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Some of our favourite destinations and amazing places to inspire your travel plans.
Adding excursions is a great way to explore your chosen destination and make your trip a memorable experience. Whether you're keen to soak in the warm water of the geothermal Blue Lagoon in Iceland, spend a night in a Mongolian ger camp or watch the sunrise in Burma from a hot air balloon, it's the experiences that make a Regent Holiday.
Are you looking for inspiration for your next trip? Look no further than our experts' pick of the most pioneering tours, exciting experiences, trending destinations and brand new holidays in the Regent collection.
Born and raised in post-communist Bulgaria, my love for travel started when I was only 10 on my first trip to Western Europe (back then, we had to queue for hours and hours to cross any border and collect multiple stamps on our passports before we are allowed to enter any country; it was years before Bulgaria joined the EU, so travelling back then wasn’t easy at all). I remember that during that first trip, I was so fascinated by everything I got to see and experience, that I decided that my goal in life will be to see as much of the world as possible.
A decade later, fresh out of University, my career in travel started with my first job in a travel agency: I fell in love with the industry from day one. So far it's given me so many incredible experiences and I've met many amazing people from all over the world. Before moving to the UK, I spent a year working in Paris, led groups to more than 15 different countries, spent three summers in a bustling resort in northern Corfu and earned an international degree in Tourism in beautiful Italy.
Since joining Regent, I have been lucky enough to travel to Iceland - a country that‘s been on my bucket list for years and I‘m completely in awe of. The country is so stunningly beautiful, no picture you‘ve ever seen does it justice, but what I love about it the most is how different it is from any other place in the world.
It's incredible how travelling to such a remote place, with one of the most severe climates in the world, opens your mind - it was a great opportunity to see just how powerful nature really is. I am blown away by it and will definitely be visiting again as soon as I can. My favourite part of the country, without a doubt, is the north, home to beautiful Akureyri and Lake Myvatn, though the absolutely mesmerising Glacier Lagoon comes in a very close second. My top tip: make sure you go on a glacier hike, it was definitely one of the coolest things I‘ve ever done!
Carl has been with Regent holidays since 2004 and is one of our leading experts on the Caucasus and North and South Korea. He has led dozens of tours, and knows some of our more uncommon destinations like no one else. With 20 plus trips to North Korea alone under his belt, Carl is regularly called upon by the BBC, The Times and other media outlets to comment on the country.
From Carl: I joined Regent in 2004 after two years living in Mongolia. From Bosnia to Burma, I have always enjoyed more unusual destinations - and that’s why I love leading tours for Regent. In my time here I have had enough weird, wonderful and memorable experiences to fill a lifetime; whether posing as a scientist to get our inaugural Chernobyl tour group into “the zone,” being given a private train carriage for the 9000km journey all the way from Pyongyang to Moscow or being followed by the Turkmen KGB. My tours are always an adventure.
My true labour of love is developing our North Korea tours and I have had the opportunity to visit this unique, propaganda-filled country more than 20 times. In many cases, we have been the first ever western tours into certain cities and regions.
One of my favourite tours at the moment is our pioneering North Korea tour – exactly for that reason – we’re visiting regions and cities very few people get to see. Our trip up to the provincial capital of Chongjin is especially rare, while the chance to visit an everyday market in Rajin is completely unique. If you want to see North Korea beyond Pyongyang, this is the tour to take.
I have also worked on creating a pioneering tour that travels through Abkhazia, a forgotten, ex-soviet breakaway state in the Caucasus that offers visitors the opportunity to watch as a region unofficially recognised as a country begins to flourish following a turbulent past few decades.
My first visit to Russia, or to the then Soviet Union, was in 1973. Oranges were a sought after luxury and the tour guides towed the party line. Many illusions of down trodden, sullen people were dispelled – with temperatures hitting the upper 80s folk were out and about in summer clothes, eating ice creams, swimming in the rivers, picnicking and queuing at street barrels for the alcohol-free malt beer kvas. So started a long love affair with Russia.
I have since returned many, many times but my excitement for the country has never waivered. There is always a frisson of tension and a hustle and bustle about the place, especially in Moscow. One cannot fail to be awe-inspired by the former wealth of the Tsars and the autocracy with their opulent palaces and priceless art collections. It is worth venturing off the well-trodden tourist routes to experience the vastness of the world’s largest country.
Take the train from Moscow to Irkutsk - an amazing piece of engineering in itself - to gaze in wonder at the world’s deepest lake, Lake Baikal. Stop en route in Yekaterinburg, Russia’s first industrial city; and the gateway between Europe and the East with the Ural Mountains forming a natural boundary Yekaterinburg’s main claim to fame is as the city where the last Tsar of Russia’s family were assassinated.
My first tour with Regent was over 27 years ago to the then staunch communist state of Albania. All foreigners were viewed with suspicion and one had to walk through a disinfectant trough on entry in order not to contaminate the local populace. Several times I was hauled before the secret police because members of my group had tried to venture on to a train. It took much persuasion to convince them of the British love of rail travel. North Korea is not dissimilar today; in order to pay your respects to the late Great Leader and founder of the present-day state, you have to be fumigated!
If I had to pick a favourite tour it would have to be Russia and the trip I took down the river Volga. There's the Kremlin, GUM and Red Square in Moscow at the start and the Great Palace and famous museums of St Petersburg at the end, but the best bit is that you get to see Russian life from the banks of the Volga. There is also a stop in Kizhi Island. The huge wooden churches here are one of Russia's least known but most impressive attractions. You can travel on a similar trip on one of our 5-Star Russian River Cruise holidays.
Born and raised in post-communist Bulgaria, my love for travel started when I was only 10 on my first trip to Western Europe (back then, we had to queue for hours and hours to cross any border and collect multiple stamps on our passports before we are allowed to enter any country; it was years before Bulgaria joined the EU, so travelling back then wasn’t easy at all). I remember that during that first trip, I was so fascinated by everything I got to see and experience, that I decided that my goal in life will be to see as much of the world as possible.
A decade later, fresh out of University, my career in travel started with my first job in a travel agency: I fell in love with the industry from day one. So far it's given me so many incredible experiences and I've met many amazing people from all over the world. Before moving to the UK, I spent a year working in Paris, led groups to more than 15 different countries, spent three summers in a bustling resort in northern Corfu and earned an international degree in Tourism in beautiful Italy.
Since joining Regent, I have been lucky enough to travel to Iceland - a country that‘s been on my bucket list for years and I‘m completely in awe of. The country is so stunningly beautiful, no picture you‘ve ever seen does it justice, but what I love about it the most is how different it is from any other place in the world.
It's incredible how travelling to such a remote place, with one of the most severe climates in the world, opens your mind - it was a great opportunity to see just how powerful nature really is. I am blown away by it and will definitely be visiting again as soon as I can. My favourite part of the country, without a doubt, is the north, home to beautiful Akureyri and Lake Myvatn, though the absolutely mesmerising Glacier Lagoon comes in a very close second. My top tip: make sure you go on a glacier hike, it was definitely one of the coolest things I‘ve ever done!
Carl has been with Regent holidays since 2004 and is one of our leading experts on the Caucasus and North and South Korea. He has led dozens of tours, and knows some of our more uncommon destinations like no one else. With 20 plus trips to North Korea alone under his belt, Carl is regularly called upon by the BBC, The Times and other media outlets to comment on the country.
From Carl: I joined Regent in 2004 after two years living in Mongolia. From Bosnia to Burma, I have always enjoyed more unusual destinations - and that’s why I love leading tours for Regent. In my time here I have had enough weird, wonderful and memorable experiences to fill a lifetime; whether posing as a scientist to get our inaugural Chernobyl tour group into “the zone,” being given a private train carriage for the 9000km journey all the way from Pyongyang to Moscow or being followed by the Turkmen KGB. My tours are always an adventure.
My true labour of love is developing our North Korea tours and I have had the opportunity to visit this unique, propaganda-filled country more than 20 times. In many cases, we have been the first ever western tours into certain cities and regions.
One of my favourite tours at the moment is our pioneering North Korea tour – exactly for that reason – we’re visiting regions and cities very few people get to see. Our trip up to the provincial capital of Chongjin is especially rare, while the chance to visit an everyday market in Rajin is completely unique. If you want to see North Korea beyond Pyongyang, this is the tour to take.
I have also worked on creating a pioneering tour that travels through Abkhazia, a forgotten, ex-soviet breakaway state in the Caucasus that offers visitors the opportunity to watch as a region unofficially recognised as a country begins to flourish following a turbulent past few decades.
My first visit to Russia, or to the then Soviet Union, was in 1973. Oranges were a sought after luxury and the tour guides towed the party line. Many illusions of down trodden, sullen people were dispelled – with temperatures hitting the upper 80s folk were out and about in summer clothes, eating ice creams, swimming in the rivers, picnicking and queuing at street barrels for the alcohol-free malt beer kvas. So started a long love affair with Russia.
I have since returned many, many times but my excitement for the country has never waivered. There is always a frisson of tension and a hustle and bustle about the place, especially in Moscow. One cannot fail to be awe-inspired by the former wealth of the Tsars and the autocracy with their opulent palaces and priceless art collections. It is worth venturing off the well-trodden tourist routes to experience the vastness of the world’s largest country.
Take the train from Moscow to Irkutsk - an amazing piece of engineering in itself - to gaze in wonder at the world’s deepest lake, Lake Baikal. Stop en route in Yekaterinburg, Russia’s first industrial city; and the gateway between Europe and the East with the Ural Mountains forming a natural boundary Yekaterinburg’s main claim to fame is as the city where the last Tsar of Russia’s family were assassinated.
My first tour with Regent was over 27 years ago to the then staunch communist state of Albania. All foreigners were viewed with suspicion and one had to walk through a disinfectant trough on entry in order not to contaminate the local populace. Several times I was hauled before the secret police because members of my group had tried to venture on to a train. It took much persuasion to convince them of the British love of rail travel. North Korea is not dissimilar today; in order to pay your respects to the late Great Leader and founder of the present-day state, you have to be fumigated!
If I had to pick a favourite tour it would have to be Russia and the trip I took down the river Volga. There's the Kremlin, GUM and Red Square in Moscow at the start and the Great Palace and famous museums of St Petersburg at the end, but the best bit is that you get to see Russian life from the banks of the Volga. There is also a stop in Kizhi Island. The huge wooden churches here are one of Russia's least known but most impressive attractions. You can travel on a similar trip on one of our 5-Star Russian River Cruise holidays.