If 2023 calls for exhilaration and excitement, you’ve come to the right place. Whether you’re looking for a demanding physical test, searching for a solo adventure to push yourself out of your comfort zone, or want to find a new experience to share with friends, challenges can come in all shapes and sizes.
Exodus has created challenging holidays since 1974, bringing adventurers together on trips that scale mountains, cross wild terrains, and visit remote corners of the world on tried-and-tested itineraries.
Combining your 2023 challenge with an overseas trip can mean rewarding your efforts with some downtime to celebrate in an energised city or on a sun-kissed beach or simply having the opportunity to meet others embarking on the same adventure and bonding over mutual missions.
When you’re ready to take on an overseas adventure with something that demands physical or mental focus, it helps when you can concentrate on the task at hand, knowing the on-the-ground logistics and accommodation are taken care of. That’s where Exodus steps in, handling all the details with experts to facilitate your adventure, from planning the perfect routes to ensuring everything runs smoothly when you’re there. Take a look below at seven rewarding challenges you can tackle in 2023.
1. Climb two Moroccan mountains
Despite being North Africa’s highest mountain, Jebel Toubkal in Morocco is an achievable climb for those who are fit and determined. While summer departures are available, it’s more challenging in the winter when crampons and ice axes are often needed, adding a further dimension to the adventure.
On winter departures between October and March, you’ll have time to settle into Morocco with a night in Marrakech before you head to the High Atlas. The climb begins on the third day, and it takes two days to reach the peak. The adventure continues with an ascent of Jebel Ouanoukrim – North Africa’s second-highest mountain – before the trip finishes with celebrations of your achievement in Marrakech.
2. Bike across dunes in Namibia
Keen cyclist? Then you already know the advantages of travelling on two wheels, experiencing the terrain of a place first-hand and moving through a destination under your own steam. Combine your love of biking with a trip to Namibia, where you’ll cycle for around 24 miles a day, experiencing the diversity of this desert nation.
Some say Namibia is a true escape, where you venture through vast wildernesses of huge plains beneath wide-open skies that feel wonderfully remote. You’ll even have the chance to try cycling over dunes on a modified ‘fat’ bike. Bike hire, accommodation and most of your meals are included – this is a case of showing up and getting going on an unforgettable adventure.
3. Trek to Machu Picchu
A classic feature on many a bucket list, seeing the sensational Machu Picchu for yourself is an adventure rightly deserving of its reputation. As one of the ancient world’s most astonishing architectural and engineering marvels, its lofty position meant it was lost in the jungle for centuries before it was rediscovered in 1911.
If you’ve always fancied the adventure but want to be sure you’ll be comfortable on the journey, our Inca Trail in Comfort trip stays in premium hotels on either side of the trek and includes three nights of full-service camping during the four-day walk, which comes with full porterage for your belongings.
4. Cycle through Central America
If you’re looking for a two-week adventure that poses an achievable but stretching challenge, our three-country cycle holiday across Nicaragua, Costa Rice, and Panama should be on your shortlist. It follows a cleverly designed itinerary that takes your peloton from Granada through Costa Rican rainforest, alongside volcanoes and an island on Lake Nicaragua, before riding through rural villages on the balmy Caribbean coast. A cycle near the Panama Canal concludes a truly epic trip.
5. Complete the Mont Blanc Circuit
One of Europe’s most famous walks circumnavigates the highest mountain in western Europe – Mont Blanc. Join a five-night slimmed-down version of this classic trek around the Mont Blanc Massif, spanning France, Italy, and Switzerland, walking for around eight or nine hours daily to complete the mission. Your hard work is rewarded with spectacular views thanks to an itinerary that concentrates on some of the most beautiful sections of the circuit.
6. Explore areas only accessible by snowshoes in Italy
Snowshoeing is a wonderful way to get out and about in snowy terrain with special footwear that distributes your weight across the snow. It’s the ideal way for keen hikers and non-skiers to explore winter wildernesses, including Transylvania. You can also go snowshoeing in Italy by heading to the northern edge of the Dolomites, following a route that leads into the Fane-Sennes Natural Park and along a lakeside beneath dramatically jagged peaks. Our Snowshoeing in the Dolomites trip is an eight-day adventure comprising five guided snowshoe walks that take you across Fanes-Sennes Natural Park and through forests and old military tracks towards the picturesque viewpoints of Durrakopf (2275m) and Strudelkopf (2307m). In the evenings, you can unwind in your comfortable 4-star hotel, Hotel Adler, in Villabassa, and enjoy making use of their superb indoor pool and wellness centre that comes complete with a sauna.
7. Master winter wilderness skills in Finland
You can snowshoe in Finland, too, combining the experience with other activities in the wild and wintery wilderness in Oulanka National Park. Staying in a cosy, remote collection of traditional-style timber buildings, you’ll have the opportunity to try dogsledding, cross-country skiing, and ice climbing and learn wilderness skills such as quinzhee building and fire-making. You don’t need the gear – all your arctic winter equipment and clothing are provided, making it an accessible trip for aspiring adventurers to try something new in 2023.
If you’re keen on finding more exhilarating and exciting adventures to look forward to in 2023, click here.