Up until now in life, you've spent your time running from pillar to post. Even your holidays have been fast and furious! Time constraints from juggling family and work have left you planning every detail of your holidays so you wouldn't miss anything of significance. The last thing you wanted was to leave a destination without experiencing everything that the place has to offer. By the end of a holiday, you needed another one to recover!
But now you have more time on your hands and, you have the opportunity to take longer holidays - to really take in new destinations and their unique cultures and activities. But just how do you plan a holiday like that, with a balance of structure and spare time for more impulsive endeavours while abroad?
We're here to help! In this blog, we've listed four holiday activity suggestions for time-rich travellers like yourself, that enable to you to take it in while also providing a focus for your trips.
1. Learn to cook like the locals
Are you passionate about cooking and travel? Why not do both at the same time? Whether you are more suited to a guided group tour with like minded travellers, or a bespoke itinerary just for you and a travelling companion, our travel advisors can connect you with the people around the world who have opened their homes and kitchens up to visitors. They'll show you where to shop to get local, authentic ingredients as well as teach you how to make a real home-cooked meal! You can even take it one step further and join a local cooking school - imagine the unique aromas of Ho Chi Minh City (and for the more adventurous try a cricket rice paper roll!) or preparing your very own French haute cuisine in the Loire Valley.
This is a great way to avoid expensive tourist traps and experience the real local way of life.
2. Indulge your passions
From cycling to hiking, art appreciation to developing your own masterpiece we all have interests and passions that can guide how and where we want to travel. Increasingly the larger brand name tour companies we work with (such as Insight Vacations, Trafalgar and Globus) are providing authentic experiences with behind the scenes or after-hours access (to avoid the queues). Our niche partners connect us with smaller group tours and provide input for personalised itineraries.
Deciding on your personal travel style is an important starting point. Whether you prefer to journey with a group of like-minded travellers to share the experience with (and make new friends), or work with an expert to design your own itinerary for just you and perhaps a travelling companion, each travel style provides different options and different memories.
3. Alaska Cruises
Cruises are ideal for those who have the time to travel to multiple destinations but don't want the hassle of catching flight after flight. Cruise itineraries with well planned shore excursions and onboard experts make the experience both enriching and enlightening.
Take a cruise to Alaska for instance. One of the world’s most amazing frontiers - the unspoiled wilderness of glaciers, abundant forests, towering mountains, exotic wildlife, and waterfront communities.
4. Experience the Orient Express
A journey that is synonymous with Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot, the Venice Simplon-Orient Express is without question one of the most famous rail journeys in the world. Experience some of Europe's most iconic cities with itineraries including:
- Venice/Verona to Paris/London (2 days /1 night)
- Venice to Vienna / Budapest (2 days / 1 night)
- Venice to Prague (2 days / 1 night)
- London / Paris to Berlin (2 days / 1 night)
- Istanbul to Paris (6 days / 5 nights)
As the European countryside rolls by, look forward to your boutique private accommodation, decadent fine dining, and outstanding service.
