Experiences

A boat held privately for the lagoon islands, with a guide, a glass furnace still working to the old method and a lace workshop on the second island — the crossing itself the part the public ferries cannot give you.

A guided walk through the city bacari with cicchetti and wine along the way, and a crossing of the Grand Canal by traghetto — the standing-up half of Venetian eating, which is the half most visitors never find.

A shared half-day out to the glass island and the painted one by boat rather than by scheduled ferry — the same water as the private charters, with the cost spread across everyone aboard.

A private walk through the old Jewish quarter with a licensed guide, past the ruins of the Theatre of Marcellus and the Portico of Octavia and the fountain of the turtles, and inside the Great Synagogue and its museum. An affecting corner of the centre.

A walk between the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain and the piazzas around them, capped at a very small group so the guide can actually be heard. Gelato is included, which in this city is not a throwaway.

A guided eating walk through the centre's counters and markets, run in a small group. An inexpensive introduction to how Romans actually eat, as opposed to how visitors are fed.

A guided walk between working craft studios — carved wood, mosaic, sculpture — meeting the people at the benches rather than looking at finished work in a window. Pieces can be bought directly from the makers.

A guided eating walk through the central quarters with stops for tastings and wine along the way. It works best early in a stay, because it settles where you will want to go back to eat properly.

A guided visit to the gallery that holds the David, with timed entry included so the queue outside is not part of the morning. Short, and an efficient hour of art.

A private boat for the day with a local captain, working the coast at your pace — the cove stops, the grottoes and the harbour towns chosen on the water rather than off a fixed schedule.

The small-group route along the coast with swim stops and prosecco — most of what the private charters see, shared with a handful of others instead of hired whole.

A crewed catamaran held privately for the day, sailing the bays between Paros and its neighbours with lunch cooked aboard — quiet coves reached under sail rather than over a beach-club queue.

A hands-on island cooking class that ends at the table, with the meal you made and local wine — a good-value route into Parian food culture beyond the harbour tavernas.

The island worked from the water in a gozzo, the wooden boat the coast was built around, with the caves and the swimming stops taken in whatever order the sea allows that morning.

A short shared circuit of the caves and swimming spots with the local liqueur and the island cake at the end of it, which is an inexpensive way to see Capri from the sea.

A sailing yacht out of Lindos harbour working north along the east coast to swimming bays, with lunch aboard and the option of taking the helm rather than watching someone else do it.

A shared guided day pairing the acropolis village in the south with the walled city in the north, which is a pairing that explains the island to a first-time visitor.

A private walk through Triana with your own guide, stopping at family-run taverns for tapas with sherry, vermouth and wine, and the neighbourhood's history told along the way.

An hour of flamenco in a theatre in the centre of Seville, booked by the seat.

A boat on the Seine held for your party alone, with champagne aboard, running past the small Statue of Liberty, the Eiffel Tower and Notre-Dame before turning back. The city read from the water, at your own pace rather than a timetable's.

A walk through the Marais with stops for cheese, charcuterie, pastry and wine, run in a small group. A useful, inexpensive afternoon: you learn the streets and eat properly at the same time.

A private walk with a guide through the cobbled lanes of the perched village, up to its church and the views over the sea, at whatever pace the party chooses.

A guided visit to the Fragonard laboratory-factory in Èze, where the house makes its cosmetics and care products, followed by a workshop in which each guest blends an eau de toilette.

A session in the vaulted baths below the Albaicin, moving between hot, warm and cold pools with a steam room and mint tea. Bookings are timed and the rooms are kept dim and quiet.

A guided walk through the Alhambra with entry to the Nasrid palaces included, on a timed slot. Tickets sell out well ahead, and a tour holds one for you.

A private guide for the Pilatus circuit, taking the lake steamer out and the cogwheel railway up, with pickup from the door. The order of the day is arranged around the weather on the mountain.

The standard Pilatus round trip with the lake crossing included, on a shared departure. Boat, railway and cable car are handled as one booking.

A private boat out of Port de Soller along the Tramuntana cliffs, with a skipper, snorkelling gear and a paddleboard aboard. The coast below Deia reads differently from the water than it does from the road.

A shared day over the mountains through Valldemossa and Deia and down to Port de Soller. It covers the coast road without anyone having to drive it.

A full day out of Nice with a private guide and car, through Eze and Monaco and on to Antibes, Saint-Paul-de-Vence and Cannes. Collection is from hotels in Nice.

An hour on the water out of Nice, running along the coast with commentary aboard.

Half a day on a Pershing motor yacht with a skipper, working the gulf between Canoubiers, the Salins and Port Grimaud, with paddleboards and snorkelling gear aboard. Collection is arranged from Saint-Tropez, Sainte-Maxime, Port Grimaud or the Marines de Cogolin.

A guide to yourself for a half day in the town, taken at whatever pace suits.

A full day held privately with a driver and guide, taking in an organic dairy and its pecorino, the Renaissance grid of Pienza, and a Brunello producer in Montalcino with the cellars opened up — collected from wherever you are staying.

A short guided walk through the vines and down into a vault cellar at a Montalcino producer, with a tasting and something to eat with it — an inexpensive way to meet Brunello where it is made.

A private boat along the five villages from Monterosso or Levanto, with swimming stops, snorkelling gear and an aperitivo aboard. Seeing the villages from the water gives a view the train and the paths cannot.

A shared trip along the coast in a hybrid boat that runs quietly close in. It leaves from the Monterosso pier and takes in the villages from the sea.

A visit to a nineteenth-century Locorotondo winery with the producer, through the amphora, oak and steel that shape each wine, finishing on a tasting paired with local food. A vineyard leg outside the town can be added for anyone with their own car.

A short hands-on workshop making orecchiette, the ear-shaped pasta this part of Puglia is known for, in the valley itself. An inexpensive way into a Puglian kitchen.

A boat with a skipper held for your own party along the promontory, taking in the coves and the abbey bay that can only sensibly be reached from the water. The coastline the village is famous for, seen from the side it was built to face.

A short shared run around the headland to the abbey cove and back, with time in the water. An inexpensive way to see the coast from the sea, and enough of it to understand the shape of the place.

A half-day charter on Aruna, a renovated traditional Balearic boat, with a captain and deckhand, fuel, drinks, snorkelling gear and paddleboards included. Food is not provided; guests can bring their own or have the crew book a restaurant.

An evening walk through Dalt Vila, the walled old town, with an official local guide, taking in the Renaissance walls, the cathedral and the views from the ramparts before a glass of sangria to finish.

A guided run through the old-town bars and the market, with the pintxos and the wine included as you go.

A walk through the old town with the history attached, ending with a pintxo and a drink.

A wooden launch with the classic lake lines, taken privately from Como or Bellagio for an hour or a half day. The captain runs the shoreline of villas that cannot be seen from the road.

Admission to the terraced gardens of a lakeside villa in Varenna, walked at your own pace. The botanic planting steps down to the water with the lake open in front of it.

A sail yacht held privately for the day along the Corfu coastline, the length of it set with the skipper rather than by a timetable — the island's coves reached under sail instead of over a beach-club queue.

A guided day under sail on a shared yacht off the Corfu coast — an inexpensive route onto the water here.

A skippered boat for one party from Bonifacio's marina to the sea caves and limestone cliffs, then swimming and snorkelling stops around the Lavezzi Islands. Soft drinks and snorkelling gear are included.

A shared boat trip from the Sant'Amanza pontoons through the sea caves and under the cliffs of Bonifacio, with snorkelling stops at the Lavezzi Islands; commentary is in French.

A catamaran held privately for the day with skipper, crew and meals aboard, sailing past Delos to anchor off Rhenia for swimming — the Mykonos coastline taken at your own pace and with nobody else on the boat.

A guided half-day on Delos, the birthplace island of the Greek myth and one of the Aegean's great excavated cities — nothing to do with the island's nightlife, and worth setting an alarm for.

A private speedboat and skipper from the Capitainerie in Fontvieille, running along the coast past Cap d'Ail and Èze to Cap Ferrat, with snorkelling gear, towels and soft drinks aboard. Cruises run from a short morning outing or a sunset trip to a full day.

A small-group walk from Place du Casino down past the port and up to the old town on the Rock, stopping outside the Oceanographic Museum and finishing by the harbour; guided in English or Russian.

A boat taken privately around the gulf — Agios Nikolaos, the Elounda shore and the fortified islet at its mouth — with the length of the day set with the skipper rather than by a timetable.

A guided boat day leaving from Elounda itself, with the crossing to the island fortress, a barbecue aboard and time to swim in the gulf. Nothing to arrange in the way of transfers, because it starts where you are staying.

A full day out of Bled into Triglav National Park with a guide, covering ground that is awkward to reach without a car.

A few hours in one of the gorges near Bled with a guide and the gear, descending the water rather than walking beside it.

A day on the volcano with a private guide and car, collecting you from your own door, followed by lunch and a tasting at one of the wineries on its slopes. The mountain and what grows on it, taken at your own pace.

A guided walk through the town stopping to eat and drink where residents do, in small groups. A useful first evening, because it tells you where to go back to for the rest of the week.

A private walk through Kotor's walled old town with a local guide, ending at a table on a town square with local wine or beer, prosciutto, cheese and mussels in buzara sauce.

A guided walk through Kotor's old town from the Square of Arms, on the town's history and architecture, with a morning and an afternoon departure. Entry to the cathedral and the walls is extra.

A boat and a local skipper held privately for the day, working the coast between the villages and the caves with the stops decided aboard rather than by a timetable. Several hull types are offered at booking, from an open wooden boat to a cabin cruiser.

A short shared cruise out of the harbour at the end of the day, with a drink aboard and the town seen from the water as the light goes. An inexpensive way onto the sea here.

A full day on the high paths above the Engadine with a private guide.

An hour around the village with a local guide, for a first pass at the place.

A private tour of the Kunsthistorisches Museum with entry included, looking closely at works such as Cellini's Saliera, Raphael's Madonna in the Meadow and Bruegel's Tower of Babel and Hunters in the Snow.

An evening concert of Viennese classical works by Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven at the Musikverein, in the Golden Hall or the Brahms Hall depending on the date.

A catamaran held privately for a half day out of the southern marina, sailing the volcanic coast past the red and white beaches with a barbecue cooked aboard and stops to swim. The caldera seen from the water, on your own schedule rather than a shared one.

A shared catamaran day along the same volcanic coast, with a barbecue aboard, swimming stops and hotel transfers included. An inexpensive route onto the water here, and the coast reads as a different island from below the cliffs.

A full day along the coast and up into the hills with a private guide and driver, collected from your hotel in Cannes. The run takes in Eze and La Turbie, then Monaco and Monte-Carlo, with the Formula One circuit and the changing of the guard on the way.

A turn around the town in a vintage French bus, run as a short guided circuit from Cannes.

Half a day out of Lagos Marina along the Alvor coast to the Benagil cave, then an anchored stop at Praia de Vau to swim. Paddleboards, snorkelling gear, drinks and a charcuterie platter are aboard.

A short shared run out of Lagos around the sea caves and stacks at Ponta da Piedade.

A boat held for your own party with a local skipper, taking either the Maddalena archipelago, the harbours of southern Corsica or the Costa Smeralda coastline, with the route settled between you on the day. Swimming and snorkelling stops wherever the water suits.

A full day among the islands off the northern tip, sailing out of Palau with swimming stops in the channels between them. The archipelago is why this coast looks the way it does, and this is an inexpensive way onto it.