In July, in Namibia, I wrote nine postcards. One for each person in the group, each with an animal, all from Etosha.
Nobody asked me for it. Nobody saw it coming. It wasn’t in the program, the budget, or anywhere. It was a moment of sharing that I think will stay with all of them.
That’s what happens when I spend months preparing a trip and then ten days with the people who are going on it. Ideas come up, and so do stories, jokes, and a lot of laughing. Sometimes one or two emotional tears.
My group tour calendar for 2027 is closed, and this is why I still do this: for the moments that are not in the itinerary.
In 2027, there are five destinations and seven dates. Three of them will be my first time.
People tend to raise an eyebrow when I tell them that. How do you take a group somewhere you’ve never been?… I take them because I don’t go as a guide: I’m a tour leader, and I work with local guides in every destination. My job is the preparation, the logistics, looking after the group, and their happiness. But we’ll get to that.
Iceland • 2 to 9 April
Eight days, and not one of them on autopilot.
We start and finish in Reykjavik, with a minibus doing the loop through the south: the waterfalls on the coast, the black sand beach, and then the Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon with the blocks of ice washing up on Diamond Beach. There’s a day of trekking on Vatnajökull, equipment included. There’s Geysir, Gullfoss and Þingvellir, where the tectonic plates pull apart and where anyone who wants to can dive into the Silfra fissure. The trip ends at the Blue Lagoon, which is an incredible way to finish.
We sleep seven nights in 3/4-star hotels. Some more remote than others, all of them lovely.
What pulls me here is Friðheimar, a greenhouse where they grow tomatoes with geothermal energy in the middle of a frozen country and then serve you tomato soup at a table among the plants. It’s Diamond Beach, with blocks of ice that look like precious stones. Well, it’s everything really, because the landscapes in Iceland take your breath away.
April in Iceland means long days already and no crowds. It also means proper cold, but that’s part of the adventure.
See the program and book Iceland →
Peru • 1 to 12 May
Twelve days, Lima to Lima, with one stop everybody knows and longs for: Machu Picchu!
After Lima we go up to Cusco and the Sacred Valley, and we reach Machu Picchu on the Vistadome train, with windows in the roof and a view that is something else. Rainbow Mountain is also an option. It is a (very) hard day, at 5,000 meters, and it is not for everyone.
And then… the Amazon. Three days in a lodge in the middle of the jungle, which is the part of the program nobody expects and that not every traveler gets to do when they go to Peru.
The hotels are 4/5-star, and we have the lodge as well, where the biggest “problem” will be sleeping with nature calling out to us outside.
Both 2026 departures sold out. I’m not saying that to put pressure on anyone, but it’s what happened, so if you’re feeling the urge, don’t leave it to the last minute.
See the program and book Peru →
Morocco • 20-28 March, 19-27 June, 11-19 September
This is the only one I already know by heart. In fact, the September one will be my 14th time traveling to Morocco.
Nine days, always in 4×4: Marrakech, Aït Benhaddou, Ouarzazate, the Draa Valley down to Merzouga, two days in the magnificent Sahara, and back through the Todra Gorges, the Dades Valley and Skoura. We sleep in riads, in auberges and one night in a tent in the desert.
Along the way, travelers long to stay put somewhere and unpack the suitcase, but when they get their free day at Erg Chebbi, they’re dying to be back on the road. I promise you, though, time in the Sahara is never too much. There is no sunrise and no sunset more beautiful than the one you see in the middle of those dunes.
Morocco is a big country, and this route follows the old caravan road through the south and comes back along the kasbah road to the north. It starts and ends in the red city: Marrakech.
See the program and book Morocco →
Egypt • 9 to 19 October
Eleven days, and the first thing almost everyone asks me is whether it’s safe. I’ve answered that in a whole article, with what I saw and what I didn’t. But there is no doubt that the best way to see Egypt safely is on a group trip.
The program starts in Cairo: Giza, the Citadel, Khan el-Khalili, and the Grand Egyptian Museum, the largest museum in the world dedicated to a single civilization and worth the day on its own. Then Aswan, with Abu Simbel as an optional, and a boat out to the Nubian villages. Luxor with the Valley of the Kings, the temple of Hatshepsut and Karnak. And the end in Hurghada, on the Red Sea, because after seven days of temples nobody complains about lying flat on a beach for two days.
The hotels are 5-star, and they are the perfect place to rest between visits and take in everything we’re seeing.
October is the month when the heat in Egypt has dropped enough for you to stand up at midday in Karnak, so it’s the perfect time to come with me on this trip full of history.
See the program and book Egypt →
Laos and Cambodia • 28 November to 10 December
The last tour of the year, and the only thing that makes me want December to hurry up.
We start in Vientiane, pass through Vang Vieng and take the train to Luang Prabang, a part of Laos people talk about a lot and where the Kuang Si waterfalls are, and the Pak Ou caves, full of thousands of Buddhas left there by pilgrims over centuries. Then we cross into Cambodia: Siem Reap, the legendary Angkor Wat and the floating villages on Tonlé Sap lake. We finish in the best way there is: swimming off the island of Koh Rong.
Thirteen days, twelve nights in 4/5-star hotels, two countries in one go.
See the program and book Laos and Cambodia →
Why go in a group when you could go alone
Since I’ve been a tour leader, and from talking to the travelers who have come with me, I’ve come to see that one of the biggest fears – above all for people traveling on their own – is this: what if I don’t get on with the others?…
I understand. It’s a fair worry. “Am I going to spend the whole time counting the days of putting up with strangers at breakfast?”; “If it goes badly, will I be able to shut myself in my room and read?”; “And what if I can’t stand the person I’m sharing with?”
What I’ve learned in three years of doing this is that most of the travelers who come on these trips arrive with an open mind, wanting to meet new people and to share what we live through together. There is an incredible sense of looking out for one another, and more in common than any of them imagined. By the second day, there’s always someone who cannot believe it: two days of knowing each other, and it already feels like old friends.
As for the pace: there are full, tiring days and there are free, slower days. When we’re together, I do count heads. In the free time, I leave you completely alone to do what you want. My job is to make sure the logistics aren’t your problem and that you have context for what you’re looking at. It is not to keep you company whether you like it or not.
Flights · not included in any of the five. You book them yourself, when you want, with the stopovers you want.
Insurance · mandatory on all of them. It is not a recommendation of mine; it’s a condition of booking. I use and recommend Heymondo insurance (5% off), but you can also arrange it through Leva-me. Pay attention to the medical assistance abroad part.
Internet · an eSIM covers all five destinations and saves you queuing at airports. My suggestions are GetESIM (10% off with the code MARLENEMARQUES) for price, and Holafly (5% off) if you want unlimited data.
Room · if you’re traveling on your own, you will share with another traveler of the same sex. If you’re traveling as a couple or with a friend, you will be in a room together.
Deposit and payment · it varies by trip, but the usual rule is 30% on booking and the rest around 70 days before departure.
When to decide · the Morocco and Peru tours sell out first. In 2026, both Peru tours sold out quickly, and anyone who missed out had to join a waiting list.
Last note · these trips are for people who like having fun and making friends. So come with an open mind. Not everyone is like us, and that’s fine.
Checked in August 2026.
Still want to come with me this year?
The 2026 calendar still has two destinations that are not on my schedule for 2027: Sri Lanka and the Maldives!
Two dream countries, done in a single trip, that I’d be glad to show you.
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