https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKfwCyPHFv8
Here in the Wonderland office, we’ve had our share of travel woes, whether scrabbling to coordinate impossibly overlapping flights or arriving at the restaurant our guidebooks evangelised over only to discover it’s been closed since 2007. For those seeking a luxury excursion minus the planning chaos, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts is the inevitable choice, particularly as they announce three new Four Seasons Private Jet itineraries for 2017. We’re especially giddy about the Culinary Discoveries journey, developed in collaboration with the world-renowned Copenhagen restaurant Noma and its head chef René Redzepi.
The Culinary Discoveries itinerary, running from 27th May to 14th June 2017, invites travellers to explore culinary culture and history across Asia and Europe. The private jet tour begins in Seoul, with dinner at Chef Jong Kuk Lee’s home and a trip to the Jin-Kwan temple to set the lofty benchmark for the trip. Destination two – Tokyo – will feature a day’s foraging with the revered Chef Namae Shinobu, wrapped up with another private dinner at his Michelin-starred restaurant, L’Effervescence. Culinary exploration and cooking classes will crop up in Hong Kong, whilst Thai-based Indian chef Garima Arora – formerly of Noma – will offer a private dinner in Chiang Mai. In Mumbai, the focus will be on superlative street food.
On the trip’s European leg, travellers will meet with pioneering wine makers in Florence; plus, legendary Chef Fulvio Pierangelini will make a fleeting yet glorious return from retirement just to whip up one stonkingly good dinner. Next, there are yet more Michelin stars in Lisbon, a private dinner at Noma in Copenhagen and a grand finale at Paris’ Le Cinq, which, in a startling plot twist, is also Michelin-starred. (Did anybody see that coming?)
Those inscrutable humans for whom food isn’t the impetus for daily existence might consider instead Four Seasons’ Global Getaway, running from 16th March to 18th April 2017. Beginning from Singapore and ending in Miami – by way of Koh Samui, Dubai, Budapest, Nice, Lisbon, Nevis and Bogotá – the tour will include camel rides in Dubai, Ferrari driving along the Nice coastline and coffee tasting in Bogotá. Or for the thrill-seekers, there’s the International Experience itinerary, spanning Seattle, Kyoto, Beijing, Maldives, Serengeti, Budapest, St. Petersburg, Marrakech and Boston. Incorporating a private dinner and Shaolin performance on the Great Wall of China, turtle safaris in the Maldives and VIP access to Seattle’s iconic Pike Place Market, the trip’s inevitable Instagram documentation is guaranteed to lose you at least eleven acquaintances to sheer, irrepressible envy. I mean, you weren’t that close to Greg from HR anyway.
The new itineraries will be offered alongside two existing journeys established in 2016, the September-October Extraordinary Adventures tour and the November Cultural Escape excursion. Not already hungrily scouring the Four Seasons Private Jet website? Have a looksee at #FSJet on Twitter and Instagram – the hashtag guaranteed to get you packing.