What Exactly Is a Bespoke Private Tour?
Before jumping into what the best destination for you and your family for the next bespoke private tour is, let’s just clarify what a bespoke private tour is. Bespoke private tours are the next big thing in the travel industry, giving travellers the best and the safest option according to their budgets and financial capabilities to explore the regions or countries in their own manner.
Bespoke private tours are like a bespoke suit that you wear to a grand occasion. Suppose you wear a suit that is a bit large in the shoulders, bulky in the body, and longer than you want. You will never look good, right?
Travelling is just like that. Imagine going on a tour, to a new place, but with others on board, and you don’t have the control of where you stay, what you want to see and when you want to conclude your journey or how you want to conclude your journey. Bespoke private tours are the perfect option to escape all this hassle.
For someone who is an expert in travelling, you might not need the explanation why private tours are the best tours. As someone who has been travelling since college, I can safely say that, if you want to explore a region or a country peacefully, no option is better than private tour options.
Private tour options allow you to take charge of your visit and how you visit it. Suppose that you are in a group with someone who talks nonstop. How could you enjoy a lovely sunset in the evening or a nice sip of coffee in a hilltop cafe?
This is the luxury that you want to experience. Don’t just travel for the sake of travelling. Travelling should be done in a meaningful and mindful manner. With a bespoke private tour, you will get the maximum out of any region or county with the added luxury of privacy and being with your people.
These bespoke tours can vary from private art walks in Florence to a helicopter ride in African grasslands. And these bespoke tours also give a unique taste to each and every travelling journey you embark on.
Whether you and your friends have been to the exact location or not, with the exclusivity and the unique nature, you will always get the edge over your mates.
Why More Australians Over 40 Are Choosing Bespoke Travel
If you were ever thinking about it, you might be the only one asking for these kinds of custom-made tours from your tour operator, let me tell you, it is not. Most of the people, especially folks over 40 in Australia, are looking into these kinds of custom-made tours, and the reasons are pretty obvious.
The first thing is the insane personalisation features that ours offers. Whether booking a tour that takes you to multiple places or a tour that lasts multiple days, the personalisation features are over the top. With this personalisation feature comes freedom.
You don’t need to hang out with people you don’t like. You don’t need to get into a busload of strangers and hope to get along with them. You can enjoy your time and do what you love on the tour. You can prioritise your interests and comforts over the greater good and have the best custom-made tour possible.
When you reach 40, a midlife, you tend to prioritise time and experiences over stuff anyone can buy online. I do the same. Time is our most valuable asset.
You all have worked hard to reach this point and have endured many hardships to make a dream life for your kids and family. So now it is your time to enjoy what this world truly offers. You can go straight to the flavour without the additional fillers and stuff.
These tours also allow you to be customised according to your needs. Being a middle-aged person, you might not have the pace and mobility of an 18-year-old. So, if you are teamed up with a bunch of 18-year-olds on a tour, you might have a hard time keeping up.
So, to avoid these unnecessary hassles of travelling life, these bespoke private tours allow you to customise your tour according to your health, especially your pace and mobility. Whether you want to go for a multi-day hike or just a relaxing evening at the beach, bespoke private tours offer everything you need.
Privacy and intimacy of these customised tours are perfect for anyone who needs to escape the world’s chaos and spend some quiet time at their favourite location. Families and groups of friends mostly select these private bespoke tours, but they are becoming quite popular among lovers and honeymooners.
Another great thing about these private bespoke tours is that you can experience unique things that a basic tour group might not experience. You will get the opportunity to experience the private viewing of a specific location, behind the scenes, or even a chef’s table experience.
It’s a tour, not a school excursion, so no name tags, no whistles. Just you and your people enjoy the fullest time of your life.
What Can a Bespoke Private Tour Look Like?
If you haven’t been on a bespoke private tour, you might not know the value and the experience these tours offer. So, I will explain some of the best bespoke private tours I have been on and what I experienced in each.
My first ever private bespoke tour was to Italy. This is the tourist paradise. From rolling hills, white sandy beaches, and fantastic food, Italy has the best environment to enjoy a perfect private customised tour.
A customised private tour in Italy would take you anywhere and everywhere. When we got there, we got to go on a private Vatican art tour with an art historian. So we didn’t have to wait in line; all we did was enjoy the best of the Vatican with ease, comfort, and style.
We also went truffle hunting in Tuscany, where the rolling hills meet the sky. After hours spent collecting these special gems in the culinary world, we participated in a private cooking class that offered insights into this great culinary delight.
Another location I very fondly remember, where I embarked on a private bespoke tour, is Japan. This Asian country offered some of the most authentic and traditional scenes I have ever witnessed. From skyscrapers to mountains that touch the clouds, Japan is a nation with truly great wonders.
I spent my time in a luxury ryokan, with a tea ceremony guided by a tea master. I got to where the kimonos are everything, and the guided master taught me to feel like I am a local. These kinds of experiences are never possible with the hassles of group tours.
Another memorable thing that I embarked on while in Japan was going on a Kyoto garden tour. This was also guided by an expert who explained the best aspects of the garden, its importance, and what it represents in Japanese culture.
Another exciting destination to try our first bespoke private tour is Africa. The region is home to many different countries, where you can explore dramatic game drives and safari drives to amazing sandbanks far away from the main island.
One of my favourite countries when it comes to Africa is South Africa. South Africa is the heart of African countries and offers everything in abundance for you to enjoy. Whether it is an intense safari ride through the jungle or a relaxing evening at the beach, this country caters easily to every type of traveller.
During my time in South Africa, I embarked on a private helicopter ride tour, where the pilot allowed me to control the helicopter for a brief minute or two. That was one of the most surreal experiences in my life. The private tour concluded by going over a large forest reserve where I spotted wild animals from a bird’s-eye view, which was really spectacular in its sense.
Another fascinating country that most people tend to miss is Mozambique. This great eastern African region is home to some of the most spectacular beaches, where you can relax and unwind while looking at the setting sun on the horizon. While in Mozambique, I went on a private sandbank tour, where we spent a whole day on a sandbank away from the main island. We enjoyed freshly caught fish from the ocean in BBQ style and more.
Another favourite bespoke travel destination is the little island off the coast of India, Sri Lanka. This small island packs a real punch and is regarded as one of the best tourist destinations in the world. The people are very friendly and the climate is really amazing. If you want a tropical beachy vibe, you can travel south of the country, and if you are craving a colder climate, like in the UK, you can go to the hill country, which is located centrally in the country. Amazing thing is, it will only take about 3 hours to experience this change. Crazy, isn’t it?
While in Sri Lanka, one of my favourite things is to go on a safari ride in Yala or Wilpattu National Reserves. As an avid photographer, I will not miss any chance to take amazing captures of the leopards in this national reserve. Regular tours would make you pair up with other travellers and locals, but being in a private bespoke tour increases the chances of privacy and even witnessing these amazing creatures in the wild.
Another favourite thing is embarking on a tea tour in the hilly country. With the cold climate, Sri Lanka has been the number one tea producer for a long time. These private tea tours are usually guided by a person with vast knowledge of the tea history in Sri Lanka, and offer the best insights into the industry’s history.
These are the real luxuries we need to enjoy while travelling. Not a crowd of tour buses and just a timed tour where you can barely experience anything at all. No tour follows the “one size fits all” policy. Every tour is unique to you and you only. Because the idea of your luxury might be spending a day on the beach in bare feet, while my idea of luxury might be spending time in a first-class cabin on a glacier. So, own your journey rather than being part of someone else’s.
How Does It Actually Work? Behind the Curtain of Bespoke Planning
Now you might know everything you need to know about bespoke tours and private, custom-made travels. But you might be curious about how these things work. You might be wondering if these travels are more complicated than regular travel.
Yeah, for a part, you are correct. These travels are harder if you don’t connect with the right travel partner to maximise the bespoke private tour experience. Here’s a beginner’s guide to how these bespoke private tours work.
First of all, the first thing about any travelling plan is to finalise who is participating and when is the date you are planning to take the vacation. After these initial hurdles are surpassed, we can focus on the bigger picture.
Then, contact many travel advisors, and try to explain to them your needs. Give as many details as possible. The more details, the greater the chance the travel advisor understands your needs. Make sure to consult as many travel advisors. Through the years of travelling, I have seen that most of the time, people just get opinions from one person. That is fine if the person you are getting information from is reliable. If not going for many people and getting the required information is good.
Then, after consulting with a travel advisor, you can go towards the destination you want to cover, the theme of the trip, and what experiences you would like to enjoy. This is one of the most fun aspects of a bespoke private tour. If you are going with your partner, you can get to know him or her better and their likes and dislikes. Make this a fun experience, take a moodboard and go full-on.
Then comes the hard part. Iterative planning. Plan the trip according to your group’s needs and talk them through until a final plan is made. This helps avoid unnecessary instances and hassles you might encounter during the visit, and helps you prepare for if something happens as well.
Then you can take care of all the logistics. The restaurants, bookings, transfers, guides and all those things. This is also a tricky part, and this is the part that you need the help of your travel advisor the most.
And during your custom-made tour, it is important to maintain communication with your travel advisor. As this is a custom, if you need to change the plans or the itineraries, communicating clearly with your travel advisor would help massively.
If you are looking for a travel advisor for travelling in the beautiful island nations of Sri Lanka and the Maldives, look no further than Sesatha Travel. Think of us as your travel concierge-meets-genie—minus the bottle.
Tips for Making the Most of Your Bespoke Private Tour
Here are some tips for making your bespoke private travel the greatest journey you have ever been on.
- Knowing yourself:
The first step to having any great trip is knowing yourself. Knowing what you want, what you like will make you have a great tour and enjoy the best of the tour.
If you are someone who used to travel a lot in their twenties, like me, just go down memory lane and think, am I the same person now? Understanding these kinds of things will help you make a realistic bespoke tour while focusing on what you can do and what is beyond your limits.
- Prioritise experiences over box ticking:
Custom bespoke tours are not about box-ticking. If you plan to go on a box-ticking tour, I don’t think a custom-made tour might be the best option. But if you like to have a good time and have the best life experience in a totally different place, climate and culture, welcome aboard. You are someone worthy of bespoke travel plans.
- Be Honest About your needs:
Most people who embark on bespoke travels tend to hide their true needs and values from their travel advisors. Keep in mind, sharing these thoughts will only make your tour better. So, when consulting with travel advisors, make sure to share as much information as you can.
- Stay open to suggestions:
Most travel advisors are well-versed in our travel destinations. And they might provide great suggestions and options according to your needs. Make sure to be open to these suggestions. As the final say is yours, you can also take an amount of information and consider what’s best for you.
- Trust your travel advisor:
As you have gone through a rigorous process to choose the travel advisor that best suits your needs, have full faith in him. Make sure that he understands your needs and help him make the bespoke travel the best.
Choosing the Right Bespoke Travel Partner
If you are now intrigued by bespoke travelling and are looking for a bespoke travel partner, I can safely recommend you to Sesatha Travel. With over years of experience, Sesatha Travel has set the way for bespoke travel in Australia.
It has a much more refined focus on island nations such as Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Sesatha Travel promises a bespoke tour that will blow your mind away. From dreamy beach vacations to forest treks in greenery, you can customise your tour however you like with Sesatha Travel.
With multiple local partners and experience in luxury travelling, Sesatha Travel always try to give you the best options for bespoke travel plans. Avoid the standard travel itineraries; make your itinerary special and unique with Sesatha Travel.
Learn More: Sri Lankan Bespoke Guide
We will ensure that you receive the best value for your money and that your needs are met to the highest possible standard. With the focus being on satisfying our travellers, we always look for the best options out there for you to enjoy.
With years of experience living and travelling in these two island nations, we can ensure that you will get to visit the best hidden gems in both of these countries. From hidden beaches to hidden sunrise spots in cold mountains, we can arrange the travel for you.
Suppose this is your big day. You wouldn’t hire a wedding planner from Craigslist, right? Your travels deserve the same care.
Your Journey, Your Way—Why Wait?
Travel isn’t just about ticking boxes anymore—it’s about curating memories that are as unique as you are. A Bespoke Private Tour is your golden ticket to a deeper, richer, and more rewarding kind of travel experience. It’s about crafting a journey that moves with you, reflects your passions, respects your pace, and offers you the kind of luxury and freedom that mass tourism simply can’t replicate.
You’ve put in the hard yards. You’ve earned the right to explore the world on your terms, without compromise. Now, it’s time to make travel personal again. To escape the noise, the crowds, the cookie-cutter itineraries, and step into a world where the journey is shaped just for you. Where you can sip wine with the winemaker, sleep under African skies, or find yourself lost in a secret garden in Kyoto—with no tour guide herding you along with a whistle.
If you’re ready to take that first step into a new world of travel, why not start today? Get in touch with us for a free discovery session—we’ll chat about your dream trip, your travel style, and exactly how we can help bring it to life. No pressure, no salesy talk—just a friendly conversation to spark your imagination.
