Who We Are

Appellation, from the French term, appellation d'origine contrôlée, speaks to the strictly defined place and process where wine, cheese and other artisinal agricultural products are crafted to show the best of a region.

That’s why we chose the name Appellation, because first and foremost, we’re here to help you experience the very best a place has to offer.

Meet Your Travel Advisor

Appellation Travel’s founder, Claire Johnson, counts a working holiday at an Australian ski resort and toiling in a dank sheep shearing shed as perhaps her initial foray into independent travel at age 20.

Her next adventure was a nine-month overland trip through Africa, starting in the red sands of the Moroccan Sahara and ending in the verdant Nile River Valley in Egypt, with the thriving city of Dakar, Senegal, the voodoo markets in Togo, and the mountain gorillas in what was then Zaire, being a few of the stops along the way. It goes without saying, Claire has traveled to places that make “off the beaten path” seem like a five-star hotel!

Since then, she’s traveled to 50 countries and worked as a guide and regional manager for one of the world’s largest active travel companies, and planned a multitude of trips for private families.

Whether she’s planning trips to tried and true destinations or to those that are lesser-known, Claire founded Appellation Travel to share two things; her deep knowledge of travel and the joy she gets from planning and executing one-of-a-kind adventures!