The trick to having five holidays for the price of one
What are you yearning for, missing, most in need of, after two years of travel cancellations, curbs, compromises or – at best – mad dashes to whichever mediocre destination required jumping through the fewest Covid hoops that week?
For most of us, it’s a long list. After having to downgrade our holiday aspirations, the no-compromise trip is back on the cards, even if it means upping the budget or staying away longer – but with so much lost time to make up for, how can you make your first big post-pandemic break as ambitious and fulfilling as possible?
If you’re torn between wanting it all – to immerse yourself in nature; have that big-ticket adventure you’ve long planned; lose yourself in a thronging metropolis; drink in landscapes, culture, gastronomy, theatre, museums and galleries; laze on a stretch of white sand by gently lapping waters – the answer is simple: opt for the omni-trip, a single destination which packs in the very best of every kind of holiday.
And why not? If travel is to be truly rejuvenating and revitalising, it has to touch body, soul, heart and mind. Certainly my own most memorable holidays were invariably those that involved a degree of action, from a gentle hike to a tough climb to an overland bus journey; an authentic cultural encounter, be that a musical experience, a standout exhibition, a special bar or restaurant; and some element of luxury. The latter was always less about glitzy hotels, more about slowing down and catching my breath.
Of course, destinations that offer it all aren’t easy to come by – but fortunately, tour firms have become very skilled at creating packages (or curating travel experiences, if you prefer) that involve minimum hopping around, and instead deliver maximum enjoyment and edification within a set time frame and budget. We show you how to have it all at five of our favourites.
Mexico
The city break: Mexico City
Mexico City is the largest city in the Americas, but the best bits – sights, food, plazas, museums – are concentrated around the historic centre. The massive central square, the Zócalo, is where Mexicans meet, protest, sing, dance, kiss and take selfies, and survey their own history: the magnificent metropolitan cathedral, Aztec Templo Mayor and baroque presidential palace. A short walk away are venerable cafés and restaurants, plus food stalls and characterful cantinas. See the murals of Orozco, Rivera and Siqueiros at the Palacio de Bellas Artes before hitting the ’burbs. Roma is hipster central, Polanco is embassy territory with lots of green spaces, while cool Condesa is a cuisine hotspot.
The culture holiday: San Miguel de Allende
What is Mexican culture? A multilayered history, a melting pot, a musical overload, a culinary extravaganza. Get a taste of all this in cobbled, colourful San Miguel de Allende, the swankiest and most romantic of the “silver cities”. See colonial-era churches, the fine arts school, crafts galleries and the shady Benito Juarez park. Courtyard restaurants, bookish cafés and evening jazz gigs abound.
The adventure holiday: Chiapas
Chiapas offers active-tourism favourites like rafting, mountain biking and hiking, but there’s plenty of adrenaline just being there. The topography is mountainous, with rainforests (including the Lacandon Jungle) and lakes, Mayan ruins and limestone caves. San Juan Chamula, where syncretistic religion finds a home, is a full-on adventure in human geography.
The bucket-list holiday: Chichén Itzá and Yucatán
Chichén Itzá’s El Castillo pyramid is a wonder of the world and the focal point of one of the Mayan world’s largest cities. It’s popular, but if you stay nearby and get in as soon as it opens, you’ll sense the magic. Yucatán boasts many other Mayan sites, all extraordinary, as well as atmospheric haciendas built around crumbling ruins and cenotes (sink holes).
The beach holiday: Isla Holbox
Just off the Yucatán peninsula’s steamy north coast, Holbox is a 25-mile long sandbar with a gorgeous beach and warm, still waters. Enjoy shoreline walks, swims and SUP sessions, delicious al fresco barefoot lunches and candlelit dinners. The aesthetic is bright, bold, makeshift, with room for shabby as well as stylish. South are lush mangroves and crystalline freshwater lagoons, part of the Yum Balam biosphere reserve. A lazy boat trip or two to see this and, further off, the whale sharks, is the only effort you’ll have to make.
How to do it:
Journey Latin America (020 8747 8315; journeylatinamerica.co.uk) can arrange a 16-day holiday, taking in Mexico City, a street-food tour, the Teotihuacán pyramids, guided tours of San Miguel de Allende and San Cristóbal de las Casas, the Mayan ruins of Palenque and Chichén Itzá, a cookery class in colonial Mérida and a three-night stay on Holbox island. From ￡3,860pp, including B&B accommodation (plus two lunches), transfers, international and domestic flight.
Tuscany
The city break: Florence
Florence has inspired millions of words, pictures, songs and memories. Best known as the birthplace of the Renaissance, it was already an outstanding cultural hub by the medieval era, producing artists of the calibre of Giotto and writers like Dante and Petrarch. A political, ecclesiastical and artistic centre, it was also an economic powerhouse – hence the magnificence of the churches and civic palaces. In the Quattrocento (1400-1500), with Cosimo de’ Medici as unofficial ruler, it blossomed into the Humanist centre of Europe and saw Brunelleschi, Michelangelo and Donatello launch neoclassical painting and sculpture. Queues for galleries and honeypots can be extreme in high season, but the buzz on the Piazza del Duomo and the views from the Piazzale Michelangelo are legendary.
The adventure holiday: Chianti Mountains
Refined recreation being so established in Tuscany makes people overlook the fact that there are plenty of options for those who have interests beyond art and eating. The Apuan Alps Geopark, Chianti Mountains and lush Garfagnana valley are ideal for those who are looking for walks, mountain biking, horse riding or canyoning, and there’s kayaking and SUPing on the River Arno, too.
The bucket list holiday: Agriturismo
Italy’s agriturismo vineyard and farm-hotels are sophisticated and often luxurious, and places like Fattoria di Lavacchio – an organic 16th-century farm in Pontassieve – afford their guests an opportunity to soak up the less cerebral aspects of Tuscan culture through wine tasting, olive-oil factory tours, cookery lessons and truffle hunting.
The culture holiday: Tuscany’s artists and artisans
Lucca, Prato, Pisa, Livorno… a tour of Tuscany’s other cities, small and large, principal or overlooked, is a chance to indulge in some of Europe’s finest art and architecture. The historic centres of Assisi, Pienza, San Gimignano and Siena are Unesco world heritage sites. It’s not all about the Renaissance. Choose your theme – Carrara marble, Lucca’s artisans, Pietrasanta’s mosaics, Vianreggio’s art deco – and specialise or skim the shimmering surface on a whistle-stop road trip.
The beach holiday: Elba
Italy’s third biggest island is much loved by Tuscans, but still underexplored by foreign travellers. Famous as Napoleon’s place of exile in 1814-15, it also charmed Alexandre Dumas (Monte Cristo is a reserve just off Elba), Paul Klee and Errol Flynn. What did they come for? Rugged mountains, sea views, chestnut trees, vineyards, olive groves, and almost two hundred beaches – ranging from sandy curves to seaside bagni. Base yourself at Marina di Campo or Marciana Marina for a bit of everything.
How to do it
Sunvil (020 8758 4722; sunvil.co.uk) can arrange a 14-night holiday to Tuscany, with stays in Florence, Pisa, Siena and San Gimignano, a wine tour in Chianti and a guided tour to Arezzo, finishing with a five-night stay at the Fattoria di Lavacchio. From ￡2,870pp, including B&B accommodation, excursions, flights, transfers (including train fare) and car hire.
Costa Rica
The beach holiday: Nicoya Peninsula
From Tamarindo down to Santa Teresa, the shore of Nicoya is dotted with small hotels, smart villas, surf schools, artist and craft studios, restaurants championing Costa Rican cuisine and beachfront bars. Surfer, yogi or swimmer, you’ll find a strand or a cove to kick back in. The backdrop is forest and scrub. Offshore is a marine conservation zone agreed at COP26 summit in Glasgow 2021, connecting Costa Rica and the Galápagos Islands.
The culture holiday: Horticulture
Costa Rica is not like most countries. Though smaller than Ireland, it’s home to 6.5 per cent of the world’s biodiversity and is considered a role model for nature conservation. Around a quarter of its land is part of a protected forest or reserve – as recently recognised by the first Earthshot Prize. Costa Rica was a star turn at this year’s Kew Gardens orchid festival. See more than 800 orchids, as well as cacti, succulents, bromeliads, heliconias and palms at Lankester Gardens near Cartago.
The adventure holiday: Osa Peninsula
Out on a limb in the country’s southwest corner, the Osa Peninsula has pre-Columbian ruins and former gold-mining villages, which provide glimpses into local life, but it’s the wild, untamed Corcovado National Park that’s the main draw. Jaguar, giant anteater, tapir, harpy eagle and many other species inhabit the virgin rainforests.
The bucket list holiday: Arenal Volcano
Hot springs, chilled beers, and a perfect volcanic cone, with occasional flashes of lava after dark. What could be more Central American? Arenal Volcano National Park was recently voted number one in the world for outdoor enthusiasts in the 2022 Tripadvisor’s Travellers’ Choice Awards. Hikers will find trails that wind through wildlife-rich rainforest and along old lava flows, but the peak is always there, beautiful, photogenic, imposing and a tiny bit threatening.
The city break: San José
Costa Rica is not a city sort of country. But San José has a small-town vibe and is a fine place to unwind. Sip the world’s best coffee in the old Barrio Amón, taste top-notch Tico cuisine in Barrio Escalante, and catch a show by a “cimarrona” band – a folk tradition recently awarded Unesco cultural recognition. Insider tip: if you really want to round off a Costa Rican escapade with big-city glamour, it’s easy: fly home via Panama City.
How to do it
Last Frontiers (01296 653000; lastfrontiers.com) can arrange a 13-day holiday to Costa Rica, visiting San José, Lankester Gardens, Ca?o Island, the Osa Peninsula – including a stay at Casa Corcovado jungle lodge – Arenal and the Nicoya Peninsula, with a full day private tour to Irazu volcano. From ￡3,960pp, including B&B throughout and full board on the Osa Peninsula, flights and transfers.
Australia
The city break: Sydney
Melbourne and Sydney are both great cities, but the former takes effort while the latter generously serves up landmark architecture, world-class arts, gastronomy and hedonism to all comers – and throws in a world-famous beach culture for fun. Sydney is a real looker, and there’s plenty to fill a day or two of walking, gawping and ogling: the Sydney Opera House, Harbour Bridge (from Observatory Hill), the Bondi to Coogee coastal walk, Royal Botanic Garden, Chinatown and Quarantine Station on Manly’s North Head are absolute must-sees. To get beneath the surface, spend a few hours at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, strong on all facets of Aussie art. Food is an easy fix, whether you want fine dining along the waterfront at Barangaroo or cheap, cheerful Asian food at Spice Alley on Kensington Street.
The beach holiday: Eastern Beach Reserve and the Great Ocean Road
Victoria has an excellent range of surf and swim beaches, and the 150-mile Great Ocean Road, between Torquay and Allansford, allows you to combine an enjoyable drive with dips and dives, seafood lunches and sunset viewpoints. Highlights include the Twelve Apostles limestone stacks, swimmable beaches at Aireys Inlet, Lorne Bay and Apollo Bay, and Eastern Beach Reserve, with its enclosed sea bath, boardwalk, diving towers and terraced lawns.
The culture holiday: Red Centre
Take in Aboriginal modern art in Alice Springs, and then hit the road to discover more about the ancient cultures that mapped the extraordinary topography in songlines, and walked and hunted and settled the Red Centre. Kings Canyon and Ormiston Gorge – great for a swim – are obligatory stops en route, as is an outback cattle station.
The bucket list holiday: Uluru
Everyone wants to see Uluru once in their life. Mid-morning walks around the enigmatic site open up rock art, water holes, sacred spaces and hunting grounds. Uluru was a pilgrimage destination for semi-nomadic aboriginal Australians, and there is something truly magnetic about the place. There are many ways to “see” it, from sunrise breakfasts to hikes around the base and gourmet sunset dinners.
The adventure holiday: Great Barrier Reef
Yep, another bucket-list classic – with more than 2,500 reefs and 900 islands spread over an immense area between Hervey Bay in Queensland and the coast of Papua New Guinea. Scuba is the best way to explore the coral and see turtles, moray eels, octopuses, manta rays, leopard sharks and many other marine species – and there are plenty of good beginners’ courses. Snorkelling off Heron Island and Lady Elliot Island is also a thrill.
How to do it
All Ways Tailormade (01628 526585; awtm.co.uk) can arrange a 20-day holiday taking in Melbourne and the Great Ocean Road with a special private wildlife tour, Adelaide, a Red Centre package, including Alice Springs, Kings Canyon and Uluru, a visit to the Great Barrier Reef and tour of Cape Tribulation, the Daintree and Mossman, finishing off with four nights in Sydney where your room overlooks the Harbour Bridge. From ￡4,295pp, including B&B accommodation transfers, international and domestic flights.
Thailand
The beach holiday: Kantiang Bay
Thailand’s beaches are some of the most beautiful on earth, which is why they shoot films like The Man With the Golden Gun (Khao Phing Kan and Phang Nga Bay) and The Beach (Phi Phi Don on Koh Phi Phi) here. For your holiday snaps, an indisputably idyllic strand in the Andaman Sea is Kantiang on the mangrove and coral-fringed, limestone-pocked island of Koh Lanta in Krabi Province: it’s never too busy, has fine, almost-white sand, is swimmable and sits close to high-end restaurants and hotels. Dozens of other great beaches in the vicinity mean you need never get bored of searching for paradise.
The culture holiday: Thai cuisine
Thai cuisine perfumes any kind of holiday. Whether you’re booked into a five-star in Bangkok or are on a budget beach break, you’ll be served jasmine-scented, banana-blossomed, perfectly spiced bowls of deliciousness on beds of sticky rice. But there’s nothing quite like a market visit and cooking class to give you a real taste of the many regional cuisines, further enhanced by imported influences, including those from China, Malaysia, Laos and Portugal. The Cooking@Home Thai Culinary School in Sankhampaeng village, close to Chiang Mai, is a fun way to expand your repertoire beyond green and red curry.
The adventure holiday mountain trekking
In northern Thailand, near the border with Myanmar, are national parks and ancient trade routes through hilltop villages and forests. It’s a great region to explore on foot, and on a guided tour through the Doi Chiang Dao mountain range you can do multiday walks combined with local homestays. Some tour firms offer the region as a cycling holiday.
The bucket list holiday: Golden Triangle
The Golden Triangle, an area where the River Mekong meets the Ruak, was once famous for its opium. Visit the dedicated museum in Chiang Rai, which traces the complicated history of the poppy, as well as the imposing temples of Wat Phra That Jom Kitti and Wat Jedi Lang, before heading to the Thailand-Burma-Laos triple-border by long-tail speedboat.
The city break: Bangkok
Established as the capital of Siam in 1782, Bangkok is relatively young – but made to look and feel ancient by the Grand Palace, Wat Arun temple, Wat Pho’s Reclining Buddha, and many stupas and shrines. In 1875, the Oriental Hotel (flagship of the Mandarin Oriental chain), on the bank of the Chao Phraya River, became Thailand’s first luxury hotel. It’s a calm and refined redoubt for when the tuk-tuks and traffic get too frenetic.
How to do it
Bamboo Travel (020 7720 9285; bambootravel.co.uk) can arrange a 16-day holiday, taking in Bangkok, a street-food tour by tuk-tuk, trips on the klongs and Mekong river, a hill trek, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, a cooking class and a five-night stay in Krabi. From ￡3,195pp including B&B accommodation (plus three lunches and two dinners), international and domestic flights.
For full details of entry requirements, see telegraph.co.uk/tt-travelrules. Refer to gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice for further travel information