Will you tailor an itinerary for a private group?
Yes! Whether it’s for a group of fellow-crafters or dance or garden enthusiasts, friends, family, a school trip or university study tour, we’d be happy to customise one of our itineraries to suit the dates, budget and needs of your group. Contact us to enquire about a private tour for your group!
What is your policy regarding Covid-19 vaccination?
The safety and wellbeing of our travellers, tour guides, suppliers, artisans and the people we visit continues to remain our highest priority as we travel. As such, ALL retreat|recreate travellers must be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 and are required to carry certified evidence of their full vaccination (ie. an international Covid-19 vaccination certificate) with them at all times. Prior to departure, you will be asked to provide proof of your full vaccination status in order to join the tour. This policy is in addition to any specific testing or vaccination requirements for entry or exit to a destination or required by your airline.
Why are most* retreat|recreate tours for women only?
Most of our guests are women who have chosen to travel with us because their families, partners and spouses don’t share the same level of interest or enthusiasm for textiles and handcrafts.
We’ve found that as our guests share the same passion, the group is much more cohesive. The group dynamics and the friendships formed both within the group and with the women we meet during our travels are part of what makes our trips so special.
Many of our guests are solo travellers. There’s a sense of assurance that comes from being with a women-only group that can enable our guests to take that leap, travel to a foreign country and join a group of strangers. Everybody leaves our tours with at least a dozen new friends!
Also, authenticity is a word that’s thrown around a lot these days, but it’s important to us to delve deep into local culture and deliver rich, meaningful experiences for our travellers as much as possible. Our itineraries include sites and events which are culturally significant to women and some that are appropriate only for women. Similarly, many traditional crafts are practiced in women-only spaces — sharing an embroidery session with, say, hill-tribe women in the remote mountains of Vietnam or a weaving workshop with Amazigh women in the Sahara can lead to the sharing of deeper interactions, conversations and laughter through the common language of needle and thread, in ways that might not be possible with a mixed group.
You may wish to have your partner/spouse join you at the conclusion of our tour to share your own holiday together.
* Our Japan Dance tour and Japan Gardens tour are gender inclusive
If you’d like us to tailor one of our itineraries for a private, mixed gender group, please get in touch.
How many people are there in each tour group?
Our group size is approximately 12 women – small enough so that each person gets to know everyone else pretty quickly and large enough to allow for a comfortable group dynamic.
If I’m travelling by myself, do I have to pay the single supplement?
Solo travellers may indicate their preference to share a twin room for the duration of the tour on the booking form. We will do our best to pair you up with another solo traveller, however if an uneven number of solo guests book in, the last to book will need to pay the single supplement. Unless twin share travellers book together, we’ll rotate our solo twin share guests each time we move hotels, so that they each have the opportunity to share with each other.
If you are considering requesting to share a twin room with another solo guest, please consider whether you will be able to cope with another person’s potential snoring or different understanding of personal space and quiet. Please be honest with yourself about your capacity to share with a stranger.
Are international flights included in the tour price?
No. As our participants travel from all over the world to join our tours, we don’t include international flights in our tour price. This also gives our guests the opportunity and flexibility to:
- choose their preferred airline (and sometimes earn more frequent flyer points),
- select fares according to their budget,
- have the option to arrive several days in advance or stay on after the tour and
- plan a stopover on the way to/from the tour.
Will I enjoy retreat|recreate’s tours if I’m not particularly ‘crafty’?
Our itineraries are not only a vehicle for handcraft and textile experiences, but also offer plenty of opportunities for exploring the local culture, travelling through spectacular scenery, sampling the local cuisine and meeting the people who live in the regions we visit. Providing you are curious about the world, you will most certainly find plenty to interest you. All the research, planning and logistics have been taken care of, so you’re free to come along and enjoy the journey without having to do all the hard work.
Why do tour prices vary?
We do our best to provide a value-for-money product so that our tours include a rich and diverse range of textiles, handcraft and cultural experiences in our well researched itineraries, along with all of the necessary planning and logistics. We try to keep tour costs down, however prices may vary for a number of reasons:
- Some destinations are inherently more expensive than others.
- Tours vary in length; some are seven days, others are closer to three weeks.
- Inclusions and the cost of the particular inclusions affect the tour price. Consider the standard of accommodation, number of meals, transport (flights/trains/private vehicle etc), activities, entry fees and the type/number of hands-on workshops (duration, materials and tuition) included in the tour price.
Can I bring my child/children on a retreat|recreate tour?
Our itineraries are not planned or structured with children in mind. If a private family group trip is of interest to you, please email us to register your interest and your preferred destination.
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