What it costs
Two numbers, and no meter running
Planning starts at $750. Guiding, if you want me on the ground with you, starts at $850 a day for your whole party. You get a fixed figure before any work begins.
The planning
$750to start
The fee for the work itself: the route, where you stay, how you move between places, the day-by-day plan, and the bookings that need making. You get a fixed figure for it before any work begins, so there is no open meter and nothing to discover later.
- One itinerary, for one party
- Every inclusion listed before you pay anything
- Support while you are away
The guiding · optional
$850a day
Me with you on the ground. That rate is for your whole party, not per person, and my own travel costs are itemized alongside it before you agree to anything. It is genuinely optional — a planned trip works perfectly well without me on it.
- Priced for the party, not per head
- Take it for part of a trip, not all of it
- My costs shown, not buried in the rate
What the fee is not
It is not the trip. Hotels, trains, admissions and meals are separate and itemized, and you see what each part costs before you commit to any of it. Budget is one of the first questions I ask rather than the last — it decides the hotels, the pace and the plan from the outset — and I will tell you plainly when something is not realistic instead of quietly building a trip that disappoints you.
One trip, costed twice
The same twelve days, $4,097 apart
Six of us, twelve days, Munich to Salzburg to Lucerne to Zermatt, in June 2026. The first version of that trip came to $25,813. The one we actually took came to $21,716 — $683 a head less, over the same twelve days and the same three countries, with nothing dropped.
| Where it moved | Change | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Hotels Same towns, same nights. | −$1,400 | Same towns, same nights. |
| Paid attractions Cut what was not worth the fare. | −$1,342 | Cut what was not worth the fare. |
| Flights Different routing, same dates. | −$1,080 | Different routing, same dates. |
| Driving A route that stopped doubling back. | −$425 | A route that stopped doubling back. |
| Food Spent up. It is the part worth keeping. | +$150 | Spent up. It is the part worth keeping. |
| Net | −$4,097 | $25,813 down to $21,716. |
That difference is more than five times the $750 planning fee. It was one trip and it is not a promise about yours — what it shows is what the work is, which is knowing which cable car is worth the fare, which nights to move, and which line to stand in.
The rest of that trip, and two othersAnd what does the trip itself run?
It depends on the season, the country and how you like to sleep, which is why the fee is quoted separately from it. But a real one, in full: sixteen days across four countries for three of us, February into March. Six of the sixteen nights were paid with 215,000 Hilton points. Every other hotel together came to $1,431. Car, food and trains ran $2,210 each.
What makes sixteen days survivable is not the landmarks. A laundry day is written into the ninth. Every drive carries its real length, because knowing that beforehand is the difference between a good day and a wasted one. That is the part that does not show up on any invoice, and it is the part you are hiring.
Travel agent, travel advisor, trip planner
People search for all three and usually mean the same thing: someone to take the trip off their hands. What I do is the planning and, if you want it, the guiding — one party at a time, by conversation, with no booking engine and no group departures. There is no desk behind me and no call center. It is one person who has stood in nearly every place he will send you, and the written guides and photographs on this site are the evidence rather than the brochure.
Common questions about cost
- Is the $850 guiding rate per person or for the whole party?
- For the whole party. Six of you costs the same as two of you. My own travel costs are itemized alongside it before you agree to anything, so you see the whole figure rather than a day rate with surprises attached.
- Does the planning fee include the trip itself?
- No, and that is deliberate. The fee buys the work. The trip — hotels, trains, admissions, meals — is separate and itemized, so you can see what each part costs and decide about it on its own rather than approving one large number.
- How far ahead do I need to start?
- Four to nine months for the best choice of hotels, guides and the experiences that sell out, and earlier for peak season or a specific event. Shorter notice is often still workable; it narrows what is available rather than ruling the trip out.
Everything else — what a package includes, deposits, cancellation, flights and meals — is on the FAQ.
Tell me the dates, the party and the budget, and I will tell you what it takes
Asking costs nothing, and you get a fixed figure before any work begins.
Tell me about your trip