Antarctica
If you crave an adventure to one of the most remote and serene places on the planet, the White Desert might just be calling your name. Picture soaring over the icebergs and deep swells of the Southern Ocean in a private Gulfstream, then landing on a blue ice runway and rumbling over the glacial landscape to reach camp. Once there, you'll be greeted by the heated pods, scattered like pebbles on a granite oasis, all with breathtaking views of freshwater lakes and ice waves... This is Whichaway, winner of multiple World Travel Awards, and a place that takes glamping to a new level - especially in a location where luxury is hard to come by. And best of all, it's completely carbon neutral, removable AND eco-friendly, so you'll be leaving paradise just as you found it.
/11.6149039,-70.7641858,6/600x400?access_token=pk.eyJ1IjoidGltYnVrdHV0cmF2ZWwiLCJhIjoiY2poMGw1eHpkMmRkbDJ6bW8xYWZ5OGpjYyJ9.PYvAO7lUJ40SOpGvwmQLqw&attribution=false&logo=false)
Whichaway has three large, interconnected domes where you'll find the lounge, library and dining room. Decorated in shades of slate-grey and indigo, the lounge is dotted with 'explorer' motifs and it's here that you'll hear about early Antarctic adventurers, tuck into a new read, or write a postcard home. Meals are shared with fellow travellers at the large dining table, and chosen from a menu filled with fresh ingredients and wines from the finest Cape vineyards. Take in the view with a cocktail on the deck, and soothe any aching muscles in the sauna or massage pod.
Like egg shells dotted along the granite plateau, the heated bedroom pods have cosy blankets, warm, earthy panels, and ports for charging your camera. Pods all have en-suite washrooms with a basin and loo, and there is a communal ablutions pod with three showers. The bedrooms are simply but elegantly decorated and provide a good night's sleep in the land of 24-hour sunlight. Waking up to a vista of rocky mountains peeking through the clouds and the morning light glistening on the snow is pretty memorable.
Apart from the stunning scenery, Whichaway has plenty of bucket list-topping activities. Each day, a field guide will present a number of options to suit the weather, ranging from abseiling and scaling blue-ice glaciers, to exploring ancient crystal caves and ice tunnels (cameras at the ready!). Take a rope walk above a 200-foot cliff, ski across swathes of snow, or summit a 'nunatak' granite mountain for a picnic at the top - the cocktails are made from 1000-year-old ice! And the piece de resistance? Seeing the incredible colony of Emperor Penguins, which you can combine with a night of camping in the Geographic South Pole.
Being in a place few have ever experienced - the world's largest desert! You don't get views like this every day...
While the activities are all suitably epic, save a little time to visit a nearby research centre too.
The camp may be uber comfortable, but while out and about, you'll still have to brave the elements. The average summer temperatures only reach a high of -5°C!
An incomparable frontier of silence, solitude and elemental forces that will challenge you to embrace life.
