From Brazil’s emerging luxury coast and Colombia’s literary moment, to a changing Carretera Austral, Cambodia’s culinary culture and a new take on the family safari in Zimbabwe, the Humboldt Travel Hot List features our pick of destinations and experiences to add to your travel wish-list in 2027.
Travel is about more than simply seeing distant places. At Humboldt, we’re passionate about taking our travellers off the beaten track and creating curated, personal journeys that connect you with beautiful destinations in an authentic and meaningful way. For 2027, we’ve designed brand new itineraries that open the door to exciting conservation and cultural experiences, offering experiences far beyond the typical tourist routes. Where will your next big adventure take you?
Colombia: A Storytelling Adventure
The year 2027 marks the centenary of the birth of the world-renowned Colombian author, Gabriel García Márquez. With the booming metropolis of Medellín taking up the title of UNESCO World Book Capital in the same year, Colombia’s powerful storytelling traditions are firmly back in the spotlight.
Our brand-new journey, The Literary Soul of Colombia, is a private nine-night experience led and accompanied by Latin Grammy-nominated musician and novelist Gregorio Uribe, moving beyond the familiar García Márquez circuit to explore the writers, musicians, poets and storytellers shaping the country’s creative identity today. Beginning in Medellín, the itinerary travels through Mompox, San Jacinto, San Basilio de Palenque and finishes in the pastel-hued old city of Cartagena.
In each destination, you’ll feel the benefit of our little black book of local contacts. Drawing on our unique local connections, this private journey offers the opportunity to meet the composer behind the music for Netflix’s One Hundred Years of Solitude; to enjoy a private concert at the home of San Jacinto’s gaita masters; or to sign up for a Palenquero language class with a local teacher in San Basilio de Palenque.
In Mompox, you’ll explore the work of one of Colombia’s pioneering Afro-Caribbean poets, Candelario Obeso, before continuing to Cartagena, where the journey culminates in VIP private access to Gabriel García Márquez’s former home through the García Márquez Foundation – a visit behind doors usually closed to the public – followed by a private concert with one of Colombia’s Vallenato masters.
Immersed in the literature, music, dance and 1000 rhythms of this spectacular country, we invite you to discover Colombia’s creative soul.
The Literary Soul of Colombia is a nine-night journey starting from £14,600 per person, based on two sharing. Including international and internal flights and transfers, all accommodation and activities and some meals.
Alagoas: Brazil’s New Luxury Frontier
Brazil’s Alagoas coast is emerging as one of north-east Brazil’s most compelling destinations for international travellers, offering a lesser-trodden, low-key alternative to the country’s better-known coastal escapes. Long popular with Brazilians for its white-sand beaches, warm waters and coral reefs, the region remains relatively under the radar internationally even as a new generation of boutique and luxury properties arrives. From Kenoa and Pedras de Patacho to ambitious new developments including the 23-suite Nannai Milagres and forthcoming Salg Patacho, these days the luxury offerings in this breath-takingly beautiful region are second to none. Beyond the beaches lies a rich cultural landscape of traditional communities, handicrafts and livelihoods that remain little known outside of Brazil.
Our deep love of Brazil’s wild and underrated corners has led to the creation of our Alagoas: Brazil’s Hidden Coast itinerary, a 15-night journey which meanders from the São Francisco Delta to the Costa dos Corais. Beginning on a private island amid the delta’s white dunes, with a visit to a Quilombola community, the journey turns inland to historic Piranhas and the dramatic Xingó Canyons.
Travellers will immerse themselves in the region’s history of cangaço bandits and meet traditional riverside communities before reaching Ilha do Ferro, where artisans open their homes and ateliers to share traditional woodcarving and embroidery. The journey then reaches its climax on the coast, with encounters including oyster farming before continuing to Praia do Patacho and São Miguel dos Milagres, where coral reefs, mangroves and fishing villages sit alongside a new generation of design-led hotel concepts. Over two weeks, this diverse journey will combine the landscapes and living culture of the São Francisco Delta with one of the country’s most quietly exciting emerging coastlines, offering a rare chance to experience a lesser-seen side of Brazil.
A 15-night Alagoas: Brazil’s Hidden Coast itinerary starts from £14,650 per person, including international flights, internal flights and transfers, all accommodation and activities, and some meals.
The Changing Face of Chile’s Iconic Carretera Austral
One of the world’s greatest road trips is entering a brand-new era. Chile’s government has recently announced a huge investment in the Carretera Austral’s infrastructure, including 244km of new road. Our new Wild Patagonia itinerary offers a chance to experience this legendary route while its sense of remoteness remains intact, travelling deep into Chilean Patagonia and beyond the better-known highlights to explore some of the country’s most remarkable, protected landscapes.
Conservation is a thread running through the journey, from landscapes still recovering from the 2008 eruption of the Chaitén volcano to Patagonia National Park, shaped by Douglas Tompkins’ extraordinary conservation legacy. In Cerro Castillo, one of the best places in Chile to spot the endangered huemul, you will have the opportunity to encounter one of Patagonia’s most elusive native species – 20 years since it was classified as endangered under Chile’s national conservation system. The journey also ventures towards the remote Exploradores Glacier, following a spectacular corridor of waterfalls and glacial rivers, with the opportunity to hike alongside the blue expanse of ancient ice. Together, these experiences reveal a wilder, less familiar Patagonia, and a road trip whose legendary sense of remoteness may not remain quite so intact for long.
A 17-night Exploring Chilean Patagonia holiday starts from £9,950 per person, including international flights, internal flights and transfers, all accommodation and activities.
Zimbabwe: A Family Safari Beyond the Game Drive
Forget the back seat of a safari vehicle: our new Zimbabwe family journey is designed to put children at the heart of the wilderness. Over 12 nights, the journey moves from Victoria Falls and the Zambezi to the wildlife-rich landscapes of Hwange and Mana Pools, before reaching Lake Kariba, with families waking to elephants at the waterhole, exploring the bush on foot, taking to the rivers, swimming, stargazing and getting stuck into cooking, crafts and conservation. Dedicated young-ranger experiences turn the landscape into a living classroom, making the wildlife and wilderness something to participate in through expert-led play rather than simply watch.
There is a bigger conservation story running through the journey, too. In Matusadona National Park, black rhino returned in June 2026 after more than a decade away, while African wild dogs were reintroduced earlier in the year following decades of local extinction, as part of an ambitious restoration programme led by African Parks and ZimParks. The final stay on Lake Kariba at Fothergill Island puts families close to this remarkable story of rewilding, while the journey as a whole offers a broader, more immersive view of everything Zimbabwe has to offer.
A 12-night Zimbabwe Family Safari starts from £10,780 per person, including international flights, internal flights and transfers, all accommodation and activities, and some meals.
Tasting Cambodia: Telling the Story of a Country through Food
Cambodia’s food story extends far beyond its restaurants, and our 11-day journey for 2027 uses cuisine as a way into the country’s history, identity and everyday life. You will have the opportunity to cook alongside chefs and families, meet noodle makers and local producers, and discover Khmer food through unique encounters, from traditional recipes and village produce to a dinner among rice paddies accompanied by live Khmer music.
The journey also brings travellers into the orbit of Cambodia’s most compelling culinary voices. In Phnom Penh, an intimate evening with Slow Noodles author Chantha Nguon explores her extraordinary story of displacement and survival through the recipes and flavours of her mother’s kitchen, while dinner at the traditional villa of Chef Nak, Rotanak Ros, offers a taste of her pioneering work championing Khmer cuisine. Beyond the table, the journey encompasses Angkor at sunrise, cycling through the orchards and villages of Koh Oknha Tei, meeting artisans and families in rural communities, and ending deep in the Cardamom jungle at Shinta Mani Wild, where Wildlife Alliance Rangers, rainforest naturalists and jungle waterways offer a very different perspective on the country.
The 10-night Cambodia for Food Lovers itinerary starts from £13,460 per person, including international flights, internal flights and transfers, all accommodation and activities, and some meals.
For more information on these unique luxury trips, get in touch with our team of travel specialists today. Enquire here, or give our team a call on UK +44 (0)1603 340680 / US (+1) 929 256 6421
