❚ This page contains some affiliate links and we may receive a small commission for purchases made, but this comes at no extra cost to you and does not influence our editorial choices.
Want to discover the world's most remote holidays? These 8 luxury voyages make it easy
- James Litston
Published: September 11, 2026 at 10:47 AM
loading...
Get 5 months for £5 when you subscribe today
From a luxury cruise in Antarctica to an exclusive tour of the Himalayas, even the world’s most remote places can be enjoyed in blissful comfort.
You’ve seen the Pyramids, Taj Mahal, Sagrada Familia and Rome’s Colosseum. You might even have been to the Amazon or snorkelled with sea lions in the Galapagos. So, if you feel like the only discoveries left to make lie at the ends of the Earth, these journeys by land or sea will inspire you to get away from it all.
Ad
For more like this, check out 8 incredible luxury travel adventures for travellers who don't want to rough it.
8 luxury voyages to the world's most remote destinations
A luxurious Antarctica cruise
For polar plungers
The problem with very remote places is that comfort and good food can be rare commodities. Nowhere is that truer than on the frozen, barren White Continent. Nothing edible grows here and there’s no local culture or food scene – so if your dream trip requires high thread-count linens and quality wines, you'll need to bring it with you. This makes cruising the optimal way to visit Antarctica.
The higher the calibre of ship, the greater its onboard comforts will be. A diversity of luxury cruise lines serve Antarctica, so let a specialist agent pair you up with a brand and experience to suit. For sheer thrills, Mundy Adventures recommends Ponant’s 12-night 'Setting Sail for the Ice of the Mythical Weddell Sea' cruise aboard 245-passenger Le Commandant Charcot. As arguably the world's most luxurious icebreaker, it can venture beyond the reach of most ships and has laudable green credentials, designer furnishings and a gourmet restaurant with signature dishes from Michelin-starred French chef Alain Ducasse. Cold comforts, indeed.
A 16-night package departing 14 December 2027 costs from £23,340pp, including flights, transfers, full-board cruising and pre- and post-cruise hotel stays. mundyadventures.co.uk
A self-drive Namibia safari
For stargazers
For somewhere so vast and sparsely populated, Namibia punches above its weight in terms of sheer luxury. Indeed, this adventure-packed nation is home to some of Africa's fanciest lodges, including &Beyond Sossusvlei Desert Lodge and Encounter by Ongava, an outstanding tented camp. But beyond brilliant places to stay, Namibia’s real wealth is all natural: incredible scenery, abundant wildlife and star-filled desert skies.
Safe and with well-maintained infrastructure, it also suits self-drive discoveries. Specialist tour operators can tailor-make trips to meet any traveller’s budget and dreams. True Travel’s suggested two-week fly-drive option takes in all the major highlights – the Skeleton Coast, Damaraland, the towering dunes of Sossusvlei – and ties them together with memorable places to stay. The route combines the empty interior and wild Atlantic coast, connecting with desert-adapted wildlife along the way. A particular thrill is Etosha, where huge numbers of animals gather to drink at the dry-season salt pans. Expect to see rhinos, zebras, elephants and all manner of antelope.
A 14-night 'Highlights of Namibia: The Self-Drive itinerary' costs from £7,600pp, including accommodation, most meals, activities and car rental. Flights extra. true.travel
Credit: Kwessi Dunes lodge (Natural Selection)
Touring the kingdom in the clouds
For top-of-the-world adventurers
When it comes to the Himalayas, remoteness is a vertical notion. The mountain range is home to some of Earth’s highest peaks, with the Buddhist kingdom of Bhutan hidden among them. Beyond touching the heavens, this lofty, landlocked nation feels even more remote thanks to its policy of limiting access to outsiders. Independent travel isn’t possible here – indeed, visas are only granted to those who visit on group tours – which makes visiting Bhutan feel incredibly special.
One such tour is Intrepid Travel’s 'Premium Bhutan' itinerary, which includes quality accommodations such as a luxury tented resort. Equally elevated are activities such as a prayer flag blessing ceremony and a visit to the spectacular, cliff-hugging Tiger’s Nest monastery. You’ll also get to try local dishes, like ema datshi (chilli and cheese), ara (the national spirit, served neat and hot) or Bhutanese peach wine. Plus, you’ll gain insight into Bhutan being a highly spiritual nation, where happiness is valued above material prosperity. Bringing some of that mindset home is the best souvenir you could wish for.
Eight nights from £3,765pp, including accommodation, transfers, guiding, activities and meals. Flights extra. intrepidtravel.com
Tiger's Nest Monastery
A faraway island escape in the Falklands
For anglophiles
The Falkland Islands – a British Overseas Territory – are finding themselves in the spotlight. As well as marking the 45th anniversary of the Falklands War, 2027 will welcome better air connectivity, making this far-flung outpost that little bit easier to reach. That said, getting here still requires a mammoth undertaking of over 7,000 miles – but visitors will find the Falklands welcoming, with fresh attractions and characterful lodgings.
Any trip to this windswept, little-visited archipelago is an immersion in pure, raw nature. Kayaking, biking and hiking (steered by an all-new hiking app) are big draws, as are the elephant seals, orcas, five kinds of penguin and other South Atlantic wildlife. Also of quirky appeal is the contrast between old-school Britannia (think red telephone boxes and homemade scones served with diddle-dee berry jam) and the new wave of more contemporary accommodation. Boxwood and Fachine Pods are good examples of off-grid glamping in style, or try The Waterfront Boutique Hotel in the capital, Stanley, which has six chic guest rooms with outrageously comfortable beds.
Doubles at The Waterfront from £240 per night, including breakfast. waterfronthotel.co.fk
A cruise down Australia’s Kimberley Coast
For luxury lovers
Huge swathes of the Aussie Outback are essentially empty and featureless, but the interest ramps up considerably at the coast. This is particularly true in the Kimberley, a vast western Australia wilderness with one of the world’s greatest tidal ranges (up to 11m in places). This daily rhythm scours the coast, giving rise to unusually milky waters and natural marvels like Montgomery Reef, which appears almost magically from the sea on a fast-ebbing tide.
With scant infrastructure on land, the Kimberley’s treasures would be difficult to access without expedition cruises. Numerous small-ship lines operate here, but the pick of the bunch is True North for its mix of genuine adventure and personalised luxury. Its two vessels are purpose-built to penetrate deep into canyons and reef environments, with each carrying a helicopter among its array of amenities.
Both ships are sufficiently small to supply their galleys with self-caught seafood, such as barramundi and Kimberley mud crab, served as sashimi or in fine-dining dishes. The 'Coast and Coral' cruise (round-trip from Broome) combines the Kimberley’s highlights with snorkelling on Rowley Shoals’ atolls.
A 10-night cruise departing 22 September 2027 costs from £10,612pp. truenorth.com.au
Exploring mainland Britain’s most remote region
For flight-free fun
Knoydart – a rugged peninsula on Scotland’s west coast – is hailed as the UK’s last wilderness. With no road access and just one village, Inverie, there’s nowhere more castaway until you reach the Outer Hebrides. Its landscape is a mountainous one dotted with patches of Atlantic rainforest. For the adventurous, getting here requires a 15-mile wilderness hike (tackled over two days with overnight camping or a bothy stay), but it’s less strenuous to arrive by ferry to Inverie from Mallaig.
The travel company Adventure Tours UK recommends getting to Mallaig via Fort William (itself reached by the Caledonian Sleeper train). Add some romance by starting with a stay at Fort William’s Inverlochy Castle before continuing on the Jacobite steam train across the Glenfinnan Viaduct (of Harry Potter fame). From there, it’s a hop across Loch Nevis to spend a few days at The Gathering, a comfortable B&B on the edge of Inverie. Hike, kayak, bike or look for red deer, pine martens and two kinds of eagle, plus otters and seals loafing on Knoydart’s shores.
Five nights from £2,195pp, including accommodation, sleeper and steam train transfers, ferry crossings and 24-hour support. adventuretoursuk.com
Credit: Dave Collier
Sailing the scattered Seychelles
For island-hoppers
Mahé, Praslin and La Digue are the three main Seychelles islands. Most visitors never venture beyond, but there are more than 100 isles in total, many barely more than coral specks in the Indian Ocean’s vastness. Almost entirely uninhabited, these outer isles can only viably be visited on a small-ship expedition cruise. German brand Hapag-Lloyd Cruises operates three nearly identical, 230-passenger ships, with HANSEATIC Nature being the state-of-the-art vessel undertaking this Seychelles voyage.
As well as more populous Mahé and La Digue, this trip takes in unfamiliar atolls that you’d struggle to find on a map. Some of these have strict visitor limits, adding an air of exclusivity. Touch down in spots such as St Francois Atoll, Cosmoledo and Astove, where you’ll be blown away by the spectacle of seabird colonies. Equally memorable are the snorkelling stops and beach breaks on wild shores that, in Aldabra, are trodden only by herds of giant tortoise. For more beachy vibes, extend your stay after disembarking in Mauritius.
A 12-night Expedition Seychelles cruise departing 8 December 2027 costs from £6,436pp, excluding flights. hl-cruises.com
Cruising the Northwest Passage
For pioneers
Expedition ships have fewer luxuries than you’ll find on larger vessels, but the compromise is a heightened sense of adventure. That sense gets stronger still on a voyage to truly out-of-the-way places, such as the Northwest Passage, with its network of waterways connecting the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans via Arctic Canada. The exact route varies each season, depending on sea ice conditions – but even for expedition aficionados, this is a genuinely rare experience.
As of the end of 2024 (the most recently published figures), only 430 vessels have ever transited this seasonal seaway. The first man to navigate it was Roald Amundsen, the Norwegian polar explorer, so on this journey from Seattle to Reykjavik, it’s fitting that your ship bears his name. HX Expeditions’ MS Roald Amundsen features three restaurants, a sauna and science centre, making it a comfortable and well-equipped base camp from which to engage in hiking, fishing, storytelling and other excursions that directly benefit Inuit communities.
A 24-night Northwest Passage 'Top of the World' cruise departing 8 August 2027 costs from £18,509pp, including a pre-cruise Seattle hotel stay and flight to the embarkation point in Alaska. travelhx.com
Prices are per person and based on two sharing, unless otherwise stated.
Ad
More travel inspiration
8 gourmet cruise itineraries to tempt any food lover
Best European foodie city breaks by train
11 must-visit global destinations for incredible street food
10 bucket list American dishes worth travelling for – and where to find them
8 secret Mediterranean coastal escapes to visit
10 of the best Mediterranean islands for foodies
5 Greek island getaways for food lovers
Authors
James Litston
Comments, questions and tips
Choose the type of message you'd like to post
Choose the type of message you'd like to post
CommentQuestionTip
Ad
Ad
Loading...
Ad
Loading...
Want to see this content?
This page contains olivemagazine content provided by Google reCAPTCHA. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as Google reCAPTCHA may use cookies and other technologies. To view this content, choose 'Accept and continue' to allow Google reCAPTCHA and its required purposes.
Accept and continue