Your favourite holiday... but not as you know it

Can you have an inspiring trip to somewhere you have been before? Yes, says Sarah Rodrigues – and here’s how

There is nothing quite like the comfort and simplicity of a beloved holiday destination, in times of uncertainty or otherwise. No need for hours of pre-departure research to get the lay of the land; no realising you’ve inadvertently booked to stay in the wrong part of town. But when you have been somewhere multiple times, you might not want to do exactly the same things when you are there. Perhaps you have been somewhere only once, considering it ticked off your list, not realising there is in fact a whole new way to experience that place. This is especially true for those of us who may have “done” destinations as backpackers in our 20s, now with more generous budgets later in life.

People change (especially given the past two years) – and therefore, so can the way they experience a place, as JD

Salinger’s Holden Caulfield knew all too well (“in that museum… everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody’d move. You could go there a hundred thousand times… The only thing that would be different would be you.”)

The world changes, too. These days there is greater cultural awareness, more social responsibility around locals, around wildlife, around landscape, and around not treating pockets of the world as theme parks for Westerners. Climate change concerns have also put pressure on providers to up their game in terms of environmentally conscious offerings.

The desire for travel that is more meaningful, more enriching, has only been heightened now that lockdowns have shown us that venturing away from our own shores is something that, despite available time or budget, we can no longer be entirely complacent about.

Above all, things change, even when they – like Uluru, or the Pyramids – appear to be immutable. Evolving landscapes, attitudes and ways of being mean that it’s perfectly possible to have a new holiday in a tried-and-tested destination: familiarity need not breed contempt, as these holidays will show you.

ALASKA

How you’ve done it With its unforgiving yet enthralling landscape, Alaska has long exerted the call of the wild for adventurers, as well as those wanting to experience its majesty without having to compromise on comfort. Enter “the Cruise”: pre-pandemic, Alaska was welcoming well over one million ship passengers each year.

How to do it now Rail travel provides an alternative for travellers wanting to soak up their surroundings from a comfortable and hassle-free vantage point: Alaska’s northern lights can be seen via a train journey from Anchorage to Fairbanks, and onwards to dome accommodation and a northern lights lodge in snow-stroked forests. There’s also the Alaska Railroad Glacier Discovery Train, which runs from Anchorage to Grandview.

Audley Travel (01993 683496; audleytravel.com) offers seven-day tailor-made trips from £3,700pp based on two sharing, including flights, transfers, train travel, accommodation and excursions. Alaska Tour & Travel (alaskatravel.com) also offers 12-hour round-trip train tours from Anchorage to Prince William Sound, available May to September, from £93pp

SAFARI

How you’ve done it Although safari has come a long way from the days of hunting, recent years have still been about chasing down big game and snapping trophy photos. Sightings of any of the Big Five have tended to result in a circle of rumbling trucks inching closer to snare the best view. Interactions with locals have been minimal, and their employment opportunities have been limited to roles such as porters and cleaners.

How to do it now The new face of safari has conservation at its core, with a focus on fostering a greater understanding of – and respect for – wildlife and landscape, as well as for the people who call the area home. Women-led expeditions are on the rise: Botswana’s Chobe Game Lodge was the first to have an all-women guide team and in Tanzania, Asilia’s Dunia Camp is the Serengeti’s only all-women camp. Eco-conscious camp design, contributions to grassroots development projects and, above all, respect for the wildlife are now key.

Audley Travel (01993 683496; audleytravel.com) offers nine-day tailor-made trips to Tanzania, with three nights all-inclusive at Dunia

Camp from £7,425pp based on two sharing, also including flights, transfers and twice-daily game drives

THE RED CENTRE AND ULURU

How you’ve done it If you “did” Australia in the 1980s or 1990s, chances are that you visited – and perhaps even climbed, as you could then – “Ayers Rock” through the eyes of Westerners: marvelled at its sunset colour change, ate at a “fair dinkum” Aussie barbie and gathered only the vaguest awareness of the significance that the world’s largest monolith and its surrounding landscape has for Australia’s first inhabitants. How to do it now Uluru was handed back to its traditional Aboriginal owners, the Anangu, in 1985, but it’s only in recent years that a commitment to increase Indigenous employment has resulted in opportunities for visitors to engage with Indigenous staff members, sample traditional foods, hear Dreamtime stories, participate in dot painting and didgeridoo workshops, and tour the night sky in the context of the Aboriginal stories woven from constellations. Hayes & Jarvis (020 8106 2403; hayesandjarvis.co.uk) offers 12-night trips to Australia, with two nights at the Lost Camel Hotel in Ayers Rock Resort, from £9,540pp based on two sharing, including international and domestic flights plus activities

THE AMALFI COAST

How you’ve done it The dazzling colours, cliff-clinging architecture, glorious beaches and fabulous food are a given – but if you’ve travelled the dizzying twists and turns of the coastal roads in this region of Italy, it’s likely to have been on four wheels (stuck in traffic). How to do it now Despite the extent of its appeal, the Amalfi Coast covers fewer than 30 miles – easily navigable via bike tour. There’s also the option of an e-bike to avoid overexertion on the steep climbs up to the best viewpoints: for example, Agerola, just above Amalfi and Furore, not only the starting point for the Path of the Gods (which ends near Positano) but also, happily, a hotbed of local liqueur and cheese production. Tui (020 3451 2688; tui.co.uk) offers four-night trips to Maiori, staying at the 4T Club Due Torri Hotel, from £467pp based on two sharing, with breakfast and flights, when booked online. Cycling Amalfi (00 39 32785 15500; cyclingamalfi.com) offers full-day tours from £83pp based on a group of four

THE CANARIES

It makes little sense to remember Venice with a four-hour pitstop and a fridge magnet

How you’ve done it The quest for winter sun has made the Canaries a popular low-cost beach destination since the 1960s. Cue erosion of the landscape via aggressive development, rowdy bars, all-you-can-guzzle buffets and the construction of theme parks.

How to do it now The resorts are still there, but sustainability efforts have seen a more recent emphasis placed on the islands’ natural beauty and biodiversity. Chief in this regard is Lanzarote, which received a Biosphere Responsible Tourism certification in 2015. Here, you can stargaze, hike the volcanic landscape (as well as sampling the wines that this produces) and shun tourist beaches such as Playa Blanca in favour of lessdeveloped spots, such as Papagayo.

Tui (020 3451 2688; tui.co.uk) offers seven-night trips to Playa De Los Pocillos, staying at the 4T Riu Paraiso Lanzarote from £734pp based on two sharing, all-inclusive and with flights, when booked online. Excursions Lanzarote (0121 281 6424; excursionslanzarote.com) hosts stargazing experiences from £64 per adult and €58 per child

MALAGA

How you’ve done it Once seen, by sunstarved Brits, as little more than a necessary pit stop en route to the Costa del Sol, Malaga has emerged as a city with a cultural – and Vitamin D-infused – appeal of its own.

How to do it now Picasso was born and raised in Malaga; the Picasso Museum and Contemporary Art Museum both opened in 2003, with the Centre Pompidou and the Museum of Malaga following in 2015 and 2016, respectively. There are now more than 30 museums in the city and, inevitably, a restaurant, bar and accommodation scene has emerged to match, with hotels such as the newly opened Palacio Solecio housing the Michelin-starred Balausta.

The Palacio Solecio (00 34 9522 22000; palaciosolecio.com) offers doubles from £152. British Airways (0344 493 0787; ba.com) flies from London to Malaga from £58 return

VENICE

How you’ve done it Pre-pandemic, cruise ships disgorged as many as 3,000 passengers on to Venice’s fragile shores each day. The result was crowds teeming to tick off well-known sights, litter, residents priced out of their homes and little in the way of ameliorating income, as most visitors headed back on board for meals.

How to do it now As of August last year, only small vessels can enter the historic centre, with cruise liners now docking on the mainland, a 10-minute bus journey away. But when a city is almost as renowned for its exquisite craftsmanship as it is for its otherworldly beauty, it makes little sense to remember it with a four-hour pitstop and a fridge magnet. Instead, stay for a weekend and book a private tour to go behind the scenes of the workshops of the artisans who craft gondolas, masks, wood carvings and weavings.

Hotel Heureka (00 39 04152 46460; hotel-heureka.com) offers doubles from £267. British Airways (0344 493 0787; ba.com) flies from London to Venice from £70 return. Travel Curious (020 3009 2392; travelcurious.com) offers artisan tours from approx £400 for two adults

CHAMPAGNE

How you’ve done it Steeped in luxury, the Champagne region lacked, for a long time, the tourist appeal of destinations such as Bordeaux. Additionally, the glamour with which the appellation is viewed tended to obscure appreciation of everything else that the region has to offer – if you’ve been before, the focus would likely have been on the production, which has, thanks to the vagaries of the region’s climate, historically been based on blending varieties, vintages and vineyards in an effort to achieve consistency.

How to do it now A warmer climate (temperatures have risen more than a degree in the past 20 years) has led many winemakers to abandon interventions such as dosage and embrace biodynamic practices, celebrating what the region naturally offers. As a result, there’s a greater recognition of terrain and culture – and, since its Unesco listing in 2015, the region has offered travellers the opportunity to not only sample its fizz, but also delve h Paddle into the past: kayak on the Nile into its gastronomy and history, while learning about historical methods of production and future plans to develop new varieties of grapes, able to retain champagne’s distinctive taste while promoting sustainability and natural practices.

France Ecotours ( france-ecotours.com) offers a three-night bike trip through the Pinot Meunier, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir growing regions, with tastings at organic and biodynamic wineries, from £765 based on two sharing, available mid-April to late October. British Airways (0344 493 0787; ba.com) flies from London to Paris from £76 return based on a seven-night stay. The train from Paris to Champagne-Ardenne takes around 40 minutes, from £27.50

IRELAND

How you’ve done it Fabulously compact and scenic Ireland has long been a must-do for road trippers, with the Wild Atlantic Way and Dublin to Northern Ireland (via Killarney and the Cliffs of Moher) both popular routes.

How to do it now Washed by the Atlantic, the west coast of the country is a riot of islands, peninsulas, inlets and myth – all of which are wonderfully well suited to exploration by sea. Two weeks allow you to circumnavigate the whole country, with stops for land-based activities; for those whose timescales or sea-legs are less forgiving, seven nights cruising the River Shannon will take in whiskey tasting, Ireland’s most haunted house, birdwatching and a visit to the ancient burial ground of Clonmacnoise – all without the risk of waves and wild weather.

Aurora Expeditions (0808 189 2005; auroraexpeditions.co.uk) sails to and from Dublin via Ireland’s West Coast from £7,046pp. Shannon Princess (00 353 8725 14809; shannonprincess.com) offers a seven-night cruise along the River Shannon from approx £3,670pp based on two sharing, in 2023

THE NILE

How you’ve done it Imbued with all the fascination of Ancient Egypt, and with the kudos of being the longest river in the world, the Nile has traditionally been explored on a cruise lasting between three and seven nights.

How to do it now Those travellers seeking adventure, eschewing crowds and in search of a more immersive, active experience can get to know the source of the Nile (at Lake Victoria, Uganda) on a two-hour kayaking expedition, during which they will learn about the history of the river and its significance to the millions of people who live on its banks.

Alternatively, with Cairo as a base, visitors can gain a water-based perspective of Egypt’s capital during a four-hour kayaking tour between palm-fringed banks.

Kayak The Nile (0256 7728 80322; kayakthenile.com) offers seven-day trips from £599pp. KLM (020 7660 0293; klm.co.uk) flies from London to Uganda from £368 return. Get Your Guide (020 3962 0237; getyourguide. co.uk) offers Cairo kayaking tours from £52pp

i Try a different track: forget visiting Alaska on a cruise – explore by train instead

ii New take on an old favourite: Papagayo beach in Lanzarote i Learn about Aboriginal culture in Australia