LEARN FROM THE EXPERTS

Get the most out of the planet’s most fascinating corners with help from those in the know…

PERU Experience local Peru

Peruvian folk-art expert John Benavides takes the lead on Steppes Travel’s Textiles of the Sacred Valley tour as you get handson (literally). Learn to weave and dye using traditional Andean techniques and meet local Accha Alta, Chinchero and Pitumarca communities, unravelling their stories, myths and traditions. Spy preColumbian art in Lima, explore the ruins of Macchu Picchu and meet the Andean communities of the Sacred Valley. Finish among the timeless waters of Lake Titicaca, its impenetrable depths having sustained communities for millennia, from the floating communities of the Uros to the people of Taquille, an island where crafts are not just vital to the economy but a way of life. WHO: Steppes Travel (01285 601050; www.steppestravel.com) WHEN: 19 Oct 2018 HOW LONG: 10 nights HOW MUCH: From £4,750 (excl intl flights)

ICELAND Get the best of land & sea

Spy glaciers, lava fields, breaching whales and dazzling heavens on The Small Cruise

Ship Collection’s Northern Lights and Whales trip around Iceland. Join astrological expert Dr Melanie Windridge aboard the Ocean Diamond, where onshore excursions inch you closer to the country’s geological wonders, from the black lava craters of Dimmuborgir to the wild waterfalls of Dettifoss and ancient Thingvellir NP (site of the world’s first parliament). But it’s out on the open water beneath jet skies that dance to cosmic displays, atop waves sheered by splashing orca and silent pilot whales, that this trip finds its soul. WHO: The Small Cruise Ship Collection (01432 507280; www.small-cruise-ships.com) WHEN: 22 Sep 2018 HOW LONG: Seven days HOW MUCH: From £1,600 (excl intl flights)

SOLOMON ISLANDS See Melanesia’s wild heart

The South Pacific is home to some of the most accessible marine life on the planet, yet the ambitions of most cruises here tend to start and end with its pristine beaches and colonial towns. Naturetrek’s The Solomon Islands: A Wildlife Cruise in the South Pacific switches focus, scouring below the waves with marine biologist Dr Chas Anderson as it explores one of the least-visited waters of the ‘Coral Triangle’. From capital Honiara, the 18-berth MV Bilikiki charts west across Iron Bottom Sound (so-named for the tonnes of wreckage nestled deep in its silt) and out into the Solomon Sea. Keep an eye out for the recently discovered Omura’s whale en route, as you snorkel with manta rays and tramp remote islands in search of Ducorps’ cockatoos and yellow-bibbed lory. End each day swimming dazzling coral waters and war wrecks surrounded by tropical fish. WHO: Naturetrek (01962 733051; www.naturetrek.co.uk) WHEN: 1 Dec 2018 HOW LONG: 15 days HOW MUCH: From £8,395 (incl intl flights)