PORTUGAL

Portugal spent a long time being Europe's overlooked western edge, which suited it fine. The country developed its own distinct character without the homogenizing pressure of heavy tourism, and while that's changed considerably in Lisbon and the Algarve over the past decade, the version of Portugal worth designing a serious trip around remains remarkably intact.

The Douro Valley is one of the oldest demarcated wine regions on earth, and traveling through it by river is one of those experiences that justifies the entire category of slow travel. The terraced vineyards climb at gradients that make you wonder how anyone harvests them. The quintas along the river range from working farms to some of the finest small hotels in Europe. The wine is extraordinary and still underpriced relative to what comparable quality costs in France or Italy.

Then there's the Azores, nine volcanic islands sitting in the middle of the Atlantic that most Europeans treat as a domestic flight destination and most Americans haven't figured out yet. The whale watching there is among the best in the world. The landscape looks like Iceland crossed with the Azores, which is to say like nothing else. And the Alentejo, the vast interior plain south of Lisbon, moves at a pace that makes the coastal Portugal feel frenetic by comparison. We design itineraries that take the whole country seriously, not just the parts that already have a waiting list.