Once you've bungy-jumped into a volcano in Chille, where else is there to go? Photo / Bungee.com
Once you've bungy-jumped into a volcano in Chille, where else is there to go? Photo / Bungee.com
Don't bother packing your holiday reading list, the trend now is for extreme travel to the coldest, most dangerous and remote corners of the earth.
Travel company Responsible Travel, for instance, has seen a 700 per cent rise in bookings in the past year for its swimming withkiller whales trip in Norway and a 200 per cent increase in people signing up to an extreme ski marathon in Switzerland. They aren't the only operator to notice this extreme trend.
In a recent feature by theMail Online they provided a list of most hair-raisingly extreme holiday experiences out there.
Does the idea of diving in the Antarctic leave you cold? Perhaps you'll warm to it after hearing about its wonders.
Responsible Travel offers a package that allows travellers to witness the amazing wildlife that lurks in the frigid waters surrounding the South Pole, which includes penguins, leopard seals and sea birds. Plus, if you're brave enough to enter the chilly waters, you'll get to see eye-popping icebergs up close.
The 12-day trip costs up to NZ$13,980, excluding flights.
Spanish company Docastaway offers week-long stays on remote beaches where holidaymakers are surrounded by nothing but jungle and water. Photo / Docastaway
Become a Crusoe-like recluse on a desert island
"Our team will stand by at the nearest island in case of emergency."
That's the promise of holiday company Docastaway for anyone choosing one of its more extreme adventures. And they are words that will either fill you with terror or excitement.
Spain-based Docastaway specialises in giving intrepid travellers castaway experiences on deserted tropical islands. It offers two "modes" - adventure mode, where guests stay in shelters, tree houses and basic bungalows, and comfort mode, which offers "stylish bungalows" and buffet meals.
However, living like Robinson Crusoe does not come cheap. Seven days of remote island life for two people costs around NZ$2000 – and that does not include flights. Locations include Indonesia and the Philippines.
Climbers perched on the Dorset cliffs 60ft above the English Channel on a 'portaledge'. Photo / Young Adventures
Room with a view: hanging off a cliff
For NZ$880 a night, daredevil holidaymakers can sleep on canvas dangling from the Dorset cliffs 60ft above the English Channel.
The "portaledge" B&B idea is the idea of climber Eddy Young, 35, who says you need "a sense of adventure and a head for heights".
He sets up the equipment before meeting his clients, who descend to the platform down a rope ladder. A local restaurant supplies a picnic hamper, which he can lower down to his clients.
Swimming with killers: tourists are given the chance to go swimming with orcas. Photo / Julie Picardi / Barcroft
A killer time swimming with whales
They are powerful predators that can take out a great white shark in the blink of an eye.
And wildlife lovers can, gulp, swim with them during a six-day trip in the Norwegian fiords.
According to tour operator Responsible Travel: "Days will be spent looking for and snorkelling with the orcas. Previous tours have reported seeing 50 to 80 orca at one time!'"A six-day trip costs NZ$9070, excluding flights.
We're going to Ibiza... by bike. Photo / Raquel Maria Carbonell Pagola, Getty Images
Explore Ibiza - only using bikes and kayaks
It is usually thought of as the party island of the Mediterranean.
But a holiday to Ibiza can also double as a gigantic fitness test thanks to Responsible Travel, which offers a trip that involves circumnavigating the island in four days using bikes or kayaks or by walking.
Over 100 miles is covered on the trip, which costs NZ$1676, excluding flights.
The Jamaican bob team compete at the Lillehammer Olympics. Photo / John Gichigi/ALLSPORT
Hurtling along in a bobsleigh in Norway
Reaching hair-raising speeds is the name of the game with this winter getaway in Lillehammer, Norway.
Strictly for adrenaline junkies only, the trip offers the chance to hurtle along in a bobsled at a velocity guaranteed to be pulse-quickening.
The four-day trip costs NZ$2145, and also gives tourists the chance to try their hand at curling and airboarding.
Pripyat, evacuated following the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, is now a possible tour destination. Photo / Igor Kostin
Tour the site of a nuclear disaster
Bored of European breaks to Paris and Amsterdam? How about an excursion to Chernobyl, just to change things up a bit?
Manchester-based Lupine Travel runs trips to the exclusion zone of the site of the world's worst nuclear disaster, which is now deserted.
Tours cost from NZ$622 and include an overnight stay in a Chernobyl hotel and all meals - although the operator stresses the food is brought from outside the exclusion zone.
A passenger of the nuclear-powered icebreaker Atomflot arrives at the site of the North Pole. Photo / Lev Fedoseyev / Getty Images
Journey to the North Pole
Why visit the Antarctic? That'd be far too convenient.
It is one of the most remote and coldest places on earth - but it's entirely possible to venture there on a package holiday.
Tourists wanting to journey to the North Pole can book a 14-day trip through Responsible Travel, which can cost up to NZ$58,500 - excluding flights.
Passengers are taken on board a powerful ice breaker, which takes seven days to reach 90° North, and also get to view walrus and polar bears on helicopter rides.
Diving off the side of the helicopter into the raging volcano in Pucon, Chile. Photo / Bungee.com
Bungee into an active volcano
Only true adrenaline junkies will want to book this trip, which includes bungee jumping from a helicopter into a volcano in Pucón, Chilé.
For just over NZ$23,400 the trip includes the jump, a whitewater rafting trip, five nights' five-star accommodation, a trip to the hot springs, and food and drink.
And for those worried about not making it out alive, the company honestly answers the question, "Could I die?" with "Yes. You could. You'll be signing a waiver, so we're cool."
The Engadin Ski Marathon, Switzerland. Photo / Olaf Protze, Getty
Travel across Switzerland - using skis
Those wanting to take their skiing holiday to the extreme could sign up to the Engadin Ski Marathon.
The four-day race sees participants travel across a 25-mile course in Switzerland on skis following the undulating terrain.
An eight-day trip to take part in the race can be booked with Responsible Travel for NZ$4090, which includes flights from London.
