Taking some time off from work isn't always easy, but the rewards can be significant. calledlong journeys"Gives you the chance to really explore a destination, slow down the pace of your adventure, and reduce your carbon footprint by skipping domestic flights. So tell your boss you're not coming in on Monday. We've rounded up our favorite 'long trips' for 2022.
Planning a month-long globetrotting trip on your own can be tricky, so we've put together a specific range of 'long trips'. These are Intrepid adventures that combine multiple short excursions into epic, winding, continental itineraries, with all the planning and logistics already taken care of. Many of them deliberately miss domestic flights as well.
Not only does this reduce your carbon footprint (very important when you're targeting multiple countries), it also benefits you to feel for the destination. Driving from place to place, crossing borders on land, sleeping in train cars and watching the scenery change on epic journeys all connect us to slower, much older adventures.
"After so long confined to our own cities, it's no wonder people want to travel again," says Erica Kritikides of Intrepid. "But there has been a fundamental change. With borders reopening and cross-border travel becoming easier, we're not taking travel for granted – it's not a given. And because of that, I think most of us are willing to consider taking a trip away from our desks and the daily grind.
Can't choose between Spain, Portugal and Morocco? You don't have to. We built a 24-day mega-trip, and it's amazing. Starting in Madrid, our itinerary winds west into Portugal, hitting Coimbra and Lisbon before heading south to the stunning beaches of the Algarve. Hopping across the Straits of Gibraltar, we're in Morocco, stopping at the blue-chip city of Chefchaouen, medieval Fes, windswept Essaouira and a remote desert camp among the Erg Chigaga hills. For lovers of Moorish history, or good food, culture and North African hospitality in general, this is the last long trip. You'll travel from contemporary art galleries in Madrid to wine bars in Lisbon and Berber homes in the High Atlas Mountains – all with a mix of public and private transport.
First-time visitors to Southeast Asia often have a hard time choosing between Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia. Each destination offers a slightly different mix of history, food and scenery, so we've put together a 30-day combo trip from Bangkok to Luang Prabang, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and finally Phnom Penh. It's actually a mix of Intrepid's best-selling and most popular tours – we've put them together time and time again. Many travelers choose to continue their travels this way, so there's a good chance your new tour buddies will follow you from country to country. You can see it all on this adventure: the jungles of Chiang Mai, the UNESCO-listed Ha Long Bay, epic overnight train journeys, the charming village of Battambang and the towering spiers of Angkor Wat.
Many travelers see obvious Scandinavian highlights like Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm, but few fail to combine them with the fairytale towers and cobbled lanes of Tallinn or the baroque style and Soviet history of Vilnius. For this long trip, we wanted to mix the best places in Scandinavia with the Baltic countries: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Traveling mostly by train and ferry, you'll hop on from Denmark through Norway to the fjords, then to Sweden's Lake District and Stockholm, then Helsinki, Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius, stopping off at a spectacular location. Auxtaitija National Park along the way. It's a 32-day cruise that covers five countries and dozens of major cities. Just remember to pack warm.
Like Europe, Africa loves long journeys: there are dozens of small countries that are relatively accessible and whose landscapes vary greatly from place to place. This unique route is an overland adventure, meaning you'll travel in a custom-built truck through South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, staying for two nights in guesthouses, lodges and even a houseboat. Okavango Delta. The best thing about this route is the change of pace: you start on the coast, in Cape Town, but soon you're surrounded by the epic sand dunes of Sossusvlei or the red rocks of Fish River Canyon. There are entertainment, canoe trips and sunset cruises along the Chobe River. It's all the highlights of southern Africa, packed into one 22-day itinerary.
One of our most popular long trips, this tour is truly unique. As well as trekking through Uganda's misty rainforests in search of mountain gorillas, there are also game drives in Lake Nakuru National Park, safaris along the Serengeti, visits to the Ngorongoro Crater and a few nights' camping in the Masai Mara. Reserve. Gorilla track permits are included and you'll travel by overland bus, 4WD safari vehicle and ferry with no domestic flights. It all ends on the white beaches of northern Zanzibar, with a few days of leisurely swimming in the archipelago (animal spotting is hard work). It would be hard to squeeze more African highlights into one itinerary, but if you're feeling really adventurous…
Do you like the idea of long trips? We have adventures for many more countries ovdr here.