The Ice and the Kings
Antarctica and South Georgia expedition
Ushuaia, the Drake Passage, the Antarctic Peninsula, South Georgia, and the Falklands when the sea allows.
From CA$30,000Indicative, per person, confirmed at quote
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Fourteen journeys · five ways of travel
Journeys
Expedition ships, safari camps, small boats, long walks and the occasional train. Each journey here is built around a place we have been, written down so you can see its shape before we change it to suit you.
Grouped by how you travel rather than where, because the way you move through a place decides most of what the trip feels like. Prices are indicative bands, per person, and confirmed at quote.
01
Polar and expedition
Cold water, long light, and ships small enough to land from. We crossed the Drake Passage both ways between January and March 2026.
Suits: patient travellers · good sea legs or a plan for them · November to March
02
Safari and wildlife
Where the animals set the schedule and you work around them. Fewer camps and longer stays, every time.
Suits: early risers · travellers who would rather wait than rush · season by season
The Delta in Flood
Okavango Delta safari, Botswana
Three camps, three nights each, timed to the flood rather than to the calendar.
From CA$21,000Indicative, per person, confirmed at quote
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The Hour You Get
Gorilla trekking in Rwanda and Uganda
Two permits, two countries, one long drive. The trip exists to make one hour with the gorillas possible.
From CA$18,500Indicative, per person, confirmed at quote
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The Lagoon in February
Los Cabos and the grey whales of Magdalena Bay
A few nights at a luxury resort on the Los Cabos corridor, then north to Magdalena Bay for private boats among the grey whales and their calves.
From CA$9,500Indicative, per person, confirmed at quote
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Manado Tua at dawn, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. Taken from the water before breakfast.
03
Rail
Rail planned privately, in Canada and in Europe, and built into other journeys where a train beats a flight and a transfer.
Suits: travellers who like the getting there · any season, line by line
Rail has its own page
The Canadian Rockies in a glass-domed coach, VIA Rail's The Canadian across the country, and Europe by train in Switzerland, Italy, Scotland, Spain and Portugal, each planned privately around the right seat and the right hotels.
- First class, and the right side of the train
- Hotels at each stop, Virtuoso benefits where they apply
- Private transfers between station and hotel
04
Small ships
Trips where the boat is the hotel and the port calls are few. Phinisi in Indonesia, river ships in Portugal.
Suits: couples where only one dives · slow travellers · people who unpack once
The Four Kings
Raja Ampat liveaboard, Indonesia
Ten days aboard a phinisi in West Papua, no port calls. It works even if you never put your face in the water.
From CA$10,000Indicative, per person, confirmed at quote
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The Douro in September
Douro Valley river cruise in harvest, Portugal
Seven nights on the river during the harvest, then four on land so the trip does not end at a gangway.
From CA$9,800Indicative, per person, confirmed at quote
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05
Active and cultural
Walking trips where the distance is the point, old cities taken early, and one good base when the trip needs to slow down.
Suits: steady walkers · travellers who want the early start that empties a site
The High Road to Machu Picchu
Peru and Machu Picchu at altitude
Arequipa, the Colca taken slowly, Cusco, and a night inside the gates at Machu Picchu if the budget carries it.
From CA$10,500Indicative, per person, confirmed at quote
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The Puna, Then the Vines
Salta to Mendoza by private 4x4, Argentina
Salta to Mendoza in one private 4x4: the Quebrada de Humahuaca, the salt flats of the Puna, the Seismiles, Talampaya and Ischigualasto, then down to the vineyards.
From CA$10,500Indicative, per person, confirmed at quote
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The Lost City, Then Coffee
Ciudad Perdida trek and Colombia's coffee country
Four hard days walking to the Lost City in the Sierra Nevada, then five slow ones in Quindio above the coffee farms.
From CA$8,900Indicative, per person, confirmed at quote
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Petra Before the Buses
Petra and Wadi Rum, Jordan
Two very early mornings buy you the Siq almost to yourself. The rest is built around having nothing you must be at.
From CA$7,300Indicative, per person, confirmed at quote
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The Long Way Around the Yucatan
Yucatan, Chichen Itza and Sian Ka'an, Mexico
Two hotels, a cenote nobody is at, one early start at Chichen Itza, and a day in the reserve south of Tulum.
From CA$6,800Indicative, per person, confirmed at quote
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Above Florence
Florence and Tuscany from Fiesole, Italy
One hotel above the city for eight nights, and Florence itself treated as a day trip. The right way round.
From CA$11,500Indicative, per person, confirmed at quote
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Warm Water in February
Red Sea snorkelling stay, Egypt
One hotel at Sahl Hasheesh, a house reef you walk into, day boats when you want them, and Luxor three hours up the road.
From CA$6,500Indicative, per person, confirmed at quote
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Tailored, every time
Can a journey be changed to suit us?
Yes. Every journey here is a starting point, not a product. We move the dates, swap a camp, add a night where you will want one, take out the walk your knee will not enjoy, and price it for the people actually travelling.
The places on this page are ones we have been. If yours is somewhere else, that is a normal first note too.
Set tours and cruisesNo fee from us. We book them, and our Virtuoso benefits come with them where they apply.
Custom journeysA CA$400 design fee for multi-stop journeys, credited to the trip when you book.
PricesThe bands above are indicative, per person, and confirmed at quote. Your written quote shows every line.
Our own photographs
From the places on this page
Taken on the trips these journeys come from.
Planning
When to go, before you choose
Timing decides more of a trip than the hotel does. The bars show the months we would plan around, darker for the best of them.
When to go to Antarctica
November for ice and courtship, January for chicks and long light, March for whales. What each month gives up.
Month by month plannerWalking the Siq
A mile of narrow rock, and then the Treasury arrives all at once. Go early or late, never at noon.
Petra, Jordan · 6 minutesEmerald Lake, and the case for Yoho
The next valley over from Lake Louise, with a lodge on the shore and a fraction of the coaches.
British Columbia · 5 minutesMonth bars run January to December.
All 26 destinations, month by month →Plan a trip
Tell us the journey, or just the month and the feeling you are after
A short first note is enough. We reply within one business day, and nothing is booked until you have a written quote in front of you.