How Madrid & Beyond Creates the Kind of Travel Experiences You Can’t Google
Forbes
Last updated: June 9, 2026
This article explores the transformative power of curated, on-the-ground travel experiences offered by companies like Madrid & Beyond. It emphasizes how personalized itineraries, led by local experts, elevate ordinary trips into memorable journeys by fostering genuine connections and deeper understanding of a destination. The piece highlights the company's philosophy of creating authentic, non-performative experiences.
- Madrid & Beyond, co-founded by Nigel Hack and Oscar Soler, specializes in highly personalized luxury travel throughout Spain and Portugal.
- The company connects travelers with local experts such as artists, chefs, journalists, and historians to provide unique insights into destinations.
- Instead of one-off excursions, Madrid & Beyond designs complete, customized itineraries from start to finish.
- Examples of experiences include exploring tapas bars with a food journalist and discovering independent boutiques with a former fashion consultant.
- A particularly memorable experience involved sketching at the Prado Museum with an artist and collaborating on a mural.
- The company emphasizes the importance of the "hosts" or local insiders, who are chosen for their charisma, passion, and ability to make experiences feel personal and natural.
- Authenticity is defined by experiences feeling spontaneous and uncontrived, allowing for adaptation and unexpected moments, such as being invited to Madrid Fashion Week.
- Madrid & Beyond aims to make even familiar destinations feel new by carefully listening to travelers' desires and surprising them with unique access.
- The ultimate goal is for clients to feel that their trip was elevated and that the insider access provided by the company was essential to its success.
