Road trip
A car, a loose route and a few bases, each two to four nights apart.
- Plan drives of three hours or less on most days.
- Arrive at each base in daylight.
- Leave one day with no driving at all.
Plan it yourself
Independent trips, independent places.
Build a realistic trip outline in a minute, with stays and experiences run by real people, at every budget.
How do you travel?
Three ways to plan independently
Multi-stop journey
Two or three bases linked by train, ferry or a short flight.
- Fewer, longer stops beat many short ones.
- Put the hardest transfer early, when you have energy.
- Keep your luggage to what you can carry up stairs.
City break
One neighbourhood you get to know properly, with a day trip or two.
- Choose the neighbourhood before the hotel.
- Book one special meal, leave the rest to chance.
- A day trip earns its place if the journey is part of it.
Where we can help you plan now
We start small and cover each place properly.
Italy
Sardinia
Best as a road trip. The coast is the draw, but the island's heart is inland, and distances are longer than the map suggests.
New Zealand
New Zealand: South Island
A road trip, unhurried. The scenery is the itinerary; the risk is trying to cover too much of it.
Portugal
Lisbon
A city break. Pick a neighbourhood, walk everywhere, and add Sintra or the coast by train.
Stay with people, not brands
We put stand-alone, family-run and small local businesses first: the guesthouse with a story, the guide who grew up there. Larger hotels appear only when they are genuinely the right answer, and we say so.
- Stand-alone One owner, one place
- Family-run A family business
- Small group A few places, still local
- Larger operator When it's the right answer