Long Haul
Long-Haul Holidays, Worth the Journey
A long-haul holiday takes you somewhere that feels genuinely different: another climate, another culture, landscapes and food you will not find closer to home. The flight is longer, but so is the sense of escape.
Long haul covers everything from Caribbean beaches and American cities to safaris, the Far East and Australia. These are often bigger trips, taken less often, so it is worth getting the route, the timing and the pace right.
A long way from the everyday
Part of the pleasure of long haul is how far it takes you from the everyday. You might swap a grey February for a beach in the tropics, spend an evening at a street-food market in Asia or watch the sun come up over a landscape you have only seen in photographs.
Because the journey is longer, most people stay longer too: ten nights or a fortnight rather than a week. That extra time opens up trips with two or three stops, such as a city followed by a beach, without the holiday ever feeling rushed.
Where could you go?
Flight times from the UK are approximate and depend on the route.
- The Caribbean
- Around eight to ten hours to islands such as Barbados, Antigua, St Lucia and Jamaica, for beaches, warm seas and an easy-going pace.
- The USA and Canada
- From about eight hours to the east coast and eleven or more to the west, for cities, national parks, road trips and theme parks.
- The Middle East
- Dubai and Abu Dhabi are about seven hours away and work well as a holiday in themselves or as a stopover on the way east.
- The Indian Ocean
- The Maldives, Mauritius and the Seychelles are roughly ten to twelve hours away, for some of the world’s best-known beaches.
- The Far East
- Thailand, Vietnam, Japan, Bali and their neighbours are typically eleven to fourteen hours or more away, often with a connection, with temples, food and beaches to explore.
- Australia and New Zealand
- The longest journey of all, about a day’s travel with a stop, and best enjoyed over three weeks or more.
Making a long flight easier
- Direct or via a stopover
- A direct flight is quickest. A stopover of a night or two, in Dubai or Singapore for example, breaks the journey and adds a second destination.
- Choosing your cabin
- Premium economy offers more legroom and a wider seat. Business class usually adds a flat bed, which matters most on overnight flights.
- Jet lag
- Travelling east tends to be harder than travelling west. Allowing a quiet first day and getting outside in daylight helps you adjust.
- How long to stay
- As a rule of thumb, the further you fly, the longer it is worth staying, so you have time to settle in and enjoy it.
Before you travel
Entry rules vary from country to country. Many destinations ask for a passport with at least six months’ validity, and some require a visa or an electronic travel authorisation arranged before you fly, such as the ESTA for the United States. The GOV.UK foreign travel advice pages set out the current requirements for each country.
Some destinations also recommend or require vaccinations, so speak to your GP or a travel clinic well before you travel, and see TravelHealthPro for current health advice. Arrange travel insurance when you book.
How Auria can help
A long-haul trip has more moving parts than a week in the sun: flights and connections, stopovers, internal travel and how long to spend in each place. This is where a tailor-made trip comes into its own. Once we know where you want to go and roughly how long you have, our travel professionals can put the route together for you, choosing the flights, the stops and the places to stay. If a tour operator already offers a trip that does it well, we will book that instead.
We look after the booking and are there to answer questions before you travel.
Current Long-Haul Offers
Below is a selection of current long-haul holidays from Auria. It is not every trip we can arrange, so if you have a particular destination, route or date in mind, tell us and we will help you find something suitable.
Not sure where to go?
Tell us what you have in mind, even if it is only a rough idea, and one of our travel professionals will talk it through with you.
