Working holidays, volunteering & volunteer holidays
Featured Sites
ABV volunteers» volunteer abroad programs & internships, explore new countries while doing rewarding, meaningful service work ... MORE
TourRadar» over 150 volunteer work & community tours from a wide range of operators in over 25 countries worldwide ... MORE
i-to-i TEFL» Paid or volunteer work teaching English abroad: internships & experiences in Asia, South Africa & Colombia ... MORE
A Broader View Volunteers Corp Featured Site
based: Pennsylvania, USA
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US Non Profit Organization arranging volunteer projects abroad in 30 countries, offering travelers the opportunity to explore a new country while taking part in rewarding, meaningful service work in 315 programs. Ideal as gap year trips, short-term and Internships. Get A Broader View of the world: volunteer your time and efforts to improve the lives of those less fortunate.
| working/volunteer | gap year | Spanish language | ecological tours | Africa | South America | Central America | Asia |
i-to-i TEFL Featured Site
Paid or volunteer work teaching English abroad, a range of TEFL (Teach English as a Foreign Language) courses which can be combined with paid TEFL internships». Or TEFL experiences» which combine courses, teaching and adventure travel. Destinations include China, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Spain, South Africa and Colombia.
| English TEFL course | working/volunteer | gap year | Asia | South Africa | Colombia | Spain |
John Muir Trust
based: Perthshire, Scotland, UK
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Conservation Work Parties where you can volunteer to help carry out conservation work in wild and beautiful places. The John Muir Trust is a registered Scottish charity with the aim of protecting and conserving wild places and increasing awareness and understanding of such places.
| working/volunteer | Scotland |
Jubilee Sailing Trust
based: Hampshire, UK
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Adventure sailing holidays for able-bodied and disabled people. The JST is a UK based charity that aims to promote the integration of able bodied and disabled people through adventure sailing holidays. The JST welcomes people from all over the world onto its two specially designed tall ships, the Lord Nelson and Tenacious.
| sailing (large boat /sail ship) | for people with a disability | working /volunteer | UK | Ireland | USA | Europe | Canaries | Worldwide |
National Trust (The)
based: London, UK
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Working holidays in National Trust locations in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. These include historic buildings as well as countryside, coastal, woodland and farm locations. Many different types of holiday aimed at a wide variety of interests and age groups.
| working/volunteer | archaeological digs | country crafts | botanical | youth/teen | UK |
Nest Trust (The) – Nicaragua English & Sustainable Tourism
based: Nicaragua & Birmingham. UK
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Voluntary project offering unique opportunities to live and work with rural communities in the coffee growing mountains of Nicaragua. Teach English to young guides and make a valuable contribution to the region's rural tourism programmes, which are vital for environmental conservation and the livelihoods of the small producers.
| working/volunteer | ethical and ecotourism | Nicaragua |
TEFL International Prague – Language & Training
based: Prague, Czech Republic
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TEFL International Prague provides a 4-week TEFL course leading to an internationally recognized Certificate in TESOL. The course is externally moderated by TEFL International and accredited by Fairmont State University in Vermont, USA. All their successful course graduates get a teaching job guarantee in Prague and job guidance worldwide.
| English TEFL courses | gap year | summer schools | working/volunteer | Czech Republic |
TourRadar Featured Site
Volunteer work and community tours and trips worldwide. TourRadar has over 150 tours from a wide range of operators, these cover at least 25 different countries and range from 3-day trips to those of over 80 days. Areas covered include: wildlife and conservation, education and language teaching, community projects, working with children, health projects ...
| working/volunteer | gap year | Worldwide |
UpTrek
based: Bucharest, Romania & Tel Aviv, Israel
Making activity-driven vacations simple, UpTrek provides some of the world's most interesting and highly rated vacation packages and offers a discovery and booking platform that brings excitement and simplicity back to travel. Choose from hundreds of unique travel experiences and book online easily and instantaneously.
| working/volunteer | photographic | cookery | gastronomic | yoga | weight loss | fitness | detoxification | canoe/kayak | diving/snorkelling | mountain biking | Worldwide |
Volunteer Latin America
based: London, UK
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Providing free and low-cost volunteer work in Central and South America for independent volunteers; offering a wide variety of projects including opportunities to volunteer and learn Spanish abroad.
| working/volunteer | gap year | Spanish language | South America |
Workers Beer Company
based: London, UK
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Volunteer work helping run beer tents at leading UK music festivals for anyone who is part of a trade union, campaigning or community group (work payments go to the campaigning organisation). Workers get free entry to the festival and drinks after work shifts.
| working/volunteer | UK |
Blue Ventures Conservation
based: London, UK
Dynamic marine volunteering positions available in Madagascar, researching threatened coral reefs ecosystems.
| working/volunteer | gap year | diving/snorkelling | Madagascar |
Disability Snowsport
based: Inverness-shire, UK
Wintersports holidays and courses for people with a disability.
| for people with a disability | ski/snowboard | working/volunteer | Europe | USA | Scotland |
THAILAND: Various Thai volunteer projects
A range of volunteer projects and community work packages across Thailand, offering a choice of projects with a number of different operators.
Included are volunteer tour packages such as: teaching English to the children of tribes in Chiang Rai; working with elephants and on micro-development projects in Surin; teaching or development projects on Koh Samui island; a healthcare and medical experience in Surin; various hill tribe and child development volunteer projects; volunteering work with beach time included going through Bangkok, Thailand and Krabi; and a tour package travelling through Chiang Mai with volunteer work en-route.
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UK: Working holidays with the National Trust
A wide range of working holidays in beautiful locations while you help keep National Trust places special. National Trust working holidays might be:
Active: combining conservation work with active pursuits like surfing, sailing, wild swimming, coasteering, walking and cycling.
Archaeological: ideal for people interested in archaeology who want to learn how an archaeological site looks and works.
Countryside & Coast: conservation work helping to preserve some of Britain's most beautiful landscapes.
Construction: hands-on work on vital rebuilding and repair works such as walls, footpaths and storm drains.
Event based: helping out at a National Trust event like a fete, Christmas fair or family fun-day.
Farming: practical farm work such as stock management, gate hanging or fencing.
Gardening: working in one of the National Trust's stunning gardens.
Historic houses: discover a National Trust property while working with its historic collections, archive material, or as the house is packed up at the end of the season.
Rural skills: a opportunity to learn traditional skills such as hedge-laying, cider making, coppicing, or learning green woodworking.
Special interest: working holidays with a difference; combining conservation work with activities like digital photography, arts, crafts, bush-craft or stone carving.
TANZANIA: Zanzibar Island volunteer work
A 14-day volunteer working project in Tanzania, helping to build new schools in rural communities and assisting to promote literacy, health and hygeine in the classroom. This tour package starts from Dar-es-Salaam and visits a number of destinations including Zanzibar Island, off Tanzania's eastern coast, and Arusha, at the foot of Mt Kilimanjaro.
On the island you'll also be able to swim with dolphins, sail and snorkel, before returning to mainland Tanzania to finish the trip with a two-day safari, camping in in Tarangire or Lake Manyara National Park.
See all options & full details»
Working and volunteer holidays
This section lists short working holidays and volunteer breaks (volunteering) in the UK, Europe, Asia, America, Africa, South America and Worldwide. The format of volunteering and working holidays varies, but all will include a work element, be it paid, voluntary and unpaid, or paid in kind.
Working holidays
Working holidays will typically include a substantial element of (often unpaid/low paid) work combined with recreation activities and travel. For example, this might include work as chalet staff in ski resorts, with time off to ski and board; work in language schools with time off to enjoy the beach; or work on conservation projects with arranged recreational activities and excursions.
Volunteering & volunteer holidays
Volunteering holidays will typically include working for worthy causes often in developing countries. The work might be on development programmes, community projects, medical or educational projects, or wildlife and conservation. Many volunteering holidays will also include 'holiday' down time for recreation and travel. This sort of trip allows participants to experience another culture, meet new people or advance career prospects.
Worth a look
In this section working and volunteer holidays will tend to be shorter breaks than those found in our gap year section (although there is a lot of overlap and many organisations listed are found in both categories).
CATEGORY DEFINITION FOR TOUR OPERATORS WISHING TO BE LISTED:
The travel-quest volunteering and working holidays section lists holidays and travel packages offering work and volunteering. See the definition at further up the page for more details.
PHOTO CREDITS:
Unless credited otherwise, any photos used on this page are copyright of the Travel-Quest Directory or of the companies listed. See our Photography Policy for more details (including any credits for photo collages). Any other specific credits for this page now follow.
Featured 2: Byron's Pool Hedge Laying ©Flickr user: Si B (CC)
Featured 3: Tanzania-KibaoniSchool-28 ©Flickr user: Colin J. McMechan (CC)
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