We couldn’t be more excited about Trafalgar tours new product…introducing Trafalgar Small Group tours – Hidden Journeys. There are a total of 11 new Hidden Journeys trip that will have no more than 26 travelers on each departure. Individualized service an unique experiences without the price tag of a luxury tour operator. Destinations include Italy, France, Ireland, Greece, Japan and China. Trafalgar is using small motorcoahes for these trips and unique hotels such as the 47 room Albergo dell’Agenzia in Italy’s Piedmont region. There is also a Gullet yacht cruise in Turkey. Experiences that would not be possible with a larger group size.
Our focus today is to highlight 4 of these new Trafalgar Small Group Tours.
Standing at the foot of iconic sites such as the ancient Temple of Apollo or the Eiffel Tower instills with a sense of awe, allowing for you to witness their sheer magnitude, inconceivable from the limited dimensions of a photograph. Yet, so often it’s the fascinating details about a destination learned from a Local Specialist that make the most indelible marks on our travel memories. Since creating unique travel experiences is our specialty, we spoke with a few Travel Directors from Trafalgar — a guided vacation company with over 70 years of experience, escorting travelers to destinations around the world — to get a preview of Trafalgar’s Hidden Journeys. Let us indulge you with a sneak peak of the cultural insights revealed during this brand-new series of small-group guided vacations that takes you off the beaten path and beyond the guidebook.
FRANCE’S LINK TO THE ANCIENT PAST
Paris dominates notions of French culture, with its Art Nouveau brasseries and couture-clad runways. Further expand your fascination with all things French during a guided trip of the country’s lesser-known villages throughout the Dordogne and Bordeaux regions, vaunting beguiling natural phenomena and historical treasures. Scale Europe’s tallest sand dune, the Dune of Pilat, and sample succulent oysters at a beachside café in nearby Arcachon. Wander the narrow passageways in the fortified hilltop village of Cordes-sur-Ciel, where local craftsman showcase their exquisite works made of steel, wood or glass. Then admire an exact reproduction of the paintings that were made on the walls of caves in Lascaux an estimated 20,000 years ago. The original UNESCO-protected cave nearby contains some of the most impressive artistic depictions of Paleolithic humans — rarely seen accompanying animals in cave art. Contact us to learn about Trafalgar’s additional Hidden Journeys in other corners of the world spanning from Ireland to China and get the inside track on exclusive savings. Nothing compares to the entertaining anecdotes gleaned during a guided vacation. With Travel Directors escorting you every step of the way, discovery proves as seamless as the fun. Trafalgar France Tours
ITALY’S FLAVORFUL FORAYS
One of the most integral parts of Italy is experienced while seated at the dinner table. Italian cuisine is celebrated the world over and its simplicity might surprise you; many dishes are comprised of only four to eight ingredients. During your exclusive eight-day guided sojourn, Secrets of Italy, travel from Milan across Italian lakes and through the Alps’ fertile valleys, discovering Italy through the palate. In the Piedmont region, explore the Slow Food approach founded there, tasting foods that steadfastly preserve tradition such as grissini (yard-long breadsticks) and white truffle infused pastas, or learning to detect the unmistakable terroir of a Barolo wine. La dolce vita (the sweet life) in Italy culminates in Turin, where you’ll be introduced to local purveyors at Europe’s largest open-air food market and sip a specialty hot chocolate called Bicerin. Trafalgar Italy Tours
SWITZERLAND’S FAIRYTALE ALLURE
Postcard panorama is synonymous with Switzerland. Witness the peak of the Matterhorn punctuating the heavens in Zermatt and hear the gentle clang of cowbells echoing among the pastoral countryside in Emmental, where the namesake cheese is produced. Whether you are sipping chasselas wine at one of the terraced vineyards lining the Swiss Riviera or wandering Zürich’s Old Town, the surrounds are pulled straight from a fairytale. It’s the Local Specialist who can share with you the lesser-known facts that add a hint of the Brothers Grimm to this utopian dreamland. Revealed are intriguing details you might otherwise miss, such as the “Dance of Death” depictions displayed within a stained-glass window of Berne’s most impressive cathedral and featured in paintings housed under the gabled roof of Lucerne’s Spreuer Bridge — less than a mile away from Chapel Bridge, Europe’s oldest covered wooden bridge. Trafalgar Switzerland Tours
GREECE’S INTRIGUE
In Greece, the bounty and beauty of the land has long been storied in mythology. Your Local Specialist provides the ultimate gift of discernment and shares the mysterious history of the Temple of Apollo in Delphi, where oracles predicted the fate of great cities and athletes competed in the first Olympic Games. Arrive by ferry to Corfu, a fertile island blanketed in olive trees and vibrant bougainvillea. Share in the daily life of locals at the Spianada, an impressive city square that
banks the celebrated clear waters so unique to Greece. Every inch of Corfu’s coastline is crusted with beaches diverse in texture and landscape, affording glimpses of hidden coves and unspoiled nature. Your travels continue to intrigue as you cross the country from Athens to Olympia. The panorama transforms as you enter the mountain town of Metsovo, where your guide indulges you with the lore of 14th-century stonewall monasteries over a bowl of sheepherder’s stew. Trafalgar Greece Tours
