end-of-trip experience: You’d get the chance to talk with other travelers about the amazing things you’d seen and done during the week, swapping stories and experiences over cocktails and good food—a little going-away soiree to send you back home in style.

How to Make it Happen:

Such experiences are customizable to your specific interests and are available through Andy Booth, one of our Trusted Travel Experts for Cambodia, whose trips start at $400 per day for two travelers. Read Andy’s Insider’s Guide to Angkor Wat and Siem Reap Without the Crowds. To be marked as a WendyPerrin.com VIP traveler and get special benefits, request your trip through our site.

Be a smarter traveler: Use Wendy’s WOW List to plan your next trip. You can also follow her on Facebook and Twitter @wendyperrin, and sign up for her weekly newsletter to stay in the know.

WOW Experience: Design Your Own Clothing in Marrakech

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Aya's boutique in Marrakech opens its doors in a special way to certain travelers.

The founder of Aya's in Marrakech opens her atelier in a special way to certain travelers.

Fashion designer Nawal El Hariti in her boutique.

At Aya's you'll find kaftans…

…tunics…

…jewelry…

…scarves…

…and shoes.

First Nawal showed me a few ideas for what we could design together.

I loved the tunics but decided I could use a new jacket.

Off we go to the souk to find materials to make the jacket.

Strolling through the souk.

Passing spice shops.

Nawal inspects fabrics for my new jacket.

Which color do you like best?

We liked the blue.

Soon you'll see this transformed into a jacket.

Checking out the bling.

Heading back to Aya's through the souk.

Nawal keeps plenty of fabrics in her boutique too.

Time to choose buttons.

A seamstress in Nawal's studio.

Lunch, served in Nawal's studio, began with an array of homemade salads and mezzes.

Dessert!

Aya pouring tea the Moroccan way.

While we ate, Aya's staff went to work on my jacket.

Two days later, an Aya's bag arrives at my hotel.

Et voila! What I now wear to Manhattan cocktail parties. Photo: Mahdi Messouli

Marrakech is one of the world’s best shopping cities—thanks to the souks, silks, linens, leather, embroidery, and artisanal crafts—and one of its best souvenirs is one you create yourself. Stylish travelers already know to make a beeline for Aya’s, the boutique where Sarah Jessica Parker bought gifts for dozens of friends when she was in Morocco filming Sex and the City 2. Anyone can shop at Aya’s, but we at WendyPerrin.com know that the way to make a trip special is to go above and beyond what “anyone” can do. So, on a recent trip to Marrakech, I tested a unique experience available through my Trusted Travel Expert for Morocco: I spent an afternoon with the founder of Aya’s, up-and-coming Moroccan fashion designer Nawal El Hariti, in the souk and in her studio. I ended up with much more than a custom-made silk jacket. I gained a vivid understanding of what it’s like to be a young female entrepreneur in an ancient male-dominated culture.

In this series of articles on “WOW Experiences,” we spotlight the special experiences you can look forward to when you book a trip via a WOW List expert. Below, learn what can be arranged for travelers to Marrakech.

The What:

Create your own kaftan, robe, tunic, cape, coat, or whatever Moroccan garment appeals. First, meet Nawal at her boutique to brainstorm ideas and take measurements. Then go with her to the souk to shop for the fabrics and other materials to make the garment. Then it’s back to her studio for a custom fitting and a home-cooked lunch of Moroccan mezzes, tagines, and sweets. A couple of days later, your new outfit is delivered to your hotel in time for your flight home.

The Where and When:

Aya’s, on the edge of the medina, and the souk a couple of blocks away, on any day when Nawal is available. (Fridays and other holidays are less than ideal.)

The WOW:

I left Morocco not just with a one-of-a-kind souvenir but with a new friend. I loved getting to know Nawal and hearing what life is like for a woman business owner in Morocco. She is that rare example of a successful self-made female entrepreneur in a Muslim society. Her stories of hard work and personal tragedy—she lost her mom when she was two and her grandmother when she was seven—and the challenges of juggling a career, marriage, and motherhood are fascinating. She is a seasoned traveler too, making her way around the Middle East regularly to acquire textiles and jewelry for her business. Rather than share her stories here, though, I’ll let Nawal tell you herself (she is a very private and discreet person) the next time you’re in Marrakech. And if you’re wondering whether it’s worth missing other things in Marrakech to carve out half a day for this experience, I would tell you that this experience is a microcosm of Marrakech. You get that heady combination of the elements that define the city—ancient tradition, modern decadence, over-the-top hospitality, magical ambience—viewed through the lens of a local.

How to Make it Happen:

This experience can be tailored to your specific interests and is available through our Trusted Travel Expert for Morocco, as part of a full Moroccan trip. (It can’t be booked a la carte.) To be marked as a WendyPerrin.com VIP traveler and get special benefits, request your trip here.

Be a smarter traveler: Use Wendy’s WOW List to plan your next trip. You can also follow her on Facebook and Twitter @wendyperrin, and sign up for her weekly newsletter to stay in the know.

How to Hang Out with Royalty When You Travel to England: A WOW Experience

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British royalty fever has been running rampant ever since there was British royalty. But these days, all the fuss over marriages and babies has made monarchy-watching even more of an international hobby.

Of course, there’s more to the monarchy than just cute kids, hats, and weddings, and if you’re traveling to England, you can actually have the opportunity to be part of royal traditions yourself. As you’d expect, you need to know someone to make this happen. Lucky you—you do. When you arrange a trip through a Trusted Travel Expert on Wendy’s WOW List, you get access to insider activities and private events. (Such special access is one of the factors that earns a trip designer a spot on The WOW List in the first place.)

In this series of articles on “WOW Experiences,” we spotlight the special experiences you can look forward to when you book a trip via a WOW List expert. Below, see what Jane McCrum, one of Wendy’s Trusted Travel Experts for the United Kingdom, can make happen. If you’ve taken a trip arranged by Jane, please add your review to help other travelers.

The What: Hanging out with the British Royal family.

The Where and When: In and around London from late May through early July.

The WOW: Every year back-to-back royal ceremonies and events are held in late spring and early summer all over the British capital, starting with the Chelsea Flower Show and wrapping up with the Henley Royal Regatta. Anyone can attend the events, but tickets often sell out quickly, and general admission tends to be for sections far from the action. Enter Jane McCrum, your ticket to British high society. Jane can arrange for V.I.P. access to all the events, including the Royal Ascot horse races and Trooping the Colour—the royal spectacle to beat all spectacles, part military parade and part elaborate birthday party for the Queen.

hats at the royal ascot horse races in england

Looking down towards well dressed spectators at Royal Ascot, held at York Racecourse in 2005, York, York, England. Photo: Visit Britain

Slightly lesser known, but full of pageantry all its own, is the Order of the Garter Ceremony, held at Windsor Castle every June. There, thanks to Jane’s connections, from front-row seats you’ll see much of the royal family (including the Queen herself), dressed in their full regalia (black-velvet capes, white-feathered hats), in a trumpet-led procession. You might even get the chance, before the ceremony, to have a terrifically entertaining lunch with one of the Knights of the Military who lives on the grounds of Windsor Castle. (There are just 13 Knights of the Military, all appointed by the Queen, and all of them live in a row of 16th-century homes just opposite the castle.) If you weren’t caught up in royal mania before, you certainly will be after spending an afternoon amid the pageantry and being treated to first-hand accounts of life in the royal realm.

Queen Elizabeth II at the Garter Ceremony with Lord Chamberlain in 1976, Windsor Castle, Berkshire, England, UK. Photo: Visit Britain

Be a smarter traveler: Use Wendy’s WOW List to plan your next trip. You can also follow her on Facebook and Twitter @wendyperrin, and sign up for her weekly newsletter to stay in the know.

WOW Experience: Backstage at the World’s Oldest Horse Riding Academy

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One of Vienna’s most popular tourist magnets is its 450-year-old Spanish Riding School, where world-famous white Lippizan horses practice and perform classical dressage—that graceful art that’s like an equine ballet. Anyone can see a performance while visiting Vienna—if their timing is right—but we at WendyPerrin.com know that the way to make a trip special is to go above and beyond what “anyone” can do. So we’re starting a series of articles about “WOW Experiences” you can have around the world—behind-the-scenes, private, insider-access experiences available via the world’s most well-connected travel fixers. These experiences are just one way to elevate a trip from ordinary to extraordinary, which is the point of Wendy’s WOW List of Trusted Travel Experts: They’re the fixers who can make the magic happen.

Below, we’re spotlighting what Gwen Kozlowski, Wendy’s Trusted Travel Expert for Austria, likes to arrange at the Spanish Riding School.

Spanish Riding School, Vienna, Austria. Photo by Susan Portnoy

Most travelers never get inside this courtyard. It’s the Summer Riding School at Vienna’s Spanish Riding School. Photo: Susan Portnoy, The Insatiable Traveler.

The What:

A visit to the Spanish Riding School at Vienna’s Hofburg Palace, including a private VIP tour of the stables and a seat in the Royal Box—where the Hapsburg kings and queens once sat—to watch the legendary Lippizan stallions perform.

The Where and When:

In Vienna, select weekends March–June and August–December (the stallions are on vacation in July). That’s when you can see the horses’ performances, as opposed to just their daily exercises.

Spanish Riding School, Vienna, Austria. Photo: Susan Portnoy, The Insatiable Traveler.

The WOW:

The Spanish Riding School represents the pinnacle of the tradition of classical horsemanship. The stunning and athletic Lippizan stallions were originally imported from Spain by Ferdinand I in the 16^th Century (thus Spanish Riding School). The show takes place in the grand baroque Winter Riding School, part of the Hofburg, the former imperial palace in the center of Vienna. You’ll get to see the show, but you’ll also be ushered past the crowds and across an alley into the cordoned-off, 16^th-century Summer Riding School, where you’ll tour the stables, peek into the tack room (where dozens of magnificent custom-made saddles and bridles are kept) and, if the timing works, watch as grooms prepare the horses or lead them through their workout.

Then you’ll move into the Winter Riding School—a splendid showcase built by the Habsburg emperor in 1735—to see the horses’ morning exercises: Multiple riders take their stallions through various gaits (walk, trot, canter), then tackle harder movements such as a cabriole, where a horse leaps into the air, with a rider on its back, and kicks out his back feet—a move used hundreds of years ago by the military to attack the enemy if surrounded. While other spectators stand in balconies on either side of the ring and get commentary via loudspeaker (which the acoustics make difficult to understand), you’ll get a coveted seat in the Royal Box, at ground level with the riders, next to an expert who will provide customized commentary and answers to any questions you have about what you’re seeing in the ring.

Spanish Riding School, Vienna, Austria. Photo: Susan Portnoy, The Insatiable Traveler.

How to Make it Happen:

This experience can be tailored to your specific interests and is available through Gwen Kozlowski, our Trusted Travel Expert for Austria, as part of an itinerary of three days or longer. See Gwen’s Insider’s Guide to Austria, and read reviews of Gwen to understand the caliber of trips she arranges. To be marked as a WendyPerrin.com VIP traveler and get priority attention and special benefits, request your trip here.

Be a smarter traveler: Use Wendy’s WOW List to plan your next trip. You can also follow her on Facebook and Twitter @wendyperrin, and sign up for her weekly newsletter to stay in the know.

Read more from Susan Portnoy at her own site, The Insatiable Traveler, and follow her at facebook.com/Insatiabletraveler and @susanportnoy.

Make Your Next Trip Extraordinary

Tag Archives: wow experiences

How to Get Fast-Tracked Through Foreign Airports

WOW Experience: Sunrise Ceremony with Cambodian Monks

Have Angkor Wat To Yourself: A Cambodia WOW Experience

WOW Experience: Design Your Own Clothing in Marrakech

How to Hang Out with Royalty When You Travel to England: A WOW Experience

WOW Experience: Backstage at the World’s Oldest Horse Riding Academy

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