Geographic Expeditions offers 117 trips/accommodations
Panama
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Panama
Airport near Panama City, Panama
for
9 Days • from $4,275* per person
Provider: Geographic Expeditions Panama is one of those places we tend to think we have a handle on and so overlook when it comes time to make the next travel plan. Oh, there’s the Canal, and some nice Central American jazziness, and maybe we have a mental image of a nice jungle here and there, but somehow we think we’ve been there without ever having gone there. A common error, but, in Panama’s case, an unfortunate one.First, if not foremost, there’s the Canal.… more |
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Machu Picchu and the Urubamba
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Machu Picchu and the Urubamba
Lima Airport, Lima, Peru
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7 Days • from $3,485* per person
Provider: Geographic Expeditions For some of us, the Incas are rather hazily lumped in there with, let’s see, the Aztecs —no, they were up north—the Incas, yes . . . Conquistadors. Pizarro, wasn’t it? (Or was it Cortés?) Turns out we should have been more alert; these were absolutely fascinating folks, world-class builders and thinkers. And the story of their downfall is heartrending.After flying to Lima and on to the old Incan capital of Cusco, we explore the fabled Urubamba Valley ruins of… more |
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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 Private Journey
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Bhutan: A Private Journey
Paro Airport, Paro, Bhutan
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9 Days • from $7,950* per person
Provider: Geographic Expeditions Thanks to its moderate elevations and salubrious latitude, Bhutan is a spectacular destination year-round. This Private Journey opens a window into the kingdom’s beauty and the spiritual generosity of its people from the comfort of Bhutan’s most luxurious hotels (which, if you haven’t been to Bhutan, or haven’t been in a while, may surprise you with their frank, but thankfully not overdone luxuriousness).As we venture across Bhutan’s western valleys, we gain an appreciation for the country’s stunning topography, its unique… 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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The Epic of Central Asia
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The Epic of Central Asia
Ashgabat, Ahal, Turkmenistan
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21 Days • from $7,475* per person
Provider: Geographic Expeditions Before the Bolsheviks dragooned them into the Soviet Union in the 1920s, the khanates of Central Asia were some of the most despotic, hidden, and utterly fascinating parts of the planet. People were driven half mad with desire to see places like Samarkand and Bukhara, which still reverberate to the harsh but compelling music of their history, and visiting their gorgeous mosques, madrasas, and tombs (not to mention their folk) should rank high on any traveler’s life list. The Epic… 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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Himalayan Kingdoms
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Himalayan Kingdoms
Beijing Airport, China
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16 Days • from $8,450* per person
Provider: Geographic Expeditions There’s no better reminder that we’re still in the midst of a golden age of travel than our great classic Himalayan Kingdoms. Hero-explorers like Alexander Csoma de Koros, Sven Hedin, and George Mallory, among many stalwart others, may have managed to visit one of these Himalayan kingdoms, but each schemed and dreamed fruitlessly to visit the others. We bless our luck that now we can easily and gloriously accomplish this historic travel hat trick.We begin in Beijing, then fly over… 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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Touched by Nature in Australia
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Touched by Nature in Australia
Sydney Airport, Australia
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10 Days • from $11,750* per person
Provider: Geographic Expeditions A stylishly beautiful, 16-cabin ship (with its own Bell 407 helicopter), the True North is equipped with all the modern amenities, including hearty Australian hospitality. It’s a purpose-built ship, and in this case one of its primary purposes is to wend the shallow river systems of Northern Australia’s Kimberley region—hence its very shallow, seven-foot draft. And so, with a nimbleness few cruise ships can match, the True North intimately explores the Kimberley’s craggy coastlines, its waterfalls leaping into the sea,… more |
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Amazing Tasmania and South Australia
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Amazing Tasmania and South Australia
Sydney Airport, Australia
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14 Days • from $18,880* per person
Provider: Geographic Expeditions Separated from Australia by the Bass Strait, Tasmania long ago seceded--not politically, but geologically--from the island continent. It is a world apart, a world we’ll get nicely acquainted with on this two-week Private Departure, which includes wine tasting in the famous Barossa Valley outside of Adelaide and a visit to a wild scenic treasure almost on Sydney’s doorstep.After a couple of nights in Sydney, one of the world’s most hospitable, comfortable, and interesting metropolises, we fly south to Hobart, capital… more |
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Sacred Summits of Bhutan
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Sacred Summits of Bhutan
Paro Airport, Paro, Bhutan
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14 Days • from $5,950* per person
Provider: Geographic Expeditions Chomolhari, Bhutan’s deeply venerated guardian peak, rises on the Tibet-Bhutan border near the major trade route from India into Tibet’s Phari Valley. In 1939, F. Spencer Chapman, the mountain’s first climber, wrote, “Chomolhari gives a greater impression of sheer height and inaccessibility than any other mountain I know. . . . It is thought by many to be the most beautiful mountain in the whole length of the Himalaya.”Unlike Chapman—who could only dream of visiting Bhutan, and approached the peak… 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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Madagascar: The Eighth Continent
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Madagascar: The Eighth Continent
Antananarivo International Airport, Madagascar
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14 Days • from $9,000* per person
Provider: Geographic Expeditions Most of us are just a little hipper to Madagascar than Marco Polo, who almost seven centuries ago called it “Magastar, one of the greatest and richest Isles of the World . . . governed by foure old men.” Fourth-greatest isle in size, Madagascar is probably the world’s richest in fauna and flora; it’s said to be home to an incredible— when you stop to think about it—5 percent of the planet’s plant and animal species, 80 percent of which… more |
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A Sacred Buddhist Land
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A Sacred Buddhist Land
Xining Airport, China
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8 Days • from $3,590* per person
Provider: Geographic Expeditions Very much part of Tibet—though split off into a separate province by the Chinese— Qinghai is, of all the places in the world that make the claim, worthy of the title “Roof of the World.” Its landscapes are breathtakingly high, barren, and infinite, and its resilient Tibetan culture is inspiring. Our eight-day exploration of this unordinary place begins in Xining (easily accessible from any number of Chinese cities, making it a fine add-on to a trip to Tibet proper). Then… 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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Namibia to Mozambique: Sea to Sea Across Southern Africa
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Namibia to Mozambique: Sea to Sea Across Southern Africa
Windhoek Hosea Kutako International Airport, Namibia
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14 Days • from $25,000* per person
Provider: Geographic Expeditions We commence this superbly crafted air safari—which averages two eye-popping hours of flying time a day—with a restful overnight in Windhoek, Namibia, then meet our pilot-guide and board our private aircraft for a suitably spectacular flight to the celebrated dunes of Sossusvlei. Another quick flight takes us to the Namib Rand and the amazing Wolwedans Dune Lodge in time for a sundowner overlooking the softly glowing dunes. The next day, a sunrise flight takes us over the entire Namib Desert… 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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Papua New Guinea: A Journey Back In Time
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Papua New Guinea: A Journey Back In Time
Port Moresby International, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
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13 Days • from $8,250* per person
Provider: Geographic Expeditions Crazy-lush, lush as a dream of green heaven, its air is filled with Picasso birds, and its jungles, mountains, and people are cheerful citizens of one of the last earthly places where nature is an unrivaled hegemon. Papua New Guinea is a spirit-lifting place, but—isn’t this so often the case?—its people are the sweet surprise.We begin in Port Moresby and the world-class gardens and mountain views of the Airways Hotel. From here we fly inland to the Ambua Lodge, high… more |
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Festivals of Rajasthan
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Festivals of Rajasthan
Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi, Delhi
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15 Days • from $10,450* per person
Provider: Geographic Expeditions Rajasthan is deservedly our most popular India destination: because of its tangible culture (romantic, knightly, chivalric), its natural and human charms (looming deserts and fabulous architecture), and perhaps most of all because of its great festivals, where all of the region’s mad color and what Jung called India’s “complete life” come together in celebration.On this bustling trip, we delve first into Rajasthan’s most famous and colorful celebration, the Pushkar Camel Fair. On the rising of the year’s 11th full moon,… more |
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From Taj to Tiger
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From Taj to Tiger
Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi, Delhi
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16 Days • from $9,650* per person
Provider: Geographic Expeditions This unique trip intertwines visits to some of India’s most compelling sights and monuments with game viewing at one of India’s finest wildlife parks. (Pre-embarkation notes: Our group size is considerably smaller than that of other companies’ ostensibly similar trips, we stay in absolutely top-notch hotels throughout, and our leaders are the toppest-notch in India or anywhere.)After a good look at Delhi, we fly to Varanasi, Hinduism’s most important pilgrimage site, for a stirring, misty, early-morning look into the soul… 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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Libya
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Libya
Tripoli International Airport, Tarabulus, Libya
for
17 Days • Contact provider for price
Provider: Geographic Expeditions While travel to Libya isn't in the cards for the immediate future, we continue to monitor events and remain hopeful that we will be able to return to this worthy country again very soon.Libya is a heart- and eye-ful of a country. Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Ottomans, Arabs and nature itself all did their bit for posterity, gracing this happily reopened land with five UNESCO World Heritage Sites, all of which we visit on our 17-day trip. Beginning in the… more |
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Guatemala
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Guatemala
Guatemala airport, Guatemala City
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9 Days • from $3,995* per person
Provider: Geographic Expeditions Guatemala is an often overlooked country, rich with tremendous scenery, Mayan glories, colonial grandeur, and cheery, heart-involving folks. As our Brady Binstadt says, “These are some of my favorite places in all of the Americas for a full-on cultural experience.”We begin in Antigua, as lovely a town as any of us will likely ever see, then head, via the colorful local Mayan market at Chichicastenango, to volcano-encircled Lake Atitlán, where we boat about in good fettle. Then we explore the… more |
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Kyoto: The Soul of Japan
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Kyoto: The Soul of Japan
Kyoto Airport, Japan
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7 Days • from $6,850* per person
Provider: Geographic Expeditions Kyoto, Jan Morris has written, “remains to the Japanese something special . . . the supreme repository of their ancient traditions, their religion, and their high-flown patriotism, their golden heritage and their resilient pride.”In this expertly choreographed, highly phenomenal trip, we’ll delve deeply and thoughtfully into the grand city and its environs (including a foray to I.M. Pei’s masterpiece Miho Museum). From its famed temples and gardens (“more than hymns to tranquility,” Kanto Shigemori has written, “they contain a world… 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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