We run tours in six countries and we do not run any of them all year. Each has a few weeks when the weather, the light and the crowds line up. This is how the year looks from our planning wall.

Winter and spring

January and February belong to the Cairngorms. The snow is firm, the bothies are empty and the days are short enough that nobody minds an early night. It is also the calm season in Raja Ampat, where the phinisi sails from October to April.

March to early June is Big Sur. The hills are green, the fog lifts by ten and Highway 1 is quiet. In May the west coast of Scotland opens, before the midges and with light until eleven.

If you can travel in only one month, make it May. Four of our six countries are open, and none of them is crowded.

Summer

From late May the mantas gather in Baa Atoll, and the Hebrides are at their calmest for the boat. June is for Greece: warm sea, open paths, room at the table. We stop in July and August, when the islands are hot and full.

The Dolomites start in late June, once the passes are clear of snow, and the huts stay open into early October.

Autumn

September is the second spring. Greece again, the Highland coast again, and the Dolomites with the larch turning. In October the boat goes back to Raja Ampat and the year starts over.

A few rules of thumb. Book winter bothies by October and summer boats by February, because both are small. Ask us about the week either side of a school holiday. And if your dates are fixed, tell us the dates first and the place second. There is nearly always somewhere good to go.