Tired of weekends away? Need a break from the beach? No worries: we’ve got a selection of interesting, alternative takes on trips in 2025!
Walking routes in Western Europe
To see places that may seem familiar in a much slower, more up-close way, consider picking one of Europe’s long-distance walking trails. You could spend months doing the whole thing, or just pick a long weekend, take a tent and spend a couple of days getting a taste for it.
You could explore the beautiful but wind-whipped Baltic coast by walking along it through the northern part of the Netherlands, Germany, the Danish coast and Poland, or see more of those countries by taking the inland route via Deventer, Potsdam, Toruń and onwards to Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.
There are legs of the ancient pilgrim trails to tackle, such as the Camino de Santiago in Spain or Portugal, exploring the cathedral cities of central France, or giving yourself the challenge of heading south through the Benelux countries, along France’s eastern border and across the Alps, before finishing, exhausted, in Nice. Whether it’s an exploratory trip or a grand adventure, you can explore different routes before setting off.
Georgia: wine and wilderness
Georgia is one of the oldest wine-producing regions in the world, with a tradition dating back over 8,000 years, yet it’s still not really thought of as a destination for oenophiles. The most important red grape is the Saperavi, producing wines suitable for aging for up to 50 years, as well as for blending with other varieties, while the white Rkatsiteli and Mstvane are often combined to make a fruity, flavorsome blend.
When you’re not enjoying the wine, you’ll be able to explore one of the Caucasus region’s finest cities in Tbilisi, with its cobblestones, castles and cosmopolitan air. Head to the Black Sea coast and the city of Batumi, or explore the stunning mountain scenery, one of the things that speaks most to the soul of the Georgian people.
The United Kingdom: taking it slow
For a British holiday with a difference on a boat, how about exploring the country in the most relaxing way possible: touring the canals and waterways at a leisurely four miles per hour.
There are traditional narrowboating areas of the country such as the flatlands of Norfolk — big skies, windmills, very few locks and Constable-esque landscapes — and the former industrial waterways of the north-west, such as the Leeds — Liverpool canal. Many of these routes also offer both point-to-point trips or circles, so you can start and end in the same place.
If you’re looking for something family-friendly, consider the Kennet and Avon canal, particularly the stretch between Bristol and Reading. Starting and ending in big cities (or towns, in Reading’s case) means easy access at both ends, while in between it’s nature, lunchtime stops at pubs, pretty villages and lots to see and do. On the flip side, you could consider the Trent and Mersey canal across Cheshire and Derbyshire, giving you a real sense of industry and hard work (including working every one of the 21 locks climbing the two miles of Heartbreak Hill or sliding through the mile-and-a-half of tunnel at Harecastle), really earning that pint.
Uzbekistan: in the shadow of the Silk Road
Uzbekistan currently offers 30 days of visa-free visiting — and in some cases up to 90 days — to citizens of over 90 countries, including most EU member states, the UK, Japan and South Korea.
It’s still almost as ‘undiscovered’ as that word can mean in 2025, in that the region is still (relatively) untouristed, but they’re missing out on places like the capital, Tashkent is bursting with historical and religious sites, echoes of its Soviet past like the ornate Metro, some wonderful museums and the bustling Chorsu Bazaar in the Old Town. There’s Samarkand, Asia’s ‘Crossroad of Cultures’ according to UNESCO, one of the world’s oldest continually-inhabited cities and featuring the stunning Gur-i Amir Mausoleum. Khiva is a huge, ancient fortress of a town that, in the days of the Silk Road, had a ruthless and fearsome reputation as a center for slave trading, but is now simply a maze of alleyways, shops and beautiful art. Take time to travel in the footsteps of millennia and discover this wonderful country for yourself.
Brazil: the ultimate alternative beach holiday
Brazil is, rightly, a beach lover’s paradise, but we’re not here to talk about the typical image of Brazilian beach life; no, we’re going to have a quick look at a trip so relaxing you’ll never want to do anything else ever again.
Salvador is where we’re heading, capital of the state of Bahia, known throughout the country for its Afro-Brazilian culture, music, dance, art, its Portuguese colonial architecture and its wonderful tropical coast. The central Pelourinho neighborhood is colorful and characterful with, unusually, an Art Deco elevator that takes you down to the marina, and it’s here that you can climb aboard a boat to take you on a laid-back trip to one of the nearby tropical islands.
Other day trips include heading up the Paraguaçu river, past the sugar cane plantations and on to the pretty town of Cachoeira, while back on the coast, the fishing village of Morro de São Paulo is almost too cliched to be true: miles of sandy beaches, coconut groves, perfect, clear water and clifftop lookouts. It’s the best of Brazil in a (coco)nutshell.
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