01 — Apply
Tell us how you travel
Six questions, ten minutes. We’re looking for curiosity and decent table manners, not a passport count.
Departure 041 · March
Long lunches in the Alentejo
We plan four trips a season and keep them small on purpose.
Salt Route is a membership for people who travel slowly. Every departure is put together with someone who actually lives there — a cook, a boat builder, a second-generation olive farmer — and capped at twelve seats so the table still fits everyone.
No group photos, no coach transfers, no itinerary printed on laminate. You get a house, a handful of people worth talking to, and a week that doesn’t need managing.
- Members
- 1,247
- Host towns
- 38
- Return rate
- 62%
How a season works
Applications open twice a year. We read every one — usually within nine days.
02 — Match
We pair you to a table
Members get first look at the season two weeks early, with notes on who else has claimed a seat.
03 — Go
Show up with one bag
Beds, meals, boats and local guides are handled. You cover flights and whatever you drink after ten.
Spring departures
Nine trips between March and June. Three are already closed.
3 seats
Alentejo
Portugal · 14–21 March
Waitlist
Setesdal
Norway · 2–8 April
6 seats
Kii Peninsula
Japan · 19–27 April
2 seats
Oaxaca Valley
Mexico · 8–15 May
9 seats
Cape Breton
Canada · 24–30 May
4 seats
Val d’Orcia
Italy · 11–18 June
From the table
Members write up every trip. A few lines from the last three.
“I booked expecting a nice week and came home with four people I now text most days. The boat builder in Setesdal still owes me a rematch.”
Marisol Ventura
Member since 2021 · 6 departures
“Nothing was announced with a microphone. That alone was worth the dues. The Oaxaca cooking afternoon ran four hours over and nobody minded.”
Teodor Halvorsen
Member since 2023 · 3 departures
“Twelve seats is the whole trick. By the second dinner you’ve spoken to everyone, and by the last one you’re arguing about where to go next.”
Nia Okonjo-Barrett
Member since 2019 · 11 departures
Applications close 6 February
Take one of the last 31 places
Annual dues$420
Deposit per trip$650
Average trip$3,190
Membership runs for a calendar year and covers both seasons, the departure notes, and the members’ room where trips actually get planned. Cancel before renewal and nothing rolls over.