Where we go
Twenty-seven countries across Asia and beyond, each with a complete guide, eight itineraries and the honest notes.
East Asia
Japan our office
Two weeks is the sweet spot. Ten days works. Three weeks reaches the parts most visitors never see. Every Japan trip we build is written from scratch by one of four people: our Head of Consu
South Korea
Ten days genuinely covers South Korea. That is not a sales line, it is the most useful thing we can tell you before you start. The country is small and the trains are fast, so a first trip t
Taiwan
The high speed train crosses the whole populated west of the island in about two hours. That fact makes Taiwan look like a short trip and it is the reason most first itineraries are wrong. T
Mongolia
Ten days is the number that works for a first visit. Fourteen adds the western Gobi or the far north. Twenty-one reaches the Altai and the Kazakh eagle hunters, which is the trip most people
China
China is roughly 3,100 miles (5,000 km) from the eastern coast to the western border and runs on a single time zone the whole way. Beijing to Shanghai is 819 miles (1,318 km), about the dist
Hong Kong
We will say this on the first screen rather than the fifth. Four days covers the city and one island properly. Five is the version we build most often. Seven is generous and includes real hi
Tibet
Two facts shape every Tibet trip before anyone chooses a hotel.
Southeast Asia
Vietnam our office
Vietnam runs 1,025 miles (1,650 km) from the Chinese border to the mouth of the Mekong, and the weather at one end has nothing to do with the weather at the other. That fact decides more abo
The Philippines our office
Seven thousand six hundred islands, and the difference between a good trip and a frustrating one is almost never which islands you pick. It is how many times you move between them, and wheth
Thailand
Thailand is the easiest country in Southeast Asia to travel and one of the easiest to book badly. The reason is a single fact most itineraries skate over: the Andaman coast in the west and t
Cambodia
Nine days is enough for a proper first visit. Twelve adds the coast without hurrying. Cambodia is small by Asian standards, roughly the size of Oklahoma, and the trips that work are built ar
Laos
Every year we talk somebody out of a Laos trip, and it is almost always the same conversation. They have eight days, a list of nine places, and a map that makes the country look small. Laos
Myanmar
We take Myanmar enquiries, we assess each one against the situation at the time and for your specific dates, and then we either build a trip or we tell you we will not. We decline regularly.
South Asia
India our office
Fourteen days is the number that works. Ten covers one region properly. Three weeks reaches both halves of the country without becoming a blur. Every India trip we build is written from scra
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka has two monsoons, on opposite sides of the island, at opposite times of year. There is no month when the whole country is dry. Which coast you can use is decided by when you fly, a
Nepal
Twelve days is the number that works for a first visit. Fifteen carries a teahouse trek. Three weeks does a trek and the cultural valley and the lowland jungle without any of them being rush
Bhutan
Eight days is the shortest trip that justifies the flights. Ten to twelve reaches the central valleys. Twenty-one pairs Bhutan with Nepal, which is how most people who travel this far should
The Maldives
In most countries we plan, the route is the thing. In the Maldives there is no route. You fly to Malé, you transfer to one island, and you stay on it. Almost everything that determines wheth
Central Asia and the Caucasus
Georgia
Georgia is the size of West Virginia and holds a wine region, a Black Sea coast, two serious mountain regions and a capital people keep extending their stay in. Nine days covers the country
Armenia
Eight days covers the Armenia most people come for. Eleven adds the southern province of Syunik properly. Fourteen or twenty-one crosses the land border into Georgia, which is the pairing we
Azerbaijan
Seven days covers the Azerbaijan most first visitors come for. Ten reaches the mountain villages properly. Fourteen or twenty-one adds Georgia over the land border, which is the pairing we r
Uzbekistan
Ten days is the number that works. The four cities everyone comes for, Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva, sit in a line across the country, and a high-speed train covers most of it. Twe
Kyrgyzstan
Ten days is the number that works for a first visit. Fourteen adds Tash Rabat and the southern mountains. Twenty-one crosses into Uzbekistan for both halves of Central Asia, the mountains an
Kazakhstan
Ten days covers the Kazakhstan most first visitors come for. Fourteen adds Kyrgyzstan over the land border. Twenty-one reaches Uzbekistan and makes the whole thing a Silk Road trip rather th
Beyond Asia
Dubai and the Gulf
Dubai is a four to six day destination, or two or three nights bolted onto a longer Asia trip. Anyone selling you ten days there is selling you their margin. Within those four to six days it
Australia
Almost every disappointing Australia trip we have been asked to fix had the same cause. The traveller looked at a map, saw one country, and planned it like one country. Sydney to Uluru is th
New Zealand
New Zealand is a driving country, and almost every badly planned trip here fails for the same reason: the roads are excellent and they are slow. Two lanes, constant curves, one-lane bridges,
Tell us roughly what you want. We will tell you honestly what works.
A named consultant in Tel Aviv, our own people on the ground, and a written plan you can argue with before you commit to anything.