Ten trips of a lifetime

1 Best adventure Uma Paro, Bhutan

Now that beautiful Bhutan has opened its doors to trekkers, you can set your sights on the summit that is hotelier Christina Ong's Uma Paro. Twenty rooms and nine villas overlook the pine-clad Paro Valley with its terraced hills and snow-tipped ranges, where monasteries cling, nest-like, to the cliff side. What makes Uma Paro a special adventure is how gently it blends into this landscape. Its design is a sensitive blend of wood, stone and hand-crafted tiles.

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Uma Paro, Paro, Bhutan, tel: 00 975 827 1597, www.uma.como.bz, double rooms from £140 per night

2 Fantasy resort Reethi Rah

Reethi Rah in the Maldives is the best new kid on the coral-reef-and-sand block. And we're not just talking any old sand here, oh no. We're talking 12 perfectly curved man-made beaches filled with pashmina-soft sand, gently lapped by a Tiffany-blue warm sea. Nature herself couldn't have created anything finer. Feast on deliciously healthy food, Zen out in the crisply professional Espa spa, pump iron in the hi-tech gym and sojourn in one of the 130 exquisite villas designed by architect Jean-Michel Gathy.

One & Only Maldives Reethi Rah, tel: 01753 899 800, www.oneandonlyreethirah.com, villas from £455 per night peak season, including breakfast

3 Hot new hotel Hotel Caruso

In its heyday, Greta Garbo, Humphrey Bogart and Jackie Kennedy all holed up in the Caruso Belvedere at Ravello in Italy. By eight years ago, however, it was a faded star, living off its glory days. Then the Orient-Express group discovered it, gave it a makeover, and reopened it to serious acclaim last year as the Hotel Caruso. The ornate palazzo-style property has 22 suites and 23 rooms and Gore Vidal has described the view of the coast from its terrace as "the most beautiful in the world". Kill to reserve a suite during the Wagner Festival, which usually runs the first week of July.

Hotel Caruso, Ravello, Italy, tel: 020 7960 0500, www.hotelcaruso.com, reopens for the summer on 25 March, offering double rooms from £397 per night, including breakfast

4 Comfort zone BA First

When it comes to long-haul flights, the only place to sit is at the front of the plane. And as Liz Hurley, Joan Collins, Sting and Elton John agree, BA First offers the best front end in the business. But when you do make that upper-class left turn, it really does matter which of the 14 personal cabins you end up in. The fight is always over 1A on the right-hand side in the nose of the jumbo. The advantage is clear; total privacy as you don't have anyone walking past you to go to the lavatory. If you can't get 1A, then settle for 1K, the only other seat in the front row.

British Airways First, tel: 0870 950 9850, www.ba.com, return from Heathrow to New York from £3,918, including tax

5 Ultimate luxury Frégate Island, Seychelles

The picture-perfect eco-hideaway, Frégate Island Private is located in the middle of the Indian Ocean. This 3sq km island offers 16 luxuriously appointed villas, which are arranged so privacy is guaranteed. Seven beaches can be experienced in total seclusion and the number of guests on the island never exceeds 40.

Frégate Island Private, Seychelles, tel: 00 49 6983 837635, www.frégate.com, private villas from £1,288 per night. A minimum stay of three nights is required

6 Royal retreat Umaid Bhawan Palace, India

Enjoy a right royal experience and live like a king in one of the world's largest private palaces. The Umaid Bhawan opened its gilded doors on 15 December last year. The sandstone monument was built in 1943 for the Maharajah Umaid Singh. Today, the present Maharaja and the royal family reside in one wing while the rest of the palace is given over to 62 rooms and suites.

Umaid Bhawan Palace, Jodphur, India, tel: 0800 282 699, www.tajhotels.com, double rooms from £243 per night

7 Extreme resort Ski Dubai, UAE

Where can you ski on real snow in a desert ? Yes, only in Dubai. This extreme winter wonderland, launched last year, is just a snowball's throw from the shores of the sun-baked Jumeirah beaches. Get kitted out in full Scott-of-the-Antarctic style and prepare to take to these most unlikely slopes.

Ski Dubai, www.skidxb.com, is open seven days a week. A peak-day slope pass cost £34 for adults and £27 for children

8 Explore space Virgin Galactic

When Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic rockets towards the final frontier from its mission control in New Mexico, those flush enough to fork out over £100,000 will be able to look down on the planet and its little people. And, what's more, you will even be allowed to pay using Virgin Airmiles.

Virgin Galactic, www.virgingalactic.com, scheduled space flights start in 2008, from around £115,000 per person, including three days training, currently taking reservations and deposit commitments

9 Grandest villa Grand Hotel a Villa Feltrinelli

Built in 1892 as a summer home for the Feltrinelli family, this mansion opened as a hotel in mid-2001. With 13 bedrooms in the main house and eight cottages dotted around eight acres of parkland, seclusion, luxury and jaw-dropping scenery are guaranteed.

Grand Hotel a Villa Feltrinelli, Gargnano, Italy, tel: 00 39 0365 798 000, www.villafeltrinelli.com, junior suites from £395 per night, including breakfast

10 Never wait First Luggage

Think you'll see Joan Collins lugging her Louis Vuittons through Heathrow? I don't think so. Join the 21st-century A-list jet set who would never dream of being seen dead with their luggage, couriering it ahead in advance with the help of these lovely people. Step away from that carousel.

First Luggage, tel: 0845 270 0670, www.firstluggage.com, from £149 return for a small suitcase to a European airport

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