We book the same regions season after season, which is the only honest way to know which towns are worth a Tuesday in August and which hotel moved breakfast to the roof.
Southern Europe
Portugal and Spain for spring and autumn: Lisbon and Porto as a rail pair, the Douro valley by train, Andalusia from March to May. In July and August we route you to the coast or north, and we say that plainly rather than selling a city at thirty-eight degrees.
Japan
Two weeks works well from late March to early May and from October to November. We build it around the fast rail network instead of domestic flights, keep hotel changes to four or five, and add a night in the countryside where the pace drops.
Northern routes
Norway and the Alps in summer, when the roads are clear and the daylight holds until ten. Fjord crossings and mountain trains do most of the work, so driving days stay short. In winter we shift to the cities and the trains.
Morocco and Greece
Morocco from October to April, with the Atlas by road and two desert nights only if you actually want them. Greece in May, June, September and October, island pairs connected by ferry rather than a chain of short flights.
How we choose
A region joins the list when we have walked it, eaten in it and driven it in the season we sell. That is why the list stays short, and why every entry comes with the months we recommend.