What changes when the only people on the itinerary are the ones you chose to travel with.
A public departure has to work for everyone who booked it, which usually means it works perfectly for nobody. The pace is a compromise, the hotels are a compromise, the departure date is a compromise, and the person who wanted an extra morning in one place is outvoted by a coach.
A private journey has no such problem. A couple on honeymoon, a family with two children and a group of friends who already know each other want different mornings, and they should get them. The same route can be four days longer or two hotels quieter without anyone having to negotiate.
In practice this changes three things. The dates are yours, so you travel in the week that suits your work and your children's school. The rhythm is yours, so a day can be removed or doubled. The level of comfort is yours, so the budget goes where you care about it, which for some travellers is the room and for others is the guide.
It also changes who you meet. Guides working with two or four people speak differently than guides working with a bus. Restaurants that cannot host a group can host you. Doors that are closed to a coach are frequently open to a family.
This is the reason every itinerary in our catalogue is written as a starting point rather than a fixed product. You choose what stays, and we rebuild the days around that decision.
Written by Beatrice Barazzetti for the Dream Destination Journal.
