Italy 10 days
Spring in Sicily
Four small villages, one cook, the slow week of the citrus harvest. Hosted by a local agronomist.
From €4,200 pp Enquire →
— Solene Travels · Lyon · est. 2014 —
A small atelier of travel concierges based in Vieux Lyon. We design journeys for people who would rather know one village well than seven indifferently. Four staff, eighty trips a year, the same cook in Sicily for the third spring in a row.
— I · The atelier —
Solene was started in 2014 by Solène Bertrand, who had spent twelve years between Florence and Marrakech, working in hotels, and growing slowly impatient with what travel had become. The atelier opened above a café in Vieux Lyon. Four concierges now work from the same room.
We do not aggregate, we do not list, we do not maintain a dropdown of hotels. Every journey is designed in conversation with you, by one of us. We send a paper folder by post the week before you leave. It includes a hand-drawn map and the mobile number of someone in-country who will answer.
"Travel is the slow art. The opposite of efficiency." — Solène Bertrand, founder.
— II · Featured journeys —
Departures are small. Each journey takes between four and twelve travellers, never more.
Four small villages, one cook, the slow week of the citrus harvest. Hosted by a local agronomist.
Three Berber villages, a riad in Marrakech, a private cook, and a guide who has walked the routes for thirty years.
Three temple stays, a tea master, a private foliage walk in Arashiyama before the gates open.
A converted mas in the Luberon, a vineyard partner, a cook, and a workspace with WiFi for the half-days you cannot fully unplug.
— IV · A reel —
Filmed by Camille Roche, May 2026. No score. Just the sea and a few footsteps.
— V · Begin —
The discovery call is free, forty-five minutes, by phone. After that we send a proposal. Itinerary design is a three-week process and requires a small retainer. Concierge trips are billed at 8% of the total trip cost.
— VI · A note —
Tell us where you've been, where you've wanted to go, and roughly when. Solène replies personally within three working days, from the office above the café.
— VII · Visit —
Solene Travels
17 rue Saint-Jean
69005 Lyon, France
In Vieux Lyon, two minutes from the Cathédrale Saint-Jean. First floor, brass plaque. Knock — door is open Tuesday to Saturday.
