Luxury Travel Newsletter Autumn/Winter 2008

Bhutan in Photos

Our excellent guides open doors throughout Bhutan

Hidden in the Himalayas and virtually frozen in time, Bhutan is a traditional Buddhist kingdom that continues to be one of our most popular destinations. For our tours, we’ve selected Bhutan’s best guides, inspected every luxury hotel in the country, and chosen the very best in terms of location, facilities and overall experience. Here’s a note—and slide show—from clients who just returned from a Bhutan tour with Artisans of Leisure:

We wanted to write to say thank you for our amazing trip. Bhutan was incredible. It was one of the most beautiful countries we’ve been to and the people are so warm and friendly. We have traveled quite extensively and must say that our guide in Bhutan was one of the best we’ve ever had. He was thoughtful, knowledgeable and friendly, and he really went out of his way to show us the local culture. It was such a pleasure to be with him for the entire week. We are so glad we took your advice on the hotels. We are already thinking about our next Artisans of Leisure trip and will be in touch.
~ M. David, New York

Launch Bhutan slide show

Family Travel Our Way

Launch Morocco slide show

Why We Love Portugal

We recently traveled throughout Portugal to update our Portugal tours and have concluded that the country is truly one of the best-kept secrets for luxury travelers. Portugal combines much of what we love about Morocco and Europe: beautiful backstreets lined with buildings covered in Moorish tiles, a temperate year-round climate, fascinating history, elegant hotels and outstanding cuisine.

Tiles at the Sintra Palace

For a great, week-long getaway to Portugal any time of year, our favorite tour is Exclusive Portugal. This luxurious escape features the incomparable Lapa Palace as a base for exploring the best of Lisbon; excursions to stunning towns such as Sintra, a heavenly hill town of country manors and gardens, fairy-tale castles covered in tiles, and mountaintop vistas framed by trees; and the Alentejo, a region of vineyards, olive groves, Roman ruins and prehistoric megaliths. On all of our Portugal tours, our excellent guides and drivers are indispensable for navigating narrow medieval streets, finding hidden restaurants and specialty shops, and revealing Portugal’s rich brocade of Jewish, Moorish and other historic sites.

Portugal also happens to be one of Europe’s best values, and it easily combines with Spain or Morocco to create a compelling tour of the region and its interconnected cultural histories.

Discover Dubai

The Real Japan

Venture into the heart of Japanese culture with a visit to a private home in Kyoto

Travelers constantly ask us to arrange for them to experience “the real Japan.” We wouldn’t dream of offering our travelers anything else. But “real” can mean different things to different people. That’s why we use our unparalleled level of knowledge of Japan—we’ve spent years living in the country, have contacts throughout and return regularly—to customize every tour according to personal interests.

Most of our travelers appreciate experiencing Japan in all its traditional and modern flavors: evocative hidden temples and masterpieces of contemporary architecture, centuries-old traditional crafts shops and frenetic stores piled high with the latest gadgets, upscale neighborhoods and trendy shopping streets, elegant kaiseki ryori meals and sampling snacks in department store food halls.

To find out more about our Japan tours, or to begin customizing your own experience of the real Japan, contact one of our travel specialists.

Private Israel

Explore Israel with experts in the local culture and history

Our Israel tours are designed for travelers who want a sophisticated private tour of Israel’s history, culture and religious heritage, with an emphasis on luxury and, of course, safety.

A highlight is the opportunity to explore Israel accompanied by our incredibly knowledegable guides, who provide an insider's perspective on everyday life in Israel, introducing our travelers to their favorite baklava shops, the best vendors for Jerusalem bagels, and little-known—and less crowded—beaches on the Dead Sea. All of our Israel tours include the most interesting historic and cultural sites in the country, from the Old City of Jerusalem to Bauhaus architecture in Tel Aviv.

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