The Times - UK (2022-01-01)

the times Saturday January 1 2022

100 trips for 2022 Travel 43

Leaving other tour groups far behind,
you’ll take a bullet train to Liyama for
three days’ hiking through the Sekida
Mountains on the Shin-Etsu trail. From
here you’ll visit Matsumoto in the
Japanese Alps before embarking on a
three-day walk along the Nakasendo
Way, ending in Kyoto. By then you will

GETTY IMAGES; ALAMY

have developed an understanding of

Japanese nature and culture far beyond

that of the average tourist — but beware:

this may include karaoke.

Details Eleven nights from £2,550pp

(mix of B&B and half-board), departing

September 12 (insidejapantours.com).

Fly to Tokyo

the Okavango Delta have done away

with the supplements for green-season

travel between November and

March. “Green” is a euphemism for

rainy, but don’t let that put you off:

this is the time of year when wildlife

activity is at its most frenetic and the

rainfall is limited to short, dramatic

thunderstorms. This bargain trip is

spread between the three camps and

you won’t be short of company because

the game drives are in shared vehicles.

Details Ten nights’ full board

from £4,720pp (reefandrainforest

.co.uk). Fly to Maun

50 Happy ever

after in

Italy

Best for Eternal

luxury in Puglia

It’s easy to find

happiness on

holiday, but like

an impulsively

purchased bottle

of limoncello,

the feeling can be

hard to recreate at

home. The team

behind Borgo Egnazia,

a spa resort in the Puglian

countryside, believe that true and

lasting happiness can be attained by

a mind, body and soul approach

that begins, rather unromantically,

with a questionnaire but advances

through a seven-day programme of

group and individual classes designed

to help you to forge long-lasting

relationships with others and to

understand your inner self. Access to

the spa and to Borgo’s private beach is

also included.

Details Six nights’ full board from

£3,625pp, including flights

(healthandfitnesstravel.com)

Entries compiled and written by

Chris Haslam and Susan d’Arcy

47 Explore Malta on foot

Best for Springtime Mediterranean hikes

Malta is an island made for walking,

from the cart-wide alleys of Valletta to

the magnificent cliff paths from

Marsaskala to Birzebbuga in the

southeast. This new eight-day group

hiking holiday covers the best of all

routes. It begins with two nights

exploring Gozo before crossing back

to Malta and setting off on five days

of hikes of up to ten miles a day,

combining the island’s outstanding

natural beauty with its

mysterious history.

Details Seven nights’ B&B

from £990pp, including

flights, departing

April 23

(explore.co.uk)

48 Magic

of Ireland

Best for Sláinte

and storytelling

There are

grogochs, or fairies,

in Donegal, and

islands formed from

rocks thrown by

irritated giants. It’s county

so far from Dublin that it

seems to have developed in isolation.

You have six days to explore this myth-

ridden land, crossing the border to see

the Giant’s Causeway, exploring

Donegal Town and visiting wild

Malin Head, the Doagh Isle Famine

Village and Glenveagh Castle, where

a curse cast by tenants evicted in the

19th century is said to have denied the

incumbents’ offspring. You’ll hear

stories told in song in the pubs and

bars of Letterkenny, your base for this

stirring solos tour.

Details Five nights’ full board from

£981pp, including flights

(newmarketholidays.co.uk)

49 Safari in Botswana

Best for Wildlife encounters

Baboon burglary and elephant trespass

are manageable irritants in the bush,

but the biggest deterrent to solo

travellers remains the single supplement,

which can force you to pay up to

50 per cent extra for the sole use of a

tent. However, Lebala Lodge and

Lagoon Camp in the Linyati and the

newly refurbished Kwara Lodge in

46 Matsumoto Castle, Japan

Skiing in the Dolomites, Italy 45

Havana, Cuba

44

For more great

ideas see part 2

in tomorrow’s

Sunday Times