Touring the World *

We’ve mentioned a few times on our Social Media that we are off on a Trek America tour next year visiting New York, Washington D.C, Philidelphia, Nashville, Memphis, the Appalachian Mountains, Destin Beach, New Orleans, Orlando and Miami over the space of 14 days. It’s a lot to see and do but having a tour guide means we will get to see all of the good bits and from that we can see if we want to visit any of the places again for a longer period of time.

With this in mind, it’s got me thinking about doing more tours to see as many places in a short time with a guide and transport. I mean, we all dream of hiring a luxurious car and travelling alone but going along with guides that know the local areas and hidden gems seems just as tempting, so I’ve put together a wanderlust wishlist of tours I’d like to go on in the future.

I came across a company called Encounters Travel that over great tours around the world, and I got quite drawn into their site!

The first to catch my eye was Nepal, this has always been somewhere that fascinates me; it’s filled with culture and has plenty of places for adventure. The classic tour begins with a walking tour of Kathmandu before driving to Chitwan National Park in the lowland Terai region of Nepal, close to the Indian border. Here you spend two nights at a wildlife lodge, and can enjoy a range of activities, in the park, including a jungle walk, traditional river canoe trip and elephant safaris! What a way to start your trip. You also partake in a  5-day trek through the Himalayan foothills to the spectacular viewpoint of Poon Hill, where you will stay in locally owned trekking lodges and experienced guides accompany you. This sounds beyond incredible!

I then got lost in tours around Europe, and finally came the conclusion that I’ve not seen as much of Italy as I’d like to, and Mike’s only been to Venice, and with our love of photography what could be better than an8-dayy photography tour with award-winning hosts! There’s also a private cooking class with the Countess of a castle and cheese tasting! This could be the most perfect tour I’ve ever heard of! The stops along the way are Rome, Calcata, Civita di Bagnoregio, Pienza, Florence and Venice. Some of your food is even included!

The last tour to take my fancy was another photography one; they’re onto something really good! The tour this time is in Thailand, but with the same award-winning photographers  from the Italian tour.  The tour starts in Bangkok where the famous Damnoen Saduak floating market lives, before heading north to Chiang Mai to photograph street markets, hill tribe villages and an ethically run elephant sanctuary. The tour then goes off-the-beaten path to the spectacular lakes and limestone cliffs of Khao Sok National Park. The tour ends in a secret, beautiful spot that you won’t be told about until you book a spot, but there you will sleep in boutique hotels, floating bamboo huts, and gorgeous Thai style homes on stilts! Seriously, sign the two of us up!

Have you ever thought about going on a guided tour around a country? If you have, Emirates have some great deals!