7 Remote Destinations Best Seen From a Cruise Ship

Sometimes, it's nice to leave the legwork to the professionals, especially when you're heading far, far away to places like Norway's Svalbard Archipelago or Indonesia's Gili Islands. Better yet, you can pull off some of these remote itineraries in a week or less.
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    Indonesia’s Gili Islands

    Dates: October 7–14, 2017
    Route: Round trip from Bali on the Star Clipper
    Major Selling Point: Komodo dragons on Komodo Island! How awesome is that? Those pink sand beaches aren’t too shabby either.

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    The Mekong

    Dates: March 27–April 3, 2018
    Route: Ho Chi Minh City to Kampong Cham, Cambodia (and a bus transfer to Angkor Wat), on the Scenic Spirit
    Major Selling Point: Every suite has a private balcony, and the top-deck pool is perfect for cooling off post–street food tour.

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    The Volga

    Dates: May 28-June 9, 2018
    Route: St. Petersburg to Moscow on Viking's Helgi
    Major Selling Point: Viking fits 10 included guided tours into 13 days. Pack your walking shoes.

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    The Svalbard Archipelago

    Dates: July 2–9, 2018
    Route: Round trip from Longyearbyen, Norway, on Ponant’s Le Boréal
    Major Selling Point: You’ll go above the Arctic Circle—real Frozen territory—and actually see polar bears and narwhals in hidden fjords.

  • Courtesy Aqua Expeditions

    The Upper Amazon

    Dates: November 6-10, 2017
    Route: Head along the Amazon’s largest tributary in a roundtrip from Iquitos on the Aria Amazon
    Major Selling Point: The expert guides and naturalists that lead skiff trips during the day—and the pisco sours at sunset.

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    Myanmar

    Dates: January 24–27, 2018
    Route: Mandalay to Bagan on the Belmond Road to Mandalay
    Major Selling Point: It’s an easy tack-on to a longer trip to southeast Asia and a hassle-free way to explore the epic temples of Bagan.

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    The Indian Ocean

    Dates: February 14–21, 2018
    Route: Mumbai to Dubai on Silversea’s Silver Spirit
    Major Selling Point: What other trip allows you to squeeze in Oman, Fujairah, and Porbandar, in western India (better known as the birthplace of Gandhi)?