Classic Journeys vs Myths and Mountains - Tour Companies Compared

Classic Journeys began in 1995 and has since carved out a unique niche in the luxury travel market, providing high end travel with an adventurous twist, all over the world.

What Makes Them Stand Out

They describe themselves as having “sophisticated gusto” an apt way to get an idea of their travel style. It’s luxury travel but not the stuffy sort. In France, you might find yourself in the chateaux-lined Loire Valley or the lavender fields of Provence. In Italy, you might walk the Amalfi Coast or through Sardinia. In Southeast Asia, you can meet the locals while walking through Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. In North America, you might explore Nova Scotia's coast or the streets of Savannah and Charleston. In Latin America, Cuba, Costa Rica, Belize and Chile are all possibilities. As Classic Journeys puts it: "We meet and mingle…in markets, vineyards, piazzas and homes." And always at a relaxed pace.

Who Travels With Them

Many of their customers are independent minded travelers who are fed up with planning the logistics. As such they focus on keeping an element of spontaneity in their trips. You’ll enjoy their itineraries if you enjoy unique local experiences combined with the luxury that comes with having everything expertly taken care of. Group size ranges between 10 and 18 on their walking, culinary, and family tours, and they can also arrange private custom itineraries.

Where Do They Operate

They arrange trips all over the globe, from South America to New Zealand. A majority of trips are in France, Italy, Canada, and the United States.

Why Travel With Them

They emphasise keeping the feeling of spontaneous, authentic local travel in their approach to guided travel. You can choose from between specialized itineraries in four main “buckets”: Cultural Walking Adventures, Culinary Tours, Family Multi-Sport, and Private Journeys. Local guides will provide a deeper perspective as you experience each destination from all sides, through unique and immersive cultural activities, never losing the element of luxury travel.

Since it was founded in 1988, Myths and Mountains has endeavored – and succeeded – in immersing travelers deeply in the culture of destinations where they conduct both group and custom-designed trips. Each itinerary is focused upon one or more “core concepts” intended to provide unique insights into a destination.

What Makes Myths & Mountains Stand Out?

The concepts around which each trip is planned are not intended to limit participants’ experiences. Instead, they provide inspiration to explore a destination more deeply and fully, based upon the unique attributes of the local culture.

For example, depending upon the destination, the “Culture and Crafts” focus might include learning traditional crafts or cooking local delicacies. “Natural Healing” and “Traditional Medicine” may visit a shaman festival or include a visit with indigenous healers in a rainforest. There also are itineraries that explore the “Environment and Natural History” of a destination, and “Religion and Pilgrimage Sites.”

Who Will Enjoy Traveling With Myths & Mountains?

Travelers with Myths and Mountains are seeking to delve below the surface of a country and its culture, and meet and interact with its people. These trips are intended to provide an immersive experience, exploring through doing and getting to know individuals.

If your ideal trip challenges your perspective in ways you never saw coming, provides avenues through which to go off the beaten path, and explores well beyond the classic tourist spots then the Myths & Mountains approach could be for you.

These trips are not for those travelers who are looking to stay in 5 star hotels, or pack a lot of activities in each day. Expect modest but comfortable lodgings, you will be active during the day, and spend a good amount of time outside or in rural areas getting to know the locals.

People who travel with Myths and Mountains to Nepal, India, or Bhutan also have an opportunity to learn first-hand about the company-supported READ Global centers there.

Those self-sustaining projects provide education and community development to residents of isolated villages. In the past two decades, the close to 80 READ (Rural Education and Development) centers that have been established continue to improve the lives of people in countless ways.

Top Destinations

Given its goal of introducing travelers to life-changing experiences, it’s not surprising that Myths and Mountains steers clear of more tourist-trodden destinations. It offers guided trips to six countries in each of Asia and Southeast Asia. A “Customize Your Trip” link to each planned itinerary described on the website enables those who wish to do so to tailor a tour to their own interests and preferences.

Myths & Mountains Travel Style

The term “off the beaten path” gets thrown around a lot these days, but Myths & Mountains creates itineraries with this in mind, and in a more authentic and true way than most. This is somewhat due to the destinations themselves that they specialize in.

Depending upon the location, Myths and Mountains augments familiar ways of getting around with modes of transportation that are indigenous to a destination. They include trekking through stunning landscapes, exploring caves in a sea canoe and hiking over lava fields to a volcano.

Why Choose a Tour with Myths & Mountains?

The Myths and Mountains approach to immersing travelers in the essence of a destination is a major reason why it attracts a very high percentage of repeat clients. You will return home with not only new understanding about a part of the world but also with memories of very personal experiences that will linger for the rest of their lives.

For Myths and Mountains, the belief that “There is no such thing as one itinerary fits all” is not just a slogan. It’s the way the company does business. As a result, travelers benefit in ways well beyond only seeing a destination.

They get to know and understand its history, environment, and especially the people who live there. They come away with an understanding of a new and different society that results from being a participant in its traditions and mores, rather than just an observer.