Tourists are increasingly looking for trips that match their interests. Building a journey around a particular theme offers the opportunity for a true connection to a region, historical event, artist, or other special interest.
There are many types of themed trips. Let’s take a closer look at four popular themed travel options: themed tours, themed cruises, special interest conventions, and DIY themed trips.
Theme tours
Themed tours can last an afternoon, a day or more. They are built around a particular time period, event, works and life of the author, architectural style or any other interest that may attract a group of people. Most of the themed tours are led by experts who provide information on the events, places and people related to the topic.
Examples of thematic tours
Popular historian and author Alison Weir has opened her own themed tourism business, Alison Weir Tours, Ltd. At least one historian leads each tour your company offers, providing insight into the people, places, and events of the Wars of the Roses, the Tudor Era, the Elizabethan Age, and English royal residences.
Ellwood von Seibold’s D-Day Battle Tours offers day tours of D-Day battle sites in the Normandy region of France. Von Seibold and his team offer “standard” tours of British, Canadian and American D-Day battle sites, as well as private custom tours.
The National WWII Museum, based in New Orleans, Louisiana, offers specialized tours of Europe and the museum, including trips to WWII battlefields and tours of the New Orleans area.
Theme cruises
No matter what kind of music you enjoy, you can find a themed cruise with that genre. Some music cruises are “private” cruises. Only passengers who have paid for tickets through that cruise coordinator can participate in concerts and special events; other passengers on the ship may experience a concert or none at all. For example, Sixthman Charters ships and hosts a theme cruise with a main act like Brantley Gilbert or KISS. You can sail on jazz, Irish music, Elvis Presley and Soul Train themed cruises, as well as single band or artist cruises.
While music cruises are by far the most popular type of themed cruise, you can find cruises that emphasize food and wine, television, film, media, and dancing. For more information, check out the Theme Cruise Finder website, talk to your travel agent, and ask your favorite cruise line about themed cruises.
A sample of themed cruises
Holland America Line offers a Malt Shop Memories cruise every year, featuring artists from the sock era of the 1950s and early 1960s.
Celebrity Cruises offers wine immersion cruises, where you can learn all about wine tasting, food and wine pairing, and wine regions around the world.
Kalos Golf takes golf fans to famous courses around the world via luxury boats.
Conventions
All over the United States, you can find conventions that bring like-minded people together around specific topics. Some conventions are one-day events, while others last three or even four days. For example:
Fans of Maud Hart Lovelace’s Betsy-Tacy books gather every two years for a convention in Minnesota. Activities include walking tours of the Mankato and Minneapolis neighborhoods that Lovelace used as the setting for his books, book signings, day trips to places mentioned in the books, such as Minnehaha Falls, a costume parade, and a silent auction. .
Pet lovers can attend one of the many pet shows held each year. The Great Indy Pet Expo in Indianapolis, Indiana, is a two-day event featuring events for owners of dogs, cats, llamas, alpacas, and angora goats. The Expo offers a huge shopping mall, veterinary presentations, agility and grooming contests, and more. You can also find a Pet Expo closer to home.
If you’ve ever been into comics or superheroes, Comic-Con International, held every year in San Diego, should be on your travel list. This convention features autograph signings, movie screenings, games, artist exhibits, and much, much more. It also sells extremely fast, so you’ll want to plan well in advance.
Do it yourself themed trip
It’s easy to create your own themed travel experience. Consider where you want to go and the topics you want to explore. Once you decide on a region and a theme, get a map and start planning your trip. If many share your interests, you will probably find a lot of information online and in travel guides. For example:
If you grew up loving the Anne of Green Gables series , you can join the many readers who flock to Cavendish on Canada’s Prince Edward Island to see the Green Gables house, “Lake of the Shining Waters”, “Lover’s Lane” and Other landmarks mentioned in the books While there are bus tours to Anne-related landmarks, you can design your own Cavendish adventure. All you need is a car and a map or guide.
Readers who enjoy the works of Mark Twain can travel to his childhood home in Hannibal, Missouri. In Hannibal, you can see Twain’s childhood home, the justice of the peace office where his father presided, the Grant drug store house where Twain and his parents lived, and the home of Laura Hawkins, Twain’s inspiration. for the intrepid Becky Thatcher. You can also visit the museum to see Twain memorabilia, historical exhibits, and Norman Rockwell paintings and lithographs by Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn.
If road trips appeal to you, head to National Route (Route 40) or Historic Route 66. Route 66 is one of the most famous highways in the United States. It features quirky landmarks, small towns, and even a theme song. The national road is prior to Route 66; It was built in 1811 to connect Maryland to the Ohio River, which, at the time, was the border. National Road was the first federally funded “highway” in the United States. In Illinois, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, you can retrace the steps of pioneers and merchants who traveled the first true American highway.
Fans of historic roads may consider a trip on a world-famous highway. Visitors to Rome can walk, drive, or bike on the ancient Via Appia, which connects Rome to the Adriatic Sea at the port of Brindisi. It takes several days to drive the entire Via Appia / SS 7, the modern road that mostly parallels the old road, because the road takes you through the mountains. Driving part of the Via Appia will bring you a new appreciation for the engineering skills of the ancient Romans.
