7 inspiring trips for women

Picture yourself hand-rolling pasta at a woman-owned farm in Italy or feeling inspired by empowering tales of historic heroines as you roam through Ireland. On our seven new EF Go Ahead Tours for Women, you’ll embrace new experiences alongside women who share your curiosity about the world and craving for meaningful connection. Grab your sister, best friend, grandma, niece—you get the picture—and embark on made-for-you experiences on a women-focused tour. Or, embrace a solo journey and make friends with the vibrant women in your group as you forge lifelong memories together.

Read on to dig into our seven exciting new Tours for Women, created with women in mind, and designed to foster connection and support women farmers, winemakers, and artisans around the world.

• Snap a picture with the statue of Clara Campoamor, considered the mother of Spain’s feminist movement, while sightseeing highlights like the Royal Palace and the Neoclassical Liria Palace around Madrid with your local guide.

• Enjoy wine tasting at Bodegas Coloma while viewing the sprawling vineyards of Extremadura. Winemaker Amelia Coloma runs the winery with her two siblings, and she’s involved in every step, from tending the vineyard to selecting the best grapes.

• Shop one-of-a-kind handmade crafts at A Avo Veio Trabalhar (meaning “Grandma Came to Work”). This intergenerational creative hub is made up of mostly senior women who create goods like pillows, doilies, quilts, and stuffed animals—each handmade with love and care by “granny.” You’ll meet one of the workshop’s representatives and learn more about their mission and community.

• Learn to make pasteis de nata at the women-run Lisbon Cooking Academy. When you join our optional Portuguese Pastry Cooking Class excursion, expert chefs will teach you how to make Portugal’s beloved custardy treat, but crafting this iconic dessert is just one of the culinary techniques you’ll get to take home. (Check out other delicious bites you should taste while in Portugal.)

• Admire Dublin’s Rosie Hackett Bridge and Constance Markievicz statue—sites honoring two revolutionary women of the Irish Citizen Army. Your guide will tell you all about the impact they made on women’s rights and Irish history as you take in panoramic views of the city.

• Immerse yourself in literary history at the former home of the Brontë sisters. On our optional Literary Yorkshire excursion, you’ll see where authors Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë wrote some of their greatest works, such as “Jane Eyre,” “Wuthering Heights,” and “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall,” respectively.

• Hear tales of Scottish women on a visit to the Scottish Storytelling Centre. You’ll be regaled with stories from past to present during a guided sightseeing tour of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh’s old town.

• Learn the legacies of British suffragettes on a guided walking tour of London with stops at the Millicent Garrett Fawcett Statue, Women of World War II Monument, and Edith Cavell Memorial—which honors the British WWI who helped more than 200 Allied soldiers escape German-occupied Belgium. End your tour at the monument of accomplished author Agatha Christie.

• Dive into the intriguing world of women who made their mark on the Roman Empire with an expert guide on our optional Women of Renaissance Rome excursion. You’ll uncover the many roles these women played, from influential courtesans to cunning noblewomen, forging the path to where Italian women are today.

• Taste tantalizing Tuscan red wines at Casato Prime Donne in Montalcino, the first Italian winery staffed entirely by women. Descended from generations of winemakers, the owner and founder Donatella Cinelli Colombini created a space to employ women, reduce gender discrimination, and prove that producing fine wines depends on passion and talent that everyone has in equal measure.

• Whip up a traditional Bolognese dinner with the guidance of professional chef Federica Frattini. You’ll make pasta from scratch at Podere San Giuliano, the agriturismo where Federica will teach you recipes passed down from her nonna. Psst... want to try making one of her recipes now? Check out this Bolognese ragu recipe she shared with us!

• Set out on a walking tour of Athens, starting at the Melina Mercouri Memorial that honors the activist, singer, actress, and politician who paved the way for Greek women in the 20th century. Finish your morning with a walking tour of the Parthenon, including temples dedicated to goddesses Athena and Nike.

• Bite into homemade sweets and meet the women of Apolloniatisses, a women’s agritourism cooperative. Traditional sweets (such as melekouni, Rhodes’ most famous dessert) are prepared on-site and made with aromatic flavors, like thyme-infused honey, sesame seeds, and citrus.

• Sip wine at Domaine Paterianakis, a woman-run Cretan vineyard where you’ll enjoy a sommelier-led tasting of fine vintages, such as: kotsifali, a red grape indigenous to Crete; mandilaria, another red grape grown throughout the Greek Isles; and malvasia, a white, Mediterranean varietal used in everything from dry whites to dessert wines.

• Add the extension to meet with nuns of a Meteora monastery and learn about the tenets and traditions of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. They’ll tell you about the beliefs followed by this branch of faith, the daily lives of initiates, and the work monks do at the monasteries.

• Visit the Larco Museum for a guided tour connecting the lives of women in Peru’s ancient cultures with the impressive collection of pre-Columbian art while visiting the coastal city of Lima.

• Refuel after sightseeing with a cup of coffee from Florencia y Fortunata Cafe, a woman-founded specialty coffee shop in Cuzco. From sourcing beans from women-owned farms to only employing female baristas, the cafe empowers women in each step of the coffee-making process.

• Watch women weavers create traditional textiles at Awamaki, a nonprofit dedicated to increasing economic opportunities for women in the Sacred Valley. You’ll get to try out their techniques as you weave your own bracelet at this Education First partner organization.

• See the mausoleum of Shajar al-Durr, Egypt’s first and only sultana (or female sultan), on a guided tour of old Cairo. As you sightsee through the city, you’ll learn how Egyptian women’s lives have evolved from ancient times and hear about international icon Umm Kulthum, an actress and songwriter praised as one of the greatest singers of all time by Rolling Stone magazine. You’ll also learn about Doria Shafik, a poet and activist whose efforts brought women’s suffrage to the Egyptian constitution.

• Meet the furry faces of some of Luxor’s working animals at Animal Care in Egypt, known as ACE. This women-founded organization provides free medical care for animals, like donkeys and horses, that communities depend on for their livelihood. They also provide education on animal welfare. You’ll meet a representative to hear about ACE's mission and see some of the animals in their care.

• Extend your trip to Jordan, where you’ll visit Iraq Al-Amir Women’s Cooperative, an organization aiming to reverse the high unemployment rate of Jordanian women. Enjoy lunch prepared by your hosts, then see how the women create olive oil soap and greeting cards from recycled paper.

• Enter Songdhammakalyani Monastery—the country’s only all-women Theravada Buddhist priory. Per a 1928 law, it’s still illegal for women to be ordained in Thailand, so these dedicated women traveled to other countries to be initiated. Sit down with some of the monks to hear their stories and understand life in the nation’s first all-female monastery.

• Visit the Araksa Tea Garden (one of the oldest in the country), where you’ll explore part of the 111-acre property, tour the factory, and enjoy a steamy cup with treats at the tea house. Traditionally, women make up the bulk of the leaf-picking workforce, and the company empowers its neighbors by employing many women from local Akha, Hmong, and Lisu hill tribes.

• Marvel at traditional Laotian silk handicrafts at Ock Pop Tok Weaving Craft Center when you join the extension to Laos. This women-owned and women-run social enterprise was founded to promote and preserve Laos’ textile traditions and help local women achieve careers as skilled artisans. You’ll see how they create these intricate works from start to finish—or, in other words, from silk worm to cloth.