If the thought of wasting another holiday sleeping by a crowded pool leaves you cold, read on.

We’ve found the best in adventurous activity holidays in 2009: whether you’re a cautious dabbler, a certified thrill-seeker or a full-blown adrenaline addict, there’s a trip here that will leave you leaner, fitter and more fulfilled.

Choose from riding, walking, road cycling, mountain-biking, sailing, mountaineering or surfing — or try all seven. You can sleep when you’re dead.

Unless stated, prices are per person and include flights from London. Ask the operator for details of regional departure options

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RIDING

Beginner: in Wales

You’ve had a couple of riding lessons, you know which end points forward, but what you need now is a couple of longer sessions in the saddle. The perfect solution is a beginner’s weekend on the beautiful Gower peninsula. Staying in a 19th-century hunting lodge, you’ll spend at least three hours a day following your guide along beaches and wooded trails, stopping off at horse-friendly inns for lunch. The price is £199, including bed, breakfast and evening meal, with Unicorn Trails (01767 600606, unicorntrails.com).

Intermediate: in Andalusia

You’re competent at all paces and you’re happy to spend up to six hours a day in the saddle, talking mainly about horses. Head to Andalusia for a week in the Sierra de Aracena aboard a powerful Andaluz cross. Mounted in comfortable vaquero tack, you’ll follow your guide through an intoxicating landscape of cork-forest trails, ancient olive groves and noble ganaderias, staying at traditional posadas en route.

The price is £1,335, full-board, including transfers, with Finca el Moro (00 34 959 501079, fincaelmoro.com). Fly to Seville with Clickair (00800 2542 5247, clickair.com) or Ryanair (0871 246 0000, ryanair.com).

Hardcore: in Namibia

Equine Adventures (0845 130 6981, equineadventures.co.uk) describes its two-week Namib Desert Ride as “one of the most challenging rides in the world. . . nowhere else can you ride so fast for so long”. Astride tough Arab warmblood crosses, you’ll cross 250 miles of the most remote terrain on earth, spending up to 10 hours a day in the driving seat, negotiating dunes, rocky inclines and gravel plains, galloping among herds of oryx and desert zebra. Expect limited water supplies, thieving baboons and icy desert nights before you and your faithful mount reach the Skeleton Coast. The price is £3,235, including flights, food and accommodation.

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