Planning the trip of a lifetime and don’t know where to start? Well, panic not – here’s our pick of the most unforgettable experiences for 2012, from Alaska to Africa, art holidays to pilgrim walks.
Cruise in Alaska
Big draw: The majesty of the glaciers
Thanks to Sir David Attenborough’s Frozen Planet, business is booming for holidays in the world’s chillier regions.
And with 2012 being touted as the best time in years to see the Northern Lights, there is no better excuse to head north to be inspired – and why not from the comfort of a luxury liner?
Royal Caribbean Cruises are the leading specialists in Alaskan cruises, departing from Vancouver and heading up to the Arctic Circle throughout the summer. For the Northern Lights, September is the best time.
For everything else – glacial encounters, cycle treks, Inuit culture – the whole season is good.
Details: Royal Caribbean (www.royalcaribbean.co.uk) has a nine-night Alaska round trip fly/cruise from R20 750pp (based on two people sharing an inside stateroom) on board Radiance Of The Seas. The price includes return flights, transfers, one-night pre-cruise accommodation and a seven-night cruise, including meals and entertainment on board. This is based on a May 3 departure from the UK.
Caribbean corker
Big draw: Learn fresh skills at a new island resort
Buccament Bay Resort is a highly rated new five-star resort on St Vincent and the Grenadines – the first to open here.
St Vincent is made up of a string of dozens of impossibly fertile islands, which mix lush green with mountainous stretches and the occasional live volcano. There are luxury villas, gleaming white sands and cobalt-blue seas with every watersport you can imagine.
There’s also a Pat Cash Tennis Academy, a Liverpool FC academy, and Harlequin Performing Arts Academy (with a variety of performing master classes hosted by Broadway stars).
St Vincent has barely featured on the mainstream tourism map because getting there requires a transfer flight from Barbados, but the island’s new Argyle International Airport should be completed by May 2012.
Details: More from www.buccamentbay.com
Be artistic in India
Big draw: The spectacular coastal region of Kerala
Authentic Adventures prides itself in getting you under the skin of beautiful and unusual places – providing expert tutoring in art and photography, and even singing, in inspiring venues.
This year, unusually, Kerala, in southern India, is hosting art, photography and walking breaks at the same time. You stay in four venues, starting at Cocobay, on the edge of the Vembanad Lake – accessible only by water, a perfect launch pad to the waterway network for which the area is famous.
Watch the people paddle by, and join them on the water when you take a boat to the villages to paint (including lunch with a local boatman). Then it is inland to the intoxicating spice gardens of Periyar; to Munnar in the western Ghats (hills), and historic Cochin.
Details: Authentic Adventures, (www.authenticadventures.co.uk) offers 13 nights, 14 days, from R32 000, including flights from the UK, full board, all transport and all tuition (R3 750 discount for non-painters).
Colorado cowboys
Big draw: Go from beginner rider to cowhand in a week
Imagine going from never having ridden a horse to lassooing a steer from the saddle out on the range…in a week. In The Saddle offers an authentic experience on a working ranch on the high altitude grasslands of Colorado, with the Colorado Cattle Company.
You can ride out every day, roping and herding, and then back to the ranch for good grub and tales of the old West from gnarly old hands. Do as much or as little as you want – from bringing in the horses at dawn to helping with the branding (in May).
Decent levels of comfort – the old, restored ranch house has five en suite bedrooms, and there are also rustic cabins. Riding is Western style, which is a lot easier to master than the classic English approach.
There is a big indoor arena, too, with the chance to watch the ex-rodeo riders.
Details: In the Saddle, (www.inthesaddle.com) offers seven nights for R18 550, including everything except flights and drinks. Nearest airport is Denver .
Indelible Incas
Big draw: Machu Picchu without the crowds
The legend of extraordinary Machu Picchu draws thousands to the Inca Trail in Peru each year – and that’s the problem. At peak time, it becomes like a theme park.
At its best, it’s a life-altering location – and trekking specialists Dragoman try to retain the magic with its “community Inca trek”, which blazes an exclusive trail, spending time with Quechua Indian hosts to learn about and experience their culture.
There is plenty of time for activities ranging from city sightseeing to dune buggying and white-water rafting.
Details: Dragoman (www.dragoman.com) has a 17-day Lima to Cusco trip. Check their website for more details.
Awesome Africa
Big draw: Kenyan safari with tribal people
Sarara is a classic tented camp at the heart of the 340 000ha Namun in Kenya. Close to the foothills of northern Kenya’s Mathews Range, its six well-spaced tents have spectacular views of the mountains and watering holes.
It is owned by the local Namunyak community. So, while you enjoy early morning game drives, night drives in search of leopard, and endangered species such as Grevy zebra, you can rest assured that the community will benefit.
Remarkably, the local Samburu warriors are renowned for their “singing wells”. Every morning they bring their cattle to the river bed near the camp and draw water to the rhythm of their singing.
Despite this elemental experience, your living conditions are far from primitive. The remote camp has electricity and hot water.
Details: More at www.sararacamp.com, www.lewawilderness.com, www.tusk.org.
Italy’s finest
Big draw: A privileged view of Sicily’s extraordinary art
Fine Art Tours deliver beautiful settings, entry to private venues, and exclusive viewings of some of the world’s leading museums and historic sites, with world expert guides on tap.
While it will devise private trips by arrangement, one of the best group tours for 2012 is in western Sicily, where renowned Oxford classics don Robin Lane Fox is taking a trip to the Greek ruins of Segesta, Selinunte and Agrigento, some of the finest in the Mediterranean.
You will be viewing the glittering Norman church mosaics around Palermo, or lunching in one of the private palaces – including one that hosted the famous ball scene in Visconti’s film of Lampedusa’s novel The Leopard.
Details: Fine Art Travel’s Tour to Western Sicily lasts for six nights from September 19 to 25, 2012. More information from their website: www.finearttravel.co.uk
Pilgrim’s progress
Big draw: Fulfil a lifetime’s walking ambition in Europe
Pilgrim walks – such as the Camino de Santiago de Compostela in Spain – are increasingly popular, and the longer routes can keep you busy for years.
World Walks is now supporting the Via Francigena, the walking route that links Canterbury with Rome, organising accommodation, transfers and luggage.
Having supported the part from Switzerland to Rome, for 2012 it is now offering the entire route from Canterbury along with the French and Swiss legs — divided into week-long sections.
If you just want the sensation of a pilgrim arriving in Rome, you can just do the last week, starting in Montefiascone.
Details: World Walks offers the Via Francigena walking route, both guided and self-guided. Cost of the walks includes bed and breakfast, and six dinners a week, plus luggage transfers, walking notes and maps. More information from www.worldwalks.com – The Independent.