• New York’s Most Haunted Borough: A Deadly Plague Quarantine and Mansions Haunted by Ghosts

  On Staten Island, often described as New York City’s most haunted borough, abandoned hospitals, historic forts and a mansion with a bloody Mafia past stand side by side. Experts trace the island’s eerie reputation to its dark history, although many ghost stories remain unsubstantiated legends...

• The World’s “Most Beautiful Village” Has Turned Into Disneyland: Tourists Picnic in Private Gardens and Walk Into Homes Uninvited

  Residents of the English village of Bibury are fed up with the influx of tourists who behave as though they have arrived at a theme park. During peak season, up to 20,000 people a day descend on the village, despite its permanent population of just 600. Some locals have had enough and are considering moving away, the Daily Mail reports...

• Dubai in Three Days: From Glowing Sunrises to Cinematic Sunsets over the Marina

  Mornings here can feel worlds apart from evenings, while familiar places reveal entirely unexpected sides of the city. In just 72 hours, you can do more than visit the main attractions: you can experience Dubai’s many different moods — its scale, character, flavors, and the particular kind of luxury that can be found even in its most secluded corners...

• Egypt Without the Crowds: Inside a Luxury Nile Cruise on a Pharaoh-Era-Inspired Sailing Ship

  At the mere mention of a Nile cruise, many people think of Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile — elegantly dressed tourists, afternoon tea and desserts, and a luxurious yet slightly old-fashioned river liner. But today, there is a completely different way to experience Egypt: aboard a dahabiya, a traditional sailing vessel reminiscent of the ships of the pharaohs, according to the New York Post...

• Athens Takes on Dubai: How the Ancient Capital Is Becoming a New Haven for Wealthy Expats

  Where Athens’ old airport once stood, a futuristic city is rapidly taking shape. Modern residential complexes, green spaces and cutting-edge technology are at the heart of the massive Ellinikon development, which is set to include around 9,000 homes, shopping centers, offices, hotels and the giant Riviera Tower skyscraper, according to the Daily Mail...

• Beautiful Destinations, Cold Reception: 6 Places Where Tourists Encounter Rude Service

  The Eiffel Tower, charming Italian streets and the azure waters of the Adriatic — millions of tourists dream of visiting these places. But behind the picture-perfect postcards, there can sometimes be an unexpected reality: cold looks, curt replies and service that can spoil even a long-awaited vacation...

• Dubai Like You’ve Never Seen It Before: A Guide to the City’s New Season

  A Dubai hotel has long since evolved beyond simply being a place to spend the night. Today, it is a self-contained resort world where you can spend several days without ever leaving the property — waking to the sound of fountains or waves, having breakfast with a view worth getting up early for. In the newest projects, the view from the window, signature cuisine, pool design and architecture of the building itself all matter...

• A year aboard a luxury liner: £56,000 cruise spans the globe from Alaska to Zanzibar

  A two-week cruise may sound like the ultimate luxury. But what if you could spend an entire year at sea, waking up every day in a different corner of the planet...

A new trend is taking over the luxury travel world: high-end expedition cruises designed for travelers who have already been everywhere but are now craving untouched wilderness and adrenaline-fueled adventure — without sacrificing comfort, according to the New York Post.

Affluent, seasoned travelers are increasingly turning to experimental expedition cruises to some of the most remote and inaccessible corners of the planet.

Superyachts and small ice-class vessels offer once-in-a-lifetime experiences, from swimming with whale sharks off the coast of Tanzania to exploring uninhabited fjords in Greenland.

The ultimate luxury today is no longer a five-star resort. It is the privilege of reaching places untouched by mass tourism and experiencing something few people on Earth ever will.

A New Era of Expedition Travel

Few experiences signal exclusivity quite like snorkeling in the coral-rich waters around Mafia Island in Tanzania while whale sharks the length of a school bus glide nearby — or climbing toward a volcanic crater to swim among thousands of harmless golden jellyfish in hidden lakes across the Raja Ampat archipelago.

For jaded travelers who have already conquered Antarctica and the Galápagos, conventional vacations simply no longer cut it.

True luxury is now measured by access to unexplored anchorages, isolated islands and remote communities.

“Experimental tourism has its roots in Africa,” says Francesco Galli Zugaro, founder and CEO of luxury expedition pioneer Aqua Expeditions.

His new ice-class superyacht, Aqua Lares, with trips starting at $18,350, sails between East Africa and the Arctic, carrying just 30 passengers at a time. Among the highlights is Aldabra Atoll in the Indian Ocean, a UNESCO World Heritage Site where just six rangers oversee some 150,000 giant tortoises.

From Snake Island to Lost French Polynesia

Each destination challenges the conventional idea of what a luxury vacation should be:

• Indonesia — Raja Ampat and the Banda Sea: Adventure seekers can visit volcanic Manuk Island, known as “Snake Island,” and snorkel among hundreds of thousands of docile but deadly venomous sea snakes.
• French Polynesia — Makatea: Far from the tourist hotspots of Bora Bora and Tahiti, National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions voyages, starting at $16,560, take travelers to dramatic limestone cliffs, hidden caves and stalactite-filled grottoes perfect for stand-up paddleboarding.
• Untamed Greenland: Next year, the new ultra-luxury operator Selar will launch its Untamed Greenland expeditions, starting at $18,225, aboard the innovative vessel Captain Arctic.

According to founder Sophie Galvagnon — the first woman to command a commercial polar vessel — today’s wealthy travelers are no longer looking for ordinary luxury or endless caviar. They want genuine immersion and a sense of connection with the natural world.

“If you simply want to eat caviar, we may not be the right choice for you,” she says. “But if you want to help the captain calculate ice navigation, take part in an evening murder-mystery game on board or eat Arctic sushi prepared right in front of you from fish caught that very day — then you’ve come to the right place.”

Follow NEWS.am STYLE on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram