The 26 best journeys to embark on in 2026

We’ve picked 26 epic, perspective-shifting journeys to take in 2026, from luxury train rides and cross-country road trips to cycling odysseys

By Christy Spring

Journeys, good or grim, always leave their mark. I can still summon every rattling mile of the nine-hour bus from Palenque to Mérida, a ride punctuated by a biblical bout of food poisoning and the crutch of an Imodium pill. We remember the getting-there as much as the being-there. As children, it might be the road trips to grandparents with The Eagles on loop; later, maybe the Calais ferry to a leaky tent in France or your first gap-year night bus with the air-con locked to arctic hell.

Travel is impossible without journeys. They’re the bulk of our time away, the awkward, essential ways we move through the world. And while history hands us its pantheon of explorers – the map-makers, the sea captains, the men in ruffs who mostly blundered into places already inhabited – we don’t need to worship them to recognise the urge that led people to move. A long journey can stir something, whether you’re Odysseus drifting homeward, or a backpacker taking the LNER service up to Edinburgh.

Which is why, for 2026, we’ve chosen 26 journeys worth making. Not all in one year, unless you’ve got annual leave to burn, but enough to remind you that the best, most mind-expanding travel exists beyond the sun-lounger. It’s the boat to Antarctica, the kayak through the Hebrides, the road trip in Patagonia. It is rewarding, challenging and memorable – the kind of travel that lodges itself deep into your hippocampus.

Ditch the airport chaos and hop aboard The Travelski Night Express straight to the heart of Les 3 Vallées this winter. The locomotive whisks you from Paris to Moûtiers overnight in comfort, with 660 cosy sleeper berths and a bar-restaurant car. Wake up to snow-capped peaks, take a short transfer to Méribel’s famed slopes, and hit the world’s largest ski area (600km of pistes) before loading up on fondue, raclette and perhaps a glass of Whispering Angel.

From £4,520 per person (including seven nights accommodation); uk.travelski.com