Take over your own riad in the heart of Marrakech

Hidden inside old walled medinas – labyrinthine and clay-coloured – the Moroccan riad is unassuming, at first. All over Marrakech, their small arched doorways disguise what lies within. The entrance to yours is no different. But inside? An expansive, romantic residence. Warm colors, golden light, traditional tiling. Where peaceful indoor courtyards dotted with fragrant orange trees are the perfect antidote to the bustling souks outside. Within its walls, we’ve prepared a spread to end all spreads – with pianists, roulette, magic, and stories providing the ambience.

Your three-day takeover of this sublime property will build up to a finale like no other. You’ll begin – as all good celebrations do – following a procession of drummers and acrobats through the souk, onto the rooftop terrace of your riad. Both exotic and edgy, there’ll be music, dancing, fire-eaters, and feasting – with films from the ‘golden age’ projected against the walls (featuring famed Morocco residents Marlene Dietrich and Josephine Baker); a sublime celebration of heady romance and the golden age of travel.

Reset your spirits at one of the world’s most sublime Buddhist monasteries

It began with bone powder, a statue, a drop of blood. This gift – offered by the monk Je Tsongkhapa – was brought to the mountains of Ladakh in 1433. Centuries have passed, but Thiksey Monastery stands as tall and majestic as ever – a spiritual flowering along the reach of the ancient Indus.

Eyes bleary. Sipped coffee. Knowing embraces. Together, you’ll make your unforgettable trek as the sun first warms the flanks of the Karakoram Range. Here, you’ll be esteemed guests for the mind-altering song of Buddhist morning prayer; conducted in the Ghokang, one of the monastery’s most revered inner sanctums. Together, lifted by the rhythms of ritual chanting, you’ll receive personal blessings to bestow long life, good health, and prosperity – a moment that’ll leave an indelible mark on your souls, retuning your spirits and refreshing your ties – long after you return to the rhythms of your lives.

Dine, dance, and drink in the South China Sea

In Vietnamese, “ha long” translates to “descending dragon”. Local legend tells of fire-breathing dragons arriving to protect the Viet people from invaders – spewing flames, emeralds and jade in their defence. These jewels of green, over millennia, transformed into over two-thousand jagged limestone pillars, dotting the bay. Towering islands and islets, gentle waters of turquoise and green.

It’s to one of these staggeringly beautiful isles that you’ll sail on chartered junk boats – to find a spectacular seaward setting evoking old-world Vietnam. Waiting, on these sublime shores, will be music, feasting, vistas, and dancing – with a retinue of chefs, entertainers, astronomers, and mixologists providing the fuel for what will become one of the most unforgettable nights of your life. Your favorite people in the world, gathered in the eighth natural wonder of the world. Now that’s a celebration.

Fireworks, fiddles, and feasting in your own private castle

Celts first came to Britain in 3,000 BC. And they farmed these rain-misted wilds in small settlements encircled by ditches and wooden fences – a means of warding off wild animals, enemy tribes, and later, the Roman army. The mighty battles, and the history, run deep. Still, today, their influence echoes on. Of foraging, music, storytelling, and myth.

From your private Celtic castle, like the ancient tribes who ruled this land from 600 BC until 43 AD, you’ll have endless rugged wilderness on your doorstep – or drawbridge. Ice-cold rivers. Sweeping moorlands coated in heather. Crafting tokens from wood. Foraging for traditional ingredients ancient woodlands. And, on your final night, dressed in traditional garb, a traditional gala feast and foot-stamping Ceilidh. This is where you’ll write your own myths.

Rum, reggae, and rhythms in the heart of Jamaica

“Because it’s a punky reggae party, And it’s tonight”

Distinctive, transcendent, universal. There’s a Bob Marley lyric for almost every moment. And yours is no exception. Jamaica’s Rastafarian soul rebel – armed with his words, voice, guitar (and The Wailers) – remains Reggae’s most iconic figure. So, naturally, there’s no better center to your celebration than his laid-back soundtrack to island life.

Coming together in an effervescent paradise, these are five days to nourish creative souls – and to relish the here and now. It’s ice-cubes clinking in tall glasses and easy-going afternoons under thick heat. Sweet sugar cane and spicy ginger beer. But it’s also cutting a record together in Marley’s old recording studio, taking classes with a local Dance Hall choreographer, helicoptering over the Blue Mountains, hiking to Nanny Falls through forest-slicked landscapes of ferns, Jamaican apple trees and giant bamboos. And a beachside blowout with DJs and dancers. You didn’t think we’d let you leave without a proper party, did you?

Long days and dizzying nights in the most spellbinding city on the Caribbean coast

Benjamin Villegas writes of the way Cartagena speaks to each of us uniquely. How, with every sunrise, it is invented and re-invented as ‘a different Cartagena, which, mysteriously, will be the same Cartagena as yesterday, everybody’s Cartagena’. A hot, dizzying dream of cobbled alleys and intoxicating cumbia drumbeats. Where street vendors sell mangoes and cigars outside bright, bougainvillea-cloaked facades and horse-drawn carriages clip-clop past. It’s about the vibe. It’s about the people.

Your people, specifically. From the rooftop terrace of your own private villa – the sweeping view of the Old Town and cathedral – your days and nights will unspool like twine. Scavenging through the city, secretive salsa dances, a private yacht to carry you into the sunset – and a beachside cookout, and the party that follows (with DJs, drinks, and dancing); set to the syncopated rhythm of Colombian drums. This night will become your history.

Celebrate the beauty of the Delta

In the summer of 1933, American novelist Ernest Hemingway traveled to Africa for his first three-month safari. His words? “I never knew of a morning in Africa when I woke up and was not happy.” The pastel light of sunrise settling on sweeping plains and mountains. The mimicking calls of red-capped robin-chats. Coffee. And out there, somewhere, the animal kingdom coming to life.

Rising early – to mist curling between water and reeds – you’ll set off on safari by Mokoro (a traditional dug-out canoe) as you glide along Botswana’s Okavango Delta. Whispering to each other, quietly, nudging your companions to look to their left – or right. The moment reaches an unforgettable pitch with a night spent fly-camping on a remote, lantern-lit island – sleeping beneath a vast canopy of stars.

Go wild on Murano, the glittering island of glass

“In the end”, remarked the poet Joseph Brodsky, “there’s always this city”. Venice: a mind-altering cocktail of romance, water, and revelry. Byron had the measure of its “majestic motion” – where spells are cast, and the nights are fantastical, unstoppable.

Put another way: when in Venice, go for Baroque. Secret gardens, flowing aperitivos, and an unforgettable crescendo. For, as darkness falls, you – dressed in the flowing regalia of carnival – will set sail for the glittering island of Murano. Waiting for you, in the belly of a working glass foundry, is a party of truly operatic proportions: with music, feasting, and dancing that’ll last long into the night. You’ll always have each other. You’ll always have this moment. You’ll always have Venice.