ESCORTED TOURS BUCKET LIST ALTERNATIVES DESTINATIONS LEFT:
Yellowstone National Park
RIGHT:
Sichuan, China
BELOW: Kerala, India
Yellowstone National Park
receives just 3% of its visitors during winter, so it’s a great time to see the US’s oldest national park without having to jostle other tourists out of the way. It’s even got its own grand canyon, beautiful when blanketed with snow, albeit not on quite the same scale as its namesake. Much more impressive is its geothermal activity, with bubbling mud pools and steaming geysers, not forgeting the ever-reliable Old Faithful, and the park’s wild populations of wolves, bison and elk, which can be seen plodding across the snow. Book it: Tauck’s eight-day tour, Wonderland: Yellowstone in Winter, starts at £3,440, excluding flights, with departures in January and February 2019. The price covers meals, winter activities, sightseeing, airport transfers, snowcoaches and a guide.
tauck.co.uk
Winter is a great time to see Yellowstone without having to jostle other tourists out of the way
5
YUNNAN AND SICHUAN The swap? Switch the Great Wall of China for the Grand Buddha of
Leshan Where? Yunnan and Sichuan provinces in southwest China Why? There are ways to see the Great Wall of China without battling the crowds – by hiking its lesser-visited lengths, for example – but this is a vast country with plenty more assets to its name. A tour through its southwestern provinces reveals the towering
limestone pillars of the Unesco- listed Stone Forest, the vast peaks of Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, magnificent Tiger Leaping Gorge, and the Grand Buddha at Leshan, which dates from 803. Wendy Wu Tours also takes in
Nine Villages Valley on its trip, famous for its bright sapphire lakes and abundant waterfalls, but the area remains closed after an earthquake last year, replaced on the itinerary with the Three Natural Bridges National Park. Book it: Yunnan & Sichuan is a 16-day classic tour from Wendy Wu Tours, starting at £3,590 including all flights, meals, visas, accommodation, touring and domestic transport.
wendywutours.co.uk/agents
6
KERALA BACKWATERS The swap? Top the Taj Mahal with culture in Kerala
Where? Southern India
Why? The Golden Triangle is a winning itinerary, taking in Agra Fort, the Palace of the Winds in Jaipur, and that crowning glory of them all, the Taj Mahal. But even before dawn, the queue to watch sunrise over those glittering domes seems interminable, so it’s worth considering other equally fascinating regions of India. Kerala is every bit as deserving
of ‘must-see status’ as the Taj Mahal. Richard Harrington, long-haul director at Newmarket Holidays, says: “India’s south is a world in its own right, and often referred to as ‘God’s own country’. It’s a tropical land of swaying palms and sandy beaches, majestic temples, rolling tea plantations and myriad wildlife.” Newmarket’s tour includes a cruise on a traditional thatch- roofed kettuvallam houseboat, plus stops at Fort Kochi, a spice plantation in Periyar, and French- speaking Pondicherry.
1 March 2018
travelweekly.co.uk 49
PICTURE: SHUTTERSTOCK
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