Top 10 Worldwide Trips for Adventure Seekers

Not everyone wants to sit on a beach and read a book on holiday and with travel to far flung places and the excellent adventure travel equipment and outdoor clothing available these days it’s possible to disappear into the wilderness for a few days or weeks and really get to grips with nature and the elements – with a good bit of planning of course. From rafting to horse riding we’ve compiled a list of ten ideas to get your juices flowing.

1. Trekking the Indian Himalayas

The magnificent Himalayas are probably the most awe inspiring sight in the whole world which is why they are such a magnet for adventure seekers. Most trekkers head over to Nepal where trekkers and tourists outnumber the locals but the mountains of Himachal Pradesh in northern India and the magnificent Spiti valley are considered by some to be better, if a little more demanding than the trekking on offer in Nepal. East of Ladakh, between the Leh to Manali highway and the Tibetan border, is the Chang Tang plateau with vast highlands and gigantic lakes and where many of Asia’s greatest rivers are born. This is a spectacular, rugged and unearthly land where people can only exist on slender strips of greenery that cling to the glacier fed rivers. This area is cut off to the rest of the world during winter and as a result nomadic people continue their way of life and Tantric Buddhism still exists undisturbed. Incredible, deep turquoise lakes dot the landscape and the rare snow leopard still hunts the plains.

2. Scotland wild walking and camping

The 200 mile Cape Wrath Trail in North West Scotland is the wildest walk you can take in the UK and the most challenging. This is one for experienced walkers who are good with a map and a compass as there’s no formal marked route. Starting from Banavie near Fort William the described route takes walkers through some of the wilder areas of the Northern and Western Highlands to Cape Wrath at the far North West corner of the Scottish mainland, passing stunning Sandwood Bay on the way. You’ll have to be well prepared with a light weight tent, food and essential camping gear as there are long stretches through remote, untamed country where there is no accommodation. You could go for a good long while without seeing another soul. If that sounds like paradise the scenery will do much to justify this assessment as the natural splendour of the Scottish North West unfolds before you in unbroken panoramas.

3. Wilderness Holiday in the Yukon, Canada

If you fancy living the life of a lumberjack for a bit then you can’t go wrong with hitting the wilds of North West Canada and the Yukon Territory. The choice of adventure experience is pretty extensive and as with all North American adventure holidays travellers are well catered for but this doesn’t mean that you will be mollycoddled, far from it. If you choose you can really rough it as most of the adventure holiday providers will offer varying degrees of comfort, or not. You can try your metal on various trips; rafting on the Tatshenshini River, salmon fishing, canoeing and kayaking in Kluane National Park or get cosy on a winter camp out with a dog sled team. Yukon is vast, challenging and beautiful – an ideal option for the adventure seeker who wants to be at one with nature and the wild.

4. Overland Africa

An overland trip across the African continent is a much longer adventure for those thinking of really taking some time out from the rat race. A good idea for the lone or inexperienced adventure traveller is a six month overland group trip from UK to Cape Town aboard 4WD super-trucks. Highlights include the pyramids at Giza, a trip to Zanzibar and night safaris in Zambia you might even spot a giraffe along the way. At Victoria Falls you can go bungee-jumping, white-water rafting, canoeing or microlighting. It’s an incredible way to see this huge and diverse continent, from its people to it wildlife and from its deserts to its rivers. Various companies organise these tours so shop around for the best deal.

5. Jungle Conservation in Sumatra

Sumatra and its neighbouring island of Borneo have become well known over the last few years for the tragic devastation of their natural rainforest habitats. Sumatra has been particularly badly hit by loggers. Combining your adventure holiday with research and conservation is a brilliant way to start giving back to our planet.  As with many of these volunteer programmes you pay a fee which helps fund the valuable research that these centre are doing. Volunteers will be based at an orang-utan rehabilitation centre in the Gunung Leuser National Park in Sumatra, and will undertake field trips into the rainforest to observe the animals’ behaviour and help with lab work. Observing and working with these gentle creatures is a truly humbling and touching experience and one that will stay with you forever. Earthwatch is a good place to start planning you trip and has more than 140 projects in 55 countries ranging from making botanical inventories of Amazonian rainforest to tracking black rhinos in Zimbabwe.

6. Timber Rafting on the Klaralven, Sweden

Varmland is Sweden’s most southerly wilderness, two-thirds of it is forest, sprinkled with over 3,000 lakes. Through its heart flows the Klaralven, a placid, river that rises north of the Norwegian border and meanders south till it enters the oceanic Lake Vanern. Timber-rafting is the best way to see Varmland, and floating down the Klaralven at a couple of miles an hour gives you time to enjoy the serenity within these forests. As the days pass you learn to read the river and the weather (Swedish summer can be very changeable), recognise the distinctive sound of a beaver smacking its tail on the water and appreciate the bewitching hour as the sun sets and the fish jump, beavers dive, birds fly low and stray logs drift in pink tinged waters. Your raft will become an open-air living room on which you can walk around, cook and drift into reverie. Take a wash in the sparkling clean river water and find a place ashore to camp and sleep under the stars.

7. Horse Riding in Ecquador

South American countries are well renowned for their horses and horsemanship. A lesser known destination Ecuador has some excellent horse riding options. Try a trek around one of the highest active volcanoes in the world, Cotopaxi. Horse riding here will take you through some of Ecuador’s most stunning high altitude scenery skirting below the icy glaciers of Cotopaxi. You will experience the diverse highland landscapes, flora and fauna, and indigenous communities of this fascinating, compact Andean country. The pace is also varied, from steadily crossing wetlands to cantering across the vast plains of the altiplano. Nights are spent in a wonderful mixture of haciendas, farmhouses, camping and highland lodges.

8. Sea Kayaking New Zealand

The Abel Tasman National Park on the South Island of New Zealand has one of the world’s most stunning stretches of coastline so what better way to explore it that taking to a sea kayak. You’ll find golden sandy beaches, rocky inlets and get close up to penguins, native birds and seals. To top it off you camp on the glorious beaches at night and get to see the incredible sunsets and the astounding southern hemisphere star show.

9. Iceland Interior Treks

The stark desolate beauty of Iceland’s barren upland plateau known as the Interior is Europe’s last true wilderness. The country’s heart is desolate and uninhabited, no towns or villages, just unbroken vistas of infinite plains, glacial rivers, lavafields, ice caps, volcanoes and jagged mountains. The interior is only accessible for a number of weeks over the summer as the rest of the year it is covered in a thick and impenetrable blanket of snow and ice. Many of the passes open in late June and are open until late August but the weather can turn fast so always check ahead with the Icelandic Highways Department or Met Office before you set off. Generally you should be fine if you plan a trip in July and early August, but be prepared for snow-storms even then. There’s a choice of ways to explore the Interior; bus, self drive, cycling or hiking. There is only one route accessible to hikers and cyclists, the Kjölur track, since there are no rivers to cross. There are overnight huts and you can also free camp. It’s a breathtaking experience and not for the faint hearted. A highlight of traversing the Interior is a stop at the Hveravellir hot springs – an unexpected splash of green in the middle of the wilderness.

10. Mountain Biking in the Atlas Mountains, Morocco

Africa is mountain biking heaven with daring cyclists from all over the world now heading to various spots to take up the challenge of rough, steep terrain. A traverse of the central high Atlas range in Morocco is an excellent place to start with highlights along the way including the kasbahs of Telouet and the homelands of the Berber tribes. The trail also skirts the foothills of Jebel Mgoun, the country’s second highest mountain.

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