Best Adventure
The Leakey Excavation, Micato Safaris
Far from your typical getaway, if you seek to get away from the madding crowd consider visiting Africa with the Leakeys, the continent’s only well-known family of fossil hunters. You begin by travelling by helicopter to the Saguta Valley for a spot of sand surfing and quad-biking past herds of wildlife. Then you head to Lake Turkana for a fishing expedition. Finally the highlight of it all is a trip to a large repository of archaeological material (dating back 4 million years) where you can dig up fossils of early hominids. Do all this while sleeping in open-air accommodation with a local Maasai tribe and enjoying their distinctive cuisine.
www.micato.com
Best Action Holiday
Muay Thai Kickboxing
Have an action-packed getaway at the Horizon Muay Thai Boxing Camp where visitors from all over the world congregate to learn how to fight with flair. The camp offers packages catering to every level, be you a seasoned veteran or a novice. Kickbox by day and glam it up by night by staying at the luxurious Santhiya Resort and Spa where you’ll stay in a lavishly appointed yet traditional Thai teak villa. Located on a tropical island in the Gulf of Thailand, Koh Phangan was actually the setting for the movie The Beach so make sure to allow enough to time to enjoy some sea kayaking and snorkelling.
www.horizonmuaythai.com & www.slh.cp
Best Couples Retreat
Amanikan
The Amanikan retreat is a one-week super-exclusive cruise around Indonesia’s World Heritage Site, the Komodo National Park. The stunningly appointed 32-metre vessel houses three air-conditioned cabins, all above-deck, and each one featuring wraparound windows from which you can enjoy the sweeping vistas of the Flores Sea. Of course, you’re here on a mission – to suss out the Komodo dragons, so keep your eyes peeled to your binoculars for them and other exotic wildlife like macaque monkeys and banteng. The cruiser will navigate through the necklace of islands that collectively forms the Nusa Tenggara. Oh and the Amanikan is fully equipped with scuba gear for whenever you feel like jumping overboard and getting closer to the wildlife.
www.amanresorts.com
Best Detox
Buchinger
Make up for all those late nights and gigantic meals by slimming down and detoxing at the renowned Buchinger Clinic. Located in southern Germany, close to the Swiss border, this health farm prides itself on the ‘Fasting Therapy’. The clinic's chief doctor, Christian Kuhn, says that fasting naturally leads people to focus inward and opens them to what he calls "spiritual nutrition" - what people really need, he says, to heal or change their lives. There are seven different room categories to choose from and many different well-being packages depending on the time you have available. One thing’s for sure: you’ll leave feeling like a new person.
www.buchinger.com
Best Short Hop
The One&Only Reethi Rah
Not so far that it’s a hassle, yet far enough that you’ll feel you got away, Maldives has a unique geographical advantage for Middle Eastern customers. The current cream of the crop is the One&Only Reethi Rah, an exclusive all-villa spa and resort offering privacy, romance and rejuvenation to those seeking such things. With very spacious thatched villas spread across 12 white-sand beaches, you can choose anything from a beachside accommodation to your very own water villa perched on stilts over the lagoon (shown above). While there, you’ll have no choice but to dine at the three restaurants serving Far-Eastern, Mediterranean and Japanese cuisine, but fret not the food is great.
www.oneandonlyresorts.com
Best way to learn a skill
Tasty Tuscany
Escape reality for a week and become a true Tuscan, or at least live and cook like one. With Tasty Tuscany, you’ll take cooking classes and stay at Il Poggione, an ancient country house in Tuscany situated on a hill surrounded by grapes, olive trees and cypresses. We recommend going in November, the season of truffles and olive oil pressing. If you’ve never had the pleasure of experiencing the pride with which the pressing of olives is shared and enjoyed, you are in for a delightful treat. All classes include excursions in the countryside and nearby cities. Experience the art, wines, architecture and archaeological wonders that make Tuscany such a delight.
www.tastytuscany.com
Best Family Retreat
Casa Dell'Arte Luxury Family Resort
Casa Dell'Arte is located in one of the most enchanting spots of Bodrum: the old fishermen’s village of Torba. It presents an ideal environment for art enthusiasts and their families to really enjoy an imaginative summer vacation. Encompassing 37 suites decorated with beautiful paintings by young, contemporary, up-and-coming Casa Dell’Arte artists, the resort really has some original offerings such as: private art workshops, pet services, babysitters as well as three private yachts and a collection of classic cars at the disposal of the guests. Of course no luxury hotel would be complete without a spa and this contemporary boutique art house is no exception.
www.casadellartebodrum.com
Best Honeymoon
Amanjiwo
Offering some of the most drop-dead incredible mountain views in Indonesia, Amanjiwo is a palatial limestone-built escape: a Central Java boutique resort as unforgettable as its neighbour, the colossal 7th century Buddhist temple of Borobudur. The resort’s 34 suites are all exceptional, but for the ladle on luxury head straight for Borobudur Pool Suites 24 or 26, both of which feature private pools stretching from the bedroom doors to daybed-enhanced balé pavilion. The Borobudur Pool Suite is the perfect place to enjoy the company of your loved one and should you require anything there’s the butler who’s always on call. If you decide to venture beyond your room, Amanjiwo organises local excursions atop an elephant.
www.amanresorts.com
