Adventure holidays that make a difference

Adventure holidays can be immensely rewarding, testing holidaymakers to learn new skills while enjoying the sights of distant destinations.

However, for travellers tempted by the adventure holiday experience looking for an added incentive for taking up the challenge charities offer a chance to raise money as well as get away from it all.

This month, the British Heart Foundation (BHF) launched its World Experiences programme, which includes adventure holidays cycling along the Nile in Egypt, trekking up to Machu Picchu in Peru and climbing Everest, a well as other less well-known adventures.

The BHF holidays are run by tour operators, and participants are required to raise a minimum level of sponsorship before they go on the trip (between £1,300 and £3,100), and pay a registration fee (between £150 and £350).

Travel and accommodation is paid for from the money raised, so the holidays are fantastic value, though holidaymakers unable to raise the money will have to make up the difference themselves if they can not generate the minimum cash.

Cycling holiday enthusiasts with a taste for the world's most famous wine, Champagne, can take on the BHF's London to Riems tour.

Covering almost 400 kilometres in four days, this cycling holiday is sure to test your fitness, with steep climbs dotted throughout the route.

The trip takes place in June 2007 starting from Crystal Palace in London, crossing over the channel to France from Newhaven, and passing through Normandy on days two to four.

On the way travellers will be able to take in a street market in Dieppe, taste the local wine in the village of Gournay en Bray, and sample the Champagne in Reims, before catching the train back to Waterloo.

The Champagne route bike ride requires a £150 registration and minimum sponsorship of £1,300 to be raised, as well as three to six months cycling training.

If you are more of a walker rather than a cyclist, for a larger registration fee and sponsorship target you can go on a nine-day desert trek and see the pyramids, mountains and the welcoming waters of the Red Sea in Egypt.

Leaving from London for Cairo in November 2007, the tour stops at Giza for holidaymakers to see the legendary pyramids, before going on to the Sinai desert, via the Suez Canal.

Holidaymakers will then trek their way to the top of Mount Sinai overnight, reaching the summit at sunrise. The rest of the tour is no less spectacular, with holidaymakers seeing Bedouin tents, a desert oasis and a sandstone canyon before reaching the shores of the Red Sea.

The Sinai trek requires a £350 registration and minimum sponsorship of £2,400 to be raised, as well as three to six months training.

For more information on see www.bhf.org.uk

Another charity offering a similar adventure holiday experience is Lepra, which is running a cycling adventure in India in January 2007. For more information see www.lepra.org.uk
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