Thinking about your next big adventure but not sure where to start? Try one of these curated itineraries for inspiration. These small-group and private tours offer a taste of the wild side but without the hassle of organising the logistics yourself. So whether you want to paddle the Zambezi or see Laos by rail, here are the best adventure holidays to book for 2023.
Main photo: a jaguar in the Pantanal, Brazil (Getty Images)
Young chamois in the Apennines
1. See rewilding in the Apennines
Best for spotting rare wildlife
The backbone of Italy is the dramatic 750-mile Apennine range, characterised by limestone peaks soaring nearly 10,000ft into the sky and extensive beech forests. As a consequence of the conservation initiative Rewilding Europe, it has an increasing density of wildlife too, including the Marsican brown bear, wolves and the goat-like chamois. There’s a good chance of seeing the first and third of these on this five-night group expedition led by Rewilding Apennines’ Mario Cipollone, who’ll take you on slow treks through the beautiful landscape in search of wildlife. Accommodation is in a selection of hotels and mountain refuges.
Price ££ Togo has an abundant butterfly population (Getty Images) Best for cultural immersion Price ££ Canoeing on the Zambezi Best for a wild African safari Price ££ expertafrica.com Best for European exploration Price ££ originaltravel.co.uk The medieval town of Rupit in Catalonia (Alamy) Best for spectacular views Price £ ramblersholidays.co.uk Culinary pursuits are a big part of the walking holiday in Lycia Best for hiking with a difference Price £ walksworldwide.com A Buddhist temple in Luang Prabang (Alamy) Best for slow travel through Asia Price ££ insideasiatours.com Kayaking around the Marble Chapels on Lake General Carrera, one of the highlights of Route 7 (Alamy) Best for a life-changing road trip Price £££ pura-aventura.com Kayaking in the Highlands Best for reconnecting with nature Price £ wildernessscotland.com A puma in Torres del Paine National Park (Getty Images) Best for wildlife encounters for the whole family Price £££ naturetrek.co.uk Getting set to heli-ski in Andorra Best for off-piste thrills Price ££ absolutelysnow.com Elephants in the Okavango Delta (Getty Images) Best for spotting big game Price £££ safari-consultants.com A snow leopard in Ladakh’s Hemis National Park (Alamy) Best for winning photography competitions Price ££ steppestravel.com The Guna Yala islands (Getty Images) Best for a sustainable South American challenge Price £ muchbetteradventures.com The trips above feature multiple departures or are tailor made itineraries. At the time of publication, trips marked “Flexible booking” had a refund or future credit policy if you need to cancel the trip before you travel. Cancellation policies vary between tour operators, with some requiring long notice periods, and are subject to change. Please check with the tour operator before booking. Inspired to go on a big adventure? Here is a selection of the best tours from our trusted partners. Sign up for the Times Travel Newsletter here.
Flexible Y
2. Ghosts of West Africa
For most travellers the West African nations of Togo and Benin are little known and even less understood — but this 14-night group tour will set you right. On Togo & Benin: Cultural Explorer, you’ll see the scars left by the slave trade; the fetish market at Lomé; a fire dance in Sokode, in which the entranced participants eat red-hot coals; and the endemic butterflies in the forests of Kpalime. After an audience with King Adedu Loye in Benin, you’ll head to Ouidah for the annual voodoo celebrations.Advertisem*nt
Flexible Y
3. Paddle the Zambezi
The Zambezi is one of the world’s mightiest rivers. Its middle stretch separates Zambia to the north and Zimbabwe to the south, with hippos in the middle. Elephants wade in the shallows, crocodiles dart across the surface as you paddle past, and African fish eagles soar overhead. But you need a good guide for a canoe trip here, and if you book the Tigerfish Safari you’ll get one in Nick Murray at Vundu Camp in the Mana Pools National Park. This six-night safari spends three days on the water, gliding silently past the wildlife and camping in comfort on the banks by night. Along with the hippos, elephants and crocodiles you’ll see lions, zebras, buffalo and maybe even African wild dogs.
Flexible N4. Entranced by Transylvania
It’s not easy to describe the combination of awe and wonder stirred by immersion in the primeval forests of the Transylvanian Carpathian mountains. The beech groves date from the end of the last Ice Age and the people who live among them seem happy with a way of life largely unchanged since the 15th century. It’s a magical and deeply peaceful world in which to spend ten days on a private tour called Rewilding in Romania, which includes tracking bison, sleeping in the woods, exploring the medieval streets of Sibiu, meeting the man who sells honey to Prince Charles and being enchanted by local craftsmen. Be warned, though: this holiday might leave you questioning your values.Advertisem*nt
Flexible N
5. Volcanic Spain
Not La Palma, but the little-known and rarely visited Garrotxa National Park in northern Catalonia — a bizarre yet beautiful landscape of extinct volcanic cones, mossy waterfalls and silent stone villages. Until now, precious few tour operators have offered holidays in Garrotxa, but for 2023 you can book a seven-night, guided group itinerary involving gentle hikes of between five and nine miles a day — and because you’re based at the Hostal Estrella for the duration there’s none of the faff of packing up each morning.
Flexible Y
6. Walking with Turkish nomads
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In early summer, the Yoruk herders of Lycia in Turkey escort their flocks away from the parched coastal plains into the cool pastures of the Taurus mountains, and on this group hiking trip you’ll be joining them for autumn’s return journey. But you’ll be doing so much more than walking: looking after their sheep; making cheese and butter; cultivating vegetables; harvesting olives and making oil. In return you earn a boat trip over the Sunken City and perhaps time to explore the astonishing ruins of Patara.
Flexible N
7. See Laos by rail
China’s rapidly expanding “Belt and Road” initiative has built a staggering 23,500 miles of high-speed railway lines since 2008 and the latest addition is a 620-mile stretch linking the Laotian capital, Vientiane, with Kunming in China’s Yunnan province. This allows tourists to explore laid-back Laos by rail, stopping to appreciate the karst scenery of Vang Vieng, the former royal capital of Luang Prabang, and the adventure centre of Oudomxay. Inside Asia is the first to offer the trip, and since no tourists have yet ridden the new train we can’t tell you what it’s like. Send us a postcard with comments.
Flexible NAdvertisem*nt
8. Tackle Chile’s Route 7
Arguably the world’s most spectacular road trip, and indisputably one of the most challenging, Route 7, aka the Carretera Austral, runs 770 miles through Chile from Puerto Montt in the Los Lagos region to Villa O’Higgins in Patagonia’s brutal, beautiful heart. It’s a land of unending mountains, intensely blue rivers and nights of a trillion stars, all threaded on a single-track, mainly gravel road. As a trip of a lifetime it’s not one to be rushed, so this itinerary gives you three weeks in a 4×4, offering the time in which to explore the lakes, icefields and mountains by kayak, boat and on foot.
Flexible Y
9. Sea-kayaking in Scotland
Something good happens to your soul when you’re paddling a sea kayak. The steady rhythm of the paddle, the hiss of the boat as it cuts through the water and the overwhelming sense of privilege combine to create feelings of serenity and awe. But before surrendering to this addiction you need to gain the necessary skills to become a paddler. You’ll get them on this five-day sea kayaking introduction course on loch and open water, based in Torridon in the northwest Highlands of Scotland, combining daily instruction with magnificent scenery and a cosy billet in a lochside bunkhouse.Advertisem*nt
Flexible Y
10. Big cats of South America
The wildlife specialist Naturetrek has embraced the fly-less, stay-longer ethos of sustainable travel with this two-week, twin-centre expedition in search of South America’s big cats. It’s a grand tour that begins with four days in the Torres del Paine National Park looking for pumas before relocating to Brazil’s humid Pantanal to spot jaguars. Led by expert local guides, your chances of seeing both species seem high: 2018’s trip tallied nine pumas and six jaguars, and 2019’s a score of 11 and eight respectively.
Flexible Y
11. Heli-skiing in Andorra
In everything other than topography, Andorra has never really been the high-end choice. All that’s changing, with a sprinkling of exclusive hotels tempting the well-heeled skier to the Pyrenean microstate, which is little bigger than the Isle of Wight and easily accessible from Toulouse or Barcelona. Thrill-seekers are warming to it too. Heli-skiing is part of the offering, with the Anglesey-based operator Absolutely Snow pulling together a thumping good package that offers four “drops” (don’t worry, that’s not a literal term), a four-day ski pass for Grandvalira, the Pyrenees’s largest resort, and four nights in the five-star Grau Roig Hotel, which wouldn’t look out of place in the most gilded corners of the French Alps.
Flexible Y
12. Wild Okavango
Despite what you might think, it’s not all influencer-targeted camps where the wine list comes before the wildlife in Botswana. Safari Consultants offers a ten-day bespoke trip to the wildest corners of the Okavango that strips the safari back to basics, with nights under canvas, dinner under the stars and walking under the supervision of superb guides. You spend four nights in the Moremi game reserve, three in the little-known Shinde concession and three in the wetlands at Kanana. In Botswanan terms, it’s a steal.
Flexible Y
13. Snow leopards in Ladakh
Artfully produced wildlife documentaries have made nature’s most elusive feline seem almost common, but the truth is that this ghost among cats remains devilishly hard to spot. If you are lucky enough to see one, your trophy shot is more often than not a blur on a distant slope, but a camp in a high valley in Ladakh promises to increase the chances of seeing a snow leopard and the comfort in which you’ll spend your downtime. Lungmar is set up bush-camp style, with luxury dome tents and a veteran staff of conservationists and trackers. It’s expensive, but snow leopard sightings don’t come cheap.
Flexible Y
14. Kayaking in Panama
Much Better Adventures is a trailblazer in sustainable adventure travel. Its chief executive, Alex Narracott, is one of the founders of the Tourism Declares climate activism movement and every trip is designed to focus as much on people and the planet as on profit. This trip is a real challenge, combining open-water sea kayaking in Panama’s Guna Yala islands, jungle hiking in Chagres National Park, and a rafting expedition down the Chagres River. The total carbon cost is 120kg — deal with that however you see fit — and a note from the operator mentions that you need to be fit and willing to endure “minimum home comforts”.
Flexible NNeed to know
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