The CaravanSerai Atlas of the Roads
Walkable Journeys Along Historic Trade, Craft, and Pilgrimage Routes
CaravanSerai journeys are not tours. They are living roads - walked at the pace of the body - following documented routes
where goods, ideas, and beliefs once moved slowly across landscapes.
Before borders, there were paths.Before destinations, there were thresholds.Before objects became products, they were carried.
Each route in this Atlas follows real historical corridors - caravan roads, pilgrimage paths, port quarters, mountain passes - where trade and daily life were inseparable. These journeys are designed for people who want to walk history, not observe it from a distance.
Here, travel is not consumption. It is attention.
What These Routes Are
Each CaravanSerai route is:
• Walkable and realistic. Built around existing paths, towns, transport links, and safe modern movement
• Historically grounded. Based on documented trade routes, pilgrimage networks, and craft centres that still exist today
• Slow by design. Walking is central. Trains, boats, and buses follow historic corridors - never convenience alone
• Culturally respectful. Focused on observation, behaviour, and presence rather than spectacle
• Materially connected. The objects you encounter - rugs, incense, oils, textiles - are not souvenirs, but continuations of the road
These are routes to read, to dream, or to walk. Some will call you immediately. Others may wait.
How to Use the Atlas
You can engage with these journeys in three ways:
As a walker. Follow a route step by step, using it as a guide for real travel
As a reader. Move through the roads slowly, letting history, craft, and place unfold
As a collector of meaning. Understand where CaravanSerai objects come from - not just geographically, but culturally and historically
There is no correct order. Caravans never moved in straight lines.
A Note on Safety & Responsibility
All routes are designed around:
• Existing towns and known paths
• Modern transport where necessary
• Clear daily distances
• Places where travellers are expected and welcomed
Walking sections prioritise well-trodden routes, historic trails, and inhabited areas. Where terrain or distance requires it, the road pauses and movement shifts - just as it always has.
These are living places, not museums. Respect local customs. Ask before photographing. Walk humbly.
Choose a road to enter.
Each journey stands alone, yet all belong to the same world.
Route I - The Western Silk Road
Europe to Morocco
A continental journey following historic trade corridors through Italy, France, Spain, and North Africa.
Ports, monasteries, mountain crossings, and medinas - where goods, faiths, and crafts met.
Themes: Trade, pilgrimage, craft, cultural exchange
Objects: Oils, incense, vessels, textiles
Route II - The Atlas Weaving Roads
Morocco
A village-to-village journey through the Middle and High Atlas Mountains, following wool, salt, and women’s weaving lineages.
Themes: Rugs, lineage, protection, domestic ritual
Objects: Rugs, poufs, undyed wool, symbolic textiles
Route III - The Himalayan Trade Roads
Nepal
Mountain paths once used for salt, wool, grain, and pilgrimage.
A route of breath, patience, and exchange between valleys.
Themes: Mountain life, salt trade, ritual movement
Objects: Wool layers, incense, travel textiles
Route IV - The Japanese Mountain & Temple Roads
Japan
Pilgrimage paths linking temples, forests, and post towns.
A road shaped by restraint, repetition, incense, and stillness.
Themes: ritual, incense, timber, silence
Objects: incense, candles, paper-wrapped objects
Route V - The Central Asian Silk Roads
Uzbekistan
Caravan cities - Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva - where scholarship, textiles, and faith travelled together across empires.
Themes: Silk, learning, caravanserais
Objects: Textiles, layered incense, storage vessels
Route VI - The Sea Roads of the Silk World
Maritime Routes
Ports, harbours, and tides - following incense, oils, ceramics, and cloth across the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean.
Themes: Maritime trade, patience, navigation
Objects: Resins, oils, ceramics
CaravanSerai Gypsy