When to go where

South Africa is a vast and incredibly diverse country, with far more highlights than could ever be included in a single trip. Most people start with a combination of safari in Kruger and time in Cape Town and the Winelands, but there are many other locations and over 900 good quality lodges.

Tanzania is a truly remarkable country, with far more than its fair share of Africa’s crowned jewels, including Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar, with guest accommodation in around 350 good quality lodges, offering a very wide range of safari, cultural and marine activities.

Set in East Africa, Kenya is the second most visited safari country on the continent, a place of great diversity, with some wonderful remote locations, but very busy and touristy in core areas. Guest accommodation is in a diverse range of around 120 good quality camps and lodges, offering a very wide range of safari, active, marine and cultural activities.

Namibia is a fabulously diverse and fascinating country which offers a remarkable range of desert scenery, wildlife and culture. The naturally lower wildlife densities mean that it is perhaps best suited to more experienced or less animal-focused safari travellers. The option to self-drive makes longer trips unusually cost effective.

From the Himalayas in the north, through the deserts of Rajasthan and the jungles of Madyha Pradesh, down to the tropical coastline of the Indian Ocean, India is a hugely diverse place. It is also a country overflowing with incredible historic sites, cultural experiences and wonderful wildlife. Easy to see why people rarely visit this remarkable country only once.

Botswana is widely considered to be the finest safari area in Africa, offering the purest and most pristine of wilderness experiences, with guest accommodation in a fabulous range of around 100 very high quality and famously pricey lodges, offering a very wide range of wet and dry safari activities.

Zambia is a substantial land-locked country in Southern Africa, best known for the Victoria Falls, but also with a handful of superb remote safari areas. Guest accommodation is in a range of around 100 largely authentic and earthy camps and lodges, many with a marked leaning towards walking safari.

Set in the Indian ocean just to the southeast of India, Sri Lanka is a substantial tropical island with remarkable ancient Buddhist sites, extensive colonial history, a surprising amount of good quality safari areas, excellent marine sports and a remarkable range of high quality accommodation options.

Zimbabwe is a substantial land-locked country in Southern Africa, best known for the Victoria Falls, but also offering some of the most earthy, authentic heart-pumping safari on the continent, with guest accommodation in a range of around 50 good quality camps and lodges.

The second largest country in South America, Argentina is dominated by relatively featureless flat grasslands, but fringed by an incredible array of remarkable landscapes, from bucolic winelands, to extreme high altitude deserts and the great ice-sheets and glaciers of the deep south. The country is easy to get around and offers a fabulous range of places to stay.

Set on the west coast of South America, Peru is a remarkably diverse country, dominated by the Andes Mountains and their remarkable Inca history, but also containing some of the most interesting parts of the Amazon Basin. Travel infrastructure is well established in the more popular areas, but there are also lots of fabulous lesser-known places to explore.

Set in the Himalayas to the north of India, Nepal is an extremely mountainous country, best known for its exceptional trekking routes around Everest and Annapurna, centred on the characterful capital of Kathmandu and with a string of tiger safari reserves on its southern borders.

The largest country in South America, Brazil is a vast tropical land, dominated by the Amazon Basin and a seemingly endless tropical coastline. The two most popular areas are the iconic Rio de Janeiro and the fabulous Iguacu Falls, whilst the best area for wildlife is the Pantanal.

Set on the west coast of South America, Chile is an extremely long and skinny country which contains an incredible range of climates and landscapes from searing deserts to enormous glaciers. It’s a very friendly country, with excellent travel infrastructure and some great lodges. Also the best puma viewing in the Americas.

Set in the Indian Ocean to the east of Africa, Madagascar is a huge and remarkable island with a unique flora and fauna, from the tropical rainforests of the east to the spiny forests and tsingys of the west, all encircled by fabulous coral reefs. A truly amazing place to explore.

Uganda is a land-locked country in east-central Africa, best known for its gorillas and chimpanzees, but also containing some superb Rift Valley scenery and savanna safari reserves. Guest accommodation is in a total of only around 30 decent lodges and camps, offering a really wide range of safari, active and cultural activities.

Set in the Himalayas to the northeast of India, Bhutan is a remote mountainous country, best known for its deeply-ingrained Buddhist culture, historic monasteries, colourful festivals, warm welcoming people, wonderful and diverse scenery, a wide range of outdoor activities and a surprisingly broad range of accommodation, including some really high quality lodges.