20 Best travel experiences in 2024

Cicchetti are Venetian tapas, tasty morsels to whet the appetite and soak up a glass of wine or two. They are traditionally served in a bacaro (wine bar), which also offers wines by the glass; Venetians eat cichetti before lunch or dinner, usually standing at the bar. A plate of cicchetti is one of the cheapest ways to fill up in this expensive city; 6 or 7 make a light meal, and at an average price of €2, along with a glass of inexpensive local wine, that’s a bargain.

A fun way to enjoy this tradition is to plan a tour of different bacari, tasting a couple of cicchetti in each. Expect polpette (fried meat balls), baccalà mantecato (creamed salt cod), a whole variety of weird and wonderful seafood, and lots more.

The world’s largest mammal is surprisingly difficult to see – except here, on Sir Lanka’s southern coast. It’s the best, most accessible and most reliable place in the world to see – and snorkel – with the big blues. Tours depart from Galle and Mirissa between February and mid-March, when the whales feed on giant shoals of krill.

This brilliantly unique treehouse hotel offers you the chance to sleep in a UFO, a bird’s nest, a biodome and a mirrored cube. Brainchild of husband and wife team Britta and Kent Lindvall, it was inspired by the Swedish film Tradalskaren (The Tree Lover).

The 8 unique treehouse rooms  – each designed by leading Scandinavian architects – are suspended 4-6m above ground in pine tree forest, accessed by step ladders. It’s the ultimate ‘nature getaway’, uber-romantic for seclusion-seeking couples.

Facilities are minimal but more than sufficient. There’s a restaurant serving up inventive local food, a sauna and a riverside hot tub.

The hotel is an hour’s drive from Lulea airport; Lulea is a 70-minute flight from Stockholm. The Swedish Lapland location is slap bang in the middle of the Aurora Belt, meaning you have an excellent chance of seeing the Northern Lights in all their full glory, in season.

This ancient Mayan purification ceremony is designed to cause an intense physical, emotional and mental release – and a transformative, almost mystical feeling of rebirth. It cleanses and reunites the physical, mental and spiritual forms.

The ceremony takes place in a temazcal, or ‘steam house’ – a small, circular dome made of rocks and mud. The structure has several symbolic components: the dome house (signifying a mother’s womb), the entrance, symbolising rebirth when you come out, a burner where wood is set on fire and a bonfire where the water is heated. All four basic elements – earth, wind, fire and water – are represented.

It’s led by a local shaman (X’Men, or Mayan priest). Red-hot lava rocks are placed in the center, and doused with water infused with local aromatic herbs. The searing heat generated causes profuse sweating, which combined with inhaling the therapeutic herbs, promotes detoxification. The complete darkness inside liberates the senses from distraction, enabling deep contemplation and meditation, leading to mental balance and mindfulness (presence from the mind). A group energy is generated through chanting and music. At the end, you’ll cool off in a cold river or pool, which  closes the pores and activates the immune system.

A proper ceremony usually lasts up to 3 hours (though shorter, more touristy ones can be as short as one hour). After, you’ll leave with a sense of inner harmony, enlightenment and rejuvenation. Other reputed benefits include detoxification, skin cleansing, reduced depression, and reduced risk of dementia.

Built each winter, this icy architectural showcase has become one of Lapland’s – and indeed Finland’s – biggest draws. Designed by a different architect each year, it always includes the castle, a restaurant, wedding chapel and the infamous ‘SnowHotel’. Bedecked with dramatic ice sculpting enhanced by colourful lighting, it’s a unique visual spectacle that will captivate adults and children alike.

The castle contains bedrooms for guests to stay over in; beds made from of ice and room temperatures a chilly 0°C to -5°C. Thick furs and sleeping bags are provided, but one night is usually enough.

There’s also a restaurant (open to anyone) that serves up Finnish cuisine on tables made of ice; choose between a 3-course menu or a simpler menu of soups and pastries. Drinks include fresh juice from pressed local berries, mulled wine or hot chocolate if you need some warming up, and a fully licensed bar. It’s open for lunch and dinner.

This rare example of a tourist train using genuinely historic rolling stock, began operations in 2017 using the 1890-built carriages for the royal train of Carlos I.

It has hosted many heads of state including Elizabeth II before becoming a magnificent way to enjoy the scenic delights of the Douro Valley Cultural Landscape – a World Heritage Site for its long association with port – and a port wine tasting at a private estate.

The train has compartments for 2, 3 or 6 people, but dining tables are for 4 people, respecting the original layout.

After leaving Porto a gourmet lunch is served before the mid-afternoon visit to Quinta do Vesuvio. Rejoining the train there are drinks and musical entertainment before arriving back in Porto.

The Mayan Riviera is one of the few places in the world where you can get close to a giant American crocodile and live to tell the tale. And as croc encounters take place in glass-clear water you’ll get some great pictures to prove it.

These are generally three day, two-night trips, leaving from the tiny southern Riviera town of Xcalak and travelling out to the remote Banco Chinchorro atoll biosphere reserve. The atoll’s eel grass-filled lagoon is home to the largest numbers of American Crocodiles on the planet. Overnight stays are in primitive fisherman’s stilt huts over the water with the crocs swimming around below.

As well as crocodiles, Banco Chinchorro offers a high chance of encounters with manatees, prolific fish life (including big tarpon) and astonishing stars. There are plenty of opportunities to snorkel over pristine reefs en-route, and you’ll catch invasive lionfish, which are used to feed the crocs. Some trips include optional scuba diving.

Swims with the reptiles are in clear water around a metre deep and a safety diver accompanies at all times armed with a big stick. According to local tour operators at least, the reptiles have too much food to bother with anything larger than a fish.

Cappadocia tends to mean spending plenty of time underground, which is why taking to the air over this unique landscape makes for such a welcome change of perspective.

Flying low along these valleys is a magnificent way to appreciate the interplay of rocky outcrops, cave homes, vineyards and orchards, especially as the dawn light lends the local stone a surreal pink tint.

One of the world’s greatest balloon flights.

Of all the food and wine ingredients indigenous to Tuscany, the white truffle is probably the most highly-prized – yet it’s one of those things that you will either love or hate; it has a heady yet strange, earthy, musky aroma and a delicate flavour that lends itself particularly well to eggs and buttery tagliolini pasta

Different types of truffles grow year-round in Tuscany and in various areas, the most prolific of which are San Miniato, the Mugello and the Crete Senese. They are, however, elusive. White truffles will only thrive in just the right conditions, growing on the roots of trees and normally hidden by layers of damp leaves and earth.

A truffle hunt with an expert trifulau (truffle hunter) and his dog is a compelling way to discover how the truffle-hunting world works. The stakes are high – white truffles sell for huge amounts of money. In 2007, a 1.28kg tuber sold at auction in the US for an astonishing $330,000.

The most highly prized of Tuscany’s rich food harvest, the white truffle is also the most elusive. An expert-led truffle hunt is an ideal way to discover and taste these extraordinary tubers.

For thrills, chills and hopefully no spills, this vertiginous walkway, pinned 100m above ground to the walls of the narrow gorge, has become one of Andalusia’s top bucket list attractions.

Originally built in concrete in 1905 for hydroelectric plant workers, it earned its name, the ‘King’s Little Path’ in 1921 when Alfonso XIII walked it to open the Conde del Guadalhorce dam.

As it crumbled and devil-may-care walkers began plummeting to their deaths, it was closed in 2000. Fifteen years later, it reopened with a spectacular new and safe 1.5 km-long boardwalk.

A once-in-a-lifetime experience: the chance to travel down inside a dormant volcano, the only place in the world that it’s possible to do so.

It combines a 3km hike (around 45 mins each way) and a cave tour: the volcano is accessed via an elevator that descends into the volcano’s underground chambers. If you’re feeling flush, you can skip the hiking part with a helicopter trip.

The volcano hasn’t erupted in the last 4,000 years, but it’s still an unnerving experience as you descend on the elevator into its inky depths, like descending into the Icelandic underworld. The main chamber is just over 120m deep: the molten magma that once filled it is thought to have drained away, leaving behind a cavernous, cathedral-like space.

There are dozens of gorges on Crete; so if you’re looking for a shorter (and less busy) alternative to Samaria, the Aradena gorge ticks all the boxes.

The 7.5-km trail takes you from the ghost village of Aradena (abandoned in the 1950s, after a bloody vendetta between two local families), along very old, cobbled mule tracks (called kalderimia), crisscrossing the riverbed and climbing up and down the sheer cliffs. The rock face is covered in tiny flowers in spring. (Be warned: you need a head for heights.)

The route ends at the pebble cove of Marmara on the Libyan Sea. This beautiful, hard-to-reach beach is also home to a fantastic taverna.

There are not many places in the world you can climb a waterfall – at least this site hasn’t found one yet – and this also happens to be the highest.

Set on the shores of stunning Lake Wanaka, the ‘Lord of the Rungs’ (their name, not ours) via Ferrata-esque course has 3 levels to suit varying abilities.

All three courses combine a mix of climbs on steel rungs, and crossing of suspension bridges. The full 5-7 hour climb to the top (450m) also goes behind the waterfall, sees you climb through an airy overhang, and helicopters you back down from the top. Brilliant!

The world’s only natural sand bath sees participants buried up to their neck in the black sands of Ibusuki Beach for 15 minutes. Naturally occurring, geothermally-heated spring water flows under the beach, infusing the sand with 55°C steam. Benefits include  improve blood circulation, elimination of toxins, reduced respiratory problems and relief from rheumatism.

The lush countryside of Speyside is home to more than half of Scotland’s malt whisky distilleries, and the only malt whisky trail in the world.

The eight on the trail include bijoux Benromach, Glenfiddich (home to the most popular whisky in the world), Cardhu (a distillery pioneered by a woman) and The Glenlivet (the first licensed distillery in Scotland). The Glen Grant distillery, founded in 1840, has a beautiful Victorian garden threaded with paths and woodland walks and a small waterfall – a lovely place to meander. One of the eight – the Dallas Dhu distillery – is a historic distillery and is not operational.

There are tastings and insights into each distillery’s unique blend, plus the Speyside Cooperage where you can watch the ancient art of barrel-making.

To stay a night at one of Japan’s ryokan (traditional inns) is to immerse yourself in living history – the oldest hotel in the world is a ryokan, established in 705 and still going strong 51 generations later.

Ryokan can be modest or uber-luxurious, but there are defining traits.

Almost all have tatami mat rooms and futon beds, staff wearing traditional attire like kimono, and an air of calm and quiet. Many have in-house onsen baths, and serve traditional kaiseki-ryori dinners (if not the full 12-course extravaganza, then at least simpler multi-course dinner that focuses on local produce and specialities).

But it won’t be for everyone. Kids can find ryokan a bit dull – and the food challenging. The service, though often superb, can also be inflexible, with mealtimes locked into narrow windows and many mid-range and above ryokan not offering room-only stays. The best approach is to stay for just one night.

Built in 1746, this stunning marble palace (and famous Octopussy cult hideout) was the winter palace of Maharana Jagat Singh II of the royal dynasty of Mewar.

Mesmerising from the outside, inside it houses a peacock-filled central garden, with fountains, pillared terraces and shady courtyards.

Rooms are traditionally furnished and come with views out onto the lake and to the city of Udaipur in the distance.

Taken over and restored by a luxury hotel chain, you must be a hotel guest to visit. But it’s worth the price tag to stay and experience an authentic taste of royal Indian life. The Royal Butlers are descendants of the original palace retainers, and serve guests with Maharanan grandeur and tradition.

The Yucatan Peninsula is like a giant pumice stone – riddled with tiny holes, many of which are filled with glassy clear subterranean rivers riddled with stalactite-filled caverns, which break the surface as sinkholes called cenotes. There are hundreds dotted over the peninsula – some lost in thick jungle, others surrounded by Mayan ruins. Some pour into clear-water lakes like Bacalar, or the open ocean.

Swimming in a cenote – tiny fish nibbling your feet, vines and strange rock formations all around you is wonderful. Diving is spectacular; especially for those daring enough to qualify as a cave diver and venture deep into the flooded caverns.

Arguably the best-known outdoor dining experience in Australia, the Sounds of Silence is an ideal way to round off a busy day exploring Uluru and Kata Tjuta. By Central Australian standards this is incredibly spiffy, with linen-covered tables, candles and silver service.

Guests arrive for drinks and canapés while watching the sunset over The Rock, then enjoy a buffet meal, didgeridoo music and a spot of stargazing.

The true majesty of the night sky is revealed in all its glory here, with billions of tiny stars wherever you look and the Milky Way prominent. After your meal, there’s a talk from the resident astronomer, who guides you through the many constellations in the southern night sky. Brilliant.