Best adventure tours for the global traveller
Thrill-seekers don’t need to forgo creature comforts — luxury can be found in the most remote and wild destinations.
The new year calls for novel travel adventures, for boundaries to be expanded, and for new interests to be sparked and pursued.
When it comes to heightened experiences combining modern luxury, it means choosing your own adventure, be it the fulfilment of a lifelong ambition to explore the mountains of Nepal or to heli-ski virgin Patagonian powder, or swimming eye-to-eye with humpback whales.
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Discover epic adventures from Africa to the Arctic in the latest edition of Travel + Luxury magazine, available online and in print on Friday, 16 December.
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It may involve an inward journey, forged in a soul-stirringly remote location free of everyday distractions, or even the satiation of an endlessly curious palate. So bring on 2023 – adventure in all its forms and all its glory awaits.
1. Rio Palena Lodge, Chilean Patagonia
Best for: Crack skiers to snow bunnies.
Adrenaline junkies are in for an Andean alpine heart-starter here, thanks to adventure specialist Eleven. Newly remodelled rustic-luxe retreat Rio Palena Lodge will be your remote home base.
Tucked away in a largely uninhabited part of Chilean Patagonia, the seven-room riverside lodge is intimate and deeply comforting – all wood and river stones and cushy, layered Mapuche-inspired interiors, with a sauna and wood-fired hot tubs to soothe muscles exhausted by a day of downhill escapades.
These, led by expert guides, take place according to your personally tailored itinerary, and will see you dropped by helicopter into largely untapped terrain with features running the gamut from steep couloirs to glaciated bowls (expect around six to 10 runs each day, averaging around 600 to 750 metres in length). First tracks take on a thrilling new level of adventure here. Later, gather round the campfire at the lodge, sup on a hearty feast prepared on the asado grill and enjoy warming local wines as you and your treasured few swap tall tales.
2. Whales, islands and wildlife in Tahiti
Best for: Ocean lovers.
Turquoise-hued, tropical Tahitian island bliss meets the electrifying experience of swimming with these magnificent creatures on this journey from Majestic Whale Encounters.
A week spent sailing the waters around Moorea in the Society Islands archipelago aboard a brand-new 54-foot catamaran with six double berths (also available for private buyout) gives guests the opportunity to swim with dolphins, pilot whales, turtles, sharks, rays – and, of course, the astounding humpback whales. The tours aim for “maximum interaction and minimal impact”, with a tour leader, guide and skipper observing the whales’ behaviour to ensure it’s safe for both the whales and swimmers before slipping into the water.
You’ll head out in a custom-built boat for these encounters, returning to your plush home-at-sea for meals and sundowners and deeply restful sleep. You’ll also have the chance to snorkel; hit sandy beach bars, pineapple plantations and other activities on land, or simply lounge on the deck, cocktail in hand and mind all at sea.
3. Bethlen Estates, Romania
Best for: Time travellers and castle fans.
In the charming Transylvanian village of Cris, surrounded by wild woods, glacier lakes and flower-strewn meadows, a modern-day fairytale has come to fruition. Launched in 2021 by Gladys and Nikolaus Bethlen, wife and son of the late Count Miklos Bethlen, the project comprises historic buildings sensitively revived as private guest houses, another available on a room-by-room basis, and a rustic Kitchen Barn dishing up local delicacies such as smoked river trout with mussels and lovage.
It’s the culmination of the Count’s dream to ensure his ancestral village, which fell into neglect in the political turbulence following World War II, continues to flourish into the future. The romantic dwellings (the latest, a 300-year-old haybarn reimagined as The Corner Barn, opened in May, while another is set to open in 2024) celebrate traditional interiors and painstakingly restored façades, marrying them seamlessly with features such as Tom Dixon lighting, sculptural staircases crafted by local carpenters, and a tile oven repurposed as a fireplace.
Outside, time-winding valleys are home to medieval castles, untouched wilderness, and exhilarating activities: cycling, horseriding or carriage rides, heli-skiing in the Carpathian Mountains, and spotting brown bears and wolves.
4. Heli-safari in Kenya
Best for: Safari obsessives.
Those looking to up the ante on the thrill of the African bush can now take to the air as part of this Northern Kenya heli-safari from Pelorus Expeditions. Trips can be tailored to personal tastes, but will likely include tribal cultures, conservation efforts, aerial and on-ground adventures, and sailing the Kenyan coastline.
In the Sera Conservancy, you’ll have the opportunity to track endangered black rhino (a small population was reintroduced here in 2015), visit an elephant orphanage, and quad-bike the sandy landscapes and rocky hillsides of the region, perhaps spotting oryx, leopards and giraffe. The next few days are up in the air. Heli-flights sweep through the Silali Crater, Painted Valley and dramatic rock formations of the Hoodoo Valley, exploring desolate dunes, skirting Lake Turkana to meet the pastoral Turkana tribe and visiting fossil sites.
Further heli-adventures take you through even more dramatically beautiful mountain ranges before flying to the charming island of Lamu and boarding the Tusitiri dhow for a day of dreamy coastal cruising, snorkelling coral reefs, waterskiing or simply sipping sundowners on pristine sands.
5. Shinta Mani Mustang, Nepal
Best for: Mountain mystics.
Fans of the hallowed Bensley Collection – hatched by the multi-tasking and marvellous Bill Bensley – will be riding high when its latest outpost opens in March. For Shinta Mani Mustang may be its most ambitious project yet: a luxury experience in the Himalayas set in Jomsom, gateway to the Forbidden Kingdom in Upper Mustang.
Bensley himself calls it “perhaps one of the most exciting projects we have ever had”. The 29 suites (each 45 square metres) are inspired by traditional local homes, with floor-to-ceiling windows framing soaring, snow-tipped peaks outside, including imposing Mount Nilgiri.
Bensley’s finely calibrated design is a graceful ode to the mountains and their magic. Beyond this all-inclusive “base camp”, Bensley guides follow in the rich vein of local Sherpa hospitality: try trekking rarely trodden mountain trails, rock climbing, archery, horseriding or taking it all in by helicopter before returning for a Tibetan wellness treatment. This is set to be one of those stays that reverberate within you for a blessedly long time.
6. Echo Camp, Antarctica
Best for: Conservation-minded adventurers.
After flying into Antarctica from Cape Town, guests of the new Echo Camp will be escorted from plane to lounge where a Martini shaken with 10,000-year-old ice will be deposited into their hands. It’s just the tip of the iceberg at this last-bastion location where Antarctic operator White Desert (established in 2005 by Patrick and Robyn Woodhead) adds Echo Camp to its existing super-luxe, conservation-minded experiences and camps.
The cluster of composite-fibreglass pods (designed to be dismantled without leaving a trace) is inspired by the “seminal age of space exploration” and fitted with floor-to-ceiling windows taking in the vast, fade-to-white world outside. Here, pursuits like mountaineering, ice-climbing and skidooing interplay with what we can only imagine is a kind of rolling dream-reel of silent landscapes, night-time musings in your cosy camp, and a newfound appreciation of – well, everything, really.
Guests can also visit Atka Bay’s colony of emperor penguins, or journey to the South Pole. The company is now rolling out sustainable aviation fuel across its land and air fleet (it currently offsets its carbon emissions), another step in myriad conservation efforts.
7. Italy’s Dolomites
Best for: Well-heeled hikers.
Time to add hiking to Italy’s list of dolce vita drawcards with this journey through two cinematic corners of the Dolomite Mountains, ably curated by Butterfield & Robinson. Three days in the Alpe di Siusi will see you traversing Europe’s largest alpine meadow, stopping at charming mountain huts for reviving lunches and marvelling at flower-carpeted fields.
Downtime comprises spa treatments for mountain-stretched limbs or fortifying apéritifs on the terrace of your hotel; the final evening finds you spirited to the middle of a meadow for an alfresco feast. You’ll also dine at three-Michelin-starred St Hubertus.
The second act is set in the majestic Alta Badia, deeper within the mountains, for further lung-and-horizon-expanding adventures. This area was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire before World War I, so history buffs will be spoiled, too; expect unique Ladin cuisine, culture and architecture. Your final day involves chasing waterfalls, spotting the Dolomites’ only glacier and another memorable meal, this time at one of the valley’s oldest farms.
8. Koks, Ilimanaq Lodge, Greenland
Best for: Adventurous food fans.
Here’s one for the gourmands with grit: a two-Michelin-starred restaurant at the edge of the world. Koks, the restaurant that brought gastronomic renown to the remote Faroe Islands via chef Poul Andrias Ziska’s deeply rooted devotion to the history, sustainability and locality of his food, has relocated to Greenland for two summers (2022 and ’23).
Its temporary home is Ilimanaq Lodge, a smattering of A-frames in a tiny fishing village 300 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle, overlooking the wonderfully named Disko Bay. The Koks takeover sees Ziska bring his reverence for ancient culinary traditions such as drying, fermenting and salting to Greenlandic ingredients.
Menus are kept a surprise for the guests who venture here, but expect dishes with hyperlocal provenance: think stone bramble and blood meringue, or reindeer tartare. Booking a table here will also get you a boat transfer through the World Heritage-listed Ilulissat Icefjord, an overnight stay at the lodge with its views of whales navigating the iceberg-dolloped bay, a Koks breakfast, and a guided local experience.
9. Awasi, Chile and Argentina
Best for: Light-footed explorers.
Awasi’s three remarkable lodges across Argentina (Iguazú Falls and Patagonia) and Chile (Atacama) are all about luxury with a low-environmental impact, set to high gear for exploration and adventure. Julie McIntosh of The Classic Safari Company is a fan: “Each captures the essence of the wilderness around them.”
The most recently opened, Awasi Iguazú, boldly (yet lightly – Awasi is carbon-neutral) treads where others do not – working with biologists to create incredible expeditions deep into the hugely biodiverse Atlantic Rainforest beyond the limelight-grabbing Iguazú Falls. “Most in the travel industry thought Awasi was crazy to build a property at Iguazú because it was a ‘one-night destination’,” says Clark Kotula (of namesake agency), “but they proved everyone wrong and have kind of recreated the destination.”
Lying in wait? Archaeological Jesuit ruins, crystalline pools discovered by boat, exotic tapirs, puma and capuchin monkeys, and a bounty of exotic plants and birds endemic to this rainforest. Each villa – airy, jungle-ensconced, with plunge pool – is assigned its own private guide and 4WD, for highly personalised daily adventures. Expect local ingredients from the rainforest appearing prettily on your plate each day, alongside local wines.
10. Seabourn Venture and Seabourn Pursuit
Best for: Bucket-list expeditioners.
Cruising goes next-level with the launch of Seabourn’s first purpose-built expedition ships, Seabourn Venture and Seabourn Pursuit. On the luxe vessels a team of 26 experts, from scientists to scholars, broaden horizons, while two submersibles take intrepid guests below the surface.
Every detail in the all-verandah suites is tailored for comfort – from sustainably sourced cashmere throws to the “heat jacket” wardrobes for drying wet gear. The look by Tihany Design is tied to nature, featuring tactile materials (leather, velvet, wood, and wool) and custom furniture.
The convivial Expedition Lounge’s detailing harks back to early expeditions, and the top-deck Constellation Lounge offers 270-degree views of the extraordinary world outside while you enjoy an expertly mixed drink. Explore Brazil’s eastern coast before venturing into the Amazon by Zodiac; or view the Northwest Passage, sailing the ice-strewn far northern sea corridor so sought-after (and feared) by seafarers past.
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