5 Unforgettable Places to Sleep

We love a hotel bed as much as the next person. Layers of crisp white sheets and duvets artfully tucked together in a way that we can never quite recreate at home. But when you’re visiting somewhere new, getting a real sense of a place can involve staying outside the familiar four walls of a hotel.

Exodus Edits trips are carefully designed to help you get to know a place better – and that includes some sensational, or a little more unusual, places to sleep. Think mountain lodges and riverside camps in Nepal, sailing boats in Greece and majestic Fort-Palaces in India. Here’s a roundup of our most unforgettable places to sleep.

A Sleeper Train in Egypt

After kayaking on the Nile and zigzagging through Cairo on a food tour on our Pyramids & Pharaohs in Egypt trip, weariness will help lull you into a slumber aboard a sleeper train to Aswan. The compartments are small and simple, but with any luck, by morning you’ll be refreshed and ready for a day aboard a felucca. You’ll explore the river, inlets, and isles and enjoy a change of pace from the frenzy of Cairo.

A Desert Tent in Jordan

Cast out in the Wadi Rum desert in Jordan is a collection of eerie-looking domes. Aptly named Wadi Rum UFO, these pods are designed for top stargazing prospects. Astronomers are on hand to help spot cosmic objects before you sleep soundly under the night sky. You’ll stay a night here on our Desert to Dead Sea in Jordan trip, following other memorable stays in a forest cabin and a fortress-style hotel in Petra.

A Houseboat in India

The watery utopia of Alleppey is the heart of Kerala’s backwaters. On our Bazaars & Backwaters in India trip, you won’t just admire the iconic houseboats from the shore. You’ll step aboard to meander the waterways and enjoy a traditional dinner prepared by the houseboat crew. Then you’ll turn in, spending a night afloat before waving a fond farewell to Alleppey and travelling on to Vypeen Island – the final stop on an incredible two-week adventure through India.

A Forest Lodge in the USA

Oh, California, how we love you. Your vibrant cities. Your gorgeous beaches. And the incredible Yosemite National Park. Our week-long California tour, Sequoias & SUP, has a two-night stop on the riverside in Yosemite. It’s the perfect location to take on the famed Panorama Trail and catch views that will be etched on your mind forever.

A Poet’s Retreat in Iceland

Poet and historian Snorri Sturluson is something of an Icelandic legend. He called Bounteous home - a land of lava fields and waterfalls that served as an inspiration to his Norse sagas. When you join our Eternal Summer in Iceland trip, you’ll stay in this wonderland, experiencing a soothing geothermal bath and walking to the mighty Eldborg Crater.