The true traveller wants more than a holiday these days. They want unforgettable experiences tailored precisely to their wishes, their passions, their dreams, to go on a journey every bit as unique as they are.
It takes expertise to deliver this, of course, which is where Audley Travel comes in. With intimate understanding of the destinations it presents and a trusted team of guides on the ground, the luxury travel company has been creating bespoke itineraries for almost 30 years. What’s more, with responsible social and environmental impact at the core of its ethos, it’s the perfect fit for people who care about travelling sustainably.
Looking ahead to next year, Audley’s team of specialists have hand-picked four incredible locations, and are ready to design a tailor-made trip just for you, so you get to explore any of them the way you want to.
Immerse yourself in Studio Ghibli, stay on the set of The White Lotus, climb to an island in the sky, or traverse the driest place on Earth –
the world is waiting
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Tradition and tranquillity
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On the terraces
The Sacred Valley in Peru’s Andean highlands
In Tohoku, in north Honshu, Japan’s largest island, you will find a part of Japan with ancient rituals and its own pace of life, far removed from the futuristic cities of Tokyo and Osaka.
“It’s a place of tremendous beauty. Take a boat tour of Matsushima Bay to see why its 260 pine-clad islands struck the celebrated haiku poet Matsuo Basho dumb with delight,” says Audley travel expert Jo Wood. Combine drama and tranquillity as you traverse the Oirase Gorge, a riot of colour in autumn, on your way to Lake Towada. Or follow in the footsteps of the yamabushi (an order of ascetic mountain monks) by scaling the Dewa Sanzan – three sacred peaks, each topped with a shrine – ensuring you unwind afterwards in an onsen (hot spring bath), either public or attached to your ryokan (guest house).
History and tradition run very deep in Tohoku. Home to several well-preserved samurai towns – chief among them Kakunodate and Aizu-Wakamatsu (the latter known for its sake breweries) – the region also hosts some of Japan’s most spectacular festivals.
Thailand will be the setting for the third series of the award-winning HBO show The White Lotus, and the Four Seasons Golden Triangle is tipped to feature. The luxury tented camp on a confluence of the Mekong River, where the borders of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet, is certainly photogenic, and guests there can feed the rescue elephants cared for in the sanctuary next door.
Thailand is rightly celebrated for its prized beaches, but as anyone who has visited will attest, head inland and you will find yourself exhilarated and educated in equal measure. In Chiang Rai, Thailand’s northernmost city, learn how this former centre for the production and trade of opium was transformed into productive agricultural land to support hill tribes in the area. And don’t miss the incredibly ornate White Temple, a 20th-century creation, whose exterior sparkles in the sunlight thanks to the glass embedded in its plaster.
Exhilarate and educate
In Bangkok and Chiang Mai much of your odyssey will be culinary. Get an inside track on the cities’ favourite fare, tour the markets, sample dishes from the fastest food to Thai royal cuisine, and learn how to prepare them with a local family rather than in a commercial cookery class.
Chiang Mai was founded in 1296 as the capital of the Lanna Kingdom, which only became part of Thailand (at that time Siam) in 1892. Here, more than 300 Buddhist temples, or wats, testify to its historical importance, the pick of them being Doi Suthep which, perched atop a mountain 10 miles from its centre, has panoramic views of the city.
Chiang Mai makes the perfect base from which to discover the country’s northwest: Pai, with its waterfalls and yoga retreats; Mae Hong Son, whose giant golden Buddha gazes down on Myanmar; and Khao Yai National Park, which provides protected habitats for the greatest number of animal species in Thailand, including two species of gibbon.
Canyonlands, the largest of Utah’s national parks, turns 60 next year. Covering 527 square miles where the Colorado and Green rivers meet in the southeast of the state, and looking like the backdrop for a Wild West epic, there’s nowhere like it for a taste of raw wilderness.
A draw for hikers and climbers, with Arches National Park to the north of it, and Zion on the Arizona border, this is the ancestral land of indigenous peoples including the Ute, Southern Paiute and Pueblo, who, having lived in the area for more than 10,000 years, have left one of the world’s largest collections of cave paintings and petroglyphs.
Largely inaccessible by car, Canyonlands has three main areas to explore, suitably guided in a 4x4 and on foot: Island in the Sky sits at the top of the park with sweeping views from its 2,000ft-high flat-topped mesas; the Needles, which is named for its eye-catching sandstone spires; and the Maze – untamed, isolated and a physical challenge.
“The secluded Sorrel River Ranch, near Moab on the banks of the Colorado River, will be your home from home,” says Audley specialist Emma Lamkin. Rest for your tired limbs comes in the form of a dip in its pool, spa treatments or a drink over tapas in its riverside bar.
Witness the Wild West
Increasingly, travellers are wanting to combine multiple destinations into a single trip, and Audley makes this seamless. Which is why it welcomes a new flight route between Cuzco, in Peru, and Chile’s capital, Santiago, which is due to launch in October.
The former seat of the Inca empire, Cuzco is the continent’s oldest continuously inhabited city and
the gateway to Machu Picchu. Ancient and unworldly and abuzz with life, Cuzco is one of the few places where you’ll see backpackers clinking cold beers in a bar while an Andean villager talks to their pet llama.
Explore the most famous archeological site in the
new world with a private guide, and then visit the Sacred Valley – in particular, the salt pans of Maras,
the agricultural terraces of Moray and the ruins
of Ollantaytambo – for further proof of the genius
of the Inca.
History and mystery
“For natural wonders, head south to where the Andean condor, the largest flying bird in the world, rides the thermals above Colca Canyon, which is twice as deep as the Grand Canyon,” Nick Giles says.
The adventure continues in Santiago, where the Singular Hotel has peerless views over the city and beyond to the mountains. During the ski season – June to October – there are three resorts within easy driving distance.
From the Atacama Desert in the north, the driest place on Earth, to the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, Chile is a country of extremes, so it can sometimes be desirable to strike a balance between them. The best place to do that is in its winelands, not far south of Santiago.
The Colchagua Valley has an excellent reputation for top-notch reds made from carmenère, a grape that was first used in Bordeaux and is now grown almost exclusively in Chile. The Vik winery, outside the town of Millahue, makes an outstanding blend of cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc, and you can sample it to your heart’s content if you stay there overnight.
For more than 25 years, Audley Travel has created trips as singular as the people who take them.
Its motto is “Travel that’s made for you, stays with you” and its specialists take great care and all the time required to ensure their clients take journeys that more than match their dreams. Focusing on “meaningful experiences and real connections” rather than the highlights of any given destination, Audley prides itself on giving travellers a true taste of the places they visit and a deep appreciation of the people who live there.
Each client is assigned their own dedicated destination specialist, who crafts their trip by getting to know them and their motivations, interests and passions – and the process isn’t over until the client is happy with every last detail. Specialists remain on hand to offer advice and answer any pre-travel queries, right up to the moment the client embarks. And the service doesn’t end there – a 24-hour support line means if you have any issues while on your trip, help is only a phone call away.
The Audley service is the very definition of bespoke.
Plan your tailor-made trip at audleytravel.com or call 01993 461 361
TRIPS tailored to you
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from the ancient East to
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Transcendent travel:
Each year, on August 6-8, its largest city, Sendai, celebrates Tanabata, when two literally star-crossed lovers, separated by the Milky Way as a punishment by the gods, are said to reunite, so long as the night is clear. It’s a wonderfully romantic time of city-wide decorations and fireworks, and locals write their wishes on coloured paper tied to bamboo stalks.
An exciting development of a wholly different kind is taking shape elsewhere in Japan. Set in almost eight hectares of woodland in Nagakute, about 150 miles west of Tokyo, there is a theme park like no other. Inspired by the animated movies of Hayao Miyazaki (Princess Mononoke, the Oscar-winning Spirited Away), Ghibli Park eschews rollercoasters in favour of magical, immersive worlds and exclusive film screenings, and will be fully open by April 2024. It would be the highlight of any family trip to Japan.
Joy of Japan
Above: Aizu-Wakamatsu;
Right: celebrating
Tanabata in Sendai
Faith and feast
Above: the White Temple; Right:
tour the markets
Ice and easy
Above: Cuzco;
Left: the Perito Moreno glacier
SPONSORED CONTENT
Immerse yourself in Studio Ghibli, stay on the set of The White Lotus, climb to an island in the sky, or traverse the driest place on Earth –
the world is waiting
SHARE
In Tohoku, in north Honshu, Japan’s largest island, you will find a part of Japan with ancient rituals and its own pace of life, far removed from the futuristic cities of Tokyo and Osaka.
“It’s a place of tremendous beauty. Take a boat tour of Matsushima Bay to see why its 260 pine-clad islands struck the celebrated haiku poet Matsuo Basho dumb with delight,” says Audley travel expert, INSERT NAME HERE. Combine drama and tranquility as you traverse the Oirase Gorge, a riot of colour in autumn, on your way to Lake Towada. Or follow in the footsteps of the yamabushi (an order of ascetic mountain monks) by scaling the Dewa Sanzan – three sacred peaks, each topped with a shrine – ensuring you unwind afterwards in an onsen (hot spring bath), either public or attached to your ryokan (guest house).
History and tradition run very deep in Tohoku. Home to several well-preserved samurai towns – chief among them Kakunodate and Aizu-Wakamatsu (the latter known for its sake breweries) – the region also hosts some of Japan’s most spectacular festivals.
Tradition and tranquility
Thailand will be the setting for the third series of the award-winning HBO series The White Lotus, and the Four Seasons Golden Triangle is tipped to feature. The luxury tented camp on a confluence of the Mekong River, where the borders of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet, is certainly photogenic, and guests there can feed and bathe the rescue elephants cared for in the sanctuary next door.
Thailand is rightly celebrated for its prized beaches, but as anyone who has visited will attest, head inland you will find yourself exhilarated and educated in equal measure. In Chiang Rai, Thailand’s northernmost city, learn how this former centre for the production and trade of opium was transformed into productive agricultural land to support hill tribes in the area. And don’t miss the incredibly ornate White Temple, a 20th-century creation, whose exterior sparkles in the sunlight thanks to the glass embedded in its plaster.
Exhilarate and educate
In Bangkok and Chiang Mai much of your odyssey will be culinary. Get an inside track on the cities’ favourite fare, tour the markets, sample dishes from the fastest food to Thai royal cuisine, and learn how to prepare them with a local family rather than in a commercial cookery class.
Chiang Mai was founded in 1296 as the capital of the Lanna Kingdom, which only became part of Thailand (at that time Siam) in 1892. Here, more than 300 Buddhist temples, or wats, testify to its historical importance, the pick of them being Doi Suthep which, perched atop a mountain 10 miles from its centre, has panoramic views of the city.
Chiang Mai makes the perfect base from which to discover the country’s northwest: Pai, with its waterfalls and yoga retreats; Mae Hong Son, whose giant golden Buddha gazes down on Myanmar; and Khao Yai National Park, which provides protected habitats for the greatest number of animal species in Thailand, including two species of gibbon.
Canyonlands, the largest of Utah’s national parks, turns 60 next year. Covering 527 square miles where the Colorado and Green rivers meet in the southeast of the state, and looking like the backdrop for a Wild West epic, there’s nowhere like it for a taste of raw wilderness.
A draw for hikers and climbers, with Arches National Park to the north of it, and Zion on the Arizona border, this is the ancestral land of indigenous peoples including the Ute, Southern Paiute and Pueblo, who, having lived in the area for more than 10,000 years, have left one of the world’s largest collections of cave paintings and petroglyphs.
Largely inaccessible by car, Canyonlands has three main areas to explore, suitably guided in a 4x4 and on foot: Island in the Sky sits at the top of the park with sweeping views from its 2,000ft-high flat-topped mesas; the Needles, which is named for its eye-catching sandstone spires; and the Maze, untamed, isolated and a physical challenge.
“The secluded Sorrel River Ranch, near Moab on the banks of the Colorado River, will be your home from home,” says Audley specialist, INSERT NAME HERE. Rest for your tired limbs comes in the form of a dip in its pool, spa treatments or a drink over tapas in its riverside bar.
Witness the Wild West
Increasingly, travellers are wanting to combine multiple destinations into a single trip, and Audley makes this seamless. Which is why it welcomes a new flight route between Cuzco, in Peru, and Chile’s capital, Santiago, which is due to launch in October: making clients’ dream holidays a reality just got that little bit easier.
The former seat of the Inca empire, Cuzco is the continent’s oldest continuously inhabited city and the gateway to Machu Picchu. Ancient and unworldly and abuzz with life, Cuzco is one of the few places where you’ll see backpackers clinking cold beers in a bar while an Andean villager talks to their pet llama.
Explore the most famous archeological site in the new world with a private guide, and then visit the Sacred Valley – in particular, the salt pans of Maras, the agricultural terraces of Moray and the ruins of Ollantaytambo – for further proof of the genius of the Inca.
History and mystery
“For natural wonders, head south to where the Andean condor, the largest flying bird in the world, rides the thermals above Colca Canyon, which is twice as deep as the Grand Canyon,” INSERT NAME HERE says.
The adventure continues in Santiago where the Singular Hotel has peerless views over the city and beyond to the mountains. During the ski season – June to October – there are three resorts within easy driving distance.
From the Atacama Desert in the north, the driest place on Earth, to the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, Chile is a country of extremes, so it can sometimes be desirable to strike a balance between them. The best place to do that is in its winelands, not far south of Santiago.
The Colchagua Valley has an excellent reputation for top-notch reds made from carmenère, a grape that was first used in Bordeaux and is now grown almost exclusively in Chile. The Vik winery, outside the town of Millahue, makes an outstanding blend of cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc, and you can sample it to your heart’s content if you stay there overnight.
SPONSORED CONTENT
Transcendent travel:
from the Far East to the
Wild West, see it in style
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