Perhaps many people indulged in dreams of where they would like to relax if money did not bother them at all. Would go to a luxurious ski resort? Have you visited a private island in the Caribbean? Or maybe enjoy a vacation in Europe? For some, dreams become reality: billionaires can afford whatever they want. So where do they go? Here are six vacation destinations chosen by the rich.
Richard Branson: British Virgin Islands
One of the islands of the archipelago belongs to Branson personally, where his vacation home is located. In addition, it is on the archipelago that he regularly spends time. Any billionaire wants privacy, which makes Necker Island such a good option. It is accessible to ordinary tourists, but the cost of five thousand dollars per night on the island prevents a wide range of people from getting there. 
If you can afford it, you'll find water activities, snorkeling, spa treatments, gourmet cuisine, yoga and tennis classes. If the price is too high, head to Tortola, a nearby island where almost the same thing is available at a lower price. 
Bill Gates: Croatia
This man became famous not only for his achievements, but also for his philanthropy. He is not afraid to relax in modest conditions and go where there are many tourists. Of course, he also vacationed on luxury yachts, but he also loves to stroll through the medieval towns of Croatia. 
He loves the island of Hvar, which is also popular with other celebrities. This island has a mild climate, wonderful beaches, ancient architecture, beautiful nature and a charming atmosphere. 
Roman Abramovich: Saint Barts
This oligarch often stays on a luxury yacht on the island of St. Barths, popular among the rich. One of the largest yachts in the world belongs to him personally, so he can visit the paradise island in the Caribbean in complete comfort. 
By the way, Abramovich has his own home on one of the islands in the Caribbean. This destination attracts wealthy people, so you can find the most luxurious hotels, designer shops and gourmet restaurants here. 
Steven Spielberg: Ireland
This director created the most legendary stories - it’s probably not so easy to impress him. Judging by the fact that he loves Ireland, this region is quite capable of conquering even discerning billionaires. Spielberg visited all over the country. He enjoyed music in pubs, eating fish and chips and cycling. 
According to him, such a vacation changed his whole life. It is worth noting that a tour of Ireland is quite budget-friendly, so many people can repeat the celebrity’s route. 
Oprah Winfrey: Fiji
One of the most successful female billionaires prefers to vacation on the island of Fiji. 
Calm sea, tropical landscape, beautiful beaches and exclusive hotels - this place is simply ideal for a vacation for the rich. 
Warren Buffett: Laguna Beach
Warren Buffett lives in a modest house in Omaha by billionaire standards, but sometimes splurges on a nice vacation. 
For example, most often he goes to California, to the city of Laguna Beach. He went there even before this destination became extremely popular.
Fisher Island is the most expensive address in the world and one of the most private places in the United States.
The largest number of billionaires and multimillionaires per square meter on the planet lives here, reports “ Voice of America ”.
Fisher Island is separated from the mainland of Miami by only about a kilometer of water. Most locals and tourists in Miami have the opportunity to see this island only from the other side of the strait and nothing else.
From a bird's eye view on the island you can see fuel reserves in huge tanks. This place can exist completely autonomously for several weeks.
The ferry crossing to the island is like a border. Lines for cars of residents and guests are separate from lines for cooks and nannies working on the island.
You can only get to the island by ferry ( helipad it is prohibited to build there), but entry to it is allowed only with a special pass, otherwise security will not let you through.
According to realtor Daniel Pansky, people live on the island famous people: hockey players Kovalchuk, Pavel Bure, actress Julia Roberts, presenter Oprah Winfrey.
In the middle of the island there is a huge golf course, tennis courts and several fashionable restaurants, two yacht clubs, a school and a separate bank. For the right to use all this you need to pay 280 thousand dollars a year.
Pansky said that local restaurants do not take money or credit cards. Each resident opens his own account at the restaurant, into which he deposits money, and then it is withdrawn when visiting the establishment.
Fisher Island artificial island, it was created in 1905. Initially, it belonged to one person - the flamboyant auto tycoon and developer Karl Fischer.
10-15% of the island’s inhabitants are Russians or people with Russian roots who use the Russian language to communicate.
“There are a lot of people here from Brazil and Russia, who are very rich, who are used to coming in bulletproof cars, who are used to driving around with security guards,” Pansky said.
On Fisher Island there is another strict rule: no matter what offshore companies and companies hide the names of local property owners in official documents, you must write your real name on your apartment.
This rule is especially disliked by Russian officials, who also have apartments on the island.
This island was given away for debts and exchanged for yachts. For a time, Fisher Island belonged to the famous Vanderbilt tycoon family, and was even owned by Richard Nixon, just before he became President of the United States.
It has its own rules and, in some ways, even its own laws: the speed limit is not the same as everywhere else in the USA - exactly 19 miles (about 31 km) per hour - an odd number that makes you think and slow down.
There are many funny stories associated with the island. Cuban illegals sneaking into Miami on boats at night often confuse Fisher Island with the mainland and land on the island, not knowing there is no escape.
Illegals on the island are caught within a couple of hours.
The island is gradually losing popularity among American stars, but rich people from Russia and other countries are increasingly settling on it.
I never prepare thoroughly for trips. I don’t want to form any stereotypical expectations, so that later I don’t want to compare reality with them, but simply absorb it.
This time I was especially glad that I was flying completely unprepared. How do you like this phrase from your neighbor on the plane: “Did you know that St. Barts airport is the most dangerous in the world?” And seeing my widened eyes, she added: “What, you really haven’t watched the video on YouTube?”
Already at the hotel I looked. And look.
But at that moment I was not ready for such impressions.
A twenty-seater plane with pilots sitting almost next to you, after several turns, sharply gains altitude absolutely vertically in front of the mountain, goes around it and also vertically begins to fall down. Precisely a fall, because it smoothly lands on a short strip that rests directly on snow-white beach and the ocean, impossible. I had to close my eyes, but my natural curiosity didn’t let me. It was the most exotic landing of my life. Then I found out that every day hundreds of vacationers specially come to this beach to watch the landing show of a regular flight. I came too.
The first person to arrive in St. Barts by plane was the Dutch smuggler Remy de Haenen, the future mayor of the island's capital, Gustavia. It was he who invited the first VIP guests - David Rockefeller, Greta Garbo and Rudolf Nureyev. They became the first of a series of world celebrities to fall in love with St. Barts.
Breakfast in the port of the capital of the island of Gustavia in the circle of the local elite - the governor, ministers. Yes, they are having fun with government management there. All the attributes of elitism are also present: a motorcade that is impossible to deploy on three two-hundred-meter streets, a state yacht, a state dacha and much more.
By the way, about yachts. You can spend hours watching how a team of tanned young sailors, millimeter by millimeter, scrub all four decks of multimillion-dollar ocean beauties. At this moment you understand that it is better to have a friend with a yacht than a yacht. An excellent option, for example, is to have Roma Abramovich as a friend.
He and his Russian gang of oligarchs took a fancy to St. Barts, bought some land and, according to rumors and even bright notes in a local Russian-language glamor magazine, periodically throws noisy parties on his yacht or villa. They say that they are not at all difficult to get to. You just need to refer to the name of a common nodding acquaintance. And the doors to the Great Gatsby-themed party are open.
Why is everyone in white pajamas? No, well, not exactly pajamas, but the dress code is very specific - thin, translucent cotton or linen tunics that barely cover the very beginning of the legs of ladies, mostly of model appearance, and loose trousers or Bermuda shorts with shirts, respectively, also snow-white for Hollywood type men. They probably don’t want to spoil the harmony of colors with other colors.
Turquoise ocean Ivory sand, emerald greenery, red roofs of villas and hotels, boiling white clothes. But if the color does not allow the designers’ creativity to play out, then the finishing completely compensates for this: lace, embossing, pearl threads. In general, everything that can reflect the individuality of the owner in this “simple village” for billionaires. Tags with big designer names “accidentally” displayed are also welcome.
I decided to immerse myself in island life. The choice between an open jeep and a retro bicycle with a picnic basket in front is difficult, but having learned the distances between attractions (from 500 meters to three kilometers), I decided on a two-wheeled friend.
As you know, a woman cannot be forced to make a choice. And for me it arose at every step. For example, which of the 22 luxurious beaches should you go to? I decided to conquer a few that I would meet along the way and attract attention. I wasn't the only one who did this. On the third beach, I saw one couple who were also wandering around in search of their favorite place on the ocean. Having recognized each other on the third beach, we couldn’t resist introducing ourselves. A couple, about 40, French and Parisians of such a generation that I think their great-great-grandmother observed the actions of Napoleon. He is a shoe designer, she is a swimming pool architect. She had just been given an order to design a swimming pool for one of the villas in St. Barts, and the guys decided to combine work with vacation. I think a lot of people here do this.
The third day on the island, and they are already talking about selling some of their Parisian real estate and settling on this “cute island”. Well, work remotely or fly to clients. Many people here do the same. Many of those who have visited and can afford it.
The island administration is very critical of the origin, status and financial condition of the new settlers. They are very careful that there is only cream. Those who have moved to the island are not idle. Someone opens a restaurant. As a result, there are more than a hundred of them on such a tiny island.
Someone makes jewelry out of shells self made from 100 euros per bracelet.
Walking in the evening, around 10 o'clock, along one of central streets, looked into the slightly open blinds of one of the boutiques. There, a tanned man with a very aristocratic appearance was sewing suede moccasins. They were displayed in the window without even a price. I am sure that moccasins sewn in St. Barts by the hands of a tenth-generation aristocrat are simply priceless... You don’t see such hard work everywhere.
On the fourth beach I stopped near the famous Eden Rock hotel. The Rock Stars villa, which belongs to this hotel and is equipped with a full-fledged recording studio, was once the birthplace of The Beetles' hits.
I stopped not because of Beatlemania, but for the magnificent restaurant on the cliff. You know, this is when you look at a certain view and already realize that years will pass, but the picture will be alive in your memory. The kitchen didn't disappoint either. True, at first I was surprised that I was alone in the restaurant. But the smiling waiter explained to me that there would be no free seats until closer to eight in the evening.
And in general - night life active on the island. In one of the nightclubs, eighty-year-old Americans, again in white pajamas, danced provocatively on tables, often sipping on the neck of five-liter bottles of champagne. Models flew through the dance floor in flocks, and fireworks continuously exploded in the street. It was even difficult to imagine that during the day this island was half-asleep and sparsely populated.
In general, I found my formula for an ideal village: clean ocean, ideal weather, magical beaches, unobtrusive hotels and the same service, open people who clearly understand the word “tact”. Oh, yes. I almost forgot about the white pajamas made of the finest linen.
As you know, real estate increases in price year after year, which means its acquisition is an excellent investment in the future. Moreover, if it’s not just some mansion overlooking the sea, but an entire island!
Many rich people today invest their millions in purchasing islands in various paradise corners of the planet. Indeed, in addition to the fact that the cost of the island will rise from year to year, you can also make good money on it by developing infrastructure and renting out places for recreation: hotels, villas, cottages, swimming pools, beaches and tennis courts.
In previous materials, we have already learned what cars successful people drive and what celebrities prefer to drink. Let's now see which islands are privately owned by the richest people on our planet.
Nicolas Cage
We have already written about this famous Hollywood actor and the financial problems he had at one time, due to which he had to sell some of his real estate. But it is unlikely that he will ever put up for auction his island in the Bahamas, located not far from Johnny Depp's island.
The island, purchased by Cage in 2006 for $3 million, is fully furnished and has hotel of 19 buildings, a marina and a runway for receiving planes of wealthy guests.
Richard Branson
The owner of the huge Virgin conglomerate, worth more than $4 billion, owns Necker Island, one of the tropical British Virgin Islands, not far from Puerto Rico.
Interestingly, anyone can rent an island by paying $53,000 for every night of stay. This price includes not only accommodation, but also the services of 60 staff.
In addition, Branson is the owner of several other islands.
Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp, one of the most famous Hollywood actors, did not stay away from the fashion trend - buying islands. Its island is called Little Holls Ponds Cay and is located among the islands of the Bahamas archipelago.
Before his divorce from Vanessa Paradis, Johnny loved spending time on his favorite island with his family.
Leonardo DiCaprio
Handsome DiCaprio purchased the island for $1.75 million, which is now being actively developed. It is known that the island will be supplied with electricity from solar panels, and in general this piece of paradise will be an example of an ecological resort.
Bill Gates
The creator of Microsoft did not become modest and acquired the most big Island off the coast of Belize (a state in Central America neighboring Mexico and Guatemala) in the waters of the Caribbean Sea.
The island is real paradise on earth: palm groves, virgin forests, clear sea and 365 sunny days a year. What else does a person need to meet old age with dignity?
David Copperfield
Performing the most mind-blowing tricks, during his creative career Copperfield managed not only to become the most famous illusionist of all time, but also a very wealthy man with a fortune of about 1 billion dollars.
So that the money would not lie idle, he acquired 4 islands in the Bahamas, the total area of which is about 700 acres (283 hectares). The islands are fully equipped and can offer a truly royal holiday.
Eddie Murphy
One of the highest paid actors on the planet did not stay away from the purchase of his own island and in 2007 purchased his island in the Bahamas for $15 million.
Mel Gibson
Mel Gibson in 2005 purchased the island of Mago, part of Fiji, for $15 million. This island is one of the largest private islands today (more than 2000 hectares). It is a piece of pristine tropical nature, among the lush greenery of which is located the villa of a famous actor.
Robbie Williams
The famous Hollywood actor Robin Williams, who plays sweet simpletons, turned out to be not so simple. As it turns out, he owns Pender Island, located in British Columbia (Canada).
Michael Schumacher
The famous racer and multiple Formula 1 world champion Michael Schumacher became the lucky owner of an island worth $7 million, given to him by the Prince of Dubai, who is a fan of his talent. Well, what can I say - lucky))
Athena Onassis-Rousselle
One of the most expensive private islands today is the island of Skorpios (Greece), purchased in 1963 by Aristotle Onassis for a completely ridiculous sum of 12 thousand dollars, today it is estimated at 200 million dollars.
The current owner of the island, Athena Onassis-Rousselle, is not against selling the island, but this is prevented by some conditions of the will of the wealthy ancestor from whom Athena inherited it. Most likely, the island of Skorpios will be rented out. At one time, Madonna, Armani and Roman Abramovich were eyeing the island.
Owning your own island in the middle of the ocean - for many people, such property is the ultimate dream.
However, some billionaires who buy such estates also manage to present the deal in such a light as to attract maximum public attention to it. The largest areas, the highest prices, the most exotic destinations - all this remains the lot of the elite.
Top 8 most expensive islands in the world bought by billionaires:
Lanai, Hawaii
The island of Lanai is part of the Hawaiian archipelago and is 98% owned by billionaire Larry Ellison, who made his fortune at Oracle. Alison is the third richest man in the USA and is one of the six richest people on the planet. It is not surprising that he spent a record sum, approximately $500-$600 million, for an island in Pacific Ocean. By the way, Lanai is the sixth largest island in the state of Hawaii.
Necker, British Virgin Islands
Necker Island, part of the British Virgin Islands, was purchased by Richard Branson during his leadership of the Virgin Group back in 1978. At that time, the purchase price was estimated at 180 thousand British pounds sterling. Now Necker is worth about $100 million. Today the island is built up with a small number of Balinese-style houses, only about 60 people work and permanently live on it. Those interested can rent a house in this paradise for $35 thousand per week. However, if you wish, you can rent the entire island - for only $50 thousand per day.
James, Canada
American telecommunications tycoon Craig McCaw bought James Island off the coast of Canada in 1994 for $19 million. However, today its value is estimated at $75.1 million. Over 18 years of owning the land, McCaw was able to change the lifeless and wild island beyond recognition, turning it into a real an oasis of the harsh northern territories. The James is home to cottages, hotels, a swimming pool, private docks, an airstrip and even a golf course. By the way, the island is now up for sale, so if you have the money and opportunity, there is a great chance to settle in Canada.
Allan, Washington
The co-founder of Microsoft, American billionaire Paul Allen, chose a “namesake” for himself in 1992 by purchasing Allan Island in the US state of Washington. In 2011, the property was sold for $13.5 million. The original asking price was $25 million, but things didn’t work out with the buyers. The island itself is located in the San Juan Archipelago in the Pacific Ocean. There is still no electricity on the island, and laying the cable, according to preliminary estimates, will cost the new owners $3 million.
Robins, New York
Lewis Moore Bacon acquired Robin Island, located off the coast of New York, in 1993. During the trial, he managed to buy the land, the value of which was estimated at $11 million. Bacon spent millions of dollars restoring Robin's natural landscape and its pristine beauty. By the way, next year Bacon should be given an award for his efforts to protect the environment.
Brackhow, United Kingdom
Twin brothers David and Frederick Barclay are considered one of the biggest figures in the UK media industry. In addition to their publishing business, which includes The Daily Telegraph, they also own The Ritz hotel. They bought their first private island, Breghow, located among the British Channel Islands group, in 1993. Today its cost is estimated at $4.3 million. Breghow Island is rich in gardens and vineyards, there are pubs, populated village and a chapel.
St. Phillips, South Carolina
Media tycoon Ted Turner bought the small island of St. Phillips on the coast of the American state of South Carolina back in 1979. For reference, this was exactly a year before Turner founded the now world-famous media corporation CNN. Today St. Phillips is valued at $2 million. The owner himself is one of the largest landowners in the world, and his profile is to restore wildlife and not build up the land with any unnecessary objects.
Sampson Cay, Bahamas
Sampson Cay Island in the archipelago Bahamas owned by John Malone, considered the largest private landowner in the United States. Sampson Cay has undergone extensive redevelopment and is now considered an excellent holiday destination for the wealthy. A week of living in a villa on the island costs $8 thousand. Alas, the exact cost of the island is unknown.
