5 Dream Vacations for Lottery Winners

Have you bought your ticket? I have and it’s safe and sound on the refrigerator door. If I were to win, you know for certain that the first thing I’d do is book some travel. Only these trips would be a step BEYOND my usual campervan in Thailand or Key West with the dog trips.

Here are some extraordinary vacations for the new billionaire!

1.   Private New Zealand Adventure 

Kicking off with 35 days in New Zealand, this custom itinerary includes white-water rafting down the Rangitaiki River; hiking tours through national parks; wine tastings at historic wineries in the South Island’s Cromwell region; helicopter flights to remote locations; fly-fishing at top-tier lodges; tours of the glowworm-lined Waitomo Caves; and sailing through the Bay of Islands. After a month+ in New Zealand, the remaining nine days are spent in Hawaii at Maui’s Montage Kapalua Bay and Honolulu’s renowned hotel Halekulani. The trip starts at $83,000 per couple. For more information, visit Frontiers International Travel or call 800-245-1950.

2.   Explore North Pole on Nuclear Icebreaker

Sail for the legendary North Pole on this exciting 14-day Arctic voyage aboard the nuclear icebreaker, 50 Years of Victory. Explore the High Arctic from many angles: view the moving icebreaker from air on a helicopter ride, feel the thick pack ice under your boots while walking, and observe bears, birds, and walruses are you sail. The tour starts at $26,995 per person. For more info, visit Adventure Life or call 800-344-6118.

3.   Tour The Silk Road by Private Train

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Retracing one of the most important trading routes of ancient civilization, this 22-day private train tour follows in the footsteps of such legendary figures as Alexander the Great and Marco Polo. For centuries, merchants and adventurers journeyed to and from China on ancient routes through some of the most testing landscapes in the world trading silk, spices and perfumes. These ‘highways’ – stretching some 4,000 miles collectively came to be called the ‘Silk Road’. The tour starts at $24,595 per person. For more info visit MIR Corporation,  of call 800-424-7289.

4.   Russian Space Tour

On this electrifying exploration of the Russian Space Program guests will tour Star City, Russia’s premier cosmonaut training facility, where they can participate in optional cosmonaut training (Zero-Gravity Flight or Space Walk Training) in the Orlan Space Suit Lab. At the remote Russian launch facility on the Kazakh steppe, rub shoulders with top international space officials, space veterans and family of the next space crew, and witness the heart-stirring launch of the Soyuz on its way to the International Space Station. The tour starts at $14,495 per person. For more info, visit MIR Corporation or call 800-424-7289.

Soyuz launch

5.   Ultimate Africa Safari

Africa is the second largest of the Earth’s seven continents, making up about 22 percent of the world’s total land area and complete with Mount Kilimanjaro, the tallest freestanding mountain in the world; Victoria Falls, one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World; Ngorongoro Crater, the world’s largest unbroken volcanic caldera; Olduvai Gorge, one of the most important prehistoric sites in the world; and Cape Town, which has to be one of the globe’s most beautiful cities with award-winning winelands a stone’s throw away. This 29-day private tour explores the best Southern Africa has to offer and utilizes the most luxurious hotels and tent camps available. The tour starts at $27,175 per person.  For more info, visit Frontiers Elegant Journeys or call 724-935-1577.