Holidays with an element of adventure or activity are a great way to go. Remember the risk factors involved with diving or climbing – as opposed to lying on a beach – do increase. So make sure you travel fully insured with Direct Line Travel Insurance.
Choosing your activity holiday
If you’ve made a decision to get active in your spare time, then finding the right holiday can be half the fun. As activity holidays have grown in popularity, the number of specialised tour operators and inspiring online advice centres and guidebooks has increased too. So whether you want to go canoeing in France, climbing in Nepal, elephant trekking in Thailand or rock‐climbing above Venice, there is someone who can help your dream come true. And don’t forget there are also activity holidays for the less adventurous that involve painting, cooking, gardening and even volunteering on a community project. Six of the best sites to send you in the right direction include:
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Sunsail (specialising in watersports)
Tips before you book
If booking through a tour operator or agent, make sure they consider your safety of paramount importance. You want to know you will be using qualified guides and the best equipment on your journey abroad. If you are travelling in a group you also want to ensure that the group is not too large, so that everyone gets the attention they need.
Also, double‐check that your itinerary suits you, and covers the level you are at with a particular activity and provides for the people you are travelling with. If you are travelling alone, you may want to ensure that you are in a mixed group or with people of a similar age.
Where you do your activity obviously also affects the kind of holiday you will have. If you want to go jungle trekking you will need to go somewhere tropical. If you want to ski or snowboard then you need snow! Remember the activity you choose to do is just part of the fun, and some of the adventure will come from where you do it. Outside of activity time you will have time to explore other cultures and may like time to sightsee or take a tour. Make sure you factor this in and check that everyone is happy with the requirements of the country you are going to visit. This can include observing cultural differences, obtaining visas, employing a certain mode of transport to get there (e.g. all the necessary health jabs.
Staying insured
Whatever kind of holiday you choose, or for whatever reason you travel abroad, you should always invest in travel insurance. This is particularly important for any holiday that could leave you at increased risk as far as your health is concerned: the more active you are, the more prone you could be to having an accident.
Direct Line provides three kinds of Travel Insurance for you to choose from when you travel abroad, depending on how long and for how many times in a year you will be travelling: they are Single Trip travel insurance, Annual travel insurance and Discoverer, which is a suitable option for extended trips and backpackers, and these all cover you for a range of emergencies including health, theft, cancellation and curtailment. You can also add ‘winter sports cover’ on to Single Trip and Annual policies, if required.
You specify where you want to travel and whom you want to be insured on the policy. However, there are some stipulations on ‘insured activities’ you can do. You can find a list of these ‘insured activities’ on each of our travel insurance policy documents. Anything that is not on these lists – or that is not organised by your hotel, holiday organiser or a recognised provider of the service – is considered a ‘dangerous activity’ and if you hurt yourself while taking part in one, you will not be able to make a claim. If you are unsure about whether you are covered for activities not specified on your travel insurance documents, please call us before you travel and our advisors will let you know how your travel cover may be affected. It may be that the activity can be specified for a small increase in your premium. Of course, some activities will not be covered at all, so it really makes sense to find out what is and isn’t covered before you travel.
So make sure you are covered for the activity you choose to do – and have the adventure holiday of a lifetime.
