Best Cultural Immersion Travel Web Sites

We chose to name this selection of websites  "Best Cultural Immersion Travel," since the term "cultural travel" is often used by travel agencies and websites to describe group tours which visit mostly monuments, museums, and historic sites. Cultural travel however, implies contact and interaction with the culture of a country—culture defined as the way of life, activities, and traditions of a people, and not merely a country’s historic sites and scenic attractions. For this section I have chosen my favorite websites and organizations that specialize in providing authentic cultural experiences for travelers, based on sharing the lives, traditions, and activities of the local population.

—Travel and Living Abroad Contributing Editor Volker Poelzl

Center for Cultural Interchange (CCI), www.cci-exchange.com, offers volunteer programs, internships, independent homestays, and language study programs for teens and adults in over 30 countries worldwide.

Culture Explorers, www.culturexplorers.com, offers small-group cultural immersion tours in Peru, Mexico, Brazil , Guatemala, and provides travelers with an insider's access into the local culture and living traditions.

Cultural Extremes, culturalextremes.com, offers affordable intercultural experiences and volunteer abroad projects in India, China, Egypt, Thailand.

CulturalTravels.com, www.culturaltravels.com, is a directory of specialty tour operators offering a variety of travel activities, including cultural interaction, outdoor activities, cultural and historic tours, and more.

The Experiment in International Living, www.worldlearning.org/225.htm, is an international nonprofit membership association that offers  month-long homestays, group travel, study abroad, language training, work exchange and other cultural immersion programs, with members in 27 countries. The programs are designed for high school students.

Global Awareness Through Experience (GATE), www.gate-travel.org, offers cultural immersion programs, women's spiritual quests and pilgrimage opportunities in Latin America and Europe. GATE strives to create an awareness of other cultures and their realities through people-to-people connections.

Global Crossroad, www.globalcrossroad.com, offers volunteer abroad and internship abroad experiences, mini-escapes and summer escapes, paid teaching programs, rural community insights and cultural immersion programs in 20 countries.

International Cultural Adventures (ICA), www.icadventures.com, offers cultural immersion, educational, and volunteer experiences in Asia and South America.

Worlds Together Travel Network, worldstogethertravel.com, offers cultural immersion travel to communities in Egypt, Belize and Jamaica that directly supports local communities.