When you spend 350 days of the year rushing like mad from pillar to post, the last thing you want on holiday is to do anything quickly. We checked out the Lonely Planet Bluelist for some of the best places in the world to travel slooooowly...

Campervan around Australia

One of the most leisurely yet fulfilling adventures you can have is to climb aboard a fully equipped campervan and tootle around the enormous girth of the Australian continent. If you were to hug the coastline as much as possible on your circumnavigation, you would end up tallying more than 14 000km driving beside fantastic beaches, into remote rainforests and through almost all the major cities, setting up your bed and cooking your meals wherever you park.

However, the trip simply wouldn’t be complete without also taking a few detours into Australia’s intimidating outback.

Cruise the fjords, Chile

The southern coastline of Chile is embellished with a plethora of grand fjords that swallow up travellers and time alike. These glacially eroded inlets provide a deep passage for cruise vessels skirting Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, granting the curious sightseers on board some memorable close-ups of steep-sided cliffs, encroaching glaciers and pristine channels.

Popular cruise departure points in southern Chile include Puerto Montt and Punta Arenas, while highlights include the huge fjord in Parque Nacional Laguna San Rafael and the magnificent Unesco Biosphere Reserve of Parque Nacional Torres del Paine.

Cycle around Amsterdam, Netherlands

The narrow, canal-threaded and, in some cases, vehicle-free streets of central Amsterdam are ideal for bicycles, a fact that locals cottoned on to long ago. Bike lanes shadow all the main streets and are usually brimming with Amsterdammers pedalling aimlessly around in the fresh air.

So don’t hesitate to join them by taking a relaxed cycle from Vondelpark past all of your favourite museums to your favourite brown café. Unfortunately, the immense popularity of this two-wheeled contraption in the Dutch capital also makes it an ideal place for thieves, who make off with tens of thousands of bikes each year.

Bus along the Karakoram Highway, China to Pakistan

The fabulous slow road from Kashgar in China to Rawalpindi in Pakistan is known as the Karakoram Highway, or KKH. One reason this 1300km route is slow is because it traverses some colossal mountain ranges, making it the highest sealed road in the world — local buses are often reduced to crawling up steep inclines.

Another reason is that the vehicles travelling this route are often hampered by rockslides and mechanical breakdowns. Tackling this branch of the legendary Silk Road means exposure to some incredible high-altitude scenery and a beguiling diversity of cultures.

Moped along the Riviera, France

The Riviera is a gorgeous section of the Côte d’Azur coastline stretching from the town of Toulon in the southwest of France almost all the way to the Italian border. For a luxurious taste of slow travel, jet into the principality of Monaco, hire yourself a top-of-theline moped (think scooter), rev up that powerful 50cc engine, and then meander your way along the coast through glamour-conscious places such as Cannes and Nice, noting how many beautiful people you pass along the way.

After you’ve had enough of bodies beautiful, motor west away from the Riviera towards Marseilles’ rough charm and Nîmes’ Roman amphitheatre.

Tramp the Milford Track, New Zealand

READ MORE...

Published courtesy
Lonely Planet Bluelist
The 53.5km Milford Track on New Zealand’s mountainous South Island is regarded as one of the finest walking trails in the world. It’s a four-day adventure that leads from Lake Te Anau up through rainforest to Mackinnon Pass, where you can make a side-trip to the country’s highest waterfall (Sutherland Falls), and then follows a wilderness river north to the edge of the spectacular fjord called Milford Sound.

The number of daily walkers allowed on this magnificent trail is limited from November to April, so book well ahead if you’re visiting the Land of the Rings at this time.

Wine cruise down the Canal de Bourgogne, France

The premier French wine-making region of Burgundy is bisected by the 242km Canal de Bourgogne, along with a large number of locks that raise or lower vessels as required. This attractive, slow-flowing watercourse is trafficked by numerous well-stocked barges that will let you stow away onboard and indulge in the best wines and produce the region has to offer.

Cruise options range from relatively short wine-and-cheese tastings to seven-day crewed and fully catered excursions where you get to make strategic side-trips to some of the region’s fabled wineries.

Reproduced with permission from Lonely Planet Bluelist.
© 2006 Lonely Planet Publications.


RSS
Digg
de.li.cious
facebook