The new luxury is knowing where to go

The definition of luxury travel is changing.

The more experienced travellers become, the more they value access to what is genuinely right for them: the right village, the right table, the right beach at the right hour, the hotel that feels deeply connected to its surroundings.

The new luxury is increasingly about knowing where to go, and, just as important, where to focus the time.

Travellers have done rooftop dinners, stayed in five-star hotels, swum in infinity pools, booked Michelin-starred tables, and wandered through the world's most celebrated destinations. All of it has been done.

Now they are looking for something deeper: authentic and original experiences, knowing where to go, having access to the places that feel genuinely right, and experiencing a destination through the eyes of someone who knows it intimately.

The paradox of modern travel

Travellers have never had more information about the world.

Instagram can show them a restaurant before they arrive. Google Maps can tell them what is nearby. A single video can turn a quiet neighbourhood into a destination within weeks.

This abundance has brought an interesting shift. Finding places has become effortless; choosing the places that truly deserve their time has become the greater skill.

There is a second effect, quieter but just as real: the same dozen addresses circulate until an entire region of four hundred producers can appear to revolve around the same few names. From a distance, they all begin to look alike. The lists grow longer and narrower at the same time, while the most rewarding places are rarely the loudest ones.

For the experienced traveller, the real value now lies in knowing what is worth discovering, and where to find it.

Luxury is thoughtful curation

The most memorable journeys tend to follow a more considered rhythm.

One exceptional meal. One village explored slowly. An afternoon with a local producer. A beautiful hotel chosen because it belongs to the landscape. Time to linger over lunch, wander without a schedule, or simply watch the day unfold.

The moments travellers remember are rarely the ones they managed to fit in. They are the ones that had room to unfold: a long table in the shade with the afternoon still ahead; a cellar door opened by the person whose name is on the bottle; a market at nine in the morning, while the sellers are still talking to one another; a road through the vineyards at six in the evening, taken slowly because there is nowhere else to be.

This is where curation becomes valuable.

A well-curated journey brings together the places, people and experiences that genuinely matter, then creates space around them: for quality, for rhythm, and for discovery.

It also removes what does not belong. The finest journeys are often the ones with less in them, thoughtfully arranged, so that nothing has to be rushed and nothing worth staying for has to be left early.

The value of knowing a place deeply

There is a difference between visiting a destination and knowing a place.

A traveller can see its major landmarks, follow its most recommended restaurants and visit its celebrated wineries. Knowing a place means something else: knowing which road becomes beautiful in the late afternoon, which village deserves a slow afternoon, which winery still feels personal, where lunch should take two hours, and which restaurant is worth crossing the valley for.

A deeper experience of a city comes through its neighbourhoods, markets, independent restaurants, architecture and design, local rituals, and the small details that give it character.

It is knowledge of the calendar, too: when the almonds flower and the grapes come in; which week of the year a village gives itself over to a particular dish; which mountain trails are quiet after the crowds have gone; and when the people worth meeting have time to share.

This kind of knowledge grows with time, through living somewhere, returning often, paying attention, and building relationships that last longer than a season.

The shape of a well-made day

The best weeks we design are rarely the fullest ones. They are the ones arranged so that the good hours have somewhere to expand into.

All of this sounds abstract until it is applied to a single day, and the answer is usually less than you would expect.

One appointment in the morning, because that is when a producer has time and a small place is at its best. A long lunch as the anchor of the day rather than an interruption of it. A walk that begins at the door of the house itself. And an evening left open, with two possibilities held and neither confirmed.

Why Globara exists

Globara was created around a simple idea: helping travellers know where it’s truly worth going.

We design journeys around places we know deeply: Piedmont, Puglia and Catalonia. Places we live in, return to, explore slowly, and understand beyond the obvious.

Every journey begins with one question: what is genuinely worth your time?

That knowledge comes from depth rather than scale. Years spent returning to the same valleys, meeting the same producers and paying attention to the details make it possible to know which places are worth the journey, which people are worth meeting, and when a little extra time can change the experience.

Our groups are small enough to be welcomed, ten guests at most. Small enough for a table rather than a tour, for a producer to pour the wine personally, and for a place to receive you as a guest rather than as a group.

Everything is considered before arrival: the places to stay, the tables, the people, the transfers, the rhythm of the day. You are free to experience the journey rather than manage it.

And this is why timing matters. The places that make these regions special are often small, seasonal and limited by nature. The best tables, the most personal producers and the quietest moments cannot simply be added when demand arrives. They have to be known, chosen and planned around.

Our next departures are in Turin and the Langhe and in Barcelona, in November 2026, with Puglia and a summer week in the Langhe to follow in 2027.

A quieter form of luxury

If you have already seen Italy, you can discover an entirely different country by going deeper into one region: its landscape, food, wine, culture and way of life.

A quieter form of luxury: knowing where to go, when to go, and what is worth remembering.

Related reading

• How we design a journey: what happens between the first conversation and the finished itinerary.
• The UNESCO wine landscapes of Piedmont: why this particular landscape is protected, and what that changes about visiting it.
• Where to eat in the Langhe: from Michelin to trattoria: how we choose one table over another.

Our group trips run to set dates in Piedmont and Catalonia, ten guests at most, with places for the November departures still open. If you would rather go privately, tell us what you have in mind and we will design the journey around it.