Once in a Lifetime Holidays

For parents, making sure your children have unforgettable experiences is an important part of a family holiday. To see their faces light up at the sight of a beautiful beach or glimpse of an elephant will stay with you forever. Our top pick for a once-in-a-lifetime family holiday idea would be a safari in Africa – nothing can quite replicate seeing the Big Five in their natural environment. We think you'd agree that spying a lion in the African bush for the first time is nothing you won't ever forget! For a different, but still incredible, family holiday of a lifetime, somewhere like Elephant Hills Tented Camp in Thailand will put your young ones nose-to-trunk with these incredible creatures. Aside from the wildlife, everyone loves a stunning beach, don't they? Places like Mauritius also make for a great family holiday of a lifetime, where you can build sandcastles, snorkel or embark on a dolphin-spotting cruise.

Romance, seclusion and somewhere laden with precious memories you can create for yourselves – these are all key ingredients of a once-in-a-lifetime holiday for couples. Somewhere far-flung and tropical like The Islands of Tahiti and Fiji promise breathtaking tropical scenery and plenty of tranquil time together. If you're wildlife lovers, then a safari in somewhere like Tanzania or Kenya affords wild encounters with some of the planet's most majestic creatures. Or, if you're after a raw sense of adventure, then a road trip through New Zealand or Australia really is a bucket list holiday for couples to experience.

Nowhere possesses a raw sense of adventure than New Zealand or Australia. In either country, you could hop in a car and hit the open road, discovering myriad jaw-dropping landscapes as you clock up the miles. New Zealand is smaller, so you can fit a large chunk of the country in a two-week trip, but in Australia, you can also hop on a plane to experience different parts of the country. California also offers another epic road trip experience in the making. Elsewhere, South Africa is a great country for combining several different experiences in one place, with the beautiful city of Cape Town, delightful Cape Winelands and safari game reserves all easily combined for a once-in-a-lifetime adventure. Exploring the likes of Thailand, Vietnam and Borneo are incredible adventures in their own right.

We're sure you've got your own list of bucket list holiday ideas – those places you've always dreamed of visiting but never quite got there. The Islands of Tahiti may be once such destination, where the luminescent lagoons and glorious emerald peaks of Bora Bora make you misty eyed. If you're an animal lover, a safari in somewhere like the African bush of South Africa, Tanzania and Kenya may be your idea of heaven. Or, you have always wished to splash out on a private island escape in the Caribbean, such as Petit St. Vincent or even Necker Island! There are so many bucket list places in the world and our travel specialists can help you narrow down which one might be right for you.

While you're on holiday, you want to have a few once-in-a-lifetime experience peppered throughout your relaxation time. There are so many out there: if you're in New Zealand, why not go skydiving in Queenstown? Or, if you're thinking of travelling to Western Canada, you can spot bears and whales. But once-in-a-lifetime experiences come in all shapes and sizes, whether it's swimming to a beach bar in the British Virgin Islands, getting up at sunrise to witness Angkor Wat in Cambodia at dawn or staying in an overwater bungalow in Bora Bora.

This region features a treasure trove of exciting ancient monuments. The Mayan ruins dotted across the land are a testament to Quintana Roo’s rich ancient civilisation that previously thrived in the area. Here, the most iconic archaeological site is in Tulum, peacefully perched cliffside looking out over the Caribbean Sea displaying its prime coastal and strategic location for both defence and trade. Coba is also a great archaeological site to visit – sprawling with incredible panoramic views of the surrounding jungle, the site offers a glimpse into this ancient Mayan world.

If you wish to cool off somewhere unique away from the beach, then you’ll find plenty of answers here in the shape of cenotes – natural sinkholes formed millennia ago by collapsed limestone bedrock. They can be discovered by visitors as either delightful surprises during jungle treks or on dedicated day trips. Each cenote is as Instagram-worthy as the next, dreamy spots characterised by gin-clear waters.

Underwater riches to snorkel among aren’t far away in Quintana Roo; the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System, second only in size to the Great Barrier Reef, lies just off its coast. Head to Cozumel for the huge orange corals of the Columbia Reef, while the beach town of Puerto Morelos is where the reef is closest to shore and snorkellers are only a short boat ride away from a marine kingdom filled with fire corals, stingrays, and barracudas. For a real bucket-list travel experience, though, Akumal is famed as a feeding ground for green sea turtles, who swim here to feast on the sea grass that grows in the shallows. Or head to Isla Holbox for that once in a lifetime experience of swimming with whale sharks!

No holiday to Mexico is complete without sampling its national drink. In the Riviera Maya, there’s plenty of ways to do so, with many hotels and restaurants hosting tequila tasting experiences. It’s the best way to learn more about the history of the agave-based drink, originally pioneered by the Aztecs, sampling several different varieties along the way.

The stunning UNESCO-protected tropical wilderness of Sian Ka'an Biosphere covers a third of Mexico’s Caribbean coast – it’s huge. It’s a wild mix of mangroves, forest and flooded savannahs pocked with Maya ruins that are ripe for exploring. Spy everything including pumas, ocelots, jaguars, and American crocodiles, as well as over 350 species of birds, including spoonbills and flamingos. If you’re lucky, you might even spot the handfuls of spider and howler monkeys that hide within its trees – it’s a true wildlife paradise.