2025 Photo Contest Winners
Meet our 2025 photo contest winners—and enjoy their wonderful photographs!
This year’s contest was open to everyone who participated in our 24 trips in 2024. Each traveler could enter one or two photos that best represented their personal experience during their trip; they were also asked to provide a few sentences about their photo and why the experience was meaningful to them. If a traveler joined us for more than one trip, they could submit up to two photos from each trip. We had 95 entries this year.
Our daughter Kelly Wood managed the contest again this year, and the two of us (Kathy and Charley) were the judges. We judged “blind” and didn’t know who submitted any of the photos.
As always, a wide variety of photos were submitted, representing many different aspects of our European Experiences trips: spectacular scenery, specific experiences, local people, other group members, memorable meals, and more. In choosing our winners, we included a mix of photos from a variety of trips and locations and tried to choose photos that were different from photos recognized in recent years. We had so many great photos… it was very hard this year to select the photos to recognize. Some photos were from the same place, and we had to choose which photo we thought was the best overall.
Every photo and its description represents a unique memory from the traveler’s personal experience. We appreciate the time everyone took to share their memories, and we’ll be sending everyone who entered a special gift.
We’re highlighting 16 photographs that reflect the broad scope of a European Experiences trip, considering first the photo and then also the description. Under our contest rules, we could recognize only one photo from each person, which required us to adjust a few of our choices.
And The Winners Are…
Congratulations to Kelly Dean of Taylor Lake Village, Texas, our 2025 grand prize winner! (She’s pictured here—with her camera—in the Isles of Scilly.)
Kelly’s photo from The Cornwall Experience features granite fishermen’s cottages on the harbor of the picturesque village of Mousehole. Kelly and her husband Matt also joined us for The Mediterranean Provence Experience last year, their sixth trip in three years. She was a photo contest runner-up in 2024 and 2023.
Kelly’s grand prize is a $500 credit on a future European Experiences trip, so she’ll claim it this year when she’s with us for The Luberon Experience Women’s Week in May.
We also selected four runners-up, who each received a $250 credit on a future Experience trip. Eleven other photographs were selected for special recognition. These travelers each won a $50 Amazon gift certificate (or a $50 credit on a 2025 or 2026 trip). Everyone who entered the contest will receive a special gift.
See all 16 winning photos below, along with what each traveler had to say about the experience represented in their photo. The Runners-Up and Special Recognition winners are listed in alphabetical order by first name.
Congratulations to all our 2025 photo contest winners, and thanks so much to everyone who participated! Special thanks also go to Kelly Wood for her excellent support for this year’s contest.
Grand Prize Winner
The Cornwall Experience (April 2024)
Kelly from Texas, USA
The historic fishing village of Mousehole is an absolute delight! I enjoyed our walking tour up from the harbor and around the narrow streets. So much history in this charming village, especially along the harbor.
Runner-Up
The Normandy Experience (May 2024)
Alan from California, USA
Just outside the Jardins du Chateau de Brecy, itself a typical beautiful European Experiences destination, I spotted this trio of white Normandy dairy cows grazing in a field of yellow rapeseed blossoms, an combination reminding me that this rural region of northwest France produces “le meilleur beurre,” surely the world‘s best butter, as well as “fromage fantastique,” dozens of different and delectable varieties of cheese.
Runner-Up
The Mediterranean Provence Experience (September 2024)
Carol from Tennessee, USA
If you’re fortunate, there might be a moment on a trip where reality matches a vision you’ve carried in your head. This lone, early morning fisherman profiled against the classically Mediterranean architecture and terracotta/sage colors was one of those moments – and it provided a foretaste of similarly special moments we would share with friends, old and new, during our week in Bandol.
Runner-Up
The Mediterranean Provence Experience (September 2024)
Jacqueline from Idaho, USA
A View From La Tour de Sanary: It was a busy day in Sanary-sur-Mer and we made the most of it with shopping in the market, a stroll up to Chapelle de la Misericorde, a fantastic fruits de mer lunch, all topped off with a climb of La Tour de Sanary for this breathtaking vista. I loved seeing the hustle and bustle of the coastal town from this peaceful perch. Such a beautiful day!
Runner Up
The Luberon Experience (May 2024)
Julia from Alabama, USA
The view of the ancient village of Lacoste, perched across from Bonnieux, embodies the essence of my Luberon experience. Its soft, Provençal rose-hued structures tell a story of resilience—layers of history etched into the landscape, as enduring as the olive grower, vintner, and lavender distiller. In every weathered stone, there’s a whisper of generations past: “We gave what we had, we endured, and we thrived together.” A timeless tribute to community, where the past breathes life into the land, the people, and the stories shared.
Special Recognition
The Chianti Experience (June 2025)
Betsy from Illinois, USA
One of our favorite excursions was the visit to Chianti Cashmere, the first and largest Cashmere Goat farm in Italy. Hearing Dr. Nora’s story and learning about the opportunities and challenges she experienced was inspiring. Watching her call her goats and then seeing and hearing them run down the hillside to be fed was an experience we will not forget.
Special Recognition
The Mediterranean Provence Experience (September 2024)
Bobbie from California, USA
Michelin-star winning Chef Jean François Bérard invited us to smell, touch and taste herbs as he plucked them from his garden. Watching his fast, capable hands in the kitchen was a treat as he instructed us in how create one of the most memorable meals I have ever eaten. The eggplant appetizer is something I intend to try to make. The pumpkin soup was served into bowls which contained soft cheese and sauteed onions by a watering can! He then added roasted barley. The combination of flavors, colors and textures was exquisite.
Special Recognition
The Cotswolds Experience (June 2024)
Chad from Tennessee, USA
As if plucked from a fairy tale and placed along a roadside for nothing more than its character and charm, this cottage with its iconic Cotswold stone and traditional thatched roof provides a glimpse into the region’s rich history. The countryside is dotted with these picturesque homes, each with their own unique personalities. The beauty of the Cotswolds can be encapsulated into this one picture.
Special Recognition
The Morocco Experience (March 2024)
Cynthia from North Carolina, USA
Morocco abounds in pure, intense color. It is seen in: market displays, architecture, textiles, pottery, gardens, beautifully prepared and presented meals and in the surrounding beauty of nature from sunrise to sunset, washing the hills, mountains and seashore in ever changing light. Winston Churchill called Morocco “The Paris of the Sahara,” “…the most lovely spot in the world.” The vibrant colors, intense light and unrivaled scenery inspired him to paint more than forty paintings here. I, too, was so inspired and forever changed.
Special Recognition
The Chianti Experience (June 2024)
Debbie from Maryland, USA
Viewed from a small road, the walled village of San Gimignano is an impressive sight. We had a beautiful day for our visit there. With 14 of the original 72 towers still remaining, the village is full of nooks and crannies to explore and plenty of shops to find unique items to bring home.
Special Recognition
The Paris Experience (October 2024)
Ingrid from Massachusetts
The Galeries Lafayette Paris Haussmann dome. The stained glass dome in the Art Deco style is a monument to man’s ingenuity. As I stood below the dome and looked up, I spent several minutes slowly turning in a circle admiring how the rays of light shone through the glass panels. It was magnificent.
Special Recognition
The Luberon Experience (May 2024)
Jean from Virginia, USA
From any one spot, one moves through the layers of time in this magnificent region of Provence. Like flipping pages, experience today, the 19th century, the Renaissance, the Middle Ages, and the Roman Empire…all the way back to the still visible bedrock of prehistory. Traveling here is more than just a wonderful taste of the here and now. Each day the sky and season, the wild and cultivated, the structures and lovely people show the patient rhythm that will carry on there long past a sip of the sweet Luberon.
Special Recognition
The Normandy Experience (May 2025)
Kathleen from California, USA
This British Memorial, in the town of Ver-sur-Mer, overlooking Gold Beach, I felt was one of the most memorable memorials I had ever seen…..upon first approach, seeing only a few silhouetted soldiers with bowed heads was interesting, but when one comes around a corner and sees hundreds and hundreds of them overlooking the Gold Beach, it really caught me by surprise and was quite emotional……a site I won’t ever forget! Incredible piece of artwork and one that should stand forever.
Special Recognition
The Mediterranean Provence Experience (April 2024)
Lynn from Ontario, Canada
Pick your hue of Bandol blue – sea, sky, boats. The grid-like pattern of the masts points to open waters and hints at adventures ahead. Flags fly from various countries. Reading each boat’s name as you stroll the waterfront is relaxing and inspiring. Just imagine the stories these boats could tell. A perfect Mediterranean moment.
Special Recognition
The Périgord Experience (September 2024)
Patti from Tennessee, USA
This photo was taken at Castel-Merle, the family owned prehistoric, archeological site. During the visit we saw the rock shelters and primitive art on the walls of the shelters and listened to an in depth, intriguing history of how prehistoric people migrated to the area, lived and survived with the use of materials from nature. This photo captures the smoke resulting from our guide’s demonstration of how fire was made by the prehistoric people using iron oxide scrapings from flint along with shavings from mushrooms.
Special Recognition
The Périgord Experience (September 2024)
Patti from Texas, USA
Kayaking on the Vézère river was a highlight of the trip, because it provided an opportunity to commune with nature as well as enjoy the gorgeous landscape. We were doubly blessed to have wonderful weather, calm waters, and a beautiful blue sky.