Independent · Kingston
Trips planned by people who have been.
A flat planning fee, no hotel commission, and we book only the things that fall apart unbooked. Everything a trip costs is on this site before you speak to anyone.
How we are paid
You pay us. Nobody else does.
It is a short sentence with a long consequence: no hotel, airline or operator has ever paid us to be on your list, so the only reason anything is there is that we think it is right.
What we book for you
- Long-haul flights
- the first and last night
- anything with one operator (a permit
- a boat
- a train with reservations)
- and anything that sells out
What we deliberately leave
- Middle nights
- all meals
- day trips
- local transport
- and every hour that is better decided on the ground
Six trips
Short list, on purpose.
Every trip page publishes its nights, its flight band, its nightly cost on the ground and the months we would argue about.
Two weeks in Japan
Tokyo, Kanazawa, Kyoto, and a week that is not on a train.
Ten days in Portugal
Lisbon, the Alentejo, and nobody's idea of a coach tour.
A week in Costa Rica
One cloud forest, one coast, and no day spent in a minibus.
Twelve days in Morocco
Marrakech, the Atlas, and two nights that are worth the drive.
A fortnight in Greece
Athens, one big island, one small one, and the ferry timetable that decides everything.
Eight days in New York
One city, one hotel, and a list of what to skip.
What people say afterwards
Usually about the month.
We turn away more August trips than any other kind, and it is the thing clients mention most.
We had the dates set and they told us plainly it would be the wrong fortnight, and offered to plan it for September instead. Same fee either way — they just did not want us to hate it.
I was uneasy about a week with nothing booked. It is the week we still talk about.
The quote we had been given was about a fifth more for a worse hotel. The cost sheet showed us exactly where the difference was.
They moved our return to a different airport and it saved a whole day and the price of a night.