With spring fully sprung and the cobwebs of a long winter being blown away it is now time to allow ourselves to start thinking seriously about how best to spend our summer holidays. We are lucky to be alive in an era when foreign travel is relatively affordable and the wealth off options to choose from make deciding the most difficult part of organising our holidays!

Let’s take a look, then, at some of the best options for holiday destinations in 2024.

Borneo

If there is one thing that David Attenborough’s tremendous popularity and burgeoning legacy tells us it’s that people in the UK love wildlife. The jungle island of Borneo has to rank as one of the most special places on this Earth for wildlife lovers. The mega-diversity of Borneo is breath-taking – I mean there are over 150 species of frogs! Perhaps best known for its population of rare Orangutans, there is also a wonderful array of underwater live to observe while diving or snorkelling. On top of all this, the local people are inviting, fascinating and have much wisdom to impart, not to mention some wonderful food to share. Borneo is a gem that should be experienced by all.

Italy and water sports!

The pizza, the pasta, the beautiful people and life-affirming espresso, Venice, Rome, Milan, the… wakeboarding! Joking aside, for water sports aficionados, Italy has much more to offer than the traditional bounties. Imagine this: you’ve rented a little place on Lake Como and after a perfect coffee and continental breakfast you fancy burning off some steam. What better to do than heading down to the lakeside and being able to wakeboard on Lake Como’s pristine waters, overlooked by the Alps no less! If you’re on the Amalfi coast instead you can get onto the water and wakeboard there. There are even locations around Rome. Add some watery spice to your Latin adventure, go on!

Cruising the Adriatic

Cruises are in. Of that there is no doubt and for seafaring adventurers old and new there can be little better than breathing in that sea air, enjoying fine hospitality and dreaming of the next magical stop on an Adriatic cruise. The Adriatic is a perfect cruise destination because of all of the wonderful ports of call that are on offer. The stellar names just roll off the tongue and conjure visions of magic and intrigue, from Corfu to Koper, Venice, Split and Dubrovnik, not to mention the immensely underrated Monastery town of Kotor in Montenegro. Along the way there is so much history to absorb and explore and an absolute bounty of delicious foods of different cultures and fine wines to savour.

Bucharest, Romania

Bucharest is a vastly underrated European city, replete with some stunning parks and botanical gardens, the stunning palace of Ceausescu and some great food. The beautiful medieval town of Brasov is a train ride away and the infamous castles including that of Vlad Dracul are also within easy reach.

 Granada, Spain

A beautiful and easy to explore gem of a Spanish city, Granada is blessed with its own airport and is home to the spectacular Alhambra palace and gardens. You can use it as a base for a trip to the mountains for a couple of days skiing and also travel down into Jaen province and pootle around visiting olive groves and the beautiful towns of Ubeda and Baeza.