Untamed Borders has been shortlisted for two awards at the 2026 Wanderlust Reader Travel Awards.
We’ve been included in the “Favourite Adventure Tour Operator” and “Favourite Specialist Tour Operator” categories – thank you to the team at Wanderlust for the inclusion.
The Wanderlust Reader Travel Awards are one of the best-established reader-voted awards in the travel industry, with 2026 marking their 25th year. They celebrate destinations, tour operators, airlines and other parts of the travel sector, with categories ranging from readers’ favourite countries, cities and islands to specialist and adventure travel companies.
The scale of the awards has grown considerably over the years. In 2025, more than 208,000 Wanderlust readers took part, casting around 4.8 million votes across the categories. For us, being shortlisted alongside other travel companies operating around the world is great recognition of the work carried out by our team, guides and partners.
Voting for the 2026 awards is open until 27th October, with the winners due to be announced at a major event in London on 4th November 2026. To find out more about the awards and cast your vote, please visit the Wanderlust Reader Travel Awards website.
This is the second year in a row that Untamed Borders has been shortlisted, something we’re very proud of.
Our relationship with Wanderlust also goes well beyond the awards. We’ve worked closely with the magazine in the past, including guiding journalist Simon Urwin in Syria for a feature published last year.
During the trip, we guided Simon across the country, visiting Damascus, the Crusader fortress of Krak des Chevaliers, Homs, Hama, Aleppo, Palmyra and Maaloula. The journey offered the chance to see some of Syria’s best-known historic sites, as well as understand how everyday life and tourism were changing after years of conflict and isolation.
Many of these destinations also feature on our group trips to Syria. Interest in visiting the country has been increasing during 2026, with visitor numbers rising as international access improves and more travellers return to Syria.
Untamed Borders has also regularly featured in Wanderlust’s news and travel coverage over the years. Our relationship with the publication dates back more than 14 years, with our team providing updates and first-hand information from destinations that can be difficult to report on or travel through independently.
Our Founder, James Willcox, has also provided Wanderlust with expert insight into travelling in Central Asia – a part of the world that remains at the heart of what Untamed Borders does.
The Untamed Borders story began in the region in 2008, when we started organising travel in Afghanistan. Since then, our work has expanded across Central Asia and beyond, but the same idea remains central to what we do: helping travellers reach places that are often difficult to access while working with experienced local teams on the ground.
In 2026, we added new group tours along the Pamir Highway in Tajikistan, one of the world’s great high-altitude road journeys. Running through the Pamir Mountains, the route crosses remote valleys and high passes and has long been regarded as one of Central Asia’s classic overland adventures.
We have also expanded our programme in Turkmenistan, with group tours across the country. Our trips combine major Silk Road sites and historic cities with the vast desert landscapes that define much of the country.
Elsewhere in Central Asia, this year we took guests to the World Nomad Games in Kyrgyzstan, a major celebration of sports, traditions and games associated with nomadic cultures from around the world. Events range from traditional wrestling and archery to horse sports that have been played across the region for generations. It was a wonderful event and one we plan to return to for the next Games.
In 2027, we’ll be launching new group tours to Mangystau in western Kazakhstan, one of the least visited parts of Central Asia. The region is known for its extraordinary desert landscapes, chalk cliffs, canyons, underground mosques and huge open spaces, but remains well away from the country’s better-known visitor routes.
Being shortlisted in both the Favourite Adventure Tour Operator and Favourite Specialist Tour Operator categories is therefore particularly meaningful to us. They reflect the two sides of what we try to do – create genuine adventures, while also developing the specialist knowledge needed to operate responsibly in challenging destinations.
Thank you to everyone who has travelled with us, worked with us or supported Untamed Borders over the years – and thank you again to Wanderlust for including us in the 2026 shortlist.