Barry's blog posts

One of my first trips when I joined The Artisan Travel Company brought me to the beautiful island Gozo. After arriving at Malta airport, my taxi driver was already waiting for me and I was brought to the ferry port to board the ferry.

Already just the crossing from Malta to Gozo gave me a holiday feeling.

As I was so excited about the trip I almost forgot to pick up my luggage, but thankfully my friendly taxi driver reminded me to do so. My adventure could then finally begin.

I checked into my lovely room and had a wonder around the hotel, which has a converted 350 year old farmhouse as its central area.

The village of Xaghra is only a few minutes' walk away, so I decided to go and was positively surprised, to be honest. It is a small, picturesque village and also offers a historical heritage.

After I had seen the village, I decided to stroll back to my hotel and enjoy the rest of my day and the lovely sunshine.

As my grandma always used to say "to be on the move is good for your body and soul".

That is probably why I've always been a person who likes to leave the car in the garage and go for a walk.

There is nothing better after a long day at work or when you just want to escape daily life.

After I started working for The Artisan Travel Company, I had the opportunity to do this wonderful self-guided walking trip and as I really like walking and hiking this was the perfect trip for me. For safety reasons you are not allowed to do it by yourself, so I just had to convince my colleague Jono that walking can be great fun!

When we arrived at Ajaccio Airport our taxi driver brought us to our hotel, which was the perfect starting point to explore the city. It is only a couple of yards away from the beach, nice restaurants and the port. After checking into our rooms we had a wander around the city and a meet and greet with our local experts. They gave us a lot of tips for our walks and provided us with useful maps and route notes. We then finished off our day with a delicious dinner in a restaurant near to the port.

A self-drive trip with pre-booked hotels is probably one of the best ways for me to explore a country. I can set my own pace and decide which route I want to take and where I want to stop. The key point for me, however, is that I don't have to worry about the accommodation as everything is already booked for me. I could simply enjoy the drive along this beautiful island. I can tell you - driving on the right side of the road is easier than you think and you get used to it very quickly!

After a short flight from London I arrived in Corsica on a beautiful sunny day. As I landed, the island welcomed me with nice, warm sunshine - a brilliant start.

After I picked up my rental car at the airport, it was only a short drive to my first stop. I checked into my hotel and immediately went for a wander around. The hotel is perfectly situated, as it is just walking minutes away from the beach, the beautiful port and lovely restaurants.

Birthdays – experiences for all ages to mark that special day

Artisan Travel is about exceptional experiences and what better way to mark a special birthday (or any birthday for that matter) than by creating incredible memories? Whether you are travelling on your own, with a loved one or with a whole group of people - we can help you to mark the occasion in the way you see fit.

Age is no restriction as we can work with our local partners to customise the holiday to suit all ages. Over the years, we have had people travel to celebrate their 21st, 30th and 90th birthdays (with most of the ages in between too) and whilst the itineraries may have varied a little, the special memories that were created did not.

That Bucket List Feeling

"A number of experiences or achievements that a person hopes to have or accomplish during their lifetime." Source: Oxford English Dictionary

Dream fulfilment is all the rage right now and as our knowledge of this amazing planet grows, the list of “must see” and “must do” experiences seems to lengthen almost daily. Currently, there appears to be a move away from the gathering of material possessions and a burgeoning trend towards the accumulation of a different kind of wealth, a wealth based on experience and memory. From whale watching to swimming with dolphins, dog sledding to the Northern Lights, our precious travel time is increasingly devoted to ticking off bucket list items and, bucket list destinations.

This is exactly what drives us here at Artisan Travel. We are not in the travel industry to become rich in monetary terms because we believe that there are far greater riches to be found during our journeys to remarkable and unforgettable destinations. 

As we travel, we question everything because local knowledge is what we believe leads us to the greatest experiences. All our trips are designed in conjunction with our local partners in the destination to ensure that an Artisan Travel holiday ticks all the important boxes.

There is so much to see and so much to do in this life and not a huge amount of time in which to do it all. Through our extensive and, admittedly, not exactly arduous research, we aim to make it easy for our clients to fulfil their bucket list ambitions.

In essence, we are your shortcut to the best possible holiday. 

Celebrate in style – no excuse needed!

Any reason for a celebration is a good thing in our book! Many of our clients choose one of our holidays to celebrate something that is important to them and the reasons for the celebrations have always been wide ranging. Previous clients have travelled to mark milestones such as a wedding anniversary, a retirement, a graduation, paying off a mortgage, a family reunion, a proposal (more on that below), a divorce, the fact that the kids are old enough to stay with their grandparents and simply being healthy and able to travel!

They're honeymoons but not as you know them

After all of the stress of the wedding planning and the elation of the day has subsided, you need something truly remarkable to look forward to. Our range of experiences has been handcrafted to provide you with an unforgettable start to married life, taking you way beyond the sun, sea and sand and making sure the memories will last you a lifetime.

We have been arranging honeymoons and mini-moons for clients for many years. Our local partners know all of the little secret-escapes and exclusive extras that can be created in their destination for newly-weds and we will work with you to customise our holidays to suit you.