Travel has come to a halt and no one quite knows when it will start moving again. But that shouldn’t stop us planning our next trip.
In fact, the lockdown might open up new possibilities for many of us and create a stronger desire to get going.
Here are the dream destinations of some people in the public eye — and how you can emulate them.
Felicity Kendal – The Good Life actress yearns for the calm of coastal India
The Good Life actress Felicity Kendal says she longs to return to a hideaway she loves in the Indian resort of Goa, pictured
Felicity, pictured, says she loves staying in a ‘posh five-star hotel’
I totally love a posh five-star hotel and I am a complete tart for turn-down service, but all I am craving right now is less: just nature, family and simplicity. When this chaos is over I long to return to a hideaway I love in Goa.
We go as a family and rent a few basic little bungalows on a stretch of sandy beach shaded by palm trees.
No room service, wi-fi, or television, and no amplified man-made sounds.
It is just the birds at dawn and the cicadas at night.
How to do it: A beach holiday at a four-star resort hotel in Goa costs from £1,300pp this winter with Goa Experience (goaexperience.co.uk). Qatar Airways (qatarairways.com) London to Goa via Doha, from £584 return.
Chris Tarrant – Radio and television presenter Chris dreams of an African safari
TV host Chris Tarrant can’t wait to get back on an African safari in the stunning Kruger National Park, pictured, in South Africa
Chris says hearing the roar of a lion while on safari is ‘unforgettable’
I’ll head for the Sabi Sands game reserve in South Africa’s Kruger National Park.
Hearing a mighty lion roar is unforgettable: the booming noise can literally make the ground shake.
Elephants mating, giraffes fighting, monkeys screaming out as a predator approaches, huge crocodiles sliding into the water and hippos honking. It’s all there.
And woe betide anyone who comes between a hippo and its water hole.
How to do it: A four-night stay at the Chitwa Chitwa Private Game Lodge in the Sabi Sands game reserve with Indigo Safaris (wetu.com) starts at £1,980pp.
Fly with British Airways (ba.com), London to Johannesburg, from £486 return.
Britt Ekland – The actress would escape the UK’s capital to be with family in her native Sweden
Britt Ekland says she would love to go back to her native Sweden to be with her family. Pictured is the capital, Stockholm
Britt is currently in London with her ‘darling dog’ Bowie
I am in London with my darling dog Bowie.
But I would like to go back to my house by the sea in Sweden and be with my grandchildren.
I would teach them how to row my rubber dinghy and how to use the tractor to cut the grass neatly in perfect rows.
How to do it: Baltic Travel Company offers an eight-night fly-drive holiday.
You can visit Dalarna, Stockholm and Gothenburg for £1,085pp.(baltictravelcompany.com).
Bernardine Evaristo – The joint winner of last year’s Booker Prize has her eyes on Bali
The winner of last year’s Booker Prize, Bernadine Evaristo, would love to visit Bali, pictured, as it ‘sounds so exotic’
I’ve wanted to visit Bali for years. It just sounds so exotic.
I’d see the historical sites, take massages, go to yoga classes . . . and just chill.
How to do it: A seven-night stay at Club Med Bali’s idyllic beachside retreat (clubmed.co.uk) from October 31 starts at £769pp. Singapore Airlines (singaporeair.com), London to Bali, from £880 return.
Lorraine Kelly – The TV presenter longs for an Antarctica adventure
Ushuaia in Argentina is where GMB host Lorraine Kelly would love to sail from towards Deception Island on the Antarctic peninsula
Lorraine says she was lucky enough to go to Antarctica to follow in the footsteps of Sir Ernest Shackleton
Three years ago I was lucky enough to go to Antarctica, where I followed in the footsteps of the explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton.
He is my hero, and I want to go back — sailing from Ushuaia in Argentina to Deception Island on the Antarctic peninsula.
This is one of the most beautiful places on the planet, teeming with wildlife and so clean, pure and calm.
I will enjoy again the solitude and look out on cathedral-like icebergs, thousands of penguins and gargantuan whales.
How to do it: PolarQuest (polar-quest.com) offers a 21-day adventure from Ushuaia, Argentina to the South Pole, departing November 9 and starting at £10,300pp.
Carina Lepore – Last year’s winner of The Apprentice dreams of taking her son to Florida’s Walt Disney World
Apprentice winner Carina Lepore says she would love to visit Walt Disney World in Florida post-lockdown
We’d love to visit Disney World and some of the other Florida theme parks in the area.
We’d go on all the rides, enjoy the sunshine and tuck into fast food.
How to do it: A seven-night visit to Walt Disney World, Orlando, taking in Disney’s All Star Resorts, with Virgin Holidays (virginholidays.co.uk) from December 5, 2020, starts at £859pp, flights included.
Jeffrey Archer – The author plans to visit Japan
Author Jeffrey Archer can’t wait to visit Tokyo as he was due to travel there this summer for the Olympics, but they have been postponed
Jeffrey says that he finds Tokyo fascinating and loves exploring the ‘fabulous gardens’
I was due to visit Japan this summer for the Olympics, so my number one goal is to go there once this is all over.
I have visited Japan about six times and I adore it. I even accompanied Margaret Thatcher there in 1993.
I love the people. They are generous, warm, reliable and well-disciplined.
Tokyo is always fascinating, and I do enjoy exploring the fabulous gardens and temples. Japanese food is glorious, especially kobe beef.
How to do it: A 12-night stay in Japan, visiting Tokyo, Hiroshima and Kyoto, is from £5,625pp with Abercrombie & Kent (ambercrombiekent.co.uk), flights included.
Carol Drinkwater – The actress-turned-author dreams of returning to the South Seas island where she tied the knot
Author Carol Drinkwater dreams of returning to Aitutaki in the Cook Islands, which is surrounded by a ‘magical turquoise lagoon’
This month is mine and my French husband Michel’s 32nd wedding anniversary.
So I would like to return with him to the place we were married, Aitutaki, a tiny island in the outer Cook Islands in the South Pacific.
It has a magical turquoise lagoon surrounded by a reef, where we swam before and after our wedding ceremony. Heaven on earth.
How to do it: A 15-day tour of the Cook Islands, taking in Aitutaki, with the Ultimate Travel Company (theultimatetravelcompany.co.uk) starts at £4,490pp, flights included.
Neil Oliver – Television presenter and archaeologist Neil plans to head to New Zealand’s South Island
TV presenter Neil Oliver is yearning for the great outdoors, in particular New Zealand. Pictured is Fiordland National Park
I’d head for New Zealand with my wife Trudi and our three children — being stuck between four walls recently has made me yearn for ‘the great outdoors’, and there’s a lot of that in New Zealand.
I like the idea of going somewhere far, far away, beyond the horizon.
How to do it: A five-day tour of South Island, taking in the Fiordland National Park, with Thrifty Tours (thriftytours.co.nz) starts at £716pp. BA (ba.com), London to Christchurch, from £712 return.
John Simpson – Veteran BBC broadcaster John plans to return to Zimbabwe
Veteran BBC broadcaster John Simpson would like to go back to one of his favourite countries, Zimbabwe. He would start his trip at Victoria Falls, pictured
Zimbabwe is one of my favourite countries — peaceful and full of lovely people who enthusiastically welcome visitors.
My wife, son and I would start a trip at Victoria Falls, then head to Hwange National Park, which is host to 100 species of mammals and 400 species of bird.
Zimbabwe has some problems, but people there know how to look after you and show you a wonderful time.
How to do it: A three-day safari at Hwange National Park followed by two nights at Victoria Falls Hotel costs from £1,800pp with Expert Africa (expertafrica.com). Kenya Airways (kenya-airways.com), London to Victoria Falls via Nairobi, from £600 return.
Carol Vorderman – The former Countdown maths whizz wants to go for a gallop on the beaches of Wales
The beaches of the Gower Peninsula is the location that maths whizz Carol Vorderman is visiting post-lockdown
Carol says she likes to ‘walk in her scruffs for miles’ along the cliffs
The beaches of the Gower Peninsula in South Wales are calling, where I will visit my friend, the horse trainer Christian Williams.
His horses run on the beaches, which is a beautiful sight.
I also like to kayak, paddle-board, cadge lifts in lobster boats and walk in my scruffs for miles along the rugged clean wild cliffs.
How to do it: A cottage for two people on the Gower Peninsula costs from £300 for seven nights with Gower Holidays (gowerholidays.com).
Olivia Williams – The actress would happily swap country tranquility with her family for cities and crowds
Actress Olivia Williams would love to travel across Europe, taking in cities such as Paris, Rome (pictured) and Seville
Travelling across Europe by train to all the great cities, meeting up with people along the way, is my dream.
In Paris, I would do a group hot yoga class, then go to the Rodin Museum, followed by boeuf bourguignon at my favourite restaurant in the 6th arrondissement.
Then my sister and her family would join me in Rome. I’d meet my husband in Venice by the Grand Canal. After that Berlin, then Budapest, Amsterdam, Vienna and Seville . . .
How to do it: The four-week Adventurer rail pass (interraiingpackages.com) takes in nearly all the cities on Olivia’s tour and is from £1,500pp.
Ian Rankin – The best-selling crime writer has set his heart on a tour of South Africa’s famous winelands
Author Ian Rankin says that Franschhoek in South Africa, pictured, has great restaurants and vineyards all around
Ian says that Franschhoek also has great scenery
I’d fly out to South Africa with my wife Miranda. We’d spend a couple of days in Cape Town, then rent a car and drive to the winelands, basing ourselves in Franschhoek for a few days.
It has great restaurants and vineyards all around. Gorgeous scenery, too.
From there we’d drive to Hermanus, making sure we’ve timed the trip to coincide with whale migration season.
You can watch these vast majestic creatures from the promenade — that’s how close they are.
How to do it: A ten-day tour of South Africa’s winelands, taking in Stellenbosch and Cape Town, with BK Wine Tours (bkwinetours.com) from March 17-26, 2021, is £3,490pp. BA (ba.com), London to Cape Town, from £627 return.
Miriam Stoppard – The doctor, author and agony aunt, dreams of escaping to a Buddhist paradise in the Himalayas
Doctor and agony aunt Miriam Stoppard wants to head to Bhutan and found her last trip there ‘moving and nourishing’
I would head to Bhutan, with its monasteries and dzongs in the Himalayas. It’s the only Buddhist country I’ve ever visited and it was such an eye-opener.
The Buddhist philosophy embraces all of life, and I found my trip there so moving and nourishing; I love the simple life they practice.
Their priority isn’t money, it’s happiness. They even have a National Day of Happiness — a commodity in decidedly short supply in the world right now.
How to do it: A tailor-made 12-day visit to Bhutan, taking in the Tiger’s Nest monastery overlooking the forested valley and other fortified monastic complexes at Punakha, with TransIndus (transindus.co.uk), starts from £3,595pp, flights included.
Nigel Planer – Actor and comedian Nigel is planning a trip to Japan to see its ‘Great Gardens’
Actor and comedian Nigel Planer is planning a trip to Japan in order to visit the likes of Kyoto, pictured, and Kanazawa
I’d love to go to Japan, which I once visited briefly. One of the things I like about it is that’s it’s so organised, which isn’t like me at all.
I’m more of a ramshackle person, and that’s part of the attraction for me and my wife Roberta, my ideal companion.
The trains are magnificent: on time, spacious and the litter bins never overflow.
The spoken language is so logical, not like English which is all over the place. And the gardens are beautiful. I’d visit the moss gardens in Kyoto and Kanazawa.
I’d also go to Kamakura, an ancient town east of Tokyo famous for its shrines and temples. Lastly, I’d hit the beachy part in the south.
Now that would be interesting to see how the Japanese do beach holidays.
How to do it: A ten-night Gardens of Japan tour with Japan Journeys (japanjourneys.co.uk), taking in a trip to Kyoto, from November 12-23, is £4,295.