Overcrowding at some of the world’s most iconic sites and destinations has become a fast growing issue over the past years. With this in mind, our team at AWR has put together our favorite ALTERNATIVE bucket list adventures: just as incredible and exciting and maybe even more so because odds are, you’ll have these spectacular places all to yourself!
- 6-Day Best of the Huayhuash Trek (PERU)
- 8-Day Remote Trails Aysen and Patagonia Park (CHILE)
- 16-Day Annapurna Sanctuary Trek (NEPAL)
- 8-Day Camino de Santiago (Portuguese Coastal Route) Standard (SPAIN)
- 7-Day Los Glaciares National Park: Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre Trek (ARGENTINA)
- 6-Day Rongai Route (TANZANIA)
- 8-Day Los Nevados Trekking (COLOMBIA)
- 3-Day Uyuni Glamping Luxury Lodge (BOLIVIA)
- 4-Day Northwest Argentina: Trekking to the Clouds (ARGENTINA)
- 5-Day Luxury Rainbow Mountain Lodge to Lodge Trek (PERU)
1) 6-Day Best of the Huayhuash Trek (PERU)
Season: April-October
Starting Price: $995
With new access roads into what is considered the most spectacular mountain scenery of Peru, we have developed this trek into the heart of the mountain range. It offers a new opportunity for those who don’t have the time to do the longer, classic traditional route (14 days). A prerequisite however is to be well acclimatized since we gain altitude quickly!
Set departures for the group rate are on Saturdays, April through October. You may combine this with the 4-day Cordillera Blanca trek for a 10-day expedition. Or ask us for custom recommendations for the ultimate Cordillera Blanca experience!
2) 8- Day Remote Trails Aysen and Patagonia Park (CHILE)
Season: October-April
Starting Price: $3075
Chile’s beloved Nobel Prize winning-poet Pablo Neruda once said, “He who does not know the Chilean forests does not know the planet.” In addition to the vast old-growth forests, Northern Patagonia boasts glaciers, fjords, wild rivers, clear lakes, and waterfalls. The gateway to Chile’s far south, with the Carretera Austral (Southern Highway) winding its way through the region, Aisen is an area of incredible beauty and remoteness that people expect from Patagonia, but won’t find further south. With such wonders as the Futaleufu River, considered by rafters and kayakers to be South America’s absolute best, and areas of quiet wilderness, Northern Patagonia attracts both adventurous travelers and those in search of solitude.
3) 16- Day Annapurna Sanctuary Trek (NEPAL)
Season: February-May, September-December
Starting Price: $1695
This amazing trek in Nepal takes us into the beautiful realm of the Annapurna Base Camp. This pristine mountain box canyon is surrounded by some of the Himalayas most alluring peaks. On the Annapurna Sanctuary trek, not only do we experience the phenomenal mountain scenery but also a wonderful mix of local people and traditional villages along the way.
The Annapurna Himal lies between the Kali Gandaki and Marsyangdi river valley, forming an imposing bastion of high mountains. In its span of 40 miles, the range encompasses twelve peaks higher than 22,960ft (7000m) with numerous others well over 19,680ft (6000m). As rhododendron forests give way to bamboo groves, which in turn vanish into the high-desert landscapes, people of Aryan stock give way to those of Mongol stock and the predominant religion changes from Hinduism in the lower reaches to Buddhism in the higher regions.
4) 8- Day Camino de Santiago (Portuguese Coastal Route) Standard (SPAIN)
Season: March-November
Starting Price: $945
The Portuguese Coastal Way is an excellent alternative to the French Way. This stunning walk weaves along the coastline of Portugal into Spain, taking in some beautiful fishing towns and scenery. The seafood along the route is gorgeous with fresh produce served in most restaurants.
Spend time on the white sandy beaches of Northern Portugal and Southern Galicia and soak in the laid back atmosphere of maritime culture on this peaceful Camino way.
Meet fellow pilgrims, discover local traditions and get your pilgrim passport stamped as you walk through woodlands, farmland and rustic hamlets. Once in Santiago, get your “Compostela” certificate and explore the magic of the Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
5) 7- Day Los Glaciares National Park: Fitz Roy and Cerro Torre Trek (ARGENTINA)
Season: October-April
Starting Price: $1395
From north to south, trek to the basecamps of Mt. Fitz Roy & Cerro Torre, camping at each and trekking to Paso del Viento with views of the second largest icecap outside the polar regions! Trek, zipline and camp while you experience classic Argentine Patagonia landscapes – steep granite spires towering over vast glaciers, cerulean lakes, rivers and forests!
6) 6- Day Rongai Route (TANZANIA)
Season: December-March, September-October
Starting Price: $2045
The Rongai Route is one of the easiest routes and the success rate is very high.
The route starts on the north side of the mountain just south of the Kenyan border, and is one of the least traveled routes. The descent is down the Marangu Route on the south side of the mountain, so climbers see the mountain from many view points.
The drive to the trail head takes about 3 hours from Moshi through many villages and coffee plantations, including a stop to register climbing permits at Marangu.
The Rongai Route can also be accessed from Amboseli National Park in Kenya. Allow 2 hours including border crossing. We will need copies of passports ahead of time.
7) 8-Day Los Nevados Trekking (COLOMBIA)
Season: All year
Starting Price: $1795
Enjoy an awesome mix of city, mountains, and rural coffee country on this custom, private trekking tour that you can start any day of the year.
The trek has a number of days at over 12,460 feet (3,800 meters) above sea level so we would consider it physically challenging (similar to the Inca Trail). Walking can be adapted, however, to suit a traveler’s needs and pace; that is, the distance and inclinations can be increased or decreased in difficulty based on a traveler’s needs.
Your baggage, food, and equipment will be carried by mules for the duration of the trek; you need only carry your daypack. A logistics manager, chef, and trek leader make up the trek team with additional helpers depending on group size. Camps will be made ready for when you arrive and the trek has been designed so you typically arrive for lunch, with the rest of the afternoon to relax and take part in further activities like optional day hikes.
3-season Marmot tents, warm Marmot sleeping bags, Thermarests, and sleeping bag liners are all provided for you along with lighting and a toilet tent.
Depending on a given location, food may be served either in a support structure or a mess tent. All meals on the trek are included, plus meals in remote locations, such as the flora and fauna sanctuary of Otun-Quimbaya.
For your city stays, you’ll stay in refined 3-star hotels with excellent service and ratings in both Bogota and Cartagena. These can easily be changed for 5-star options on request. In the cities, most meals are up to you, since there are so many choices to pick from, but we will help with transportation if necessary, so you can experience some fabulous local dining.
8) 3- Day Uyuni Glamping Luxury Lodge (BOLIVIA)
Season: Year round
Starting Price: $1975
Standing directly in the middle of the Uyuni Salt Flats, at an altitude of 3,600 m, at the foot of Tunupa Volcano, our luxury dome lodge is waiting for you. From a distance, the white pods, designed by Buckminsterfuller, look like a space station. The dome camp is complete with an observatory built for a passionate astrophysicist! Composed of repeated equilateral triangles, their metallic structure is the very essence of mathematical elegance. In front and on top of the domes, a transparent panel offers wide-open views of the Salar and its star-studded sky. Lit up at night, with solar panels placed in between the domes, they are one of the coolest, and most surrealist viewing stations ever seen in this arid region.
Each day at the lodge, choose your own adventure while exploring the surreal and overwhelmingly beautiful rooftop of the Americas!
9) 4- Day Northwest Argentina: Trekking to the Clouds (ARGENTINA)
Season: April-November
Starting Price: $590
This trek begins at the foot of Cerro El Golgota in Ingeniero Maury and ends four days later in Quebrada de San Lorenzo, right next to Salta city. Explore an old Inca trail amid landscapes of great contrasts. The first part of the tour takes place in a dry and arid climate. During the final segment we will enter the rainforests of Salta’s Yunga. Along the route, we will be in contact with nature and the culture of a special area of Salta.
Starting at the Quebrada del Toro, our first ascent will be surrounded by cardones (giant cacti) and will reveal the snowy peaks of Cerro San Miguel and Acay. The trail leads to the archaeological site of “Sillon del Inca” (Inca Seat), ruins that once belonged to the southern part of the Inca empire. We will continue the trip visiting the local inhabitants of the area, who work the fields and breed livestock over in villages over 3,000 meters high. Camp sites and dinners will be the time to share moments with the group and sometimes with locals when we camp near their homes at night.
10) 5- Day Luxury Rainbow Mountain Lodge to Lodge Trek (PERU)
Season: March-December
Starting Price: $1595
A five-day breathtaking trek in the Cordillera Vilcanota, on a route we call the “Camino Del Apu Ausangate”, the route to the sacred Rainbow Mountain. “Apus”, or “sacred mountains” in Quechua, are the bearers of life and the guardians of some of the most pristine alpine ecosystems in the world. Ausangate, the Rainbow Mountain, is, without a doubt, one of the most stunning peaks you will ever behold and the journey there is a trip of a lifetime.
On your trek you will be accompanied by llamas and horses that will carry our gear. These are owned by shepherds of the community of Chillca who are proud to share their land with us, as well as the spirit of their inspiring world. On our hike and in the unique “Tambos” or Andean Lodges, daily meals will be prepared by experienced chefs who will introduce you to a great variety of delicious Peruvian dishes and produce, and for your entertainment: authentic vernacular music, played by local inhabitants, will liven up some of our evenings at the cozy, candle-lit “tambos.”
Want to book your next adventure? Contact us!