Sailing travel guide

Maybe you don’t own a sou’wester and yellow wellies. Perhaps the Dover-Calais ferry is your longest voyage to date. No matter! There’s a sailing vacation out there to suit everyone. From hands-on trips around Scotland where guests are invited to hoist the sails and fish from the decks, to luxury cruises down the Croatian coast or around Greek islands, where swimming, snoozing on deck and feasting on fresh food in quiet quayside restaurants is as arduous as it gets. The choice of location and type of boat is vast, and between bobbing along, enjoy activities as diverse as skiing and whale watching, kayaking and cycling. All trips share an emphasis on sociability, fun and freedom, though. After all, this is a vacation, not an epic ocean-going challenge. Drinks will be served, new landscapes explored, sunsets admired and sea legs discovered.

Navigate your way with our sailing vacations travel guide.

In the UK, sailing trips tend not to run Oct-Feb, especially in Scotland, with Apr-Sep the best time to go, when the weather is clement and seas less choppy. Sailing in southern Europe generally follows suit, taking advantage of the blue skies and sunshine of late spring and summer, but with trips running during the balmy autumn, too, until late Oct. Factor in high summer heat, though, if you’re planning active land-based activities, too, such as hiking or cycling. Sailing further afield opens up the calendar. Drift around the Mergui Archipelago in Myanmar from Nov-Mar, take a skiing and sailing trip to Norway in the winter or cruise the Virgin Islands or Maldives any time of year.