After months of travel restrictions, luxury concierge service Ariodante Travel is helping many clients to book a trip of a lifetime. With some bespoke trips taking as long as five months to plan, Ariodante’s founder Ricardo Araujo says that clients should “use this time wisely and get planning now”.
Ariodante Travel specialise in creating bespoke holidays that have an arts, culture, and history focus and they craft some of the most exclusive and luxurious travel experiences in the world. We spoke with Araujo to find out more about the amazing experiences and services they can offer clients.
Bespoke itineraries
“Usually when people think about travelling, they start by thinking about a destination and then about what they can do there. Whereas we work the other way around and start by understanding a client’s passions and interests and then find the right locations. Each tour is totally unique to each client,” says Ricardo.
Their best and most meaningful creations are international experiences following an artist or historical figure through different regions and countries. For more adventurous travellers, Ariodante can create extraordinary expeditions and they are currently working on a trip that will take clients to the North Pole on board an icebreaker superyacht through the Arctic Circle. Guests can choose to embark on a local experience over a day, or a longer trip that takes place over multiple countries. Ariodante even create sabbaticals for those wishing to take extended periods of time out of their busy lives.
Exclusive access
Each itinerary ensures exclusive and private access, which is what Ricardo says his clients are “particularly drawn to right now as the pandemic has meant people are looking for the ultimate holidays in seclusion”.
Imagine getting a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the production of a world-class opera, from the set design to the premiere, a private concert in the Sistine Chapel with the Pope, or visiting the private villa where Henri Matisse created some of his best-known masterpieces.
A recent experience they arranged was curated to indulge a client’s interest in the French Revolution. “We visited the main landmarks and then opened the French National Archives vault, which was a true privilege,” reveals Ricardo. “Our clients saw the original declaration of human rights – and they were able to touch it – and several other priceless original manuscripts of the Revolution. We then had a private gastronomic dining experience inside the French National Library after seeing some of their most precious manuscripts of that period, including a document with the blood of Marat from when he was killed during the Revolution.”
24/7 support
With travel radically and almost unrecognisably different after the Covid-19 pandemic, people are increasingly looking to organise a holiday through Ariodante to help them navigate the new world of travel including Covid tests, quarantines and travel restrictions. The ability to take care of things 24/7 is part of Ariodante’s promise to its clients and each tour is accompanied by a host. This, combined with the use of private jets, gives them total flexibility and itineraries can be changed in real time.
“We take care of everything and plan for the unexpected, so if travel is suddenly stopped to a location on a client’s itinerary, we will work around it. Since the start of the pandemic, we have even organised backup holiday dates at the time of bookings in case travel is not possible due to illness or enforced lockdowns,” says Ricardo.
Meetings with luminaries
Ariodante’s founder Ricardo is a famed Colombian composer and conductor with specialist contacts across the world that help him to realise some of the world’s most exclusive experiences and arrange meetings with experts.
“These luminaries can offer unequalled insights, including Nobel Prize winners, renowned historians, artists and the descendants of key historical figures. These are the voices that bring our stories and locations to life and this is simply not done by other travel concierge services,” says Ricardo.
Height of luxury
No expense is spared when it comes to luxury. Guests travel on private jets, helicopters, superyachts, vintage cars and even submarines on occasion, and accommodation is arranged in the world’s most luxurious hotel suites, or even pop-up rooms on cultural treasures such as the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.
For more information and examples of exclusive tours, visit ariodantetravel.com.
All imagery in this article supplied by Ariodante Travel.
