If you plan to stay at home all summer, you don’t need to read this. But if you think some sort of holiday might be an idea, you do.

Because laid out below are 100 of the best trips that 2008 has to offer: chateaux in the Lubéron, treehouses in Brittany, adventures in Kyrgyzstan, anacondas in Brazil, kids’ clubs in Turkey, farmhouses in Tuscany, opera in Verona, 4WD in the Yukon, style in Thailand, salsa in Barcelona, spas in the Caribbean and the coolest cottages right here in Britain.

And 88 more on top of that. So throw away the brochures, log off the web: whatever your tastes, your holiday’s right here.

Unless stated, prices are per person for a week, based on two sharing. Where two prices are given, the first is for May, the second for August. Holidays abroad include flights from a London airport, unless indicated: ask the operator for regional departure options

Family

1 What kid wouldn’t want to live in a treehouse? Not Bart Simpson’s bashed-together jumble of boards, but a proper cabin, with a thatched roof, one double and four single beds, and a large terrace, all 16ft up in the forest canopy, reached by a spiral staircase. Keycamp (0844 406 0319, www.keycamp.co.uk) has introduced them at three sites, including La Grande Metairie, near Carnac, in southern Brittany, two miles from the sea, with pools, water chutes, zip wires and plenty more child-pleasing paraphernalia. For the four of you, it’s £558/£785, including a midweek Dover-Calais ferry crossing with a car.

2 You don’t expect posh from Thomson (0870 550 2555, www.thomson.co.uk), but the company is reinventing itself, and its new Sensatori resort has middle-class mums and dads firmly in its sights. Opening on Crete in May, it is built around a series of lagoon pools, with swim-up rooms (there are steps onto your private terrace). The children get an FA-approved football school, kids’ clubs, a “silly science” lab and a multisensory crèche; for grown-ups, there’s diving, mountain-biking, kayaking and a serious spa. Sounds like a steal from £505/£705, full-board (children from £179/£269).

3 Kids want a pool and playmates, and wouldn’t care if they were sandwiched between an airport and a tower block. But what about you? Wouldn’t you like a little Tuscan loveliness to soothe your soul? Montestigliano, an 18th-century villa and outbuildings on a working farm estate, houses 10 gorgeous apartments. It has a shared kids’ pool for making pals, a quiet one for adults, a games room, bikes for hire and children’s cookery courses – all in 3,000 acres of vineyards, olive groves and woods. An old stone house for a family of four costs £922/£1,284 for a week with Invitation to Tuscany (0845 838 7421, www.invitationtotuscany.com). Fly to Pisa with Jet2 (0871 226 1737, www.jet2.com) or Ryanair (0871 246 0000, www.ryanair.com).

4 Center Parcs are like Marmite: you either can’t get enough of ’em or they make you sick. We’re fans, but we’re not trying to convert anyone – save to say that the one at Sherwood Forest has new woodland cottages designed by Tara Bernerd, and that, from February, there will be a new outdoor activity centre, with laser combat. A cottage sleeping four costs £901/£1,482; call 0844 826 7723 or visit www.centerparcs.co.uk.

5 Sunsail’s family formula works well – sailing for you, watersports for them in the excellent kids’ clubs – but the accommodation can be a bit ropey. That should be put right at the completely rebuilt Club Javelin, which opens in Turkey this May. As well as the best boats, boards and tuition, we’re promised stylish rooms, plasma screens, WiFi and a spa (natch). Much better. A week costs £809/£1,279, half-board (children £689/£1,029); call 0844 463 6578 or visit www.sunsail.co.uk.

6 Porto Sani Village in Halkidiki, Greece, has started a Babewatch service – a beach nanny who’ll build sandcastles with the little ’uns while you indulge in a worry-free swim. With ITC Classics (01244 355527, www.itcclassics.co.uk), a week, B&B, in the family suites costs a total of £1,870/£3,485 for a family of four.

7 For every dad there comes a day when his kids can beat him at football. And rugby. And cricket. When that day comes, it’s time to go to Barbados, where the tourist board runs a free sports camp for children during the school summer hols. Expect some impressive names – last year, Jeremy Guscott, Jason Leonard, Mark Bright and Joel Garner turned out to teach what dad can’t. Caribtours (020 7751 0660, www.caribtours.co.uk) has a week in August at the Hilton Barbados from £1,235, room-only (children £550).

8 If your teenagers seem to like nothing more than lying around all day, they might as well do it in style. The Club Med (0845 367 6767, www.clubmed.co.uk) at Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic has a new teen spa, with manicures, pedicures and make-up lessons. Book before February 28 and a week starts at £899 (no reduction for teenagers, but children 4-11 £596) in May, or £1,279 (£988) in August, both full-board.

9 You can’t help thinking that the sentence “Right, kids, we’re going to Lithuania this year!” might not be greeted with rapturous applause. But the Curonian Spit might win them round. A 60-mile-long natural sand bar on the Baltic coast, it has summer temperatures in the mid20s, sea on one side, a freshwater lagoon on the other, great cycling and enough dunes to build medieval-scale sandcastles. A week in an old fisherman’s cottage, sleeping 4-6, starts at £700 with Baltic Holidays (0845 070 5711, www.balticholidays.com). Flights can be arranged for about £250pp.

10 Here’s a family-holiday concept: you take a romantic break à deux while the kids go to summer camp. Bliss. Pick of the camps this year is PGL’s Wild Wheels weeks – mountain-boarding, mountain-biking, skateboarding and BMX-riding in Herefordshire for daredevil teenagers. The price is £475, full-board, per child (ages 13-16); call 0870 050 7507 or visit www.pgl.co.uk.

11 Mark Warner’s clubs on the Red Sea have become the company’s bestsellers – being watersports-based, even in the heat of summer there’s always the opportunity to cool off. Its Abu Soma base, near Hurghada, has highly regarded kids’ clubs, five-star accommodation, excellent diving and worldclass kitesurfing. A week for a family of four starts at £2,574/£3,311, half-board; call 0871 703 3944 or visit markwarner.co.uk.

12 If your kids are ready for an adventure, take them to Sri Lanka: friendly and fascinating, it’ll give them a real insight into a totally different way of life. On a 13-day tour with a small family group (13-18 people), children from five up can ride elephants, explore fortresses, camp in the jungle, take trains through tea plantations, see traditional village life, and play on a tropical beach at the end of it all. Prices start at £1,399 in August (children £1,255) with Travelmood (0800 298 9811, www.travelmoodadventures.com).

Adventure

13 Got your intrepid-explorer hat on? You’ll need it. It was all very twee in the movie, but the real Madagascar is as wild as they come. This May, an 18-night expedition through the remote interior will include the first organised descent of the unexplored Matsiatra River. Expect lemurs, crocs and the thrill of knowing you were there first. It’s £2,450 with Pioneer Expeditions (0845 004 7801, www.pioneerexpeditions.com), excluding flights. Air France (0870 142 4343, www.airfrance.co.uk) flies from Heathrow to Antananarivo, from £850.

14 Repeat after me: “Grrr!” You’ll have to be louder than that on a nine-day trip learning to be a Mongol warrior. Brushing up on the skills used by Genghis Khan’s horde, you’ll stay in gers on the steppes, and be trained in horsemanship, archery, military tactics, cookery, shamanic rituals and ancient folklore. It’s pretty full-on, but it’ll make a man of you (figuratively speaking – women are welcome). Prices start at £1,365, full-board, with High and Wild (01749 671777, www.highandwild.co.uk), excluding flights. Aeroflot (020 7355 2233, www.aeroflot.co.uk) flies from Heathrow to Ulan Bator via Moscow, from about £590.

15 Now, this one’s way, way out there. In the wilder reaches of Kyrgyzstan – which is most of it – the only way to get around is by horse-riding, and anyone who joins this 14-day expedition will be doing a lot of just that, past the torrential glacial rivers, high blue lakes and jagged peaks of the Sary Chelek region. You’ll be in your Russian cavalry saddle for 4-6 hours a day, but the joy of the landscape and the fascination of the local Tajik and Kara-Kalpak cultures are well worth a sore bum. Equine Adventures (0845 130 6981, www.equineadventures.co.uk) has the trip for £2,385, departing on June 19. The price includes meals, tents, horses and vodka (naturally), but not flights. BMI (0870 607 0555, www.flybmi.com) flies from Heathrow to Bishkek, from about £810.

16 Diving on a nuclear test site? Before you say no thanks, this one’s Bikini Atoll in Micronesia – and those movie clips of mushroom clouds really are ancient history. It’s now been pronounced safe, and a top wreck-dive destination, with the USS Saratoga – sunk as part of an A-bomb test in 1946, now a haven for corals and multicoloured fish – the largest diveable vessel on earth. Two weeks start at £3,495 with Explorers (0845 094 3367, www.explorers.co.uk).

17 If you think Colombia is all coke-fuelled rebels and pitched battles, think again. Explore (0844 499 0901, www.explore.co.uk) is starting tours this year, and its scouts reckon they’ve found a very different place: the continent’s most beautiful colonial city, Cartagena, great beaches, glacier walks, mountain rivers, coffee plantations, wild jungle, mud volcanoes, all without being shot at once. A 13-night trip costs £2,144/£2,394, B&B, with some meals.

Boats and trains

18 So, you’re on a boat. Question 1: Who’s doing the cooking? Marco Pierre White. Question 2: Who’s providing the art? Tate Modern. Those two names pretty much sum up the zeitgeisty idea of Ventura, the “superliner designed for Britain”, which will be launched in April. It’s aimed squarely at younger British cruisers, with a spa, a comedy club, a circus school for teens, Noddy events for the tots, even a large-scale Scalextric track. (We bet the dads will hog it.) A 12-night cruise from Southampton to the Canaries, leaving on August 31, will cost £1,119, full-board, including kids’ clubs. Call 0845 355 5333 or visit www.pocruises.co.uk.

19 The owners say that it’s “outstanding value”, which can mean many things. In this case, it means £388,295. Yes, yes, credit crunch and all that, but we reckon there’ll still be some Abramovich wannabes ready to charter the luxurious mega-yacht SeaDream II for a week’s cruise along the Croatian coastline in August.

For the price of an average London house, you get to bring along 100 pals (flights included) to enjoy the spa, pool, casino, boutique, golf simulator, beauty salon, luxurious rooms and retractable marina with dinghies and water-skiing. And they’ll have to laugh at your jokes in the bar. Call 01273 833016 or visit www.seadream.co.uk.

20 The Ocean Village formula for attracting younger holidaymakers (casual approach, adventure sports, plenty for kids, good spa) clearly works: it launched a sister ship, Ocean Village Two, in 2007, and this year has Sega Village, where teens can ride a jet-fighter simulator and make dance videos. A sevennight jaunt taking in Tunisia, Rome and Barcelona starts at £703 (children from £149) in May or £909 (£499) in August, including meals and kids’ clubs: call 0845 358 5000 or visit www. oceanvillageholidays.co.uk.

21 On an independent boat trip down the Canal du Midi, you’ll take a week to cover 40 miles. It’s not exactly a rush, but lingering’s the point – pootling along under shady plane trees amid gorgeous Languedoc scenery, with handy barge shops to sell you fresh baguettes and local produce from the water. A six-berth boat starts at £1,610/£2,130 for a week with Le Boat (02392 224252, www.leboat.co.uk). Fly to Carcassonne with Ryanair (0871 246 0000, www.ryanair.com).

22 While other lines tussle to attract thirtysomethings, Saga – with its strict overfifties policy – sails sedately on. Think shuffleboard and quoits, afternoon teas and formal dinners, sherry, bridge and the occasional informative lecture. Perfectly civilised. The Saga Rose will be at her most serene this May and June, with a 14-day cruise around the finest gardens in the British Isles, including the Eden Project, Tresco, Powerscourt and Bodnant. Book early and prices start at £1,975, all-inclusive. Call 0800 056 5880 or visit www.saga.co.uk.

23 Summer is the only practical time to visit the remote island of Spitsbergen, high in the Arctic. Sailing on the small, traditional MS Lofoten to just 600 miles short of the North Pole, expect to see seals, walruses and, possibly, polar bears, 24 hours a day – the sun doesn’t set, you know. Nine days start at £2,660 with Hurtigruten (020 8846 2666, www.hurtigruten.co.uk).

24 Drifting on a dhow around the northern islands of Madagascar, you’ll camp out on beaches by night, help to sail the boat and catch your dinner by day, snorkel with sea turtles and see rays and dolphins – but hardly any people. A week on the boat costs £425 with Acacia Adventure Holidays (020 7706 4700, www.acacia-africa.com); flights are about £850, with Air France (0870 142 4343, www.airfrance.co.uk ).

25 One ticket, 30 countries, from Portugal to Poland, from Oslo to Oludeniz: for sheer, exhilarating holiday freedom, nothing beats an InterRail pass. Rail Europe (0844 848 4064, www.raileurope.co.uk) sells 10-day passes for £263 (£175 for under25s); 21 days cost £343 (£226). For best results, make it up as you go along.

26The Orient Express is romantic, but those vintage carriages have a drawback – our grandparents didn’t expect a shower. Hmm. Glamorous, but your co-travellers might be a little whiffy. Europe’s newest “hotel on wheels”, the Danube Express, promises something more sanitary (showers for each carriage, ensuites in deluxe class), but with plenty of traditional luxury. First departing in May, it offers sevennight tours from Budapest through Slovakia, Cracow, Prague and Berlin: three nights, full-board, on the train, plus four, half-board, in hotels, start at £2,150, with most meals (01462 441400, www.danube-express.com).

27 Canada’s Rocky Mountaineer is one of the great rail journeys, but just watching the wilds can be a bit frustrating. Now, you can break the journey with a four-night stay at a ranch or lodge in the wilderness, where you’ll hike, fish, ride and generally get to grips with the high country other travellers only gawp at. Packages last 13 nights and start at £2,859 (June) or £3,071 (August), including most meals, with 1st Class Holidays (0845 644 3545, www.1stclassholidays.com).

Budget

28 You won’t get cheaper than camping in the UK. Or a trendier place to do it than Blackberry Wood in East Sussex (01273 890035, www.blackberrywood.com). It’s back-to-nature minimalism: no play centres, no pool, no music except birdsong. There are just 20 pitches, all in private clearings in a wood at the foot of the South Downs. Entertainment? Great walks, stories by your campfire in the evening and top boozers just a stroll away. The good life costs £5 per pitch per night, adults from £6, children from £3.

29 France under canvas is good value, too. A week in a fully equipped tent, sleeping six, at Le Grande Dague, a forest site in the Dordogne, costs £278/£557, and that includes Channel crossings for one car. It has two pools, a water slide, mini-golf and a games room; round about, there’s some of France’s loveliest countryside, great caving, canoeing, towering chateaux and child-pleasingly bloody history. Book with Vacansoleil (0870 077 8779, www.vacansoleil.co.uk).

30 If you want a proper villa in Chiantishire, you’ve got to pay Hampstead prices, right? Not necessarily. Villa La Vigna, in the car-free hilltop hamlet of Montebuoni, is built of traditional Tuscan stone, with wood ceilings, terracotta floors and a spiral staircase, as well as a shared pool. Sleeping four, it costs £563/£818 for a week with To Tuscany (020 7193 7782, www.to-tuscany.com).

31Taking the family to Orlando, the theme-park capital of the cosmos (well, they do like a bit of overstatement), can be a ruinous business. So get in fast and bag one of the Kids Go Free places offered by Jetsave (0871 231 2271, www.jetsave.co.uk). They’re not available for most of the school hols, but in the last week of August, two adults and two children (aged 2-11) could pay just £1,290 for four flights and a week’s accommodation, plus a Kids Eat Free card that lets the little ones munch for nothing at 50 restaurants in town. Which leaves you more money to spend on theme-park tickets...

32 If you thought that learning to dive was beyond your pocket, try this: Explorers (0845 094 3367, www.explorers.co.uk) offers a week in the warm waters of Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt, with flights and B&B accommodation at a three-star hotel, for £439 – and that includes a two-day Padi beginner’s course. If you enjoy it, pay an extra £84 for two more days and you can get your full open-water certificate, which entitles you to dive down to 18 metres anywhere in the world.

33 A family of four, a week in a converted windmill in Brittany, a ferry crossing with an ensuite cabin and change from £500.

Deal. Brittany Ferries (0871 244 1444, www.brittanyferries. com) has Le Moulin de Coldan (ref qb4249), close to Brière national park and an easy drive from sandy beaches, for £429/£753, including Portsmouth-Caen ferry crossings – so long as you book before January 31.

34 This one’s for us: a sweet little stone cottage in a secret Cretan village between the mountains and the sea – and cheap as tzatziki. Emilio’s House, which sleeps four, is built into the rock next to the sleepy village square of Agia Paraskevi, with no passing traffic except donkeys tinkling down from the olive groves. No pool, but it has a great terrace and plenty of sandy coves within a 10-minute drive. Book by January 31 and it’s £205/£395 for a week with Freelance Holidays (01789 297705, www.freelance-holidays.co.uk), which can arrange car hire. Fly to Crete with XL (0871 911 4220, www.xl.com) or Flythomascook (www.flythomascook.com).

35 Beachcombing is free and fascinating, the kids love it – and the best place in Britain to do it, according to a recent survey, is beautiful Runswick Bay in North Yorkshire. Nearby, in the sweet fishing village of Staithes, Cottages4you (www.cottages4you.co.uk) has beamy, 300-year-old Lynn Cottage (ref 23338) – a former smuggler’s lair, with the tunnels for contraband still visible. Cracking clifftop walks, too, and Whitby and Robin Hood’s Bay are a short drive away. It sleeps six, and a week costs £398/£671.

The finer things

36 Opera at the superb Aix-en-Provence summer festival (Così fan tutte and Zaide are on this year), followed by the inspiring Les Chorégies of Orange performing Carmen in the town’s Roman amphitheatre: what could be more civilised? Well, how about floating between the two on a river cruiser, with stops at Avignon and Arles along the way? VFB (01452 716838, www. vfbholidays.co.uk) has chartered a vessel and is offering eight days afloat for £994pp, including flights, most meals and tickets for three operas.

37 Here’s one for boozy sailors with refined palates – a vineyard tour, by yacht. In July, Nonstop Sail (01803 833399, www. nonstopsail.com) will take its eight-berth Dufour 455 up the Gironde estuary, where the wine expert Mark Bedford will guide you round chateaux including Cos d’Estournel and Haut-Brion. After the tastings and gourmet meals, you sleep on board (when you can blame any stumblings on the rocking of the boat), apart from one night in a chateau (when you can’t). A week costs £800, excluding flights. BA (0870 850 9850, www.ba.com) and EasyJet (www.easyjet.com) serve Bordeaux.

38 Katie Price topped the bestseller lists with no tuition at all, but if you want to be a serious writer, expert teaching helps. Would a Booker winner do you? James Kelman, whose How Late It Was, How Late won in 1994, will lead a creative-writing course on the Greek island of Skyros from May 31 to June 13: the price is £825, half-board (01983 865566, www.skyros. com). Flights are extra – head for Athens with EasyJet (www.easyjet.com) or Olympic (0870 606 0460, www.olympicairlines.com). There are lots more courses to choose from, including yoga, dance, windsurfing, flirting, trapeze and, ahem, tantric sex.

39 Archeology enthusiasts should get to Albania now, while the stunning historical sites are still peaceful and often deserted. Andante (01722 713800, www.andantetravels.co.uk) is running 10-day tours to the vast ruins of Apollonia, founded by the Corinthians in 588BC; the medieval hill town of Berat; ancient Greek forts, Byzantine churches, Roman theatres and more. The price is £1,850, full-board, with May and October departures.

40 If you have a yen for spectacle, you owe it to yourself to see a performance at Verona. Martin Randall (020 8742 3355, www.martinrandall.com) is running tours during July and August, taking in three operas each (Carmen, Tosca, Rigoletto and Aida are on this year), performed to 14,000 ecstatic enthusiasts in the majesty of a 1,900-year-old Roman amphitheatre. For sheer exuberance, it’s unmatched. The price is £1,560 for five days, including tickets, most meals and an expert guide. If you’d sooner go it alone, buy tickets at www.arena.it.

41 You might only go to St Petersburg once, and to get the best from the place, you need a guide. Andrew Spira – icon specialist, Courtauld graduate, ex-V&A, currently with Christie’s – is your man, and he’s leading a seven-day tour with Cox & Kings (020 7873 5000, www.coxandkings. co.uk) from July 21. Novgorod, Marly, the Catherine Palace and the Hermitage: it’ll be splendid. The price is £1,649, including visits and some meals.

42 For the good life, Italian style, you want an agriturismo – but how many of them offer real character on a real working farm? Answer: not enough. One that does is Madonna delle Grazie (00 39 0578 299822, www.madonnadellegrazie.it) in Umbria, with six simple rooms in an 18th-century farmhouse, a pool, livestock from sheep to bees, and 16 acres of vines, orchards and olive groves. The home-produced, home-cooked food – salami, fruit, oil, chicken – is excellent and organic. Enjoy it in the restaurant, and take the wine home. It’s priced by the day: £51pp, half-board, in May, £58pp in August. Fly to Perugia with Ryanair (0871 246 0000, www.ryanair.com).

Grand tours

43 A week here, a fortnight there. Call that a holiday? For a real break, join an 86-day tour from Beijing to Bali: that’s trains, ferries and local buses through China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, staying in villages, partying on beaches and watching the sun rise over smoking volcanoes. If you don’t have a few stories to tell after that lot, you weren’t trying. Departing in June, it costs £2,684 with Intrepid (020 3147 7777, www.intrepidtravel.com), including some meals, but not flights. Austravel (0870 166 2070, www.austravel.com) has open-jaw returns for £760.

44 Transatlantic fly-drives can be a blast, but the driving itself is usually pretty tame. Here’s something different: a 4WD adventure through the back roads of the Yukon. Forget the freeways, it’s gravel and dirt tracks through Canada’s gold-rush country, across wild mountain scenery to the Klondike and Dawson City. You’re a long way from civilisation – they’ll give you a satellite phone for emergencies. Through Bales Worldwide (0845 057 0600, www.balesworldwide.com), it costs £2,995, including accommodation in good-quality lodges and some meals.

45 Approaching the hill but not yet ready for Saga? No problem – jump in a four-seater Toyota Land Cruiser and blaze a trail through Nepal and Tibet, on a small group journey for the overfifties with Prime Adventures (0845 450 5314, www.primeadventures.co.uk). In 16 days, you get to Kathmandu, Lhasa, Everest base camp and Rongbuk monastery, drink Chang beer and eat an awful lot of yak. The price is £1,849 in August, including most meals.

46 Got a tune stuck in your head? Want to know where it came from? Go to America’s Deep South, where the roots of nearly all popular music can be found. On an 11-night fly-drive, you’ll take in New Orleans (jazz), Memphis (blues) and Nashville (country), and hear gospel, zydeco, R&B and rock’n’roll on the way. Prices start at £995/£1,165, including car and three-star hotels, with Bon Voyage (0800 316 0194, www.bon-voyage.co.uk).

47 Our summer’s not the time to visit most of Australia (it gets properly chilly in Melbourne). Up in the tropical Top End, however, it’s the dry season, the only time it’s possible to drive the Gibb River Road, the 400-mile dirt track to the remote heart of the Kimberley region: expect mazy gullies, spectacular gorges, huge rivers and a lot of crocs. An 11-day self-drive tour in a 4WD (you’ll need it), staying on working cattle stations, costs £2,504/£3,007, including some meals, with Bridge & Wickers (020 7483 6555, www.bridgeandwickers.co.uk).

48 If you did your Greek island-hopping 15 years ago, armed with nothing but a backpack and naive optimism, go back and have another go – this time in style. Cadogan (0845 615 6793, www.cadoganholidays.com) has introduced a luxury 14-night island-hopping break, staying at four- and five-star hotels, so no sleeping on the beach this time. A Cyclades circuit, taking in Mykonos, Naxos, Santorini and Paros, costs £1,327/£2,059, B&B, including ferries.

Hot hotels

49 Carlisle Bay is Antigua’s coolest place to stay (it was voted Tatler’s favourite hotel in the world in 2005). From this February, however, it’ll have competition, in the form of Hodges Bay Club. Designed by the team that created Thailand’s ultra-hip Chiva-Som, HBC will have Carlisle Bay a roaring success – designer-chic interiors, modernist architecture, a serious spa, kids’ club and no old-colonial fixtures, fittings or attitudes. Will the A list defect? We shall see, but you can find out how Hodges measures up for £1,488/£1,819, B&B, including £350 credit on your restaurant tab, with Harlequin Holidays (0845 450 6433, www.harlequinholidays.com).

50 Ever visited a parched but fascinating desert and found there’s only one trendy place to stay? Torture, isn’t it? For years, the Explora has been pretty much the only game in the pueblo in Chile’s Atacama desert, the driest place on earth, but now it has company: the smart new Tierra has 32 boutiquey rooms, all with private terraces and views of the spectacular Licancabur volcano. A week in Chile, including four nights at Tierra, full-board, starts at £2,170 with Cazenove & Loyd (020 7384 2332, www.cazloyd.com).

51 After Necker and Marrakesh, Branson’s latest boutique bolt hole is in Verbier, where the Lodge opens this month: just nine bedrooms, discreetly stylish interiors, and masses to do in the summer – hiking, climbing, paragliding and mountain biking (careful, the resort covers a 700-metre drop in altitude). It’s steep in more ways than one: doubles cost £2,600 a week through Virgin Limited Edition (0800 716919, www.virgin.com), though that’s full-board (picnics for lunch), with unlimited champagne. Fly to Geneva with EasyJet (www.easyjet.com) or Flybe (0871 522 6100, www.flybe.com).

52 There are lots of swish new hotels opening in Thailand. Our favourite is the Six Senses Hideaway Yao Noi, on spectacular Phang Nga bay. Arriving by helicopter (obviously), you swoop over those spiky limestone pinnacles that looked so exotic in The Man with the Golden Gun, to land on a private island, be taken to your eco-villa with its own infinity pool, and meet your butler. For a place this classy, it’s not that exorbitant: £1,995/£2,222 with Cleveland Collection (0845 450 5732, www.clevelandcollection.co.uk).

53 You just can’t keep the arty A list away from Marrakesh – and, in particular, from Riad el Fenn, where recent names in the guestbook include Antony Gormley and Zadie Smith. Perhaps the Carrara marble swimming pool, cool-water hammam, sumptuous fabrics and vast roof terrace with spectacular medina views help the creative process. Join them for seven nights for £686, B&B (00 212 24 44 12 10, www.riadelfenn.com). Fly to Marrakesh with EasyJet (www.easyjet.com) or Ryanair (0871 246 0000, www.ryanair.com). Skip July and August – too hot – but June and September are fine.

54 Fancy tanning at 2am? Make for the Other Side, the first design hotel in far northern Norway. It’s been much delayed but will finally open this spring, all boutique tundra chic with 21 Ralston & Bau-designed rooms, fireplaces, bathhouses with libraries and furs on the walls. Weird but rather wonderful – do nip out to the Arctic Ocean to catch the 6ft king crabs. They’re delicious. Doubles start at £230; call 00 47 7899 6203 or visit www.theotherside.no. Fly to Kirkenes with SAS (0871 521 2772, www.flysas.com).

55 Go beyond the politics and meet the people, and you won’t find many more fascinating cities than Damascus. The souk is bigger than Marrakesh’s, and twice as busy: piles of spices, mounds of exotic fruit, gleaming shelves of gold, hustle, bustle and the odd obstreperous donkey – but not a tourist in sight. Great hammams, too. And now you can stay in style, at the Syrian capital’s first boutique hotel, Beit al Mamlouka, in a converted 17th-century building. Black Tomato (020 7610 9008, www.blacktomato.co.uk) has five nights, B&B, from £899.

56 Hottest destination of the year? Mozambique. Hottest hotel in Mozambique? Azura, a luxury 15-villa “eco-boutique” retreat on the stunning white beaches of Benguerra island. It has private butlers, personal plunge pools, designer African decor and a mood that’s relaxed but responsible – you can visit a local school in the morning and have a diamond-dust massage in the afternoon. It’s been booked up since it opened in October – good news for the local community, which owns a chunk of the resort. The price is £2,629/ £2,899, full-board, with To Escape To (0871 711 5282, www.toescapeto.com).

Wildlife

57 You don’t have to trek to the ends of the earth for amazing animals: we’ve got worldclass wildlife right here.

On an eight-day Scottish safari through Mull, Perthshire and the Cairngorms, you can watch otters, rare golden and sea eagles and red deer, visit a night hide to spot pine martens and take to the water to see minke whales, basking sharks and porpoises. Prices start at £869, B&B (children aged 10-16 from £549), staying in four-star hotels, with McKinlay Kidd (0870 760 6027, www.seescotlanddifferently.co.uk).

58 Seeing gorillas in the wild can be a life-changing experience, but the treks are tough and the accommodation isn’t much better. The new Sabyinyo Silverback Lodge in Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda, makes it more comfy: relax in an ensuite room with a private veranda, a sitting room and an open fire for chilly nights. A six-night trip, with four nights at Sabyinyo, starts at £3,179/£4,259 with Expert Africa (020 8232 9777, www.expertafrica.com).

59 Branson goes there, Madonna goes there: Lake Malawi is becoming an unlikely celebrity playground. In July, Robin Pope, Africa’s leading safari guide, will open Pumulani camp on its southern shores: five hillside villas in spectacular surroundings, with fantastic scuba-diving to see unique fish species. It should make a cool addition to Pope’s famed walking safaris in the South Luangwa valley, Zambia. Audley (01993 838500, www.audleytravel.co.uk) has a 10-day package covering both from £3,562pp, full-board: pricey, but, if Pope’s track record is anything to go by, you’ll get what you pay for.

60 Everyone loves bears, and the place to see them is Finland, where as many as a dozen of the brown variety may gather around your hide during the bright sunshine of the Arctic night. Naturetrek (01962 733051, www.naturetrek.co.uk) has four-night family bear-watching trips in June and August for £850pp, including flights, most meals, guides and accommodation.

61 A canoeing safari down the Zambezi River will give you a completely different view of Africa’s big beasts. Paddling between luxurious tented camps, expect lions, buffaloes, elephants and plenty of hippos and crocs. You’ll need some nerve, but you’ll be in good hands, led by a highly qualified guide. At night, tucked up with the sounds of the animals beyond the canvas, it’s as romantic as it is wild – recommended for couples. Safari Consultants (01787 888590, www.safari-consultants. co.uk) has nine nights for £2,290/£3,830, full-board.

62 Jaguars are notoriously elusive, but at the newly opened Jaguar Research Centre, in the teeming Pantanal in Brazil, you’re virtually guaranteed to see them – in the first 80 days, there were 125 sightings. You should also look out for giant river otters, tapirs, caimans, coati-mondis, anacondas, pumas and giant anteaters. With Reef and Rainforest (01803 866965, www. reefandrainforest.co.uk), an eight-night trip, departing July to October, starts at £3,380, full-board, with guide.

63 Safaris can be a macho business. There’s more than a trace of the big-game hunter in the attitudes of some lodges, where the guides are exclusively male. You’ll get none of that on a safari to Madikwe Game Reserve with African Collection (01403 256655, www.africacollection. com). Your escorts are women – namely Patience Bogatsu, a proud Motswana and an expert on the healing powers of bush flora, and Ezelle Van Dyk. Both are fully qualified members of the Field Guide Association of South Africa. Big-five sightings are guaranteed, it’s malaria-free, and accommodation is in luxury tents, then a traditional homestead. Six nights cost £1,769/ £1,998, including meals.

A place of your own

64 Fancy a spell as an ancien régime aristocrat, lounging in a French château? No problem – Le Château Aubenas, a 16th-century pile in the Lubéron, was the summer retreat of Charles de Voland, son of Charles II. It’s been spruced up with discreetly stylish bathrooms and simple, luxurious furnishings. Sleeping 12, it costs £365pp/£535pp for a week, including flights and car hire, with CV Travel (020 7384 5896, www.cvtravel.co.uk).

65 Dreaming of a rustic cottage in Greece? Seems you’re out of step: this season’s trend is for modern, minimalist villas, like a design hotel of your own. Exhibit one is Chloe, a villa on its own headland in western Crete, with huge windows to take in the panoramic coastal views. Ochre outside, white within, it has wood floors, chic fittings, a spa area, a cracking pool and four bedrooms. A week starts at £560pp/£909pp, based on eight sharing, including car and flights, with Meon Villas (0870 901 4011, www.meonvillas.co.uk).

66 On Mallorca, these days, you can’t move for double-barrelled celebs (Lloyd Webber, Zeta-Jones), and the paparazzi set up camp for the season at Palma airport. So, of course, it’s correspondingly pricey. But you can still find an upmarket place without spending celebrity money if you opt for a rural villa or farm. Mallorca Farmhouses (0118 947 3001, www.mfh.co.uk) has availability at Son Farragut de Baix, in four acres near Pollensa. Spanking new but pleasingly trad (stone walls, lots of beams), it has a big pool, flatscreen TVs and air conditioning: it sleeps eight in four bedrooms, and a week costs £1,695/£3,395, including car hire. Fly to Mallorca with EasyJet (www.easyjet.com) or Thomsonfly (0870 190 0737, www.thomsonfly.com ).

67 Is this the coolest holiday cottage in Britain? We’d like to know what can beat it. Built in 2006 in a wonderful spot overlooking South Sands in Devon, sleekly modern Underbecks is all modish beige, taupe and acres of glass, to make the most of the tremendous views across to oh-so-trendy Salcombe. Heating and lighting are computer-controlled, and it has a digital-music library with surround sound in most rooms, home cinema, 5MB WiFi, the lot. We’re talking South Hams prices, mind: to sleep 12, you’re looking at £1,828 in May or £6,332 in August through Helpful Holidays (01647 434063, www.helpfulholidays.com). Choke if you like, but it was booked out last year.

68 Another option in the South Hams is the stunning Big Barn (it used to be, yes, a barn), which has a 70ft living room, a home cinema, a glossy black kitchen, five ensuite bedrooms and some nice touches – floor-to-ceiling cathedral windows, witty modern art and a private lake. You’re in the country, but just four miles from Slapton Sands and 12 from Salcombe. A week costs £2,100 in May, or £3,000 in August, based on 12 sharing, with Toad Hall Cottages (01548 853089, www.toadhallcottages.co.uk).

69 Not all the Costas are awash with Brits and Germans. The holidaymakers at Conil de la Frontera are Spanish, which means the fishing village has an authentic atmosphere and some great family-friendly nightlife. There are lovely shallow beaches and superb local restaurants – try La Fontanilla, where you eat with your feet in the sand. Stay at Casa Abeto, a cute two-bedroom cottage near town with a pool: a week costs £495/£950 with Vintage Travel (0845 344 0420, www.vintagetravel.co.uk). Fly to Jerez with Ryanair (0871 246 0000, www.ryanair.com).

70 At the last count, 176 people lived on Lismore, a 12-mile-long strip of land off Oban. There’s one road, one shop, one cafe and the island hall, where frequent ceilidhs are the closest you’ll get to a night on the tiles. Stay at Achuaran House, near the ferry stop, where £1.50 gets you to the mainland for gourmet meals at the Pierhouse or the Airds. A week costs £495/£795, based on eight sharing, with Unique Cottage Holidays (01835 822277, www.unique-cottages.co.uk).

71 After you’ve partied your appendages off in Ibiza, you need a decent day’s sleep. Can Americano is secluded in orange groves, but just a £5, 10-minute cab ride from Ibiza Town, and within striking distance of Space and Privilege. A week costs £499/£1,239, based on six sharing, with James Villa Holidays (0800 074 0122, www.jamesvillas.co.uk). Fly to Ibiza with Jet2 (0871 226 1737, www.jet2.com) or Thomsonfly (0870 190 0737, www.thomsonfly.com).

72 Away from the ghastliness of Lloret de Mar, the Costa Brava is stunning, but the best places go fast. Villa La Paloma is a lovely, wisteria-hung three-bedroom property with a pool, just inland from Tamariu, the prettiest village on the coast. PCI (0845 130 1440, www.pci-holidays.com) has availability in May (£572 for a week) and August (£1,587), and can arrange car hire, from £123. Fly to Girona with Ryanair (0871 246 0000, www.ryanair.com).

Romance

73 At first glance, Matera, in Basilicata, looks like any other pretty town in southern Italy, a collection of brick and stone buildings tumbling down a hillside. Thing is, many of those are just facades: behind them lies the Sassi, a network of man-made caves hewn deep into the rock 9,000 years ago and inhabited ever since. One of these has been converted into the simple but elegant Hotel Sant’Angelo, which has just 16 beautiful rooms. With Long Travel (01694 722193, www.long-travel.co.uk), a week costs £528/£542, B&B, including car hire.

74 The autumn’s big movie will be The Edge of Love, in which Keira Knightley, Sienna Miller and Matthew Rhys recreate Dylan Thomas’s romantic entanglements in New Quay, west Wales. Have some yourself by snuggling up in Bosun’s Loft (07976 176183, www.bosunsloftcottages.co.uk), a wee house for two there with a superb (and roomy) antique brass ship’s bed and a porthole overlooking the sea. A week costs £280/£605.

75 Seclusion is sexy. Which is why we like Robin Hood’s Hut, a 1760s folly approached through a dark wood in deepest Somerset. It’s snug – just room for two – and flamboyant architecture gives it a feeling of being primed for debauchery. A week costs £708/£1,019 with the Landmark Trust (01628 825925, www.landmarktrust.org.uk).

76 If you haven’t taken your other half to Venice, it’s time you did. Stay in room 31 at the gorgeous, 400-year-old Locanda Orseolo (00 39 041 520 4827, www. locandaorseolo.com). Doubles cost £165 per night, B&B, in May, or £120 in August, with reductions for long stays. Fly to Venice with BA (0870 850 9850, www.ba. com), BMI (0870 607 0555, www.flybmi.com) or EasyJet (www.easyjet.com).

77 For glamour, head for Hvar. Where? The beautifully preserved port in Croatia is the ritziest resort in the Adriatic. Croatian Affair (020 7385 7111, www. croatianaffair.com) has three love nests in the 15th-century gothic gorgeousness of Palazzo Jaska; from £355/£960 for a week. Fly to Split with Thomas Cook (www.flythomascook. com), then it’s a two-hour ferry.

78 Anybody can gawp at the beautiful medieval towers of San Gimignano, in Tuscany, but not everyone gets to stay in one. Le Torri Gemelle is a piece of history for two, a chic one-bedroom apartment in a 13th-century tower – and, to cap it all, there’s a lift to your very own roof terrace, for what is arguably the best view in Italy. If you don’t fall in love (again) here, split up. A week costs £589/£959, including car hire, with Thomson (0800 027 8302, www.thomson.co.uk).

Tropical beaches

79 On most islands in the Maldives, the only local people you see will be serving your drinks. Herathera, which opens this month, will be different. There’s a village just a walk away, and other inhabited islands are easily reached, so you can nibble spicy snacks in the cafes, play with the kids and sample the reality of tropical island life. Back at base, the resort is on a lovely lagoon, with three pools, a dive centre and a spa. Many islanders own shares in the project, so they benefit as you chill out. A week costs £1,095/£1,199, full-board, with Hayes & Jarvis (0871 664 0246, www.hayesandjarvis.co.uk).

80 La Source, on Grenada, was pummelled by Hurricane Ivan in 2004, but it’s reopening next month – and it should be better than ever, with mahogany four-posters and Italian marble floors in the upgraded rooms. The new hotel will be spa-centred, with sports on the side, so after your salt and oil loofah body buff, you can exert yourself with tennis, fencing, golf or sailing. Good beach, too. With Tropical Sky (0870 907 9600, www.tropicalsky.co.uk), seven nights cost £1,479/£1,899, full-board.

81 The big news on the Mayan Riviera in Mexico is this month’s opening of the Mandarin Oriental, tucked away in 36 acres north of Playa del Carmen. Set around a cenote – one of the area’s distinctive natural pools – it has outdoor stone bathtubs, cool wooden-floored rooms and a spa offering local treatments. If service is as good as the looks and location, the hefty price – £2,430/£2,320 for a week, with Seasons in Style (01244 202000, www.seasonsinstyle.com) – might even be worth it.

82 The Seychelles have suffered from a reputation for poor service, but Maia, on the main island of Mahé, is leading the fightback: superb beach, turquoise water and staff who are expected to know what you want before you want it (they have to pass an “emotional quotient” exam to prove their ability to empathise). But you pay for it: a week costs £3,269/£5,699 with Trailfinders (0845 050 5871, www.trailfinders.com).

83 When Google’s founders, Sergey Brin and Larry Page (combined net worth nudging £17 billion), fancied a proper three-week break, they took 10 pals to Little Whale Cay (www.littlewhalecay.com) in the Bahamas: 93 acres of private island, serious food, watersports and some of the best bonefishing in the world. All yours for £33,000 a week. Virgin Atlantic (0870 380 2007, www.virgin-atlantic.com) has flights to Miami from about £300 (or £2,600 in Upper Class). Go on, you can afford it.

84 Porto Santo is marooned far out in the Atlantic, but from April you can get there direct from Gatwick on a new charter flight. It’s worth it: in contrast to its neighbour, Madeira (a two-hour boat ride away), the island has white-sand beaches, and the wildlife includes porpoises, whales and a colony of walruses, which can be visited on responsible, nonintrusive boat trips. Holiday Options (0844 477 0452, www.holidayoptions.co.uk) has a week at the swish new four-star Hotel Pestana from £589/£709.

85 You can’t move for smart new hotels on St Lucia, all bristling with gimmicks like open-walled rooms and private marinas. More low-key, but perhaps more satisfying, will be the boutique Cap Maison: 22 Mediterranean-style villas above a secluded beach looking across to Martinique, with butlers, private chefs and a luxury motor yacht for day trips. It should open by summer: Caribtours (020 7751 0660, www.caribtours.co.uk) has a week for £1,518, B&B.

86 The Maldives are seriously sexy: blue sea, white sand and nothing at all to do, apart from the obvious. And the best place to do it is the stylishly modern Huvafen Fushi, designed with lust in mind. The owner, Tom McLoughlin, briefed the architects to make the rooms as open-plan as possible, while maintaining privacy throughout. Should you need an energy boost, you can recuperate at the underwater spa. A week costs £2,575/ £2,595, B&B, with Elegant Resorts (01244 897516, www.elegantresorts.co.uk).

Walking and riding

87 It’s a skiing favourite for Brits, but the beautiful Bernese Oberland, in Switzerland, is even lovelier in summer. The 13,000ft peaks still sparkle, while lower down it’s all flower-strewn meadows, pine forests, peace – and excellent mountain cafes. Inntravel (01653 617906, www.inntravel.co.uk) has a week of independent walking from hotel to hotel in July for £945, half-board, including rail travel from London St Pancras, maps and – you’ll like this – luggage chauffeured ahead each day.

88 The Bedouin tribes of Jordan are made of tough stuff, and you’ll need to be, too, on a four-day desert trek through narrow wadis and over mountain passes to the rock-carved city of Petra. Don’t panic: porters carry the bags and set up camp for you under the vast desert sky. A 10-day trip costs £1,725, including most meals, with Bales (0845 057 0600, www.balesworldwide.com).

89 Geology. Boring? Think again: in the southwest USA, the rocks rock. A walking tour with The Adventure Company (0845 450 5312, www.adventurecompany.co.uk) takes you to the best, including the graceful spires of Bryce Canyon, the classic mesas of Monument Valley, the Grand Canyon and the mazy gulches of the Canyon de Chelly. The price is £1,499/£1,529, including Navajo guides.

90 In all the coverage of the Balkan conflict, the reporters forgot to tell us how beautiful Bosnia is. Understandable, perhaps, but after 12 years of peace, we’re only just discovering some of Europe’s finest high country. Enter Walks Worldwide (01524 242000, www.walksworldwide.com), which is stepping out through the primeval forest and traditional mountain villages, up the 7,828ft peak of Maglic, then down past ancient mosques and churches to the cities of Mostar and Sarajevo. The 10-day hikes, departing on June 15 and September 14, cost £1,095, including most meals.

91The Lot is one of the prettiest parts of France, and splendid riding country. In the Saddle (01299 272997, www.inthesaddle.com) has sevennight horseback tours, trotting through oak forests and cantering along the cliff-lined valleys of the Causse plateau. Covering 15-20 miles per day, you’ll stay at small guesthouses, including a converted convent and a watermill. The price is £743, full-board (picnics by day), with departures between March and October. Fly to Bergerac with Flybe (www.flybe.com) or Ryanair (0871 246 0000, www.ryanair.com).

92 Yeehah! If you want to be a cod cowboy, there are herds of commercialised dude ranches across North America. For the real thing, try Elkin Creek in British Columbia, a place that does it the old way, with daily cattle drives, trail-riding and sorting, wild horses roaming free and expert wranglers. When it’s all too much, hang up your chaps and fish, windsurf or go boating at the nearby lake. Stay in one of the eight log cabins from £1,625/£1,842, full-board, through Ranch Rider (01509 618811, www.ranchrider.com).

93 Cycling through three countries in one holiday: got to be tough stuff, hasn’t it? Nope: on an independent trip with Headwater (01606 720199, www.headwater.com), based around Lake Constance, you can pootle through Germany, Austria and Switzerland, past Bavarian vineyards and Alpine meadows, while keeping on the flat lakeside path. If even that’s too strenuous, cheat by grabbing a local boat – bicycles allowed. Ten nights, staying in four-star hotels, with your luggage transported for you, cost £949/£1,039, half-board, including flights or train travel.

Active

94 Can’t wait to ski again? June is the middle of winter in the southern hemisphere, and the powder’s deep in the Andean resorts of Chile. (It sounds a long way, but it’s well worth making the effort.) Portillo has 12 lifts, 21 runs and worldclass powder. With Ski Dream (0845 277 3333, www.skidream.com), a week between June and September starts at £1,670, full-board, including lift passes.

95 You can’t go to Cornwall these days without at least trying to surf. Trouble is, it’s damn chilly. Handily, Bedruthan Steps (01637 860860, www.bedruthan.com) has become the first hotel in the UK to offer hotsuits: heat-retaining pads go over your kidneys, sending warm blood round the body. Rooms start at £67pp in May, £115pp in August, half-board; children aged 3-6 in family rooms stay for 50% of the adult price.

96 Strictly Come Dancing got you thinking? Dance Holidays (020 7099 4816, www.danceholidays.com) has summer courses in styles from tango to Bollywood, but nothing is as sexy as salsa. A sevennight shimmy through Barcelona, with two hours of classes per day and a programme of hot nights out, starts at £589, B&B, excluding flights. Airlines to try include Jet2 (0871 226 1737, www.jet2.com) and EasyJet (www.easyjet.co.uk).

97 Divers grow up and have children, just like the rest of us. Then, if they’re smart, they book a private family live-aboard dive boat in the Med: mum and dad take daily dips with a qualified instructor, while the kids learn snorkelling under a watchful adult eye up top. Sounds ruinous, but a week on the cute 51ft MV Griffin, run by a British husband-and-wife team (he does the diving, she minds the kids), sailing out of Elba, off the Italian coast, can be had for £559/£614 (children £522/£577), based on exclusive hire for 4-6 people and including flights, all meals and 10 dives. Book with Family Diving (01285 869679, www. familydiving.co.uk).

98 The Algarve has arguably the best crop of golf courses in Europe, and it’s got even better since the must-play Jack Nicklaus course at Monte Rei opened last year. The Lake Resort in Vilamoura has 26 courses within easy reach, including Jack’s: a week costs £880/£1,361, including car hire, with Kuoni (01306 747001, www.kuoniworldclass.co.uk) – and they’ll even book a round or two for you in advance.

99 Easily bored? You won’t have time for tedium on a week’s full-on action tour on the Lycian coast in Turkey, where you can try white-water rafting, canyoning, a hairy mountain-bike descent, sea-kayaking, diving and paragliding. The price is £599/£689, including some meals, with Exodus (0845 863 9600, www.exodus.co.uk).

100 Lastly, and for something a bit more hardcore, how about conquering the highest peak in western Europe? You don’t need to be Chris Bonington: fit hill-walkers can reach the 15,774ft summit of Mont Blanc, as long as they have basic experience of using crampons. KE Adventure (017687 73966, www.keadventure.com) runs week-long training and climbing trips through the summer for £1,495, including accommodation, equipment, guides and meals. Fly to Geneva with Flybe (0871 522 6100, www.flybe.com) or EasyJet (www.easyjet.co.uk).