Under-the-radar vacation spots
Atypical destinations with luxurious tours to far-flung locales
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A weekend in Paris? Touring Egypt's temples and pyramids? How about two weeks in Australia? All exciting getaways, but if you're one of today's well-heeled vacationers, you've been there, done that.
Instead, “The well-to-do traveler wants to do something that the average person doesn’t do,” says Michael Tchong, founder of Ubercool, a media and entertainment firm specializing in trend watching. This means off-the-beaten path adventures for which money is not object.
But thanks to an increase in air travel, it’s getting harder and harder to find such unexplored places.
“Destinations that used to be thought of as far-flung or undiscovered like India or China," says Pamela Lassers, the director of media relations for Abercrombie and Kent, a luxury tour operator, "are now more accessible to all types of people because of affordable non-stop flights."
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To match travelers' increasing appetites for the unknown, high-end tour companies are creating trips to remote places.
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That’s on the heels of the the 14-day trip to Bhutan and Darjeeling the tour operator created last year. Guests willing to shell out $7,380 each (airfare is extra, though some meals and activities are included) will visit Bhutan's temples and monasteries and explore Darjeeling's tea estates. The trip includes a stay at the Mayfair Darjeeling, one several luxury hotels tapped to house travelers.
Sandy Spots
Even beach lovers no longer satisfied with jaunts to the Caribbean or Mexico are finding places out of reach of the average traveler.
Liz Zea, marketing manager for the Larchmont, N.Y.-based Island Destinations, a luxury tour operator that books high-end beach vacation packages, says that clients "will call and say they want to go somewhere that no has ever heard of."
Agents getting that request send their customers to the Maldives, a cluster of more than a 1,000 islands in the Indian Ocean.
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© Four Seasons Now that a major restoration of most of the city’s buildings is nearly complete, Budapest, long under the shadow of Prague, finally has the chance to shine. Book a room at the 179-room Four Seasons at Gresham Palace and you’ll enjoy stunning views of the Danube River. |
Sound tempting? Beware the price: This 10-day trip will run you between $10, 000 and $12,000. And that's without airfare.
European Vacation
If these destinations are too far-flung, Europe still has untapped retreats.
Travel experts say that certain places in England, such as Devon, Somerset and Cornwall, as well as Puglia, in Southern Italy, and Budapest, Hungary, are still relatively untouched by the masses.
Of course, the more remote, the more cash you'll have to cough up.
Still, to the traveler whose been to the ends of the earth, what's a few greenbacks for the chance to discover unchartered territory?
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