Orra Private Journeys

Departures Départs · Partenze · Abfahrt

London --:--

Illustrative departures: journeys our specialists are designing
TimeDestinationViaServiceStatus
06:40KUMANO KODOKYOTOJP 04BOARDING
07:15SALINAPALERMOIT 02ON TIME
08:05TORRES DEL PAINESANTIAGOCL 07DRAFT SENT
08:50LOFOTENBODONO 09DESIGNING
09:30TOUBKALMARRAKECHMA 11ON TIME
10:10SKELETON COASTWINDHOEKNA 05DRAFT SENT
11:25OKAVANGO DELTAMAUNBW 02DESIGNING
12:00NAOSHIMAOKAYAMAJP 08DESIGNING

Illustrative board · journeys in design this week

Journeys designed from scratch, by people who have been.

No packages and no catalogue. Tell us who you are travelling with and what you want to feel; a specialist who has walked the route draws the whole journey around you.

Speak to a specialist See sample journeys
An empty Belle Époque station hall at golden hour, a single traveller walking away beneath the iron-and-glass roof
Every journey leaves from a conversation, not a brochure.

How a journey is made

Four stages, one person. The specialist you first speak to is the one who drafts your route, refines it with you, and picks up the phone when the ferry is cancelled.

  1. Day 1

    The first conversation

    A specialist calls within one working day and asks more questions than you expect: who is coming, what went wrong last time, what you would happily never do again. There is no form to fill in and no fee.

  2. Week 1–2

    The drafted route

    You receive a first draft in plain language, with the shape of each day and the reasons behind it. It is deliberately unfinished, because you are going to tell us what is wrong with it.

  3. Week 2–4

    Refinement

    We change the draft until it fits, swapping lodges, moving nights and removing anything that looks better on paper than it will feel at 7 a.m. Only when you are content do we begin to book.

  4. Departure and after

    Travelling

    A line staffed by people who know your itinerary is open twenty-four hours a day while you are away. Your specialist is on the end of it, or briefed and ready, whichever the time zone requires.

Sample journeys

Starting points, not products. Each one is a route a specialist has travelled and would happily tear up for you.

The Kii Peninsula & Kyoto

JP 04Japan · 14 nights

Kyoto's temples at a civilised hour, then three days on the Kumano Kodo pilgrim trail, ending in an onsen.

  1. Tokyo
  2. Kyoto
  3. Koyasan
  4. Kumano Kodo
  5. Yunomine Onsen
  6. Nara

SeasonLate Mar–May · Oct–Nov

Drawn byMei Tanaka

See the timetable

The High Atlas & the Atlantic

MA 11Morocco · 9 nights

Marrakech for two nights only, then Berber villages, a mountain pass and the cool wind of Essaouira.

  1. Marrakech
  2. Imlil valley
  3. Tizi n'Test
  4. Taroudant
  5. Essaouira

SeasonMar–May · Sep–Nov

Drawn byInês Albuquerque

See the timetable

Patagonian Estancias, Both Sides of the Andes

CL 07Chile & Argentina · 12 nights

Sheep stations in Torres del Paine and on Lago Argentino, linked by horseback, the Fitz Roy trail and one border crossing.

  1. Santiago
  2. Torres del Paine
  3. Lago Argentino
  4. El Chaltén
  5. El Calafate

SeasonNov–Mar

Drawn byTomás Reyes

See the timetable

Sicily & the Aeolian Islands

IT 02Italy · 10 nights

Palermo's markets, three nights on Salina, a volcano at dusk and Baroque Ortigia, all with the minimum of luggage.

  1. Palermo
  2. Salina
  3. Stromboli
  4. Etna
  5. Ortigia

SeasonMay–Jun · Sep–Oct

Drawn byInês Albuquerque

See the timetable
All six sample journeys

On the board

Twenty-four places, each with a specialist who knows the back roads. Pick one, or ask about somewhere that isn't here.

The full departures index

Your conductors

The house rule is simple: nobody at Orra designs a route they haven't travelled themselves.

  • Portrait of Inês Albuquerque

    Inês Albuquerque

    Mediterranean & North Africa · Lisbon

    “I will always choose the table that has no menu, and I will tell you which one it is.”

    • Palermo → Salina by hydrofoil
    • Marrakech → Essaouira over the Tizi n'Test
    • Lisbon → Comporta by the Tagus ferry and a back road
    • Naples → Procida in the off-season
  • Portrait of Tomás Reyes

    Tomás Reyes

    Patagonia, the Andes & the Arctic · London

    “I have been wet on four continents and I can tell you exactly which coat was worth it.”

    • Puerto Natales → Torres del Paine by estancia road
    • Trondheim → Bodø on the Nordland Line
    • Cusco → Aguas Calientes the slow way
    • El Calafate → El Chaltén by early bus
  • Portrait of Mei Tanaka

    Mei Tanaka

    Japan & South Asia · Kyoto

    “If your ryokan dinner is at seven, I will make sure your train is not at six fifty-five.”

    • Koyasan → Kumano Hongu on foot
    • Kyoto → Naoshima by night bus and ferry
    • Galle → Ella by the morning train
    • Jodhpur → Udaipur by the back roads
  • Portrait of Kwame Mensah

    Kwame Mensah

    Southern Africa · Maun

    “A good guide knows where the lions are; a better one knows when to switch the engine off.”

    • Maun → Savuti by light aircraft and open vehicle
    • Sossusvlei → Swakopmund via the Kuiseb canyon
    • Victoria Falls → Livingstone by the old road bridge
    • Cape Town → Stellenbosch by the back way

From the journal

All entries

Every Orra journey begins with a half-hour call.

No fee to design, no obligation to book. Tell us roughly when, who with, and what you'd like to come home with.

Speak to a specialist +44 (0)20 0000 0000