The Most Scenic Flight Routes for Luxury Private Travellers

One of the numerous benefits of luxury travel is that you get to lay eyes on, move through, and surround yourself with some of the most exquisite scenery in the world. Hover like an ocean bird in glass-clear, soft waters. Breathe the air of the ancients as you wind your way around crumbling temples buried in the deepest jungles. Feel the sands of time shift beneath your feet as you feel the dunes of some of the world’s oldest deserts. Luxury travel gives travellers a chance not just to see the world's beauty from afar, but to get knee-deep in it, up close and genuine. Reaching locations like this, the meticulously preserved, maintained, and protected ones situated in the middle of nowhere, can be a challenge. Luckily, with luxury travel comes private air travel, the single most comfortable and lavish way to get from place to place. If you’re looking for a trip in which the views on the way are just as stunning as the destination, these are the ones you should consider before any others.

The Okavango Delta, Botswana

The Delta is one of the most significant, most interesting, and beautiful wilderness sights in the world—a particularly stunning view to take in from above. In this location, you’ll find the largest inland delta anywhere on the planet and a chance to see an African landscape (and a collection of wildlife) like no other. There's big game viewing to be done when you land, and a tranquil, serene landscape waiting to welcome you, but what about while you’re still in the air?

While there are surely several commercial flights that make their way over Botswana and Namibia, passengers may have to crane for a view or not have access to a window at all. Private jet hire puts you in a far better position to enjoy a bird’s eye view of the delta, as it makes its way across the land like the silver veins of some enormous fallen god. Take in the shimmering flood plains, and as you come down lower to land in Botswana or Namibia, keep an eye out for lumbering hippos in the waterways and stately elephants in the shade of trees. Depending on the time of year you visit, you’ll see a different scene. Between May and October, you’ll encounter the dry season, during which the delta’s water is reduced to rivulets. From November to April, however, you’ll find a bright green grassland slipping away beneath you, full of life. A luxury travel experience you’ll never forget.

St Moritz, Switzerland

If you’re flying to St Moritz during winter, you’re likely to find any landing you make (even private airports in the area that cater to luxury clientele) a little bit busier than usual. The view of iced, glittering Switzerland from above wouldn't be any more opposite to that of the Delta if it tried.  Flying to St. Moritz from almost any destination will provide you with a similar view, one that deepens in majesty and wonder as you approach your destination. The Swiss Alps and, closer to St. Moritz, the Engadine Valley are among the most stunning mountainous destinations to view from above. Miles and miles of rugged peaks unfold beneath your jet’s wings, capped by snow whiter and fresher than the fondant on a Christmas cake. Skies so blue they seem to be enamelled stretch above and around you, all the way to the horizon. It’s an icy paradise that you’re about to experience in person: skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, après-ski (a good reason to work up a sweat), drinks, warm cocoa in front of a roaring fire, and snow drifting gently from the heavens. Doesn't that sound marvellous?

Bora Bora, Pacific Islands

In a different kind of paradise, but indeed still a paradise, lie the islands and lagoons of Bora Bora. Flying over scenery like this is, in and of itself, an experience worth a king’s ransom. Since you’ll land at a private airport on one of the mountains (smaller islands around the main Volcanic island), you’ll descend over this pristine part of the South Pacific and be treated to a close-up view. From high above, the island scenery is still stunning: like an enormous Evil Eye talisman with the island as its dark, central iris. As you begin to descend, you’ll be able to pick out more details. You’ll see the water change from Mediterranean deep blue to the brightest, most transparent turquoise. You’ll notice the whitecaps in the deep water and the ripples of sunlight and shade playing along the sandy bottom of the shallows. You’ll see verdant green vegetation sprouting over black volcanic rocks like tightly curled hair and sandy beaches fringing the coast, just begging to be lain on. Who could wish for more?

The Ultimate Luxury

Let your trip begin the way you intend for it to continue: in the lap of luxury with access to some of the most stunning views on the planet. The ultimate luxury trips await you if you’re ready to experience them.