Famed Travel Expert Peter Greenberg Reveals Some Surprising Secrets

Credit: Robert Landau

Taken For a Ride With Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa

After 23 million miles in the air, being met at airports by police escorts, having lunch with heads of state, Peter Greenberg has learned some important facts that will help you, the average traveler—someone who hasn’t, for example, been a television and radio star.

“Don’t buy foreign money in this country,” he says. “See if your bank has a no-fee plan when you’re using an ATM overseas. And when you’re looking for an ATM overseas, check out the ones that don’t charge a fee.”

But wait, there’s more from this 69-year-old who has visited 151 countries: “I take along $2 bills for tipping.”

With peak travel time approaching, these two simple ideas can help make your trip much smoother—and less costly.

So what is it that has brought Greenberg to this place of eminence among America’s travelers?

You may know him as “The Travel Detective,” one of his many iterations in a career that has seen him engage viewers on all three major networks (currently starring as CBS News’ travel editor).  But he likes to think of himself as a journalist first, someone who also writes about travel. And not simply in a gee-whiz manner.

Credit: Tina Hager

Credit: Tina Hager

At Masada With Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

“Yes, I have met with heads of state and tourism cabinet ministers,” he says. “But I’ve also been asked to leave a country. I was deported from Guatemala,” he notes, with a touch of pride, after having uncovered some of the country’s darker secrets.

But practically everyone else wants him. Greenberg works at his job, not merely content to sit at poolside and stare at blue skies while cradling a glass of ginger ale. Want an insider’s look at Wales, India, or Anguilla?

I didn’t realize until he told me that the number one business in the world is…tourism. According to Peter it is the single largest source of revenue.

“Think about some of the Caribbean nations,” he explains. “They don’t produce anything. What is their Number One business? Tourism. And yet we in the United States don’t even have a national tourist body.”

Credit: Peter Greenberg

Exploring Rwanda

Small wonder that those countries that value tourism want him to visit. They know he will uncover little-known facts that help make a trip, as well as painting the big picture. And he is honest to a fault.

So if you want to learn about world-class resorts where kings and queens and presidents have slept, why just go to petergreenberg.com. Or if you’d prefer a place of isolation, where nobody knows your name, he’ll let you in on them. Want to celebrate the Fourth of July someplace in the States? How about Anchorage, Alaska?

Then there is Greenberg, the safety nerd. For example, he recently wrote that many countries do not have the equivalent of our 911 for emergency calls. So before you travel, he says, you really should call that country’s consulate and find out what number to use.

On the food front, his interests are eclectic. What if you want a snack? If you read the peripatetic Greenberg lately you’d learn that you could buy a Big Mac in St. Petersburg (Russia, that is) for about a third of what you’d pay in New York. Or he will explain how you can save on luggage fees—and even the best type of luggage to buy.

When he’s not traveling, Peter enjoys the unspoiled, lazy doings of Fire Island, off the South Shore of Long Island, accessible only by old-fashioned ferry. And by the way, he’s a volunteer fireman there.

It is his default place to chill out, no planes, trains or automobiles. And recently, it’s also been his honeymoon digs–he married for the first time at the age of 69. So laid-back Fire Island is perfect for a guy who visits 35 countries annually covering 400,000 miles.