Borneo, Chile, Scotland: The best wildlife destinations for 2026, according to The Telegraph

Many of us don’t get to spend a whole lot of time in nature. If you work behind a screen all day, or the closest you’ve gotten to a wildlife adventure recently is a dog walk, it might be time for you to touch grass, literally. Thankfully, the Telegraph has some great recommendations on where to go if you’re looking to reconnect with the natural world this year. 

The newspaper has curated a list of the best wildlife holidays you can go on this year, split across seven categories. These cover a range of different biomes and areas, ranging from African deserts to the frozen poles of Antarctica and the Arctic.

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Each trip offers something slightly different, whether it be meeting and greeting endangered animals, safari tours, or trekking through the rainforest, so there’s something for everyone.

For instance, if you’re a fan of marine life, the Telegraph recommends that you hop aboard the Silurian, a research boat that takes off from Scotland. The ship sails around the Atlantic, and you can expect to see ‘bottlenose dolphins, harbour porpoises, minke whales, white-beaked dolphins and basking sharks’ whilst onboard experts teach you about everything you’re seeing. 

Alternatively, you can take a cruise that goes all the way down to the Antarctic island of South Georgia, which is largely inhabited by King Penguins. At roughly £19,500 per person, it isn’t a cheap trip, but it’s the sort of thing you only get to do once in your life, so it’s worth it if you’ve got the cash to spare.

If you’re not a fan of the cold, or get a bit jelly-legged on boats, you might be more suited to a safari in Namibia, or a flamingo-spotting expedition in a Chilean desert, which is ‘one of the Earth’s driest landscapes’.

More into plants than animals? No problem. An adventure into the depths of the untouched Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica, which is one of the most biodiverse areas in the world, will give you plenty to get excited about. We definitely agree with the Telegraph on this one; in fact, we named the Osa Peninsula the world’s most underrated destination in September.

That’s just a few of the Telegraph’s picks, and you can read more details about each of them, as well as the rest of the list, on the Telegraph’s website here.

The best wildlife holidays for 2026, according to the Telegraph

These are the Telegraph’s choices for the best wildlife trips this year, including which heading each trip falls under:

Polar

• See polar bears in Svalbard, Norway
• Spot penguins in South Georgia, Antarctica

Desert

• Go on safari in Namibia
• See flamingos in the Atacama Desert, Chile

Bush & savanna grasslands

• See the filming location for David Attenborough’s ‘Kingdom’ in Zambia
• See wild cats in Chile & Argentina

Marine

• Head on a catamaran cruise around the Galapagos
• Spot whales, dolphins, sharks, and porpoises in Scotland

Highlands & mountains

• Find snow leopards in China
• Spot endangered monkeys in Brazil

Islands

• Spot rare birds in Seychelles
• See grizzly bears in the Canadian rainforest

Forests & woodlands

• Wander through the rainforest in Costa Rica
• Trek rainforest tails in Borneo

Did you see that the ‘Hawaii of Europe’ has been named the world’s top trending destination for 2026?

Plus: I went inside the Great Pyramid of Giza – it was magical, but I'd never do it again.