Travelling from India

You saved for this trip.
Don't spend it planning.

The 2am hotel search, the argument in the family group, the transfer that might not turn up. We settle all of it before you leave, so the hardest decision left is where to eat.

Plan your trip How we handle visas

You know the trip. The one you saved two years for, planned in browser tabs at midnight, and spent half of arguing about which day to do what. The hotel booked at 2am because the first one fell through. The transfer that was meant to be waiting, and wasn't. The museum you queued for, closed on Mondays. None of that is the holiday you paid for.

The part that actually matters

Everything decided before you leave

Every day exists on paper before you land — where you are sleeping, how you are getting there, what is booked, and what happens if it rains.

A trip we ran this summer · 10 nights

Florence, Venice, the Dolomites, Milan

01FlorencePrivate transfer in. That evening, the city at golden hour on foot.
02TuscanyVespa through the countryside, two to a machine, with tastings.
03Cinque TerreManarola and Vernazza, the boat if the sea allows, and Pisa on the way home. A twelve-hour day, and worth it.
04→ VeniceAcross in the morning. A gondola in the afternoon, meeting point sent the night before.
05The lagoonMurano, Burano and Torcello. Glass being blown, and the coloured houses.
06→ DolomitesTheir own car, up through Cortina d'Ampezzo. One of the great drives in Europe.
07DolomitesNothing booked. That was the point.
08→ MilanDown through Verona, stopping where they felt like it.
09Lake ComoBellagio, and across to Lugano.
10MilanFree. A last day that is not spent packing at speed.
11HomeMilan airport is forty minutes away. We end trips where the flight is.

Some days you want a driver. Some days you want the keys. Three days of that trip were theirs to drive, because the Dolomites are worth driving. What we told them before they booked — not at the rental desk — is that an Indian licence alone will not get you a car in Italy. You need an International Driving Permit, issued by an RTO, and the hire company will ask for it.

But not rigid.

A plan this detailed still bends. Sleep in, skip the boat, add a day. Message the group and it is rearranged, usually before you have finished breakfast. It is structure, not a cage.

Before you fly

The unglamorous part is the job

Anyone can sell you a holiday. The work is everything that has to arrive before you leave, on time, without you asking for it.

On bookingYour day-by-day itinerary. Every night, every transfer, every ticket, written out.
As it is issuedEach booking confirmed separately, in writing. A seat on hold is not a seat ticketed, and we do not tell you otherwise.
Two weeks outVisa documents, and the copies you will be asked for. Some countries clear you on a photocopy rather than the passport itself. We tell you which.
One week outBoarding passes and seats. Baggage allowance in writing, per sector, so nothing is a surprise at the counter.
The night beforeYour driver's name and number. Not on the morning. The night before, so you sleep.
The night beforeArrival cards and entry forms. Several countries now require one filed online before you land.
From landing to landing

One group, the whole trip

The day you leave, we open a group — you, your coordinator, our operations team, and our people wherever you are going. Not a support tier. The same people who planned it.

You

Our transfer never showed up at the airport

Airdash

On it. New car is 8 minutes away, driver has your flight details.

You

Can we skip tomorrow's boat and just stay by the pool?

Airdash

Done. Morning is free, dinner booking kept.

It is rarely dramatic. A transfer that does not come. A hotel with no record of the booking. A connection missed by eleven minutes, and the next one tomorrow.

It happens at the worst hour, in a country where you do not speak the language, and the number printed on your confirmation rings and rings.

Ours is answered. That is most of what 27 years buys you — not a better hotel, though we will find you one. Somebody who picks up at two in the morning already knowing your name, your flight and where you are standing.

Visas

The part people lose sleep over

1,800
visa applications a year

We know what each consulate actually asks for, which is not always what the checklist says. We tell you what is needed, we chase the documents, and you are not filling forms at 11pm the week before you fly.

No agent can promise you a visa. That decision belongs to the consulate and to nobody else. What we can promise is that your file will not be the reason it fails.

How the process works
Where we go

Places we know from the inside

Depth beats breadth. These are the routes we have run long enough to know the drivers, the rooms worth asking for, and the things that go wrong.

Most booked

Thailand

Phuket, Krabi and Phi Phi as one trip; Bangkok and the Gulf as another. We do not mix them, because the two do not belong in the same seven nights.

Bali

Villa partners we have worked with for years, and a clear view of which parts of the island suit which kind of trip.

Vietnam

The north and the south are different holidays. We will tell you which one you are actually asking for.

United Kingdom

The visa is the hard part, and it is the part we do most often. Once that is settled, the rest of a British trip is straightforward.

Singapore

Usually better as a stopover than a holiday. Two nights on the way somewhere else does more for a trip than a week does, and costs a great deal less.

Maldives

The transfer decides the resort. Seaplanes only fly in daylight, so the hour your flight lands quietly rules out half the islands. We work backwards from that.

Japan

The country that rewards planning most, and punishes leaving it late. Rooms and rail in the blossom and autumn weeks go months ahead, not weeks.

Turkey

The Cappadocia balloons fly on the weather's terms, not yours. We build a spare morning into every trip so a cancelled flight is a delay, not a loss.

Greece

The ferries are the itinerary. Timetables thin out either side of summer, and one missed crossing costs a day. We plan the boats before the beaches.

Australia

Larger than it looks on a map. Three cities in ten days is mostly airports — we would rather you saw two properly.

Dubai

The easiest first trip abroad for a family, and the one most often booked in the wrong month. November to March, unless there is a reason.

Europe

A visa question before it is an itinerary question. How many countries, in what order, on whose Schengen — that decides the trip, and we settle it first.

Somewhere not listed? Tell us where you are thinking. We will be honest about whether it is the right time to go there — and honest if it is not a country we know well enough to plan properly.

Honestly

Things we will talk you out of

We would rather lose the booking than sell you a trip we know will disappoint you. A few of the conversations we have most often.

Bangkok and Phuket in the same seven nights

Two different coasts and two different holidays. Squeezed together you spend the week in transit. Choose one and do it properly; come back for the other.

Cinque Terre as a half day

It is twelve hours from Florence or it is not worth the drive. We will tell you that before you book it, not after you have spent the morning in a coach.

Driving in Italy on an Indian licence alone

You will be turned away at the rental desk. Italy requires an International Driving Permit issued by an RTO, and the hire company will ask. We check this before the booking, not before departure.

Buying the flights before the visa is in hand

The cheap fare is rarely worth the risk. Consular decisions are not ours to make and not yours to hurry. We will hold the dates and ticket once you can travel.

Two cheap tickets instead of one through-fare

If the first flight is late, the second airline owes you nothing — not a seat, not a refund, not a hotel. The saving is real right up until the day it costs you the trip.

A passport with under six months left on it

Most countries want six months beyond your return date, and some count from the day you arrive. We check this the moment you enquire, because it is far easier to fix in March than in the week you fly.

Travellers

They came back. Then they sent their families.

This section is intentionally empty. We are collecting these properly, from travellers who have just come home, with their permission. We would rather leave it blank than write it ourselves.

Tell us where you're thinking of going.

We'll tell you honestly whether it's the right time to go there.

Plan your trip