Anywhere
worth going.
COMPASS
Somewhere you have not been yet, and the month it is at its best.
COMPASS
Four parts of the world the studio knows well, when each one is worth the flight, and the three ways of travelling a place once you have chosen it. The destination is yours. The timing is the part most people get wrong.
Where, and when
Everywhere has a month. Go in the other eleven and you will still have a good time; go in that one and you will understand what the fuss was about.
JAPAN
Kyoto at seven in the morning, before the lanes belong to anyone else.
When. Late March into April for the blossom, November for the colour. Both are spoken for early; the better rooms in Kyoto go the year before.
The judgement. Two cities and one ryokan is a better fortnight than five cities and a rail pass. The train is the easy part.
ITALY, GREECE & FRANCE
Twelve rooms, one good cook, and the owner at breakfast.
Who it suits. The couple who have done the grand hotels and now want to be known by name. A farmhouse in the hills, a palazzo with six suites, a townhouse where the key is on a ribbon.
The honest trade. No spa the size of a car park, no room service at three in the morning, and with twelve rooms the good ones go early. Here, knowing the owner is worth more than any programme.
AFRICA
Tea brought to the tent before the light, and a day that starts when the animals do.
When. June to October for the dry season in East and Southern Africa, when the grass is short and the water holes are busy. Cape Town is at its best from November to March.
The judgement. Two camps, not four. The small ones with their own concession, where the vehicle is yours and the sightings are not shared with a queue.
THE PACIFIC & ASIA
A lagoon with nothing on it, and a week that is closer to home than it feels.
When. French Polynesia from May to October, the dry months. Vietnam depends on which end you want: the north from October to April, the south from December. Australia's own lodges, most of the year; the Kimberley from April to September.
The judgement. Close enough for a week, far enough to feel it. The place to spend on the room rather than the flight.
Three ways to travel a place
Once you know where, the next question is how. None of the three is better. One of them is right for this trip.
01 The private itinerary
Your dates, your pace, a car at the door and nobody else's schedule.
Who it suits. Most of the people who come to the studio. Anniversaries, the first big one, anyone who would rather not be in a group.
The honest trade. It costs more than the alternatives, and it asks for decisions. We make most of them; you make the ones worth making.
02 The small group
A fixed date, a shared table, and the doors a guide can open that a visitor cannot.
Who it suits. Places where a guide changes everything: the Galápagos, Egypt, the walking routes of Italy and France. Solo travellers who want company at dinner and none in the afternoon.
The honest trade. The date is the date. The best operators keep numbers low and stay in the hotels you would have chosen anyway; we only book those.
One unpacking, a different coast each morning, and the crossing itself as the point.
03 At sea
Who it suits. Coastlines that are better from the water than the road: the Dalmatian islands, the Norwegian fjords, Antarctica, the Kimberley.
The honest trade. The ship sets the hours. Which ship, and which kind, is a page of its own.
SEE CRUISINGThe month decides more than the money does.
TIMING AND ACCESS
Twelve months
Dry-season camps in Africa, and the good rooms in Kyoto for blossom or colour. Roughly what it takes.
Six to nine
A Mediterranean villa or a small hotel on the coast for the summer. By the new year, the July weeks are thin.
A lagoon in the Pacific, a week in Vietnam, most of Australia's lodges. Business class on the right day takes longer than the room.
Three to six
Ask anyway. Rooms come back, cabins open, and the studio hears about it first. Rough rules, confirmed in writing before you commit.