Top places for Indigenous travel experiences

• Reindeer farm visits and campfire cooking
• Sámi-owned lavvu camps
• Snowshoeing, wildlife tracking and skiing
• Siida and Ájtte Museum, and Sámi Parliament

Visiting a Sámi reindeer farm is standard in most of our trips to Sápmi (Lapland). It’s a great way to learn about the changes to nomadic life that Sámi herders have faced in recent decades. Make sure to stay for dinner if invited, too. That way, you’ll get to taste delicacies like Arctic char barbecued over a campfire… just make sure to keep your eyes on the skies in case the Northern Lights put on a show.

Camping is another option, with Sámi-run lavvu camps welcoming guests to ancestral herding lands. Over a few days, you can learn how to navigate the wilderness the traditional way – using snowshoes and cross country skis. Wildlife tracks are easier to spot in the snow too; local guides will take you out to track huge antlered moose.

Many of our vacations make Jokkmokk their base – a town in the far north of Sweden that’s long been a Sámi meeting place. You’ll have time to swing by the Ájtte Museum, where exhibits showcase nomadic culture. The restaurant is a good place to feast on Sámi food or, in summer, wander between the microscopic flowers of the Arctic garden. There are Sámi-run shops in town too – excellent picks for Indigenous-designed souvenirs such as cosy shawls and reindeer-shaped cookie cutters.

Meanwhile, in Finnish Sápmi, we can take you to the Sámi Museum Siida, which scored the award for European Museum of the Year. It has a mix of permanent exhibitions, an open-air museum, and a rotating roster of photographers and poets. Most exciting, however, might be our trips to Sámi Parliament. Both the Sámi Cultural Centre Sajos in Finland and the Sámi Parliament of Norway in Karasjok offer guided tours. It’s a brilliant chance to explore the wins and woes the Sámi have faced in the fight to get rights and recognition from the government of the day.

• Petra and Wadi Rum
• Desert camps, homestays and wilderness lodges
• The Bedouin Trail
• Women’s co-operatives and female guides

Experiencing Bedouin culture is pretty much guaranteed in Jordan. Almost all our tours visit Petra and Wadi Rum, where Bedouin have lived for centuries. A member of the local B’doul tribe will likely be your guide while wandering the magnificent wadis of the rose-red city. They’re the best people to tell you about the cultural significance to local people. Here, tourism has come at a cost. Many families lived in the caves until evicted when Petra became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985.

We recommend casting your gaze beyond Petra’s archaeological treasures too. Most of our vacations add at least a night in a desert camp owned and operated by Bedouins, such as those from the Al Zalabieh tribe, who have lived in Wadi Rum for generations. They’ll take you out on a desert tour by jeep, camel or on foot, all while regaling you with tales of desert life. The day usually ends with a zarb dinner – marinaded meat and vegetables slow-cooked in a traditional underground oven. Be warned, though: between the storytelling and the out-of-this-world stargazing, you’ll find it hard to drag yourself to bed.

Fancy spending more time in Wadi Rum? Consider hiking a section of the Bedouin Trail. The long-distance walking route was created by a co-operative of Bedouins, and gives you the chance to walk with guides who have spent their lives amongst the canyons and caves. They also know all the best camping spots – and how to get there safely by sunset.

There are other Indigenous-led accommodation options. Our cultural tours offer the chance to stay in a homestay in Orjan, where green orchards are a change from Mars-red deserts that dominate many tours to Jordan. We also recommend staying in a wildlife lodge in the Dana Biosphere Reserve, where you’ll get to share in local specialities such as maqluba upside-down rice and verses of epic Bedouin poetry.

• Expert-led safaris
• Maasai and Samburu-run camps
• Mara Naboisho community conservancy
• Nature walks and night drives

Exploring the savannah with an Indigenous guide is the highlight for many people on our safaris in Kenya. In the company of Maasai and Samburu wildlife experts, you can track wildlife on foot through the acacia-dotted landscape (you’re in safe hands), or in a jeep – in the cool of the morning, or under starry skies.

On our vacations, you can stay in safari lodges that work in partnership with Maasai and Samburu communities, leasing land from residents so that they can shape how tourism develops – or doesn’t develop – on their land. In Kenya, these rights are hard-won, and sometimes tenuous, threatened by colonial fortress conservation methods and irresponsible tourism. However, many reserves are determined to do things differently, returning the power to Indigenous hands.

Some of our best lodges are in the Naboisho Conservancy. Here, conservation and community now live in relative harmony. Big cats are doing particularly well, but you’ll also see elephants, giraffes, wildebeests and zebras. There’s also the chance to visit a Maasai village for a coffee and a chat – always on the residents’ terms.

• Inca Trail, Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley
• Lake Titicaca homestays
• Llama care, weaving, coffee and chocolate workshops
• Centre for Traditional Textiles in Cusco

Despite its many colonial trappings, Cusco is a great place for an introduction to pre-Colombian culture in Peru. Over half the city identify as Quechua (or Runa, as some Quechua call themselves) – an umbrella term for the many Indigenous Peoples who speak one of the Quechua languages. Most of our vacations to Peru pop by Cusco. While here, visit the Centre for Traditional Textiles – founded by women passionate about protecting and promoting their Cusqueñan textile traditions. Admire these works of art created by weavers who each showcase unique ancestral designs.

After lingering in the city, you can be off on your way – to Machu Picchu and the Inca Trail. Some trips crack on with the classic three-day trek (do have a read about porters’ rights). However, if you’re interested in Indigenous culture then book our vacations that take slower, scenic routes – perhaps visiting the Quechua villages that sit in the Sacred Valley, such as the community of Misminay.

You can also combine hiking and homestays on the lesser-trod Lares Trail to Machu Picchu. “Our tours visit all the highlights, but they also visit traditional communities… there’s a little bit each day that gives something back to Peru,” says Amanda Zenick, co-founder of our Peru specialist Ayni Peru Expeditions. “Both come away with something more than just the standard package.” Creating mutual benefits is part of what inspired the company name: “Ayni is a type of reciprocity in Indigenous communities... It means today for you, tomorrow for me.”

Many Indigenous people in the Andes rely on subsistence farming. Tourism is often a welcome extra income stream in remote regions, with some coffee and chocolate farms opening their doors to visitors. Celebrate Indigenous culture here by choosing a focus that interests you, such as Andean spiritualism and ancient civilisations. “If there’s a community that wants to have people come and stay with them, we create an itinerary that includes at least a day visiting them,” says Amanda.

Most tours also include a trip to Lake Titicaca, on the border of Peru and Bolivia. It’s home to many Aymara people, who have been living there since before the arrival of the Incas. It’s also home to the Uros – and we can take you to visit their 100-plus floating islands. The architecture is astounding, with islands, houses and boats crafted from roots and reeds.

• Multi-country overland tours
• Indigenous-owned hotels and campsites
• Village visits
• Food and craft markets

West Africa is one of the most culturally diverse regions in the world – home to many Indigenous Peoples, from the Tuareg of Western Sahara to the Asante of Ghana to the Wolof of Senegal. Our multi-country overland tours are a great way to get an overview of vastly differing cultures in a relatively short time.

Other tours focus on one country – such as our Ghana cultural tours steered by Asante people who can tell you about their long connection to the region. In Senegal and the Gambia, meanwhile, you’ll meet Wolof and Serer people on a trip that takes you to Indigenous-owned hotels and campsites, plus food and craft markets.

Our West Africa specialists have worked with Indigenous communities for many years and always check to see if the presence of tourists is welcome – especially in remote villages, where the permission of village elders is sought.