Short breaks cater for thrill seekers

Increasing numbers of people are opting for short adventure breaks as opposed to traditional weekends away in Paris or Rome.

Explore is one such company that caters to this growing breed of holidaymaker, and has seen demand for its holidays grow significantly since the firm launched in 2001.

The company offers some 25 different four to eight day tours across many areas of the world including Africa and the Middle East, such as tracking gorillas in Uganda and snorkelling with killer whales in Norway.

"When we first launched a handful of short adventure holidays five years ago we were amazed at the response," commented Simon Tobin, the firm's managing director.

"Short breaks are now a hugely popular area – some people use a long weekend as their first taster of an adventure holiday, while others simply want maximum action with minimum time out of the office."

New this year is a five day trip in the Lebanon, which includes mountain biking and walking tours to the Roman city of Baalbeck and the Qadisha Valley.