Big adventures can happen in a small space of time. In fact, you can squeeze a full-on, blood-pumping, lung-busting adventure, paired with terrific scenery and cracking company, into a single weekend. We’ve found the high-octane short trips with flight times carefully calculated to help you pack in the thrills. None requires taking more than two days off work. Consider this your quickfire adrenaline fix.
Mountain biking in Andorra
Days off work: 2
In the Pyrenees above Andorra, you can spend a whole week bombing around the web of single-track routes and only see the odd walker or occasional local. Over three days’ riding from the little town of La Massana, none of the routes, all tailored to the group’s abilities, has less than 75% descent — you’ll use lifts, with the occasional uphill pedal. And if you want to pack in even more thrills, the nearby Vallnord Bike Park, which hosted the MTB World Championships in 2015, should do the trick.
Four nights from £425pp, B&B, including guides and transfers; singletracksafari.com. Fly to Barcelona with Vueling
Diving in Iceland
Days off work: 1
After flying out after work on Friday, here’s the plan for Saturday afternoon: a journey to the centre of the earth. At the Silfra fissure, in Thingvellir National Park, just outside Reykjavik, you’ll be diving between continents. Part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, Silfra is a series of connected ravines stretching 2,000ft, with tunnels and caverns. As well as the drysuit (the water is 2C-4C) you’ll need a GoPro — the water is so clear, you can see for more than 300ft. You’ll do two dives on Saturday, then ditch the drysuit and spend Sunday in the somewhat warmer waters of the Blue Lagoon.
Three nights from £645pp, including breakfast, one lunch, two dives, all equipment and transfers; diveworldwide.com. Fly to Reykjavik with Wow Air
Hiking in Norway
Days off work: 0.5
You know those spine-tingling photos of someone sitting with their legs dangling off a ledge over a Norwegian fjord? That’s Breiskreinosi, at the top of the Naeroyfjord, northeast of Bergen. It’s a two-day hike there and back from the Viking village of Gudvangen, past waterfalls, villages of red houses, sheer cliffs and fields of goats, picking wild strawberries as you go. It’s a group trip done in basic comfort — after a night in a hostel in Bergen, you’ll be sleeping in a mountain hut with an outhouse — but for views so good they’re listed by Unesco, and at this price, it’s worth it.
Two nights from £405pp, including most meals, guides and transfers; muchbetteradventures.com. Fly to Bergen with Norwegian
Sea kayaking in Turkey
Days off work: 0
In the 2nd century AD, an earthquake shook the ground beneath the Lycian city of Simena so hard that half of it dropped 6ft or more into the sea. Nearly 2,000 years later, on a two-day paddle down the remarkable Kekova coastline, you can peer into the clear waters to see submerged ancient ruins, sunken sarcophagi and medieval hilltop fortresses crumbling over the cliffs. You’ll fly out Friday evening, back late Sunday, camping for one night on a deserted beach, where your guide will sort your fish dinner, and spending the other in a terracotta-tiled cottage at the plush Deniz Feneri Lighthouse, on the seafront.
Two nights from £540pp, B&B, including guides and some meals; fairlightjones.com. Fly to Dalaman with Thomas Cook Airlines
Advertisement
Trail running in Mallorca
Days off work: 1
The ultramarathon runner Miquel Capo Soller is a machine and, arguably, a nutcase. He came third in the 2013 Marathon des Sables, a six-day slog across the Sahara. He came second in the 2016 Everest Trail. And he and his fellow athlete Tofol Castanyer will be guiding the scramble up sheer slopes in the Tramuntana Mountains, on Mallorca’s northwest coast, or leading you down flat coastal paths, depending on your ability. Arrive on Friday night and, over the next two days, you’ll do one two-hour and two five-hour guided runs. Downtime — and you’ll need it — can be spent at the infinity pool, in yoga classes or in the small spa at the stylish Son Brull hotel, near Pollensa.
Three nights from £945pp, B&B, including car hire and return flights to Palma; thehealthyholidaycompany.co.uk
Lake swimming in Lithuania
Days off work: 2
The Aukstaitija National Park, in northeast Lithuania, is covered by 126 spectacular interlinking freshwater lakes. Yes, it has 200-year-old pine trees, elk, wild boar and terrific birdwatching, but the water’s where it’s at — not on it, but in it, carving splashy trails through the glassy surface. Over three days, you’ll tick off Lake Baluosas and its seven islands, and swim downriver between Asalnai and Lusiai lakes, covering up to 3½ miles a day and hiking between the launch spots. Dry out back at the Polynesian-themed Tiki Inn.
Three nights from £500pp, half-board; departures on July 1 and August 5; swimtrek.com. Fly to Vilnius or Kaunas with Wizz Air
Packrafting in Finland
Days off work: 0.5
A packraft is an inflatable one-person dinghy that you can fold up, throw on your back and carry to your next descent. That’s the easy bit. Pelting down the whitewater rapids isn’t so straightforward. On this trip, your guide, Jaakko, will show you and your group of up to eight exactly how it’s done on the class II rapids of the Kymi River, in the Valkmusa National Park, 90 minutes from Helsinki. After a night in a B&B, you’ll have a day of downriver paddling, with a three-course campfire tea and a tent for the night, followed by a hike through wetlands that teem with marshland butterflies, cranes and cranberry plants to catch your ride back to town.
Three nights from £385pp, including most meals, transfers, guiding and equipment; departures until September; muchbetteradventures.com. Fly to Helsinki with Finnair