16 Fantastic Voyages

From whetting your palate in Portugal to splashing your way around Fiji and drifting the ice floes of the Antarctic, find your sea (and river) legs on these epic watery adventures

1 Best for houseboats Kerala, India When to go: Winter (November–February) is cool but busy. Duration: 2–4 days Why go? The lures of Kerala’s labyrinthine backwaters aren’t just scenic, though wafting past tumbling paddies, twittering bird sanctuaries and thick mangroves is a genuine joy. It’s more about the how you see them, and Kerala is the land of slow travel. Most visitors take to the canals at Alleppey (Alappuzha) in floating kettuvallam, converted barges that were once used to lever rice and spices out of the breadbasket of southern India. Those times are long gone, however. Today, the ‘boat with knots’ (so called because its frame is held together with coir rope rather than nails) are entirely set aside for travellers keen to slow down.

Meander the great lake of Vembanad, past waters clustered with island villages to the colonial streets of Cochin (Kochi).

Kayaking side-trips (houseboats stick to the major backwaters) and an overland visit to the tigers of Periyar NP are worth it, but nothing beats being elegantly chugging along these jungle-fringed backwaters at an easy pace. Also try... Rideau Canal, Canada: take charge of your own narrowboat for a week and plough the mirrored surface of Ontario’s UNESCO-listed, 19th-century waterway.

2 Best for underwater fun Philippines