Eight properties at the end of the road, where the closest grocery store is a long story.
Remote is a moving target. These properties pass the working definition - you need at least a small plane, a boat or a long drive, and once you arrive there is nowhere else to go. They are not the easiest trips to organise, but the lack of an alternative is exactly the point.
Explora Patagonia, Torres del Paine, Chile
Inside the park, on the shore of Lago Pehoé, with horse stables and a guide team that takes you out daily. Forty-nine rooms, all facing the Cuernos del Paine, and a programme of more than forty guided excursions on foot, on horseback or by van. The transfer from Punta Arenas is five hours; once there, you do not leave the property except on a hike.
Wolwedans, Namibia
Tent camps inside the NamibRand reserve, two hours south of Sossusvlei across red gravel plains. Star skies that are designated International Dark Sky, the only artificial light a hurricane lamp on the deck. Three camps to choose from; the Dunes Lodge sits highest on a rocky island in the sand sea. Most guests fly in on a Cessna from Windhoek - the road is technically possible, but takes nine hours.
Old Mondoro, Lower Zambezi, Zambia
Small bush camp on the riverside, with canoes the only way around the reserve. Four chalets, no fences, hippos grazing past the deck after dark. The Lower Zambezi is one of the few African parks where you can game-view from a boat at the same time as from a vehicle; September and October are the peak months for elephant crossings. Combine with a few nights in South Luangwa for a contrasting walking-safari experience.
Three Camel Lodge, Gobi, Mongolia
Yurts at the edge of the desert, near the Flaming Cliffs where the first dinosaur eggs were found in 1923. Camel rides into Gobi Gurvansaikhan park from the front door, and a small library of paleontology books in the main ger. The lodge is a six-hour drive or a one-hour charter flight from Ulaanbaatar; either way, the silence after sundown is total.
Knoydart Foundation cabins, Scotland
Knoydart is the only piece of mainland Britain you can't reach by road. Boat from Mallaig, then walk. The Foundation runs simple bothies and bunkhouses for hikers crossing to Inverie, where the Old Forge claims to be the most remote pub in mainland UK. Two or three nights here is enough to forget that motorway service stations exist.
Deplar Farm, Iceland
Fljót Valley in the Tröll Peninsula, a converted sheep farm with thirteen rooms, a geothermal pool inside the lodge and a private heli pad. Heli-skiing in winter, fly-fishing for Atlantic salmon in summer, both world-class. The Eleven Experience team that runs it knows the terrain at a level no day-trip guide can match - they have been here since 2014.
Mil Tortugas, Antarctica
Several seasonal Antarctic camps now operate from late November to early February. The first night in the Drake Passage swell separates the curious from the committed, but a fly-cruise via King George Island shortens the worst of the crossing. White Desert and Antarctica21 run the most established options; expect twin-walled tents heated to 18 degrees and a fully-equipped kitchen at 80 degrees south.
Six Senses Con Dao, Vietnam
Former prison archipelago, fifty minutes by ATR from Ho Chi Minh City. The flights are limited, the snorkelling is excellent and the islands themselves are mostly empty - a national park covers eighty percent of the land. Hawksbill turtles nest on Bay Canh between June and September; the resort runs a quiet conservation programme that lets guests join the night patrols.
