BIG & BOLD
Dream big and put these bold adventures onto the global bucket list, chosen by our expert team of travel writers.
Belfast’s Titanic Quarter, Ireland
If, like me, you’ve long been fascinated by the most famous doomed ocean liner of all time, book yourself a trip to Belfast. The Northern Irish capital was where the Titanic was built and departed from in 1912, and on the site of the shipyard is the spectacular Titanic Belfast attraction – a museum telling the story of the ship, and the people and city who made her, full of original artefacts and interactive exhibitions. You can also stay in the nearby Titanic Hotel, located in the shipbuilding company’s former headquarters. You’ll find plenty of nautical and Titanic-themed touches throughout the luxury hotel, and you can even order a cocktail from the bar named in honour of the last remaining survivor of the sinking, Ms Millvina Dean.
– Siobhan Downes
Patara ruins, Turkey
Walking the dusty road to the beach in the southern Turkish town of Patara, I stumbled upon ruins so large in scale I struggled to comprehend that there was no other soul in sight. Passing through an enormous archway into the ancient city from which the modern town gets its name, the past suddenly became the present. Patara was seized by a succession of power-hungry armies from around southern Europe for centuries before becoming a stronghold of the Roman Empire. But that too crumbled: the remnants of all former armies’ former glory are now mere suggestions of a castle, colonnaded streets, temples, bathhouses, a theatre . . . Continuing on to the 18km-long beach, visited by loggerhead turtles between May and early October, I went for a quick dip as the fat red ball that was the sun sunk into its snuggly, ocean-blue bed. Walking back to the hotel to the melancholic mixed melody of cicadas and the mosque’s call to prayer, I felt uncommonly content. At that moment, it seemed like nothing could disturb the peace.
Carnival of Santiago de Cuba, Cuba
Earlier this year, I did a DNA test which revealed I had more Spanish ancestry than I’d thought. Which could explain why I have so many Spanish stamps in my passport, from Ibiza with its sun-bleached beaches to Bilbao (an embarrassment of
art) and Seville (oranges and fiery flamenco). It’s also why Cuba appeals. I’ve always wanted to lean into this Caribbean island’s candy-coloured buildings, music and food. But especially its Carnival. This two-week party in July/August is believed to have started around 1679, initially as a celebration for Cubans of Spanish ancestry, but has since morphed into a riot of feathered dancers, effigies of religious figures and conga performers rocking out to sweet Cuban music. Plus rum. Lots of rum. – Sharon Stephenson
Death Valley National Park, US
The average annual rainfall is less than 5cm in Death Valley, the hottest, driest and lowest national park in North America. We received that entire measure and more within half an hour during a one-night visit in summer. You could hear the storm roaring through the mountain ranges in the distance before it touched down with an almighty bang. The freak rain activity and accompanying spectacle of lightning was unlike anything I’d ever witnessed. It was also totally unexpected. Six hours earlier, we’d arrived in the arid land of extremes to full sun and a temperature reading of 52C – it was like being blown in the face with a hairdryer dipped in sand. While you can’t plan your visit around weather events, I’ll be back in spring when conditions like this bring carpets of wildflowers known as a ‘superbloom’ to the region.
– Stephen Heard
Lady Musgrave Experience, Australia
Fall asleep under the stars in the middle of the ocean with a night on Lady Musgrave HQ on the southern Great Barrier Reef. It’s quite possibly the best way to experience and immerse yourself fully in the beauty of this treasured Unesco World Heritage area. The floating dive pontoon, complete with glamping beds on the top level, is one of the most eco-friendly builds in the world, and is powered by its own solar and wind turbines. While there, you can dive and snorkel the reef, or watch from the underwater observatory. It offers the experience of a lifetime – waking up to the sight of the Great Barrier Reef beyond your toes. – Juliette Sivertsen
Lima, Peru
Finally resurrecting a trip we had booked for 2020, my wife Carol and I are heading
to Lima in May 2023. Following a few visits to Madame George restaurant in Auckland and watching Peruvian food docos on Netflix, we’re looking forward to exploring one of South America’s foodie hotspots. Lonely Planet recently named the Peruvian capital one of its Best Places to Eat for 2023, and we’re going to mix it up with lots of seafood at rustic cevicherı´as and also visits to innovative restaurants like Central, Kjolle and Maido. A few pisco sour cocktails will also have been consumed by the time we move on to Rio de Janeiro and the Brazilian coastal town of Paraty later in the trip.
Stourhead, England
– Brett Atkinson
If Mr Darcy appears on shaky ground proposing to Elizabeth Bennet in the 2005 film version of Pride & Prejudice, he’s on some particularly gorgeous ground too. That scene was shot by the Temple of Apollo in the gardens at Stourhead, one of the loveliest estates you could ever hope to find in England’s rural idyll. It is vast, dotted with grottoes, temples and swoonworthy follies, most of them within a muggins of the huge, nature-perfected lake. They say the lakeside path represents Aeneas’s descent into the underworld, though it seemed more heaven-bound to me. The final flourish is the neo-Palladian mansion to snout through, with its own walled gardens. Was Stourhead on my Zackhamian bucket list? To be honest, no, but our host in Wiltshire declared it his favourite place in the world and bundled us off there one bracing English autumn morning. Once we got past my unkind joke about it simply needing a Bunnings to complete the Arcadian bliss, we melted into paradise on Earth. Our friend grumped a little about the National Trust’s embalming effect on these treasures – there’s truth to it – yet if the estate was still in private hands what chance us oiks getting to roam her emerald beauty? Slim. You will need a day, if not a lifetime, to absorb all the splendour – but no itinerary of England’s stately piles would be complete without it.