Ten of the world’s greatest adventure holidays

For the adventurous traveller, the natural world beckons, filled with trails, waterways and roads that are invitations to explore and celebrate the planet. Set your feet, arms and soul free on this selection of the world's greatest adventures.

Find new angles on Everest (Nepal)

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Hiking direct to Everest Base Camp through the Khumbu Valley is so 1953, so come at it from a new direction, hiking over an adjoining pass or three to reach the famed mountaineers’ home on the ice. The best alternative to the tried-and-true route is over Cho La, trekking to Gokyo (where you can detour to the summit of 5357-metre Gokyo Ri for the finest view anywhere near Everest), then ascending through the Cho La pass (5420 metres above sea level) to reach the Khumbu Valley and base camp. An Everest High Passes trek adds Renjo La and Kongma La to the mix, crossing three 5000-metre-plus Himalayan passes. It’s a suitable way to mark the 70th anniversary of the first ascent of the world’s highest mountain. See worldexpeditions.comt

Swimming on the Baja Peninsula (Mexico)

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Swim holidays are the new black, and stroking through the 26-degree waters of the Sea of Cortez around an uninhabited Mexican island is hard to top. This seven-day Swimtrek tour bases itself on Isla Espiritu Santo, offshore from laid-back La Paz. The island is noted for the long, beach-backed bays that serrate its coast, and each day involves about six kilometres of swimming in these bays, past frigate-bird breeding grounds, among curious sea lions and over abandoned pearl farms beneath Espiritu Santo’s pink sandstone cliffs. Nights are spent in a private camp in one of the bays, with chef-prepared meals. See swimtrek.com

Climb Mt Kilimanjaro (Tanzania)

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Take travel to new heights by climbing Africa’s highest mountain, reaching an altitude (5895 metres) more typically reserved for mountaineers. There are various routes to the summit, all in the reach of fit hikers. The five-day Marangu route is the most popular, though the Lemosho route is arguably the most spectacular. It’s also longer, taking about eight days, which assists with altitude acclimatisation, increasing your chances of making it to the top. The hiking isn’t difficult, but the final day typically involves a 1200-metre ascent, setting out at about midnight for a dawn arrival on the summit. See gadventures.com

Cycle Coast to Coast (England)

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Walkers have been traversing England on the Coast to Coast trail for decades, but it’s also now the UK’s most popular cycle-touring route. Officially known as the Sea to Sea Route, though more commonly called the Coast to Coast, it weaves through the beauty of the Lake District before climbing over the barren Pennines – the so-called “backbone of England”. Mining remnants among the moors are replaced by the Waskerley Way, a traffic-free bike path along an old railway that heralds the start of the descent towards the North Sea. Choose your ending, with the C2C fraying into separate finish posts in Tynemouth or Sunderland. The 220-kilometre ride is usually spread over three or four days. See utracks.com

Hike on Isla Navarino (Chile)

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Discover a scale-model Torres del Paine-type landscape known to few travellers on the world’s most southerly trek, circuiting through the well-named Dientes de Navarino (Teeth of Navarino) on Isla Navarino, a spectacular island off the southern tip of South America. The four- to five-day, 53-kilometre loop is hiked by just 200 people a year (compared with the many thousands in Torres del Paine), though its low, weather-beaten peaks are no less impressive. Treks begin outside of Puerto Williams (the world’s southernmost town), crossing through the Dientes, where on a good day you can see distant Cape Horn, camping each night in view of the Dientes’ dramatic summits. See swoop-patagonia.com

Cycle a New Zealand rail trail

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When New Zealand launched the Otago Central Rail Trail in 2000, little did it realise it was creating a genre. Trails utilising former rail corridors now form the spine of its Great Rides, a network of 23 long-distance bike rides around the country. Pedal for three or four days on the pioneering Otago Central Rail Trail, horseshoeing through once-gold-bearing valleys, or take to the wild west on the 136-kilometre West Coast Wilderness Trail between Ross and Greymouth. One of the country’s most dramatic gorges is the focus of the North Island’s 197-kilometre Hauraki Rail Trail. Adventure South NZ (adventuresouth.co.nz) runs a range of tours along the rail trails.

Walk a camino with a difference (Spain)

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Think camino and you might inevitably consider the Camino Frances, the classic Camino de Santiago route from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port to Santiago de Compostela, but this pilgrimage is not one single route – there are said to be more than 200 different camino paths to Santiago. Excellent alternatives to the well-trodden pilgrim path include the Camino Portuguese, which follows the coast or interior from Porto or Lisbon into Santiago, and the Camino del Norte, an 800-kilometre pilgrimage beginning in the Basque region and journeying along Spain’s gorgeous Atlantic coast. Wandering the World (wanderingtheworld.com.au) leads trips along almost a dozen Camino alternatives.

Kayak Raja Ampat (Indonesia)

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Here’s a task – type “Raja Ampat archipelago” into Google, scroll through the images, and then wonder why you’ve never heard of the place. This archetypal tropical paradise of 1500 islands and cays, just 500 kilometres north of Darwin, has Halong Bay-like limestone landscapes, but with colourful reefs and 1000 species of fish thrown in. It’s best explored in a kayak, with live-aboard trips cruising around the West Papuan islands on an Indonesian-style yacht, pausing to paddle into hidden bays, over fringing reefs and beneath towering cliffs. There’s plenty of time for snorkelling, and the ship is also equipped for scuba diving between paddles. See southernseaventures.com

Raft the Grand Canyon (USA)

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Stand at the Grand Canyon’s edge and you get some appreciation for the ditch’s depth, but full admiration for its size and scale comes from beneath, hurtling through the canyon in a raft. There are many ways to raft this 445-kilometre stretch of the Colorado River, from motorised rafts that require no physical input from you, to more familiar “paddle rafts” requiring you to do the work as your guide steers from the back. It’s possible to raft sections of the canyon, but the classic trip is to float a boat its entire length, splashing through almost 50 major rapids to Lake Mead, a journey taking up to 18 days. The biggest rapids, such as Crystal and Lava Falls, are equivalent to grade IV rapids. See oars.com.

Hike the Jordan Trail

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When you think of great hikes, the Middle East may not immediately spring to mind, but let the Jordan Trail convince you otherwise. Running the length of the country from Umm Qais, looking over Israel and the Palestinian Territories, to Aqaba on the Red Sea, it’s a 675-kilometre path that takes in most of Jordan’s impressive collection of features: the Dead Sea, the kilometre-deep Wadi Mujib canyon, the ancient city of Petra, Wadi Rum desert. Walking its length takes about 40 days, but you can also dip into highlight stretches, such as the four-day section from the Dana Biosphere Reserve to Petra, or six days across Wadi Rum to Aqaba in the hoofprints of Lawrence of Arabia. The Jordan Trail website has comprehensive planning information, including contact details for local trekking guides. See jordantrail.org