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Looking for inspiration for your first overseas adventure since borders reopened? In part one of a two-part series, international expert travel writers pick the greatest holidays of all time, from luxury safaris in Africa to one of the most scenic coastal

Did we all take travel for granted? Who could have predicted, when 2020 arrived in all its innocence and naivety, that holidays — mind-opening; life-affirming; the red-letter day in our calendars that makes the 9 to 5 slog bearable — would be off the cards (even, for a time, illegal) for the best part of two years? The goal is now to make holiday memories that last. According to Kerry Golds, managing director of luxury specialist Abercrombie & Kent, “Our clients are wanting to make their next holiday really count, increasing their budgets, and treating themselves to an extra bit of indulgence.”

Big-ticket experiences like safaris, gorilla trekking in Uganda, and Nile cruises, are proving particularly popular.

The awful human cost of the war in Ukraine is another reminder — if Covid had not already underlined this point — that life is fragile, and for living. In many ways, now is the time to seize the day. Or, in the words of C.S. Lewis: “Human life has always been lived on the edge of a precipice. If men had postponed the search for knowledge and beauty until they were secure, the search would never have begun.”

To that end, we asked 10 of our most widely travelled experts to reveal their ultimate adventure — the one trip they would recommend to a friend who has been stuck at home for two years harbouring a serious case of wanderlust. Here are the results . . .

1

THE ULTIMATE BEACH

HOLIDAY. . . IN THE SEYCHELLES By Michelle Jana Chan

Everybody has their favourite beach, and our choices are usually influenced by personal memories as much as the softness of the sand or the clarity of the sea.

For powdery grains and transparent water, it’s hard to beat Maundays Bay in Anguilla, Plage de Gouverneur in St Barths, or Pampelonne, close to St Tropez. Yet I’d always head to the Indian Ocean for my ultimate beach holiday.

The Seychelles . . . even the alluring name is suggestive of coconut trees, pillow-soft sand, coral reefs and gently lapping surf — and, yes, this archipelago of 115 islands delivers all of that in spades.

But there is more. Here is an Eden of primeval forest, gigantic palms with the world’s heaviest seeds, delicate wild vanilla orchids, endemic endangered birds like the black parrot, and fruit bats soaring against vibrant blue skies. This profuse wildlife and abundant vegetation makes the Seychelles stand apart from other paradises.

Back on the seafront, the geology is astounding. Massive, smooth boulders litter the beaches, creating a truly unique landscape. Hard granite doesn’t usually belong in the middle of the ocean, but these islands were created from a rogue underwater rock formation called the Mascarene Plateau — and are all the more beautiful for it.

From the main island of Mahe, hop on the ferry to Praslin, then to tiny La Digue. Pre-pandemic, the boats coming here carried hundreds of visitors a day, but when I came last year there were fewer than a dozen tourists at the island’s most beloved beach. Anse Source d’argent is smattered with gargantuan boulders that create winding passages, natural arches and tunnels to a seemingly endless selection of private slips of sand, each kissed by clear, warm waters.

Hire a bicycle to explore the sandy lanes of La Digue, stopping at Veuve Nature Reserve,