What's your favourite holiday destination for spending time in nature?

[Mattg]

People often ask me what my favourite destination is. It's really hard to answer this because I like lots of different places for different reasons. Like, if you wanted a city holiday, my recommendation would be totally different than if you wanted a beach resort holiday, or to spend time in nature, etc.

So, for this thread, I invite you to share your recommendations for your favourite place to holiday if you want to experience nature.

For me, I think Lapland in Finland is pretty hard to beat for the vast forests, winter activities and the opportunity to experience the Northern Lights. There's nothing quite like spending time in a cabin in the woods with your own sauna, surrounded by complete and utter silence.

 

[Tiki]

I'm a birder so I like Brazil, Costa Rica and Indonesia for bird diversity and being affordable once you get there on points.

 

[RooFlyer]

Probably Brooks Falls at the start of the Aleutian peninsula in Alaska.

Accessible only by light sea plane from King Salmon airport ( itself small), being able to observe the bears catching salmon mid-jump in the falls and generally going about their business, including with cubs, up close but safely, has been a major highlight of my travels.

Walking the trails in the forest with no fences between the bear observation points and seeing them out of the window of cabin at night does impart a certain frisson.

 

[drron]

The 2 very best experiences in nature I have experienced are both with cruises.
The first when we cruised the Inside Passage on an 8 person converted crab boat. Bears. birds and baleen whales. Seeing bald eagles flying overhead with large salmon in their possession. Bears coming onto the shore to watch us and the best when a humback surfaced right beside our kayak. Not to mention the fabulous halibut fishing and fresh caught Dungeness crabs.
The boat was the Sikumi. It looks like the original owners have sold out but details here-

Cruise Date How Much Is An Alaskan Cruise - Alaska Uncharted

See pricing and availability for Alaska Uncharted' Sikumi and Golden Eagle. All cruises are 7 days, 6 nights.

alaskauncharted.com

The scond was the Galapagos. A place that I think David Attenborough doesn't do justice to the totality of the Galapagos.. Swimming with sea lions and one surfacing with me wis flipper on my back and looking straight at me., having blue footed coughies catching small fist from the shoal I was swimming with, penguins ovr coral reefs, mating rituals of blue footed coughies taking place right at my feet and watching a sea lion giving birth. We sailed on Athala 11 by Haugan cruises who obviously no more and it is now owned by Celebrity so possibly things are totally different.
But I would recommend a small ship. They were all 16 pax boats when we went but I do see different numbers now. The reason 16 passengers max allowed onshore at one time. We went in August which is low season because rough seas more liky then but it was calm throughout our week onboard. It is also bird mating season and their mating rituals are wondeful to watch. As it is low season less NP rangers needed so some have a bus mans holiday and work on the boats. ours was one and she was fantastc.

https://www.wildfoottravel.com/destinations/ecuador/vessels/athala-ii-celebrity-xploration

A special mention or the Napo Wilderness lodge in the Ecuadorian Amazon region. when we went it again was for 16 guests. Originally divided into groups of 6 and 10. the 6 were Dutch birders. but Mrsdrron was injured so did not take part in the activities. I was asked if I would be willing to join the birders group and I accepted. Apparently they didn't ask the birders as they were not amused when I turned up. By the end of the 7 days they all were happy as I again acted as a bird whisperer. One day i was getting bored watching the macaws so I went and sat on the one chair on the other side of the platform. Over 30 minutes 6 small birds came and sat beside me. I was ignored for a while but finally their guide came over and was astounded that the bird beside me had never before been seen in this region. The other 5 were only rarely seen around the area. I became a popular member of the group.

 

[Bazzi]

The Oirase Gorge in Japan. I don’t consider myself to be religious or spiritual person but it is absolutely the most zen place I have ever been. The sheer beauty and peacefulness of the area brings tears to my eyes every time!

We stay at the Hoshino Oirase Keiryu Resort - the only hotel on the gorge.

We have been fortunate to see it in the spring and autumn - in both instances it snowed - and next week we travel back there to see it in winter. I can’t wait.