To celebrate the start of the sparkling northern hemisphere summer when travellers traditionally set out on their grand tours of Europe, Grantourismo and LUXE City Guides will host a month of contests - and give away gorgeous Grand Tour Boxed Sets of city guides. BOOKS! Yes!
Grantourismo is one of our VERY favorite sites for traveling the world - and living like a local. From beautiful photos to shopping tips, from what to learn where to best places to eat, Grantourismo shares the world in a compelling, interesting way.
Throughout July there will be four weekly contests with handsome LUXE prizes. For first prize winners: one European Grand Tour Box of eight guides, an Asian Grand Tour Box of eight guides, a Blue Velvet Bespoke Box of five guides, and a World Grand Tour Box of a whopping 12 guides. For runners-up: individual guides, including two guides of choice for second prize winners and one guide of choice for third prize winners.
All you need to do to enter is create an inspiring grand tour itinerary, taking in five (5) Luxe cities, and tell in up to 100 words what you’d loved to do in each destination.
Yes, do something! The original grand tourists didn’t set off on a grand tour just to sun themselves by the sea – they did things and they learnt stuff. They hiked in Switzerland and picnicked by the Lakes. They learnt to paint in Paris and studied Italian in Florence. Archery and boules were also big favourites. These days, a modern grand tourist might master the art of macaron making in Montmartre, learn African drumming in Cape Town, or take up silver-making in Mexico City. Cruise the Mekong River. Tango in Buenos Aires. Vintage shopping in Berlin. Thai massage in Bangkok. All fine grand tour activities!
Your Asian-inspired Grand Tour, for instance, might go something like this: First stop Tokyo to learn the art of tea ceremony, Hanoi to purchase some contemporary art, Luang Prabang to make morning offerings to the monks, Siem Reap to learn Khmer cooking and play at being Lara Croft, and Bangkok to recuperate with a spa break.
So how do you enter the weekly LUXE-GRANTOURISMO contests?
1. Visit LUXE blog LUXETASY to note down the destinations covered by LUXE guides – there are 33 cities in total – and get inspired.
2. Create a grand tour itinerary of five (5) Luxe cities in 100 words or less, and share what you’d loved to do in each destination, and pop it in the Comments in the article, with your name, Twitter handle and a blog URL if you have one. They are looking for inspiring itineraries –the sort that make us want to pack our bags straight away!
3. Follow @luxeguides and @gran_tourismo on Twitter; tweet them to alert us that you've submitted your entry with a tantalizing glimpse of your grand tour itinerary; and include #LXGTComp in your tweet to identify it as a contest entry. As in: Hey @luxeguides & @gran_tourismo I want to fine-tune my cocktail-tasting skills in Europe! #LXGTComp. Note: it’s important you follow them on Twitter as all contest communications will be via Twitter, i.e. that’s how you’ll find out that you’ve won!
Each week’s contest will be announced with a blog post on Monday and will close on Sunday 6pm GMT. Winners will be announced each Monday. This week the giveaway is a Blue Velvet Bespoke Box of five guides, plus three individual guides. See the Fine Print for more details on the article.
Throughout July, look for inspirational travel tips on Twitter on all destinations covered by LUXE City Guides at @gran_tourismo and @luxeguides. Have you been to any of the 33 LUXE destinations? Then do come and share your tips too!
All information contained herein provided by Grantourismo