About Babel Travel
About Us
Founded in Switzerland in 2008, Babel Travel offers small group adventure travel in four languages (English, French, Spanish and Italian) to destinations across The Middle East, Africa and Asia. When you travel with us, you are exposed to the local way of life. With Babel Travel, you interact with local people, catch local transport and eat local cuisine. We burst the tourist bubble and show you the real world – up close and personal. Although we like to get off-the-beaten-track, Babel Travel makes sure you see all the major sights and attractions of a country, whilst gaining an insight into its people, traditions and culture. We want you to embrace the amazing diversity the world has to offer. With Babel Travel you won’t just visit a country; you’ll experience it as well.
Sustainable Travel
We strongly believe that wherever we travel, we should take a responsible attitude with us. Sustainable Travel is about respecting the country we have chosen to visit. Your enjoyment of the trip should never be at the expense of the culture or the environment of the host country. Therefore, we believe that giving back to the communities we visit is essential.
In every country we visit we have built strong links with local communities, NGOs, aid agencies, hospitals, schools and women and children’s centres – all of which directly rely on the assistance of donations and products purchased by our travellers and other visitors. We offer Babel Travellers an opportunity to interact with locals at these organisations.
Small Group Adventures
Travelling in a small group of people gives you a sense that you are experiencing a country with a group of friends, rather than a typical tour. On all Babel Travel trips you will be travelling with a maximum of 12; all like-minded people from different parts of the world. This means that your group is able to fully experience a place and their people, blend in with the culture and crowds or visit small communities with little trouble.
By travelling side by side a local person on a bus, wandering through a remote village or visiting a person’s house, you are much more likely to be asked to join in, as locals will sense that you are genuinely interested in their way of life.
Local Partners
Babel Travel has been built upon partnerships between us and our local suppliers in the countries where we operate. Our trips benefit our small, locally owned travel companies, locally owned hotels, transport and local guides. We believe in giving back to local communities we visit.
Safety
By choosing to travel with Babel Travel you can be sure that your safety and well-being is our prime concern. Over the years we have built up a network of local offices, and a team of Destination Managers, local and non-local staff enables us to maintain constant contact with events on the ground in each of our destinations, and to ensure that every aspect of your tour runs as smoothly as possible.
Insurance
Our trips are insured through the Ingle Insurance Special Risk Policy. Coverage for our trips includes traffic accidents, medical emergencies (including medical evacuation and repatriation), accidental death and disablement, incidents relating to war, terrorism and kidnappings but does NOT include cover for ransom or extortion. We also do not cover for political evacuation (i.e. preemptively removing participants from a volatile situation before there is a medical emergency claim). If you would like to take out a comprehensive travel insurance policy which includes coverage for ransom and extortion, please contact Ingle Insurance for more information.
Accommodation
Babel Travel believes in offering authentic experiences, so we stay in distinctive forms of accommodation; from Riads to jungle camps, Caravanserais to traditional sailing boats. Of course, the standard of accommodation will depend on the style of trip you choose. Our criteria for choosing accommodation is cleanliness, convenience and, of course, friendliness.
Local Transport
On all Babel Travel trip styles, we travel on local transport wherever possible. We believe that how you get from A to B influences the tone of your journey and catching public transport allows face-to-face interaction with the local people. Whether it be taking a local taxi, riding a camel or travelling by local ferry – if it moves, we’ll be on it! Our Babel Comfort and Cultural Engagement trips use more private transportation and some flights.
Food
Sampling the local cuisine is a big part of your travelling experience. We realise that everyone is different, and when it comes to food there are varying degrees of adventure. Our trips include some meals, but we also leave plenty of room for you to explore the local cuisine on your own.
Excellent Leaders
Behind every great trip are our excellent group leaders. The main aim of the group leader is to take the hassle out of your travels and to help you have that trip of a lifetime! They will provide information on the places you are travelling, make suggestions for things to see and do.
Embracing Cultural Differences
When you travel with us we hope you will find personal growth by embracing differences and gaining a better understanding of another way of life. We strive to ensure you will have the most memorable and enlightening travel experience of your life.
We look forward to welcoming you soon.