Amy's blog posts

2019 is almost upon us and we think there’s no better way to help beat the post-Christmas blues than to start planning your next holiday abroad. You could even make a New Year’s resolution to start ticking off some travel experiences from your bucket list!

As we enter the winter months, it can be tempting to simply wrap ourselves in a blanket and curl up in front of the television. But here at Artisan Travel, we believe that winter is a great season to get out and explore some incredible destinations and experience some wonderful bucket list activities.

Did you know The Azores constitutes as a region of ‘Macaronesia’? In Greek, this means "fortunate islands" for those who live and visit them!

To inspire you to visit these ‘fortunate islands’ see our top five photographs below!

If you are struggling to decide where to go on your next adventure let us give you some advice, make sure you head to The Azores! Now you are probably thinking ‘The Azores? Where on earth is that?’ but rest assured these volcanic islands do exist and what’s more they are in Europe!

Snowmobiles are a valuable form of transport in many of our winter holiday destinations. Not only are they used regularly by local people to help connect communities, but they’re also an extremely enjoyable way to explore the stunning snowy surroundings of the Arctic Circle.

These impressive machines give you the chance to enjoy some amazing vantage points that would be impossible to reach by foot. We offer many different snowmobiling adventures to get you out enjoying the best of the landscape, from short daytime safaris to more specialised overnight escapes that let you travel hundreds of kilometres a day as you explore the Arctic landscape.

As the summer sun begins to fade and the dark nights start to return, some travellers might be tempted to pack their passport away for another year. However, we believe there are plenty of reasons to be excited about the arrival of the winter months.

Now don’t get us wrong we love sunny escapes to places such as Croatia, Madeira and the Azores and there are still plenty of opportunities to enjoy some of the last of the summer sun if you want. However, what these destinations can’t offer, as excellent as they may be, is the chance to enjoy some truly great bucket list, Arctic experiences.

When people talk about Croatia it is highly likely that the next sentence is probably going to contain the word ‘Dubrovnik’. Now don’t get me wrong, that isn’t a bad thing. I love Dubrovnik, it is a simply stunning town and it is definitely somewhere that I would highly recommend to anyone visiting Croatia for the first time.

However, one place that doesn’t seem to get the same appreciation is Croatia’s second largest city – Split. Split might be the largest city in the region of Dalmatia but don’t think that it is anyway just an industrial-hub not worthy of your time in comparison to all the pretty little seaside towns and islands scattered along the Adriatic Coast.

If you are heading on holiday to Croatia this year the chances are that you have started to compile a list of places that you would love to visit once you are there. My guess would be that there are certain places that are bound to make the list. For example, you have probably included Dubrovnik, the Plitvice Lakes National Park and maybe even the Elaphiti Islands. However, there is one place that I would guess probably doesn’t feature on your list and that’s the Pelješac peninsula or more specifically the town of Ston.

Unless you have been living under a rock, the chances are that you have either heard of or seen a picture of Dubrovnik. If you are currently thinking that you aren’t aware of Croatia’s most famous destination then think again!

Although relatively unknown to a lot of us, the Azores archipelago is an ideal travel destination for adventurers the world over for a number of reasons. If, like most people, this is the first time you have ever heard of it and want a few ideas of what can be experienced, take a look at our top picks of things to do in the Azores this summer.