The 10 best destinations for 2009.
Koh Tao at #4 & Big Blue as the #1 Spot to stay & dive!
Lonely Planet’s annual list of emerging destinations and hip classics will be released this week - but we’ve got a sneak preview.
The temple and island of Xiao Putuo Dao, China
They include a giant chunk of China that’s home to 44m people, and a castaway bay in Tasmania with a population of just 300. The northernmost town on earth, and the furthest-flung islands on the planet.
This Wednesday, the guidebook giant Lonely Planet publishes its annual “Blue List” - its bible of hot destinations for 2009 - and the authors have cast a wide and adventurous net. Follow their advice, and your travelling year could feature polar-bear-spotting in Svalbard, volcano-hiking in Hawaii and sea-kayaking in Chile.
Always much anticipated, this year’s list will appear in book form under the title “Best in Travel 2009”, and we’ve got an exclusive preview. Here are Lonely Planet’s 10 must-see regions for 2009 - each one made easy with our expert guide on how to plan the perfect trip there.
Package prices include flights from London. Contact the operator for details on the airline and routing, and for regional departures.
1 BAY OF FIRES Tasmania They say: “White beaches of hourglass-fine sand, Bombay Sapphire sea, an azure sky - and nobody. This is the secret edge of Tasmania, laid out like a pirate’s treasure map of perfect beach after sheltered cove, all fringed with forest. It’s not long since the Bay of Fires came to international attention, and the crowds are bound to flock. Now is the time to visit.”
The plan: the bay is an 18-mile ribbon of sea and surf spooling out from the old whaling town of St Helens. The best base for bronzing and boarding is Binalong Bay, which has cute cottages from £67 per night for two (00 61 3-6376 8262, http://www.bayoffirescottages.com.au/ ) and sensational
lobster suppers at Angasi (http://www.angasi.com.au/ ). But the killer way to “do the Bay” is on a guided four-day hike with the Bay of Fires Lodge (6392 2211, http://www.bayoffires.com.au/ ): offered from October to April for £845pp. Bailey Robinson (01488 689700, http://www.baileyrobinson.com/ ) can include the walk in a nine-day Tasmania fly-drive, from £2,750pp.
2 BASQUE COUNTRY France & Spain They say: “Walkers fall head over heels for the Pyrenean vistas where vultures soar on the thermals; art fans trip out on the futuristic fantasy of Bilbao’s Guggenheim Museum; and everyone loses control at allnight street parties a million people strong. The Basque country is a cocktail of fun, sun, culture and beauty.”
The plan: for a freewheeling tour of the Basque costa, fly to Bilbao from Stansted with EasyJet (http://www.easyjet.com/ ) and check into the boutiquey Miro Hotel (http://www.mirohotelbilbao.com/ ; doubles from £91), in position A for the Guggenheim. Then hire a car and take a pinball whizz
along the swerving 30-mile coast road to San Sebastian: highlights should include the seafood-scented fishing villages of Bermeo and Lekeito, and surfy Mundaka beach. Finish with a tapas-based tour of the palace-studded party town of San Sebastian, where the Pension Bellas Artes (http://www.pension-bellasartes.com/ ; doubles from £45) is a friendly overnight pick. Alternatively, Cities Direct (01242 536900, http://www.citiesdirect.co.uk/ ) can package up a five-night fly-drive from £349pp.
3 CHILOE Chile They say: “With a newly inaugurated ecological reserve and the country’s oldest agro-tourism network, Chiloé has adventure on tap.
This misty archipelago is the distilled, 80-proof version of traditional Chile. Witches and ghost ships go bump in the night, but modernity is on the march - the cool Museo de Arte Moderno is a worthy heir to Chiloé’s Unesco-listed shingle churches. Try a family homestay, outdoor lamb-roast and island-hopping via wooden fishing boat.”
The plan: forget the skyscraping summits of Andean Chile - Chiloé is a subtler, smudgier landscape of foggy farmsteads and faraway forests, stalked by Trauco, the virgin-seducing troll
of Chilote myth. Pack your rain gear, and book your homestay with the island operator Austral Adventures (http://www.austral-adventures.com/ ) - it can also organise sea-kayaking and visits to Chiloé’s Puñihuil penguin colony. The fishing-boat option is best tackled aboard the Cahuella, a 50ft crewed wooden cruiser ; Andean Trails (0131 467 7086, http://www.andeantrails.co.uk/ ) teams it with the Patagonian wilds of Pumalin Park: six days from £1,020pp, plus about £850 for flights.
4. KO TAO Thailand
They say: “First there was Ko Samui, then Ko Pha-Ngan; now, the cult of Ko Tao has emerged along Thailand’s crystalline Gulf Coast. Tiny Tao sure knows how to pack it in. Diving enthusiasts cavort with sharks and rays in a playground of tangled neon coral.
Hikers and hermits can reenact an episode of Lost in the dripping coastal jungles. And when you’re Robinson Crusoed out, hit the bar scene that rages until dawn.”
The plan: the island is very much about backpacks and buoyancy aids - don’t bother looking for preprepped packages. Of the beach-bungalow dive resorts, Big Blue Diving (00 66-77 456415, http://www.bigbluediving.com/ ) has digs from £3 to £17 per night; its three-day Padi open-water course costs a knockdown £150. Or how about a skippered yacht charter with Island Cruises (77 457002, http://www.island-cruises.org/ ) - four days for four from £1,000. A bus-ferry combo ticket to Ko Tao from Bangkok costs about £14 (http://www.lomprayah.com/ ); or you can fly to Ko Samui (http://www.bangkokair.%20com/ ) from Bangkok from about £177 return, and catch the fast ferry (http://www.lomprayah.com/ ); or fly to Ko Samui from London via Bangkok from £640, through Opodo (http://www.opodo.co.uk/ ).
5 LANGUEDOC France They say: “This Cinderella of the south was once overshadowed by gorgeous Provence and the brash Côte d’Azur. Now, she stands as their equal, displaying a discreet charm that her more-visited siblings lost long ago. Bas-Languedoc has long, sandy beaches and dynamic towns: Montpellier, Sète and Nîmes. Haut-Languedoc, split by deep gorges and topped by wild upland plateaux, is for outdoor fun.”
The plan: for world-conquering cassoulet and castellations, base yourself in Carcassonne. The Hotel Montmorency (00 33-4 68 11 96 70, http://www.lemontmorency.com/ ; doubles from £50) is a picturesque perch; and La Cotte de Mailles restaurant (04 68 72 36 24) has a mean way with a bean. For a languid Languedoc tour, a four-night, six-berth independent cruise along the Canal du Midi with Le Boat (023 9222 4252, http://www.leboat.co.uk/ ) costs from £749; Belle France (0870 405 4056, http://www.bellefrance.co.uk/ ) has a sevennight soft-pedalling cycle tour from £889pp. Or pitch up at Camping Couderc in Ste-Enimie (http://www.campingcouderc.fr/ ) and drift through the gorgeous Gorges du Tarn on its kayak trails. Fly to Carcassonne from Stansted with Ryanair (0871 246 0000, http://www.ryanair.com/ ).
The plan: the Nam Ha National Protected Area has an eco-enlightened tourism policy: organised treks in small groups only, each led by local villagers who know all about the fauna and folklore of the province. That means leopards as well as leeches, and homestays among the Akha tribespeople.
The best base is the Boat Landing Guest House (http://www.theboatlanding.com/ ; doubles from £17, B&B) in Luang Nam Tha, where Green Discovery (http://www.greendiscoverylaos.com/ ) does rafting, kayaking and mountain-biking, as well as one-day treks from £38, seven days from £215. It features in Audley’s two-week Northern Laos itinerary (01993 838125, http://www.audleytravel.com/ ; from £2,450pp); or Mountain Kingdoms (0845 330 8579, http://www.mountainkingdoms.com/ ) has a group trek: 23 days from £2,595pp.
7 THE BIG ISLAND Hawaii They say: “It may be less glam than its smaller siblings, but the Big Island has all the necessary tropical delights (plus lava-spewing volcanoes), and is less crowded and less expensive. You can stargaze from Mauna Kea, ride horses over grassy ranch land, and trip across lava wastes until you're face to face with glowing magma - oh, and bake to a crisp on white-sand (and black-sand, and greensand) beaches.”
The plan: adventure’s the key word here - and for heli-hiking, waterfall-swimming, seeing stars, you name it, Hawaii Forest & Trail (http://www.hawaii-forest.com/ ) can fix it.
Kona Village Resort (http://www.konavillage.com/ ) is the classiest hideaway on the island; seven nights there, with flights and car hire, start from £2,009pp, with United Vacations (0844 499 2229, http://www.unitedvacations.co.uk/ ).
8 SAN ANDRES & PROVIDENCIA Colombia They say: “The two main islands of Colombia’s Caribbean archipelago have a yin and yang quality. San Andres offers wetbikes, submarine rides and Segway tours; Providencia is content with dreamy seascapes and genuine island hospitality.”
The plan: San Andres is overtouristed with Colombian holidaymakers, but tiny Providencia is lovely, an untarnished corner of the Caribbean that outdazzles any paradise postcard. Satena Airways hops across daily from San Andres (£70; http://www.satena.com/ ), and Body Contact (00 57 8 514 8283, http://www.oldprovidence.com.co/ ) can sort out your scuba, sport-fishing, hiking and horseback excursions. Even so, it’s best done as a short flop at the end of a more intrepid mainland foray. Perhaps a 16-day tour of Colombia and Panama with Journey Latin America (020 8747 8315, http://www.journeylatinamerica.co.uk/ ): from £2,998pp, plus about £520 for three days on Providencia.
9 SVALBARD, Norway They say:“Craggy peaks, dark fjords, glaciers and purest white snow... the ‘Cold Coast’ is Norway enhanced: colder, purer, more sparsely populated, more expensive - and a cool 1,000km nearer to the North Pole. It’s the only place in Europe where polar bears roam.”
The plan: most sign up for a polar boat safari, circumnavigating Spitsbergen, the main island, and featuring daily dinghy excursions among the ice floes to look for whales, walruses, reindeer and (of course) polar bears. The best time is early August, and the ship of choice is the Vavilov, featured on Exodus’s 12-day voyage (0845 863 9600, http://www.exodus.co.uk/ ; from £3,353pp). Also consider Naturetrek (01962 733051, http://www.naturetrek.co.uk/ ).
The other option is to fly from Oslo to Longyearbyen, with SAS (http://www.flysas.com/ ), and take day trips - tracking bears by snowmobile, hiking on glaciers, even learning to captain your own husky team. Svalbard Tourism (http://www.svalbard.net/ ) lists lots of options. Original Travel (020 7978 7333, http://www.originaltravel.co.uk/ ) offers a thrill-packed four-day break there, from £1,375pp.
10 YUNNAN China They say:“Yunnan is China’s It destination. Look forward to spirit-recharging sunsets along the famed Tiger Leaping Gorge trek; sunrises atop the Yuanyang rice terraces; back-alley meanders in the time-warp towns of Lijiang and Dali; and an ice-cold beer in Xishuangbanna after a jungle trek.”
The plan: the classic Yunnan triangular tour is out from the capital, Kunming, to explore Dali, Lijiang and Zhongdian - cobbled market towns connected by panoramic train and bus rides, and crowded with temples, t’ai chi and (in Zhongdian) Tibetan colour. If you’re feeling flush, Banyan Tree (http://www.banyantree.com/ ) has opened hotels in both Lijiang (doubles from £264) and Zhongdian (from £242).
Several tour operators offer best-of-Yunnan itineraries: Peregrine Adventures (0844 736 0170, http://www.peregrineadventures.com/ ) has a 10-day group tour from £506pp, not including international flights. Air China (020 7744 0800, http://www.airchina.co.uk/ ) has fares from Heathrow to Kunming from £808. Transindus (020 8566 2729, http://www.transindus.com/ ) can tailor-make a two-week private trip from £2,500pp, with flights.
Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2009 is published on October 15, at £15.99 (http://www.lonelyplanet.com/ )
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