Plotting the trip of a lifetime and don’t know where to start? Well, panic not – here’s our pick of the most unforgettable experiences for 2012, from Alaska to Africa, art holidays to pilgrim walks…

Frozen planet: Cruise ship tourists line up on the bow of a boat to view icebergs in Alaska – a breathtaking trip

Cruise in Alaska

Huge draw: The majesty of the glaciers

Thanks to Sir David Attenborough’s Frozen Planet, business is booming for holidays in the world’s colder regions.

And with 2012 being touted as the best time in years to see the Northern Lights, there is no better excuse to head north to be inspired — and why not from the comfort of a luxury liner?
Royal Caribbean Cruises are the leading specialists in Alaskan cruises, departing from Vancouver and heading up to the Arctic Circle throughout the summer. For the Northern Lights, September is the best time.

For everything else — glacial encounters, cycle treks, Inuit culture — the whole season is equally excellent.
Details: Royal Caribbean, (0844 493 2061, www.royalcaribbean.co.uk) has a nine-nighttime Alaska roundtrip glide/cruise from £1,652pp (based on two people sharing an inside stateroom) on board Radiance Of The Seas. Price includes return flights, transfers, one nighttime pre-cruise accommodation and a seven-nighttime cruise including meals and entertainment onboard. Price is based on May 3 departure from the UK.

Pack your trunk: A safari is an experience that you’ll never forget – quite like an elephant

Awesome Africa

Huge draw: Kenyan safari with unique tribal people
Sarara is a classic tented camp at the heart of the 850,000-acre Namun in Kenya. Close to the foothills of Northern Kenya’s Mathews Range, its six well-spaced tents have spectacular views of the mountains and watering holes.
It is owned by the local Namunyak convergence. So even as you delight in ahead of schedule morning game drives, nighttime drives in search of leopard, and endangered species such as Grevy zebra, you can rest assured that the convergence will benefit.
Most remarkably, the local Samburu warriors are renowned for their ‘singing wells’. Every morning they bring their cattle to the river bed near the camp and draw water to the rhythm of their singing.
Even with this elemental experience, your income conditions are far from primitive. The remote camp has electricity and hot water.

Details: The Ultimate Travel Company,(020 7386 4646, www.theultimatetravelcompany.co.uk) combines a four-nighttime stay at Sarara with three nights at Lewa Wasteland, within the Lewa Wildlife Conservation Area from £5,000pp.

Price includes flights, private transfers, all meals and drinks. Game drives and private guided safari activities on foot or on horseback are arranged to suit each guest. More at www.sararacamp.com, lewawilderness.com, www.tusk.org.

Caribbean marvel: St Vincent and the Grenadines looks to be making a splash in the new year

Caribbean corker

Huge draw: Gather fresh skills at a new island resort

Buccament Bay Resort is a highly rated new five-star resort on St Vincent and the Grenadines — the first to open here.
St Vincent is made up of a string of dozens of impossibly fertile islands, which mix lush green with mountainous stretches and the occasional live volcano. There are luxury villas, gleaming white sands and cobalt-blue seas accommodating every watersport you can imagine.
There’s also a Pat Cash Tennis College, a Liverpool FC college, and Harlequin Performing Arts College (with a variety of performing masterclasses hosted by Broadway stars).
St Vincent has barely featured on the mainstream tourism map because getting there now requires a transfer flight from Barbados, but the island’s new Argyle International Airport is projected to be completed by spring 2012.
Details: Health and Fitness Travel (0845 544 1936, www.healthandfitnesstravel.com) offers seven nights at Buccament Bay from £2,095pp (Saving £480pp) including accommodation all-inclusive, return flights and transfers. More at www.buccamentbay.com.

Messing about on the river: Kerala will offer up plenty of inspiration for a depiction and painting break

Be artistic in India

Huge draw: The spectacular coastal region of Kerala
Authentic Adventures prides itself on getting you under the skin of gorgeous and unusual places — providing expert tutoring in art and photography, and even singing, in inspiring venues.
This year, unusually, Kerala, in southern India, is hosting art, photography and walking breaks at the same time. You stay in four venues, starting at Cocobay, on the edge of the Vembanad Lake — accessible only by water, a perfect launch pad to waterway network for which the area is well-known.

Mind the people paddle by, and join them on the water when you boat to the villages to paint (including lunch with a local boatman). Then it is inland to the intoxicating flavor gardens of Periyar; to Munnar in the Western Ghats (hills), and historic Cochin.

Details: Authentic Adventures, (01453 823 328, www.authenticadventures.co.uk) offers 13 nights, 14 days, from £2,545, including flights, full board, all transport and all tuition (£300 discount for non-painters). There are eight full days of painting and three half days.

Yeeha!: Learning to be a cowboy in Colorado could possibly fulfil a childhood marvel for many of us

Colorado cowboys

Huge draw: Go from beginner rider to cowhand in a week
Imagine going from never having ridden a horse before to lassooing a steer from the saddle out on the range…in a week. Impossible? Not according to In The Saddle, which offers authentic experience on a effective ranch on the high altitude grasslands of Colorado, with the Colorado Cattle Company.
You can ride out every day, roping and herding, and then back to the ranch for excellent grub and tales of the Ancient West from gnarly ancient hands. Do as much or as small as you want — from bringing in the horses at dawn, to helping with the branding (in May).
Decent levels of comfort — the ancient restored ranch house has five ensuite bedrooms, and there are also rustic cabins. Riding is Western style, which is a lot simpler to master than the classic English approach.
There is a huge indoor arena, too, with the chance to mind the ex-rodeo riders.
Details: In the Saddle, (01299 272997, www.inthesaddle.com) offers seven nights for £1,484, including everything apart from flights and drinks.
Nearest airport is Denver — BA have flights from £457 return (0844 493 0787, ba.com). Transfers to the ranch £84. No single supplement. For 18-plus only; departures, April-September.

Peak performance: The ancient ruins of Machu Picchu in the Andes of Peru are a sight to behold

Quick Incas

Huge draw: Machu Picchu without the crowds
The legend of extraordinary Machu Picchu draws thousands to the Inca Trail in Peru each year — and that’s the problem. At peak time, it becomes like a theme park.
At its best, it’s a life-altering location — and trekking specialists Dragoman try to save the magic with its ‘convergence Inca trek’, which blazes an exclusive trail, spending time with Quechua Indian hosts to gather about and experience their culture.
There is plenty of time, for activities ranging from city sightseeing to dune buggying and white-water rafting.
Details: Dragoman (01728 861133, www.dragoman.com) has a 17-day Lima to Cusco’ trip, costing from £640pp plus local kitty payment of $900. Flights to Lima from London start from £540 return with Iberia (0870 609 0500, www,iberia.com).

Classical education: The impressive Greek ruins at Segesta in Sicily date from 426BC

Italy’s finest

Huge draw: A privileged view of Sicily’s extraordinary art
Fine Art Tours deliver gorgeous settings, entrees into private venues, and exclusive viewings of some of the world’s leading museums and historic sites, with world expert guides on tap.
Even as it will devise private trips by arrangement, one of the best assemble tours for 2012 is in western Sicily, where renowned Oxford classics don Robin Lane Fox is taking a trip to the Greek ruins of Segesta, Selinunte and Agrigento, some of the finest in the Med.

You will be viewing the glittering Norman church mosaics around Palermo, or lunching in one of the private palaces — including one that hosted the well-known ball scene in Visconti’s film of Lampedusa’s novel The Leopard.
Details: Fine Art Travel’s Tour to Western Sicily lasts for 6 nights from September 19 to 25 2012 and costs £2,985, (0207 437 8553, www.finearttravel.co.uk).

Canterbury tales: The Kentish city was the start of a pilgrimage to Rome, a journey that can now be recreated

Pilgrim’s progress

Huge draw: Fulfill a lifetime’s walking ambition in Europe

Pilgrim walks — such as the Camino de Santiago de Compostela in Spain — are increasingly well loved, and the longer routes can keep you busy for years. World Walks is now supporting the Via Francigena, the walking route that links Canterbury with Rome, organising accommodation, transfers and luggage.
Having supported the part from Switzerland to Rome, for 2012 it is now offering the entire route from Canterbury along with the French and Swiss legs — divided into week-long sections.
If you just want the sensation of a pilgrim arriving in Rome, you can just do the last week, starting in Montefiascone.
Details: World Walks, (01242-254353, www.worldwalks.com) offers the Via Francigena from £695pp per week (self-guided) based on two people sharing, £845pp guided. Single supplement: £80. It includes B&B and six dinners per week, luggage transfers, walking notes and maps.