February 27, 2008

Dig with the Pigs

Trufflepig Travel Planners

This little piggy went to market.

This little piggy stayed home.

And this little piggy knows the most amazing shoemaker in Rajasthan and can get you a kick-ass room at palace-cum-hotel Devi Garh in Delwara.

Toronto-based Trufflepig creates customized travel itineraries of the stylish sort. The agency (part planner, part concierge) was founded by Butterfield & Robinson alums who want their clients to feel like insiders by providing them with stress-free, big-bragging-rights experiences.

Trufflepig gets the scoop from a global network of sources (“Pigs”) — from regular people (a Buenos Aires art collector who can arrange private gallery visits and score a Saturday night table at ever-chic Casa Cruz) to superstars (Parisian top toque Yves Camdeborde shares his favorite bistros, which presumably include his own, Le Comptoir).

Trufflepig’s planners (“the Farmers”) work with you to plan your trip, then deliver a final itinerary (“the Piglet”), a personalized handbook that outlines the nuts and bolts of your trip, with tips on what to see, where to eat, and which doors to knock on.

Their fee depends on the complexity of the trip — say, $500 for an easy, weeklong jaunt through Tuscany; and $2,000 for a private jet and a chef who cooks kosher in the South African bush.

Now that’s getting the whole hog.

Trufflepig (416-628-1272 or trufflepig.com).

Here are more travel planning tips: 
+ Business Class for Less $$
+ FlightStats Airline Info
+ Shipping Luggage Ahead