758 green & sustainable experiences found
Peru Complete
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Peru Complete
Lima Airport, Lima, Peru
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14 Days • from $6,830* per person
Provider: Geographic Expeditions Our Peru expert Clark Kotula, who lived and worked in Peru for nearly a decade, and knows and admires it like few others, has crafted this look at the country’s varietal charms with an eye toward contrasts, from the 11,000-foot depths of Colca Canyon to the manmade wonder of Machu Picchu.We begin by flying south from Lima to Peru’s second-largest city, Arequipa, presided over by the snowy cone of 19,000-foot El Misti. We’ll visit Arequipa’s historic district, the Santa Catalina… more |
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Bhutan: A Hiker's Paradise
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Bhutan: A Hiker's Paradise
Paro Airport, Paro, Bhutan
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12 Days • from $6,050* per person
Provider: Geographic Expeditions Paradise, Eden. We use these words (and, every once in a while, the dreadfully shopworn Shangri-La) to describe Bhutan. We try to avoid gilding already resplendent lilies, but we’re committed to accuracy; as far as we and our many Bhutan travelers are concerned, a trip to the kingdom is a little like going to heaven without all the bother and expense of dying. (Thanks to the master, P. G. Wodehouse, for that line.)On this particularly paradisiacal trip we take advantage… more |
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Hidden Highlands of Bhutan: Gangkhar Puensuum
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Hidden Highlands of Bhutan: Gangkhar Puensuum
Paro Airport, Paro, Bhutan
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18 Days • from $7,550* per person
Provider: Geographic Expeditions A few years ago this writer got one of his all-time mountain thrills by being a member of the first group of outsiders ever to make this superb trek to 24,734-foot Gangkhar Puensum, the highest unclimbed mountain on earth (and likely to remain so; the Bhutanese have declared it inviolate out of respect to its holy character).We begin in the Bumthangian village of Dhur, the winter home of the yak herders whose elegant migratory path we follow to the great… more |
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Hidden Treasures of Bhutan
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Hidden Treasures of Bhutan
Paro Airport, Paro, Bhutan
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12 Days • from $4,350* per person
Provider: Geographic Expeditions The kingdom’s old capital of Punakha is the heart and soul of Bhutanese culture. It’s a marvelous area to explore during the winter months, due to its subtropical climate and low elevations (in the four- to five-thousand-foot range). Mountain views are generally crystal clear, and the landscape is bursting with color: bright yellow mustard alternates with winter wheat and rice on the steeply terraced fields, the ubiquitous red chilies (a staple of Bhutanese cuisine) dry on rooftops, and a glorious… more |
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Sacred Festivals of Bhutan
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Sacred Festivals of Bhutan
Paro Airport, Paro, Bhutan
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7 Days • from $3,650* per person
Provider: Geographic Expeditions Bhutan’s festivals are joyous expressions of its Buddhist culture. Françoise Pommaret, describing their Chaucerian atmosphere, writes that “the festivals offer Bhutanese an opportunity to become immersed in the meaning of their religion [but] they are also occasions for seeing people and being seen. People bring their finest clothes, their most beautiful jewels; they take out picnics rich with meat and alcohol. Men and women joke and flirt. An atmosphere of convivial, slightly ribald good humor prevails.”In the spring and summer… more |
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The Essence of Bhutan
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The Essence of Bhutan
Paro Airport, Paro, Bhutan
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14 Days • from $6,550* per person
Provider: Geographic Expeditions Getting to know Bhutan has been a balm and a revelation to our many GeoEx travelers through the years. Brent Olson, a veteran of three score and more trips to the Dragon Kingdom since we started our program there more than 20 years ago, created The Essence of Bhutan as “a summary of all that draws us to Bhutan: its outstanding people, its sweet scenery, and its vibrant, proud culture.” (Vibrancy: Bhutan recently became a parliamentary democracy, with a constitutional… more |
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The Living Edens Trek
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The Living Edens Trek
Paro Airport, Paro, Bhutan
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16 Days • from $5,150* per person
Provider: Geographic Expeditions The Nabji Trail brilliantly unfurls the kingdom’s postharvest/winter beauties as it serpentines through central Bhutan’s Jigme Singye Wangchuk National Park. On our six-day, low-altitude trek (never rising above 5000 feet or so), we’ll camp in high GeoEx style, looked after by our crack Bhutanese trekking crews, encountering a quintet of prosperous agricultural villages (example: Korphu, set on a vastly viewful ridgetop at just under a mile high, is a hamlet of 76 households). We’ll revel in extraordinary flora (species such… more |
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The Sacred Valleys Trek
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The Sacred Valleys Trek
Paro Airport, Paro, Bhutan
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14 Days • from $6,550* per person
Provider: Geographic Expeditions Bumthang is extraordinarily beautiful, even for Bhutan. Its four high valleys are draped with forests that embrace small monasteries, chortens, traditional stone houses, and markets. Elevations on trek stay below 12,000 feet, and each day’s walk is steadfastly unhurried. After arriving in Paro, we zig zag up to the revelatory Dochu La, then descend to Punakha for a nice day’s walkabout and a visit to its sterling dzong. Then we’re off to Bumthang, Bhutan’s most sacred valley, hallowed 1300 years… more |
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A Short Trip South of the Clouds: Yunnan Province
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A Short Trip South of the Clouds: Yunnan Province
Kunming airport, China
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8 Days • from $4,600* per person
Provider: Geographic Expeditions We’re Yunnan fans (we once said it was one of those places we wanted to grab you by the lapels and rave about), so we constructed this shorter trip as an easy Private Departure addition to any of our China trips (or as a short, sweet, stand-alone getaway). We begin in Kunming, the City of Eternal Spring, and make the short flight northwest to the 19 peaks and 18 streams of Dali, a major entrepôt on the southern Silk Road.… more |
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Hidden Tribes: Festivals of Guizhou Province
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Hidden Tribes: Festivals of Guizhou Province
Beijing Airport, China
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12 Days • from $6,995* per person
Provider: Geographic Expeditions A rare chance to experience rural life in China, Hidden Tribes spins us well beyond the tourist-trod paths for a close and extraordinarily colorful look at the ethnically diverse villages of Guizhou Province, a festival of limestone karsts, spiky hills, and terraced rice fields located east of Yunnan, west of Hunan, south of Sichuan, north of Guangxi, and far, far from home.We meet in Beijing, then fly south to Guizhou’s capital, Guiyang, for 10 days of drives, hikes, and creative… more |
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Highlands of Ladakh: The Hemis Festival
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Highlands of Ladakh: The Hemis Festival
Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi, Delhi
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15 Days • from $4,150* per person
Provider: Geographic Expeditions Ladakh, though politically Indian, is emphatically and enduringly Tibetan, culturally, religiously, and geographically. It’s a heart-grabbing place, simultaneously austere and warm, vast and intimate. Thinking of Ladakh, we’re always reminded of Andrew Harvey’s story of his fruitful journey there, inspired by a fellow traveler who told him, “I should kidnap you and take you there myself. . . . It will change your life as it changed mine.” We reach what has historically been called Little Tibet by driving north… more |
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Village to Village in Sikkim
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Village to Village in Sikkim
Kolkata Airport Station, Kolkata, West Bengal
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13 Days • from $5,750* per person
Provider: Geographic Expeditions Nestled into the heart of the eastern Himalaya and bordered by Tibet, Nepal and Bhutan, Sikkim offers some of the most breathtaking views in India. Beyond the allure of its scenery and fabled mountain, Kangchenjunga, this erstwhile Buddhist Kingdom entices the traveler with its arresting cultural beauty, warm people, and tranquil atmosphere. It is a wonderfully diverse region where ethnic Nepalis, Bhutias (descendants of Tibetans), and Lepchas, Sikkim’s aboriginal inhabitants, live in harmony. And as a former Buddhist kingdom, Sikkim… more |
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Kyushu Island
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Kyushu Island
Beppu Airport Japan
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7 Days • from $6,875* per person
Provider: Geographic Expeditions Japan is a beautifully and intricately designed puzzle, boxes within boxes, a country that has refined just about every taste into an art form. We take delight in solving the amazing Japanese enigma with Private Departures handcrafted to every interest, every time frame, and every taste. We pride ourselves on our ability and willingness to arrange private trips, especially to places like Japan, where an insider’s knowledge and attention to detail pay off beautifully. Some ideas: the UNESCO World Heritage… more |
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Festivals of Mongolia: Golden Eagle Festival
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Festivals of Mongolia: Golden Eagle Festival
Ulaanbaatar Airport, Mongolia
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11 Days • from $4,450* per person
Provider: Geographic Expeditions Living in the shadow of the majestic Altai Mountains, the nomadic Kazakhs of western Mongolia live and prosper much as they have for centuries. They move seasonally in search of good pasture for their animals, maintaining one of the last enduring horse-based nomadic cultures in the world.Sandwiched between China and Russia, the far west of Mongolia is also an area of stunning natural beauty. With forested valleys, clear alpine lakes, expansive meadows carpeted with wildflowers, and spectacular snowcapped peaks (includingKhuiten… more |
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Festivals of Mongolia: Khovsgol Ice Festival and Gobi Camel Festival
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Festivals of Mongolia: Khovsgol Ice Festival and Gobi Camel Festival
Ulaanbaatar Airport, Mongolia
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12 Days • from $4,250* per person
Provider: Geographic Expeditions A vast and lonely treasure, Mongolia occupies a space more than three times the size of France, yet its population is only a little over a third that of New York City! So it is no surprise that Mongolia is one of the least densely populated nations in the world.We have been under its spell for a long time, dating to the days when it appeared in musty atlases as “Outer Mongolia.” So, it’s with great joy that we introduce… more |
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Festivals of Mongolia: National Naadam Festival
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Festivals of Mongolia: National Naadam Festival
Ulaanbaatar Airport, Mongolia
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11 Days • from $4,550* per person
Provider: Geographic Expeditions We've been under Mongolia's spell for a long time, dating to the days when it appeared in musty atlases as “Outer Mongolia.” So, it’s with great joy that we introduce people to this magnificent land and its festivals.On this journey centered around the biggest of Mongolia’s festivals – Naadam – we explore the cosmopolitan capital, Ulaanbaatar, venture into the heart of the Gobi Desert, and enjoy the boisterous Naadam celebration in Karakorum, one-time capital of the vast Mongol Empire. Beyond… more |
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Mongolia and Siberia
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Mongolia and Siberia
Ulaanbaatar Airport, Mongolia
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14 Days • from $6,550* per person
Provider: Geographic Expeditions Since the preceding pages are full of paeans to Mongolia, into which we drive on Day 7, let’s concentrate here on the Siberian segment of this lovely journey, which centers around glorious Lake Baikal. “A primordial deep lake of diamantine clarity,” as Peter Matthiessen wrote in Baikal: Sacred Lake of Siberia, it is, among other things, the world’s oldest lake, the deepest (5750 feet at its lowest, with an additional four miles of sediment above the bedrock; the great Baikal… more |
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Mongolian Odyssey
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Mongolian Odyssey
Ulaanbaatar Airport, Mongolia
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18 Days • from $6,250* per person
Provider: Geographic Expeditions This overland journey displays Mongolia’s unexpectedly wide variety of landscapes, from vast sand dunes to snowy peaks, from forested enclaves to the oceanic steppe. We begin with some sightseeing in Ulaanbaatar, then head a little way west to Khustain Nuruu National Park to see the world’s only truly wild horses, the stocky and handsome takhi, or Przewalski horses. Then to the old capital of the Mongol Empire, Karakorum, once the most important place on the planet, and the nearby Buddhist… more |
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Five Kings of the Altai: Trekking in Mongolia's Highest Mountains
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Five Kings of the Altai: Trekking in Mongolia's Highest Mountains
Ulaanbaatar Airport, Mongolia
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18 Days • from $7,950* per person
Provider: Geographic Expeditions Mongolia’s far west, where China, Russia, and Mongolia meet,is a region of giant beauty, virtually untouched by the outside world until quite recently. Forested valleys and clear alpine lakes are punctuated by expansive meadows carpeted with wildflowers and, as a backdrop, the eloquent glaciated peaks of the Altai Mountains.We fly from Ulaanbaatar to Olgii, where the country begins narrowing to a point, and drive into Tavan Bogd National Park for the first days of trekking through mountain-girded valleys and an… more |
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Mongolia Explorer
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Mongolia Explorer
Ulaanbaatar Airport, Mongolia
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13 Days • from $5,650* per person
Provider: Geographic Expeditions As you read about Mongolia on our web pages, you’ll notice our deep fondness for it. This active tour, lovingly crafted by our ranking Mongolia enthusiast Michael Steigerwald, gives us an unassumingly cushy experience of the country, with stays in some of the country’s best hotels and ger camps, taking in three of its highest lights: the Gobi Desert, magnificent Lake Khovsgol, and the Naadam festival.We begin in the surprisingly cosmopolitan capital, Ulaanbaatar, visiting its resurgent Buddhist temples and proud… more |
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