Heritage Travel: Visit the Land of Your Ancestors

At Classic Journeys, we believe the best way to explore a country is through authentic travel experiences that allow you to connect with locals and personally interact with the unique cultural aspects of a destination. What better way to cultivate a connection with a culture than jetting off to the place where your ancestors once lived — where you can explore family history and see your cultural heritage for yourself. If you’ve ever wondered what life was like in your ancestors’ cottage in Ireland or what your distant family used to see when they awoke to a morning in Vietnam or Spain, then it may be the perfect time to hop on the latest travel trend: heritage travel. 

Travelers are increasingly interested in letting their family trees inspire vacation destinations. At-home genetic testing is on the rise, providing the opportunity to discover your ancestors’ lives and making it easier than ever to add an engaging extra dimension to your travel. Getting the opportunity to reconnect with your roots is enriching, rewarding, and has allowed many travelers to reconnect with family members, discover their homelands, and take a step into their family’s past. A vacation becomes a wonderful opportunity to learn more about yourself and your personal history on a journey of self-discovery. 

Past guests of ours have arranged a visit to their ancestral Norwegian farm, where a local guide pulled a few strings to allow two sisters to tour the actual farm where their ancestors once lived. Others have booked heritage-based tours to show their children and grandchildren family roots on the Greek island of Lesbos where their relatives lived before migrating to the United States many years ago. Some of our guests have even returned to Cuba where they were able to reconnect with family members with whom they’d been out of touch with for more than five decades. 

You can go about heritage travel with Classic Journeys a few different ways. If you already happen to have knowledge of your genealogical past, we can help curate a private trip that can take you to the very town, maybe even the exact street, where it all started. Alternatively, you can ask us to adapt one of our published itineraries or we can help you create your own from scratch to help create the ultimate personal discovery. If you need help researching your genealogy, click here to be connected with genealogists to discover the details of your ancestors’ life before you arrange a trip to explore your legacy on a deeper level. 

With heritage travel, you’ll gain eye-opening insights and cultural immersion that can bring your family’s past to life with an itinerary handcrafted to bring travelers into close personal contact with a region’s people and culture. With Classic Journeys, your full-time local guides know the farmers, the craftspeople and the everyday folk who can speak of the rich tradition and history that is meaningful to you and your family.  To find out more about private heritage trips we offer, call us at 833.387.1210.