Soar high above the great desert of the Middle East, above the dunes and cliffs of Wadi Rum. 

Sunrise is so idyllic, the whole of the Middle East stretching below, from the Dead Sea to Egypt, with Petra just visible in the distance.

Touch down to an elaborate tea ceremony and drive through and out of the desert in a four-wheel drive vehicle, to continue your Jordan adventure elsewhere.

Bond travels in style and you will start on a private speedboat down the River Thames, recreating the opening scene from Spectre. Famous sites whizz past and you disembark at Duke’s, for the original Bond martini, shaken not stirred of course. 

Next up you’re in an Aston Martin DB5 or Rolls Royce, exploring casinos, cemeteries, car parks and scenes from car chases. From tiny wooden pubs to opulent suburbs, you’ll visit more than a dozen James Bond movie locations. There’s even a crocodile submarine from Octopussy. 

There are so many locations you can make this a one, two or three-day experience. There’s a sublime Kensington townhouse that doubles as Bond’s home, meeting Q at Rules Restaurant, and then the Old War Office building, seen as MI6 headquarters in three movies. 

And if you really love Bond this travel moment can be extended, with an Aston Martin Vanquish taking you to Blenheim Palace, Stoke Park and the Cotswolds.

On San Gimignano’s main square you will be surrounded by medieval memoirs. Your guide narrates. This town was once home to 72 medieval castle towers. Only 14 of them remain, protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Only one is still inhabited. And it is the castle tower owned by your travel designer’s family.

Be invited by the Giachi family. Sip Prosecco with a private view onto the busy square. Listen to operatic harp and soprano in the Central Hall. Dine on three fine Tuscan courses, as sunset colours slowly work across the sky.

Sample vintage wines from the Giachi family cellars, including rare Super Tuscans and Brunello. Only guests of the Useppi Palace can access this Torre Chigi tower and you have a full evening to enjoy this exclusivity.

Other San Gimignano towers are open to the public and get very crowded. You will have an evening in the town’s second highest tower, in private, living 900 years of history and culinary expertise.

Drive a Ferrari on the legendary Miglia 1000 route and you can truly feel what a Ferrari can do. 

Tight turns, rolling landscapes, then space to put your foot down. Shift down then accelerate out of a hairpin turn, up and up through the hills of Southern Tuscany. Then shift tempo as you descend onto open plains and push your speed. 

You won’t be driving the full 1000 miles and it’s not a race, but you will discover why the Mille Miglia has gone down in racing folklore. This is a sublime experience for all Italian sport car aficionados.

Head out on the magical Ionian Sea on your very own boat, in search of the fabled Shipwreck Beach.

Enveloped within a turquoise bay, this is one of the most beautiful and inaccessible beaches in Greece. Get to know the riveting tales that sprung from this deserted beach, while soaking up the sun. 

Proceed to the geological wonder of the Blue Caves not far away, where the waves have been carving at the gigantic rocks for a long time.

Let the cool water carry you into the hollow as you marvel at the rocky interior, illuminated by a sea of striking turquoise hue. This is a hidden gem only a rare few know about.

Get an exclusive look at one of the world’s most adventurous destinations: Everest Base Camp. 

Take off from Kathmandu or Pokhara in a private helicopter. Fly over the city and into the rock and ice of the Himalaya. Travel through a landscape of perilous beauty, dominated by dark rock faces and colossal glaciers riddled with blue crevasses.

Set down at Base Camp, where climbers prepare for the world’s deadliest ascent. Even here, you cannot linger long, for fear of the effects of altitude.

Punctuate the return journey with a stop at Hotel Everest View, and enjoy a meal with an unobstructed view of the big peak in all its glory.

Humpback whales are among the great marvels of the world’s oceans. They weigh up to 30 tonnes and migrate huge distances each year. Get better acquainted with these aquatic travelers by suiting up and swimming alongside them.

Board a private boat at St. John’s harbor and head out to the humpbacks’ favorite hangout spots. Your captain will keep watch for a breach, your invitation to join the fun. Change into a wetsuit to stave off the cold of the chilly Atlantic waters, equip flippers and snorkel, and swim with these gentle giants.

Humpbacks don’t frighten easily, so you should be able to get close enough to see even the knobby details of their skin.

The ultimate way to discover the Galapagos islands, a private catamaran charter and an itinerary that can be adapted to your group’s interests. Naturalist guides will lead you on land and marine excursions, connecting the islands and visitor sites you most want to see.

Every Galapagos cruise, even a private charter, must stick to a fixed schedule. This is to prevent overcrowding at wildlife sites and help fully preserve all the unique nature. With any group cruise you don’t have control over this itinerary. For a private charter, your travel designer will help arrange an itinerary that meets your interests.

From exceptional diving in the north to the best places to kayak or snorkel, then all the finest land sites for sea lions, birds and reptiles, this can be your own version of the Galapagos.

Manatees are gentle aquatic mammals that can grow over three metres long and weigh up to 3,500 pounds. The warm, shallow waters of Belize are prime habitat for the endangered Caribbean manatee, and one of the last vestiges to observe these beautiful creatures in the wild.

Your crew will operate your private catamaran by sail and pole, protecting the gentle herbivores and allowing you to seek them out as they munch on seagrasses.

The turquoise water is clear enough to spot swimming manatees from the deck of your vessel, and they periodically return to the surface to breathe, allowing for up-close encounters.

Belching and bellowing, an elephant seal stretches its head to greet you. It’s a giant, some 3000 kgs of blubber and bravado. 

Huge colonies of them occupy Caleta Valdes, near Punta Delgada. So along with the giant males you can encounter seal pups – be warned, even the seal pups weigh more than you!

From August they arrive, the colonies swelling with newborns in September and October. Get too close and they will bite. But when faced with such incredible wildlife, you’ll be keen to just watch and admire.

You will be guided around Kennedy Space Center by a former astronaut, who will provide incredible insights on this special behind-the-scenes tour. 

After the tour, share a private lunch with another astronaut. It all makes more sense when you have an astronaut leading the way, especially all those questions you had about space and the world beyond.

Both astronauts will inspire you with their knowledge of the cosmos.

Safely watch a volcano erupt all night long! From barely two kilometres away!

Acatenango is a stratovolcano that stands nearly 4000m high. Begin near its base and hike through a number of fascinating ecoregions before setting up camp on a high shoulder and waiting for the show to begin.

Volcan de Fuego, Acatenango’s neighbor, is one of the most active volcanoes on earth. It erupts 300 – 500 times a day. 

Watch smoke and debris get shot into the air as your private guides prepare dinner. Once the sun goes down, see fiery red magma erupt from the crater and spill down its steep sides. 

After a night’s sleep, continue to Acatenango’s summit for an unforgettable sunrise and a gawp down into Fuego’s erupting cone.

You’re being whisked ahead of the line that’s already building up at the front. As you enter the gate, the most famous monument to love is glowing in its ivory white marble. It’s the perfect, private moment with the Taj Mahal, a completely exclusive time to be alone with a world wonder. 

You can enjoy your encounter with the impressive mausoleum in a rare total silence to fully grasp its beauty. Before the crowds, it’s just you and the Taj.

The landmark took 22 years to build and sees millions of visitors each year, and yet, few get to experience the Taj Mahal quite like this.

Feel the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end, goose bumps raised on your arms; are those noises you can hear simply of your imagination or perhaps from the ghosts of the very graves you are walking amongst. 

Feel the adrenaline rise with each step as you experience an unusually spooky side of Delhi. Old cemeteries, haunted houses, ghosts of Mughal princesses, welcome to the paranormal world where only the brave will venture on this ghost walk of Delhi.

You’ve seen the YouTube footage. Now it’s time to experience all the drama of the great wildebeest migration for yourself.

The trepidation builds. So do the animal numbers – both predator and prey. Eventually a critical mass is reached. Countless wildebeest – together with zebra and gazelle – plunge from the steep banks.

They have no choice but to cross the crocodile-infested waters of the Mara River in search of fresh pasture. They rely on the principle of safety in numbers to make it to the relative shelter of the other side. Not all will be successful and the drama is unrivaled.

From numbering thousands to just two individuals, the northern white rhino is now extinct. From a habitat spanning East and Central Africa to the 600-acre Endangered Species Boma at Ol Pejeta, the two remaining are both female, so there will be no more of this species. They enjoy protection around the clock by armed guards.

Your chance to encounter Najin and her daughter Fatu. The last of their species – one that is already functionally extinct with no living males.

Spend a few hours sitting atop a reindeer-pulled sleigh in search of those dazzling northern lights. Known in folklore as the friends of Santa, there is so much more to the wonderfully wild reindeer. 

Taking you through the desolate and deserted woodlands Finnish Lapland, your reindeer team will show you pure wilderness With a private guide who lives the life of a professional reindeer herder, you’ll learn the ways in which reindeer are raised, trained and cared for. 

Close your eyes to soak in the soft sounds of bells gently ringing and the sleigh sliding on the snow below and, just for a moment, you may believe that you’re riding shotgun with Santa himself.

Feel your heart beat to the thunderous boom of Japanese taiko drums. 

Time and tradition flow through this revered instrument, long connected to warriors and gods. Taiko was a weapon of intimidation on ancient battlefields, as well as a religious representation in sacred shrines. 

Meet performing artists who will captivate you with dynamic drumming and riveting stories. Watch as they unleash the power of taiko. 

Then let your hair down, find your rhythm, and master drumming techniques that will electrify any atmosphere.

Maybe you come because to you this is a holy place. Maybe it’s art itself that is sacred to you. In either case, you feel the grandeur of these museums as you advance from room to room and from collection to collection, in the solitude of an after-hours tour.

There’s no one but you and your guide.

Your footsteps are the only ones to resound in the vast marble interiors. And when you stop, there is utter silence. You contemplate Giotto’s Stefaneschi Triptych, the perfect body of a Roman statue, Michelangelo’s frescoes in the Sistine Chapel — jewels collected over the centuries by many popes.

You will wander at your leisure and, unhindered, undisturbed, will immerse yourself in millennia of art.

From 1000 metres above the roar of the Atlantic waves, stepping over the edge of this sandstone monolith takes some guts.

Anyone can catch the cable car to the famed flat-topped summit of Table Mountain. Few can say that they’ve abseiled its majestic bulk. No one can say they have abseiled commercially from a higher point.

But doing so – and descending more than 100 metres hanging by a rope – is worth it for the views towards Nelson Mandela’s former prison on Robben Island alone.

Africa’s lone predator is a palatial sight. Elusive and enchanting, leopards usually prowl under the cloak of darkness, moving effortlessly through high grass and thick savannah. Merely a single glance can be the ultimate highlight of any safari.

Nighttime game drives help you get closer and understand how leopards operate. There’s nowhere better in Africa for this than the Sabi Sands. Not only are the leopards more plentiful than elsewhere on the continent, private nighttime drives are central to the safari experience.

A guide’s roving spotlight illuminates the scene and it’s such a thrill to track leopards on the move.