touring


adventure WEEK-LONG ADVENTURES


Above: Chernobyl, Ukraine Left: Northern lights, Norway


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ood news for your most adventurous, time-poor clients: getting off the beaten track doesn’t have to be


long-winded. They could even tour North Korea in less than a week, as long as they don’t mind taking on a fairly substantial air journey at each end. Even if they’d prefer not to deal with long-haul flights and leap-frogging time zones, leaving other tourists behind is entirely doable, with short- haul tours including Norway’s remote Vesterålen archipelago, off-grid Finland, lesser-known Morocco and a walking itinerary in the quiet mountains just a few miles from the busy Costa Blanca. And then there’s always the tactic of heading to the site of a former nuclear disaster – although with interest in Chernobyl surging, travellers who like to get in before the crowds had better book sooner rather than later.


MYSTERIOUS NORTH KOREA Those who don’t give a fig for the Foreign Office – which advises against all but essential travel to North Korea – can duck behind the kimchi curtain on Regent Holidays’ five-day Workers’ Party Short Tour. Blitzing the sights in Pyongyang and heading on


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a day trip to the Demilitarized Zone, on the border with South Korea, the trip in October also coincides with a major national holiday, the 71st anniversary of the Foundation of the Workers’ Party of Korea, and visitors may be permitted to take part in the celebrations. The tour, starting from £1,350, includes accommodation, meals, transport and sightseeing with two local guides, plus a North Korean visa and return flights from Beijing to Pyongyang. You’ll need to add on flights to Beijing and a Chinese visa, if needed. regent-holidays.co.uk


GHOSTLY CHERNOBYL HBO’s Chernobyl mini-series has seen bookings for Explore’s trips to


the site of the nuclear disaster rocket. It’s safe to visit this area of Ukraine – you’ll be exposed to around the same level of radiation as on a transatlantic flight. The five-day Discover Chernobyl trip takes clients on guided tours of the Exclusion Zone and the ghost town of Pripyat, built to house the plant’s workers. They’ll see the New Safe Confinement Structure, a giant shelter inside which robotic cranes are dismantling the radioactive core of Reactor 4, and even stay within the


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exclusion zone at a small hotel on site. There’s a chance of meeting some of the ‘self-settlers’ – those who have returned to the area to live off-grid. The tour, which starts from £730, includes flights, accommodation and additional tours of Kiev and its Chernobyl Museum. explore.co.uk


NORWAY’S ARCTIC ARCHIPELAGO Further north and less visited than


Lofoten, Vesterålen is home to islands with soaring mountains, dramatic fjords and peaceful beaches. And with the continental shelf cheek by jowl with the land, pushing nutrient-rich water to the surface, it’s whale central. In winter, when Exodus Travels’ five-day Arctic Lights & Whales trip runs, there’s a great chance of spotting humpbacks and orcas, plus sea otters, eagles and reindeer – and seeing the northern lights too. A visit to the Andoya Space Centre, from which rockets are regularly launched to study the aurora, is included. Flights, four nights in a wilderness cabin and activities including ice fishing and whale watching are included in the £2,249 price tag. exodus.co.uk


26 | Travel Weekly touring adventure | July 2019


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