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(46,209 posts) Sun Feb 18, 2024, 10:37 AM Feb 2024

38 of the best adventure holidays for 2024 + 89 of the best holiday destinations for 2024: a month-by-month guide [View all]

Make this year one to remember with our pick of incredible trips – from hiking in Nepal and ebiking in the Lake District to spotting lemurs in Madagascar

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/38-of-the-best-adventure-holidays-for-2024-hzctnxrlx

https://archive.is/MFsDG

Clockwise from bottom left: Angkor Wat in Cambodia; Mossman Gorge in Queensland, Australia; and a ring-tailed lemur in Madagascar

Looking to push the travel boundaries a little harder in 2024? If thoughts of big adventures won’t budge — tacking and jibing across the Bay of Biscay, circumnavigating the Mont Blanc massif or trekking in Nepal with the kids — then maybe this is the year to make it happen. The good news? There’s a raft of experienced operators on hand to help turn idle daydreams into real journeys. Whether you’ve got your eye on a fitness-busting desert expedition, fancy an intrepid jungle jaunt to spy wildlife in its natural habitat or just want new ways to get a kick out of the UK and Europe, there’s plenty in the offing.

1. Desert adventure in Algeria

Southeast of the Algerian oasis town of Djanet, the N3 highway loses its bottle and swings north, but if you continue southwards, through the Black Dunes, across the sands of Tadrart Rouge, you’d travel more than 700 miles before finding another sealed road. This 11-day group tour focuses on the ancient history of the Sahara, taking you through a geological wonderland to see sites where 12,000-year-old rock art reveals a land of forests, grassland, lakes and wildlife that existed before desertification. With expert local guiding, six nights’ wild camping, and four in hotels and guesthouses, this is the ultimate desert adventure.

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15. Luxury Nepal

The mistaken belief that tourists would happily pay a $200-a-day Sustainable Development Fee (now reduced to $100) backfired for Bhutan, devastating small enterprises, accelerating the exodus of young Bhutanese and sending tourists to neighbouring Nepal, which has long been seen as the less luxurious alternative to the Land of Smiles. But Nepal has seen huge improvements in quality and infrastructure since the days when backpackers paid a quid a night for dinner and a bed in an itchy mountain tea house. This two-week private tour exemplifies the new Nepal: five nights in the luxurious Shinta Mani Mustang — the 29-suite Bill Bensley-designed property facing the 7,061m Nilgiri Himal in the mystical Mustang district. There’s hiking, yoga, cultural immersion, stargazing and fabulous dining, but the highlight is a day spent with the fearless honey hunters, the Gurung, an ethnic group who risk their lives to harvest honeycomb from the precipitous nests of mountain bees.

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28. Cruise the Scottish coast on a 100-year-old trawler

The hottest ticket in Scottish waters this year appears to be the one that gets you aboard Provident, the 100-year-old, 70ft, 90-tonne Brixham trawler cruising the Highland coast and islands. It will make 20 sailings this season, with many itineraries already sold out or heading that way fast, so you’ll need to be provident in securing your berth in one of its four cabins. There’s no need for any sailing experience and no expectation of any operational input — you can sit and stare for the duration if that’s your desire. Trips with availability include an early spring sailing around the islands close to Oban, a May circumnavigation of Mull in the seabird breeding season and a ten-night voyage to St Kilda and back.

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