Crouching agent, hidden extras: What are the little known inclusions in group tours?

Crouching agent, hidden extras: What are the little known inclusions in group tours?
By Hannah Edensor


Immersive travel is becoming increasingly popular as travellers continue to place more value on cultural authenticity and intimate experiences at their desired destination.

Whether it is the evocative swirl of nature or a bustling city, immersive adventures are guaranteed to leave the senses tingling.

Fortunately, group tours are often led by local guides and contain hidden perks that allow you to truly delve into the heart of a country.

Connect with locals: Trafalgar

The rich history of a location is often concealed between the local peoples’ lips.

Their stories speak volumes and group tours shine a light on their day-to-day life.

Trafalgar’s Be My Guest portion of its itineraries allows travellers to be the exclusive guest of locals in their home.

In its Best of France trip, Beatrice opens up her rural 17th-century French estate and proudly shares her farm and the family stories within that vast land, along with her famous chocolate cake.

Most travellers strive to speak to locals to learn more, but cities flooded with tourists and language barriers often eliminate this possibility.

Guided tours like this one overcome these obstructions.

Travel in style with a private chauffeur: Collette

Often arranging transport to the airport can be the most stressful aspect of travelling, and anything off – schedule can easily leave a sour taste that lingers at the beginning of a trip.

Collette offers a private chauffeur service for all tour customers that live within 40 kilometres of an Australian international airport.

A uniformed driver in an executive car collects tour customers from their homes taking them directly to the international departure terminal.

The private chauffeur sets the tone for a comfortable and seamless trip that Collette commits to maintain throughout the entire tour experience.

On arrival back home, the driver will promptly wait at the arrivals terminal too.

Learn the exotic art of belly dancing: Globus

The behind-the-scenes activities that cast a spotlight on what makes a destination unique are often the most exclusive and exciting.

Whether fond of dancing or not, passing up an opportunity to learn to belly dance in Istanbul would be crazy.

Globus features this unique experience in its Vienna to Istanbul tour that spans Croatia, Bosnia, Macedonia and Turkey.

The tour concludes in Istanbul where travellers are exposed to the fusion of the Islamic and Christian world and the accompanying turbulent history.

Learning to belly dance offers the perfect farewell.

While belly dancing may be easy to learn, the professionals will prove that it is difficult to master – something to work on for the journey home.

Knit with local village women in Southern India: Abercrombie & Kent

Travellers who immerse themselves into local villages return home both fulfilled and inspired.

And if learning to knit has ever been on the bucket list, there is no better place to be taught than Southern India.

Abercrombie & Kent’s Hand in Hand journey to Southern India provides travellers with the opportunity to participate in an inspiring day spent with local village women near Pondicherry who are being empowered through knitting.

After visiting their modest homes, guests are invited to enjoy vegetarian fare with the locals and are then instructed in the art of sari tying.

As a memorable keepsake, travellers are given a unique hand-knitted woollen garment, which the women have produced.

Listen to campfire stories with Botswana’s Ghanzi Bushmen: Peregrine 

Hearing primitive stories from the locals can be a culture shock, but it is also an eyeopener that allows tech-reliant travellers to gain some perspective.

Peregrine’s Experience Botswana tour covers some of sub-Saharan Africa’s most impressive lands and reveals a hotbed of wildlife.

The safari-style adventure concludes with a festive evening joined by the San Bushmen.

Travellers can learn about the Kalahari – the largest sand basin in the world – and a desert full of rich history.

The knowledgeable San people will sing and dance with travellers by the campfire before everyone turns in for the night at the San Bushmen Lodge.

Meet a local Umbrian olivegrower: Insight Vacations

As locations like Italy become extensively popular with tourists, carefully curating future memories is essential to ensure a rewarding and authentic experience.

And often that requires exploring paths still waiting to be trodden.

Insight Vacations’ experiences in Italy include meeting Francesco, an Umbrian olive-grower who can show travellers around his farm and treat them to a taste of the delicious artisan oil freshly produced at his mill.

Travellers have the opportunity to immerse themselves in Francesco’s way of life and at the same time appreciate the effort that goes into their food production, as well as supporting a local business.

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