We drove north to Dortmund this morning to see one of the largest Christmas markets in Germany and arguably the largest Christmas tree (actually a creation of dozens of trees stacked artfully together) in the world. We parked at the train station and walked into the pedestrian zone where we ordered Turkish Doner kebabs, another German mainstay given the large Turkish population. The pedestrian zone was packed wall to wall with shoppers enjoying the first days of the market. The market was absolutely stunning, a collection of huge Christmas displays and personalized booths that seemed to each be trying to outdo each other with decorations, similar to the personal touches provided on a parade float. Four plazas were filled with wooden booths that were elaborately decorated with Christmas themes including reindeer, Santa, and even a little gondola that actually moved tiny passengers from one end of the booth to the other. We sampled some chocolate dipped fruit (bananas, apples, and strawberries) from one of the Christmas booths and looked for the handmade ornaments that I remembered from Bavarian Christmas markets of past years. The wares themselves, however, were uninteresting (except for the food!) with lots of commercial goods including scarves, purses, jewelry, etc. There were several incredible rides, much more beautiful than the typical fair rides at home. There was a swing ride that had a mix of swings, ships, geese, and other creatures to ride as it lifted kids up in the air and spun them around. All of the brightly colored ride was decorated with twinkling lights and detailed paintings. Another ride allowed kids to board an antique car and drive through a Christmas wonderland with beautiful Christmas lights, a tunnel, snowman, Santa, and much more. I've never seen such a pretty ride. It looked like a kids' dreamland of the North Pole. The kids even got to ride live ponies.
The agent had great response to questions and coordinated well to create an itinerary that met our expectations.
Bob Sunshine
1 day ago
Very responsive to all questions
Teresa Cardoso
2 days ago
Kelly and Rhenee were excellent to work with on planning our trip. The logistics all worked smoothly and everyone was friendly and on time. Our accommodations were very good, particularly the incredible Patagonia Camp in Torres del Paine! Our guides on every excursion were outstanding and made the hikes memorable! Overall we had a wonderful trip with incredible memories!
Scott Gibson
2 days ago
Adventure Life is definitely a first-class safari tour company, and our representative was Franny Friesz. First of all, she responded immediately after we contacted Adventure Life. We told Franny that we had never been on a safari, and she was more than eager to offer a mountain of information about the trip. She informed us fully about all the ups, downs, and all arounds! She even prepared a number of packages for us to review -- even after we made changes to the areas we wanted to explore. Friendly, helpful, professional, and extremely knowledgeable -- these words describe Franny, and what a wonderful trip she prepared! We couldn't have asked for better service than Franny of Adventure Life. We HIGHLY recommend her and her outstanding company! Bon Voyage!
Prima Burke
3 days ago
The staff at Adventure Life made planning my family's trip to the Galapagos Islands as easy as possible. They listened to what we were hoping to experience and made thoughtful suggestions about how to accomplish our vacation goals while meeting the needs of travelers ages 17-76! They patiently answered questions and follow up questions in the months leading up to the trip. They helped us trouble shoot and customize the trip in every way possible. The logistics involved in traveling from Boston to the Galapagos are innumerable. The Adventure Life staff helped us arrange every detail and the team they assembled in the Galapagos was tremendous. I have never done a trip this big before and after working with Adventure Life this time--would not hesitate one second in working with them again.