Best New Small Group Tours for 2027
The best tours for travellers who like to venture off the beaten path
July 21, 2026
9 minute read
The best vacations take you to places you have always wondered about, with experiences that spark your curiosity along the way. Our new 2027 small group Explorations tours invite you to explore lesser-known places, cultural crossroads, and off-the-beaten-path corners of the world.
For the 2027/28 travel season, Collette's small group Explorations tours bring you authentic experiences and deeper cultural connections through locally designed small group journeys. This unique style of guided travel is made for travellers who want their next vacation to go beyond the expected.
Here are five new tours that will get you excited to plan your 2027/2028 vacation.
What makes Collette's Small Group Explorations Tours Different?
Collette's small group Explorations tours are travel designed differently. These are locally shaped journeys designed in destination by people who know the places intimately, then paced to help you soak it in, not rush through it.
Since 2008, Collette has designed Explorations tours for travellers who want to go beyond the guidebook, backed by the experience and reliability we have refined since 1918. Each journey is built around cultural connection, deeper insight, and the kind of thoughtful pacing that gives you time to properly take in where you are.
We do not just cap our groups at 24 travellers; we design for that size. It changes what travel can be, unlocking distinctive stays, helping local guides get to know you by name, and giving you access to villages, neighborhoods, markets, farms, family-run places, and cultural spaces that can be out of reach on larger tours.
By travellers, for travellers: that is how every Collette tour is designed, with intention, genuine connection, and experiences that are hard to find on your own.
Travel with Confidence: Every Collette Explorations tour includes private home-to-airport chauffeur service** and Collette’s Cancellation Waiver, allowing you to cancel up to 24 hours before departure and receive a refund in your original form of payment, less deposit.† See how we make travel stress-free.
Five New Tours to Book for 2027/2028
Sardinia and Corsica: Island Cultures Beyond the Usual Mediterranean Route
Sardinia and Corsica sit close enough to see each other across the Strait of Bonifacio, yet each island carries its own language, history, landscape, and regional identity. Sardinia & Corsica: Islands of Italy & France is a Mediterranean journey for travellers who want something distinctive: places shaped by sea crossings, outside influence, and island traditions.
Best for: Travellers who want Mediterranean island culture beyond the usual Italy and France route.
The tour introduces Sardinia on its own terms. In Alghero, Catalan-built ramparts and a walled old town speak to the island’s complicated past. At Nuraghe Palmavera, travellers encounter a Bronze Age settlement from Sardinia’s indigenous Nuragic civilization. In Castelsardo, hilltop lanes and local craft traditions add another view of island life before the route crosses to Corsica.
Bonifacio sits high on white limestone cliffs at the southern tip of Corsica, and travellers have the choice to explore the old town with a local expert or take in the coastline on a scenic cliff hike.
Back in Sardinia, the journey continues with a winery tour and tasting lunch, a full day cruising the La Maddalena Archipelago, a cork workshop, Mamoiada’s ancient mask traditions, a Sardinian cooking class, a shepherd’s hut lunch, and a Blue Zone dinner rooted in the island’s ancestral rhythms.
This is off the beaten path Europe with substance — not a detour, but a different way to experience the Mediterranean.
See Sardinia & Corsica: Islands of Italy & France
Tuscany: Local Flavour, Village Life, and a Different Side of a Familiar Region
Tuscany may be familiar in name, but our new Gems of Tuscany: Florence, Pienza & the Mediterranean Coast featuring the Cinque Terre takes travellers beyond the most expected icons and into a more intimate version of the region, with considered pacing and a strong sense of local character.
Best for: Travellers who love Italy and want a different way to experience Tuscany.
On this tour, you’ll visit areas such as the Maremma and the countryside around Pienza, giving you the chance to get to know lesser-known places outside the standard Tuscany circuit.
The tour balances coast, countryside, and culture. Travellers explore Florence, spend time along Tuscany’s Mediterranean coast, take a day trip to Elba Island where Napoleon was once exiled, and meet the Butteri cowboys of the Maremma. Other highlights include a private piano performance at Puccini’s villa, a cheesemaking class, tasting Vino Nobile at Montepulciano winery, and the option to relax in Saturnia’s baby-blue cascading thermal pools.
For travellers who love Italy but do not want to repeat the same itinerary, Gems of Tuscany offers a fresh answer. It is still recognizably Tuscany, but with coastal air, rustic traditions, backroads, local flavour, and time to let the region unfold.
See Gems of Tuscany: Florence, Pienza & the Mediterranean Coast featuring the Cinque Terre
The Mekong: River Life, Ancient Traditions, and Southeast Asia at Water Level
The Mekong connects villages, markets, temples, and working river communities across Vietnam and Cambodia. Treasures of the Mekong invites you to explore the region from the decks of the Mekong Princess, an exclusively chartered river boat, with all meals and drinks included.
Best for: Travellers drawn to river life, ancient temples, local traditions, and Southeast Asian culture.
Travelling through the region by riverboat gives this tour its character. Travellers pass riverside villages, floating markets, wooden sampans, rice fields, and golden pagodas while experiencing a region where culture, commerce, food, and family life are tied to the water.
Visit the Cai Rang Floating Market by wooden sampan, a small boat that lets you weave among boats loaded with produce. Stop in villages along the river to meet artisans, learn about Khmer scarf weaving, taste coconut candy, and see local traditions in everyday practice.
The itinerary also makes room for deeper historical understanding. In Phnom Penh, travellers visit Choeung Ek and Tuol Sleng to learn about the Khmer Rouge regime, then continue to cultural sites such as the Royal Palace and Silver Pagoda.
In Angkor Ban, one of the villages that survived the destruction of the Khmer Rouge, original homes remain standing and monks offer blessings at the village temple.
The journey ends with sunrise at Angkor Wat, followed by Ta Prohm, Angkor Thom, and a visit to the APOPO Visitor Centre, where trained “hero rats” help detect landmines.
South Africa: Wildlife, Wine Country, Culture, and Stories Worth Retelling
“When any of our friends would say ‘how was your trip?’ I'd just smile and I couldn't get the smile off my face and I'd go, ‘You're just going to get sick of hearing me saying how good this was. We've travelled… a lot and I reckon this was one of the best experiences we've ever had.’” — Helen & Peter, Torquay, Vic.
South Africa brings together safari country, coastal cities, wine regions, cultural history, and landscapes that shift dramatically from one day to the next. Our new Iconic South Africa tour uses that contrast to craft an exciting journey through Johannesburg, Kruger National Park, Stellenbosch, and Cape Town, with the focus on wildlife, culture, connection, and story.
Best for: Travellers who want wildlife, wine country, cultural history, and memorable local encounters in one journey.
In Kruger, travellers search for the Big Five and iconic wildlife on safari game drives, with open vehicles designed for easy viewing and photography.
In addition to time on safari, travellers spend two nights in the Western Cape, one of the world’s most beautiful winelands. In Cape Town, you’ll get to know The Mother City through time at Table Mountain, Boulders Beach, and on captivating coastal drives.
The cultural thread is just as important. In Johannesburg, travellers visit Soweto and the Apartheid Museum, with lunch at a local shebeen. In Cape Town’s Bo-Kaap neighbourhood, a Cape Malay cooking experience brings flavour, history, and daily life together. A home-hosted dinner with a Capetonian family adds another moment of local connection.
The Celtic World: Music, Landscapes, Heritage, and Lived Culture
Across Scotland, England, and Ireland, heritage comes through in music, storytelling, landscapes, cities, and local traditions that shape daily life.
Celtic Traditions: England, Scotland & Ireland takes you on a cultural journey through Glasgow, the Lake District, Liverpool, Dublin, Castlemartyr, and County Clare, combining countryside stays, coastal scenery, and historic places with immersive cultural experiences.
Best for: Travellers drawn to music, storytelling, heritage, landscapes, and local tradition.
Your journey begins in Glasgow, where a local walking tour and visit to The Tenement House bring the city’s architecture and history into focus. Then immerse yourself in regional flavours during a traditional Scottish dinner and a Lowlands whisky tasting.
In England, the experience moves between countryside and culture, with views of the Lake District by steam train and on a cruise on Lake Windermere. You can explore the region more deeply on a guided hike or visit Blackwell Arts & Crafts house before the route continues through rural Cumbria and into Liverpool, where Strawberry Field and the Cavern Club connect you to the city’s music heritage.
Ireland brings the journey to a rich cultural close, with highlights that include a guided literary walking tour in Dublin, coastal Howth, an Irish dance class, and a peatland visit at Sloe Blossom Farm. In County Cork, Castlemartyr Resort adds a historic estate stay before the final stretch through County Clare, where the Cliffs of Moher and a private traditional music session at Doolin Music House bring together landscape, music, and local tradition.
See Celtic Traditions: England, Scotland & Ireland
FAQs About Collette’s Small Group Explorations Tours
What are Collette’s small group Explorations tours?
Collette’s small group Explorations tours are small group journeys designed for travellers who want to go deeper into a destination. Each tour is shaped around local culture, meaningful experiences, and thoughtful pacing, with the reliability and support of Collette behind every journey.
How small are groups on Collette’s Explorations tours?
Collette’s Explorations tours are designed for smaller groups, with an average of 19 travellers and a maximum of 24. That size is intentional. It helps create a more personal travel experience, with room for deeper local connection, distinctive stays, and experiences that larger groups may not be able to access.
Are Explorations tours just regular guided tours with fewer people?
No. Explorations tours are designed differently from the start. The itineraries are built for small groups, not adapted from larger tours. That means the pacing, accommodation, transport, meals, local experiences, and free time are all considered with a smaller group in mind.
What makes small group travel different?
Small group travel can change how you experience a destination. With fewer travellers, it is easier to move through neighborhoods, markets, villages, and cultural spaces in a more natural way. It also creates more opportunities to connect with local guides, your Tour Manager, and fellow travellers along the way.
Will I have free time on tour?
Yes. Collette tours include guided experiences as well as time to explore independently. The balance is part of the design: you have the structure and support of a guided journey, with space to wander, rest, browse, dine, or take in a destination in your own way.
How does Collette make travel less stressful?
Collette takes care of many of the details that can make travel feel complicated. Your Tour Manager helps keep the journey running smoothly, from timing and tickets to transfers and on-tour support. You can also choose Collette’s industry-leading Cancellation Protection, which gives you the flexibility to cancel up to 24 hours before departure.
Now Is the Time to Plan Your Next Adventure
These are just a few of the more than 60 small group tours we offer for 2027 and 2028.
Start planning your next adventure today. Explore Collette's small group tours.
