If you’re a performance group, Broadway is sure to be one of your favorite spots in New York City. There’s nothing like the experience of this phenomenon live. Audiences have been moved to tears by some of the more powerful scenes in Broadway productions, like the opening number in The Lion King, one of the most innovative stage adaptations of all time.

Few musicals captured audiences quite like The Lion King, but Wicked is another production that’s taken Broadway by storm, enrapturing audiences since its opening in 2003. This prequel to The Wizard of Oz features the story of the good and bad witches from their youth and was nominated for ten Tony Awards. It won for scene design, costume design, and performance by a leading actress. More significantly to this post, though, it wins with audiences again and again.

We offer exciting New York City student travel especially for performance groups that should help you add Wicked to your library of Broadway experiences as well as another show of your choice, like Rent, Phantom of the Opera, or any of the comedies, whodunnits, or traditional musicals so beloved on Broadway. The tour is called Broadway Lights and Neon Nights, and that’s just what you’ll experience on the tour.

There’s nothing like the energy on Broadway as audiences stream to and from the shows. But the most dramatic experience in the neon nights portion of the tour takes you to Times Square at night. Most students have witnessed this scene in the movies or on television, but it can’t compare to experiencing it for themselves.

Lest you think New York City is only for the nightlife, though, the tour sends you to Central Park as well. These gorgeous open spaces and walkways truly help students get the full New York City picture. They’ll love their time in this pretty, daytime version of the Big Apple’s energy and life.

Perhaps your group is in the City for a performance of their own. Or maybe they just need the inspiration that comes from witnessing how far their talent and their dreams can take them if they continue to pursue them with all their heart. Either way, there’s no city like New York, and no venue like Broadway to open to them a world of possibility.

When I was in eighth grade we visited our State Capitol. It was about three hours away, and I felt so grown up to be traveling so far and to peruse the historical displays and actually gather meaning from them. It was the most memorable part of that year, second only to the difficult breaking up of my particular group of friends, which has kind of stayed with me too.

That memory – the visit to the Capitol, that is – and the fact that I think everyone who can should pack up and migrate to New England this time of year for the fall foliage, compels me to point out Boston as an excellent choice for educational tours.

This city is really beloved. It’s got all kinds of modern delights, like the Prudential Center and Boston Public Garden. But it’s seeped in legacy with hundreds of historical sites from the American Revolution, like Old North Church, and tons of tradition, like the swan boats that reappear every spring.

The Pilgrims and Patriots Boston student tours are especially filled with these historic sites. Boston offers an extensive path called the Freedom Trail, which takes its followers to all of these. You can technically walk it alone and view the attractions at your own pace. But I highly recommend you do it with a guide. There’s far too much history and trivia you’ll miss without their entertaining commentary.

If you’re really planning a school-sponsored function, you’ll have to plan this tour for next year. But seriously, don’t you want to take it in the fall like this? Have you seen New England landscapes in the fall? Simply breathtaking. Combining that beauty with the powerful historical lessons – it guarantees a moving experience for everyone.

So, that first step can be intimidating. You’re interested in a trip – after all, who isn’t? But you don’t know for sure if you can get it approved through the powers that be. You have no idea what to expect as far as cost is concerned. (Will your group need to do fundraisers? Can the school pay for it?) And you don’t know where to begin.

My advice? Don’t wait. Travel professionals are trained for this. They take your hm-maybe-kindas and turn them into actual places, an educated estimate, and a specialized itinerary. This is a proposal, and at that point it’s in your hands to decide. You don’t lose anything by making that first call or filling out the initial travel request form.

Here are some tips to put you ahead of the game for that first contact with your travel professional. These are things they’re going to want to know about you and your group, so they can customize your tour.

Who are you? The professional needs an idea on the size of your group and the age range. If you have specific interests (Ooh, we adore history! Or art. Or parks and gardens. Or perhaps, Just show us the food…).

What do you want most? Besides your interests, what does your group expect as far as the pace is concerned or the theme? Are we thinking theme park city? Or do you prefer relaxing beaches? Perhaps you’re looking for a steady series of educational sites and tours. If you can be specific here, you’re more likely to get exactly the tour you desire.

What can’t you do? Here’s where you tell the professional if you have a specific time frame, budget, or other special requirements.

What’s it going to take to make this happen? It will be good if you have at least a small idea about the red tape. With whom do you need to approve this trip in order to make it happen? With student tours, this usually includes at least the school’s administration and often the parents. Tell your professional what you need and when. Their ability to comply at this stage will give you even greater confidence about the tour itself.

So gather a little information and then take the plunge. Finding out whether you’ve got an exciting destination in your future? It’s just a click away.

It’s September, and I hope you seniors especially are right in the middle of all that fast-paced planning that comes with getting out of high school and moving on with your future. Hopefully, between planning the announcements, organizing the parties, signing yearbooks, and paying for it all – you’re getting the details lined out for the trip. You probably should have thought of it before now, but it is NOT too late to plan student beach trips and other popular student travel perfect for celebrating gradation.

Student travel can seem overwhelming at first. But here are a couple of things that will put you ahead of the game and maybe help you convince the powers that be to just plan the awesome trip already!

Numbers

When getting organized for student travel, think numbers, especially if you’re traveling my motor coach. These buses typically hold a maximum of 55 passengers. If you’ve got 58 people signed up for the trip, it’s time to do some recruiting. If you’re going to have to rent that second coach anyway, it will be much more cost effective for everyone if you get more people to fill it. More people in the seats equals more people footing the bill. The more people you have footing the bill, the less any one person has to pay.

Chaperones

Along those lines, keep this in mind: With most tours, one chaperone travels free per ten students. So figure those parents and teachers in with your final count. Also, consider them in your recruiting process.

Bottom line: Numbers matter. It’s just one of the many reasons you need to plan ahead!

Unlike many travel companies, we specialize in group travel. We’ve been customizing student travel to Washington D.C., New York City, Chicago, Orlando – and many, many more exciting cities – since we began. These student travel destinations are excellent for educational tours and for leisure, and we know just how to get you there and how to help you make the most of your time until the moment you leave.

So, what makes a group?

As long as your group is greater than fifteen, we can take care of anything. This removes so much hassle from your planning, and we love to do it. We’ve got you covered on reservations for your hotels, any tours you hope to experience, as well as transportation. We’ll help you plan an itinerary designed around your group’s interests and that perfectly suits your needs.

What if our group is less than fifteen?

If you’re traveling with a smaller number, we’ve still got great resources on our site to help make the planning easier. Start with our destinations page if you haven’t chosen a city, and take a look at some of our sample itineraries for great ideas on which attractions to include. Once you know where you’re going, you need to get there. Use our student travel airfare page to help you book the best prices available.

We’ve got everything you need for large or small groups. Student travel is our passion, an excellent learning opportunity, truly inspiring, and something we want to see every student experience at least once. When you take advantage of our travel professionals or the tools on our website, you’re guaranteeing a once-in-a-lifetime experience to your group. And that’s when we know we’ve done our job.

Because have I got an idea for you.

Now, if you think it’s too soon to make graduation plans, just wait. I promise there are at least ten people waiting in the wings to make you think about this – the guidance counselor, college applications coordinators, class sponsor, and event planner. If they haven’t gotten to you yet, they are two shakes from sitting you down, asking for money, and forcing you to make some plans about that all important ceremony and the future that follows it.

We have something for you to consider, though, that looks a little more like all out leisure. Hopefully you’re considering a senior class trip anyway, and Disney Grad Nite is the perfect event for your trip.

Disney Grad Nite is an exciting event in which you and your friends are celebrated and given a place to celebrate. The park stays open late, so you can enjoy all your favorite rides long after other guests have left. There’s food, a DJ, and live music just for you. Disney Grad Nite is a theme park and a party all in one. It’s the perfect bash for you and your friends. They offer Grad Nite at both Orlando’s Disney World and California’s Disneyland. We’ll help you choose the right dates for either one. And they are guaranteed to give your school the best graduation party yet!

“I went to the woods,” Thoreau wrote,”In order to live life more deliberately.”

Recently I suggested to my husband that we move to New England ASAP. He said I only felt that way because it feels like autumn, because I love autumn, and because I equate autumn with New England in my mind. But I had so much more than that.

We recently designed a new theme tour for students, and it’s a beauty. You’ll need to be willing to don a meditative mood, though, because the attractions on this tour are all art and culture and inspiration. At least, they are historical sites from an era when those things faced an all out revolution.

Technically our Concord literary tours are for fans of the great literature of Louisa May Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and Emily Dickinson. But on a larger scale, this tour takes you to the seat of a cultural revolution, when thoughtful men and women discussed philosophy and spiritual insight that affected everything from the arts to social reform.

In the study at Orchard House and the rooms of the Old Manse, you’ll imagine the friendly, philosophical discussions between the great literary legends and philosophers who lived and worked together in Concord. Louisa May Alcott’s father, Bronson, was a noted philosopher of his time. Ralph Waldo Emerson traveled throughout the United States and Europe lecturing on spiritual insights, social reform, and arts and sciences. Plus, we have his many essays as proof of his thought life and perhaps of the discussions he joined.

Walden Pond is a beautiful State Reserve, still largely untamed. You can find a replica of the one-room cabin where Thoreau wrote Walden, which has been called the birth of the conservation movement.

The men and women who lived and worked in the homes on this Concord literary tour were as revolutionary as the minutemen  who shot the first few shots of the Revolutionary War at the Old North Bridge nearby. The revolution of these authors and philosophers affected the arts and sciences more than government, but its waves certainly had political and social influence. You’re sure to be moved as you learn about these amazing thinkers. And hopefully you’ll be inspired to live life more deliberately yourself.