Hands Up Holidays

We offer inspirational trips in 32 countries that blend incredible sightseeing with a 'taste' of hands-on volunteering, such as repairing an orphanage, teaching, building a house, environmental conservation. Our trips vary in length from 4 till 23 days, and we can also tailor make an itinerary to suit.

All flights are carbon offset, we are partnered with Climate Stewards who we pay to plant trees or provide other energy efficient solutions on behalf of our guests.

Hands Up Holidays is committed to being the world's leading ethical tour operator, and one of its India trips was named. The Ultimate Eco-Trip in The Observer in February 2007. Hands Up Holidays was also one of three finalists in TravelMole's best Responsible Tourism website awards for 2007.
We use only local guides thus providing employment in the destination.

Hands Up Holidays was conceived to make it easy for people to have a holiday, and a taste of volunteering, we are aware that for most of our clients this is their first time volunteering, and so they are going out of their comfort zone, so we most of our tours are 4* in accommodation throughout, so that our guests can have a solace at the end of a days and hopefully get inspired to do more volunteering, either back at home, or on future trips, or both.

Our trips are aimed at anyone who wants a fulfilling, enriching holiday experience. Because most of our tours are 4*, most of our customers are Young Professionals (aged 25-38) and Young at Heart people (aged 50-65). However, we do offer some trips that are lower grade accommodation, and these have proven popular with students and backpackers (for instance in Nepal, India, South Africa, or in Vietnam). We have been delighted at the number of bookings for people with young families (aged typically 9-15) who want to take their children on a trip that provides them with meaningful interaction with local people, to really gain insights and get culturally immersed.