Unusual holiday travel tips

This q (uirky) tips section is very useful, with lots of unusual holiday travel tips from expert suppliers who know that what they do is a bit different, but are doing it anyway because eventually people try them out, and that’s it - they are hooked. No more boring self-catering apartments for them anymore. Advice on how to look beyond the resorts to remote beauty spots, how to step outside your comfort zone, and how to find holidays in places you can’t even place on a map. How to find your unusual.

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Unusual holidays travel tips

Mongolia tips

John Williamson from our supplier, Zavkhan shares his unusual holiday travel tips for Mongolia: “To visit a genuine, nomadic family and experience their incredible traditional hospitality will be the pinnacle of your trip to Mongolia. They will offer you salty, milky tea, which doesn’t sound too appetising, but is actually quite pleasant, and they’ll offer you preserved milk products like yoghurt and dried cheeses. There’s a whole myriad of cultural dos and don’ts, but a few to get you started are: you don’t hesitate on the threshold of a ger because that questions their hospitality, instead you walk straight in; men walk round to the left and women to the right; the most respected members of the party sit at the head of the ger – having a local guide and translator with you is invaluable because it’ll save you doing anything wrong and accidentally causing offence and it will help you understand the intricacies of their fascinating way of life.”

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Tips on getting up close to wildlife

Mark Huggins, from our supplier Undiscovered Destinations, shares his advice about their Burma cultural holiday: “Near Kalaw there is a locally-run project which looks after former working elephants. It was one of the best things I did – you learn about the elephants and help wash them in the river which is amazing – and in a really beautiful setting. It also supports local community projects and microfinance initiatives. The elephants are very well looked after, a vet comes to see them every week, and only a certain number of tourists are allowed to see them every day. It’s not well promoted; the local people are just trying to use the project to protect the forest. After visiting hours, the elephants wander back into the forest, and the mahouts fetch them the next morning. It looked very well done; you can see the medical books for all the elephants with the vets' notes about their conditions.”

Northern lights tips

Laura Greenman, founder of Magnetic North Travel, which leads unusual Northern Lights holidays: “Our Northern Lights guides in Norway have started to favour places a little further afield from Tromso now as the roads near to this small city have become quite congested at times. Although harder to get to, Alta can be a superb spot to see the Lights. Also, we are seeing a change in Northern Lights visitors – they want to stay longer now and discover more of the country, get involved in other adventures such as dog sledding and horse riding. More people are seeking an autumnal aurora experience too, which is great for the local economy as the tourism season is stretching. Travelling at this time gives you a wonderful chance to enjoy the changing Arctic scenery in transition too as the ice freezes, the first snows arrive and the wildlife slowly hunkers down for winter”.

Vietnam tips

Khanh Dinh, group leader with our supplier Intrepid, shares his unusual holiday travel tips for his home country – Vietnam: “We take overnight trains three times on this trip. So if you don't like that, this is not the trip for you. They give you clean bed sheets, pillows, blankets, and it's air conditioned as well. But it doesn't mean it's always clean, the toilets may be dirty – in Vietnam, the train is not the highlight of the trip, but it's something you should try when you're here… I also remind my group that they can buy sleeping sheets at the local market, it's easy to find. They can also bring their own big bottles of water so they can brush their teeth and use it during the night. I also remind them to bring toilet paper as well. And the train is quite noisy, so bring earplugs with you.”

Lanzarote tips

Catherine Mack, guide author at Responsible Travel and big fan of not so grotty Lanzarote:
“Staying at the eco yurt resort in Lanzarote opened up a whole new world to me, one that was green and so not grotty. Inspired by the work of sustainability pioneer Cesar Manrique, who sought to keep this volcanic island free from overdevelopment and pollution, the owners of this finca are not only fun, family orientated and funky, but also feisty in their mission to keep this beautiful island as responsible as possible.”

Travel Team

If you'd like to chat about Unusual or need help finding a holiday to suit you we're very happy to help.

01273 823 700

Calling us from outside the UK?

rosy@responsibletravel.com

01273 823 700

Calling us from outside the UK?

rosy@responsibletravel.com

Holiday reviews from our travellers

At Responsible Travel, we think the best people to advise our travellers are often... other travellers. They always return from our tours with packing tips, weather reports, ideas about what to do - and opinions about what not to.

We have selected some of the unusual holiday travel tips that our guests have provided over the years to help you make the very most of your trip.

Think CAPSULE wardrobe! Cabins are bijou on board and storage is at a premium. So minimal is good!

– Deborah Hancock on our Yogo Gulet Cruise in Turkey

“It was good, for a week we lived like Hobbits in our home under the hill. For fans of Bilbo Baggins this is the place to be. It's also a very good centre for walking and discovering the area, Huescar for its market, Castril is an area for long walks in wonderful scenery. A great place to go and stay” - Susan Clack on our Cave accommodation in Andalucia, Spain

“This was a tour of great variety. The agent handpicked for us 'off the beaten track', quirky homestays which fulfilled my brief perfectly. Being an outdoors, country lover type my favourite homestay was the Dewalokam Resort which offered the opportunity to try numerous activities ...yoga, swimming, trekking, massage, cooking. And more! But my husband enjoyed the two nights drifting peacefully through the backwaters on our own private rice barge. Had I been a town lover I would have said The Bungalow on Vypeen Island which was the total home experience and near to the hustle and bustle of Cochin” - Daphne Donkin on our Kerala Homestay Tour.

“The stay at the Tree Hotel was brilliant. The accommodation is great, the food delicious and the people wonderful. The whole experience was great, but probably the dog sledding outing was the stand-out element. Make sure you have a turn at driving the dog sled. If you're thinking of a visit to the Ice Hotel, go for a day trip, or stay in the warm accommodation. You can see all of the rooms in the actual Ice Hotel, but staying in one of the cold rooms involves a lot of hanging around as you only use your room to sleep in - you can't really relax at -5 degrees!” - Carole Thomas on our Treehotel and Northern Lights holiday, Sweden

Just be ready to let yourself go and enjoy being in a very different authentic existence for a while. The locals were key to the whole trip and were very happy to be sharing their culture

– Dave Redfern on our Genghis Khan warrior training in Mongolia

More about Unusual

Unusual holidays guide

This unusual holidays guide steers clear of trends for ‘what’s cool and different right now’ but takes you on a journey of eclectic adventures , one of which is guaranteed to wow you into that ‘let’s do something different this year’ mode.

How to choose an unusual holiday

Unusual holidays usually tap into dreams that we have had for years, sometimes since childhood.

Unusual accommodation

We love this section of the guide. Not just because they are unusual and fun places to stay, but also because accommodation like these are created by people who really want to blend with their environment, tie in with traditional culture and also offer a memorable holiday for people.

Unusual family holidays

From kayaking in Montenegro to monkeying around, literally, in South Africa. Sleeping in the Sahara to trekking with a donkey in Alps. Keep scrolling until you see those grins get bigger and bigger.

Top 10 unusual holidays

Choosing a top ten unusual holidays list is nigh on impossible, but not when you ask all of our responsible travel experts to pick their quirky leaders in the field.

Unusual holiday destinations

Unusual holiday destinations are not all about where’s cool to go this year. They are about people who are providing out of the ordinary experiences in places that you might not usually think about visiting.

More relevant guides

Written by Catherine Mack

ABTA member P7085 so you are fully protected

Photo credits: [Page banner: Paul Vinten] [Mongolia tips: Jeanne Menjoulet] [Tips on getting up close to wildlife: V. Belov] [Lanzarote tips: catherine mack] [Deborah Hancock quote: Joselu Blanco] [Dave Redfern quote: Pioneer Expeditions]

Unusual holiday travel tips