Five Destinations I Would Send Any Adventurous Traveller To

Machu Picchu is an Inca citadel built in the 15th century, high in the Andes. It was abandoned after the Spanish conquest and became known to the outside world in 1911. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and it sits at 2,430 metres.

I went by train, and arriving was emotional in a way I had not expected. Even with the crowds and the tight timings, the setting and the scale are remarkable. Entry is by timed slot and by route, so the time on your ticket shapes the whole day. I wrote about the trip in my Peru article.

Cusco sits at 3,399 metres, higher than the citadel, so I add nights in the Sacred Valley first, which lets you adjust before you climb.

If you would rather arrive on foot, the Inca Trail allows 500 people a day, including guides and porters. Permits sell out months ahead, so book five to six months before you travel, especially for May to August. The trail closes every February for maintenance. My Peru trekking holidays include it.

By Pedro Szekely at www.flickr.com/photos/pedrosz/

I have been to the Serengeti myself. It is one of the largest wildlife reserves in Africa and covers about 14,763 square kilometres, with lions, elephants, zebras and giraffes living there.

The Great Migration is the reason many travellers come. Huge herds of wildebeest and zebra move in a circle across Tanzania and Kenya in search of food and water. The herds spend December to March in the southern Serengeti, where the calves are born, and cross the Mara River in the north in August and September.

The dry season from June to October is the best time for game viewing, because the grass is low and the animals gather at water. For safaris in the migration months, booking 12 months or more ahead is common. My article on the best time to visit Africa covers each month, and my safari holidays in Africa page shows where I can take you.

The Taj Mahal is a white marble tomb built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Building began in 1632 and the main structure was finished in 1648. It stands in a garden of nearly 17 hectares on the bank of the Yamuna River in Agra, and UNESCO ranks it among the universally admired masterpieces of the world’s heritage.

You can visit as a day trip from Delhi, or stay overnight in Agra and be at the gate early. The Taj Mahal is closed to general visitors on Fridays, and it opens 30 minutes before sunrise, so plan the day around both. My article on how to make the most of your time in India covers the country beyond Agra.

The Galapagos Islands are a volcanic archipelago in the Pacific, about 1,000 kilometres off the coast of Ecuador. UNESCO calls them a living museum and showcase of evolution. Giant tortoises, land and marine iguanas, sea lions, Darwin’s finches, flightless cormorants and the most northerly penguins all live there. Charles Darwin visited in 1835, and what he saw helped him develop his theory of evolution by natural selection.

The national park rules protect what you came to see. You visit protected areas with an authorised naturalist guide and an authorised operator, you stay on the marked trails, you stay at least two metres from wildlife even when it comes towards you, and you never feed it. My Latin America wildlife holidays page and my cruise and sailing adventures page show how a Galapagos trip can be arranged.