{"id":3098,"date":"2014-12-16T13:51:55","date_gmt":"2014-12-16T12:51:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/\/?p=3098"},"modified":"2025-07-18T17:20:43","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T16:20:43","slug":"interview-discover-hidden-journeys-with-liesa-bissett","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/interview-discover-hidden-journeys-with-liesa-bissett\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview: Discover Hidden Journeys with Liesa Bissett"},"content":{"rendered":"

When you want to know something, sometimes it’s best to go straight to the source. So last week we caught up with Liesa, Trafalgar’s European Product Development Manager, to get the lowdown on Hidden Journeys<\/em> \u2013 our newest trip style.<\/p>\n

Hear what she had to say \u2013 and discover some of 2015’s hot European destinations.<\/p>\n

What are Hidden Journeys?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Our new Hidden Journeys are small-group trips that are concentrated on less-visited regions in a destination, like Piedmont in Italy. They’re the perfect way to travel if you’ve sampled a country before and would like to delve deeper into the local culture.<\/p>\n

\"Piedmont
Piedmont region, Italy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

How many guests will be on this type of trip?<\/strong><\/p>\n

There’ll be up to 26 guests on Hidden Journeys itineraries \u2013 so the experience is much more intimate.<\/p>\n

Why did we create Hidden Journeys?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Our regular Trafalgar itineraries are tried and tested and well-loved by our guests. We didn’t create Hidden Journeys for the sake of doing so \u2013 but where it made sense to take smaller groups.<\/p>\n

In Europe, we found that there were excellent opportunities to travel a little more ‘off the beaten track’ by travelling in smaller groups. For example, in Turkey we’ve introduced a Gulet cruise along the Turquoise Coast; this experience just wouldn’t be possible with a larger group.<\/p>\n

\"Photo
Photo of Turkey’s Turquoise Coast by Miguel-Virkkunen-Carvalho<\/a> – used under Creative Commons licence<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What can guests expect when they take a Hidden Journeys trip?<\/strong><\/p>\n

On Hidden Journeys, guests can expect all the same elements that they get on our other trip styles, including an expert Travel Director<\/a>\u00a0and separate driver, quality hotels and coaches and hand-picked Insider Experiences. All of the Trafalgar benefits, like on-coach WiFi, door-to-door luggage porterage and VIP access to many of the major sights are part of the package, too.<\/p>\n

With fewer people in the travel group, I believe that guests will again have the opportunity to gel with the other like-minded people on their trip. Many of our past guests have made life-long friends on-trip, and often arrange to travel with them again year after year.<\/p>\n

Can you tell us about some of the experiences on offer?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We’ve introduced six new European Hidden Journeys for 2015. Here are some of the highlights:<\/p>\n