Best for: bragging rights!

People who’ve already done bucket-list African safaris will start looking for exotic alternatives, in different places and with different animals. I’m tipping Brazil’s Pantanal region will be big in 2025.

The Pantanal region is the world’s largest freshwater wetland. Many Australian travel writers I’ve socialised with recently are heading there and I’m determined that 2025 will finally be the year that I get to snorkel in the amazing crystal clear waters near Bonito in the southern Pantanal.

It’s a region that’s close to Paraguay — number six on Lonely Planet’s countries list— but you’d be mad to go to Paraguay and not visit the Pantanal, and there are tours that combine them both.

The Pantanal also boasts the highest density of jaguars (the largest feline in the Americas) anywhere in the world, and the world’s largest concentration — about 10 million — of caimans (a smaller cousin of the crocodile).

India’s 100-plus National Parks and wildlife fit the bill too, with Bengal tigers rivalling African lions as stars on social media.

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Best for: a tropical escape without a long-haul flight

As marvellous as the Galapagos islands are, it’s a long way for Australians to get there and repeat visits require great dedication. So the quest is on among cruise operators to find similar places that are easier for Australians to get to.

PONANT, Aurora Expeditions, Coral Expedition and others are honing in on lush parts of Indonesia, Borneo, and Papua New Guinea, sailing out of Darwin or places in Asia that aren’t too “long-haul”. But the most interesting recent announcement has come from a longstanding champion of the Galapagos: Aqua Expeditions.

From December 2025, it will expand its fleet and offer new sailings of the East African coast to biodiversity hotspots in Seychelles, Aldabra Atoll and Zanzibar, Tanzania. Could this be the new Galapagos?

I was born in Kenya, and have fantastic memories of childhood holidays along the East African coast, so yes, bring it on!

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Best for: uninterrupted stargazing and seeing the northern and southern lights

I’m seeing a surge of interest in the night skies, spurred on by all the excitement generated by seeing the northern and southern lights – and by the fact that many of us live in neon-lit cities that dull the starry skies.

It’s also the nocturnal yin to the yang of or growing urge to reconnect with nature’s daytime glory.

Warrumbungle National Park was proclaimed Australia’s first Dark Sky Park in 2016, the list has now grown, so take advantage in 2025. The park is a bit of a trek from the major cities, so why not road-trip from Sydney through to Orange, onto Mudgee, then finish in Warrumbungles so that you can pick up a supply of fine Australian wines to enjoy during a star-lit evening in the famed Dark Sky Park.

Overseas, Dark Sky Alqueva in Portugal was a pioneer in this area and it just won the World’s Responsible Tourism Award 2024 at the recent World Travel Awards, so book your stay soon.

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I’m expecting interest in walking holidays to surge in 2025, spurred on partly by our inaugural Walk with the Weekly Challenge last September, which showed many of us how pleasurable and beneficial walking can be once you make it part of your daily habit.

It also ties in with a trend that World Expeditions CEO Sue Badyari noted in our November 2024 issue feature on land tours: Aussie women are up for a challenge. “They’re looking for something that requires an element of physical and mental preparation and delivers a sense of achievement on completion.”

I can relate to this, having embarked in my late 50s on my first ever self-guided week-long walking tour in the remote parts of Northern Portugal with On Foot Holidays followed by a hike to the top of Australia’s highest mountain, Mount Kosciuszko (2228m) aged 60.

Self-guided tours are the best option as you set your own pace – mine is leisurely.

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