Some adventure travellers like to distinguish between ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ experiences. Hard adventure tours are a little more extreme and often involve a heightened sense of risk and danger, with adrenaline as a necessary and obviously exciting part of the ride. Here is our pick of five tours guaranteed to give you your fix. Travellers beware – adrenaline is known to be highly addictive!

Labelled ‘the hippest year-round beach scene in South America’ in an article by The New York Times and famed for its legendary beauty, Brazil’s Florianópolis is dotted with lakes, pristine beaches, sand dunes, waterfalls and the Atlantic Forest. But there’s far more than sun worshippers and stunning natural scenery that draws travellers to the ‘Island of…

On 11 January 2009 the New York Times (NYT) published a piece entitled The 44 Places to Go in 2009. The introduction suggests that they are the new year’s ‘most compelling destinations’ and they’re presented in an order of preference ‘recommended’ by the NYT. At the article’s request, readers also voted on their favourites and, with…