The heritage-protected rice paddies of Jatiluwih are virtually as far removed from Kuta and its bogans as is possible on one small island. Pitching its eight luxury tents with these fields and lush rainforest as a backdrop, Sang Giri Resort takes full advantage of the mountain air and panoramic views from the hills.
The shelters boast queen-size beds and a couple of torches, but don’t be concerned – they are for evening exploring. Your tent has all the mod cons you could possibly wish for, including electricity, bathrooms with rain showers and eco-friendly products.
Welcome the day with a few sun salutations on the yoga platform and thank Mother Earth for her work… and the camp’s access to wi-fi. During the day, grab a bike and cycle to villages, hike through rainforest and rice fields, visit nearby waterfalls or soak in natural hot springs.
If fantasies of being shipwrecked on a faraway isle fill your thoughts, check in at Jeeva Beloam. On a secluded beach surrounded by a nature reserve, you’ll find a string of recycled timber and alang-alang beach huts, all facing the ocean.
The huts have a rustic charm – complete with huge, netted beds – and guests spend their days basking on the beach, lazing on their terrace (Jeeva has a library should you finish the books you brought with you) and plunging into the ocean.
There’s snorkelling off the beach and sea kayaks for exploring the coast. Better still there’s no TV or wi-fi, so you can completely retreat and revive your addled mind.
Sleep amid prowling wildlife in rural India at Jamatra Wilderness Camp. Pitched right by a forest, this luxury glamping lodge gives guests the chance to get up close to nature with its array of shut-eye options.
Sink into bed in one of 10 luxury tents, snuggle up on your private patio with a hot water bottle to keep you cosy or, best of all, snooze in an alfresco suite. Set on a platform high on stilts, these four-poster beds, known as machaan, offer guests unbeatable star-gazing opportunities under a clear night sky and prime animal viewing come the crack of dawn. Spot deer, leopards and, if you’re lucky, tigers roaming from nearby Pench National Park. After a night out in nature enjoy breakfast back at camp, a daytime safari and afternoon cocktails in the shade of a huge banyan tree.
Far from the maddening crowds of Delhi and Jaipur is this exotic getaway in Marwar, a south-western region of rural Rajasthan, and the perfect mid-trip stopover for anyone suffering fort fatigue. This is desert country, but at the end of the 19th century a local noble, Thakur Chhatra Singh of Nimaj, created a dam on a seasonal stream so that farmers would have water all year round. On his new oasis, he built a hunting camp where dignitaries would come for sport and socialisation. Now his great-grandchildren have recreated the estate, with 11 luxurious hand-stitched and hand-painted traditional tents overlooking the dam, and two more private pavilions high on the hill.
Each has locally crafted furnishings, a private bathroom and its own peaceful sitting area overlooking the landscape. During the day you can explore the area with a jeep safari to rural Bishnoi villages. The Bishnoi people are nature-lovers who enjoy a rich cultural life, with their villages often home to potters, weavers, farmers and shepherds. There’s also the option of doing a wildlife safari.
Iceland braved a beer ban until 1989, but boy oh boy, have they made up for it in the years since. The cool, vintage-styled Kex Drinx, tucked away in a former biscuit factory in downtown Reykjavik, is the place to go for frosty pints of local beer. Find your inner Rocky and get a good ol’ workout with the boxing bag, browse a wine crate stacked with well-loved books, or go for some Jack Daniel’s in a serving of chocolate mousse.
The bar is part of a hostel right by the sea, so you won’t have far to travel if you down a few too many brews to brave the outside chill. And don’t let the hostel part put you off – locals drink here too. Besides, any backpacker who has travelled this far is sure to have a bevy of tales to tell.
Serving drinks from the bow of an abandoned fishing boat, this bar blends traditional with sustainable, shabby with chic, and seaside with signature cocktails. UXUA is sprawled across spotless sand and nestled between the ocean and heritage-protected mangroves.
Lounge on a day bed with an ocean view or beneath a flat-roofed pergola. The open bar is far from crowded, and it’s relaxed enough for locals to drop by for a cold beer. There’s beach volleyball and the sandy banks are used for training in capoeira – a Brazilian martial art.
Free falling with cables and parachutes is for wimps. Take the 24-metre plunge into the icy Neretva River with nothing but your Speedos for comfort. Leaping off Stari Most (it translates to Old Bridge) in the city of Mostar gives thrill-seekers the ultimate chance to prove what they’re really made of.
And there’s a lot more at stake than your average adrenaline rush. Your life – not to mention your ego – is on the line as you plummet head or feet first into the teal-blue water with bone-shattering force. The dive has been a rite of passage for young local boys seeking to impress the ladies for generations, and every July the bravest – or stupidest – face off in the Ikari bridge-jumping competition. Tourists can take part, but be warned, deaths do happen.
Kayak through villages and navigate caverns lit only by your headlamp, then explore ancient Mayan ruins and clamber through tropical jungle to the song of howler monkeys and squawking macaws. On your Belize Adventure Week, you’ll do all this and more, like examining shaman offerings in the Che Chem Ha Mayan cave – a ceremonial centre used for blood-letting rituals – then taking a boat to Long Caye, a private Caribbean island.
Continuing with the aquatic them, you’ll snorkel and dive through reefs before testing your windsurfing skills. Finish off they day by fishing for your dinner and retiring to your beachside cabana, where the sounds of the sea will lull you to sleep.
Saved from abandonment on Antwerp’s docks, this collection of shipping containers has been revamped and artfully furnished for a new life as a roaming hotel. The four-room pop-up container village boasts everything you’d find in a traditional guesthouse – a comfy bed with luxury linen, air-conditioning, iPod docking station and a bathroom complete with a rain shower – all squeezed into a 20-metre box.
There’s a separate lounge container for breakfast in the morning and a glass of red before you slip off to bed, and plans for a sauna are hot in the works. So far the hotel has graced the city’s riverfront and partnered with a pop-up restaurant called Glow, but its future destinations are at the behest of public votes.
Be swept up in your own magical fairytale at this Hobbit-meets-Game of Thrones-meets-Star Trek oddball. At La Balade Des Gnomes (the Walk of Gnomes) you can throw yourself into the narrative of your choice in one of 10 peculiar handcrafted rooms. Each is made from natural materials – think mud, lime and straw – and sculpted into an otherworldly masterpiece.
Nab the Trojan Horse suite, complete with a drawbridge entrance and built within (you guessed it) a giant wooden horse, bunk down in the troll’s lair – with running stream and goldfish – or beam yourself up into a spaceship odyssey. One of the rooms even has a mermaid to keep you company.
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