Forget “fine”.
2017 Trip Collection
France Burgundy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Provence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Loire Valley. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Normandy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rest of France. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Asia 32 34 36 38 40
Italy Puglia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Northern Italy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Southern Italy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tuscany. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
42 44 46 48
Rest of Europe Spain. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Portugal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mediterranean. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Northern Europe. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Germany & Austria. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Central Europe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
50 52 54 56 58 60
Asia-Pacific. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 South Asia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 Vietnam, Laos & Cambodia . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Americas Southern Latin America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Northern Latin America. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 North America. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Africa Morocco. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Southern Africa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 East Africa & The Middle East. . . . . . . . . 80
Rest of Book What’s Included. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ways to Travel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . World Map. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Our Guides. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tripfinder by Date. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
18 22 28 82 86
Forget “fine�. Forget fine print and parking fines and fine, how are you. Because fine is just fine: mediocre, milquetoast, utterly unremarkable, instantly forgettable, unexceptional, predictable, permanently beige fine. We don’t do fine.*
*Ah, except fine dining. We’re not tyrants. At B&R, we have elevated the craft of planning adventures to an art form. We’ve created our very own standard of travel, far exceeding the norm, for one simple reason: when your time is precious, and you’re travelling halfway around the world, we think you deserve a journey that moves you—and surprises you—at every turn. Some might say our special touch is a little indulgent. We think you’ll find it makes all the difference.
—George Butterfield & Norman Howe
FINE: Staying at a forgettable hotel. B&R: Staying at a hotel you’ll never forget.
ONE-OF-A-KIND HOTELS We believe the most extraordinary hotels are small hotels—where the hotel itself is an intimate expression of where we are. That’s why we keep our groups small (half the size of most): so we can stay at spectacular places, like our friend Tina Aponte’s 10-suite Royal Chundu right on the Zambezi. Oh, we can do grand, but we generally prefer sublime, boutique lodgings— with hôteliers who keep the 15thC lantern on for us.
FINE: Worrying about the odd thing. B&R: Worrying about nothing.
UNPARALLELED TRIP PLANNING When we say you can take off your watch and put away your wallet, we mean it. We’ve thought of everything, so please: turn the responsible part of your brain off. Will I have to pay for this wine when the bill comes? Of course not—it’s on us. What if the chef doesn’t know about my sesame allergy? We met with him personally—days ago. From our mind-boggling routes to the view out your hotel window, we have every detail down.
FINE: Staying on schedule. B&R: Throwing away the schedule.
SIGNATURE B&R GUIDES You’re booked, scheduled and iCal’ed up to your ears. Your journey shouldn’t be. That’s why we select independent, creative thinkers to be B&R guides—and train them to look for serendipities and be spontaneous. We give them a blueprint: they fill in the magic. So when an opportunity arises out of nowhere—it’s the grape harvest and our friend Jacques needs some helping hands (and feet)—expect to get your carpe diem on.
FINE: Biking all day. B&R: Making special stops along the way.
CULTURAL IMMERSION We believe in getting to know our regions—not just whipping through them. So naturally, we don’t bike all day like others do. We stop to smell the wild rosemary, so to speak, and visit our local friends—everyone from chocolatiers and cheese-makers to artisanal vintners, local artists and the mayor. Of course, if you want to do a century ride and leave us in your dust, Allez! Allez! We’ll have a masseuse ready for you at the hotel.
FINE: Having dinner at a restaurant recommended by Fodors. B&R: Cooking dinner. With a celebrated local chef. At his home.
CULINARY IMMERSION One of the best ways to explore a culture is through its food. Sometimes that means dining in a back alley taverna, sometimes it means a cooking lesson with a chef in her farmhouse kitchen. We think cuisine should be personal, not predictable. Surprise picnics? Grilling squid barefoot on the beach with the fisherman who caught it? Dining in a private, 800-year-old wine cellar with the vintner? That’s more our palate.
FINE: Going at the pace of the group. B&R: Going at your own pace.
YOUR PACE We’re big on everyone marching to the beat of their own drum, so you don’t have to worry about keeping time with anyone but yourself. Feel like doing wheelies and extra hills? Be our guest. We have routes galore. Want to stop for another cappuccino? By all means. With new GPS tablets for all our European journeys in 2017, you’ll have all the confidence in the world to go however fast or slowly you want.
FINE: Following the path of others. B&R: Trailblazing.
50 YEARS OF INNOVATION In 1966, we pioneered a new way to travel: biking and walking from hotel to hotel. It was all about slowing down to uncover what others couldn’t. 50 years later, we’re still in a league of our own. Our whimsical nature. Our insatiable wanderlust. Our penchant for going offGoogle. As George always says, “We never wanted to be the biggest travel company, just the best.” So we keep our groups small, and we never stop exploring.
B&R: Often imitated, never replicated. Our travellers keep voting us best-in-the-world at what we do because we craft every journey to be so much more than its inclusions. Our journeys have character. And wonder. And wit. And a distinct sort of joie de vivre. They aren’t built to satisfy a sheet of specifications: they’re built to leave you a different, more joyful, more wonderfully nuanced human than whoever first got on the plane. What’s included in every trip? No two trips are ever the same, but here’s what you can count on:
Small groups:
We keep our groups small—we aim for 14—because it gives us incredible opportunities.
UNIQUE HOTELS
INTIMATE RESTAUR ANTS
Many of the most incredible hotels have fewer than 10 suites. Travelling with a big group means we’d miss out. (Unless… three to a room? We didn’t think so...)
Big, bustling restaurants can handle 30 people at once, but a group that big would wipe out our secret back alley haunts. They’d never have us back!
SPECIAL SPECIAL EVENTS
L ASTING FRIENDSHIPS
With a small group, we can dine in the home of a local friend. Or sneak into an ancient ruin at night. Or savour a tasting in the tiny cave of an artisanal vintner…
We believe everyone should have the chance to build real friendships that can last a lifetime. A group so big you can’t even remember people’s names? Not our style.
FOR DETAILED ITINERARIES, VISIT BUTTERFIELD.COM 19
Unparalleled service: We make your life easier—every way we can—every step of the way.
YOUR GUIDES, CONSUMMATE HOSTS
QUALIT Y ASSUR ANCE: WE SET THE BAR
Nature or nurture? At B&R, we believe in both. We hire guides who are preternaturally programmed to take care of people in a thoughtful way. Then we train them up to our standard. Good service? It’s an art.
We may have the highest “customer satisfaction rate” in the business, but we don’t bat a thousand. If something goes awry on your trip and it’s our bad, we will make it right. Guaranteed. Full stop.
AN OPS TEAM THAT’S ON-CALL 24/7
THE PERFECT AMOUNT OF SUPPORT
On every trip, we have B&R-trained local hosts and deep local connections. Should anything untoward ever happen, our team will be right there at your side. Need strings pulled? We’ve already pulled them.
Our guide-to-traveller ratio and van support are always exactly right. Others tout using many vans per trip— but that’s because they have such large groups and transfer their own luggage. We keep things intimate.
20 FOR DETAILED ITINERARIES, VISIT BUTTERFIELD.COM
What makes us inimitable:
It starts with George and Martha, then it emanates to everyone at B&R.
A CULTURE OF CREATIVIT Y
PEERLESS ROUTES
There’s nothing more important to us than nurturing a deep culture of creativity. Every B&R trip must be an imaginative, surprising opus. For this reason, everyone we hire at B&R has a creative bent. It’s a prerequisite.
Our researchers find routes that are nothing short of spectacular. (We are self-admitted perfectionists.) Route notes give easy directions to follow, plus new this year in Europe we provide tablets loaded with digital routes.
A PRE-TRIP SCOUTING MISSION
PLEASE, PUT YOUR WALLET AWAY
Only we would ever think to do this: a week before your trip, your guides scout the entire route, meeting with all the key players. Your food allergies? Our chefs are already planning something special, just for you.
Please please please don’t even think about taking out your wallet. Don’t worry about a thing! We pay for everything it makes sense to pay for. Wine? Of course. Your shopping spree at Hermès? Umm, no.
FOR DETAILED ITINERARIES, VISIT BUTTERFIELD.COM 21
3 ways to travel:
Scheduled
ACTIVE TRIPS AROUND THE WORLD
22 FOR DETAILED ITINERARIES, VISIT BUTTERFIELD.COM
Scheduled Trips
1) Tag along with us. Our travellers are a special sort of people. Warm, funny, genuine, unpretentious— we coax each other up Tuscan hills, sip limoncello together as a lavender sunset soaks the Amalfi Coast, and don’t mind splitting the last profiterole 16 ways. Our Scheduled Trips are going to all kinds of marvellous places in 2017. Care to join us? PRO: Make lifelong friends CON: Get weird and emotional when you have to say goodbye
Keep reading, or browse all our journeys at butterfield.com
24 FOR DETAILED ITINERARIES, VISIT BUTTERFIELD.COM
Private Ready-to-Book Trips
2) Take your own posse. They’re the most fabulous people in the world: your own. Simply choose the friends, family members, or old flames from college you’d like to wander the world with, pick a Ready-to-Book trip (they’re coming up in our trip section), settle on a date, and go. Choosing a predesigned trip means your trip can happen at the drop of a (cowboy) hat. PRO: Deepen your relationships CON: Unearth family skeletons over one too many Brunellos
Browse all Ready-to-Book trips at butterfield.com/private
26 FOR DETAILED ITINERARIES, VISIT BUTTERFIELD.COM
Private Bespoke Trips
3) Shoot for the moon. Love the wonder and whimsy of B&R— but have your own concept or destination in mind? As long as it’s (roughly) within Earth’s atmosphere, our gifted Trip Designers can craft it into an impeccable Bespoke journey just for you. Quick sojourn? Three generation family reunion in Europe? Post-divorce ladies’ bacchanalia in Peru? Just give us a ring. PRO: We plan your perfect journey CON: We can’t plan your life... yet
Learn more at butterfield.com/private or 1.866.902.8977
Iceland
North America
F RANCE & IT ALY
British Columbia San Juan Islands
Newfoundland
Quebec
Normandy
Alsace
Brittany Burgundy
Utah Georgia
California Arizona
Loire Valley Atlantic France
Louisiana
Bordeaux & Dordogne
Italian Lakes
Piemonte Provence Corsica
Dolomites Veneto Tuscany Umbria
Amalfi Coast
Cuba
Puglia
Sicily Costa Rica Colombia Ecuador Peru
Galapagos Islands
Latin America Argentina
Chile
Patagonia
The World of Butterf
Scotland Ireland
Europe
Denmark Holland Belgium
Germany Austria
Switzerland Slovenia Camino Rioja de Santiago Costa Brava Portugal Andalucia
Czech Republic Slovakia Hungary
Japan
Dalmatian Coast Turkey
Mallorca Greece
Bhutan
Morocco
China
Oman
Africa
India
Laos
Myanmar Thailand
Vietnam Cambodia
Sri Lanka Rwanda Tanzania Indonesia
Zambia Zimbabwe Namibia
Botswana
South Africa
Asia Pacific Australia
New Zealand
ield & Robinson 2017
Alsace Amalfi Coast Andalucia Atlantic France Austria Basque Country Belgium Bordeaux Brittany Burgundy Camino de Santiago Champagne Corsica Costa Brava Croatia Czech Republic Danube River Denmark Dolomites Dordogne Germany Greece Holland Hungary
Iceland Ireland Italian Lakes Loire Valley Mallorca Normandy Piemonte Portofino Portugal Provence Puglia RhĂ´ne River Rioja Scotland Sicily Slovakia Slovenia Switzerland Turkey Tuscany Umbria Veneto
Europe
BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON • FRANCE
Burgundy This is our second home (and first love), and we’re dying to show you around. So we told Jérôme—our Dijon-born trip designer—to go wild. He didn’t disappoint: stunning landscapes, legendary Grand Crus, Michelin star repasts and extraordinary country fare (at local haunts only we could find). SCHEDULED TRIPS
PRIVATE TRIPS
BURGUNDY BIKING
BURGUNDY BIKING
BURGUNDY BISTRO BIKING
BURGUNDY SELF-GUIDED BIKING
BEAUNE SELF-GUIDED EXPERIENCE
BURGUNDY SELF-GUIDED WALKING
5 Nights | Enthusiast Signature Hotels – From $4,995 Pinot noir in the north, Chardonnay in the south, and five days of superb biking in between. Pedal the route-des-vins through Côte de Nuits, HautesCôtes, Côte de Beaune and the pristine Ouche Valley, sipping legendary vintages—with experts —along the way. Exploring historic Beaune (our second home) is a must, as is our sejour in the remarkable l’Hôtel de Beaune, a B&R exclusive. 5 Nights | Enthusiast Bistro Hotels – From $3,995 Five glorious days gliding through lush vineyards and stunning landscapes. A rare immersion in wine culture with the actual experts, including dinner at renowned Maison Champy, the last domaine within Beaune’s ancient walls. Picnic beside an 11thC mill, taste the butter-and-honey whites of Meursault, and learn why the wines of Gevrey-Chambertin are called the crown jewels of the Burgundy Grand Crus. 4 Nights | Recreational Signature Hotels – From $3,995 The ultimate getaway to the heart of Burgundy. Stay at a truly special property, one owned by the Butterfields. It’s an intimate pied-à-terre in historic Beaune. From our blissful base camp, explore the bucolic surroundings at your leisure. Bike through winemaking towns, walk through vineyards, and taste in the fields or a winemaker’s cave. A rich, personalized immersion into this magical region. 32 FOR DETAILED ITINERARIES, VISIT BUTTERFIELD.COM
5 Nights | Enthusiast Signature Hotels – From $5,995 This place was made for cycling. Thousands of miles of peaceful, narrow, paved roads—basically, bike paths!—await you. Uncork splendid vintages from French wine’s ancestral home and see some of the most famous vineyards in France, such as Romanée-Conti, La Tache and Richebourg. Then: picnic on the grounds of the 12thC Abbaye de La Bussière, which also happens to be your hotel… 5 Nights | Enthusiast Signature Hotels – From $3,295 Meursault, Pommard, Montrachet… some of the greatest terroirs in the world. Savour private tastings and a fascinating walking tour of Beaune with insider Sherry. Combining excellent hotels and incredible routes, this is the Burgundy trip of a lifetime. Final night? At the Abbaye de la Bussière, where you won’t eat like the abbots (Michelin-starred Restaurant 1131 anyone?) 5 Nights | Recreational Signature Hotels – From $2,995 Luxurious hotels, exquisite walking routes, famous vineyards… all at your own pace. Go to the local market, or walk the Côte de Nuits? Boulangerie sandwiches or a gourmet lunch? A private tour of historic Beaune or a dip in the pool? We’ll only disturb you when it’s time for our dégustation with friend and winemaker Jane Eyre. Or when it’s time to take you to dinner at the renowned La Cueillete.
Want a custom trip? Go Bespoke. Have our trip designers craft a one-of-a-kind journey just for you. See page 26 for more. VISIT US AT BUTTERFIELD.COM/PRIVATE
FRANCE • BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON
ONLY B&R Beaune, the wine capital of Burgundy, is home to B&R’s European headquarters. (Coincidence? We’ll never tell.) We know this region like the backs of our hands. Which means you couldn’t possibly be in better hands.
FOR DETAILED ITINERARIES, VISIT BUTTERFIELD.COM 33
BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON • FRANCE
We loved going to the home of a local for dinner and a cooking class. — Nancy Slacik, Provence
FRANCE • BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON
Provence Come for the beauty of Provence. Stay for the intimate connections with locals. Like dining with a Forcalquier chef— in his home. Or tasting wines with the sommelier who wowed Alain Ducasse. Or picnicking in the mayor’s garden. Sensory overload? An infusion of lavender chocolate is on the way. SCHEDULED TRIPS
PRIVATE TRIPS
PROVENCE LUBERON BIKING
PROVENCE BIKING NEW!
PROVENCE RHÔNE BIKING NEW!
PROVENCE SELF-GUIDED BIKING
RHÔNE RIVER CRUISE NEW!
PROVENCE SELF-GUIDED WALKING NEW!
5 Nights | Enthusiast Signature Hotels – From $4,995 Cycle lavender landscapes past perched villages and majestic cypresses. Experience the region’s legendary hospitality in a local chef’s private dining room and be a rare guest at Domaine Ruffinatto with one of the world’s best sommeliers as your guide. Delight in everything from Michelin stars to a stay in the 17thC Bastide de Marie, once a fortified farmhouse, now your sublime lodgings. 5 Nights | Occasional Signature Hotels – From $5,295 Only B&R leads trips in this beautiful swath of western Provence. Expect easygoing cycling through lakes dotted with grassy marshes. We stop in Arles, where the Romans held chariot races and Van Gogh lent an ear. And at the Château de Mourgue du Grès, the owner himself welcomes us for a picnic and a dégustation. Wild Camargue horses couldn’t keep us away!
Want a custom trip? Go Bespoke. Have our trip designers craft a one-of-a-kind journey just for you. See page 26 for more. VISIT US AT BUTTERFIELD.COM/PRIVATE
7 Nights | Recreational Signature Ship – From $7,995 How can you go from Provence to Burgundy, but unpack only once? By cruising the Rhône aboard a stylish Uniworld river ship. Go overboard (in a good way) for the exceptional cuisine, the vineyards of Beaujolais, and the astonishing canyons of the Ardèche. Then: take a class at Paul Bocuse’s cooking school. We’re the only travel company of our kind on the Rhône—and we rock it.
5 Nights | Enthusiast Signature Hotels – From $6,495 If the fragrant, rolling hills bathed in light get tiresome, don’t worry: we’ll find something. It might have to be the legendary Tavel Vineyards, where some of the best rosé is made… or the Roman aqueduct, the Pont du Gard… or the stunning Gorges de la Nesque… or the perched villages of Lubéron. (BTW: You don’t actually have to choose. You get to do it all.) 5 Nights | Enthusiast Signature Hotels – From $3,595 Provence is where the Romans really wanted to live. Ride through picturesque rolling hills, from medieval hilltop village to medieval hilltop village, with enlightening stops scattered along the way. Our local friends—like Mathilde, our resident Van Gogh expert—will be waiting for you with open arms. (PS: The Romans stayed in tents: you stay in the five-star Hôtel Crillon le Brave.) 6 Nights | Enthusiast Signature Hotels – From $2,995 Explore untouched medieval hilltop villages with endless fields of lavender below. Delight your mind and body in a region famous for its voluptuous flowers, bohemian artists, Provençal cuisine and Roman history. At the end of each blissful day? A gorgeous pool awaits, not to mention the best rosé you’ve ever tasted (since lunch). Dinner at Domaine de Marie? Form-i-dable.
FOR DETAILED ITINERARIES, VISIT BUTTERFIELD.COM 35
BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON • FRANCE
ONLY B&R How about a picnic within the gardens of the Château de Villandry, magnificently restored to its Renaissance glory? Or a rare stay at the magestic Château de Verrières? Or a royal picnic lunch floating slowly down the picturesque Loire?
36 FOR DETAILED ITINERARIES, VISIT BUTTERFIELD.COM
FRANCE • BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON
SCHEDULED TRIPS
PRIVATE TRIPS
LOIRE CHÂTEAUX BIKING
Loire Valley
Ahh, there’s nothing like gallivanting through the storied heart of rural France—except gallivanting through it with B&R. We have friends in high, turreted places, and keep our groups small… so we can stay in private châteaux, swoop into the loveliest eateries, and get the royal treatment wherever we go.
5 Nights | Recreational Signature Hotels – From $5,295 We stop at two castles on this romantic ride through history. The Château Verrières opens its Belle Époque doors to B&R, and a private visit to Château du Rivau gives you something in common with Joan of Arc. (Would you like to stay in her room? We’re drawing straws!) After this, slum it with Richard the Lionheart, Leonardo da Vinci, and a locally lauded chef.
LOIRE VALLEY FAMILY ADVENTURE
5 Nights | Recreational Signature Hotels – From $5,295 The playground of kings is the perfect hangout. Ride along the breathtaking Loire. Take in one astounding castle after another while the kids canoe, ride horses, do rope courses and channel their sibling rivalries through fencing. Imagine having an hour to choose the evening’s wine at Domaine de la Chevalerie while the kids are taking a singing lesson! But hey, Parents-of-the-Year, that’s just kickin’ it B&R-style.
LOIRE VALLEY BIKING
6 Nights | Recreational Signature Hotels – From $6,995 Float down the Loire enjoying dinner with a view of beautiful villages and towering châteaux. Later, bike through those villages, and stay in your very own château.* A vineyard picnic? With the vintner, of course, so we can be properly introduced to Chenin blanc, a white wine with a flavour profile unlike any other. (*It’s not really your château. You’ll have to leave it there.)
LOIRE VALLEY FAMILY BIKING JOURNEY
5 Nights | Recreational Signature Hotels – From $6,795 Your kids will thank you when you bring them to learn the basics of chocolate crafting and partake in a treasure hunt in a real castle. Ok, but also to canoe, picnic on a traditional wooden boat, go horseback riding and visit the Abbey of Fontevraud (where they’ll meet Richard the Lionheart). Parents, there’s also wine and cheese... to die for.
Want a custom trip? Go Bespoke. Have our trip designers craft a one-of-a-kind journey just for you. See page 26 for more. VISIT US AT BUTTERFIELD.COM/PRIVATE
FOR DETAILED ITINERARIES, VISIT BUTTERFIELD.COM 37
BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON • FRANCE
Normandy There’s more to Normandy than the landing beaches. Unlike others, we roll up our sleeves (or pants—spontaneous seaside picnic, anyone?) and make sure you soak it all up: from thatched-roof cottages to the impressionist’s dream of Honfleur to chic Trouville and ethereal Mont Saint-Michel. SCHEDULED TRIPS
PRIVATE TRIPS
NORMANDY & BRITTANY BIKING
5 Nights | Recreational Signature Hotels – From $4,995 History was written here. Bike past the Channel coast’s lush fields, white beaches and thatched cottages and you’ll sense its pages turning. Wind down with a Calvados tasting (hosted by local nobility) before bedding down at the Villa Lara, a B&R exclusive in the heart of Bayeux. The epilogue? Backstage access to Mont Saint-Michel, the twinkling island monastery, and a gourmet finale.
NORMANDY & BRITTANY FAMILY ADVENTURE
7 Nights | Recreational Signature Hotels - From $6,995 Plunge your family into the rich history and beauty of Normandy. It comes alive as you bike the Channel coast (and sand-sail it, fly over it, and walk it!) We see Omaha Beach with a WWII expert who will bring D-Day to spine-tingling life. It’ll remind us what the cost of democracy is, as well as make that slice of tarte tatin taste even better.
NORMANDY FAMILY ADVENTURE
NORMANDY BIKING
NORMANDY & BRITTANY BIKING
NORMANDY SELF-GUIDED BIKING NEW!
5 Nights | Recreational Signature Hotels - From $5,295 Normandy’s locals feel a powerful connection to the land and sea. With history before your eyes—and sand between your toes—you’ll feel it too. Be moved by Pointe du Hoc and the landing beaches with a lively history expert. Lots of kids-only thrills—sandsailing anyone? Go-karting?—so parents can enjoy a quiet ride or sip some cider at B&R’s exclusive, 4-star Villa Lara, your home for four nights. 6 Nights | Enthusiast Signature Hotels - From $6,995 Ride the coastlines where freedom was wrested back from tyranny. Its peaceful tides and happy locals seem even more incredible after seeing Pointe du Hoc and Omaha Beach with a WWII expert. More history comes to life touring Mont Saint-Michel’s astonishing monastery with our local friend. At week’s end, you’ll be toasting your own freedom at Olivier Roellinger’s Le Coquillage.
38 FOR DETAILED ITINERARIES, VISIT BUTTERFIELD.COM
6 Nights | Enthusiast Signature Hotels - From $7,495 Bike in ancient Normandy and become a Calvados snob! Visit an artisanal Calvados producer (in their castle, bien sûr) and learn how they turn apples into brandy. See history distilled onto the Bayeaux Tapestry, which depicts the Battle of Hastings. Finally, drink in WWII at Omaha Beach with our local expert. (NOTE: Your daily battles always end with brilliant meals and hotel gems.) 6 Nights | Enthusiast Signature Hotels - From $3,695 Explore ancient Bayeux, the harbour town of Honfleur, and the famous beaches of D-day on this self-guided journey through Normandy. Here, you’re immersed in history. Also cheese! Some of the planet’s best is made in Normandy, including Camembert and funky-but-delicious Pont l’Evêque. Take in the beautiful dairy farms along your ride and see the cows where the Camembert started.
Want a custom trip? Go Bespoke. Have our trip designers craft a one-of-a-kind journey just for you. See page 26 for more. VISIT US AT BUTTERFIELD.COM/PRIVATE
FRANCE • BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON
ONLY B&R On our Normandy Family Adventure, you’ve never seen kids’ activities so wildly varied—from sand sailing to horseback riding to ropes courses. (You’ll be jealous, sure—but you’re forgetting the adult activities. Including alone time.)
FOR DETAILED ITINERARIES, VISIT BUTTERFIELD.COM 39
BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON • FRANCE
Our trip was wonderful, one of the best. Such an interesting part of France! — Diana Beattie, Atlantic France
FRANCE • BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON
Rest of France As our indomitably French trip designer Olivier says, we don’t go to Condé Nast’s hotspots—Condé Nast goes to our hotspots. Experience Bordeaux, the Dordogne, Corsica and northern coastal France as the French do: decadently, poetically, and fashionably before everyone else. SCHEDULED TRIPS
PRIVATE TRIPS
ATLANTIC FRANCE COASTAL BIKING
BORDEAUX BIKING
BORDEAUX TO DORDOGNE BIKING
CORSICA BIKING NEW!
ALSACE SELF-GUIDED BIKING NEW!
DORDOGNE BIKING
5 Nights | Occasional Signature Hotels – From $5,495 The islands of St-Martin-de-Ré and d’Oléron are famous… to Europeans! Find out why, in this journey unique to B&R. Slurp Gillardeau oysters in stunning seascapes and sail in pristine waters. These lovely isles will put the breeze back in your hair, while a five-star hotel and a private dinner in a historic landmark (so B&R), will keep you smiling. Who said cyclists had to be landlocked? 5 Nights | Enthusiast Signature Hotels – From $5,695 Begin in Bordeaux, where the biking is as legendary as the wine. Then delve into the verdant splendour of the Dordogne, the capital of foie gras and home to the most beautiful river in France. The area’s best guide brings the cave art of the Grotte de Rouffignac to life, while private wine-making and château tastings give plenty of opportunity to toast these early artistes.
Want a custom trip? Go Bespoke. Have our trip designers craft a one-of-a-kind journey just for you. See page 26 for more. VISIT US AT BUTTERFIELD.COM/PRIVATE
6 Nights | Enthusiast Signature Hotels – From $3,595 Wend through vineyards and historic towns, and encounter the indomitable Alsatians, some of whom, over time, have even become our friends! We stay at the Hotel des Berges—you know, the one with the 3-star Michelin restaurant in it? We’ll also dip into the Kaiserthul wine region of Germany. (Oh, I’m just popping over to Germany for a glass of wine. You jetsetter…)
5 Nights | Recreational Signature Hotels – From $7,995 We start in the Médoc, home of the first growth châteaux, continue to the picturesque village of St. Émilion, then head south to Sauternes. Savour a Michelin-starred repast prepared by our personal friend, Chef Jean-Luc Rocha (mind-blowing). Enjoy fabulous châteaux and private vineyard tours, including an exclusive tour of Clos des Jacobins, home to two Grand Cru Classés. 6 Nights | Enthusiast Signature Hotels – From $6,995 Corsica. Not quite France or Italy, but an exquisite cocktail of both—poured out onto an island of wild scrubland and azure waters. Ride a Tour de France route to a stunning view of the Bay of Calvi. (No steroids necessary—we have vans!) Every day offers its own bliss-inducing mix of stunning vineyards and ancient hilltop villages. No wonder our Trip Designer up and moved here. 5 Nights | Enthusiast Signature Hotels – From $6,995 Leave your jaunty berets and melancholy cigarettes in the Left Bank: the real France lies somewhere among Dordogne’s medieval castles, rolling vineyards, and its awe-inspiring rivers. Canoe down the Dordogne river to reach the breathtaking village of Limeuil. Atop the cliffs high above, you’ll enjoy a Michelin-starred meal at the Château de La Treyne.
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BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON • ITALY
Puglia Back when the travel world was obsessing over Tuscany, we were putting down roots in the sun-drenched coastline of Puglia—paving the way for joyful routes to under-the-radar Salento and Lecce, castle dinners, intimate cocktails, and the kind of feasts we’re loved (and cursed) for. SCHEDULED TRIPS
PRIVATE TRIPS
PUGLIA BIKING
PUGLIA BIKING
PUGLIA FAMILY ADVENTURE NEW!
PUGLIA SELF-GUIDED BIKING
PUGLIA & BASILICATA WALKING
ROME & PUGLIA FAMILY ADVENTURE
5 Nights | Recreational Signature Hotels – From $4,795 Sun-soaked villages. Charming locals. Prosecco perpetually in arm’s reach. We travel more widely— and deeply—in this exquisite corner of Italy than most. Enjoy cucina rustica in a castle. Overnight in sophisticated Lecce. What will you savour more? The apero in a private garden, unlocked just for us? The underground olive oil tasting? Or the fresh mozzarella, made right before your eyes? 5 Nights | Occasional Signature Hotels – From $4,995 Kick off your summer in Italy’s most bambinifriendly region. Splash in the sparkling Adriatic, let the kids get their Katniss Everdeen on (archery, not revolution-mongering), float in a catamaran, and explore Ostuni—Italy’s bright, white answer to Santorini. We designed this trip with young ones in mind—ziplines anyone?—and have sourced hotels as magical for kids as they are for you. 6 Nights | Recreational Signature Hotels – From $7,995 Your exploration of rustic Puglia will be interrupted only by gasps. (Your own.) Trek through UNESCO sites, sun-dappled olive groves, and the famous architectural gem Lecce. Your guides: two passionate Pugliese locals. Your hotels: exceptional. (How about rocky caves furnished by Philippe Starck? Or the hotel Francis Ford Coppola poured his creativity into?) Gasp!
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5 Nights | Recreational Signature Hotels – From $5,895 From easygoing to extreme, our deep roots in the breadbasket of Italy mean we have a brilliant, labyrinthine network of routes to suit every rider. Go where only the locals go, shape your own pasta, visit the most enchanting towns (just wait until you see the evening light hit them…), stay in a private masseria, braid mozzarella, wine and dine in a 15thC castle. For starters. 5 Nights | Recreational Signature Hotels – From $3,595 Vineyards, grottos, trattorias, and whitewashed villages against the aquamarine Adriatic. A multiplicity of landscapes awaits you in this ancient, untouched part of Italy—hunting grounds for marauding royalty and occupying forces (clearly all here for the nosh). Carnivores, get ready to swoon for pampanella: ribs Puglia-style. Angela will pour you a glass of Primitivo. 9 Nights | Recreational Signature Hotels – From $8,995 Walk the Eternal City with your kids, sample the gelato, visit Caesar’s grave, and gobble linguine alla vongole. Then retire to Puglia (like true Romans) and discover its pastoral wonders. Previous visitors—Greeks, Romans, Venetians, Spanish—have all left their mark. They probably came for the seafood, or the olive oil, or maybe (like you) they were just looking for paradise.
Want a custom trip? Go Bespoke. Have our trip designers craft a one-of-a-kind journey just for you. See page 26 for more. VISIT US AT BUTTERFIELD.COM/PRIVATE
ITALY • BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON
ONLY B&R We revel in Salento and Lecce (a must!); and enjoy fabulous local experiences, from castle dinners to cocktails in our friend’s home; our family trip includes a recordsetting stream of incredible kids’ events (trust us, they will fall asleep early).
BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON • ITALY
ONLY B&R We couldn’t possibly let you miss out on Switzerland’s Italian Riviera in Lugano, skip the wonderful views from Monte Brè, or bypass the wonderful small city of Alba. After all, we’re your personal travel curator and make it all happen.
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ITALY • BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON
Northern Italy The debonair Italian Lakes? Piemonte, the gourmand’s paradise? The majestic Dolomites? One word: perfetto. Except that every so often, there’s a pesky mountain or lake to get around. Fear not: only B&R has a mahogany boat or gondola tucked away. No bus for you—it would spoil the ambience. SCHEDULED TRIPS
PRIVATE TRIPS
DOLOMITES FAMILY ADVENTURE
PIEMONTE TO PORTOFINO WALKING
ITALIAN LAKES WALKING
DOLOMITES SELF-GUIDED WALKING
PIEMONTE BIKING
VERONA TO VENICE BIKING
5 Nights | Recreational Signature Hotels – From $5,095 Enjoy action-packed highs in these magnificent crags: heavenly gondola rides, mountain-biking, horseback riding, and rock-climbing. Send the kids to a fondue feast while you sip grappa. Our hotels—above and beyond where others stay—are accessible by bike, foot, or gondola. (Look ma! No transfers!) Adults leave invigorated, kids leave with convincing Italian accents or, possibly, lederhosen. 5 Nights | Enthusiast Signature Hotels - From $6,295 The Old World set loved spending “a week at the lake.” We do, too, but the cravat is optional. Incredible walks—linked by private boat cruises —through verdant hills to chic Bellagio, charming “Swiss Riviera” Lugano (a B&R exclusive, which we’re happy to keep secret), and stress-free Stresa. Unimaginable vistas of mountain-crowned lakes, and a destination that is bucket list worthy.
View more of our Private trips: › Cinque Terre & Portofino Walking › Dolomites to Venice Family Adventure › Piemonte Biking › Prosecco Biking › Verona & Dolomites Walking
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5 Nights | Enthusiast Signature Hotels – From $4,995 Perhaps the greatest thing about biking in the home of Slow Food is that every epicurean adventure (and there are many) can be worked off with a stunning ride. (Or not). Wine experts abound, too, and we savour great vintages with every meal (on us, of course). You’ll swoon while picnicking in the vineyards on cheeses and cugnà. Not to worry: the hazelnut groves are perfect for quick naps.
5 Nights | Enthusiast Signature Hotels – From $5,795 Portofino’s incomparable Hotel Splendido is your home away from… reality. Good thing B&R has the choicest dates reserved. Sip your way from Barolo to the coast (where we hop about in a private boat), wander vineyards, bustling towns and hushed abbeys, and truffle hunt with our local friend Beppe. Yes, you can bring home the wine… no, you can’t bring home the Italians. 5 Nights | Avid Signature Hotels – From $3,995 These resplendent mountains loom like castle towers over alpine meadows, spruce forests, and deep, blue lakes. Fill your days with leisurely walks or a challenging multi-day trek; we’ll show you the secrets of these incredible peaks. On one of them, you’ll overnight in a candlelit hut and party like it’s 1889. Go native, you mavericks! (We’ll be just around the corner if you need anything.) 4 Nights | Occasional Bistro Hotels – From $4,485 Yes, the pasta is heavenly. But so too is exploring architecturally-divine Ferrara and Mantova, cycling the lagoon islands (why hug the road when you can hug the river?), and gliding in gondolas to your private Venetian hosts. Gorge on art and culture and eat in some incredible restaurants. (It’s totally okay to have pasta again. After all, this is the birthplace of tortellini.)
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BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON • ITALY
SCHEDULED TRIPS
PRIVATE TRIPS
AMALFI COAST WALKING
Southern Italy From the sparkling Amalfi Coast to the baroque splendour of Sicily and wonder of Mount Etna, our cultural insiders get you right inside. (Not the volcano, though.) And the lodgings? Well, put it this way: we’ve called in some very special favours from some very special hôteliers.
5 Nights | Avid Signature Hotels – From $7,795 Ever been speechless? Try hiking the “Path of the Gods” above Positano. We shy away from the buses and backpackers of Sorrento, instead revelling in exclusive Ravello (Greta Garbo’s fave nabe.) Hungry? Salvatore will bring lunch... by horse. Expect life-altering walking routes and mind-blowing hotels that only B&R can book. Rest those tired-but-happy feet.
SICILY WALKING NEW!
5 Nights | Enthusiast Signature Hotels – From $4,995 We’re the only ones doing Sicily on foot—and our guides love it. For two nights we take over a seven room hotel in baroque Noto, the “Ingenious City,” where Hercules, so we hear, went himself for R&R. Spend three days in the shadow of Mount Etna, with an unforgettable hike into its volcanic beauty. Taste the divine new wines being made on these slopes. And enjoy a Michelin starred surprise.
CAPRI TO POSITANO WALKING
5 Nights | Avid Signature Hotels – From $8,995 From elegant streets to mountain vistas, we’d argue there’s more than one “Path of the Gods” here. Learn what makes the Sirens sing (is it the five-star Le Sirenuse?), why the lemons are HUGE, how to share a path with chattering goats, and why we mean it when we say “just wait until you see the hotel.” The perfect mix of luxe and rustic.
SICILY BIKING
6 Nights | Enthusiast Signature Hotels – From $6,595 There’s something undeniably addictive about Sicily. Could it be the 3rdC Roman villas? The exhilarating cycling through miles of fragrant countryside? The mind-bending baroque architecture? Staying in the Hyblaen hillside? Making dinner with nonna? Visiting an invisible wine cellar? Hitting up eight UNESCO World Heritage sites? Should we go on?
Want a custom trip? Go Bespoke. Have our trip designers craft a one-of-a-kind journey just for you. See page 26 for more. VISIT US AT BUTTERFIELD.COM/PRIVATE
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SICILY CULINARY JOURNEY NEW!
6 Nights | Occasional Signature Hotels – From $6,995 The Greeks, the Romans, the French and Spanish all stirred the pot in Sicily, and left their flavours behind. We get to the heart of it, visiting Siracusa, Noto and Modica. We visit our friend Concetto’s almond orchards and also know a guy who knows where the truffles are. (Hint: the Bauli woods.) Savour seafood, pasta, caponata and Sicilian wines in this kaleidescopic food journey.
ITALY • BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON
ONLY B&R It took a little ingenuity, but we’ve done it. We’ve figured out how to ride, walk, and gawk— and limit the vehicles in between. Sitting in traffic for hours? In a bus? Really? We prefer private speedboats and wind in your hair.
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BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON • ITALY
The splendour of the last dinner in Gaiole was simply incredible! We wouldn’t change a thing. — Cheryl Carner, Tuscany
ITALY • BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON
Tuscany Tuscany is still a feast for the palate and soul—the rolling hills, the fabled Middle Age towns, the Super Tuscans and the extra-virgins. But these days, one has to dig deeper to find the authentic Tuscany. So we dine in private homes—often—and break pasta with our local friends. SCHEDULED TRIPS
PRIVATE TRIPS
TUSCANY & UMBRIA WALKING
TUSCANY FAMILY ADVENTURE
TUSCANY BIKING
TUSCANY SELF-GUIDED BIKING
TUSCANY E-BIKING NEW!
TUSCANY SELF-GUIDED WALKING
5 Nights | Enthusiast Signature Hotels – From $4,595 Follow the sentiero degli ulivi or “olive tree path,” visit Assisi’s famous basilica with one of our most fabulous guides, Maura, and stroll the pictureperfect, bustling hilltown of Cortona. Soak up beauty as old as the Middle Ages, but now with much less bubonic plague. Only B&R offers a seamless route through this region—less climbing on buses, more up-to-your-neck immersion. 5 Nights | Enthusiast Signature Hotels – From $5,295 If you like Italian food, you’ll love this recipe: start in Chiana (as in the world-famous beef) finish in Chianti (as in the wine), and add Pienza’s pici (you know, the pasta!) Garnish with an artsfilled evening in Siena—we’re the only ones who wrangled a sublime stay overnight. We stop at our longtime amicis, the Lungarellas, for a lingering lunch, later: dinner under the stars.
Want a custom trip? Go Bespoke. Have our trip designers craft a one-of-a-kind journey just for you. See page 26 for more. VISIT US AT BUTTERFIELD.COM/PRIVATE
5 Nights | Enthusiast Signature Hotels – From $5,295 Hilltop vineyards, charming (and surprisingly unfrequented) villages, lush vistas, dinner in a former stable, and a private picnic with our local friends—this is the Italy of dreams. We plot routes with little or no traffic so you have Tuscany to yourself. Even dreamier? Tap your e-bike at the first hint of fatigue and feel the wheels practically turning themselves. No pain, all gain.
5 Nights | Enthusiast Signature Hotels – From $4,895 Keep being a family that plays together with fun bike rides through golden fields, private lunches with amazing local famiglias, and bowing cypresses everywhere. Plus gelato tastings, paddleboats, medieval flag throwing, and tiramisumaking! Your kids will crash early in the 16thC hunting lodge, which is fine by you... you still have a prize-winning Brunello to polish off. 5 Nights | Avid Signature Hotels – From $2,995 With lush hills, medieval towns, and meandering roads through it all, Tuscany is a biker’s idyll. We ride through towns that have stood watch since the Middle Ages. Carlo, a Tuscan native and close friend, leads explorations of Pienza and Siena. Get a refresher on Tuscan wines from our winemaking friend, Elisabetta. From tiny Montefollonico to lordly Montepulciano, Tuscany is La Dolce Vita. 5 Nights | Enthusiast Signature Hotels – From $2,995 Combining the hallmarks of B&R (excellent hotels and beautiful walking routes) with the tools you need to go solo. Like Giovanni, our local friend and historian. We arrange rare and incredible dining experiences, tastings and other surprises. And you go at your own pace: boutiquing or an extra trail loop? A tour of Cortona or relaxing in the piazza? We’re nearby 24/7 if you need a tiebreaker…
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BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON • REST OF EUROPE
Spain Andalucia, Catalonia, Rioja: three regions we love like our own children. We’ve spent decades whittling our journeys here to perfection. Feeling bleh? Pedal through a fiery Spanish-Arab cultural mash-up. Feeling thirsty? Aim for the Old World vineyards. Feeling guilty? Have we got a pilgrimage for you… SCHEDULED TRIPS
PRIVATE TRIPS
CAMINO DE SANTIAGO BIKING NEW!
RIOJA BIKING
COSTA BRAVA BIKING
COSTA BRAVA SELF-GUIDED BIKING
MALLORCA WALKING
SEVILLE TO GRANADA WALKING
5 Nights | Enthusiast Bistro Hotels – From $3,795 12thC Christians considered the “Way of St. James” one of the most spiritual routes on the planet. Most walk, we bike—from Léon to Santiago. But doing the astounding, emerald-green Camino (less the robes) is a mission for us, too. Not just to reach Santiago (and our magnificent hotel, the Reis Catolicos, a stone’s throw from the cathedral), but to revel in the local manna and culture. Hallelujah. 5 Nights | Recreational Signature Hotels – From $5,295 The warmth of the Med in a region we adore. Cycle rolling volcanic hills dwarfed by the Pyrénées, explore villages stamped by time. Take sips and dips on B&R’s sailboat while cruising the Costa Brava, feast on molecular cuisine in a private chapel. Also: Spain’s best Dali guide pours drinks before an intimate art tour. Melt like a clock for this sensuous region. 5 Nights | Avid Signature Hotels – From $5,795 We love Mallorca for its cobalt waters, pearly beaches, and dusky cups of café con leche. We stay in gasp-worthy hotels with plenty of downtime to luxuriate in pools. Walk to the town of Deia, a bohemian paradise (B&R unlocks the door to private studios), and get your bourgeoisie on as you nibble and swim your way down the sculpted coastline aboard our private sailboat.
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5 Nights | Enthusiast Signature Hotels – From $4,995 Wines have always been the big draw, but Rioja is an artistic and culinary hub, too. Enter a private gastronomical society, follow in Hemingway’s footsteps, marvel at gravity-defying architecture. Pamplona and Logroño are only two of the highlights. We also spend two days cycling breathtaking Navarra. Rustic or fancy, challenging or leisurely, we’ve got something for everyone. 5 Nights | Enthusiast Signature Hotels – From $3,995 Good things seem to come in threes here. There’s Picasso, Dalí and Gaudí. Tapas, cava, and anchovies. Volcanoes, pastoral hills, and the towering Pyrénées. And don’t forget local auberges, lavish hotels, and intimate boutique properties! Cycle routes hand-carved by B&R trip designers that will take you deep—and blissfully—into a region we never get tired of. 6 Nights | Enthusiast Signature Hotels – From $5,995 Andalucia is the soul of Spain, an intensely passionate and sensuous region. Everything about it—its architecture, food, language and music—are born of mixed roots and the collision of worlds. Have a collision of your own: wander through the beautiful Ronda Valley by day, sip honey-coloured Jerez by night. If we can drag you back inside, your hilltop estate awaits.
View more of our Private trips:
› Andalucia Family Adventure › Basque Country Culinary Journey › Camino de Santiago Walking › Mallorca Biking
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REST OF EUROPE • BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON
ONLY B&R Live the Costa Brava with a half-day private sail and a seaborne picnic. Roll into Sant Feliu de Guixolls and board our private yacht for a cruise up the panoramic coast. When it’s time for cocktails? Habaneras musicians will serenade you.
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BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON • REST OF EUROPE
SCHEDULED TRIPS
PRIVATE TRIPS
DOURO VALLEY WALKING NEW!
Portugal From the fields of the Alentejo, to the terraced hillsides of the Douro, to the glittering coastline, Portugal deserves a deep dive—yet most end up skimming the surface. Not to worry: the farmers, fishermen, vintners and chefs we’ve befriended over the years would never let that happen to you. Open sésamo…
5 Nights | Enthusiast Signature Hotels – From $4,795 No need to choose between the wine regions of Vinho Verde and Douro (where you’ll sip exquisite ports at Symington Estates)—we’ll explore both! Drool over ancient bread ovens, terraced vineyards, stunning riverside hotels, and a Michelin-starred meal. If all this pleasure wears you out, recover with a picnic on our private boat.
PORTUGAL BIKING
5 Nights | Recreational Signature Hotels – From $4,595 Other travellers often miss out on Portugal’s heartland, but we’re not complaining. We love having Alentejo’s olive and cork groves, vineyards, and unforgettable restaurants to ourselves. Taste sublime reds at a private Cartuxa winery event, tour our friend’s farm-to-table estate, and join the gentlemen farmers for dinner. Kick back at Lake Maranhão, a beloved B&R exclusive. As usual, we’ll bring the picnic to you.
ALENTEJO BIKING NEW!
5 Nights | Enthusiast Signature Hotels – From $4,995 East of Lisbon, across the Tagus River, sprawls Alentejo, one of Portugal’s most beautiful—and fortunately for us, under-travelled—regions. Overshadowed by its more famous neighbours, Alentejo is a culinary and cultural heartland of sleepy villages, fragrant farmland, cork forests, lush vineyards, and man-made lakes; from the gentle waters of Lake Maranhão (a classic B&R gem) to the cobbled streets of UNESCO-recognized Évora.
PORTUGAL SELF-GUIDED BIKING NEW!
5 Nights | Enthusiast Signature Hotels – From $3,995 Alentejo is a panorama of unspoiled landscapes: vineyards and villages as far as the eye can see, wineries soaked in history, and sunflowers nodding their heads as you coast past. Go at your own pace, wind up in sublime hotels—from avant-garde L’AND to the five-star M’AR De AR, in a UNESCOanointed town. We’ll stay out of your way... unless you’d like us to book you that mud wrap?
Want a custom trip? Go Bespoke. Have our trip designers craft a one-of-a-kind journey just for you. See page 26 for more. VISIT US AT BUTTERFIELD.COM/PRIVATE
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REST OF EUROPE • BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON
I have come home with a sense of renewal and inspiration that I expect to last a long time. — J. Goldhar, Portugal
BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON • REST OF EUROPE
ONLY B&R When we explore the Dalmatian Coast, we travel by gulet of course and this makes all the difference. We explore five islands over a full week, stopping in hidden coves along the way for picnics and swims. Another hidden benefit? On this trip, you only unpack once.
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REST OF EUROPE • BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON
Mediterranean When we first arrived here decades ago, we couldn’t seem to connect one beautiful ride with another. The sparkling coastline was unruly in places, and the prettiest islands were hard to get to. Then we saw a gulet (a.k.a. yacht) sail by. Eureka! With a floating hotel, we can take our bikes anywhere. SCHEDULED TRIPS
PRIVATE TRIPS
DALMATIAN COAST BIKING
GREECE BIKING
GREECE SAVEUR CULINARY JOURNEY NEW!
ISTANBUL TO BODRUM WALKING JOURNEY
DALMATIAN COAST BY SEA
SLOVENIA & CROATIA ACTIVE JOURNEY NEW!
7 Nights | Avid Signature Yacht – From $7,395 Here, the road less travelled means rolling island roads, hushed inlets, and white sand beaches. With our private sailing yacht as a floating hotel and base camp, we cycle some of earth’s most spectacular coastal roads (and get serenaded by acapella singers). Others hop from hotel to hotel, but we unpack only once—so you can spend all your energy slowing down. For once.
Call for details In 320 B.C., Archestratos wrote the very first cookbook. We write our own (a slightly more modernized version) on this epicurean adventure. We cook with local chefs, in private homes, and on the beach. Farm-fresh and freshly caught everything, of course, and olive oil and wine tastings to swoon over. Plus, the best estiatorios and tavernas imaginable. Talk about a Greek epic.
View more of our Private trips: › Dalmatian Coast by Land › Greece Walking
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8 Nights | Recreational Signature Yacht – From $9,495 Experience the Dalmatian Coast the way it was created: by sea. Hop off our small luxury yacht to pedal the countryside, poke into breathtaking fortresses and coves, and taste the island’s best wines in the winemaker’s own home. Explore red-roofed, stunning Dubrovnik at your own pace. Later: cool your jets in the crystal-clear Adriatic, and soak up a sunset from the back deck on Hvar.
7 Nights | Enthusiast Signature Hotels – From $9,895 Legend has it Hercules fought the fearsome Nepean lion here. Retrace his footsteps through this patchwork of mountain paths, deep gorges, and emerald valleys. Stand at the southernmost lighthouse in Europe. Visit otherworldy ruins on the side roads of the Peloponese. And don’t worry, the closest you’ll come to fighting a feline is battling the urge to take a post-picnic catnap.
8 Nights | Occasional Signature Hotels – From $7,995 Turkey’s fascinating history unfolds before your eyes. We begin in Istanbul, where the Basilica Cistern astonishes; then fly inland to Kayseri to experience the wonders of Cappadocia. We walk villages, underground cities and the Rose Valley. Then we fly to the coast where turquoise takes on new meaning—plus stylish, cosmopolitan Bodrum.
7 Nights | Recreational Signature Hotels – From $7,495 This north-south journey has expanded our minds—and titillated our palates—with every step (or push of the pedal). See what the fuss is about: traverse ancient paths, explore the thriving arts scene, visit UNESCO caves, dine in castles and Michelin-starred restaurants, and circumnavigate picture-book lakes and red-roofed towns.
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BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON • REST OF EUROPE
SCHEDULED TRIPS
Northern Europe
It’s nice to have lifelong friends. Especially if they live in the picturesque farmlands of Holland, the pedaller’s paradise of Denmark, or the Emerald Isle. It’s even nicer if they happen to be chefs, artists, or raconteurs. Nicest of all? When they love giving our other friends—you, that is—the inside scoop.
PRIVATE TRIPS
DENMARK BIKING
5 Nights | Recreational Signature Hotels – From $6,495 We’ve stuck to the principles of Scandinavian design: simplicity (wheeling giddily through the Danish countryside), elegance (divine dinners fit for a monarch… seriously, the actual monarch), and ingenuity. To wit: we’re the only ones of our ilk spending a week in this foodie haven. Fave features? Two nights at Falsled Kro, arguably the finest (and most welcoming) hotel in the country.
HOLLAND & BELGIUM FAMILY ADVENTURE
5 Nights | Occasional Bistro Hotels – From $4,995 A masterpiece from Amsterdam to Bruges. We begin in the legendary land of tulips and windmills, pedalling the towpaths, bike paths, polders and dykes that dot the land. After a visit to Kinderdijk, we head south into Flanders, whose cultural heart, Bruges, is a work of art unto itself. Just for kids? Sandcastle building, painting, artisanal chocolate making... the journey is a masterpiece for all ages.
HOLLAND BIKING
5 Nights | Occasional Signature Hotels – From $5,195 Tilt at some windmills as you pedal the picturesque coast that inspired the Dutch Masters. Only B&R rides in beautiful Zeeland. We delve deep into the gastronomical wonders: oysters and shellfish, traditional savoury pannekoeken (pancakes!) and some local jeneever, a.k.a. gin. Stay at the intimate 12-room Manoir Inter Scaldes(which has a nice little 2 Michelin-star restaurant).
IRELAND BIKING
5 Nights | Enthusiast Signature Hotels - From $4,995 By day, sweep through verdant hills and along rocky coastlines; by night, be a merry Guinnessdrinking local. We have Connemara to ourselves: only B&R hits up Éire’s most authentic landscapes, culture, and music. And if you get a wee bit peckish? Fresh mussels, tender lamb, wild salmon and craft cheeses will sate your Irish appetite.
ICELAND FAMILY ADVENTURE
View more of our Private trips: › Burren & Connemara Biking › Kerry & Cork Walking › Iceland Winter Expedition › Scotland Active Journey
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6 Nights | Recreational Signature Hotels – From $7,495 Iceland’s otherworldly terrain is all magnificence. Ride Viking horses, spy on puffins, trek over glistening glaciers in Thorsmork National Park, and splash around in steaming geothermic springs (the silica mud is great for your skin). Visit the Blue Lagoon and picnic overlooking a waterfall—we’re the only humans for miles around.
REST OF EUROPE • BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON
There was no sense of tourism at all during the trip. We really got to see the country. — Lisa Jackson, Ireland
BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON • REST OF EUROPE
Germany & Austria
50 years ago, B&R made its first journey through Bavaria. We were young, scrappy, and eager to really experience the region. Well, a few things have changed (including our trips—our designers are perfectionists), but one thing remains constant: our style of deep immersion. (And that’s not just in Weissbier.) SCHEDULED TRIPS
PRIVATE TRIPS
BAVARIAN LAKES WALKING NEW!
MOSEL & RHINE RIVER BIKING NEW!
BERLIN TO DRESDEN BIKING
MUNICH TO SALZBURG BIKING
5 Nights | Recreational Signature Hotels – From $4,995 Walking Bavaria is “notoriously wonderful,” said Thomas Mann—and B&R gets it (well, he didn’t say that part.) Goggle over the tucked-away, mountain-encircled lakes of Koenigssee (known for glacial waters) and Fuschlsee (gesundheit!) Plus, see Mad King Ludwig’s whimsically-themed carriages (via our private boat, of course) and enjoy dinner at Heinz Winkler, friend and Michelin chef. 5 Nights | Occasional Signature Hotels – From $5,295 Urban sophistication meets pastoral beauty meets European history and Baroque architecture. Dine atop the Reichstag (yes, we have a spot saved on the months-long waitlist), ride from Berlin, Potsdam, and Dresden to the crags of the Swiss Saxony woods and enjoy a floating picnic in the tranquility of the Spreewald Forest.
DANUBE RIVER CRUISE BIKING
7 Nights | Recreational Signature Ship – From $7,995 Should you float down the Danube or bike along it? Why not have your Gerbeaud cake and eat it too? Gawk at towering castles from the deck of our world-class Signature Ship one day, cycle the pretty riverbank the next. Our top-notch local guides (hello Jeanette, Silvia, Martin, and Judith!) lead you on show-stopping tours of local culture and cuisine. Pop into castles, towns and abbeys. Win/win/win.
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5 Nights | Recreational Bistro Hotels – From $3,795 The German city of Koblenz is where the Mosel empties into the Rhine—and where your everyday worries will empty into the meandering valleys and terraced vineyards (producing unforgettable whites), countless castles, picturesque slateroofed homes, narrow riverbanks, and extinct (but still gurgling) volcanoes. Need a nap? Rest in the winery-cum-spectacular-boutique-hotel. 5 Nights | Recreational Signature Hotels – From $5,295 A joyous, devil-may-care throwback to B&R’s inaugural journey in 1966! 2017’s version features the most beautiful parts of Bavaria, sans the original student budget. We go for luxe, but we keep you grounded with rustic alpine picnics. Our guides will make you a pre-Alpine expert and you’ll see if the hills really are alive with music. Boat on the Chiemsee. Later: dine at Residenz Heinz Winkler.
Want a custom trip? Go Bespoke. Have our trip designers craft a one-of-a-kind journey just for you. See page 26 for more. VISIT US AT BUTTERFIELD.COM/PRIVATE
REST OF EUROPE • BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON
ONLY B&R To soften the goodbyes at the trip’s end in Salzburg, we take you on a guided evening walk of the Old Town with a fascinating B&R friend. Then it’s back to our quaint (and exclusive to B&R) digs for the night (the Sacher).
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BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON • REST OF EUROPE
Truly painless holidays are hard to come by, but B&R provides them time after time. —Betty Hess, Germany & Austria
REST OF EUROPE • BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON
SCHEDULED TRIPS
PRIVATE TRIPS
PRAGUE TO VIENNA BIKING
Central Europe
Pastoral beauty. Urban sophistication. History. Modernity. We dive into all of it here. But it’s not easy. Fortunately, we’ve figured out routes as elegant as the region itself. For example? We forgo the long bus rides others take. A classic mahogany speedboat across the water is more us. And more you.
5 Nights | Recreational Signature Hotels – From $4,995 Our guide Marie knows all about the Velvet Revolution—she was there. Get the inside scoop on Czech history over drinks. Cycle from Prague’s Bohemian chic to Vienna’s stately elegance. Add vineyard cycling, towering castles, hilltop monasteries (one is our hotel), and dinner at the legendary Landhaus Bacher. Finish off at the best hotel in Vienna, the Hotel Sacher. Torte, anyone?
SWITZERLAND E-BIKING
5 Nights | Recreational Signature Hotels - From $6,495 Glide effortlessly through mountain and glacial vistas on your faithful e-bike. Meet artisanal cheese makers and winemakers and hear the alpenhorn’s jubilant tones. Which reminds us, don’t forget to visit the chocolatiers. (As though anyone could.) For thrills, lunch in a mountain hut, then traverse a high-altitude glacier via a looming suspension bridge. Then it’s back on your e-bike: the Swiss Riviera beckons.
VIENNA TO BUDAPEST BIKING
5 Nights | Occasional Signature Hotels – From $5,295 Shabby chic and old world charm. The Danube is Central Europe’s blissful conduit: we follow it through three countries and capitals. Around the bend? Quiet lakes, historic towns, globally ranked restaurants. Oh, and one night in Budapest’s Gresham Palace—and another at Taubenkobel. (We’re the only bikers invited to stay here.)
VIENNA TO PRAGUE BIKING
5 Nights | Recreational Bistro Hotels – From $3,995 Get to know your Gruener Veltliner as we cycle the stunning vineyards in the Wachau. Sip the finest whites with an expert. Break bread with the locals and gape at monasteries, medieval streets, and preserved towns. It pays to have friends in turreted places: only B&R visits the baroque theatre of Český Krumlov’s castle. At day’s end, melt into a steam bath... in your hotel’s 15thC cave.
View more of our Private trips: › Switzerland Walking
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VIENNA TO PRAGUE FAMILY ADVENTURE
5 Nights | Recreational Bistro Hotels – From $3,995 Get unparalleled family time—and alone time! Bike along the Danube, cruise the castled countryside of Bohemia. Enjoy legendary Czech hospitality, goulash, and the fairytale town of Český Krumlov. For the kids, all that, plus thrilling rafting, climbing, and canoeing while you drink it all in (read: Pilsner).
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Argentina Australia Bhutan Botswana Cambodia Canada Chile China Colombia Cuba Costa Rica Ecuador Galapagos India Indonesia Japan Laos Morocco
Myanmar Namibia New Zealand Oman Patagonia Peru Rwanda South Africa Sri Lanka Tanzania Thailand Uruguay USA Vietnam Zimbabwe Zambia
BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON • ASIA
ONLY B&R How about a journey back in time cycling the picturesque Noto Peninsula in Old Japan? Or popping the cork on some Champagne on the Great Wall? Or spoiling yourself in Bali with stays at the incredible Amans and Oberois?
64 FOR DETAILED ITINERARIES, VISIT BUTTERFIELD.COM
ASIA • BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON
Asia-Pacific A mind-bending cocktail of ancient history and cutting-edge contemporary life stirred into one unforgettable experience. Asia-Pacific has been happily hosting us since 1982. We share our beloved insider spots, and of course, your reward for coming this far? Authentic hotel gems you won’t want to leave. SCHEDULED TRIPS
PRIVATE TRIPS
BALI ACTIVE EXPEDITION
TASMANIA WALKING
BEIJING & HIMALAYAS ACTIVE EXPEDITION NEW!
JAPAN CULTURAL JOURNEY NEW!
8 Nights | Occasional Signature Hotels – From $9,995 What we love most about China: Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, sure, but also our favourite duck in Beijing (don’t challenge us on this!), a serene picnic on the Great Wall, Dali tapas by Erhai Lake, isolated Naxi villages, and gorgeous riding along the Yangtze. The ancient wonders and modern delicacies in the China of today!
7 Nights | Recreational Signature Hotels - From $9,995 This is a land of contrasts: from the lights and chaos of Tokyo—where B&R’s guide makes you a local—to the elegance and history of Kyoto. Enjoy a traditional ryokan in mountain hot springs, see ancient temples, and share in the time-honored tea ceremony. You’ll marvel at meticulously tended gardens and be able to say you met a geisha. Embark on a cultural feast! (Noodles included.)
JAPAN BIKING
NEW ZEALAND WALKING JOURNEY
8 Nights | Recreational Signature Hotels – From $8,495 Ever been to Paradise? Let us convince you it’s in Bali. It’s way off the beaten path with turquoise crater lakes, fragrant flower offerings, rice terraces, and cascades of waterfalls. We pedal past verdant rice paddies; immerse you in the cultural hub, Ubud; and hang with our local friends. Oh—we almost forgot—the hotels: five-star gems: the Oberois, the Viceroy, and the Aman. Heaven…
View more of our Private trips: › Bali to Bhutan Expedition › China Biking › Japan Family Adventure › New Zealand Family Adventure
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7 Nights | Avid Signature Hotels - From $8,995 Who needs modern Japan’s neon bustle when you can cycle the spectacular coastline of old Japan, visiting kimono makers, sleepy fishing villages, and ryokan guesthouses along the way? Buddhist shrines, tea ceremonies, and steaming onsen baths are more our speed. We bike along the Noto (sublime) and stay at the exquisite Kayotei (whose owner has raised many a glass of sake with us).
7 Nights | Enthusiast Signature Hotels - From $7,695 This Aussie region has been occupied by humans for millenia, isn’t it about time you came to see it? Put your waders on and pluck oysters right out of the water. Hike Maria Island, pristine bushland throbbing with wildlife, and enjoy an eco-cruise around Bruny Island before the gourmet tour. Once called Van Diemen’s Land and home to 75,000 convicts, we know you’ll be captivated by it, too.
8 Nights | Enthusiast Signature Hotels - From $8,995 Start in Wellington, “the Coolest Little Capital in the World” (Lonely Planet), before heading to South Island to explore its gorgeous coastal trails and the towering Southern Alps. The only thing to compete with the scenery is our selection of hotels, including Fiordland and Hapuku Lodges. Spend a day with the dolphins in Kaikoura and end it sipping the best Sauvignon blanc on the planet.
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BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON • ASIA
South Asia These spiritual lands can feel enigmatic even for veteran travellers. The good news: B&R’s immersion is as deep as an urn of butter tea. The great news: like most shy buds, Asia unfurls for us spectacularly. Come tense. Leave transformed. (And teary-eyed. Nobody says goodbye to our guides easily.) SCHEDULED TRIPS
PRIVATE TRIPS
MYANMAR TO THAILAND ACTIVE EXPEDITION NEW!
BHUTAN ACTIVE EXPEDITION
7 Nights | Occasional Signature Hotels – From $7,895 Inle Lake is one of the most beautiful places we know. The people of the lake, the Intha, live around as well as on the lake, and grow produce on floating gardens. B&R has built over 40 homes here, and each of our expeditions begins with a houseblessing ceremony. A hotel hightlight? The Inle Princess, a secret paradise visited only by B&R.
6 Nights | Recreational Signature Hotels – From $7,995 Bhutan will both amaze and humble you. It combines green alpine meadows, chaletstyle homes, and snowy peaks. In that wintry playground, the mystical culture of Himalayan Buddhism was founded. Its spirit manifests itself in the people, in their humility and wonderful sense of humour. Walk among them, meet a lama or two, and experience Shangri-La in the real world.
SRI LANKA ACTIVE EXPEDITION NEW!
ISLANDS OF MYANMAR BY SEA
THAILAND SAVEUR CULINARY JOURNEY NEW!
SOUTH INDIA ACTIVE EXPEDITION
9 Nights | Enthusiast Signature Hotels – From $9,495 In this sensuous, once-troubled region, we explore golden beaches, vanished empires, tea plantations, Hindu temples, and mist-shrouded highlands. A host of fascinating local experts join us along the way, including a tea expert, a botanist and an ex-pat journalist. We’re the only people of our kind blazing a trail through Sri Lanka, and lucky us: we’re invited for a rare stay at Ceylon Tea Trails.
Call for details Nowhere is Thai culture better reflected than in their cuisine. If the mention of tom yam goong, som tam and massaman curry make your mouth water, this trip is for you. Feel a deep connection to the Thai culinary tradition. We cook (and eat) our way from Chiang Mai to Bangkok and Phuket. Colourful local chefs, exquisite food (you’ll be congratulating yourself) and hotel stays you won’t soon forget.
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SRI LANKA BIKING
12 Nights | Enthusiast Signature Hotels – From $12,495 Our trip designers put their creative stamp on this diverse biking adventure. From the bustling port city of Negombo, to the Cultural Triangle, with truly remarkable hotels (including two ancestral estates and an eco-lodge on stilts), this is the very best of Sri Lanka. We visit World Heritage sites, sacred cities, lush plantations, rushing waterfalls and magical Galle, a perfectly preserved colonial town.
5 Nights | Occasional Signature Hotels - From $4,795 An utterly unique way to see Myanmar! Explore the forgotten world of the Mergui Archipelago by luxury yacht: there are more than 900 tropical islands, few inhabited. Visit the Moken tribe of sea gypsies and meet the monks at the “Harvard” of Buddhism. See spectacular nature on land and underwater, breathtaking landscapes of rainforests, tropical beaches, and deserted reefs. 16 Nights | Recreational Signature Hotels – From $9,995 Pillowy green hill stations are laid out like patchwork quilts, bristling with temples and ashrams. Have a private tour of Cochin with a local scholar—compared to the hustling north, the pace here is slow and the surroundings are tranquil. So are our hotels, boutique gems like Malabar House. Things only heat up in the subtle yet fiery cuisine, as you’ll note during a home-cooked meal.
View more of our Private trips: › Bangkok to Chiang Mai Expedition › Chennai to Mumbai Active Expedition › Bhutan Walking Journey › Rajasthan Walking
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ASIA • BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON
ONLY B&R We shine in South Asia. In Myanmar, where we’ve helped build many homes, each trip takes part in an emotional house blessing ceremony. In Sri Lanka, our wanderlust is on full display—we are the first travel company of our kind to explore its splendour.
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BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON • ASIA
Vietnam, Laos & Cambodia
This is a land of magic and mystery, whose rich history and fascinating cultural traditions are trumped only by the astonishing variety of its cuisine and warmth of its people. Here, after two decades in the region, our special friendships flow as freely as the winding Mekong. They’re all yours. SCHEDULED TRIPS
PRIVATE TRIPS
CAMBODIA TO VIETNAM FAMILY ADVENTURE
7 Nights | Recreational Signature Hotels – From $6,995 It’s a magical combo. We start by immersing ourselves in the culture of Cambodia with local guides who have grown up with us. We explore ancient temples and mind-boggling jungle scenery. In Saigon, we go on a wild scavenger hunt. Then we hit Hoi An and head north, riding past rice paddies, ancestral tombs, water buffalo and smiling locals.
VIETNAM & LAOS BIKING NEW! 7 Nights | Recreational Signature Hotels – From $7,895 B&R goes deep in Vietnam and Laos. We know these magical countries intimately and take enchantment to a new level. Limestone islands? Floating villages? Secret caves? Ridges of rice paddies? A private float plane? Even your guides get googly-eyed. In Laos, take part in the Baci, an intimate welcoming ceremony. If that doesn’t get you misty-eyed, our waterfall picnic will.
INDOCHINA WALKING NEW!
VIETNAM BIKING
8 Nights | Occasional Signature Hotels – From $6,995 Normally, we like to be humble. But our guides are already declaring this brand new trip perfect. Spanning Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, it takes in UNESCO wonders, isolated villages, temples draped in vines, and hidden gems aplenty. Get incredible insider access in Angkor Wat, and take part in an intimate Baci welcome ceremony in Laos. Experience the best of three countries in one trip.
MEKONG GRAND JOURNEY NEW!
9 Nights | Recreational Signature Hotels – From $19,495 When we go big, we go BIG. Stay at jaw-dropping hotels (two Amans among them), drift along the Mekong River in a five-star floating hotel, join 600 saffron-clad monks, hike to cascading waterfalls, and revel in an extraordinary private dinner in Angkor, complete with a Khmer performance. Our expert guides will give you the inside scoop. And hand you back your jaw.
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6 Nights | Recreational Signature Hotels – From $5,995 Roll past friendly villagers, rice paddies, and cruise up the Perfume River. Feel the rush of our favourite city, Hoi An, and savour the mind-blowing Vietfusion cuisine at Mango Mango. Our incredible local guides have been working with us for decades and have real chops. (And real chopsticks.) What more could you want? How about three nights at the award-winning Nam Hai? Sleep on it.
HANOI TO HO CHI MINH BIKING
8 Nights | Recreational Signature Hotels – From $7,675 We know how to slow down to see Vietnam. We’ve been doing it for nearly two decades. We see it all, from colonial Hanoi to Saigon. Cycle amidst laughing children, dine in a royal home, visit imperial tombs, and learn how to haggle at the market in Hoi An. Seamlessly planned days allow for all the biking and culture you want. Still a bit stressed? Another massage won’t hurt.
VIETNAM FAMILY ADVENTURE
8 Nights | Recreational Signature Hotels – From $8,995 Immerse your family in the culture of Vietnam! Ride past rice paddies interspersed with ancestral tombs and water buffalo. For the kids, there’s basket boat racing, conical hat making, scavenger hunts and a beach paradise. For the parents there’s a two-bedroom villa (luxury and privacy, nudge nudge) at the five-star Six Senses Hideaway.
View more of our Private trips: › Cambodia Biking › Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh Walking › Hanoi to Luang Prabang Expedition › Mekong River Biking
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ASIA • BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON
Climbing the scaffolding at Angor Wat... amazing and so ‘only with B&R’. — Christie Mavredakis, Cambodia
BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON • AMERICAS
ONLY B&R A rocky chunk of southern Argentina shaped by glaciers and conquered by a hardy few, Patagonia is where adventure goes to get away from it all. But how is it we’ve found such amazing luxury lodges and refugios? How are they even here?
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AMERICAS • BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON
Southern Latin America Experience a collision of colonial and indigenous cultures, set against a breathtaking backdrop. Trails that wend through the foothills of the Andes, glorious glacial hikes, lavish haciendas (with a particular fondness for B&R travellers), verdant vineyards... and you, with a backstage pass. SCHEDULED TRIPS
PRIVATE TRIPS
ARGENTINA BIKING
PATAGONIA WALKING NEW!
CHILE BIKING
PATAGONIA ACTIVE EXPEDITION NEW!
PATAGONIA EXPEDITION
NORTHERN ARGENTINA BIKING
6 Nights | Enthusiast Signature Hotels – From $5,995 Discover the original great northwest. Startlingly beautiful canyons, astounding vistas, and lush cloud forests. We eat lunch on a sugar plantation and discuss politics with the locals. The biking here is excellent, and even the driving is epic. Take the road trip of your life through the rock formations of Quebrada de las Flechas. You’ll think you’re on another planet. (You are. You’re on planet B&R.) 6 Nights | Enthusiast Signature Hotels – From $6,995 Warning: you may suffer from beauty fatigue in Chile. We have remedies. Too many rolling hills, black sand beaches, and Pacific sunsets? Then kick back at the avant-garde Hotel Viña Vik. Have a deep-tissue massage. RELAX, ALREADY! If that doesn’t work, there are fabulous picnics, barrel tastings and feasts galore. If nothing works, you may have reached your lifetime beauty threshold.
View more of our Private trips: › Chile Biking › Patagonia Family Adventure › Southern Patagonia Active Expedition › Southern Patagonia Family Adventure
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8 Nights | Enthusiast Signature Hotels – From $10,495 We don’t call this an expedition for nothing. You’ll feel like you’ve hiked and travelled to the ends of the earth. (You have.) From La Anita Valley to the Torres del Paine, Patagonia is epic in every way. Our bucket-list hotels—the Awasi and the Singular—will provide soft landings amidst the rugged landscape. May we offer you a glass of Malbec with your hot tub?
6 Nights | Enthusiast Signature Hotels - From $7,495 Be a stranger in a strange land… but a stranger who lives large! This remote region has some of the planet’s most incredible vistas—and it’s seen by precious few. Be among those who have walked the windswept steppes and glaciers above crystalclear lakes as condors patrol the skies (just keep an eye on your sandwich). At day’s end? Take a load off at equally remarkable hotels. 8 Nights | Recreational Signature Hotels – From $7,995 Patagonia, a vast land tucked away at the end of the world, is too remote for a cellular signal. But don’t fret: the mountain vistas will leave you so speechless, you won’t even need your phone. Power it off as you glide over the glaciers and the windswept steppes, and cool your heels at estancias (ranches), luxe lodges and exceptional wilderness retreats.
7 Nights | Enthusiast Signature Hotels – From $7,995 This heavenly part of Argentina is a fascinating mix of colonial and indigenous architecture, textiles, and traditions. The landscape is equally diverse: canyons that turn polychromatic in sunlight, lush cloud forests, and Andean salt pans, reflecting the skyscapes like giant mirrors. The food? A ribeye washed down with a Malbec at hip Piattelli will convince you you’re in a gastronomic heaven, too.
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BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON • AMERICAS
Northern Latin America Cuba and Colombia are small, emerging nations with huge hearts. Now’s the perfect time to see their beauty—unfiltered and au naturel, with our insight (and love of comfort) paving the way. And Costa Rica? The Galapagos? Peru? They’re no secret anymore—so we’ve dug up a whole bunch just for you. SCHEDULED TRIPS
PRIVATE TRIPS
COLOMBIA ACTIVE EXPEDITION
PERU WALKING
CUBA ACTIVE EXPEDITION NEW!
COSTA RICA FAMILY ADVENTURE
6 Nights | Recreational Signature Hotels – From $5,995 Experience an emergent country bursting with modernity. Bogota shines with creativity and the food scene rivals anywhere in the world. Get in on the city’s Ciclovia, a weekly public cycling day that closes many streets. Outside the city? Meet the men and women who grow your coffee, enjoy lush hills, cloud forests, and colonial architecture. If that doesn’t get you buzzing, the caffeine will. 6 Nights | Recreational Bistro Hotels – From $7,995 To see what makes Cuba tick, we immerse ourselves with our local friends who get to the heart of the matter. They take us deep into the art and history of Havana—then we dive into the countryside. We bike and hike to visit some of the World Monument Fund’s most significant sites, leaving the evenings to eat, dance, play music and experience auténtico Cuba before it changes forever.
PERU SAVEUR CULINARY JOURNEY NEW!
6 Nights | Occasional Signature Hotels – From $7,995 When deciding where to host an exceptional culinary adventure, B&R Trip Designers and the editors at SAVEUR quickly agreed that Peru hit all the marks. From an amazing array of ceviche to Andean and Amazonian specialities, there’s nowhere we’d rather be eating right now in South America.
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6 Nights | Avid Signature Hotels - From $6,995 Ancient Peru offers some of the most beautiful landscapes on the planet. Walk the ruins of the Sacred Valley and hike the cloud forests of the Inca Trail. See Machu Picchu after the tourists have left (is there any other way?) and sleep next door at Sanctuary Lodge. Meet the greatest weavers in Peru and weave some stories of your own over a final-night dinner in an Incan palace. 8 Nights | Recreational Signature Hotels – From $5,995 Come to the jewel of Central America and witness your kids leaving the iPads in their hotel room. They’ll need both hands to cross a sky-high suspension bridge, ride horses to an emerald swimming hole, and to explore the Chocolate Trails. See myriad monkeys and exotic birds in this jungle paradise for all ages. The kids and the iPads will come home fully charged.
GALAPAGOS WILDLIFE SAFARI
8 Nights | Recreational Signature Hotels – From $8,995 It’s the land that stirred Darwin’s imagination and turned science on its ear. Now it’s your turn: sail into a turquoise cove with no other boats in sight, walk barefoot down a powdery beach, and try to hold it together as baby sea lions wiggle past. Only the highly evolved can appreciate B&R’s extraordinary private trip planning. You might call us the arrival of the fittest.
View more of our Private trips:
› Ecuador & Galapagos by Sea › Ecuador & Galapagos Family Adventure › Inca Trail Walking › Peru Family Adventure
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AMERICAS • BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON
ONLY B&R In Cuba, our small group makes for a magical journey. We’re able to move nimbly and experience the best the island has to offer. Working with the World Monuments Fund, we’ve created a trip that shows off the diversity of Cuba’s architecture. It will move you. Almost as much as the music.
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BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON • AMERICAS
An incredible time. Everything flowed seamlessly. — Jack Raskin, West Coast
AMERICAS • BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON
North America When we’re not out combing the planet, North America is our backyard. So we know how—and where—to find glacier-carved fjords, oceans churning with orca, Viking settlements, sunsoaked vineyards and the greatest golf in the world. B&R in North America? Refreshes the parts others cannot reach. SCHEDULED TRIPS
PRIVATE TRIPS
AUGUSTA MASTERS GOLF
3 Nights | Occasional Signature Hotels – From $5,995 The Masters Tournament: where a pimento sandwich and beer still costs $3.50, and there are no corporate tents. You’re there for the final day, the green jacket has been dry-cleaned, and you’re enjoying exclusive hospitality. (Southern charm + VIP treatment = bliss.) Take in the action, then sharpen your own game with a round on the famed Reynolds Plantation National Course.
NEWFOUNDLAND WALKING
5 Nights | Recreational Signature Hotels – From $5,995 The Rock, a.k.a. Newfoundland, is home to one of the most colourful cultures in Canada. Its art, music, and storytelling are some of the best in the land. Walk the Skerwink Trail—one of the top hikes in North America. Picnic on a fishing stage with folk music, and visit beautiful and mysterious Fogo Island, marvelling at the puffins, whales, and massive icebergs along the way.
View more of our Private trips: › Arizona Family Adventure › Montreal to Quebec City Biking › New Orleans Culinary Experience › Newfoundland Self-Guided Walking
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QUEBEC BIKING
5 Nights | Enthuasiast Signature Hotels – From $4,995 From flirty Montréal to historic Québec City—with beautiful rural biking in between—come see exactly what makes Québec so distinct. Before the week’s out, you might conclude it’s the cheese carts, or the cooking at Manoir Hovey, or the bucolic cycling through Île d’Orléans. Whatever it is (did we mention riverside foie gras and cider?) you’ll say vive la difference.
BEARS & WHALES FAMILY ADVENTURE
7 Nights | Enthuasiast Signature Hotels – From $9,495 Experience the immense variety and beauty of the northwest and discover why it’s called Canada’s playground. Every ecosystem is here: sea, mountains, forests, lakes, rivers. Watch the orcas frolic, or photograph the grizzlies at sunrise (with a telephoto lens, please). Fly over of BC’s fjords, glaciers, and mountain chains. Ohhhhh, Canada.
NAPA & SONOMA CULINARY EXPERIENCE NEW!
3 Nights | Occasional Signature Hotels – From $5,195 We open the back doors to artisanal cheesemakers and stunning vineyards. Explore the Napa Valley and make your own blend at Conn Creek. Enjoy a culinary adventure at Relish, creating your own masterpiece. And yes, you have our permission to get lost in Far Niente’s vast wine caves, but be sure to yell “Polo” when you hear “Marco”.
UTAH FAMILY ADVENTURE
7 Nights | Enthuasiast Signature Hotels – From $8,495 Hike and bike and fly through five of America’s iconic National Parks: Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef, Bryce Canyon, and Zion. Their cliffs and canyons make for landscapes so spectacular that your kids might not look at their phones for hours. Enjoy a chef-prepared dinner at secluded Smith Mesa and glide home under stars. (By “home” we mean Utah’s coolest lodges.)
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BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON • AFRICA
Morocco 22 years ago, Morocco was our first destination in a series of journeys we call “Expeditions.” It was exotic, beautiful, and complicated. But when our new Berber friends told us, “He who rushes is already dead,” we knew this was a place for us. Now we’re completely at home—even in the desert. You’ll be too. SCHEDULED TRIPS
PRIVATE TRIPS
MOROCCO ACTIVE EXPEDITION
MOROCCO WALKING
MOROCCO BIKING
MOROCCO ACTIVE JOURNEY
MOROCCO FAMILY ADVENTURE
MOROCCO FAMILY EXPEDITION
7 Nights | Recreational Signature Hotels – From $8,495 Have the experience of a lifetime on a bike or, if you prefer, an amicable camel. Go from bustling souks to Berber villages and crumbling Kasbahs. Lose yourself overnight in the silky Saharan dunes at a breathtaking Berber camp, and luxuriate at Dar Ahlam and Riad Farnatchi (exclusive to B&R). You’ll think you’re walking toward a shimmering mirage, but trust us, it’s all real. 5 Nights | Recreational Bistro Hotels – From $4,495 As you cross the sunbaked Saharan dunes and ascend the High Atlas Mountains, a strange sensation comes over you (don’t worry, it’s not heat exhaustion—we’ve got you covered): it’s the stunning surroundings seeping into your soul. From souk to Kasbah to remote Berber village to mountain pass, this is one authentic experience after another. Unleash your inner nomad (on two wheels). 5 Nights | Recreational Bistro Hotels – From $4,395 After exploring Morocco for over two decades, we’ve compiled these exotic “greatest hits” for you and the kids: magical Marrakesh, Berber villages, spectacular oases, tranquil camel rides, pulsepounding surfing, spectacular ropes courses and amazing food. Our exclusive-to-B&R boutique hotel, the Kasbah Bab Ourika, will blow your kids’ minds. A unique, riveting adventure—for everyone.
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6 Nights | Enthusiast Signature Hotels - $6,495 Morocco is off the beaten path, but our compass has always been a bit strange. Maybe that’s why we’re the only company that walks here. Stay at a riad, break bread with locals, and drink port atop sunset-washed 16thC ramparts. Stay in one of the best hotels in the world, the legendary La Mamounia, as well as our gorgeous boutique hotel the Kasbah Bab Ourika. (More like, eureka.) 5 Nights | Occasional Signature Hotels – From $4,795 Morocco is one of our oldest friends. Foreign. Exotic. Stunning. From the snow-covered peaks of the High Atlas Mountains to lush oases and the incredible city of Marrakesh. What you will never forget? Staying at the Agafay Desert at La Pause, a luxury Berber retreat. Dine in true desert fashion, under the stars. You may not trust your pictures when you get home, but believe us, you were there. 8 Nights | Occasional Signature Hotels – From $5,995 Embark on an unforgettable adventure through magical Morocco with bustling markets, camel rides, mountain treks through white, blue, and gold landscapes, zip lining and cooking classes. Expose your kids to a place that will revise their concepts of “old” as well as “cool”. Marrakesh will leave them speechless—one of the many attractions of this adventure (the city, not the silence).
Want a custom trip? Go Bespoke. Have our trip designers craft a one-of-a-kind journey just for you. See page 26 for more. VISIT US AT BUTTERFIELD.COM/PRIVATE
AFRICA • BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON
ONLY B&R We want you to feel the frenzy of Marrakesh, but we also want you to experience the real desert. So we take a train (camel train, that is) into the Sahara to a luxury Berber camp. We sleep under a blanket of stars. Five-stars? More like a million stars.
FOR DETAILED ITINERARIES, VISIT BUTTERFIELD.COM 77
BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON • AFRICA
ONLY B&R It helps to have a genius trip planner who lives right here in the region. It also helps that she’s a perfectionist, and can’t stop unearthing new discoveries. We’ve been running trips here for over two decades. But not just vineyard tours— we do a deep dive into African cultures.
78 FOR DETAILED ITINERARIES, VISIT BUTTERFIELD.COM
AFRICA • BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON
Southern Africa Rainbows are rare here. But they’re the perfect expression of this region’s spectrum of cultures and creatures. So while you may never see a rainbow through your open-air desert bedroom, we promise, it’s there. (Plus, if a real one appears, we’ll be the first to know—our trip designer lives a block away.) SCHEDULED TRIPS
PRIVATE TRIPS
AFRICA GRAND JOURNEY NEW!
13 Nights | Occasional Signature Hotels – From $32,495 B&R is proud of its long history of combining comfort with cultural immersion, and this grand journey may be our best. Guided by resident Africa expert Michele Harvey, this epic two-week trip whisks you by private jet to Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. We’ve pulled out all the stops: top-secret dinners, five exceptional lodges, and wildlife encounters you’ll never forget.
› Namibia Family Safari Adventure › South Africa Biking › South Africa Culinary Experience
VISIT US AT BUTTERFIELD.COM/PRIVATE
9 Nights | Recreational Signature Hotels – From $7,495 Iconic? Epic? How’s this: we begin in gorgeous Cape Town, journey north to the Sabi Sands Wildlife Reserve for a mind-boggling safari, and finish on the banks of the Zambezi. From Table Mountain to tastings in the Winelands to sighting the Big Five in Kruger to experiencing Victoria Falls, this trip is every bit as BIG as it is beautiful.
BOTSWANA FAMILY SAFARI
NAMIBIA WALKING SAFARI JOURNEY
CAPE TOWN & WINELANDS ACTIVE JOURNEY
SOUTH AFRICA FAMILY GETAWAY NEW!
9 Nights | Occasional Signature Hotels – From $9,895 Botswana—half of which is pristine wilderness— makes for the perfect family adventure. Soak up glittering salt pans, endless plains where the zebra and wildebeest stampede, and forests veined with tiny rivers. Our luxe safari camps make for intimate home bases while we hike, canoe, horseback ride, fly camp... in a dizzying array of ecosystems. See some amazing wild animals! (Apart from your kids).
View more of our Private trips:
CAPE TOWN TO VICTORIA FALLS ACTIVE EXPEDITION NEW!
6 Nights | Enthusiast Signature Hotels – From $4,495 Locals fondly refer to Cape Town as the Mother City. Sailors called it the Tavern by the Sea, and you will too, for its wine culture and its innovative culinary scene. Once you try the incredible wines, and drink in the mountains, the rushing sea, and the diversity of its people—the rainbow nation— you’ll be calling it Best Trip Ever.
6 Nights | Recreational Signature Hotels – From $6,750 Talk about surreal. This stunning region is where escape artists go to escape. Wander through landscapes of persimmon-hued sand dunes, white salt pans and burnt mountains. After trekking the Tok Tokkie, camp in the oldest desert on the planet. Immerse yourself in a land where lions and elephants thrive. Then, finally, ease yourself back into urban life with boutiques and bistros.
8 Nights | Recreational Signature Hotels – From $7,795 An action-packed journey! SUP, hike, cave, swim, paddle and zip-line. Sea kayak among Jackasses (a species of penguin), spot Southern Right whales (right off the shore), and seek out the Big Five on a game reserve (we only shoot with cameras). From Table Mountain to real life in the townships below, this adventure captures the essence of South Africa.
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BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON • AFRICA & THE MIDDLE EAST
SCHEDULED TRIPS
East Africa & The Middle East
It’s the perfect region for those seeking something a little more Jules Verne than Elizabeth Gilbert—and for some crazy reason, we’re the only luxe travel outfit to bike and hike these otherworldly landscapes. However, we do reserve Range Rovers to see big game. (Sometimes a steel barrier is a good thing.)
PRIVATE TRIPS
OMAN WALKING NEW!
7 Nights | Recreational Signature Hotels – From $6,995 Oh man. This beautiful country couldn’t be more unlike Dubai, its flashier neighbour. This is the land of the golden-orange Wahiba Sands, ancient souks, the soaring Hajar Mountains, and the Omani Grand Canyon. Hey, how’d you like to sail in a wooden dhow in Muscat Harbour? Or spend a night under desert stars? Mystical, magical and mysterious: exactly our cup of (cardamom) tea.
RWANDA WALKING
7 Nights | Enthusiast Signature Hotels – From $8,495 This region boasts emerald-green tea plantations, a stunning great lake, and vast mountain forests. We walk it all. Unforgettable? Observing silverback gorillas, brought back from the brink. So too have Rwandans come back from the brink, and they shine with renewed purpose. Meet the expoachers, farmers and charismatic locals who have learned to become neighbours again.
TANZANIA ACTIVE SAFARI
5 Nights | Recreational Signature Hotels – From $6,995 From Kilimanjaro to Lake Manyara, this unique experience is a chance to get off the beaten track. (Nobody here travels as freely or deeply as us.) Combining mountain biking, hiking and traditional safari game drives allows us far more time and access to up-close, intimate wildlife encounters, rather than ‘standard’ driving-only safaris others stick to. Discover what we consider wild.
TANZANIA BIKING
6 Nights | Enthusiast Signature Hotels – From $8,995 This is Tanzania on two wheels. It’s a one-of-akind experience in the Northern region—half adrenaline high, half euphoric stupor. Experience mind-blowing mountain biking, hiking, and safari game drives—from the Tarangire ecosystem, to the Great Rift Valley, Lake Manyara and Ngorongoro. See big game up close (from a Range Rover, not a bike), and meet our amazing Maasai friends.
Want a custom trip? Go Bespoke. Have our trip designers craft a one-of-a-kind journey just for you. See page 26 for more. VISIT US AT BUTTERFIELD.COM/PRIVATE
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TANZANIA FAMILY ADVENTURE
9 Nights | Recreational Signature Hotels – From $9,975 Pack your pack and bring them all to Tanzania. Combining walking and safari game drives, your tribe will be plunged into your own thrilling nature documentary. Variety? How about rolling hills, open plains, lush forests, massive volcanoes, and the Serengeti Migration? The wildlife will mesmerize your kids. The family cohesion will mesmerize you.
AFRICA & THE MIDDLE EAST • BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON
Visiting Africa the B&R way is the ONLY way to experience this magnificent continent! — Brian Armitage, Tanzania
Our Guides
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GUIDES • BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON
Florian, Mario & Alex
Stefano, Lottie & Luca
AGUSTIN CALVETTI 50% anthropologist. 50% hôtelier. But also: restaurateur, trekking guide and polyglot. Oh, and blues guitarist. ALESSIO FRANGIONI Gifted carpenter. Restores aged Italian homes. Don’t need any cornices fixed? He’s also a trained veterinarian. (Handy when the camel breaks down.) ALEX GRAEFE Berliner who loves all things Tuscan. Spends his winters biking in New Zealand. ALEXIS MARCHAND Studied at the International Film School in Paris. Most recently, he filmed a four-month road trip from Brazil to Cuba, capturing all the beautiful moments (beautifully). ALICE VAN DER VOORT Can jabber away in six international tongues as though possessed. Works with schoolchildren in Laos. Dances on tables in Italy. ALVARO DIEZ Our super-athletic Spaniard. Member of his university triathlon team. Has run more marathons than anyone can remember. AMANDA GARY Now based in Buenos Aires, this multi-talented native of Malibu, California has guided more than 20 trips in Europe and South America. AMINA ABDELJAWAD Six-language-speaking Swedish adventureseeker. Loves to get down. Not just to the depths of Lake Malawi (she’s a seasoned diver), but on the dance floors of Andalucia, too. ANGELO SCIMIA Has been spotted in Barcelona, Amsterdam, Paris, Rome, London and his native Italy. Still unknown: the top-secret gourmet restaurant he manages. ANTHONY KING Windsurfer. Marathon runner. Free-diver. Forest trekker. Around-theworld cyclist. Suspected adrenaline junkie. ANTHONY WEERSING Dwells in Hawaii living out the American dream, occasionally escaping to Japan. Still gets giddy about Japanese culture and cuisine. CHRIS GOODWIN Decided he’d rather be scaling Table Mountain than playing solitaire in a plush corner office. Many B&R trips later, still terrible at solitaire. (There’s a lesson in this.) CHRISTINA NICK Rehabilitating cheetahs in northern Namibia. Or showcasing her world-renowned sculpture at an art show in Hungary. Or... CHRISTOPHER LITT Stir-crazy cyclist. Has ridden clear across Canada. Conquered roads in
Leah
France and Switzerland. Former pedicab driver. Don’t tell him we told you. DANA QUINN A high-octane consultant in her former life. Many B&R trips later, she’s savouring the slightly slower life in southern France. DANE TREDWAY Wandered from Cape Town to Kathmandu. Returned to Toronto for a life of writing and photography. (Also: spelunking, skiing, scuba diving, trekking.) DANIEL BOWER Biked, snowboarded, scuba dived, mountaineered, bunjee jumped and Frisbeecompeted across six continents. DARIUS ARJANG Swaps teaching for guiding each summer. Can whip up the notoriously finicky Sachertorte on command. DAVID FACCHINI Italian-born David has worked on humanitarian projects across the globe. When he’s not changing the world, he’s changing gears on a bike. A true buona forchetta! DEBBIE VANVAERENBURGH Just finished a oneyear trip through Moscow, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Philippines, Taiwan and Indonesia. Her fave part? Teaching English to monks in Laos. DENIS LUCCANTONI Former Olympian. Still has that golden glow. Spends the winters speed skating, teaching skiing in the French Alps, and being impossibly downto-earth. DIEGO GRAU Hails from a small Castilian town. Left a career in biology to join B&R. Says gushy, poetic things like “I found the pure happiness that the path brings you.” DOMINIC GIOSSAN Renaissance man (and possessor of five degrees). Can say “Holy @#$%! Look at that bear!” in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French and Italian. DORA BARTA Has a Master’s degree in English Philology (no, that’s not a typo). The Hungarian native is a global nomad who now calls Spain home (we think). ERIC SPONSELLER Has worked with HIV/ AIDS affected kids in Lesotho, baked bread in NYC, and run a successful artisan kombucha business in South Africa. We just had to have him. ERNESTO FUCCI Has a Master’s in diplomatic relations (it shows). When he not working for the Italian Cultural Institute, you can find him guiding for us in Europe. ERIN REED Veteran guide. Coined the classic B&R motto: “When you’re charged by a giraffe
FOR DETAILED ITINERARIES, VISIT BUTTERFIELD.COM 83
BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON • GUIDES
Chris
Oscar & Diego
“I cannot stress enough how amazing our guides were.”
— Elena Sicairos, Rioja
and have to dive from your bike into a bush of thorns, don’t climb back on right away. Wait a few minutes.” FANNY VIRET Worked with Doctors Without Borders in the Congo, cycled through Kyrgyzstan, and studies in Lausanne. Drop by for mouthwatering croquembouche anytime. FLORIAN MARBACH A former professional swimmer, Florian can also add expert surfer and rock climber to his CV. GERARDO AMORTEGUI An engineer with an MA in remote sensing (which might be why he’s so good at finding gems off the beaten path). GIACOMO FANO Italian native. Has never spent a single day in an office. Can scale a cliff, but don’t bother asking him to scan a document. GIOVANNI BETTIO Native of Venice. Can both order nihonshu and apologize for the consequences in fluent Japanese. Our Okinawa surfing expert. GLYN MANWARING-JONES Got the travel bug’s bite as a kid, canoeing in Northern Ontario. (On second thought, it may have been a mosquito.) Has lived in Montreal and Brazil, now brandishes a music degree instead of bug repellent. IRENA OSSOLA Hails from Northern Italy and Santa Fe. Road-hungry pro cyclist. Makes Batman look boring. JACOPO DI LORENZO Has hit up Kenyan missions, Australian horse farms and Thai beaches. Rome-born adventurer. Doesn’t crash a party—paraglides into it. JAMES BOYD Fearless climber. Prized in-house photographer. Studying with one of the great photographers of Spain. (Can get a terrific shot of saving you from a precipice.) JOHN BROOKS Born in Boston. Lives in France. Fell into guiding to prolong his stay in Europe. 20 years later, has settled in Burgundy. Manages a small wine domaine. (Good move, John.) JULIE MICHAUX Passionate. Spontaneous. Constantly makes new friends. Even atop a bike. And then paints portraits of them. KATJA PHILIPP A German living in Montreal, Katja is an avid cyclist who can’t imagine life without biking every day. When she is not guiding, she is a graphic designer. KATRIN PUETZ Katrin has been a cabinet-maker in Germany, a cheese-maker in the Swiss Alps, and a bull-
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catcher in the Australian outback. Now she’s working on a PhD. KIM HESSION Favourite hobbies: backcountry skiing, lobster fishing, river canoeing, treeplanting and crossword-solving. Exhausting just watching her. LEAH HOWE 10+ years with B&R. Rife with delicious contradictions. Likes duvets silky soft, burrata homemade (in her home, that is) and Barolo right out of the barrel. LEWIS EVANS Can order coffee in five European languages. Is often served a crusty cheese sandwich, but is terrific at pretending that’s what he wanted. LORENZO SANTAMARIA Born in Sicily. Based in Copenhagen. A bit of a nomad. But has a Sicilian’s love of family... and, fortunately, includes fellow travellers in that category. LOTTIE WILLIAMS-BURRELL Can expand your theatrical talents while blowing your mind. Funny. Fascinating. And adorably named. LUCA INNOCENTI Anyone who can hitchhike from Vietnam all the way to Italy can guide for B&R. LUCA PACCHIONI Was loaded into a camper van for a whirlwind Portugal trip at the age of eight. Now an Italian wanderer and aspiring Madrid architect. MARCELA CALDAS Colombia native. Architect. Designer. Lives in Paris and Barcelona. Rides horses in La Costa Brava. MARCOS GRELLET Has spent the past 18 years as both a marine biologist and continent-hopping travel writer. Or as we describe it: cuddling dolphins and wordsmithing. MARGOT CREPIN Dividing her time between France and Colombia, Margot is an avid biker, hiker and marathoner. She loves to talk about wine (in any of her four languages). MARIE-LEONA CHARPENTIER Completed her Master of Laws in Paris, Austria and Chile. She has an extensive travel résumé, but what we love most is her experience guiding 50-day canoe trips in Canada. MARIO KOCH Was a journalist in Jakarta before returning to Berlin to work as a film producer… and a sous-chef. Sprechen sie eclectic? MARJOLEIN ROELEVELD Amsterdamborn. Sports degrees in theatre and mime. Refuses to pretend she’s trapped in a box. But after a few pints of Columbus ale... MARKO MITIC Marko has been
GUIDES • BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON
Gerardo
Sakis & Erin
Amanda
on the slow road for years, whether riding his bike across continents or sailing around the Med. Managed to learn four languages along the way. NANCY TOWNS Lovable Spanish-speaking Hispanophile. Claims in a convincing tone that she loves biking Albanian mountain roads. In the winter. NIKOLAUS SIGRIST Nikolaus’ two-wheeled adventures have seen him guide in Germany, cycle from Vienna to Belgrade, and bike almost every inch of Cuba. OSCAR BIEDMA The kind of athlete who pedals out of a Vancouver driveway one morning and ends up in Mexico. All of our guides are “avid”… Oscar is more like “ravenous.” PAOLO MARAGLIULO Native of Puglia. Came to guiding the old fashioned way: a failed basketball career. Now a worldly genius who works in British theatre. RAFA PRIETO MARTIN Born in Spain. First word was aventura. (Repeated in German, English, Italian, Portuguese, French and Japanese.) Now lives the hard life on Brazilian beaches. REMI LAHAUSSOIS Sculptor. Winemaker. Homebuilder. Musician. Triathlete. Stop us at any time, Remi. RICHARD NUCCI King of the Alpine glaciers. Brilliant mountain trekker. Has organized bike expeditions all over Scandinavia and Europe. Obviously our soulmate. RICCARDO PASQUIN Born in a Venetian village. Wandered through Ireland, Bolivia and Portugal. Party trick: getting teary-eyed about il bel paese (the beautiful country). SAKIS MITSOULIS Master’s in fine art. Happily steeped in the finer things in life (probably how he ended up in the luxe boating industry). Eat very, very well when you’re with Sakis. SARAH LEWIS Master’s from the London School of Economics. Fluent in five languages. Has visited more countries than a diplomat. SCOTT MCEWEN Ditched a career in Canadian television to pursue cinema at the Sorbonne. And work with UNESCO. And conquer the Alps. SEBASTIAN ROMERO Our resident filmmaker and photographer extraordinaire. Native of Germany. Always one drink away from flopping down on the mountain to make snow angels. SEBASTIAN VAUTELIN
This natural born leader has done everything from teach primary school to start his own business and play the trumpet professionally. Talk about great chops. SJOERD VINK Born in southern Holland. Grew up on a bike. (It’s practically dictated by law there.) Less mandatory: becoming a hot yoga master. Just for fun: a degree from the Royal Academy of Art. SONIA TER HOVANESSIAN Our favourite Franco-Armenian jazz singer / classical flautist / budding photographer. Now calls Bologna home. Can serenade you in Italian. Yes, you will swoon. STEPHANIE GULLEDGE Has journeyed through Europe, South America and Asia on two wheels, but has been hinting (heavily) that she has a hankering for more mohinga in Myanmar. STEPHANO LOPEZ A native of Florence, he has travelled extensively in Europe, though his most recent adventure involved Grizzly bears in the Yukon. TATIANA BRISOLLA Brazilian. Biologist. Massage therapist. Proud new resident of France. Yoga teacher. Cyclist. We could go on. TABITA MIOTTO When this Northern Italian is not guiding for B&R, she’s either shaving off a few strokes from her golf game or tackling new hills on her bike. THILO ERHARDT B&R’s in-house chameleon. Throw him in the sea? He becomes an expert diver. Send him to the European Space Agency? He walks out with a job. A German Parisian everything. THOMASE FRIESE Has guided B&R travellers through Italy and central Europe for precisely a decade. Has no plans of stopping. Not that we’d let him. TIBOR BARNA Teaches in Asia. Gallivants around the world by bike. Did a 5,000 km bike trip through Southeast Asia. Should proooobably be the subject of a documentary. TIM RICHARDSON Our go-to guy in Bhutan, Nepal and his native New Zealand. Why? Can cook anything on a barbecue, cut a tree like a lumberjack and repair bikes like they’re made of Lego. Simultaneously. TIM SCHELLENBERGER Recently earned his Master’s. Brazil-based intellectual. Happily shuts off his brain every few days to dive, drum and DJ.
FOR DETAILED ITINERARIES, VISIT BUTTERFIELD.COM 85
BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON • SCHEDULED TRIPS CALENDAR ACT. LEVEL
HOTEL STYLE
13
O
Signature
$32,495
Amalfi Coast Walking
5
A
Signature
$7,795 / $2,900
Argentina Biking
6
N
Signature
$5,995 / $1,000
Atlantic France Coastal Biking
5
O
Signature
$5,495 / $700
Augusta Masters Golf
3
O
Signature
$5,995 / $800
Bali Active Expedition
8
R
Signature
$8,495 / $2,100
Bavarian Lakes Walking NEW!
5
R
Signature
$4,995 / $600
Beijing & Himalayas Active Expedition NEW!
8
O
Signature
$9,995 / $2,300
Berlin to Dresden Biking
5
O
Signature
$5,295 / $700
Bordeaux to Dordogne Biking
5
N
Signature
$5,695 / $1,200
Burgundy Biking
5
N
Signature
$4,995 / $800
Burgundy Biking
5
N
Bistro
$3,995 / $600
Cambodia to Vietnam Family Adventure
7
R
Signature
$6,995 / $1,500
Camino de Santiago Biking NEW!
5
N
Bistro
$3,795 / $500
Chile Biking
6
N
Signature
$6,995 / $900
Colombia Active Expedition
6
R
Signature
$5,695 / $1,000
Costa Brava Biking
5
R
Signature
$5,295 / $800
Cuba Active Expedition NEW!
6
R
Bistro
$7,995 / $1,300
Dalmatian Coast Biking
7
A
Signature
$7,395 / $2,600
Danube River Cruise Biking
7
R
Signature
$7,995 / $2,000
Denmark Biking
5
R
Signature
$6,495 / $700
Dolomites Family Adventure
5
R
Signature
$5,095 / $900
Douro Valley Walking NEW!
5
N
Signature
$4,795 / $400
Holland & Belgium Family Adventure
5
O
Bistro
$4,995 / $500
Holland Biking
5
O
Signature
$5,195 / $700
Indochina Walking NEW!
8
O
Signature
$6,995 / $1,500
Ireland Biking
5
N
Signature
$4,995 / $400
Italian Lakes Walking
5
N
Signature
$6,295 / $1,300
Japan Biking
7
A
Signature
$8,995 / $900
Loire Châteaux Biking
5
R
Signature
$5,295 / $700
Loire Valley Family Adventure
5
R
Signature
$5,295 / $900
Mallorca Walking
5
A
Signature
$5,795 / $1,800
Mekong Grand Journey NEW!
9
R
Signature
$19,495
Morocco Active Expedition
7
R
Signature
$8,495 / $3,100
Morocco Biking
5
R
Bistro
$4,495 / $700
TRIP
NIGHTS
Africa Grand Journey NEW!
PRICE FROM / SS
JAN 2
FEB 9
16
23
30
6
MAR 13
20
27
6
APR 13
20
27
3
24
1
8
15
22 28-2
19-25
2-8 8-11 25-2 11-19 14-19 28-2 10-17 21-26
19-25 8-14
19-25
2-8
5-11 28-2
3-9
15-21 28-4
21-26 10-15 13-18 23-28 30-5 26-6 21-26 10-17
7-12 1-10 22-29
19-26
19-24
5
R
Bistro
$4,395 / $700
9-14
Morocco Walking
6
N
Signature
$6,495 / $1,500
2-8
Mosel & Rhine River Biking NEW!
5
R
Bistro
$3,795 / $500
Munich to Salzburg Biking
5
R
Signature
$5,295 / $900
Myanmar to Thailand Active Expedition NEW!
7
O
Signature
$7,895 / $1,550
Newfoundland Walking
5
R
Signature
$5,995 / $1,800
Normandy & Brittany Biking
5
R
Signature
$4,995 / $800
Normandy Family Adventure
5
R
Signature
$5,295 / $700
Oman Walking NEW!
7
R
Signature
$6,995 / $1,500
Patagonia Expedition
8
N
Signature
$10,495 / $2,500
Patagonia Walking NEW!
6
N
Signature
$7,495 / $2,500
Peru Saveur Culinary Journey
6
O
Signature
$7,995 / $1,600
Peru Walking
6
A
Signature
$6,995 / $1,600
Piemonte Biking
5
N
Signature
$4,995 / $400
Piemonte to Portofino Walking
5
N
Signature
$5,795 / $1,400
Portugal Biking
5
R
Signature
$4,595 / $400
Prague to Vienna Biking
5
R
Signature
$4,995 / $700
Provence Luberon Biking
5
N
Signature
$4,995 / $1,000
Provence Rhone Biking NEW!
5
O
Signature
$5,295 / $500
Puglia Biking
5
R
Signature
$4,795 / $600
Puglia Family Adventure NEW!
5
R
Signature
$4,995 / $500
Quebec Biking
5
N
Signature
$4,995 / $1,000
Rhone River Cruise Biking NEW!
7
R
Signature
$7,995 / $2,000
Rioja Biking
5
N
Signature
$4,995 / $800
Sicily Walking NEW!
5
N
Signature
$4,995 / $400
Sri Lanka Active Expedition NEW!
9
N
Signature
$9,495 / $2,500
Switzerland E-Biking
5
R
Signature
$6,495 / $1,000
Tuscany & Umbria Walking
5
N
Signature
$4,595 / $700
Tuscany Biking
5
N
Signature
$5,295 / $900
Tuscany E-Biking NEW!
5
N
Signature
$5,295 / $900
Tuscany Family Adventure
5
N
Signature
$4,895 / $800
Vienna to Budapest Biking
5
O
Signature
$5,295 / $500
Vienna to Prague Biking
5
R
Bistro
$3,995 / $400
Vienna to Prague Family Adventure
5
R
Bistro
$3,995 / $400
Vietnam & Laos Biking NEW!
7
R
Signature
$7,895 / $800
Vietnam Biking
6
R
Signature
$5,995 / $1,200
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17
15-28
Morocco Family Adventure
■
MAY 10
■
1-8
20-27
3-10
9-17 19-25 28-6 24-30
8-14 17-23 28-2 28-2
30-5
28-2 21-26 28-2 21-26
25-30
16-21 28-2
9-14
30-5
14-19
17-26 14-19 7-12
25-1 6-12
12-18 21-27
SS: SINGLE SUPPLEMENT guarantees travellers their own room LEGEND: Biking Walking Multi-Active ACTIVITY LEVELS: O - Occasional, R - Recreational, N - Enthusiast, A - Avid, X - Expert. All prices in USD.
■
Family
■
12-18 Grand Journey
■
8-14 Culinary
8-15
21-26
29
SCHEDULED TRIPS CALENDAR • BUTTERFIELD & ROBINSON JUN TRIP
NIGHTS
Africa Grand Journey NEW!
5
JUL 12
19
26
3
AUG 10
17
24
31
7
SEP 14
21
28
OCT
4
11
18
25
2
NOV 9
16
23
30
6
DEC 13
20
27
4
11
18
25
13
Amalfi Coast Walking
5
Argentina Biking
6
Atlantic France Coastal Biking
5
25-30
15-21 4-9 18-23
Augusta Masters Golf
3
Bali Active Expedition
8
Bavarian Lakes Walking NEW!
5
Beijing & Himalayas Active Expedition NEW!
8
Berlin to Dresden Biking
5
Bordeaux to Dordogne Biking
5
11-16
Burgundy Biking
5
4-9
Burgundy Biking
5
11-16
Cambodia to Vietnam Family Adventure
7
Camino de Santiago Biking NEW!
5
Chile Biking
6
Colombia Active Expedition
6
Costa Brava Biking
5
Cuba Active Expedition NEW!
6
Dalmatian Coast Biking
7
Danube River Cruise Biking
7
Denmark Biking
5
Dolomites Family Adventure
5
Douro Valley Walking NEW!
5
Holland & Belgium Family Adventure
5
Holland Biking
5
Indochina Walking NEW!
8
Ireland Biking
5
Italian Lakes Walking
5
Japan Biking
7
Loire Châteaux Biking
5
Loire Valley Family Adventure
5
Mallorca Walking
5
Mekong Grand Journey NEW!
9
Morocco Active Expedition
7
Morocco Biking
5
24-29 3-8
19-27 18-23
2-7
20-25 10-15 16-21
24-29
6-11 20-25
3-8 17-22 27-1
1-6 1-6
24-29 24-31 27-3
18-23
17-22
1-6 22-28
12-18 16-22
2-7
3-8 17-22
1-6 23-30 30-7
9-16
20-27
19-24
3-10 17-24
17-22
28-2
3-8
11-16
31-5
11-16
3-8 26-1
8-13
24-29 31-8 2-7
4-9
13-18
3-8
2-7
10-15
24-29
1-6 4-11
11-16
25-30
16-21
30-4
27-1
18-23
18-25
17-22
6-11
4-9
17-22
8-13 4-11
1-8 22-27
5
Mosel & Rhine River Biking NEW!
5
11-16
16-21
Munich to Salzburg Biking
5
11-16
16-21
Myanmar to Thailand Active Expedition NEW!
6
Newfoundland Walking
5
Normandy & Brittany Biking
5
Normandy Family Adventure
5
24-29 15-21 13-18
29-4
3-8 10-15 17-22 30-6 10-17
24-29 25-30
9-14
7
Patagonia Expedition
8
Patagonia Walking NEW!
6
Peru Saveur Culinary Journey
6
Peru Walking
6
Piemonte Biking
5
Piemonte to Portofino Walking
5
Portugal Biking
5
Prague to Vienna Biking
5
Provence Luberon Biking
5
Provence Rhone Biking NEW!
5
18-23
Puglia Biking
5
11-16 13-18
Puglia Family Adventure NEW!
5
4-9 18-23
Quebec Biking
5
Rhone River Cruise Biking NEW!
7
Rioja Biking
5
Sicily Walking NEW!
5
Sri Lanka Active Expedition NEW!
9
Switzerland E-Biking
5
Tuscany & Umbria Walking
5
Tuscany Biking
5
Tuscany E-Biking NEW!
5
Tuscany Family Adventure
5
Vienna to Budapest Biking
5
Vienna to Prague Biking
5
Vienna to Prague Family Adventure
5
27-1
24-31
11-16
23-28
2-7
Oman Walking NEW!
7
21-29
11-16
27-1 2-7
6
6
21-26
25-30
Morocco Walking
Vietnam Biking
2-10 12-20
3-8 17-22 12-20
19-24
Morocco Family Adventure
Vietnam & Laos Biking NEW!
5-11
10-15 24-29
3-8 30-4 4-12 14-20 1-7
25-30
10-15
18-23
20-26
4-10
24-29
1-6
10-15 17-22
1-6
17-22 25-30 11-16
23-28
13-18
3-8
2-7
1-6
4-9 15-20 17-22
10-15
3-8 17-22 10-15
24-29
8-13
5-10 12-17 19-24 24-29 26-1 16-21
13-18
18-25 11-16
18-24
3-8
10-15
10-15
30-6
10-17
25-30
10-15
24-29 1-6 24-29 17-26
26-1
31-5
28-2
25-30
27-1
4-9 18-23
23-28 2-7
18-23
9-14
18-23
9-14
4-9
17-22 24-29
1-6
20-25 16-21
25-30
24-29
6-11
6-11
10-15 20-25
24-29
16-21 14-21
■
■
■
SS: SINGLE SUPPLEMENT guarantees travellers their own room LEGEND: Biking Walking Multi-Active ACTIVITY LEVELS: O - Occasional, R - Recreational, N - Enthusiast, A - Avid, X - Expert. All prices in USD.
■
Family
■
Grand Journey
■
Culinary
28-4
Contact your travel professional Butterfield.com 1.866.902.8977