Make this your year of holiday cheer: Travelling’s been a trial, but the world is opening up with glorious destinations galore. Here’s our 2022 line-up for globetrotters of every kind
- Industry executives at Tui and Titan Travel are optimistic about the travel industry returning to normal in 2022
- For something brand-new, visit Egypt’s Grand Egyptian Museum or Canada’s extended Fundy Trail Parkway
- Take in Salt Lake City and Grand Teton National Park on America As You Like It’s Yellowstone Loop tour
Another frustrating year for travel has drawn to a close — but what lies ahead? We think there are good reasons to be optimistic about getting away in 2022. The USA is open; flights to Europe are ridiculously cheap and there are plenty of holidays on sale to exotic destinations such as Seychelles, Sri Lanka and Mexico.
Fritz Joussen, chief executive of holiday giant Tui, has predicted bookings for the summer will be ‘similar’ to the pre-pandemic levels of 2019. Andy Squirrell, managing director of Titan Travel, also reports that booking trends are ‘encouraging’. His company has recently added extra departures to meet demand with North American tours ‘leading the way’.
This year will also bring a feast of fresh adventures, new destinations and landmark anniversaries to entice us back on the road. Here’s our pick of the ten best places to go this year…
EGYPT CELEBRATES
Cultured: Camels trek in front of the Pyramids at Giza. See the Pyramids for yourself on a seven-night Splendours of Egypt package with Cox and Kings
Egypt will be on a roll in 2022, starting with the release of the movie Death On The Nile, directed by Kenneth Branagh, on February 11. This year also marks 100 years since British Egyptologist Howard Carter discovered the tomb of the boy pharaoh Tutankhamun in Luxor and the 200th anniversary of the deciphering of the Rosetta Stone, which unlocked the mystery of hieroglyphs (egypt.travel).
DON’T MISS: The Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza will showcase 100,000 artefacts from ancient Egypt, including the entire King Tut collection.
BOOK NOW: A seven-night Splendours of Egypt package taking in the Pyramids, Valley of the Kings and a four-night Nile cruise costs from £2,595pp including flights, accommodation and most meals (coxandkings.co.uk).
ROCKIES ROAD TRIP
America As You Like It runs a 14-night Yellowstone Loop tour with stops in Grand Teton National Park (pictured)
Travel along the Grand Loop Road and take in star sights such as the Morning Glory Pool, pictured
HOW TO PROTECT YOUR 2022 BREAK
- For the greatest protection book a package holiday. If problems arise you’ll have a single point of contact for sorting things out and you’ll be entitled to a replacement holiday or refund if your trip is significantly altered. Members of ABTA, the Association of British Travel Agents, are experts who follow a code of conduct and have financial protection (abta.com/packageholidaybenefits).
- Pay by credit card. Under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act your card provider shares responsibility for purchases over £100 (and under £30,000). This can be a vital avenue for claiming a refund.
- Get travel insurance with a provider that includes cover for disruption due to coronavirus, such as Direct Line and Staysure (directline.com, staysure.co.uk).
- Choose airlines with flexible booking conditions that let you change your dates and destination without an admin fee. British Airways’s generous ‘book with confidence’ policy covers trips up to August 31 (ba.com).
- For the latest Government travel advice, see gov.uk/ foreign-travel-advice.
Yellowstone, the world’s first national park, celebrates its 150th birthday in 2022.
It’s a good excuse for a road trip through the Rocky Mountains to explore this 3,500-square mile sanctuary in Wyoming with its geysers, lakes and a thriving wildlife that includes bears, bison and elk (nps.gov/yell).
DON’T MISS: The 142-mile, figure-of-eight Grand Loop Road takes in star sights such as the Old Faithful geyser, Mammoth Hot Springs and Morning Glory Pool.
BOOK NOW: A 14-night Yellowstone Loop tour starting in Salt Lake City with stops in Grand Teton National Park and Idaho Falls costs from £2,235pp including flights, hotels and car hire (americaasyoulikeit.com).
SAUDI’S MOMENT
Tour operators are now selling holidays to this vast desert nation that has six World Heritage sites including Hegra, with remarkably preserved Nabataean ruins, and the 10,000-year-old rock art at Jubbah.
Trips run November to March to avoid the summer heat (visitsaudi.com).
DON’T MISS: Maraya, the world’s largest mirrored building in AlUla and a walk on the lunar-like, 2.5-mile wide Hutaymah crater.
BOOK NOW: A ten-night group tour visiting Jeddah, AlUla and Hutaymah costs from £4,745pp including hotels, meals and guides.
Flights will cost extra (wildfrontierstravel.com).
TOKYO’S TASTES
The Japanese capital has more than 200 Michelin-starred restaurants, the most of any city in the world, according to the Michelin Guide Tokyo 2022.
Culinary experiences range from bar-hopping tours to learning how to make noodles and sushi (japan.travel/en).
The city of Osaka, pictured, features on Inside Japan Tours’ 13-night Gastronomic Adventure trip
DON’T MISS: Cocktails at the top of a skyscraper. Luxury hotels such as Andaz Tokyo and Ritz-Carlton Tokyo have the best rooftop bars.
BOOK NOW: A 13-night Gastronomic Adventure visiting Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka costs from £2,555pp including hotels, cookery lessons, some meals and transport. Flights extra (insidejapantours.com).
VALENCIA SHINES
Pictured is a colourful scene from the 2019 Las Fallas fireworks celebrations in Valencia – the 2022 event is scheduled for March 15-19
Spain’s third-largest city and the home of paella has been crowned World Design Capital 2022. A year of cultural events will feature concerts, exhibitions and a street festival in September. Las Fallas, its famous fireworks celebrations, is scheduled for March 15-19 (visitvalencia.com).
DON’T MISS: The City of Arts and Sciences, a striking architectural ensemble that includes a planetarium, science museum and the largest aquarium in Europe (cac.es).
BOOK NOW: Ryanair flies to Valencia from five UK airports, from £15 one-way (ryanair.com). Double rooms at the beachfront Balandret hotel cost from £83 B&B (balandret.com).
DISCOVER CANADA
Drive through Newfoundland on a road trip along Canada’s east coast. Pictured is a humpback whale at the Witless Bay Ecological Reserve near Newfoundland
Make sure you explore the Bay of Fundy, pictured above, on the newly extended Fundy Trail Parkway
You can fly to the east coast of Canada in under six hours to enjoy its open spaces, fish restaurants and thrilling outdoor activities. Take a drive through Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, which have strong links with the UK (atlanticcanadaholiday.co.uk).
DON’T MISS: Make sure you explore the Bay of Fundy, which has the world’s highest tides, on the newly extended Fundy Trail Parkway that hugs 800ft cliffs (fundytrailparkway.com).
BOOK NOW: A 19-night self-drive Explore Atlantic Canada tour visiting four provinces costs from £2,749pp including flights to Halifax, hotels, car hire and ferries (canadiansky.co.uk).
EXPLORE PERU
A 15-day Footsteps of the Incas group tour with Titan Travel lets you take in the sights at Colca Canyon, pictured
Peru: Get to know more about the country and its people at the ‘Peru: a Journey in Time’ exhibition at the British Museum (file photo)
There’s still time to catch Peru: a Journey in Time, a major exhibition devoted to this vibrant nation at the British Museum until February 20.
The glories of the Inca empire are just the start in a captivating country that has coastal deserts and snow-capped Andean peaks, as well as the Amazon rainforest (peru.travel).
DON’T MISS: Reached via a scenic train ride, the citadel of Machu Picchu is a marvel of Inca engineering that was only discovered in 1911.
BOOK NOW: A 15-day Footsteps of the Incas group tour, which lets you take in the sights of Machu Picchu, Lake Titicaca and Colca Canyon, costs from £3,299pp.
This includes flights, hotels and some meals, as well as plenty of thrilling excursions (titantravel.co.uk).
MONTENEGRO MAGIC
The island of Sveti Stefan in Montenegro. The country’s old towns framed in ancient walls are a Montenegrin specialty
Montenegro is smaller than Yorkshire but packs in 117 beaches, four World Heritage sites, exhilarating mountains and the deepest canyon in Europe.
Less crowded than neighbouring Croatia, it’s growing as a winter sports destination with Swissotel opening a ski resort in Kolasin at the end of the year (montenegro.travel).
DON’T MISS: Seeing the old towns framed in ancient walls, a Montenegrin specialty, with Budva and Kotor the most impressive.
BOOK NOW: EasyJet flights from Manchester to Tivat, from £35 one way (easyjet.com). Palazzo Radomiri is a four-star boutique hotel on the waterfront near Kotor, doubles from £137, B&B (i-escape.com).
AZORES HIGH
Highlights in the Azores include Caldeira das Sete Cidades (pictured), a volcanic crater with sheer, 1,000 ft walls
British Airways will launch flights from Heathrow to Sao Miguel, the largest island in this scenic Portuguese archipelago, on July 2.
Highlights include Caldeira das Sete Cidades, a volcanic crater with sheer, 1,000 ft walls, and Ponta Delgada, which was once a prosperous staging post between Europe and the New World (visitazores.com).
DON’T MISS: Parque Terra Nostra, founded in 1775, has 30 acres of mature gardens including the abundant blue hydrangeas that bloom throughout the islands every summer.
BOOK NOW: An eight-day tour combining Ponta Delgada with the geothermal village of Furnas costs from £1,395pp B&B, including flights, hotels, a four-wheel drive tour and whale-watching (regent-holidays.co.uk).
SOUTH AFRICAN SITES
Rent out electric bikes in Cape Town and take a ride above it to the top of Table Mountain, pictured in the centre background
Inspired: South African wine tasting in a vineyard in Stellenbosch
South Africa has plenty of new attractions for 2022, from Sanctuary Mandela in Johannesburg, a former home of the political leader that is now a nine-bedroom boutique hotel, to Africa’s longest zipline near Cape Town, which will stretch for almost two miles.
For something gentler, there are wine walks through the vineyards of Stellenbosch that conclude with a tasting (southafrica.net).
DON’T MISS: Electric bikes have become widely available. In Cape Town, take a ride to the top of Table Mountain and out to Cape of Good Hope (e-biking.co.za).
BOOK NOW: An eight-day, family-friendly Cape Town and Eastern Cape tour pairing time in Cape Town with a malaria-free safari costs from £2,525pp including flights, hotels, transfers and some meals (rainbowtours.co.uk).
… AND WHAT’S IN STORE ON THE HIGH SEAS?
Cruise companies are desperate to slip their collective moorings and get back on the high seas.
And there will be no shortage of options during 2022, whether it’s watching the Fifa World Cup in Qatar, kayaking among icebergs or enjoying the thrills and spills on board the latest megaships, with their roller coasters, super-slides and aquaparks.
It’s also access all areas on classic cruises with passengers ready to splash out on innovative land programmes to join safaris and visit world-class wineries. There has never been a wider choice.
HIGH ADVENTURE
IN MAGELLAN’S FOOTSTEPS
Explore Pacific Ocean idylls such as Guam on Swan Hellenic’s 15-day Japan and Micronesia Discovery tour. Pictured is Guam’s Tanguisson Beach
Sail on new ship Minerva from historic Otaru, on Hokkaido, Japan’s northern island, to the subtropical island of Chichijima before exploring Pacific Ocean idylls such as Guam, first discovered 500 years ago by Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan.
Book it: 15-day Japan and Micronesia Discovery departs on September 10, from £8,214 pp (swanhellenic.com, 020 7846 0271).
CIRCUMNAVIGATE ICELAND
Hurtigruten Expeditions’ new 15-day tour calls at the Icelandic island of Heimaey, pictured above
Hurtigruten Expeditions continue to create new itineraries such as MS Fridtjof Nansen’s circumnavigation of Iceland with calls including Heimaey, where puffins nest.
Book it: 15 days from £4,720 pp departing from Liverpool on May 10 (hurtigruten.co.uk, 0203 9933 121).
ICEBERGS IN ANTARCTICA
Kayak among icebergs on Seabourn Venture’s Antarctica cruise.
Book it: 11 nights departing from Ushuaia, Argentina, on November 24 from £9,899 pp (seabourn.com, 0344 338 8615).
GREAT LAKES EXPEDITION
Viking this year launches its first expedition ship, Viking Octantis, for island hops across North America’s Great Lakes and Canada from Milwaukee to Thunder Bay.
Book it: Eight days from £5,995 pp on May to September departures (vikingcruises.co.uk, 0800 458 6900).
ANIMAL KINGDOM
POLAR BEAR JOY
Five guests will get the chance to visit Wrangel Island, pictured, on Heritage Adventurer’s Ultimate High Arctic Expedition
Five intrepid guests, on a first come, first served basis, can spend ten nights on Wrangel Island, home to 500 polar bears. The stay during Heritage Adventurer’s Ultimate High Arctic Expedition features exploring in a six-wheel Tundra vehicle.
Book it: 28 days from £25,940 pp departing from Nome, Alaska, on July 24 (heritage-expeditions.com).
LIONS AND ELEPHANTS
Add a five-night tour of the Greater Kruger National Park Safari & Winelands from Azamara Journey’s South Africa Intensive Holiday. Spot lions, leopards, rhinos, elephants and buffaloes and visit the wine region.
Book it: 14 nights, departing from Cape Town, from £2,749 pp, land tour £4,582 pp (azamara.co.uk, 0344 493 4016).
SEA OTTERS AND BEARS
The Aleutian Islands form the Pacific Rim of Fire and new ship MV Sylvia Earle explores them to look for brown bears, caribou, sea otters and Steller sea lions.
Book it: 17-night Anchorage to Tokyo cruise via Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula departs June 22 with fares from £9,770 pp (auroraexpeditions.co.uk, 0808 189 2005).
CAMERAS READY!
Cruise Svalbard’s coast and fjords where polar bears prowl the pack ice during Ultramarine’s Spitsbergen Photography: In Search of Polar Bears fly-cruise.
Book it: 12-night cruise plus hotel stays in Oslo from £9,695 pp departing June 10 (mundyadventures.com, 020 7399 7630).
SMALL-SHIP TRIPS
FUN IN THE RED SEA
Riot of colour: A snorkeller at a coral reef in the Red Sea. The eight-day The Best of the Red Sea cruise with Emerald Waterways departs on March 11 (file photo)
Snorkel, go paddleboarding and try kayaking from superyacht Emerald Azzurra’s marina during the 100-guest ship’s inaugural sailing The Best of the Red Sea.
Book it: Eight-day cruise from Aqaba, Jordan, departs on March 11 from £4,020 pp (emeraldwaterways.co.uk, 0808 301 3352).
COCKTAILS IN CROATIA
Top-deck cocktail parties await on 40-guest Salve Di Mare Summer Sets cruise. Dive into Croatia’s crystal waters from the swimming platform and laze on the sun decks between calls to Stari Grad, Hvar, Mljet, Dubrovnik, Korcula and Makarska.
Book it: Seven nights from £1,549 pp departing from Split on July 2 (sail-croatia.com, 024 525 7534).
GALAPAGOS GETAWAY
Flamingos on the Galapagos Islands. Visit the isles on a seven-night tour with Aqua Expeditions
Superyacht Aqua Mare sets sail in the Galapagos Islands on seven and 14-night itineraries from May 6 with 16 crew attending up to 16 guests. Two rib tenders make twice-daily expeditions from the four-deck ship.
Book it: Seven nights from £6,908 pp (aquaexpeditions.com).
FAMILY TREATS
HIGH SEA THRILLS
Soar high above the sea on BOLT, an all-electric roller coaster thrill ride that loops over Mardi Gras’ top deck. More excitement comes on Carnival Cruises’ 50th birthday Sailabration cruise with calls to Mahogany Bay, Honduras, and Costa Maya, Cozumel.
Book it: Seven-night Sailabration departs from Port Canaveral, Florida, on March 5. Cruise price from £1,029 pp (carnival.com, 0808 234 0680).
MAKE A SPLASH!
Guests aboard Royal Caribbean’s 5,734-passenger Wonder of the Seas, pictured, can choose from 19 swimming pools
Choose from 19 pools and Ultimate Abyss, the tallest slide at sea, on Royal Caribbean’s 5,734-passenger Wonder Of The Seas, launching in March.
Book it: Four-night Okinawa fly-cruise from Shanghai to Japan departs on April 5 with prices from £1,219 pp (royalcaribbean.co.uk, 0344 493 4005).
CANARIES CALLING
Mission Control is P&O Cruises’ first multi-sensory escape room — an ‘underwater’ experience on fictional submarine Arvia II on new LNG-powered Arvia.
Book it: 14-night Canary Islands voyage departs on December 9 with fares from £1,449 pp (pocruises.com, 03453 555 111).
DREAMING OF DISNEY
Children can hang out with Captain Mickey and Minnie on Disney Wish but this new ship also has adults-only bars, lounges and a pool area for relaxation while children play in mini clubs.
Book it: Four-night Bahamian Cruise from Port Canaveral to Nassau, Bahamas, on July 11 calls into Disney Castaway Cay. Cruise only from £3,294 pp (disneycruise.disney.go.com, 0800 171 2317).
AMAZING SLIDE
A rendering of the Spiral, a slide that spans 11 decks of the MSC World Europa cruise liner
It’s going to be great fun sliding 11 decks from the top to the promenade on MSC World Europa’s Spiral to reach great restaurants and the Masters Of The Sea pub which brews and serves craft beer.
Book it: Seven-night cruise from Dubai departs on December 24. Fly-cruise from £1,749 pp or Christmas cruise for only £849.
FUN & GAMES
WORLD CUP CRAZY
Silver Spirit moors in Doha for three days during the Fifa Qatar World Cup 2022. Fans can head to a match and check out the futuristic 80,000-seat Lausail Stadium, designed to represent the sails of a traditional dhow boat by British architects Foster + Partners.
Book it: 12-day Dubai to Mumbai sailing on December 8 from £4,800 pp (silversea.com, 0844 251 0837).
ATLANTIC HIT
This rendering shows the smart decor of Norwegian’s 3,215-passenger cruise ship Prima, which launches this summer
Savour sea views when 3,215-passenger Norwegian Prima launches this summer with an infinity pool on each side.
Book it: 12-day Southampton to New York sailing via Reykjavik, Iceland, on September 23 from £2,824 pp (ncl.com, 0333 2412319).
LIVE MUSIC
Live jazz in the Take Five lounge awaits guests on new 3,660-guest Discovery Princess. The ship’s Sky Suites have 270-degree panoramic views from 1,000 sq ft balconies.
Book it: Seven-day Mexican Riviera maiden voyage from Los Angeles departs on March 27 with cruise fare from £699 pp (princess.com, 0344 338 8663).
GET HEALTHY
Wellness is a priority on Celebrity Beyond with experiences and products from Goop founder Gwyneth Paltrow, the brand’s well-being adviser. The ship’s 30 restaurants include Le Voyage, Michelin-starred chef Daniel Boulud’s debut restaurant at sea.
Book it: Ten-night Western European maiden voyage from Southampton on April 27 from £1,344 pp (celebritycruises.com, 0344 4932043).
By Lesley Bellew
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