MIR's Month-by-Month Guide to Planning Your 2027 Journeys
Choose When to Go and See Where It Leads
If a 2027 journey has been on your mind, this is a good time to start thinking about where you want to go. Back to a part of the world you know well, or somewhere you’ve been curious about for years?
Maybe you’re ready for a deeper look at Central Asia, following the old Silk Road through Uzbekistan and into the mountain landscapes of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Perhaps the South Caucasus is calling, with Georgia’s wine country, Armenia’s monasteries, and Azerbaijan’s old trading cities. Or turn toward the Balkans, where Ottoman quarters, Adriatic ports, mountain villages, and the complicated history of Southeast Europe can fill a journey with plenty to talk about over dinner.
That’s where our 2027 month-by-month guide comes in. We’ve paired each month with journeys that make good use of the season. And if one of these journeys catches your eye, take a look at our current 40th Anniversary Special offer. New bookings on selected Small Group Tours made through September 30, 2026, receive savings of $400 per person. Start with the calendar below and see which month gets you thinking.
January
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Oman Unveiled
If you prefer milder winters, this tour might be to your liking. Follow the trail of frankincense and explore Oman’s Dhofar province, where green landscapes meet the desert; walk through souqs where the scent of frankincense lingers in narrow halls; and speak with locals eager to learn more about where you come from and your culture. See the Tour >>
February
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Modern Mesopotamia
Travel from Basra to Iraqi Kurdistan through the heart of ancient Mesopotamia. Cruise the southern marshes, visit Karbala’s ornate Shia shrines, and explore Baghdad’s bazaars. Continue north to Mosul and the archaeological sites of Hatra, Ashur, Nimrud, and Nineveh. Along the way, see the remains of Sumerian, Akkadian, and Babylonian civilizations before reaching a region home to Kurds, Yazidis, Assyrian Christians, and other communities in northern Iraq today. See the Tour >>
March
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Backstreets and Bazaars of Uzbekistan
Spring in Uzbekistan begins with Navruz, the Persian New Year celebrated around March 21. Public festivities, music, family gatherings, and tables filled with seasonal dishes mark the occasion across the country. Experience Uzbekistan as communities welcome a new season and one of the year’s most important celebrations. See the Tour >>
April
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The Baltics
Explore Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania as longer spring days return to the Baltic capitals. Walk Tallinn’s medieval lanes, see Riga’s remarkable concentration of art nouveau architecture, and spend time in Vilnius, where Gothic, Baroque, and Neoclassical buildings share the historic center. April gives you plenty of time on foot before the busy summer months. See the Tour >>
Treasures of the South Caucasus
Cross Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan through a region where monasteries, trading cities, mountain communities, and centuries-old religious traditions sit surprisingly close together. Visit churches and monasteries, spend time in local homes, and hear traditional music while getting to know three neighboring countries with distinct languages, histories, and customs. See the Tour >>
May
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Albania: Beyond the Guidebook
May is a fine time to explore Albania before the heat of summer. Walk the stone streets of UNESCO-listed Berat and Gjirokaster, examine the Greek and Roman remains at Butrint, and trace the Ottoman and communist periods through towns, archaeological sites, and conversations with local people. See the Tour >>
Silk Route Odyssey: Caravan Across Uzbekistan
Follow the old Silk Road through Samarkand, Bukhara, and Khiva, cities that once connected merchants, scholars, craftspeople, and ideas across Eurasia. Stand beneath Samarkand’s tiled monuments, enter Bukhara’s old trading domes, and walk within Khiva’s walled old city while tracing Uzbekistan’s place in the history of overland trade. See the Tour >>
Eastern Turkey and Georgia: Crossroads of Ancient Civilizations
Travel from eastern Turkey into Georgia through lands contested and connected by kingdoms and empires for centuries. See Mount Ararat, explore Kars and Tbilisi, and visit churches and monasteries built along old routes between Anatolia and the Caucasus. June brings long days for covering this historically dense stretch of the region. See the Tour >>
June
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Bulgaria and Romania: Frescoes and Fortresses
Travel through Bulgaria and Romania among painted monasteries, medieval fortresses, Saxon towns, and villages where regional customs remain part of everyday life. From Bulgaria’s Orthodox heritage to Transylvania’s fortified towns and churches, crossing the two countries shows how religion, empire, and local identity developed differently on either side of the Danube. See the Tour >>
July
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Mongolian Explorer with Naadam Festival
July means Naadam in Mongolia. Wrestling, archery, and horse racing bring competitors and spectators together for the country’s major national festival. After the celebrations, head beyond Ulaanbaatar into the Gobi and across the steppe, where summer is one of the prime seasons for traveling Mongolia’s vast distances. See the Tour >>
Village Traditions of the South Caucasus
Summer takes daily life outdoors in the villages of Georgia and Armenia. See bread baked in traditional ovens, visit family homes and farms, and sit down at tables filled with regional dishes. Time in smaller communities adds a personal perspective to the churches, monasteries, and historic towns encountered across the South Caucasus. See the Tour >>
Outposts of the Silk Road
Cross the deserts of Central Asia to places once connected by caravan traffic, including Merv and Kunya-Urgench. Fortresses, mausoleums, archaeological remains, and former caravan centers stand along routes that carried merchants between major cities. Their remote locations help put the distances of Silk Road trade into perspective. See the Tour >>
August
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Pamir Highway: From the Tien Shan to the High Pamirs
August opens a window for traveling one of Central Asia’s great high-altitude routes. Cross mountain passes, follow river valleys, and stop in settlements separated by long stretches of road as you travel from the Tien Shan toward the Pamirs. The distances here are part of the experience, showing just how vast this corner of Central Asia is. See the Tour >>
September
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Balkan Odyssey: Crossroads of Cultures
Traveling the Balkans by road lets you watch the region change from one border to the next. Architecture, languages, religious traditions, and food shift within surprisingly short distances. Ottoman quarters, Adriatic towns, Orthodox monasteries, and Austro-Hungarian streets help piece together the histories that still distinguish neighboring communities. See the Tour >>
A Taste of Georgia: Wine, Cuisine, and Culture
September brings the grape harvest to Georgia, where wine has been made in qvevri, large clay vessels buried underground, for thousands of years. Visit wine country during this busy season, meet producers, taste regional dishes, and sit down for meals where wine, food, conversation, toasts, and polyphonic singing share the table. See the Tour >>
Mongolia’s Golden Eagle Festival
Head to Mongolia’s western Altai for the Golden Eagle Festival, where Kazakh eagle hunters gather with their trained golden eagles for competitions that test generations of horsemanship and hunting knowledge. Time in Bayan-Olgii and nearby communities adds context to the festival and to Kazakh life in this remote corner of Mongolia. See the Tour >>
October
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The Five ’Stans
Get a broad look at Central Asia across all five ’Stans, with Uzbekistan’s great Silk Road cities at its heart. Explore Samarkand’s Registan, Bukhara’s bazaars and Ark Citadel, and Khiva’s walled Old Town. Meet silk makers and ceramicists in the Fergana Valley, watch traditional Kazakh falconry, see Kyrgyzstan’s Tien Shan Mountains, and encounter places as different as Tajikistan’s Khujand and Turkmenistan’s marble-clad Ashgabat. See the Tour >>
November
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Uncovering Taiwan: An Island Apart
Get to know Taiwan through the places people use every day. Browse morning markets, step inside neighborhood temples, sample street food, and spend time in communities beyond the major landmarks. Food, faith, family traditions, and the island’s Indigenous heritage add context to Taiwan’s distinctly local culture. See the Tour >>
South Korea: A Journey Through Time
Move between royal palaces, neighborhood markets, temples, and tea houses while exploring how older customs remain present in contemporary South Korea. Share tea, learn about nunchi, the social practice of reading a room and responding to others, and see how etiquette and tradition still enter everyday interactions. See the Tour >>
December
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Saudi Arabia: Trade Routes, Tradition, and Transformation
December’s cooler temperatures make it a good month for tracing Saudi Arabia’s old trade and pilgrimage routes. Visit the Nabataean tombs at Hegra near AlUla, explore historic Diriyah, and walk Jeddah’s old quarter, Al-Balad. Archaeological sites, traditional markets, and rapidly changing cities place different periods of the kingdom’s history within one journey. See the Tour >>
