If 2016 was the year the world partied in Rio, then 2017 is a time to ease back the pace and explore lands further afield. Jon Murrie lists travelBulletin’s hot tips for travel in 2017.
Romania
Few European countries conjure the dark mystery that cloaks Romania, a nation rooted in folklore as the domain of wolves, vampires and despots. One word – Transylvania – evokes more imagery for Romania than any number of travel brochures.
Its myriad castles, medieval towns, Roman ruins and ancient Saxon citadels make it one of the most fascinating places in Europe, yet it’s the vivid imagery of Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula that first comes to mind when anyone mentions Romania’s most famous region. Bordered by the jagged Carpathian Mountains and graced with spectacular natural landscapes, Transylvania is just one of several Romanian districts earning new levels of interest.
Having seemingly missed much of the attention won by other eastern European countries in the post-Communist era, Romania has slowly come to earn a place in world tourism beyond its Black Sea resorts. The boom in river cruising has brought travellers down the Danube from the west, exploring sections from the stunning Iron Gates gorge to the expansive wetlands and rich biodiversity of the Danube delta. At the same time, coach tours weave their way from neighbouring countries like Serbia and Bulgaria to visit landmarks like the dramatic Peles Castle.
Even the once unloved capital of Bucharest – long overlooked against counterparts like Prague and Budapest – is earning attention for its grand boulevards and belle époque architecture, instead of its notorious past as the seat of despotic Communist leader Nicolae Ceausescu. For lovers of wildlife, Romania offers perhaps the richest natural environment in Europe, with its mountainous interior hosting species of wolves, brown bears and lynx, long lost in other parts of the continent.
More recently, herds of European bison have been seen grazing in forest clearings after their reintroduction to the southern Carpathians. But at the heart of the country there’s a landmark that will always hold an allure like none other in Romania – the fearsome Bran Castle, loosely associated with 15th century Prince Vlad “the impaler” Tepes, said to have inspired Stoker’s chilling vampire tale.
Iceland
The frozen remoteness that once kept Iceland out of mind has become its chief asset. The land of fire and ice is now impossible to overlook. When the Eyjafjallajökull volcano erupted in 2010 and threw European airways into chaos, it was clear Iceland was a land unwilling to be ignored. Its thunderous waterfalls, vast glaciers and ill-tempered volcanoes were always wellknown to the outside world, but somehow this icy outpost seemed too remote or expensive to access.
All that has changed and Iceland’s international visitors have surged from a few hundred thousand just a decade ago to well over 1.3 million already this year. Icelandic icons like the thermal waters of the Blue Lagoon and the steaming fountains of Geysir and Stokkur are featured prominently in the brochures of the major tour operators, while the simple practice of hiring a car is now a routine form of sub- Arctic exploration.
The country’s heart and gateway is the small capital of Reykjavik, nestled on a peninsula on the craggy coast of the west. Its brightly coloured houses are heated by thermal energy and overlook sweeping bays to snow-capped mountains beyond, while a small harbour shelters fishing boats and the occasional icebreaker. From here, boat expeditions take visitors to sea in search of whales, or in summer make the short journey to islands like Akurey or Lundey where thousands of puffins and other seabirds maintain their seasonal nests. Close to Reykjavik are highlights like the mighty Gulfoss waterfall, the Geysir and Stokkur geysers and the volcanic rift at Thingvellir where the tectonic plates of Europe and North America are drawing slowly apart.
All can be seen in a day following the ‘Golden Circle’ route. Further afield are spectacular sub-Arctic landscapes including black volcanic beaches, giant glaciers, soaring mountains and sheltered inlets harbouring icebergs – not to mention dozens of barely resting volcanoes like Eyjafjallajökull.
Chile
More than just a gateway to other parts of South America, Chile deserves a close look in its own right.
Take off heading east and it would be easy to over-shoot Chile on a journey to South America. Barely 175km wide on average, this narrow ribbon of a nation is home to the key airline gateway of Santiago, yet is often skipped by travellers heading further to higher-profile destinations like Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires.
Yet what Chile lacks in longitude it more than makes up for in latitude, giving it a striking diversity in cultures and landscapes. Spanning more than 4000km, it stretches from the wild and icy islands of Tierra del Fuego in the south to the mysterious deserts bordering Peru in the north. As its energetic capital, Santiago is more than just a stopover city and offers colourful markets, lively bars and restaurants, serene parks and interesting museums.
In a country defined by the Andes, it is spectacularly located against a backdrop of snow-capped peaks, close to popular ski fields like Valle Nevado. Further north, the world’s driest desert, Atacama, is home to strange lunar landscapes, vast salt flats and active geysers.
The world’s oldest-known mummies stem from the ancient Chinchorro culture of this region and are up to 2000 years older than the preserved pharaohs of Egypt.
In the south, the pristine wilderness of Patagonia is rightly renowned as one of the great natural treasures of the planet, rich with spectacular mountains, fjords, glaciers and forests.
Extraordinary landscapes like the serrated peaks of the Torres del Paine National Park have made it an iconic adventure destination, often packaged with expedition cruises and Antarctic voyages. But perhaps the most intriguing Chilean destination is beyond the mainland ribbon in the south-eastern Pacific, where Rapa Nui, or Easter Island, draws tens of thousands of visitors each.
Rodrigues
Its location will challenge even the most dedicated geography nut, but this tiny isle in the Indian Ocean is worth hunting for.
When Prince William first set foot on Rodrigues for his gap-year visit in 2000, he sent Paparazzi scrambling for their atlases.
Far across the Indian Ocean almost 600km from Mauritius, Rodrigues is a challenge to spot on the map and the closest African terrain to Australia. William first landed here while working on a conservation project for the Royal Geographic Society, then returned four years later with friends for a holiday.
Yet despite its brush with royalty, Rodrigues still flies under the radar compared to better-known Indian Ocean destinations, and its sleepy isolation is world away from the upmarket resorts of the Maldives or Seychelles. An autonomous territory of Mauritius, the island is just 18km long and home to about 40,000 people with a mix of African and French decent.
Its food, traditions and music all reflect a centuries-old blend of African and European traits, and its people maintain a proudly independent mindset with a determination to uphold the island’s easy-paced lifestyle. Among its highlights are white beaches and secluded bays, mostly free of the beach clubs, hawkers and sun lounges of other island destinations.
Its lagoon shelters some 20 coral islets with evocative names like Gombrani, L’Hermitage and Ile aux Chats. Some, like Ile aux Cocos, are sanctuaries for thousands of seabirds and make popu
lar destinations for boat excursions. Inland, the tropical Rodriguan landscape is home to several conservation parks and reforestation projects, including the François Leguat Reserve where more than 1000 giant tortoises roam freely under a captive breeding program aiming to replace reptiles wiped out in the 1700s.
Other natural attractions include the island’s colonies of bats, networks of caves decorated with stalactites and stalagmites, and extensive areas of coral reef ideal for diving and snorkelling.
Sri Lanka
No longer dismissed as “India Lite”, Sri Lanka has emerged to claim its place among the highlights of South Asia.
If there’s one problem with exploring Sri Lanka, it’s finding a place to start. This compact island barely rivals Ireland in size, yet somehow seems to cram as much as the rest of South Asia into its small but verdant backyard.
It’s a land of aromatic and vividly spiced foods, ancient Buddhist and Hindu temples, colonial history from the Dutch, Portuguese and British, and jungle wildlife from leopards and monkeys to elephants.
It’s a place of surf shacks and yoga retreats, luxury resorts and Ayurvedha spas, railway journeys and tea plantations, and elaborate traditions and festivals played out with colour and pageantry. Now stable after the civil war that plagued its north and the tsunami that devastated its east, Sri Lanka is enjoying a visitor revival.
From its capital Colombo, most visitors disperse along Sri Lanka’s west coast where the majority of its beaches and resorts are found, from simple seaside shacks to exclusive five star retreats.
The south-west is home to the old Dutch city of Galle, perhaps the prettiest of Sri Lanka’s coastal centres with a rich legacy of old colonial buildings. Inland, Sri Lanka’s true romance comes to the fore. Hill towns and tea plantations flourish in the cooler altitudes of the mountain interior, edged by lush tropical forests.
Here the city of Kandy serves as the cultural heart of the nation, famous for its Temple of the Tooth where a sacred tooth of Buddha is secured. The city is also the site of one of Asia’s most spectacular festivals, Esala Perahera, in which processions of dancers and decorated elephants are held during July and August.
Further north, the imposing Sigiriya Rock Fortress is one of the country’s great landmarks – an ancient Buddhist monastery and a fortress, perched upon a monolithic rock outcrop. Elsewhere wildlife lovers can explore national parks including Yala, with the island’s largest population of leopards.
