travel experience t.o

19 Inspiring Travel Experience Stories About Life-Changing Trips

Love inspiring travel experience stories ?

Then you’re in the right place!

Grab a snack and your favorite beverage and get ready to settle in, as you’re about to read some truly inspiring travel stories about life-changing trips.

In this roundup, some of my favorite bloggers share their best travel stories.

You’ll hear about travelers embarking on sacred pilgrimages, growing after a first solo female travel trip, deeply connecting with locals on the road, and getting out of their comfort zones in ways that completely alter the course of their life.

And if you’re looking for a unique travel experience, you’ll likely find it in the short stories about travel below.

Table of Contents

Free Travel Resources

But first…

Make sure to grab free access to my #BeyondTheGuidebook Travel Resource Library:

Want to take the hassle out of trip planning?

Enter your name + email below to subscribe and snag access to my FREE Ultimate Travel Planning Resource Library, full of trip planners, cheat sheets, packing lists, Google Map itineraries + more! //  Privacy Policy . 

Woohoo! You’re officially a member of the Jessie on a Journey community. 

Make sure to also connect with me  on Instagram ,  on YouTube , and  on Facebook  to start traveling #BeyondTheGuidebook.

I regularly share about solo female travel, New York City, lesser-known destinations, unique experiences, active adventures, and how to turn your passion for exploring the world into a profitable business through travel blogging.

Click here to head back to the travel blog .

There is so much included!

Plus, I’m constantly adding new resources, guides, and personality quizzes to help you travel beyond the guidebook!

On that note, let’s dive into the inspiring travel stories .

1. Travel Experience Stories In South America

My travel story takes place in South America, back when I used to travel solo for months at a time.

I was in my mid-20s, and even though I’d backpacked Europe, Southeast Asia, and China and had studied abroad in Australia, the mix of intense excitement and nerves I had leading up to my South America backpacking trip was different.

And despite family and friends warning me that South America wasn’t a place for a solo female traveler , it ended up being my best trip ever.

There are so many interesting short travel stories and unforgettable travel experiences woven into this trip, like:

• Getting invited to have dinner with my Brazilian plane seatmate and her grandma
• Having a group of complete strangers on Couchsurfing take me out for dinner and dancing on my birthday in Mendoza
• Attending a small house party in Argentina and learning about the tradition of mate
• Getting stuck on a broken-down bus and having an impromptu language exchange with an elderly woman in Peru
• Having a love interest back home break up with me via text, and then experiencing the kindness of strangers as a woman in my hostel who I barely knew treated me to ice cream to cheer me up
• Having a romance with a hostel mate in Ecuador and then traveling through the country together
• Living in a giant treehouse with a group of strangers during a solo trip in Brazil and spending our days exploring hiking trails and swimming and our nights drinking and exchanging stories about traveling
• Taking a 4×4 from Chile to Bolivia across the Siloli Desert to see otherwordly sites like rainbow lagoons and train graveyards in the middle of nowhere
• Experiencing some of the world’s most incredible natural wonders, like Iguazu Falls, Torres del Paine, the Amazon River, Uyuni Salt Flats, and Perito Moreno Glacier

At times the trip was also challenging, from dealing with long bus rides and car sickness to flipping over my bicycle handlebars in Peru and getting my body (and ego) badly bruised.

But, I was okay.

In fact, I was more than okay, as the trip showed me how independent I could be and what I was truly capable of. It also showed me the beauty of immersing yourself in cultures different than your own and connecting with locals who want to share them with you.

Years later, when people ask what my best travel experience has been this is the trip that comes to mind.

-Jessie from Jessie on a Journey

2. Traveling With An Open Mind

Many people think of travel as an experience and rightly so. Sometimes, however, you cannot choose the places you travel to.

This happened to me in 2019.

My husband found himself posted in Brunei for work.

Three months pregnant meant that I had a choice:

Either stay with him in Brunei for three months before returning back to India or remain in India, alone.

I chose the former. Not because of my love for the country but because I wanted to be close to him.

Brunei had never held any appeal to me. Whatever research that I pulled off the Internet showed me nothing other than one beautiful mosque.

The flights in and out of the country were expensive so traveling frequently out was not an option either.

I was engulfed by a sense of being trapped in a remote place.

Needless to say, I reached Brunei in a pretty foul mood. I think one of the things that struck me the most even in the midst of that bad mood was the large swaths of greenery that surrounded us.

Mind you, we were not staying in the big city but as far away on the outskirts as you could imagine. I’m not a city girl by any stretch and the greenery eventually soothed my nerves.

It took a week, but I soon found myself interacting with people around me. Fellow expats and locals all went out of their way to make me feel comfortable.

The more comfortable I felt, the more we explored. We trekked (yes, while pregnant!), we joined the board game community, and we enjoyed the local cuisine.

Three months later when it was time to leave, I found myself reluctant to say goodbye to the warmth of the country I had called home for a short while.

I think that my time in Brunei taught me a valuable lesson:

Don’t judge a place by what others say or a lack of information.

Sure, you may not always like what you see, but there will always be something that you will like. You just need to look hard enough to find it!

-Penny from GlobeTrove

3. From Half-Day Hiker To Walking Holiday Enthusiast

I’ve always enjoyed walking but never in a million years did I imagine I’d end up walking over 200 kilometers (~124 miles) in 10 days, become a fan of walking holidays, and end up developing self-guided hiking routes in Portugal with a local tour operator as part of my business.

The shift from being someone who was content with an easy three-hour walk to an experienced multi-day hiker began with a brief taste of the Portuguese Camino de Santiago, an ancient pilgrim trail through Portugal to Santiago de Compostela Cathedral in Spain.

Back in 2013 I did a guided one-day hike along one of the most beautiful stretches of the Camino, north of Ponte de Lima. It’s also one of the most challenging sections so it was hard work, but the views from the top of Labruja Mountain made the climb worthwhile.

My guides were so enthusiastic about the thrill of arriving at Santiago de Compostela Cathedral after the challenges of day after day on the Camino that I began to think I might want to give it a go, despite not being religious.

Fast forward a few years and I set off from Barcelos with a friend of mine to follow the Portuguese Camino de Santiago.

Apart from suffering from chronic back pain, I thought I was quite fit but nothing had prepared me for how utterly exhausted I would feel at the end of each walking day.

This was truly a slow travel experience, as we were averaging about 20 kilometers (~12 miles) per day and by the time we reached our hotel, I would barely have enough energy to get cleaned up and find food before collapsing. I had envisioned plenty of sightseeing but that ended up being minimal.

Quickly, I realized the moral of this unique travel experience:

The Camino was all about making the most of the journey rather than the destination.

For me, that was quite a shift in thinking as I am usually all about getting to where I want to be as soon as possible so that I can start exploring. It was, perhaps, also my first step on the path towards mindfulness.

I will never forget the sense of achievement and progress at the end of each walking day, and the relief and pride I felt when we finally made it to Santiago de Compostela.

We met people who had walked the Camino several times and I can totally understand how it can become addictive. 

-Julie from Julie Dawn Fox in Portugal

4. A Story About Traveling & Its Ripple Effect

Tucked away in far eastern Indonesia is a tiny archipelago of islands called the Banda Islands.

Apart from world-class snorkeling and some crumbling colonial buildings, the Banda Islands are mostly forgotten and would be described as a backwater by all accounts.

However, the Banda Islands are possibly the main reason that I am who I am today. 

Well, the Bandas are the original Spice Islands.

Nutmeg used to grow on this tiny group of islands alone and nowhere else. The Dutch colonized Indonesia and promptly became the owners of islands where money grew on trees.

The only problem was that Indonesia was so far away that they needed a halfway stop to and from Indonesia.

That’s where my travel experience story comes in.

The same Dutch East India Company that traded in spice set up a halfway station at the foot of Table Mountain to break up their long journey. As a result, my Dutch ancestors arrived in the southernmost point in Africa , and generations later we are still there.

When I visited the Banda Islands, it dawned on me how something happening on the other side of the world can ripple out and affect people on the other side of the planet.

And I’m not the only one!

The spice trade was so important to the Dutch that they even traded a tiny island in the Banda archipelago for a much bigger island…Manhattan.

Yes. That Manhattan.

Before visiting the Banda Islands I never really knew about this part of my history.

Along with the spice that the ships carried back to Amsterdam, it also carried slaves. These slaves, more often than not, ended up in Cape Town.

Just like my European ancestors, they too became a part of Africa and added another shade to our beautiful Rainbow Nation.

It was in the Banda Islands that I realized how much of my culture, food, stories and even words in my mother tongue, Afrikaans, actually originated in Indonesia.

Because of these tiny islands, I am a true mix of Europe, Africa, and Asia. While I always thought I knew how all things in life are somehow connected, I didn’t really grasp it until my visit to Indonesia.

This could have been a resort travel experience story, as I went to Indonesia to swim and snorkel and relax on the world’s best beaches. And while I did get to do that, I also learned a lot about who I am as a person, my people, and my country…on another continent. 

My visit to the Bandas has sparked a fascination with Indonesia, which I have visited seven times since. I’m already planning another trip to this spectacular country!

-De Wet from Museum of Wander

5. Awakening My Spirit In A Costa Rican Cloud Forest

In February 2017, I was just coming out of a decade of mysterious chronic illness that had shrunk my world.

And one of the things that finally helped me to resurface during the previous year was an online Qi Gong course I stumbled upon: 

Flowing Zen .

To the casual observer, Qi Gong looks a lot like its better-known cousin, Tai Chi — the ancient art of moving meditation — but it’s actually energy medicine for healing.

In fact, it’s commonly used in Chinese hospitals.

My daily practice that year made such a difference for me that I dangled a reward for myself:

If I stuck with it all year, then I’d head to Sifu Anthony’s annual retreat in a cloud forest in Costa Rica the following February.

And I did! It was my first trip out of the country for more than a decade.

Just like that, I booked a solo trip — something I hadn’t done since I was an exchange student to Europe 30 years earlier — to San Jose where I met up with a dozen strangers and Sifu Anthony, our Qi Gong master.

We boarded a tiny bus and rode up, up, up around carsick-inducing curvy mountain roads into a magical cloud forest jungle where we finally arrived at The Blue Mountain (“La Montana Azul”) for a weeklong Qi Gong retreat. 

There were no Internet or distractions here — just delicious organic vegetarian meals made with love and shared with the community under a gorgeous open-air palapa.

There were also colorful tropical birds singing in the jungle, as well as the largest arachnid I’ve ever seen in my gorgeous (but also roofless) room for a little extra adventure.

I’d felt a little energy movement during my year of online practice, but during that week on The Blue Mountain, my body began to really buzz with Qi — life force energy — as I Lifted the Sky, stood in Wuji Stance, and practiced Shooting Arrows.

I felt electrified and joyful. 

And that was when everything changed for me.

At home, I had a successful career as a freelance writer, but I decided during my week in the cloud forest that I wanted more from life.

I wanted to explore the beauty, diversity, nature, and culture in every corner of the world.

And I wanted to share this intoxicating joyful feeling of life-giving freedom and adventure with anyone who wanted to come along for the ride.

Shortly after that, at age 53, I launched my travel blog.

Dreams really do come true. They are just waiting for you to claim them.

-Chris from Explore Now or Never

Enter your name + email below to subscribe and snag access to my FREE Ultimate Travel Planning Resource Library, full of trip planners, cheat sheets, packing lists, personality quizzes, travel guides, Google Map itineraries + more! //  Privacy Policy . 

6. From Rome With Love

This wasn’t the way I wanted to see Rome. 

Sure, I was happy to spend Christmas in Rome and stand in awe of the city’s many iconic attractions. But, life wasn’t meant to turn out like this.

I was supposed to go to Rome with my mom back in 2012; however, life had different plans, because a week before our trip, I got a double kidney infection. A condition that required a week of hospitalization.

Although I was annoyed I had missed my trip, it wasn’t the end of the world since I was fine and everything seemed okay…until my mom developed a cough.

A cough that later became a heartbreaking diagnosis of stage four ovarian cancer. 

My mom spent the final months of her life in chemo, desperately trying to fight a horrific disease so that she wouldn’t let her family down.

And she didn’t.

Instead, she showed us how to never give up on life, even if it was a losing battle. 

So, when she eventually passed away, I booked a trip to Rome. 

Sure, it wasn’t the trip I had hoped for. But, I knew that as her daughter, it was my job to live enough for the both of us. 

And that’s exactly what I did.

Was I an anxious, sad, angry mess of a person?

Absolutely. I was still getting used to a world that my mother wasn’t a part of. 

And honestly, you never get used to that world. You just deal with it because you don’t really have a choice.

But I also knew that I wanted my mom to live on through me and that I didn’t want to live a life where the haunting phrases “should of,” “could of,” and “would have” swirled through my head and ate away at my happiness.

So, I went. I packed a boatload of tissues, sobbed my heart out, and attended Christmas mass at the Vatican. 

I also threw a coin in the Trevi Fountain, walked through the Colosseum, chowed down on gelato, and spent two weeks doing all the things my mom and I had wanted to do. 

And that’s when it hit me. I had never gone to Rome alone because my mom had always been there with me. Maybe she wasn’t physically there, but I thought of her and felt her presence every minute of every day. 

Her presence also reminded me that life isn’t about the things we buy or the money that we have.

It’s about making memories with the people we love; people that never really leave us since they are constantly influencing our lives in countless ways.

And after my trip to Rome, I finally knew that my mom would always be there because she had forever changed my life in the best possible way. 

-Kelly from Girl with the Passport

7. Studying In Finland

One of my major life-turning points happened during my exchange studies in Finland.

Until then, I was studying at a university in Prague, had a part-time job at a renowned management-consulting firm, and thought I was on the right path in life.

At the University of Economics where I studied it was notoriously difficult to get on an Erasmus exchange trip abroad since the demand was huge. Everyone wanted to go!

Regardless, I decided to sign up early for my last semester, just to see what the process was like to be better prepared for applying again in a year.

I did make it through all the three rounds and surprisingly got a spot at a University in Turku, Finland! I was ecstatic. The success brought its own challenges, but once you set your eyes on the goal, nothing can stop you.

And I had the time of my life in Finland.

I met the most amazing people, traveled a ton, partied a lot, and bonded with friends from all over the world.

Given I was one of the few people there who really needed to pass all her courses and additionally write her thesis, I managed to run on an impossible sleep schedule of four hours per night. But I made it!

My studies in Finland opened up my horizons, too.

The summer after, I wrapped up my life in Prague and went on to study in Germany and China . The whole time I traveled as much as possible, often going on solo adventures. It was only a matter of time when I’d start my own travel blog.

My Finland adventure led me to a life of freedom made up of remote work, travel blogging , and plenty of traveling. I couldn’t have asked for a better outcome. And it gave me one of my favorite true adventure stories that I can now share with others.

-Veronika from Travel Geekery

8. How Cuba Changed My Life

One of my favorite inspiring stories about travel takes place in Cuba.

I visited Cuba in February 2013 and it changed my life — and I like to think it did so for the better.

Interestingly, I expected a completely different country and was compelled to write about it when I got back home.

But let me tell you more.

I read copious amounts of blogs and travel diaries to prepare myself for the trip to Cuba so I thought I’d go in with a fairly good idea of what to expect. Each and every post I read spoke of marvelous landscapes, pristine beaches, crumbling but charming cities, and welcoming locals.

All of it was true, in my experience — except for the locals.

I didn’t find them so welcoming. At least, not genuinely so. They only seemed to welcome me as far as they could get something in exchange: money, clothes, pens, soap, you name it. 

Each and every day in Cuba was a challenge to avoid the scams, to avoid being ripped off, to fight off each and every attempt of people trying to take advantage of me. I usually managed, but it was exhausting and it left a sour taste in my mouth.

Once I got back home I felt the urge to write about my experience — not for other sites or papers as I’d often do. This time I was afraid I’d be censored.

So I opened my own blog. With zero tech knowledge, zero understanding of online content creation and SEO, I started writing and telling people what they should really expect during a trip to Cuba.

I’d put up the occasional post, but continued with my usual job.

At the end of the year, my contract as a researcher in international human rights law at the local university ended, and I decided to stop pursuing that career for a while.

I packed my bags and left for a long-term trip to Central and South America . I started writing on the blog more consistently and learning, and eventually took my blog full-time , turning it into a career.

As of today, I have never looked back and have no regrets.

The one thing I’ll do, as soon as I can, is travel to Cuba to say thank you — because it changed my life in a way nothing else has ever done. 

-Claudia from Strictly Sardinia

9. A Short Travel Story About Finding Inner Peace In Patagonia

Life in London is hard.

Life in London as a gay single brown refugee is harder.

Juggling between work, my passion for traveling, and the prejudices that I dealt with on a daily basis eventually took their toll on me and I reached a breaking point.

The fact that I couldn’t return home to see my family and being away for them for almost nine years was enough to hammer in the final nail in the coffin.

I almost had a nervous breakdown and in that moment of desperation, which I knew would define the rest of my life, I took a month off and headed to Patagonia.

It was probably the best decision I’ve ever made in my life. The 36 hours it took me to get to El Chalten from London were tiring but Patagonia blew me away.

On my first day there I did a 28-kilometer (17-mile) hike which included a steep mountain climb. It was incredible how moving through the forest helped me clear my mind. And as I stood in front of Laguna de Los Tres, the rain and clouds gave way to sunshine and a rainbow.

I felt at peace.

The countless hikes, great food, and the warmth of locals in Chile and Argentina helped me get back in my skin and find the peace I was missing in my heart.

Nature is indeed the best medicine when it comes to stress relief and I won’t be coy about hugging trees to speed up the process (it did).

Patagonia was life-changing for me.

The beauty of nature struck me at each point and every time I thought it wasn’t possible to beat the view, the next one did just that.

I came back a changed, resilient, and most importantly, a happy person.

-Ucman from BrownBoyTravels

10. Looking Inwards & Making Connections With Strangers

It was decades before I traveled solo for the first time in my life.

This trip — a six-day escape to Colorado — was the first trip that was not for business or family reasons but just to travel and discover.

As I prepared for it, I had a strange feeling of excitement and nerves at the same time. I had all sorts of thoughts and doubts:

Would it be fun?

Would I be bored?

Would I stay in bed all day or would I bounce with excitement to do the next thing?

I wasn’t sure. Little did I know that it was going to be a memorable journey of self-discovery. 

As a good wife and mom, for me travel is always about the family; always thinking of who would enjoy what. It’s about family time and bonding. It’s about creating memories and travel stories together. It’s all so wonderful.

But on a solo trip who would I connect with? What would I say?

Well, I found that I got to do anything I wanted!

Usually when I travel with my family, if I feel like going on a drive that’s not on the itinerary or getting a snack no one else is interested in, we simply don’t do that.

So it was weird to just go do it. Really, that’s a thing?

As for making connections, it was so easy to meet locals while traveling and also to connect with other travelers. Honestly, I had conversations everywhere — on planes, while hiking, in restaurants, in the hotel lobby.

It was quite an eye-opening experience to meet a mom of 18 kids and hundreds of foster kids, a cookie baker, a professional photographer, a family of Fourteener hikers, and an internationally ranked marathon runner.

The inspiring stories I discovered were amazing and nothing like my wonderful safe life at home. 

In terms of travel safety , I got to go rock climbing, solo hiking, driving up a Fourteener, eating alone.

And it was all fine. Actually, it felt surprisingly normal.

It was was just me, my SUV, and my backpack for a week. Most of all, it was a breath of fresh air that I didn’t know existed. 

It’s wonderful to be back home and know that possibilities are endless and there is so much more out there to explore and be wowed by!

-Jyoti from Story At Every Corner

11. A Solo Hike To Find Connection

I have traveled solo many times, but I admit I was a bit uneasy booking my trip to Colombia . In part, due to the country’s dark past. But also because I desperately wanted to do the Cocora Valley hike, and if I’m honest, I was terrified.

This hike is located in the Coffee Triangle, an area recognized for its beauty as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It features both rainforest and a stunning green valley speckled with cartoonishly-tall wax palms rising 200 feet or more.

It’s incredibly beautiful.

It’s also a long hike and quite challenging — it generally takes between six and eight hours and there is a steep area with over 3,000 feet of elevation within a quarter of a mile.

I wasn’t in hiking shape, so I was a little concerned. But, worst of all for me were the seven dodgy-looking suspension bridges. 

I’m terrified of heights.

And, I’d be going alone.

I decided to go anyway and I met an incredible woman on the bus to Salento, the town near Cocora. She was also traveling solo and we agreed to hike together.

The town is a backpacker enclave and we met up with a small group of people all traveling solo. As the days passed, our group got larger and it was such a magical experience.

As much as I love city travel, this small town won my heart.

My new friend and I set off on the hike and met two other women who were nervous to do the hike. We all went together.

When we got to the first suspension bridge, I paused. I was embarrassed to admit my fear, but the bridge swayed widely and there was nowhere to hold onto.

When they realized how out of my comfort zone I was and how scared I felt, everything changed. Instead of me dealing with it alone, they were all there to encourage me.

One crossed the bridge to encourage me from the other side and they stayed off of it to limit the sway. Crazy enough, I not only crossed the seven suspension bridges, but I also crossed one an extra time when we went the wrong way on the trail.

I did it! 

I was prepared to be blown away by Cocora Valley’s beauty, but what I wasn’t expecting was what a life-changing travel experience my time there would be.

 -Sam from My Flying Leap

12. How A Pet Sitting Travel Experience Led To A Passionate Career

We wanted to go to the Caribbean but didn’t know much about the islands or how we were going to afford it.

By chance, a friend of ours in Australia mentioned “pet sitting” and that it is something you can do all over the world.

We quickly created an account on a pet sitting website and began searching for options. There were only a couple of sits available in that part of the world, but we tried our luck, sent a request, and to our surprise landed a three-month gig in a beautiful house in the US Virgin Islands — with an infinity pool overlooking the British Virgin Islands.

A month into our sit, we had explored the destination pretty well and so had a lot of time on our hands. We managed to secure another sit in Grenada, so our year was going to be taken up with Caribbean pet sits.

Inspired by a Canadian couple that had previously stayed at our Grenada housesit, we decided to start our own travel blog. We began by writing about The Virgin Islands, highlighting the beautiful beaches and funky bars.

But for every photo of a beautiful beach there were 10 photos of trash.     

It was hard to ignore the plastic pollution issue, especially on such pristine and remote beaches.  So, we began to share photos of the trash we saw and how much we could pick up on our daily dog walks.

The more we looked into plastic pollution, the more we realized the severity of the global plastic pandemic. From that point, we used our platform to create awareness and highlight ways to say no to plastic and travel plastic-free .

We changed our daily routines, our way of living, and even our diets to accommodate more organic foods and little to no plastic packaging.

It’s been over three years now and we continue to do what we can. This journey has led us to some amazing places, working with great conscious brands and even organizing a country-wide beach clean-up campaign in Grenada.

Our aim now is to keep on going.

We love connecting with like-minded people and love the shift over the last few years that brands have made towards creating more sustainable products and services.

It’s been an amazing few years that was sparked by a conversation about pet sitting. Who would have guessed?

-Aaron & Vivien from The Dharma Trails

13. Learning To Slow Down The Hard Way

On Christmas of 2017, I was born again.

We like to spend our Christmas holidays somewhere warm abroad, and that year we chose Uganda.

Nature, wildlife, and sunny days were a blessing when it was so cold and dark in Europe. Life was beautiful, and we had a rental car and a busy schedule ahead to explore the country.

This is where this short travel story turns into one of my more scary travel experiences :

At Murchinson Falls National Park, we had a car accident.

I lost control of the car, and it rolled over, destroying windows, chassis, and engine.

But we were alive! My right arm was severely injured, but we managed to walk to our lodge, not far inside the park.

In the lodge, I was happy to learn that there was a pretty decent American hospital in Masindi that was just a one-hour drive from the lodge. Moreover, one of the lodge’s guests was a nurse who cleaned the wound while we were waiting for the taxi from/to Masindi.

The hospital took care of us, and after a couple of injections and stitches, I was ready to head to our new hotel in Masindi; however, my wound required daily dressing and more injections, so we were asked to stay in town for a few days.   

Masindi is the kind of place where you may want to stop to buy some food or water, but that’s it.

The town’s highlights were the market and our daily visit to the hospital, so we ended up looking for the small things, chatting with the medical staff, the hotel staff, the people in the market, and learning more about their customs.

We learned to slow down the hard way.

When we were allowed to leave, we took a road trip south through the country to see something else. We did not care about our travel bucket list anymore — we were alive, and we wanted to enjoy Uganda’s unique nature and its people. 

In the end, our Uganda trip was not about the places that we saw, but the people that we met. It was travel for experience vs sightseeing.

I hope to revisit Uganda one day, with a stop at Masindi for some food, water, and maybe something else.

-Elisa from World in Paris

14. A Cycling Trip To Remember

During the summer of 2019, I cycled solo from London to Istanbul. This huge bicycle tour took me 89 days and through 11 countries.

As you might expect, it was a challenging yet incredible journey, which saw me pedal along some of Europe’s greatest rivers, pass through some of its best cities, and witness some of its most beautiful scenery.

It’s becoming more and more important for us to think about the impact that travel can have on our environment. This was the inspiration for my bicycle tour; I wanted to find more responsible ways to explore the world and avoid flights where possible.

I discovered that bicycle touring is one of the most eco-friendly ways to travel, as using nothing but a bicycle and your own pedal power you can carry everything you need while covering surprising distances each day.

The simplicity of life and the sheer amount of time I spent cycling alone gave me a lot of time to just think . This really helped me to come to terms with some personal problems rooted in my past and, as a result, I arrived solo in Istanbul with newly found confidence, independence, and liberation. 

Cycling across the entire European continent may seem like an impossibly daunting task, but I assure you, it will make you feel like a new person, just like it did for me.

-Lauren from The Planet Edit

15. How The Caribbean Shaped Me Into A Fully Sustainable Traveler

One of my first international trips as an adult was traveling around the Caribbean .

I checked into my hotel in Jamaica and asked for a recommendation for a local place to eat. The receptionist told me that under no circumstances should I should go into the town because it was really dangerous, but that — to my luck — the hotel’s restaurant offered wonderful Caribbean food.

I pondered my options:

Did I really want to spend all my time on the beach without getting to know a single local?

I was a very inexperienced traveler and very young, but there was only one answer to my question:

Absolutely not. I was not going to be visiting a new place and staying hostage in a hotel chain. So out I went.

The poverty hit me in the face. After only seeing fancy resorts, the reality was hard to swallow.

A few locals approached me and were super curious as to what I was doing there alone, since most tourists didn’t go there.

I told them I was interested in meeting them and experiencing their culture. And just like that, I was embraced.

We met more people, had some food, and then we danced the night away. They had so little, yet they wanted to share it with me. They wanted to make me feel welcome.

And they undeniably did.

The next morning all I could think about was how all the money most tourists spend goes to big corporations. The locals have to be thankful if they get a job that pays minimum wage, while foreign businesses earn millions.

I have always been environmentally conscious, but this trip made it clear that sustainability goes well beyond nature and wildlife.

It’s also about communities.

From then on I always look for locally owned accommodation, eateries, guides, and souvenirs.

Sustainability, with everything it entails, became a motto for me and changed the very essence of the way I travel.

-Coni from  Experiencing the Globe

16. Lessons From My Students In Peru

One of the most life-changing trips I’ve ever been on was a volunteering experience in the stunning city of Cuzco in Peru.

I spent a month there teaching English and Italian to a group of local adults. And even though my time there was short, the travel experience was so humbling that it changed my outlook on life.

My lessons took the form of active conversations, which essentially turned into a massive multilingual cultural exchange between me and my students. Hearing my students talk about their lives — and realizing just how different they were from mine — made me look at my own life with a fresh new perspective.

One person spoke about the three years he spent living in a jungle with his dad, where they fed off of animals they hunted in order to survive.

Another student told me about her ultimate dream of mastering English so that she could become a tour guide and have a more stable future.

For me, these stories were a reminder of just how small I am in this world and how much we can get consumed by the small bubbles we live in. 

Most of all, my students showed a passion and appreciation for life that I’d never witnessed before.

This is true for the locals I met in Cuzco in general. The quality of life in Cuzco is very modest; hot water is scarce and you learn to live with little.

But the locals there do way more than just that — they spontaneously parade the streets with trumpets and drums just because they’re feeling happy, and their energy for the simple things in life is incredibly contagious.

It was impossible to not feel inspired in Cuzco because my students always had the biggest smiles on their faces, and the locals showed me again and again that simply being alive is a blessing.

I went to Peru to teach, but ended up learning more from my students and the locals there than they did from me.

Ever since I got back from that trip, I made it a goal to slow down and not take the simple things in life for granted.

Every time I get upset about something, I think about the Peruvians in Cuzco parading their streets in song and pure joy, and I tell myself to stop complaining.

-Jiayi from  The Diary of a Nomad

17. Braving Travel With Chronic Pain

Santiago de Compostela is a beautiful city with a prominent cathedral positioned centrally within the city.

While the historical cathedral attracts numerous visitors, even more well-known is the route to Santiago de Compostela, Camino de Santiago –- the world-famous pilgrimage route that has a plethora of trailheads and ends in Santiago. 

Home to locals, students, English teachers, and those on a spiritual pilgrimage, personal conquest, or a great outdoor hiking excursion, Santiago is a magical city.

My introduction to Santiago de Compostela doesn’t begin on the pilgrimage route, yet ends with a spiritual awakening analogous with those other unique pilgrimage stories.

It was my first solo trip abroad teaching English in Spain, a country that’s always been on my travel bucket list. A small town outside of Santiago was selected as the school I’d be teaching at for the year.

Unknowingly, this teach abroad program chose the perfect city for me to live in. 

A year prior, I suffered a traumatic brain injury that left me unable to function normally and complete average tasks. Migraines, headaches, and dizziness became my body’s normal temperament, a hidden disability invisible to the naked eye. 

Braving travel with chronic pain was the first lesson I learned during the trip.

The vast green outdoors and fresh dew from the morning rain enlivened me daily and reminded me about the importance of slowing down so I could enjoy traveling with my hidden disability. 

I also learned to stop often for daily tea breaks and to embrace the long lunch hour,  siestas , with good food, company, and a nap to rest.

Meeting locals , indulging in local food, and learning Spanish allowed me to connect deeply with the beautiful culture of Santiago. After all, my dream was to travel to Spain, and I more than accomplished that dream.

Difficult or not, I learned to own my dream and I was more than surprised with the results.

Who knew that a year after my injury I’d be traveling the world with chronic pain, and for that, I’m eternally grateful.

-Ciara from Wellness Travel Diaries

18. A Blessing In Disguise

2020 has been a wild year for all of us and foreign students in China are no exception. As soon as the malevolent virus began to make its rounds in China, our university sent us home for “two weeks.”

However, within a short time, countries began to shut their borders and these “two weeks” turned into months, a full year even.

Crushed by the burden of online lectures and virtual labs, my boyfriend and I packed our bags and caught one of the first flights to his home country of Pakistan.

I had always been an over-ambitious traveler. I believed numbers were everything — the number of countries I visited, the number of hours I spent on a plane, the number of international trips I took in a year. These numbers were what defined me.

My feet were constantly itching and I never liked to spend more than a few days in a place before heading to the next country. Revisiting a place felt superfluous to me.

That’s why I was hoping to spend a month or two in Pakistan and then continue to check new countries off the list — after all, my online classes finally granted me the freedom to “work on my numbers.”

But as is usually the case in 2020, things turned out quite different from what I had expected. Borders remained closed and worldwide infections stayed rampant. At this point, I have already spent nearly half a year in Pakistan.

During this peculiar time, however, an amazing thing happened:

My mindset about travel started to change and I began to look at my long stay in Pakistan as perhaps my most valuable travel experience ever.

I may not have visited dozens of countries like in previous years but my experiences were deeper than ever before.

From trekking to one of the world’s tallest mountains to sharing tea with heavily armed officers at nearly 5,000 meters altitude to exploring hidden beaches in the most secluded regions to spontaneously being invited to village homes, my adventures in Pakistan couldn’t have been more incredible. They opened my eyes to the sheer diversity of many countries and completely transformed my idea about traveling. 

It took me nearly a full year of heavy restrictions on international travel and a few months in one of the world’s most fascinating countries to give up on my superficial ideals and become a more mature traveler.

This time will always have a special place in my heart.

-Arabela from The Spicy Travel Girl

19. What The River Taught Me

My travel story takes place in the summer of 2017 — the final summer before I graduated university — as it continues to play a significant role in the person I’ve become.

When I say that, people ask me if it was the portion of the summer I spent solo backpacking in Europe . And to their surprise, it wasn’t. It was actually the latter portion of the summer where I stayed closer to home.

For July and August I worked as a canoe guide leading whitewater canoe trips on remote rivers in Canada. It was here that I got to canoe the powerful and iconic Missinaibi River, a river that continues to influence me all these years later.

The Missinaibi River flows from the powerful Lake Superior to the even more powerful salty waters of James Bay. Here, I led a group of eight teenagers through dozens of whitewater rapids over 500 kilometers (~311 miles).

With no cell service for 25 days, we were forced to disconnect from anything other than the river.

During this trip I learned two important lessons:

First, I learned to be confident in my own abilities as a leader and problem solver.

There were a few rapids where my campers’ boats flipped and I had to rescue the campers and the canoes. One rescue saw two boats flip on a mile-long rapid. It took six hours to make it down the rapid, and during this time I managed stuck canoes and crying campers.

And while this was one of the most difficult rescues I’ve done, I was amazed at how calm I was throughout it. I gave clear directions, prioritized effectively, and kept my campers safe throughout the entire experience. Following the rescue, I had a newfound sense of confidence in my abilities.

The second lesson I learned on the Missinaibi was the power of disconnecting from society and connecting with the people around you.

A wild river commands all of your attention. Each day, you and your group must take down camp, load canoes, paddle up to eight hours while navigating both rapids and portages, get to a new campsite, set up camp, cook dinner, and go to bed.

And without the distraction of technology, your attention has nowhere else to be. You focus on the river and your teammates.

As someone who had wrestled with anxiety and depression prior to this summer, I felt at total ease on the trip. Now I seek societal disconnection and human connection as much as I can. 

Sometimes the most profound, life-altering trips are the least expected trips closer to home.

-Mikaela of  Voyageur Tripper

More Short Travel Experience Stories

25 Crazy Travel Stories You Need To Read To Believe

23 Inspiring Travel Stories Sharing The Kindness Of Strangers

17 True Short Adventure Travel Stories To Inspire Your Next Trip

38 Inspiring Travel Love Stories From The Road

16 Short Funny Travel Stories That Will Make You Laugh

20 Embarrassing Travel Stories That Will Make You Laugh & Blush

21 Travel Horror Stories About Scary Travel Experiences

Do you have any inspiring travel experience stories about life-changing trips to share?

Enjoyed these inspiring stories about travel? Pin them for later!

Related posts:

Hi, I’m Jessie on a journey!

I'm a conscious solo traveler on a mission to take you beyond the guidebook to inspire you to live your best life through travel. Come join me!

Want to live your best life through travel?

Subscribe for FREE access to my library of fun blogging worksheets and learn how to get paid to travel more!

Turn Your Travel Blog Into A Profitable Business

Subscribe to my email list to snag instant access to my library of workbooks, checklists, tutorials and other resources to help you earn more money -- and have more fun -- blogging. Oh, and it's totally FREE! :) //  Privacy Policy . 

Check your inbox for your welcome email + resource library password!

These stories are so much fun to read! Thanks so much for putting a post like this together. It’s great to be able to check out other people’s blogs and read about other people’s experiences!

Always great to read about travel experiences of others. Some great stories to read over coffee. I’ve Pinned your post for future reference and to share with others. Will check out each story author’s blog as well. Great Job! 🙂

Amazing story for new traveler like me thanks for your contribution

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

Life-changing travel experience stories

There’s nothing like other travelers’ tales to get inspiration . When you are home longing to be on the road, or when you are on a journey wondering why you left the comfort of your house, submerge into these life-changing travel experience stories, beautiful tales of how a trip can alter the trajectory of your life .

I’m sure my regular readers are used to me talking about travel experiences . But for those who are discovering this little window to my soul called Experiencing the Globe , you can see that it all started with a bucket list of all the –surprise, surprise– travel experiences I want to have around the world.

The list is my goal in life, so I’m spending as much time as I can on the road. But when I’m home in between trips I seek inspiration in other travelers’ tales. I’ve read as many books about exciting journeys as I could put my hands on. And recently I got a hold of Lonely Planet’s Travel Goals: Inspiring Experiences to Transform Your Life .

It got me thinking of my own life-changing travel experiences . Like my transformation into a sustainable traveler after fully grasping what that meant for the planet and all the life in it. I have a trip to the Caribbean to thank for that. The first trip I took alone, when I was starting to test my boundaries, empowered me as a solo female traveler, and opened my eyes to a new world of possibilities! I’m so thankful I chose Italy , an amazing destination to explore on your own! I reaffirmed my faith in human kindness after spending a month in Iran , meeting the loveliest people I’ve ever encountered.  And the most literal life-changing travel experience, moving to Croatia after meeting the love of my life in this beautiful country that now I call home.

The book also encouraged me to ask other travelers if they had a story in their own travels that changed their lives in one way or another. I was overwhelmed with the beautiful tales… some of the best life-changing stories that’ll inspire you to travel!

Life-changing travel experience stories that’ll inspire you to travel

Collecting memories, not counting countries.

I want to start this series of tales with my own. As I told you, many aspects of my life have changed over the years due to a travel experience, but the one I want to elaborate on is the one that defined what my life would be. Traveling hasn’t changed me, it has made me. It’s who I am. Several trips to the south of Chile showed me where I was going. This is the story of how I became the person I am today:

My parents took me camping to the Chilean Lake District every summer while growing up. This was in the dark age, before the internet. Back then we had to rely on maps and guidebooks. So through the endless hours of our road trips, I kept myself entertained glancing at a map, reading about the small towns we passed, and convincing my folks to take a detour to visit some place that caught my attention.

During one trip I told them that I have decided I wanted to go everywhere in the world. After a few laughs, my dad told me about the Travelers’ Century Club (TCC), a group for people who have visited 100 or more of the world’s countries and territories. My eyes sparkled with the thought of being a member, and I made it my goal.

Obviously, I started asking to go to another country instead of the same National Park we always visited. They laughed again –conscious of the monster they have created– and offered a compromise: they’d take me to our neighbor Argentina, my first trip abroad, but I had to see more of my own country before I embarked on my adventure of visiting another hundred. I happily accepted.

See, what I immediately realized is that –as much as I wanted to be part of the TCC– the main reasons to travel should revolve around what I’ll get out of a trip –whether that’s meeting locals, tasting the typical cuisine, exploring nature, or adventuring into an activity– it shouldn’t be just to count countries . I know the “why you should travel” is super personal, but ticking countries off a list only because you put your feet there feels meaningless to me.

Why do people travel? Well, there are as many reasons as people traveling, but even if it is to get a tan while you’re permanently sipping from a cocktail, that trip will always be part of your story, so you should make the most of it.

After visiting every region in Chile, I started to go abroad. Nowadays, getting closer to 100 countries and territories of the TCC list properly visited, what I knew instinctively, transformed into lessons I learnt during my travels … What inspires me the most to hit the road is experiences, because they feed my adventurous soul –the TCC list (and my own bucket list) became the means to guide my journey, not an end themselves.

Spreading the word about the truth of traveling

Claudia’s life story is remarkably similar to my own. Being avid travelers changed the way we perceive a destination, and the story that should be told about it. We both left behind an academic career and repurposed our research abilities towards travel writing. Now we both blog from a distinct point of view. This is the story of how in a visit to Cuba she found her true calling:

“Cuba changed my life because it was nothing like I had expected it to be –quite the opposite, in fact. You see, being the avid traveler that I am, before my trip to Cuba I spent months reading just about anything I could put my hands on. If it talked about Cuba, I had to read it. Everything made it sound like traveling to Cuba would be easy, and locals would be generous and welcoming.

My time in Cuba was less than fabulous. Don’t get me wrong, it is a gorgeous country and now, a few years later, with much more traveling experience and understanding, I am ready to go again. But back then, it was awful. My 23 days there were a constant challenge to avoid scams –a challenge that a few times saw me succeed but that other times saw me fail miserably. It was frustrating. I felt I could not trust anybody. Where were the lovely Cubans everyone talked about in their blogs?

Cuba taught me that people lie, even (or especially) online. Because nobody really wants to say they have had a bad experience, and nobody is really interested in reading about others’ bad experiences –but is that really the case?

I decided there and then to be different. I decided that I had to warn others, tell them the truth, let them know what they should expect and what they should do to avoid scams. That’s why I opened my blog. It was just a pastime at the beginning.

Fast-forward 2 years and I realized that I did want to make an effort to make it work out. After all, what did I have to lose? My contract as a research fellow at the university had expired and I had no real prospect if not a series of menial short-term teaching jobs I was less than interested in. So, I gave blogging my heart and soul. And it worked. I’m a much happier person now. I love what I am doing. I wake up in the morning to face a long list of to-do things and I read it with a smile on my face, which is priceless.

Cuba changed my life. And despite all the frustration I felt back when I was there, it changed it for the best.”

RELATED POSTS:

• Marrakesh: the good, the bad and the ugly
• Azerbaijan: what I loved and what I hated

Encountering wildlife to find yourself

Camilla was looking for something, but she wasn’t sure what it was. Her heart lead her to India , and after that trip her life would never be the same. Animals can have different impacts in our life, but for this former vegan chef, one particular big cat meant more than anything. This is her story:

“January 2017. That’s the date I first arrived in India. By that time, I used to work as a freelance vegan chef in the hustling city of Paris. Having attended a 4-weeks course on yoga and Ayurveda, I had planned to spend the following month exploring this amazing country.

Little did I know that a special encounter would change my life forever.

Always an animal lover, over the years I had developed a passion for the most majestic of big cats: the tiger. The striped animal had somehow summoned me. To what reason and to convey what message I do not know, but to such a call one can hardly resist.

India is home to more than 60% of the world’s remaining wild tigers. The critically endangered species is highly protected, and the country has given to many of its national parks the status of Tiger Reserve.

It was time for me to see my first one in the wild.

With zero safari experience and many hours of research, I booked 4 drives in Ranthambhore, one of India’s most famous Tiger Reserves .

I will always remember the excitement before that first drive in the jungle, and I will never forget the distress of realizing that finding the elusive cat is no easy task. 

But all of a sudden, there it was. Glorious in its fierce black striped orange coat, a killer look and an attitude to die for. My first wild tiger.

That fleeting moment was enough to make me want more. Today, I have moved to Central India, prime tiger landscape of the world, and I have seen 103 different individuals. But every time I see those eyes, I feel the same excitement that I felt as a total beginner that day in Ranthambhore.”

Finding love in an unexpected place

Traveling is full of surprises. A spontaneous detour can change your life forever. Don’t I know it! A quick, unplanned stop in Split after exploring Dubrovnik ended up seeing me move continents for love. A simple recommendation of a town in The Philippines had the same in store for Alya. This is the tale of the trip that lead her to her husband:

“Meeting my future husband was definitely one of the most life-changing travel experiences I’ve ever had. We met 6 years ago in the Philippines. I was traveling alone around Southeast Asia for a couple of months. After completing my dive course in Gili Air Island in Indonesia and didn’t know where to go next. I was looking for a good place to learn to surf. My dive instructor told me about a small town on Luzon Island in the Philippines. It sounded like the perfect place for me. I bought a plane ticket immediately and two days later arrived in San Fernando.

The hostel I stayed at had a big dormitory with many beds. I met many travelers including Campbell. In fact, we had neighboring beds in the dormitory. He traveled alone as well and we liked each other, so we started going together to the beach, surfing and going out at night. By chance we had very similar travel plans and decided to continue our trip together.

We both like doing the same things, like surfing, diving and hiking. We left San Fernando and traveled around the Philippines together for 2 months. From there we went to Singapore. Unfortunately, I had to go back home, my 4-month holiday was over. We arranged to meet up again two months later in Nepal since we both had trekking to Everest Base Camp on our bucket list. So we did, it was our first multi-day trek together.

We met up a couple of times on the road again in different countries. After 6 months of on and off I decided to quit my job and join Campbell on his around the world adventure. Three years later we got married and decided to start a travel blog . In the last 6 years we’ve done hundreds of hikes, spent a year hitchhiking through Latin America, drove thousands of kilometers across Africa and walked seven Camino de Santiago routes.

Now I can’t imagine how my life would look like if I hadn’t gone to that place in the Philippines and had never met my husband.”

Giving is better than having

A trip to South East Asia gave Corritta’s life a whole new meaning. Possessions are overrated, true happiness comes from giving. She and her family left a comfortable life in the United States behind to fill their souls while making the world a better place. This is the tale of their journey:

“My life changing experience prompted me to sell our house, car and possessions to take off on a journey to see the world. That may seem a little extreme but let me explain. My first international trip was to Bangkok in 2018. I thought this trip would be a great way to get away from the stress in my life. It turned out to be a life altering experience that made me realize I was existing, not living. 

While in Bangkok we took a day trip to Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand and it changed my life. We learned how cruel animal tourism is and how we, as tourists, are unwitting accomplices. We support illegal pouching and animal cruelty by taking part in animal tourism. This includes taking pictures with large cats or monkeys and riding elephants. When we do these things, we are not only hurting the animals, we are ensuring things will never get better. I must admit I was never an animal lover but being up close and personal with elephants changed something within me. It made me want to give back.  

So, two years later, with my partner and our one-year old baby boy, decided to take off for a  family gap year .  We sold everything and left San Diego to live a life of service. We will use this time to give back to those less fortunate. 

When I left Thailand my definition of happiness changed. It was no longer associated with material possessions, but by the quality of life I wanted to live. I realized what truly matters is the love of your family. The Thai people with their families were happier than most Americans. So I decided to take back one of the most invaluable things in the world, time. Never forget, all the money in the world can’t buy you more time.” 

Small changes can make the world a better place

A trip to Australia developed plastic-issue awareness in Simona. Seeing how the tides brought tons of plastic to the shores made her change her approach to traveling. From carrying her own grocery bags and water bottle, little adjustments made her a much more responsible traveler. This is how her journey towards sustainability started:

“The first time ever I realized that plastic was a serious matter for our planet was during a road trip in Western Australia, almost 12 years ago.

We stopped at a supermarket along the Coral Bay coast to buy some groceries and the lady at the counter told us they didn’t sell any shopping bags to prevent plastic in the ocean and to help preserving the endangered turtles living in that area. After a first reaction of surprise, we gathered all our shopping in our arms and left, reflecting on what we had been told.

This was just one of the many experiences I’ve lived that made me more conscious about my impact and pushed me to adopt various habits to live and travel more sustainably. For example, after that trip, I am always carrying a cotton bag when I go shopping.

Our eco-honeymoon to Borneo was another life-changing experience that has strengthened my resolution to turn to a zero-waste lifestyle. I selected three ecotourism projects to visit. In Asia finding safe drinkable water is always a challenge, but we traveled with our water bottle, and we chose the right service providers engaged in sustainable travel so, with a little effort, we managed to avoid almost entirely the use of plastic during our trip.

However, we were seriously struck by our stay on Libaran Island, where a sustainable and turtle conservation project was launched 10 years ago. Despite the big efforts carried out by the project and the community in cleaning up the beaches and creatively re-use plastic, the shore is washed daily with tons of plastic coming from the tides. Walking on a carpet of plastic that almost prevented us from seeing the beach underneath was quite shocking.

Facing this global issue in person, raised in me a contrasting feeling of sadness and anger that soon turned into determination: to do as much as possible to reduce plastic in our life. Sometimes we may feel helpless in front of big problems, but we should be aware that small changes can actually make a difference!”

• The Ultimate Guide to Sustainable Travel
• Sustainable Travel Photography
• Eco-friendly hiking: sustainable tips and packing guide
• Plant-based diet & Sustainability

Discovering happiness in simplicity

When her career and personal relations were failing, Soujanya decided to retreat to the mountains. The Himalayas were the perfect setting to get away from everything and regain perspective. In a small village she discovered that technology is overrated, and that what counts are real connections. This is how a trip to India changed her take on life:

“Back in mid-2019 I wasn’t in a good place in life. I was getting out of a serious relationship, I was burn out at my job, I had problems within my family, and the ever-increasing sense of loneliness had thrown me into a pit of depression. During that time, I turned to the only positive thing I had going on for myself, which was travel and blogging.

After some contemplation, I decided to quit my job to travel. I had saved up enough money that would last me 8-10 months so I didn’t give it much thought because I knew it was the only thing that would keep me from tipping over the edge.

The first thing I did after leaving my job was to head to the Himalayas in India. I spent a month in the Kinnaur and Spiti valleys in the state of Himachal Pradesh. The Kinnaur district was a breath of fresh air. The snow-clad mountain range in the distance, the lush green vegetation all around, the sparse population and the friendly people spoke to my soul.

There was one village called Chitkul , which lies on the Indo-Tibet border and has no cell connectivity, that helped heal me the most. A remote village with a population of less than a thousand people and only a handful of tourists, with nothing around it for many miles.

I spent my days sitting by the river, hiking to the nearby hills and walking through meadows. Just being there surrounded by the Himalayas, without any social media due to lack of connectivity, and making real connections with other travelers and the villagers had some sort of magical effect on me. Not only I have the best travel experience of my life, but the place also healed my mind. I came back happier than ever, with a renewed spirit, ready to enjoy everything that life had to offer.”

Uncovering a braver version of yourself

We all have that one thing we’d love to do but we’re too scared to try. A trip to Thailand taught Allison that life is what we made of it. Pushing her boundaries not only allowed her to have a ton of fun, but also gave her a new path, one in which she gets to do what she loves. This is her story, an encouragement for you to get out of you comfort zone too:

“Shortly after I graduated from college, I moved to a new state to start a full-time job. One day at work, I found myself wanting to go traveling. As I didn’t have any friends there, I decided it was the perfect opportunity to go on my first ever solo trip. So I quickly started doing research on where I’d like to go.

I had never traveled alone before, especially overseas, so I decided to sign up for a guided group that was going rock climbing in Thailand . This gave me a sense of security, being new to solo traveling. It felt like a great way to dip my toes into being alone and meeting strangers, but also doing something that sounded really fun and engaging for 2 weeks.

The entire Thailand trip forced me out of so many comfort zones that ended up being one of the big turning points of my life. The time I spent in Thailand navigating airports and taxis alone, meeting a group of complete strangers, and spending 2 weeks climbing with them in often remote parts of the country, ended up being one of the greatest experiences of my life. Up until this point I had always considered myself a ‘shy’ and ‘cautious’ kind of person, but this travel experience lit me up to become different. It showed me a brave, strong, and self-sufficient side of myself that went on to influence my life in dramatic ways when I returned home.

When I got back, I pretty much dedicated my life to spending as much time as possible outdoors whether that be climbing, hiking, or backpacking… essentially doing things that I once thought I wasn’t ‘capable of’ or was ‘too scared of’. Today, roughly 6 years later, I’m an outdoor empowerment coach and backpacking educator.

My trip to Thailand was the spark that I needed to make that change. It showed me what was possible. I don’t know if it was the people I met, the experiences I had, or the beauty of traveling in Thailand – likely a bit of all of it– but whatever it was, it changed the trajectory of my life, and I’ll forever hold Thailand (and all the people I met) in a special place in my heart.”

A leap of faith towards a new life

Getting to visit a new place after a business trip is nothing out of the ordinary. For most people. For Derek and Mike it was literally life-changing. After a quick trip to Copenhagen , they packed up and started a new chapter of their lives as expats in a different continent. This is the tale of their journey:

“In November 2016 we had a life-changing travel experience in Copenhagen, Denmark. My partner Mike was asked to make an unexpected business trip to the city to help with a project. His company had recently acquired another company in Denmark, and he was asked to help with the integration. He flew there from our hometown, Philadelphia, with only a few days’ notice, and on his first day in the office they asked if he would stay a few weeks longer. He agreed but asked for time off during the American Thanksgiving so that I could fly to Denmark and take advantage of the opportunity to enjoy a cheap trip to Europe with no-cost lodging and some meals expensed.

We loved getting to check out a city that we didn’t have on our travel bucket list before this opportunity came about. We did a few tours, visited the Christmas markets and dined out. At one restaurant we got to try the Christmas traditional Danish meal . I enjoyed Copenhagen for 5 days and Mike remained there for work until the end of November.

On his last night in Denmark, he had dinner at his boss’ home. They shared a meal with a lot of wine and then Mike called me when he got back to his hotel. I could hear the excitement in his voice. He asked if I liked Copenhagen, which seemed odd because he knew I enjoyed myself when I was there. Then he asked if I liked it enough to move there, because on that final night, his boss asked if we would take an expat assignment in Denmark.

We didn’t hesitate to accept and our life abroad began almost right away. That trip to Copenhagen was certainly life-changing!”

Learning to fully appreciate what’s in front you

No matter how much you have traveled, there are places that will bring up the best of you. No matter how much there is still to see, some places will take your breath away and will forever stay in your heart. A trip to Antarctica transformed Wendy into a student. She acquired as much information as she could to fully absorb the beauty that she was about to witness. And now she is longing to go back. This is her story:

“Before my cruise from Ushuaia to Antarctica , I was already quite well-traveled. I had visited about 75 countries and seen plenty of natural beauty before. But all of that paled in comparison to the White Continent. The Perito Moreno glacier in Argentina had mesmerized me just days earlier, but now I was seeing dozens, even hundreds, of sparkling white glaciers practically everywhere I looked. These landscapes were so different from anything I’d ever seen that it felt like I’d traveled to another planet.

On the times when the weather was bad, and on the long days of crossing the Drake Passage between Tierra del Fuego and Antarctica, I soaked up every bit of knowledge that I could about this snow-and-ice-covered land. Our ship, the MV Ushuaia, was manned by a full staff of scientists and lecturers who were experts in a number of relevant topics, from geology to ornithology. When we were out on the high seas with nothing to do, these experts held lectures on the flora, fauna, history and geology of Antarctica, and I attended every single one.

When we stopped at the British base at Port Lockroy on Goudier Island, I grilled the staff there with questions about how I too could go live and work on the island. And while that dream never materialized, my memories of Antarctica are still sharp in my mind 11 years later, and I still dream of returning one day.

Such an expensive voyage would normally be the trip of a lifetime, not a return destination. But if you’re willing to try your luck, sharply discounted last-minute deals can be found at the port in Ushuaia a day or two before departure. In recent years, these huge discounts have become few and far between, as most ships fill up months in advance. But still I’m thinking of a return trip to Antarctica for some more adventure!”

No matter where you go, every single place in the world has the potential to change your life! Tell me in the comments if you’ve had any life-changing travel experiences!

Liked it? Want to read it later? Pin it!

Did you like what you read? You can show your appreciation by buying me a coffee 🙂 Your support will ensure I keep bringing you stories and insights from around the world! Thanks so much!

16 thoughts on “Life-changing travel experience stories”

Wow this is really amazing,I pray that I will be opportuned to travel around the world one day

Sometimes we think it’s a far away dream because it’s dangerous, or expensive, or because we can’t take time from work. I’m aware that for some people it’s actually quite impossible due to their passport or the political situation in their country. For others, their responsibilities are far too great to leave behind. But for most of us, it’s just a matter of priorities. Don’t wait until you have all the money you think you need, or all the time you’d like to spend on the road. Just go! Even if it’s a weekend trip to your neighboring city, or to the countryside close to your place. You got to start somewhere, and every trip has the potential to be life-changing! Let me know how it goes! 🙂

I was looking for inspiration, and inspiration I found. I can’t travel at the moment, but I’m already thinking of how to be more sustainable on my next trip. Thank you all for sharing!

That’s amazing to hear, Dani! Welcome to the sustainable traveler’s team! 🌱

I googled inspiring travel stories to see if my day could be picked up, and I’m so glad this popped up! Lovely stories, super inspiring! I can’t wait for the pandemic to be over to create some travel stories of my own ❤️

Awww! I’m so happy to read your comment, Monty! Hopefully the pandemic will be under control soon and you’ll get to have some travel stories too. Make sure you tell me about them!

Beautiful tales! I can’t wait to start traveling again. Travel already has changed my life, but I’d be happy living through any of the wonderful experiences described here!

When you get to travel again, keep an open mind and an open heart… amazing experiences will happen! ❤️

Very inspiring stories! Thank you for sharing them!

It was a blast to write this, and collect other wonderful tales!

Love all these stories! Love how travel has shaped everyone!

In one way or another, every trip makes us a bit different. It was great to get these wonderful travelers to share their stories -now I’m sure it’s not only me who is deeply changed by travel!

These are all such inspiring stories! Really goes to show you how much travel can impact your life. Thanks for sharing!

It’s crazy how much travel can change us, and how much we can learn from it, no matter where we go!

I loved reading this! All of the stories are such an inspiration! I can’t wait to get back on the road 😍

In times of armchair travel, nothing like beautiful stories to keep the wanderlust up, right? ❤️

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Let's go round the world in 201 experiences! Get tons of tips and inspiration in your own inbox.

Check our Privacy policy

• Search Please fill out this field.
• Manage Your Subscription
• Give a Gift Subscription
• Sweepstakes

21 Life-changing Trips Everyone Should Experience at Least Once

From African safaris to must-visit cities, these once-in-a-lifetime trips will make you want to plan your next great adventure.

Elizabeth Rhodes is a special projects editor at Travel + Leisure , covering everything from luxury hotels to theme parks to must-pack travel products. Originally from South Carolina, Elizabeth moved to New York City from London, where she started her career as a travel blogger and writer.

What's next on your travel list? With so many places worth traveling to, it can be hard to narrow down your top spots to visit.

Sometimes, it's the famous attractions, delicious food, and stunning hotels that draw us to a certain destination, and other times, it's the bragging rights that come with checking off every continent, country, or state. Whatever your motivation, we've rounded up 21 incredible trips, complete with once-in-a-lifetime experiences and iconic sights you won't find anywhere else in the world.

So, what makes a trip truly life-changing? That answer varies from traveler to traveler, but one thing is for sure: From African safaris to classic road trips, this list will make you want to plan your next great adventure.

Deciding between the historic cities of Rome, Venice, Naples, and Florence for the top destination to visit feels impossible, so the entire country of Italy deserves a spot on your list. Start in the Eternal City and head north through the rolling hills of Tuscany to visit Florence, followed by Milan or Venice, or go south to the beaches of the beautiful Amalfi Coast and Sicily.

New York, New York

Visiting the Statue of Liberty , standing at the top of the Empire State Building, walking across the Brooklyn Bridge: These are just a few of the things you can only do in New York City. Whether you dream of visiting all the places you've seen on screen, catching a Broadway show, or eating your way through the city's diverse neighborhoods, there's no doubt that NYC deserves a spot on your list.

Tokyo, Japan

Old and new come together in Japan's bustling capital city. Historic temples and shrines, busy shopping districts, delicious food, and some of the world's best theme parks and attractions — whatever your interests, there's something for you in Tokyo.

Paris, France

From watching the Eiffel Tower sparkle and viewing famous works of art at world-renowned museums to eating delicious French pastries, there are innumerable reasons that Paris deserves a spot on your list. Of course, other dreamy French destinations like Mont-Saint-Michel, Chamonix, and the Riviera are well worth a visit, too.

Busy medinas, intricate architecture, and a unique combination of cultural influences make Morocco unlike anywhere else on the planet. Whether you're traveling to bustling Marrakesh, pretty coastal cities, or remote desert towns (or hopefully, all three), a trip to Morocco is bound to be one to remember.

Monica Farber/Travel + Leisure

From the whitewashed homes of Santorini to the Ios party scene to the relaxing atmosphere of Milos, there's a perfect Greek Island for every type of traveler. Island hopping gives you the chance to experience more of what the country has to offer, but plan to spend a couple of days in Athens at the beginning and/or end of your trip.

T+L Backpack Quiz

Rory Fuller/Travel + Leisure

Machu Picchu

Seeing the historic ruins of the Incan Empire set among the breathtaking Andes at Machu Picchu is an undeniably life-changing experience. The stunning citadel ruins of Machu Picchu are worth the journey — and for some travelers, that trip, often taken by train or on foot as a multi-day trek , is a big part of the experience. Editor’s note: Machu Picchu is currently closed due to civil unrest in Peru. Visit the  official website  for the latest news and reopening details.

African Safari

Seeing majestic animals like lions, elephants, and rhinos in the wild is a dream best accomplished with an African safari . South Africa, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Kenya are among the most popular safari destinations — and in each of those countries, you'll find incredible lodges and tour operators who can help you spot these creatures in their natural habitat.

Whether you dream of cruising down the famed Nile River, seeing the Pyramids of Giza, or visiting the ancient Valley of the Kings, Egypt's historic wonders make the destination completely unique (and worthy of a spot on your travel list).

Unlike many of the action-packed trips on this list, the Maldives is synonymous with relaxation, luxury, and romance. A stay in an overwater bungalow set atop turquoise blue waters is the ultimate getaway that's worth the long-haul flight and oftentimes pricey accommodations.

Antarctica Cruise

Hoping to visit all seven continents? Cross Antarctica off your list with a cruise. Several major cruise lines have journeys to Antarctica, offering incredible views of the ice and wildlife from the comfort and safety of a ship. Travelers typically fly in and out of Buenos Aires en route to Ushuaia (where most cruises depart from); we recommend spending a few days in the fascinating Argentine city before your expedition.

Irjaliina Paavonpera/Travel + Leisure

Dubbed one of the natural wonders of the world, the Great Barrier Reef is a can't-miss for many wildlife lovers. Of course, Australia's gorgeous coastline, the iconic Sydney Opera House, and fuzzy creatures like kangaroos and koalas are also reasons to head to the destination. Fly into Sydney and spend a few days there before heading out to explore more of this expansive country teeming with natural beauty.

Galapagos Islands

Incredible and diverse plant and animal species make the Galapagos Islands another must-visit for nature-loving travelers. This stunning archipelago off the coast of Ecuador is best explored by cruise, so you can take in as many breathtaking landscapes and animals as possible during your trip.

Like the other countries on this list, India has countless destinations worth exploring, but one of the most famous attractions that travelers dream of seeing for themselves is the Taj Mahal. This 17th-century white marble mausoleum has drawn visitors to Agra for years. Luxury travelers might consider a train trip aboard the Maharajas' Express (with a stop at the Taj Mahal) as the ultimate experience. Travelers planning to visit the Taj Mahal or take the luxurious train ride will want to fly into Delhi, India's capital territory.

Petra, Jordan

The stunning ancient city of Petra is made up of several impressive structures carved into sandstone rock faces, including the famous Al-Khazneh. The city dates back thousands of years, making this UNESCO World Heritage site a must-visit for history buffs.

Passing through India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, Bhutan, and Nepal, the Himalayas are home to some of the world's highest peaks — and that means breathtaking mountain views, too. For adventurous and active travelers, climbing Mount Everest (or at least trekking to Everest Base Camp) is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

American National Park Road Trip

The classic American road trip is a mainstay on many travelers' lists — and for good reason. The country's incredible national parks , including Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, and Yosemite, are best explored on road trips with stops at charming small towns and kitschy roadside attractions.

Great Wall of China

Stretching across China for thousands of miles, with sections dating back nearly 2,000 years, the Great Wall is regarded as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. Visitors can hike along parts of the wall — some areas are located within driving distance of Beijing, so it's a perfect day trip from the city.

Easter Island

The hundreds of monolithic moai statues have drawn curious visitors to Easter Island for years. This remote Polynesian island is worth the lengthy trip for travelers hoping to see these impressive human figures, while also soaking in some incredible coastal views.

Northern Lights Trip

Catching a glimpse of the elusive northern lights is possible in several destinations close to the Arctic Circle, including Alaska, Iceland, Canada, Greenland, Finland, Sweden, and Norway. All of these places have incredible viewpoints (and even hotels where you can see the phenomenon from your bed ), in addition to great, wintry scenery. (The lights are best viewed from late fall through early spring.)

Thailand and Vietnam

A trip through Southeast Asia is a must for any traveler, especially foodies who love street eats. While you could spend weeks in each of these countries, Thailand and Vietnam can easily be paired for an exciting trip packed with lush scenery, cultural experiences, and delicious food. Have a little extra time to spare? Add Cambodia to the mix and include a visit to expansive Angkor Wat.

• Skip to primary navigation
• Skip to main content
• Skip to primary sidebar
• Skip to footer

TravelAwaits

Our mission is to serve the 50+ traveler who's ready to cross a few items off their bucket list.

My 15 Favorite Travel Experiences Everyone Should Try Once

• Bucket List Trips
• Types of Travel

Travel opens you up to so many incredible experiences, and while there’s a whole lot more of the world I’d still like to see, and this is certainly not the definitive list of best travel experiences, I’d like to share with you some of my most amazing experiences and those I think deserve a spot on every traveler’s bucket list. 

1. Watch The Sunrise In A Really Special Place

One of my most memorable sunrises was on Mequfi Beach at the end of a trip through the Quirimbas Archipelago in the Indian Ocean off the north-eastern coast of Mozambique. My husband and I had traveled the 68 miles of the archipelago by plane, sailboat, traditional dhow (wooden boat), and helicopter. We’d spent 2 weeks on the journey and Diamonds Mequfi Beach Resort was the final stop on our itinerary. Keen to savor our last few hours of beach time before flying home, we were up early and down on the beach just as the sun’s first rays of light started to peek over the horizon.

2. Do Something That Terrifies You

After it takes a 360-foot tumble over Victoria Falls , the Zambezi River squeezes through a narrow gorge where it boils up into the biggest, and arguably best, white water rapids in the world. This is not for the faint-hearted, and an average level of fitness is required, but if you are feeling brave this really can be an adventure of a lifetime. I have done this trip numerous times and it’s definitely something I would recommend.

Pro Tip: The best time to raft the Zambezi is when the water levels are lower and more rapids are accessible, from August to mid-October. Go with a good operator like Bundu Adventures .

3. Laugh When You Get Caught In A Well-Known Tourist Scam!

Rome is an expensive city. Even a double room in a moderately priced hotel can be pricy. Traveling to Rome as a family with small children, we found the best value accommodation was one of the many convents that take in paying guests. Traveling on a budget and trying to economize wherever we could, we caught the train from the airport into the city. With our luggage and two small children in tow (one in a pushchair), we made the classic rookie mistake – we asked a local taxi driver how much he would charge to drive us to the convent. He named an exorbitant price. Some haggling ensued. Beating him down to a price that wasn’t quite so eye-watering, we climbed into the taxi. He drove for minutes, and around the corner pulled up outside our destination! An expensive lesson learned. All we could do was laugh!

4. Climb A Mountain

Climbing mountains is something I have been doing for years. I’ve climbed them, guided them, and taken my husband and my children up them. I’ve also taken clients on trips they tell me have been life-changing experiences.

If you are looking for an achievable, yet challenging, mountain to climb, let me steer you towards Tanzania’s Kilimanjaro , where I have been guiding regularly for years. Whether you’ll rate a climb up Africa’s highest mountain a great “travel experience” depends entirely on when you’re asked! Ask a climber making the final push to the summit and they’ll probably say no! At that moment it’s a tough, cold, nauseating, exhausting hell. But ask them 6 hours later, when they’re grinning from ear to ear, standing on the roof of Africa, and their answer will definitely be different.

5. Fly First Class

I’d love to say I have flown in first class, but that wouldn’t quite be true! Years ago, traveling from South Africa to Australia , I got as close to flying first class as I am probably ever going to get. Our travel agent made a mistake with our booking. When the plane touched down in Perth en route to Sydney , my husband and I got off with all the other passengers for a short layover before reboarding. We were surprised to see our boarding passes had us in new seats. In first class! We said nothing, grabbed a glass of champagne from the hostess, and sat down. The hostess, surprised to see us, asked to see our boarding passes. And that’s when the mistake was noticed. We were on the wrong plane; our travel agent had accidentally booked us on a later flight to Sydney! We were allowed to finish our champagne , and then quickly ushered to a pair of empty seats back in economy. Our time in first class was lovely while it lasted!

6. Take An Epic Road Trip, On A Road Less Traveled

The 800-mile, 8-day drive from Kathmandu in Nepal to Lhasa in Tibet , along the China-Nepal Friendship Highway is a seriously memorable road trip. It takes you past the highest peaks of the Himalayas, pristine alpine lakes, incredible Buddhist monasteries, and surreal landscapes.

Pro Tip: The China-Nepal Friendship Highway closed after the 2015 Nepal earthquake, and is now only open for goods transport. The route currently being used is along the Pasang Lhamu Highway, a rough route only advised for very intrepid travelers.

7. Spend Time With The Locals

I traveled with Indian friends to Kodenchery in southern India , where they were taking part in a white water kayaking competition. Not knowing the front end of a kayak from the back, I wasn’t actually taking part in the competition but was somehow persuaded to take on the role of commentator. Kodenchery is not on even the most adventurous traveler’s paths, and I was quite a novelty standing on the river bank, microphone in hand, doing my best to describe the action taking place in the river below. I learned a handful of useful phrases from friendly locals and when I was at a total loss for words, one of the local teachers stepped in as my translator. I somehow made it into the local newspaper and onto the local TV news! I’ve never forgotten my weekend of celebrity in the backwaters of south India.

8. Sleep In A Tent

I’ve slept in many tents in my time, and have many fond memories. My husband, on the other hand, is not a keen camper, only sleeping in a tent when absolutely necessary. Of all the tent experiences I have subjected him to, he tells me the most memorable is waking up one morning in a tiny, ice-covered tent in Ethiopia ’s remote Bale Mountains on a trek through to find the endangered Ethiopian wolf. 

9. Sleep On A Boat 

My husband and I were traveling to Tanzania ’s Mahale Mountains National Park, on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, to trek with chimpanzees. Most tourists coming to Mahale fly in by charter flight. We decided to travel by boat up the lake from Zambia , spending 3 nights on the MV Liemba , a WWI German gunboat that was converted into a passenger and cargo ferry. We’d managed to secure a “first-class cabin,” which consisted of a rickety bunk bed, a plastic garden chair, and a broken fan — I wouldn’t recommend the trip to any other than the most stoic of travelers. Most of the passengers didn’t have cabins, instead sleeping on the deck. The shared bathroom facilities left a lot to be desired – my husband caught typhoid on the journey home! 

You might not want to choose this boat, but find a boat that suits you, and spend a few nights aboard.

10. Eat Street Food

Street food comes in all shapes, sizes, colors, and flavors. My “sweetest” street food memory is piping hot, fresh jalebis in India. It was a chilly early morning and I was walking, with a friend, through the narrow back streets of a tiny town in the Indian Himalayas, when we came across a guy deep frying these delicious sweets at a makeshift stall on the side of the road. Jalebis are a distant cousin to the donut, with a flour batter, deep fried in circular shapes, and soaked in sugar syrup or honey – they are delicious.

11. Visit An Iconic Site And Appreciate Seeing It In Person

The Eiffel Tower , the leaning tower of Pisa , the Grand Canyon – there are so many iconic sites around the world that deserve a place on your travel list. For me, it’s the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Growing up in Sydney, I never appreciated “the bridge” and must have crossed it a thousand times in my youth, never giving it a second thought. What makes you appreciate it though is climbing to the top! Dressed in a camouflage climbing suit, you, and your trembling knees, climb 1,332 steps to reach the top (burning 504 calories on the way!). At the top, you are rewarded with astounding views over the city. The view is particularly magical at dawn, watching the bustling metropolis come to life far below.

Pro Tip: book your climb with Bridge Climb Sydney the climb will cost you around $128. 

12. Sip Cocktails In A Rooftop Bar With A View

There are a million places around the world to sip a cocktail from a rooftop bar with a view. My special place is the chic rooftop bar at Upendo House , in Stone Town, Zanzibar. It overlooks the azure ocean and the historic House of Wonders (built by the second Sultan of Zanzibar in 1883 with a door so wide he could enter the house riding on the back of an elephant!).

13. Swim In Infinity Pool With A View

Everyone loves an infinity pool . My most memorable is the pool at Africa Bush Camps, Bumi Hills , Zimbabwe, which hovers on the edge of a cliff, looking out over the vast and shimmering waters of Lake Kariba, the world’s largest man-made lake, below.

14. Visit Somewhere With A History So Deep You Will Never Truly Understand It

Lalibela in northern Ethiopia is a place where I’ve stood in awe at the history around me. Known for its distinctive subterranean churches, many of which are joined by tunnels carved out of rock during the 12th and 13th centuries, Lalibela is still a pilgrimage site for Coptic Christians today.

15. Take Local Transport 

My first encounter with public transport in India was taking a sleeper train from Delhi to Dehradun (the gateway to India’s famous hill stations). I was alone and had never been on an overnight train before, let alone one in a different country. I boarded the train just before midnight. Within minutes, my fellow passengers had taken me under their collective wings, finding my berth, teaching me how to fold down my bunk bed, and introducing me to their families. As the train pulled out of the station, in unison they opened their picnic containers full of home-cooked food and offered me all kinds of delicious treats. I’ve never felt so instantly and completely accepted by a bunch of total strangers.

Born and raised in Sydney, Australia, before moving to Africa at the age of 21, Sarah Kingdom is a mountain climber and guide, traveler, yoga teacher, trail runner, and mother of two. When she is not climbing or traveling she lives on a cattle ranch in central Zambia. She guides and runs trips regularly in India, Nepal, Tibet, Russia, and Ethiopia, taking climbers up Tanzania’s Mount Kilimanjaro numerous times a year.

Unique travel experiences

Book your individual trip , stress-free with local travel experts

• roughguides.com
• the-bucket-list-30-essential-travel-experiences

Plan your tailor-made trip with a local expert

Book securely with money-back guarantee

Travel stress-free with local assistance and 24/7 support

written by Rough Guides Editors

updated 14.03.2023

The information in this article is inspired by the The Rough Guides guidebooks — your essential guides for visiting the world.

1. Witnessing elephant bath time - one of the most exciting travel experiences in Nepal

2. go volcano-boarding in león, 3. conquer an icelandic glacier, 4. steam in a temazcal, mexico, 5. sail around the galápagos, 6. eat steak in buenos aires, 7. tickle whales in mexico, 8. take the trans-mongolian express, 9. watch ballet in cuba, 10. hike china’s great wall, 11. spend a night in wadi rum, 12. climb cadair idris, wales, 13. take a slow boat up the nam ou, 14. drive from viñales to cayo jutías by scooter, 15. witness tibet’s true spirit, 16. hike in brazil’s chapada diamantina, 17. sleep wild in central sweden, 18. sleep beneath the stars in the sahara desert, 19. swim with pink river dolphins, 20. visit tikal in guatemala, 21. get lost in fez el bali, 22. see the northern lights in norway, 23. take a hot air balloon ride in cappadocia, 24. visit yosemite national park in the usa, 25. watch the sunset from table mountain in cape town, 26. snork in the great barrier reef in australia, 27. swim in the dead sea in jordan, 28. get amazed by the angel falls in venezuela, 29. drive along the amalfi coast, 30. visit costa rica national parks.

Every morning a procession of dusty elephants is led to the Rapti River, on the edge of Chitwan National Park, for a good scrub down – and travellers are welcome to help out.

The pachyderms delight in shooting jets of water from their trunks, wallowing on their sides while layers of mud are scraped off. Occasionally, they even dump unsuspecting riders into the river. It’s a magical experience that the elephants seem to enjoy almost as much as the travellers.

Experience Nepal's hill villages and jungle lowlands as you embark on this tailor-made Himalayan Family Adventure of a lifetime . Expect mini mountain treks, overnight camps, river rafting and wildlife safaris. Come here for action, stunning mountain scenery and a look around bustling Kathmandu too.

Elephant bathing © adrenalinrnb/Shutterstock

Nicaragua’s former capital, León, is the birthplace of the Sandinista revolution. This vibrant city offers lovely colonial architecture and superlative fried chicken.

You can also take an unusual tour to the steep ash of nearby Cerro Negro, where gas belches from cracks and views stretch over Nicaragua’s Pacific plains. The walk up is a slog, while the descent sees you surf down the dune-like surface as dust rises around you.

Where to stay in León:

• Best for hospitality : Casa de Los Berrios .
• Best for comfort : Hotel Flor De Sarta

Find more accommodation options to stay in León

Boarding from Cerro Negro volcano is one of the best travel experiences you can have in Nicaragua © Milosz Maslanka/Shutterstock

While Reykjavik is an essential base - and the Blue Lagoon is a justifiably popular attraction - for the best travel experiences in Iceland you need to find a glacier.

A short minibus ride from the capital will take you far from the tourist trail of lava fields and waterfalls and into endless icy oblivion. Here, armed with crampons and pickaxes, you can explore the endless crevices and precarious ridges of the country’s vast but receding glaciers.

Try our tailor-made trip along Iceland's scenic Ring Road , which stretches around the outside of the country. Soak in a thermal tub or pool beside gushing geysers or waterfalls, and relish the prospect of whale-watching, bird-watching, and glacier hiking in magical surroundings.

Skaftafell, Vatnajokull National Park, Iceland © Jens Ottoson/Shutterstock

The door slid shut, plunging the small domed room into darkness. The drumming started, softly, and the room filled with herb-scented steam. Go into the Maya sweat lodge - known in Mexico as a temazcal - just for the dewy skin. After two hours of sweating in the dark, it is hard not to feel some kind of oneness with the universe. The Caribbean Sea will never feel so refreshing as afterwards.

Yucatán is calling you, and this tailor-made trip to Mayan Heritage is the way to do it; go into the jungle and know it like no one else has ever known it; enjoy incredible food, beautiful sunsets, and the warmth of its communities that will do everything possible to offer you a dream experience. Are you ready?

Getting ready for temazcal ceremony © photographer chicago/Shutterstock

Related articles from the blog

The Galápagos islands are among the most remote and magical destinations on earth, so the sight of vast modern cruise ships chugging between them can come as a shock. To visit the islands in style pick a smaller vessel, preferably one with sails as well as an engine.

With the sound of canvas flapping in the wind and the creak of wooden decks beneath your feet, you can almost imagine how a certain young Mr Darwin felt when he arrived here in 1835.

The Galapagos islands in Ecuador are a truly special place. On this tailor-made trip to Galapagos Special , you will get to stay on 3 different islands and explore several more on boat tours. Start and end point of your journey is the UNESCO World Heritage Site and capital of Ecuador - Quito.

Bartolome Island, Galapagos, Ecuador. Bartolome Island is a volcanic islet in the Galapagos Islands with an amazing viewpoint at the top © Seumas Christie-Johnston/Shutterstock

Sampling a slice of bife de chorizo in Argentina is a must. The slice served at the La Cabrera restaurant in Buenos Aires’ Palermo barrio looks pretty standard. Then when you cut it the steak it seems to part before the knife. This is meat and man in perfect harmony.

Argentina is known for its dances and gastronomy scene, both to be discovered on this tailor-made trip to Tango & Wines in Argentina . Explore Buenos Aires on your own and with a guide, including its famous nightlife before heading to the vineyards of Mendoza, one of the most developed wine regions in the country.

Where to stay in Buenos aires:

• For a stay with modern decor: Fierro Hotel Buenos Aires
• For a boutique stay with an old-world feel: Magnolia Hotel Boutique

Or find your dream accommodation in Buenos Aires .

Argentinian beef steak © Foodio/Shutterstock

One of the best travel experiences in Mexico is San Ignacio Lagoon in Baja California, on the Pacific coast. This a breeding ground for grey whales, which love to be scratched and tickled by visiting humans. This is arguably the most extraordinary, awe-inspiring and emotional wildlife encounter on the planet.

Baja California is an off-the-beaten-track unspoiled paradise. The area is home to mountains, deserts and thousands of kilometres of gorgeous Pacific coastline. On this tailor-made trip to Pacific Coast Paradise you will explore, snorkel, dive and do a spot of whale watching (in season). Otherwise, sit back and relax on its soft sandy shores.

Whale in San Ignacio Baja, Mexico © Roadwardbound/Shutterstock

The Trans-Siberian Railway is the granddaddy of all train travel experiences. And easily the most interesting train is the weekly Trans-Mongolian Express from Moscow to Beijing.

This traverses Siberia and rounds Lake Baikal, strikes south across the Gobi desert past camels and nomads' yurts into the mountains of northern China. You can even steal glimpses of The Great Wall in the distance.

Trans-Mongolian train © Jose L Vilchez/Shutterstock

An evening of ballet at the brilliantly baroque Gran Teatro de la Habana invites you into a genre of Cuban music often overlooked by visitors in search of rumba and rum. Sets and costumes are resourceful and inventive, performances are breathtaking and an exuberant home crowd all celebrate Cuba’s position as a hub of world-class ballet.

Havana is like nowhere else on earth: the jewel in Cuba's crown effortlessly blends dishevelled beauty with risqué and vibrant charm. On our tailor-made trip to Havana you will spend a few days exploring the old town, Ernest Hemingway's favourite cigar-smoke-filled jazz club, and a tour of the city in a classic car!

Great Theater, Havana, Cuba © Anna ART/Shutterstock

You’ll never forget stumbling wobbly-legged out of a rickety cable car to see this ancient monolith snaking away across the hills. To make sure you see the original fortifications, bypass the super-touristy reconstruction at Badaling and head on to more remote Jinshanling.

Just don’t attempt the steep-sided scramble in flip-flops as I did. This stunning stretch is mostly un-restored and the hike is as challenging as it as it is scenic in places.

From well-preserved tombs to The Great Wall, this tailor-made tour to The Best of China packs in all the essentials. From the bright city lights of Beijing and Shanghai to breathtaking rolling landscapes, meandering rivers and ancient treasures, there’s much to delight all visitors to China.

Great wall of China during sunset © Zhu Difeng / Shutterstock

Wadi Rum is about as close as you’re going to get to the landscape of Mars here on Earth. The soil is a deep and rusty red, the mountains austere, and the silence almost disconcerting. Canyons and rock formations are scattered across the desert and make for good scrambling.

Join an overnight excursion - by jeep or camel - for the experience of sitting around a crackling fire underneath pearly stars. While here, take time to talk with the Bedouin about their life in this desolate space.

On this tailor-made trip to Jordan Culture in depth you will indulge in the mouthwatering street and local homemade food, meet the owner of the smallest hotel in the world, learn more about the Bedouins and the desert in Wadi Rum and finish off by floating over the Dead Sea mineral water.

The sunny desert with rocks . Jordan. Wadi Rum © Yury_1_2_3/Shutterstock

Standing 2930ft tall, Snowdon’s rugged, shorter sibling – Cadair Idris – makes up in looks for anything it lacks in height. Legend has it that if you spend a night at the top you will die, become a poet or go mad, but the views from here are stunning – a patchwork of greens interrupted by molten-metal slivers of river estuary and sea.

Hardy visitors can have a dip in Cwm Cau too, which changes colour from lagoon blue to inky black as clouds race overheard.

Cadair Idris, Wales © ieuan/Shutterstock

The Mekong may be more famous, but more unique travel experience in Laos is on the Nam Ou. This river which winds its way through the north’s mountains and limestone karsts. Sure, the boats are rickety and old and these days it is hard to predict if they’ll actually be running.

However, this three day journey, from sublime Luang Prabang to the tiny, isolated settlement of Hat Sa, gives you that rare feeling of experiencing a part of the country that few foreigners see.

One of Southeast Asia’s lesser-known countries, Laos is definitely off the beaten track, but it has retained its culture, charm and traditional village life, wild jungle and stunning countryside. Try our tailor-made trip to Historical Laos for tradition and mystery and a unique adventure.

Mekong Luang Prabang © Shutterstock

Viñales, a sleepy little town to the west of Havana, is in many ways typical of rural Cuba. What sets it apart are the mogotes (boulder-like hillocks) that jut out of the landscape and provide a magnificent backdrop.

It’s lovely just lolling around in the sunshine taking in the strange and beautiful vistas. However, to ramp the experience up a notch, rent a scooter and wind your way around these spectacular formations by taking the local road to the beach at Cayo Justía.

Try our moderately challenging tailor-made cycling holiday through Cuban countryside visiting the tobacco fields of Viñales Valley and a pristine Caribbean beach in Cayo Jutias.

Morning view to Vinales valley, Cuba © Zaruba Ondrej/Shutterstock

Tibet is sad in many places now, hideously over-developed and not at all the place you imagine. But it remains the one place that exerts a curious kind of spell and takes you to a different part of your being.

And in some ways its spirit has been strengthened and intensified even as - or sometimes because - its surfaces have been destroyed. Ladakh is more beautiful, Bhutan is better protected, Nepal is more funky. But Tibet is one place from which it's hard to come home unaltered.

On this tailor-made trip to Nepal you will trek in the Everest region of Nepal's Himalayas, absorbing spectacular views at every step, including Everest rising above the Nuptse Ridge, Lhotse, the iconic peak of Ama Dablam and other Himalayan giants too. Top this off with a shot of warm Nepalese culture for an experience of a lifetime.

Leh Palace the monastery in center of Leh city in Jammu India © sittitap/Shutterstock

The Diamond Highlands are Brazil’s top trekking destination. They lie in the interior of Bahia where three of Brazil’s biomes meet: the Atlantic rainforest, the cerrado – similar to the African savannah – and the caatinga (shrubland), which feels like the American chaparral. You can explore dry caves, swim in underground lakes, dive under waterfalls and climb near-vertical mesas all in the same day.

Discover the world's largest continental flood area - the Pantanal, one of the richest places in biodiversity. Continue this wildlife tailor-made trip to the Amazon River. Your lodges throughout the trip are located right in nature, with easy access to lodge trails around.

Iconic Morrao ridge in the Capao Valley of Chapada Diamantina national park, Bahia, Brazil © Double Bind Photography/Shutterstock

Glassy lakes, pure air and an outside chance of bears: camping in the forests of central Sweden is both wild and free. There’s even a constitutional law protecting everyone’s right to enjoy the great outdoors. So go swimming, drink from a stream, or fill your belly with red berries. Then sip whisky around the campfire and crash out on a reindeer skin, gazing up at the starry sky.

Sunrise and Tent in Autumn in Lapland © Jens Ottoson/Shutterstock

As the sun shifts, the Sahara Desert takes on different colours. Silvery white at dawn, ochre in the heat of the day, and deep gold at sunset. Stay at a Berber camp and fell asleep on your back, counting shooting stars that burned through the darkness like rogue coals from the campfire.

In the morning you can climb a sand dune overlooking Algeria and watch the sun emerge from the horizon, a blazing ball of desert red that turned the sand rose gold. Desolate, but beautiful.

On this tailor-made trip to Moroccan Cities and Ultimate Sahara you will follow the footsteps of Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca. Discover the blue and whitewashed buildings of Chefchaouen before heading on to Fez and consequently the desert. Stay overnight in a luxurious desert camp before continuing to Marrakech.

Sahara, Morocco© Shutterstock

In the vast, swampy grasslands of Pampas del Yacuma, the pink freshwater dolphin is one of the more pleasant surprises hidden in the murky waters of the Bolivian Amazon. With the annual floods, they dreamily glide amidst tree trunks and chase fish between drowned, twisted branches.

There’s nothing quite like the thrill of diving into these muddy, unknown depths to swim alongside these surreal creatures; it’s a far cry from frolicking with dolphins in SeaWorld.

One of only two landlocked countries in South America, Bolivia is full of wonders. On this tailor-made trip through the natural and cultural wonders of Bolivia you will visit Lake Titicaca, the de facto capital La Paz, the actual capital Sucre as well as the fascinating Salar de Uyuni.

Pink dolphin © Shutterstock

A visit to the historical site of Tikal in Guatemala should be on everyone’s bucket list. These ancient Mayan ruins are a testament to a civilization that long passed. If you stay overnight, you can be there without the crowds giving the place an empty, eerie feeling that really makes you feel like you are Indiana Jones. It’s not often you get major historical sites to yourself but I found that it was just me, Tikal, and the jungle.

On our tailor-made trip to the Best Of Guatemala you will visit the most popular destinations including the Western Highlands, Tikal and Antigua Guatemala. Enjoy the different types of activities like exploring the Mayan pyramids in the middle of the virgin jungle or having one of the best cups of coffee surrounded by a unique landscape.

Tikal National Park, Guatemala © WitR/Shutterstock

Fez el Bali is an impenetrable maze of lanes and blind alleys that make up the beating heart of Morocco’s cultural capital. Drop down into the bowels of the Medina, past camel heads advertising the local butchers and vendors bartering in the spice souk.

Let your senses steer you: to the sound of metalworkers hammering away on Place Seffarine; to the brightly coloured yarns drying in the heat on Souk Sabbaghine; or to the thick stench of the tanneries.

For those short on time, this tailor-made trip to Highlights of Morocco allows you to visit Morocco in a little over a week. See the cultural capital Fez, the beautiful city of Chefchaouen, sleeping in a deluxe tent in the desert, as well as discover Marrakech. It's time to explore Morocco!

Where to stay in Fez:

• Best for the spa: Palais Medina & Spa
• Best for interior design: Dar victoria

Find more accommodation options to stay in Fez

Fez, Morocco © Shutterstock

At once eerily disconcerting and bewitchingly beautiful, the aurora borealis flicker across northern Norway’s winter firmament at irregular and unpredictable intervals.

Experiencing the Northern Lights, or aurora borealis is one of the unique experiences in Norway. The country is located in the northern part of the polar region where the lights are most commonly visible.

This tailor-made tour to Aurora Feast in Finland, Norway and Sweden is perfect for people who want to explore the Arctic. Begin your journey from the southern part of Finland via Sweden up to the northern part of Norway. Most importantly, you will be hunting for the Northern Lights in the best locations!

Northern lights, Skagsanden beach, Lofoten, Norway © Shutterstock

A lighter-than-air float gives an unrivalled perspective on the “fairy chimneys” and other features of the landscape and is one of the unique travel experiences in Turkey.

You can get airborne on a paraglider above Ölüdeniz and kaş, or more passively (and expensively) in a hot-air balloon over Cappadocia – champagne breakfast usually included.

3 different modes of transportation to explore Cappadocia - by hot air balloon, on the back of a camel as well as on an ATV quad. Why choose if you can have it all? This tailor-made trip to the sensational landscapes of Cappadocia is filled with fun and adventure in the volcanic valleys around Cappadocia making for an unforgettable trip.

Uchhisar fortress in Cappadocia, Turkey © Shutterstock

Yosemite National Park is a wild wonderland of snow-capped peaks, towering cliffs and giant granite domes that seem to be conjured from a fantasy world. Yosemite Valley is an undisputable contender for showcasing some of the world’s most stunning scenery.

Created by glaciers scoring through the canyon of the Merced River, the valley is walled by 3000ft near-sheer cliffs, marbled by waterfalls and topped by domes and jagged pinnacles. On the ground, deer, coyotes and black bears abound in the grassy meadows and forests.

Explore the diversity of nature reserves in the USA with our guide to the best national parks in the USA .

Yosemite national park, Yosemite Valley, California © christian_b/Shutterstock

The most spectacular way to ascend Cape Town’s famous landmark and one of the most unique travel experiences in South Africa is the revolving cable car. Table Mountain, which forms the backdrop to Cape Town, is the park’s focal point. The views are wholly dependent on the weather, so it is always advisable to visit Table Mountain early in your stay in Cape Town.

Discover the natural beauty on our tailor-made trip to Complete Cape Town . Located on the southwestern tip of South Africa, the area is home to rugged coastlines, undulating vineyards, and expanses of grassland. It is also home to some of the largest, wildest and most majestic creatures on earth.

Table mountain cableway, Cape Town, South Africa @ Shutterstock

The Great Barrier Reef is to Australia is what rolling savannahs are to Africa. Calling it “another world”, as the commonest cliché has it, doesn’t begin to describe the feeling of donning a mask and fins and coming face to face with its extraordinary animals, shapes and colours.

There’s so little relationship to life above the surface that the distinctions one usually takes for granted. For example, the boundary between animal, vegetable and mineral seem blurred. While the respective roles of observer and observed are constantly inverted as shoals of curious fish follow the human interlopers about.

Interested? Read our guide to visiting Australia's Great Barrier Reef for more information.

Great Barrier Reef, Australia © I Shafiq/Shutterstock

A few kilometres west of Amman’s city limits, the rugged highlands of central and northern Jordan drop away dramatically into the Dead Sea Rift. The Dead Sea is famed as the lowest point on Earth. Taking a dip here and relaxing on the beaches is one of the most unique travel experiences in Jordan, not least because of the world-class luxury resort hotels dotted along the shore.

Explore the country with this compact tailor-made trip to Highlights of Jordan . Activities include stargazing in Wadi Rum, exploring Petra and spending a day at leisure at the Dead Sea. Your knowledgeable guide will share stories about history and culture and introduce the Bedouin lifestyle to you.

Dead Sea, Jordan © Shutterstock

Angel Falls is a magnificent natural wonder in the Venezuelan rainforest, standing at an impressive height of 3,212 feet. The uninterrupted waterfall creates a dreamy atmosphere, with mist rising from the base and lush green rainforest surrounding it. It is a breathtaking sight to behold. A visit to Angel Falls is a humbling and unique travel experience that will leave a lasting impression.

Angel Falls, Venezuela © Shutterstock

Go southwest in Italy to Campania and see the Amalfi Coast . It is spectacularly beautiful, despite the heavy tourist numbers in summer - spring and autumn are quieter. The Amalfi Coast (Costiera Amalfitana) lays claim to being Europe’s most beautiful stretch of coast. Its corniche road winds around the towering cliffs that slip almost sheer into the sea.

This tailor-made gastronomic journey in Tuscany and Amalfi Coast will have your sense tingling. Taste the most wonderful and freshly made Italian food in Naples one day and enjoy the most beautiful views of the Amalfi Coast the next. Experience the smells, tastes, feels and sights of Italy when travelling from Florence to the Amalfi Coast.

Positano, italy. Amalfi Coast © iacomino FRiMAGES/Shutterstock

Over a quarter of Costa Rica ’s landmass is National Park, which means you’re more than likely to come across at least one on your visit. Costa Rica is covered by rainforests, volcanoes, cloud forest and more. For many people, exploring the biodiversity of this small but beautifully formed country is a major reason to visit Costa Rica in the first place.

See our tailor-made Costa Rica Eco Adventure and discover its compact jungle, tropical beaches, forests, wildlife and national parks. The country may be small but it’s a land of stunning natural diversity and the perfect backdrop to a veritable eco-adventure.

Sloth in Costa Rica © Harry Collins Photography/Shutterstock

If you are looking for some travel experiences for the whole family, explore our guide to the 30 best places to go with kids .

For more inspirational travel tips for your future trips check our Rough Guide books .

If you prefer to plan and book your trips without any effort and hassle, use the expertise of our local travel experts to make sure your trip will be just like you dream it to be.

We may earn commission when you click on links in this article, but this doesn’t influence our editorial standards. We only recommend services that we genuinely believe will enhance your travel experiences.

• Nature & Wildlife
• Authentic Experiences
• History Culture Heritage
• South Africa
• Inspiration
• See & Do
• Where to stay

Planning your own trip? Prepare for your trip

Use Rough Guides' trusted partners for great rates

Find even more inspiration here

Ready to travel and discover nepal, get support from our local experts for stress-free planning & worry-free travels.

• Villas & Lodges
• Apartments & houses
• Camping and Glamping
• New South Wales

South Australia

• Western Australia

Northern Territory

• Norfolk Island

New Zealand

• Switzerland
• Middle East
• Southeast Asia
• Antarctica & Arctic
• Coach, Group & Escorted
• Special Interest
• City Tours & Sightseeing
• Scenic Flights & Heli Tours
• All-Inclusive Packages
• Restaurants
• Wine & Dine
• Street Food
• Art & Culture
• Shopping & Markets
• Rail Journeys
• Ski & snowboard
• Walks & Treks
• Dive & Water Sports
• Expeditions
• Parks & Reserves
• Theme & Amusement Parks
• Spa & Wellness
• Global Village
• Money & Rewards
• What’s On
• Tried & Tested
• Interviews & Profiles
• Deals & Itineraries

Subscribe to the magazine

• Vacations & Travel on Facebook
• Vacations & Travel on LinkedIn
• Vacations & Travel on Instagram
• Vacations & Travel on YouTube

V&T Newsletter

Love inspiring travel stories and exciting competitions? Get the latest news delivered to your inbox.

40 best travel experiences around the world

• facebook-f-brands (1)
• twitter-brands (1)
• linkedin-in-brands
• envelope-solid

Incredible travel experiences make us catch our breath, they make us forget about anything other than being in that moment and afterwards, they make us want to be a better person. From close encounters with elusive wildlife to venturing to places no cruise ship has been before, you’ll want to add these unique travel experiences to your bucket list.

Lock eyes with gorillas in Uganda and Rwanda

There are only 1,000 gorillas left in the wild, and by seeing them you are helping to ensure their protection and survival. Find them in central Africa in the forests of the ‘Virunga Massif’, a vast swathe of national park spread across three countries – Virunga (DRC), Volcanoes (Rwanda) and Mgahinga (Uganda). The experienced can head to Uganda where terrain is steep, while Rwanda is more forgiving. Explore from the Uganda side with The Classic Safari Company .

Northern Lights Snowmobile Safari

Head to Sweden’s landmark Icehotel in Jukkasjärvi for a thrilling four-hour Northern Lights Snowmobile Safari in the wilderness where the enchanting Northern Lights paint the sky. Combine the thrill of snowmobiling with the chance of catching sight of the celestial spectacle. Along the way, stop at a cosy wilderness cabin where your guide will serve a warming two-course dinner before your return through the snowy landscape.

Explore remote parts of Honduras

You can now go where no cruise ship has gone before with Ponant . An eight-day itinerary aboard Le Dumontd’Urville will take you to Cayos Cochinos, La Ceiba and Cuero y Salado in Honduras. You’ll visit one of the most beautiful coral reefs in the Caribbean, and see rainforests and mangroves rich in wildlife. Meet the Caracoles people in Bonacca (The Cay), and the Garifuna people from Chachahuate island in the Cayos Cochinos archipelago. With five departures from November 2023, it will be an enriching experience.

Three Capes Track hiking tour in Tasmania

Hike a wild coastline to the Dolerite Cliffs, then dine on a gourmet three-course meal of fresh Tasmanian produce and a glass of local wine before you bed down in an eco-camp. Sound like the perfect long weekend? We think so. The Tasman Long Weekend hike with Tasmanian Walking Company takes you along the Tasman Peninsula to mighty Cape Raoul and Cape Hauy, along the Three Capes Track. You’ll cover 28 kilometres across three days with close wildlife encounters. Wake to views of Tasman Island and finish your weekend with a wine tasting and lunch at a vineyard because, after this rugged travel experience, you deserve a little indulgence.

A bucket list expedition cruise

Swan Hellenic has been pioneering expedition cruising for the last 70 years. While luxurious, expeditions remain at the cruise line’s core, 12-person hardhulled Zodiacs ensure you get close to nature and wildlife, safely. Visit smaller ports in bucket-list destinations travelling with scientists who involve you in the onboard Expedition Laboratory; while the expedition team – made up of experts in geology, glaciology, ornithology, marine biology, and history – give presentations. Swan Hellenic is passionate about preserving the pristine waters, magnificent wildlife and habitats that it is privileged to explore.

Connect with Indigenous guides at Wilpena Pound Resort

Visit South Australia’s Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Park and expect to be changed forever. Wilpena Pound Resort is the only accommodation within the park. Guests can stay in glamping tents or resort-style rooms and explore Ikara-Flinders Ranges on hiking and biking trails or by a scenic flight to fully appreciate the grandeur of the 95,000-hectare national park.

Read : Discover Ikara-Flinders Ranges at Wilpena Pound Resort

Hike Bhutan’s ancient trails

The Trans Bhutan Trail is a 403-kilometre pilgrimage running the length of Bhutan. The tiny Buddhist country on the edge of the Himalayas is known for its breathtaking views and the kindness of its people. Used by pilgrims, messengers and traders for hundreds of years, it’s often tackled by adventurers. You can hike sections from 1 to 14 nights, or do the whole trail on a 35-night adventure. Choose cultural experiences along the way from cooking classes, Buddhist ceremonies and visits to temples and monasteries to homestays. All profits from G Adventure’s Trans Bhutan Trail bookings support local communities.

Art escape in Shoalhaven, NSW

Bundanon is a haven and cultural precinct for art and nature lovers. Situated on the banks of the Shoalhaven River it was the home of celebrated artists Arthur and Yvonne Boyd. They gifted Bundanon to the Australian public as a living arts centre. Visitors can explore ground-breaking contemporary exhibitions at the award-winning Art Museum. The precinct showcases Boyd’s artwork and studio at the historic Homestead. It also has a 1,000-hectare wildlife sanctuary that visitors can discover with scenic walking tracks. You can book a cultural experience weekend and spend the night on The Bridge, an eco-friendly, sustainable accommodation, soaking up the tranquillity that Arthur Boyd loved so much.

Read : weekend retreats to unleash your creativity at Bundanon

Whale sharks in West Papua

Swimming with the whale sharks of Cenderawasih Marine Park in West Papua is one of the world’s most incredible travel experiences. The extensive coral reefs of this remote marine and coastal habitat rank amongst the finest in the world, but it is the unique opportunity to interact with whale sharks in their natural habitat that offers most visitors their biggest thrill. The whale sharks linger close to the surface, having developed a symbiotic relationship with generations of local fishermen. Enjoy a seven-day West Papua cruise with True North for an up-close experience, snorkelling or diving alongside the ethereal giants in Cenderawasih Bay, while allowing them the space and respect they deserve.

Sleep with lions, tigers or bears at Jamala Wildlife Lodge

Canberra, ACT

Soak in a hot tub while you gaze into the eyes of a bear or hand-feed a giraffe from your balcony at Jamala Wildlife Lodge. There are 18 African-lodge-inspired rooms across three accommodation ‘precincts’ – uShaka Lodge (formerly the owner’s home), Giraffe Treehouses and Jungle Bungalows. Set inside the National Zoo and Aquarium, a stay here includes wildlife encounters in addition to those you’ll have from your room, including meeting a white rhino, a sun bear, a lion or a cheetah. All money raised from the animal encounters and cash donations goes directly into breeding, educational, animal conservation and welfare programs.

Read : What makes Jamala Wildlife Lodge a ‘wild’ sleepover?

Slow travel in the South Island

Escape the ordinary on a four-day TranzAlpine escape. Visiting three West Coast destinations with the icing on the cake being the return journey on the relaxing TranzAlpine train . Highlights of the West Coast Explorer package include the limestone formations and blow holes at Punakaiki Pancake Rocks that have been created over millennia, soaking in a wood-fired hot tub in beautiful surrounds in Moana and learning about the golden age of West Coast mining at Shantytown Heritage Park.

Yellowstone National Park

From bubbling geysers, glassy lakes, and soaring peaks to fairytale-green meadows, Yellowstone National Park is magical. Yellowstone Safari Company specialises in tours of Yellowstone’s spectacular landscapes and abundant wildlife. Led by naturalist guides, choose a day tour of the Lamar Valley to search for bears, bison, wolves, elk and more, and marvel at Old Faithful and other geological wonders.

Play among two-thousand-year-old Mayan temples

Nestled deep within the Guatemalan jungle is the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Tikal National Park . Hidden in the jungle, tendrils of vegetation envelop its many buildings. One of the most important archaeological complexes left by the Mayans, Tikal was occupied from the 6th century BC to the 10th century AD. You’ll find 3,000 buildings within the ceremonial centre, including temples, pyramids, palaces, and public squares. Wildlife in the park includes jaguars and pumas, monkeys and anteaters and more than 300 species of birds including tucans. Tikal was the location for the Rebel base, Yavin 4 in Star Wars: Episode IV, A New Hope.

Safari on the Serengeti plains in Tanzania

Picture thousands of zebra grazing on the verdant plains of the Serengeti. Then watch as a sea of wildebeest stampedes to the Mara River while hoping to avoid the gaping jaws of awaiting crocodiles. Maasai Wanderings can organise bespoke travel experiences of the Serengeti, with accommodation in glorious glamping tents.

Connect to country in Kakadu

Kakadu’s landscapes include sandstone escarpments, awe-inspiring waterfalls, floodplains of unique wildlife and sacred rock art sites from the oldest living culture in the world. Connect to Country with bucket-list experiences all year round. Tour the waterways with Yellow Water Cruises, visit Warradjan Cultural Centre, Nourlangie rock art site, Maguk waterfall and natural swimming pool and Jim Jim Falls. They are all within easy driving distance or take the guided approach on a tour with Spirit of Kakadu 4WD Adventures.

Bike around Hoi An, Vietnam

Hoi An is a postcard-pretty city that has preserved its original wooden houses and charming storefronts. One of Vietnam’s best travel experiences is to hire a bike and meander along cobbled streets alongside women in elegant Áo dài , under brightly coloured lanterns. Immerse in the local culture through authentic Vietnamese cooking classes and art workshops in traditional handicrafts such as lantern making and ceramics.

Indigenous traditions in New Caledonia

Immerse yourself in the ancient traditions of the indigenous Kanak people of New Caledonia as you glide across the calm, gin-clear waters of picturesque Upi Bay, on the Isle of Pines, by outrigger canoe. The traditional Melanesian dugout canoes dance delicately as they pass enormous rocks that appear to float on the water, and glide over blocks of corals teeming with marine life. Discover peaceful bays, playful dolphins, mantas and curious turtles.

See polar bears in Canada

For years the remote town of Churchill , on the shores of Canada’s Hudson Bay, has lured wildlife enthusiasts. They come seeking the once-in-a-lifetime travel experience to observe polar bears in their natural habitat. In October and November, polar bears gather on the icy tundra, eagerly awaiting the freeze-up and the start of their hunting season. Venture out on a guided expedition aboard sturdy tundra buggies. They provide a safe way to view and photograph the polar bears. It’s an unforgettable adventure and showcases the urgent need for conservation efforts.

Soak in a hot tub on a Swiss lake

Glide across the glistening Lake Brienz in a one-of-a-kind floating hot tub . Soak in the warm, bubbling water as the crisp winter air invigorates your lungs and snowflakes dance delicately above. Winter bathing like you’ve never experienced before, the Hot Tug is no ordinary tub; it’s a half-boat, halfbathtub with enough room for six that will send you on a leisurely 90-minute journey that merges the tranquillity of a spa and a leisurely lake cruise with a backdrop of snow-capped forests and the towering slopes of the Bernese Alps.

Wintjiri Wiru drone show

Wintjiri Wiṟu  is an unmissable show combining ancient Anangu storytelling with drone, laser and light projection technology. As custodians of the land, the local Anangu community hold the Mala story, a history woven into the landscape from Kaltukatjara (Docker River) to Uluru. The show is created by projections from state-of-the-art lasers, lights and more than 1,200 glowing drones. It is narrated in Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara languages with a soundtrack of traditional inma recorded with members of the Anangu community. Choose from two shows a night – a three-hour Sunset Dinner and 1.5-hour After Dark experience – with complimentary transfers from Ayers Rock Resort.

Read : The ultimate Uluru travel guide

Cherry blossoms in South Korea

There is something magical about walking under trees covered in cherry blossoms. Crooked Compass runs a six-day hiking tour in South Korea that will take you through wondrous cherry blossoms and beautiful forest scenery. Highlights include the Jinhae Cherry Blossom Tunnel in Gyeonghwa and the magnificent blooms along Yeojwacheon Stream and the Dream Road.

Romanic train tour from Paris

This European travel experience takes you from Paris to Istanbul on the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express . The elegant train meanders through picturesque landscapes, stopping at historic cities such as Vienna and Budapest, before uncovering the allure of Istanbul. With luxurious accommodations on board, this once-a-year journey will be the trip of a lifetime.

Bolivia’s salt flats

Salar de Uyuni is a vast natural salt flat in Bolivia that astounds explorers with its otherworldly beauty. During the dry season, salt crystallisation on its surface creates hexagonal formations. Then during rainy season, Salar de Uyuni transforms into the world’s largest natural mirror. Within this surreal landscape, visitors can explore cacti-covered islands, witness flocks of flamingos in vibrant lagoons, and marvel at the captivating sunsets that paint the horizon with an array of colours.

Hot air ballooning in Turkey

Every morning in Turkey’s central region of Cappadocia you can join more than 150 hot air balloons rising above a landscape sculpted by erosion over thousands of years. Balloons drift over fairy chimneys, pigeon houses, orchards and vineyards. When you’re back on the ground, visit Derinkuyu, an ancient multi-level underground city where 20,000 people once lived.

See the Horizontal Falls in The Kimberley

The Horizontal Falls are pure theatre. Extreme tides of up to 12 metres force huge volumes of water through two narrow gorges in the McLarty Range, creating the illusion of waterfalls turned on their side. Middle Gap is more than 20 metres wide, the Narrow Gap about six metres wide but currently not traversed for cultural and safety reasons. The awe-inspiring spectacle is an unforgettable travel experience. From the air, they are like boiling water. From a power boat, you can see and feel the tug-o-war beneath the surface. See the falls on a multi-day cruise with Ponant, True North and Silversea or a day tour with Horizontal Falls Adventures .

Spain’s famous 200-kilometre coastal hike

Spanning 200 kilometres from Malpica to Finisterre, Camino dos Faros is an exceptional coastal hiking trail along Spain’s Costa da Morte. The route traverses majestic cliffs littered with lighthouses, secluded beaches, hidden coves, forests and dunes. Divided into eight stages, the trail follows old fishermen’s paths along the dramatic Galician Atlantic coast. It’s an immersive experience that combines adventure with natural beauty. It takes approximately 12 days to walk Camino dos Faros.

Blue Mountains Canyoning

Blue Mountains Adventure Company offers thrilling expeditions at 15 different canyons in NSW’s Blue Mountains. Empress Falls Canyon, suitable for beginners, takes you between canyon walls blooming with ferns and moss, scrambling over boulders, ‘spiderman’ walking across rocks to jump into deep rock pools and swimming through the canyon. The grand finale is an adrenaline-pumping 30-metre abseil down Empress Falls.

Milford Sound overnight cruise

Deep in New Zealand’s South Island, this area is a tranquil haven with swirling mist, soaring mountains and mirror-smooth water. Fiordland Discovery has overnight accommodation in Milford Sound/Piopiotahi on board Fiordland Jewel . The beautiful, boutique vessel has nine cabins, a rooftop hot tub and a helipad. You can also fly to the ship by helicopter from Glenorchy, adding an incredible flightseeing adventure and glacier landing to the experience.

Visit the Philippines’ most underrated destination

Submerge yourself in Sipalay, a coastal city in the Philippines that is blessed with incandescent waters and pristine beaches. With excellent visibility and warm temperatures year-round, Sipalay’s marine reserve offers unforgettable diving experiences that provide some of the most diverse diving in the Philippines. Divers can explore shipwrecks, dive through fields of soft coral trees and encounter extraordinary marine life.

Ski safari in Italy’s Dolomites

The Dolomiti Superski Area has 12 ski areas covering 1,200 kilometres of pistes. Travelplan Ski’s unforgettable travel experience takes you on a seven-night ski safari with a private professional guide. You’ll spend three nights sleeping in rifugios (traditional alpine inns located high in the mountains) and two nights in Cortina D’Ampezzo. Bellissimo!

Canal boating on the Rideau

Hire one of Le Boat’s modern houseboats and cruise on the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Rideau Canal. Opened in 1832, the 202-kilometre canal links Lake Ontario with the Ottawa River, going through 45 locks at 23 lock stations. With bases in Ottawa and Smiths Falls, cruise between the two, stopping at places like Merrickville and Manotick, or opt for more days and mosey down to Kingston – no licence required.

Explore Singapore in a beautifully restored vintage Vespa

In a world-first, Singapore Sidecars lets you pop into a sidecar on any number of tours. Try the Civic District Art Tour, Kampong Glam and the Civic District, and the Joo Chiat and Katong Tour. There are also heritage rides, and for film buffs, a tour of the Crazy Rich Asians locations, including one that finishes with a cocktail-making workshop.

Read : The best things to do in Singapore with kids

Explore the Nile in style

After a mind-blowing tour through Cairo’s captivating history, slow down the pace a little on board a luxury cruise on the Nile from Luxor to Aswan on Sanctuary Sun Boat IV . Abercrombie & Kent’s unforgettable ‘Nile in Style’ cruise has spacious sundecks and soak up the sights of temples and ancient tombs, then bed down in your opulent room or suite

Read : What to expect on Egypt’s most luxurious Nile cruise

Outdoor travel experiences in The Faroe Islands

Embark on a dual adventure that combines a captivating wildlife experience with an exhilarating hike on Mykines Island. Located in The Faroe Islands , halfway between Iceland and Norway, the distinctive orange beaks of puffins are waiting to welcome you to a world of avian enchantment. Trek rugged cliffs to nesting sites, serenaded by the sound of crashing waves and seabird calls, to see puffins dance and play in their lush green habitat, before embarking on the challenging hike to Kallur Lighthouse, with breathtaking views of the archipelago your reward.

Burning Man

Nevada, USA

A melting pot of art, self-expression, and communal living in otherworldly landscape of Nevada’s Black Rock Desert. Burning Man is a wild, week-long event. As you explore the vibrant playa during the annual festival, you’ll encounter art installations, eclectic performances, and fire displays. Disconnect from the outside world to embrace the radical self-reliance and creative freedom amidst the dust and flames of this truly inclusive and utterly unique festival.

Hidden gems in Morocco

Morocco is intoxicating. It is a land where medinas whisper tales of the past and sandy dunes embrace the Saharan horizon. Intrepid’s Morocco Uncovered tour is a two-week travel experience where guests can traverse the majestic red dunes of the Sahara on a camel, surrender to the blue allure of Chefchaouen, uncover the ruins of Volubilis, and delve into the labyrinthine streets of Fes and lively Marrakech.

Australia by train

This Australian train journey takes you 2,880 kilometres across three states; NSW, Victoria and South Australia. The Great Southern is a four-day train journey that utilises The Ghan’s carriages, which used to sit idle in the summer months as the Red Centre is too hot.

14-day horse riding trek in NZ

Clamber aboard a Clydesdale for an epic 14-day travel experience with Alpine Horse Safaris. You’ll be exploring the mountains, lakes and landscapes of New Zealand’s South Island. It’s not for the inexperienced as you will be sitting in the saddle for up to 10 hours a day and dismounting and leading your horse downhill when the terrain is extra steep. Accommodation is in woolsheds and muster huts. Pack horses will carry all equipment and food, which you’ll devour around campfires as the sun goes down. The Tekapo Main Divide Expedition is New Zealand’s longest ride but other rides of just a few days are also available.

Holi Festival in India

Immerse in a kaleidoscopic celebration of new beginnings and cultural revelry during the Hindu spring festival of Holi. The country-wide celebration is held on the final full moon of the Hindu lunar month of Phalguna. Typically occurring in late February or early March. This vibrant event is an unforgettable spectacle. Festivities commence with a symbolic bonfire representing the triumph of good over evil, followed by a jubilant burst of powdered pigment and coloured water to celebrate the coming of spring. Pack a change of clothes for this psychedelic free-for-all, where inhibitions are set aside as joyous revellers sing and dance in a cloud of blue, green, pink and red.

Watch baseball on the oldest field in the Major League

No trip to the USA is complete without a baseball game – hot dog and all – and what better place to see the action than the oldest baseball field in the Major League? Built in 1912, Boston’s Fenway Park is home to the famous Red Sox. There are also one-hour tours daily. Look out for the one red seat at the ground, signifying the longest home run ever hit at Fenway.

Looking for more incredible travel experiences? Try these:

Tags: Luxury travel , Wildlife

Travel Video We Love

Subscribe to our newsletter

Email address:

Latest Posts

Latest Features

Top 6 Instagram locations in Australia’s North West

The hilly streets of San Francisco

• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

The 25 Travel Experiences You Must Have

A pair of internationally minded writers, a chef, an architect and a landscape photographer made a list of the most extraordinary adventures a person should seek out. Here are the results.

By Alwa Cooper ,  Ashlea Halpern ,  Debra Kamin ,  Aileen Kwun ,  Miguel Morales ,  Dan Piepenbring and Michael Snyder

One July morning, a five-person jury — including the writers Pico Iyer and Aatish Taseer , the architect Toshiko Mori , the chef and food scientist David Zilber and the landscape photographer Victoria Sambunaris — gathered over Zoom to debate what, exactly, constitutes a “travel experience” and how some might rise above the rest. To get the conversation started, each panelist had nominated at least 10 selections in advance of the call; their job now was to slash that list from 55 to 25.

The participants were all polite, often deferring to whomever they deemed an expert on a particular subject: Zilber, who worked at Noma and co-authored the Copenhagen restaurant’s 2018 book about fermentation, on outstanding restaurants; Sambunaris, who traverses the country several months a year by car to capture her images, on the spectacular topography of the American West. They were also quick to sacrifice their own darlings, particularly if they felt they were too familiar (Petra, Machu Picchu), too obscure (Alvar Aalto’s Muuratsalo Experimental summer house in Säynätsalo, Finland — a Mori selection), too personal (driving the Karakoram Highway connecting Pakistan and China — something Taseer heard about from his father) or too commodified (a Nile River cruise, most hotel stays ). As Iyer put it, “Hotels offer luxury and comfort, but they rarely touch my soul.”

Some panelists rescinded nominations for experiences they hadn’t had themselves, despite having dreamed for years about what it might be like to, say, hike through Japan’s remote Yakushima Island National Park , the inspiration for Hayao Miyazaki ’s “Princess Mononoke” (1997) . (“I feel like I don’t know if going there would destroy or enhance my fantasy,” Mori said.) Others opted to keep in the mix selections to which they couldn’t personally attest — proving how powerful our collective imagination can be. If something seemed too easy, they worried it might not be special enough. At the same time, not every experience chosen is rare or difficult to access: Sometimes it’s just a matter of opening your eyes (or mind) to whatever magic a place has to offer.

The panel considered safety, too, with some participants concluding that what might make a destination “dangerous” is largely, though not entirely, shaped by personal history and worldview. Others wanted to be sure readers were asked to conduct their own research before deciding whether or not to set out for a certain place, as situations on the ground can change rapidly. At the time of publication, the U.S. State Department had issued its strongest possible warning — Level 4: Do Not Travel — for four of the destinations on the following list; several others have been categorized as Level 3: Reconsider Travel. But most of the panelists agreed, time and again, to include politically, ethically and ideologically fraught locations . “War-torn countries and places in conflict right now haven’t always been and might not always be,” said Zilber. “I don’t think [their current status] should negate their inclusion.” (In the months between when this panel met — on July 20, 2022 — and the list’s publication, the world continued to shift: the Russian war with Ukraine deepened; Iran erupted in protests following the arrest and subsequent death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman accused by the country’s morality police of violating their hijab law; and Ethiopia and the Tigray Defense Forces, a paramilitary rebel group, agreed to a cease-fire after two years of ruinous civil war.)

The final lineup, which is grouped geographically but not ranked, includes experiences of art and architecture, food, history and religion. There’s something for every whim and every kind of traveler — even those who may never leave their armchairs. — Ashlea Halpern

This conversation has been edited and condensed.

Ashlea Halpern: I’m curious to hear how each of you defined the word “experience” when you sat down to make your list.

Pico Iyer: I asked myself, “Which are the moments that most stay with me 30 years on in my life? Which are the most moving and also the most unexpected?” I wouldn’t include seeing the Taj Mahal by moonlight, because most Times readers would be aware of that. So something slightly different, but something that still reverberates inside me half a lifetime later.

Victoria Sambunaris: I defined “experience” as a journey, because that’s what I do in my life: I’m on the road for months at a time, immersing myself in the landscape. I’m interacting with people and learning about the [local] culture, history, ecology and geography. No reservations anywhere, being spontaneous, camping under the stars — there’s a great sense of adventure.

Aatish Taseer: I veer toward man-made things — cultural and civilizational complications. When a natural experience leaves me with a sense of wonder that I didn’t expect, it breaks the mold. Everyone travels with a sense of what they’re going to see; no one is completely blank. Then, occasionally, there’s a real element of surprise. That’s what I looked for.

David Zilber: “Experience” is really broad; everything is an experience. Binge-watching Netflix while sick is an experience, though I can’t remember what I binge-watch when I’m bedridden at home. But I do remember my 45-minute drive through the mountains of Crete to eat at this man’s biodynamic farm with his kids running around — and I probably will when I’m 75.

Toshiko Mori: I thought of natural wonders, because we forget how small we are, and of being able to observe animal life in a habitat without interfering with it. With Instagram, everybody posts awesome images; [the depicted locations] become huge attractions and it’s destructive to the environment. Also, I thought of certain civilizations and places that have had challenging pasts — like Kurdistan after ISIS retreated. It’s essential for us to engage in experiences like this, because we are incredibly privileged and protected. I didn’t want to forget places that really need attention.

A.H.: Let’s start with Europe. Spain received four nominations from four different panelists — more than any other country on your initial longlists.

1. Taste Wood-Smoked Sorcery at Asador Etxebarri in Spain’s Basque Country

The chef Victor Arguinzoniz was raised amid the rolling green hills of Atxondo, a small village in Spain’s Basque country where, when he was a child, his family kitchen had neither electricity nor gas. Perhaps that’s why the open hearth can produce such magic for him. He has no professional training but for 30 years has overseen a temple to smoke and flame at the Michelin-starred Asador Etxebarri, a rustic restaurant minutes from his childhood home. Arriving there, with its view of cattle grazing in the foothills below, is like stopping time. But in the kitchen, the clock has inched slightly forward: The six custom-made grills, designed by Arguinzoniz and adjustable via pulleys, are tools of culinary alchemy. The chef prepares his own wood coals in special ovens that are cranked up to 750 degrees Fahrenheit. For each protein, he pairs a fuel with the precision of a sommelier, selecting holm oak for delicate shellfish and turning to heartier vine wood for red meats. There’s only one service — at 1:30 p.m. — and one menu per day. The meal, served in 15 courses, is a symphony that builds, plate by smoke-kissed plate, to a crescendo: first the smoked goat butter with Périgord truffle; then the salted, home-cured anchovies on grilled bread; then the beef chop with its crisp black sear and lustrous purple center; and finally a coda of smoky-milk ice cream with an infusion of sweet beets. This is fine dining in its purest, most unpretentious form. — Debra Kamin

D.Z.: Meals are some of the stickiest memories around, and this is definitely in the top three of my lifetime. It goes without saying that the Basque Country of Spain revolutionized food in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and the repercussions of that have been felt around the world. I started cooking in 2004, and all the techniques that I’ve learned came from that region. We can talk about Ferran Adrià and his El Bulli and all the progeny who are still cooking today in Barcelona and Madrid, but Etxebarri best encapsulates what this region is about and its deep connection to the land and its people. There’s no one who comes out of that restaurant who doesn’t leave deeply touched.

2. Search for Muslim Spain in Al-Andalus

From the eighth to the 11th centuries, the Iberian Peninsula, then under Muslim rule, was one of the world’s most important intellectual and artistic hubs. In the region of southern Spain known as Andalusia — the name a Hispanicization of Al-Andalus, as Islamic Spain was known — that heritage remains visible everywhere: in the crimped vocalizations of flamenco music; in the elaborate geometric friezes of Seville’s Alcázar Palace; in the infinite recess of the red-and-white archways of the Mezquita-Catedral de Córdoba; and, above all, in Granada’s storied Alhambra, the last Moorish stronghold on the European continent, where it glitters in honeycomb muqarnas and moonlight-washed, waterway-threaded gardens. During the so-called Reconquista, as the centuries-long process through which Catholic kings gradually eroded territories accumulated by successive Muslim dynasties has been historically misnamed, the great cities of Andalusia became spectacular palimpsests of divergent faiths superimposed on top of each other. In Seville, the 15th-century cathedral — the largest Gothic-style building in Europe — stands on the footprint of an Almohad mosque whose graceful minaret was repurposed as a church tower, while in Córdoba, a Renaissance cathedral bursts from the austere, rhythmic heart of the mezquita , itself built atop the remains of a sixth-century Visigothic basilica. After experiencing these spaces, one finds that the influence of Islamic aesthetics throughout Spain — and, indeed, throughout the Americas, devastated and remade under Spanish colonial rule — reveals itself everywhere. Beyond its beauty, Andalusia is a tribute to the indelible marks that cultures and communities leave on one another across time and space. — Michael Snyder

A.T.: Nothing in the world prepares you for the strangeness of the Grand Mosque in Cordoba [Mezquita-Catedral de Córdoba]. I’ve grown up in places where there are the mosques on the bones of temples on the bones of Buddhist viharas, but this business of church upon mosque upon church, where you walk in and see the remains of a Visigothic church but you’re in one of the most beautiful mosques in the world [and since the 13th century a church again], it’s like an act of reclamation — or historical revenge. Even the minaret is buried in the belfry of the church. It’s a theme that I love — layers upon layers of history — and just one of the reasons I thought it was absolutely marvelous.

P.I.: I was the one who suggested the Alhambra, so it comes down to whether we want a zoom lens or a wide angle. I chose the Alhambra for all the reasons that Aatish was mentioning: the overlapping of cultures, the historical significance and also the fact that the Alhambra is fairly well known. On nights when it’s open after dark, you’re getting a familiar place in a relatively unfamiliar context. So our question, really, is whether we want to introduce everyone to that entire region or just a microcosm of it.

A.T.: There’s a development I like in a broader trip, where you come to Seville, see the Giralda, which was originally built as the minaret of the old Almohad mosque, now part of this cathedral, and then you’ll journey a little farther and go to Córdoba and see this stunning mosque that has been turned into a church, and then finally it culminates in this last gasp of Islam in Spain, the Emirate of Granada, which then obviously results in the Catholic monarchs and the end of Muslim Spain. But Pico is absolutely right: The Alhambra is the epicenter — the Moors’ last sigh.

T.M.: I like this idea of a journey. This exposure to Muslim culture is so much more interesting than a single place.

3. Venture Into the Norwegian Night in Search of the Northern Lights

​​Spotting the aurora borealis, the elusive natural phenomenon colloquially known as the northern lights, involves careful coordination of time, place and, yes, luck. Like a digital rendering or laser beams projected above an after-hours rave, the unpredictable show illuminates the sky with dancing streaks of saturated yellow, pink, purple and green, a tangoing of solar gas and Earth’s magnetic field rendered in Technicolor. Locales roughly 66.5 degrees above the Equator, where the Arctic Circle begins, are considered prime viewing spots; cottage industries across Alaska, Canada and Scandinavia have sprung up to sell package tours and overnight accommodations to aurora hunters. Lofoten, an archipelago off Norway’s northwest coast, offers one of the most picturesque backdrops for witnessing this mercurial sight. There, a coastline framed by jagged peaks, sweeping fjords, sandy beaches and rorbu , old fishermen’s cabins painted cherry red and pine green, makes for a serene visit, day or night. Winters on the archipelago are long (November to April) and dark (for five weeks in December and January, the sun doesn’t even rise), so consider them a prime time to settle down on a north-facing beach (Unstad and Gimsøy are particularly beautiful) or sink into a hot tub at a heritage fishing lodge, neck craned skyward — and wait. The anticipation is half the fun. — Aileen Kwun

D.Z.: The northern lights are one of those earthly phenomena that don’t make sense — I don’t think that my brain could fully compute what it was like until I saw it in real life. And Lofoten is just extremely picturesque: It’s hard to get to but very rewarding once you’re there. But I don’t know. Maybe the northern lights are the Mona Lisa of the natural world?

A.H.: Anyone else seen the northern lights in Norway or elsewhere?

T.M.: Yeah, I have, because I’m in Maine and you can see it in northern Maine, but I don’t think it’s anything like what Dave is talking about. Lofoten is on my wish list.

A.T.: I saw them in Iceland but I’m 100 percent pinching David’s idea.

P.I.: I was really excited as soon as I saw this [on the list]. I’ve been up to Fairbanks, Alaska, to see the northern lights, and I know people go to Churchill in Manitoba. But the combination of the northern lights and this remote setting sounds irresistible.

4. Journey Across Two Continents and Eight Time Zones on the Trans-Siberian Railway

Traveling to Russia now, as its war with Ukraine continues, is virtually impossible: Nearly all international flights have been suspended, and the State Department has recommended that Americans steer clear of the country. How or whether Russia’s relationship with the rest of the world, not to mention its tourism industry — a frivolous concern compared to the immense suffering of the Ukrainian people — will recover remains to be seen. But in more peaceful times, riding the Trans-Siberian Railway and its shorter connecting lines is an unparalleled experience — a tour through the many and varied cultures that make up the largest country on Earth. The 5,772 miles of track from Moscow to Vladivostok, built at the turn of the 20th century at the behest of Emperor Alexander III, constitutes by itself the longest continuous railway in the world, and before the pandemic and then the war interrupted its international reach, sleeper cars could take you from most major Western European capitals to Moscow in two or three days. From there, you can make it to the other end nonstop in seven days, but arranging layovers along the way allows for a variety of side excursions: Hop off at Yekaterinburg to see the Soviet-era architecture of Russia’s fourth-largest city, for example, or Irkutsk to visit the UNESCO World Heritage site of Lake Baikal, the world’s oldest and deepest freshwater lake. Better yet, switch at Ulan Ude to the Trans-Mongolian Railway, which extends through the capital of Ulaanbaatar and into the Gobi Desert, ideal for fossil hunting and camel riding, before arriving in Beijing. — Alwa Cooper

V.S.: OK, I know Russia is controversial right now. But this is the longest [direct] train journey in the world. You’re going through ancient cities, deep forests, breathtaking mountains and Siberian outposts. You’re seeing a lot.

A.H.: How does the panel feel about including Russia?

A.T.: I feel absolutely fine. Russia existed before Putin, and Russia is going to exist after Putin. I mean, how could I, with a straight face, eliminate traveling through Russia and then go scurrying down to my Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy? I have a firewall between this idea of Russia as a culturally rich nation and the political reality that one can speak critically of. Lots of nations that we love will come to be ruled by bad people.

P.I.: I agree with Aatish. Political complication, historical complexity and texture are really what make these places something more than sites.

5. Savor an Unforgettable Lunch at Ntounias in Western Crete

It takes a 45-minute drive from Chania, Crete, through the Greek island’s White Mountains to reach this mecca of homespun cooking in Drakona. Through scenic Therrisos Gorge, with occasional stops for sheep crossings, the journey is best made with the windows down, cooled by the hillside breeze and dazzled by the sun winking across limestone mountain caps. Expect a warm greeting upon arrival — the view from the terrace of the valley below will make up for any bumps in the rugged and twisty road — but don’t expect a menu. Along with his wife, Evmorfili, Stelios Trilyrakis, the chef, farmer, shepherd, butcher, owner and maître d’, takes care of all that. The daily bounty comes from an organic garden, part of the tavern Trilyrakis took over from his parents in 2004 after years of working as a chef in Chania. Guests are invited to tour the grounds and the nearby apiary as well as the wood stoves and ovens in the kitchen, though the meal rightfully remains the primary attraction. There might be a village salad (horiatiki), farm-baked bread and freshly churned butter, stuffed vegetables cooked in a traditional clay pot, potatoes fried in olive oil for close to an hour, goat sizzling in its own fat and house wine made on-site. In a country known for its cuisine, Ntounias stands apart. — Miguel Morales

D.Z.: This man used to be a chef in Chania and then seemed to think, as I did, that the world of restaurants is just not where it’s at. So he left and founded a little biodynamic farm. He has this plot of land that overlooks a verdant gorge, and he cooks everything on an open fire. You get snails, lamb stew, whatever is in season. It’s not complicated food; it’s never going to be in the Michelin Guide or on the “World’s 50 Best” list. But it’s the closest I’ve tasted to soul food.

T.M.: I love Crete. It’s a very beautiful place and it still has a certain authenticity about it. The roads sometimes dead-end, and when I was there, you needed at least three maps to figure out where you were. It’s a real physical landscape.

D.Z.: The island itself is one of the oldest continually inhabited civilizations in all of Europe. It has a crazy history, and just going there and eating this food, the way that he cooks it, it’s so honest.

6. Join the Faithful in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for a Different Kind of White Christmas

There is no Santa Claus in Ethiopia, no halls decked with holly. Christmas, which in so much of the Western world is a commercialized affair, is an intensely spiritual day here, observed not with gifts but with community, incantation and candlelight. The majority of Ethiopians are Christian and most worship freely, despite a history of extremist attacks on churches across the country. The nation follows a solar calendar, and Christmas, known as Genna, is observed on Jan. 7. The holiday begins with fasting on Jan. 6, when, at dusk, devotees head into the streets. In bustling Addis Ababa, a hush falls as thousands of men, women and children, all dressed in white and many wrapped in the traditional cotton robes called netelas , file to church like slow-moving snowdrifts. Many will worship all night, traveling by foot, lit candles in hand, from one church to the next until the small hours of morning. Ethiopia is home to some of the oldest and most beautiful churches in Africa, all of which are filled to capacity on Christmas Eve. (Visitors are welcome to observe.) In the capital, these include the Medhane Alem Cathedral, with its turquoise domes and columnar facade, and the Holy Trinity Cathedral, with its grand murals, jewel-toned stained glass windows and granite tombs in which Emperor Haile Selassie and his consort are interred. Some of the world’s oldest known human fossils have been unearthed from Ethiopian sands. On Christmas Eve, a nation that continues to endure famine and ethnic violence pauses for a prayer of peace. As worshipers pass one another and declare, “ Melkam Genna! ” — “Merry Christmas” in Amharic — the streets all but vibrate. — D.K.

P.I.: I seem to be haunted by places of spiritual intensity, from Lhasa to inner Australia. But I’ve seldom found anywhere to rival the power and magnetism of Ethiopia. It is, by some accounts, the oldest Christian country in the world, and when you drive through it, you feel like you’re going through the biblical books of Kings. But it comes to its culmination on Christmas Eve, when it seems like everyone in the capital is dressed in white, gathering around what look like mangers while these burning-eyed, bearded priests are rocking back and forth with little Bibles that fit in the palms of their hands. I’m not a Christian, but you look around and feel you could be in Bethlehem at the time of the birth of Jesus and that so little has changed in the past 2,000 years. Part of the poignancy is that life tends to be very difficult in Ethiopia, [teetering] between political uncertainty and impoverishment. So there’s this real sense that the religion and the moment mean even more than they might in Madrid or Paris. Although I was there 28 years ago, I’ll never forget walking through the night from church to church, seeing these people with tears in their eyes, gathered in the darkness, holding their candles and singing.

7. Traverse the Blossoming Oases and Ancient Desert Towns of Morocco’s Draa Valley

In precolonial Morocco, the imposing grandeur of the Atlas Mountains marked the boundary between the bilad el-makhzen — land under the rule of the Alaouite sultan — and the bilad el-siba , or “region of anarchy.” Today, to drive the circuitous route through the Atlases and into the Draa Valley is to exist on that line: It’s a liminal place where verdant gardens and soaring minarets open onto the vast barrens of the Sahara. Departing from Marrakesh, head southeast to Ouarzazate, or “the door of the desert,” and then onto M’Hamid, whose Dar Paru hotel exemplifies Berber architecture, with its rammed-earth walls and geometric parapets. From there, follow the N9 and N12 roads to hew close to the Draa, a river that runs along the Algerian border, nourishing a landscape of riotous color: The mountains’ ochers, umbers and emeralds cede to rippling oases of blue palms, olive groves, fields of golden barley and sun-baked adobe casbahs. Once home to a bustling trade route, the region bears the marks of Morocco’s imbricated faiths and folkways. Fragrant date palms, first grown by Arabs who arrived in the seventh century, freckle stretches of arable land hemmed in by sand dunes. Towns such as Tissint draw their influences from the Berbers, who have lived in North Africa for more than 4,000 years. (“Tissint” is the Berber word for salt, another early commodity.) Further southeast, in Akka, more than 300 miles from Marrakesh, are the remains of a community of Jewish merchants and silversmiths who plied their trade in the area as early as the second century. Their homes — made of mud brick and stucco, with walls now jagged or altogether missing — stand as monuments to the Draa’s rich, syncretic past and to the enthralling boundlessness of its present. — Dan Piepenbring

A.T.: I’d been to Marrakesh; I’d been to Tangier. Morocco, for me, was a known commodity. Then I did this journey south a couple of years ago. This is an Arabic place, and yet there’s this very profound other culture that’s always under the surface. The most startling moment came when I arrived in a town where there was an old Jewish quarter of silversmiths and we went into a house that felt like it had been abandoned yesterday. It was just one of those moments where suddenly all of the pieces fall into place and you get a window into another vein of culture or civilization and how it interacted with this Arabized Muslim state of Morocco. I also have to say, landscape-wise, it’s the only place other than Yemen where you’re driving through and you have these discrete, scarified mountains on either side, and every now and then there’ll be, like, a flowering tree against the desert. It’s stunning stuff.

8. Come Face to Face With a Rare Marine Mammal Off the Coast of Southern Mozambique

Sea pig, sea cow, sea camel — the dugong’s epithets aren’t particularly evocative, but its serene presence is the highlight of any dive trip. The 200 or so animals that scientists estimate live in the protected waters of Bazaruto Archipelago National Park constitute the largest remaining dugong population on the East African coast. To experience them, you must fly into the nearest international airport, in the town of Vilankulo, and then organize a helicopter or dhow ride to one of the archipelago’s many resorts and lodges. There are numerous diving and snorkeling spots along Bazaruto’s famed Two-Mile Reef, which offers unusually clear visibility and a thriving coral population. Found in the shallow coastal waters of as many as 40 countries, the large and placid dugong (imagine a manatee with a wider, shorter snout) is intensely shy, and its population is considered “vulnerable,” according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species. Its hearing is sharp but its vision is poor; moving in slowly, silently and respectfully is key. Even so, only the luckiest Bazaruto divers will ever spot a dugong — often from a distance of several meters — drifting alone or in pairs. — A.C.

A.T.: When I’m obliged to write about the natural world, I get kind of nervous because I think, “Oh, am I going to feel something? Am I going to know how to translate that feeling in my writing?” By April [2022], I had become very scared of travel: the pandemic, the restrictions, the fear that you were going to be stuck somewhere and not allowed back. All of this was weighing on my mind, and I’d almost lost that sense of wonder, that willingness to leave home. And in this place, which is the basin of the Indian Ocean in that part of the world, the plane tilted and I saw the sand flats push through this ancient archipelago and I thought to myself, “Of course, this is why one leaves home!” I hadn’t scuba-dived in 15 years, and here I was with blacktip reef sharks and sea turtles swimming into the raking light with plankton. Dugongs are incredibly rare, but as we came up from this dive, we saw one. It was a kind of emotional state brought on by the pandemic — a fear of leaving home running smack into that total excitement to be out in the world again.

A.H.: Many other lists like this would probably include an African safari; it’s refreshing not to promote a more traditional safari experience.

T.M.: The African safari has a checkered history because it’s related to hunting animals. There’s a balance now between conservation and infringement, but how those animals are really protected or may not be … there’s a lot we don’t know. So I’m definitely sensitive about not recommending a safari as an experience.

THE MIDDLE EAST

9. discover paradise on earth in the secret courtyard gardens of yazd, iran.

The very concept of paradise was born in Iran around 550 B.C., when Cyrus the Great, in the days of the Achaemenid Empire, oversaw the construction of a spectacular walled oasis called Pasargadae — a place of symmetry, flowering trees and calming waters — setting an example of how man might bend nature in pursuit of ultimate beauty. So deep do the Iranian roots of nirvana run that even the English word “paradise” comes from paridaida , the Old Persian term for walled garden. For those wishing to commune with Eden today, there’s perhaps no better place than Yazd, a 1,600-year-old Iranian desert town that was once a critical stop on the Silk Road. Here, the garden hotels of the city, which today is home to 530,000 people, pay homage to the Iranian legacy of paradise with their hidden courtyards. From the lush Kohan and the majestic Moshir Al Mamalek to the family-run Dad Hotel, the accommodations range from humble to luxurious. For guests who step through the door and out into the enclosed garden, hushed earthly delights of fountains and flowers — soft calla lilies, tulips and desert roses — await. — D.K.

P.I.: In all my traveling life, Iran is definitely the richest, most sophisticated, most surprising place I’ve been. And it’s the one I’m always urging my friends in California to go to — partly because I worry, as with Cuba or with other Middle Eastern places, that we’re reducing them to one-dimensional stereotypes from afar. And I’m so keen for people to experience the human reality firsthand. Sometimes friends will ask me, “Is it safe to go?” Well, I’m sitting here near Los Angeles, which for most of the planet is a really scary place.

Before I went to Iran, I was told by people who had been there that you only have to worry about two things: Everywhere you go, you’re going to be swamped with more friendliness than you know what to do with, and everyone’s going to invite you to dinner. The only reason that didn’t always happen to me was that people took me for Iranian, so they weren’t as excited as if they’d seen a more visible foreigner.

A.T.: I loved Yazd. I have to say that I did run afoul of the authorities in Iran and was turfed out with 48 hours to leave and probably couldn’t go back, but I completely second what Pico said. Up until that point, I had been met with nothing but hospitality and friendship, and Yazd was one of the highlights of that trip.

10. Swim in a Desert Oasis in Oman

Many of Oman’s wadis, or desert valleys, dry up in the scorching summer months, but at Wadi Bani Khalid, wide pools of water glisten year-round. You drive through the desert and suddenly there it is: a cliché of a gleaming desert mirage. But this is no illusion. Above the pristine pools, date palms sway in the breeze, and the rocky white cliff sides of the Hajar Mountains reveal canyons and caves; if you hike into them, you can see shimmering waterfalls. Thousands of tiny garra fish flash beneath the surface of these pools, ready to nibble at the dead skin on your toes. Wadi Bani Khalid is a three-hour drive from Muscat, making it an ideal day trip, although there are lots of budget hotels and desert camps in the area. Many visitors stop first at the sandy outpost of Al Wasil for camel rides and an overnight stay in a Bedouin-style tent. From there, the mountain road winds through fishing villages until the vast expanse of Wadi Bani Khalid, with its nearly 12-mile stretch of water, appears on the horizon. Its natural beauty is as intact today as it was when Oman’s Bedouin tribes relied on it, and a visit here offers an instant connection to the region’s deep history. The Oman government has helped develop the site in recent years, too, bringing with it a paved parking lot, bridges and public restrooms. — D.K.

T.M.: I share Pico’s notions that people should travel to the Middle East. The geographical diversity is incredible, and Oman is a peaceful and stable place. It’s absolutely gorgeous, the air is clear, the food is great and the climate is wonderful. It’s so easy for people to go here, yet Dubai takes all the tourists.

P.I.: I’m so happy to see Oman on the list. I think of it as the Bhutan of the Middle East because it’s so tastefully developed and preserved.

11. Delve Into 6,000-Plus Years of History at Erbil Citadel in Iraq

The longest continuously inhabited settlement in the world, Erbil Citadel lies at the heart of the modern-day capital of Iraqi Kurdistan. To the north, the Zagros Mountains beckon. The Kurdistan Regional Government has been developing trails there to promote hiking across a range that rivals the Alps in size — an impressive backdrop for one of the cradles of civilization. The 6,000-year-old fort sits atop a tell, a 100-foot-high mound the size of 19 football fields made by generations of Muslim, Christian and Jewish communities that built on top of one another. Courtyard homes constructed with oven-fired brick, said to be inspired by the ring of tents nomads once formed around their cattle, nestle inside the citadel walls. Their plain facades conceal branching floor plans that gave privacy to the extended families who once lived there. Visit the citadel with a guide in the late afternoon, when its brick walls turn the color of amber, and then drop by the bustling Qaysari Bazaar, one of the oldest covered markets in the world. Dating to the Ottoman era, it houses stalls of jewelry, textiles, crafts and sweets. Erbil and its citadel have withstood waves of conquest by Sumerians, Akkadians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Achaemenids, Greeks, Parthians, Romans, Sassanids, Muslims, Timurids, Mongols and Ottomans. To repair and preserve the settlement, the High Commission for Erbil Citadel Revitalization was formed in 2007; the Kurdistan Regional Government has allocated more than $30 million to the undertaking. But just as the citadel was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2014, the rehab stalled temporarily owing to the rise of ISIS. Work has since resumed; the ancient tell remains open; and, despite centuries of conquest and long spells of neglect, the citadel stands: a testament to the resilience of the human spirit. — M.M.

T.M.: Kurds will say, “We have no friends but mountains.” This is one of the world’s largest stateless populaces and it’s constantly in danger, sandwiched between Turkey and Iran. The citadel is still going through reconstruction. I wouldn’t say it’s beautiful, but it gives you a real sense of place and what it’s like to live in a region that has had to defend against ISIS attacks. It’s not a safe choice, but Kurdistan is a strong and resilient community that has survived ongoing and periodic attacks. There are prominent politically progressive women in the government and there are many untouched archaeological sites.

12. Marvel at the Threatened Mud-Brick Skyscrapers of Yemen

In an ancient Semitic world as yet undivided by modern faiths, long before the rise of Christianity or Islam, the cities of what we now call Yemen emerged from the desert as their inhabitants made their fortunes on frankincense and myrrh. As trade between southern Arabia and the Mediterranean flourished, beginning around the third century B.C., these new urban centers sprouted along the so-called Incense Route , their occupants developing, over time, ingenious systems of irrigation and urban planning that are as remarkable today as they were a thousand years ago. In the 2,500-year-old historic center of Sana’a, the capital of modern Yemen, residents adorned the ocher walls of their multistory homes with garlands of gypsum plaster, while in the town of Shibam, which emerged in its current form in the 16th century, rammed-earth towers rose as high as seven stories from a cliff’s edge overlooking the Wadi Hadhramaut, a vertiginous landscape that blurs the boundary between the natural and the man-made. For decades now, these ancient settlements and the people who reside within them have suffered crisis upon crisis — floods and famines and a years-long civil war that, since its beginning in 2014, has precipitated mass starvation, even as historic neighborhoods are shredded by U.S.-backed Saudi bombings. Among the most extraordinary human settlements on earth, the tower cities of Yemen — and, more important, the communities that have for millenniums called them home — are in grave danger of disappearing for good. — M.S.

A.T.: Singularly, without a doubt, this was the most incredible trip I’ve done in my life. This is a rare, stuck-in-the-past kind of country: Like pre-Islamic Arabia, it felt Semitic in the deepest sense. Yemen, for me, was that one place where there was no creeping globalization; it was unbelievably pure. There were some dangers then, too, but not like there are now. I hesitate to recommend it because of the safety situation.

P.I.: I was thrilled to see it on the list. And if we have to single out one element in Yemen, those skyscrapers would be the place to start: Anyone who’s seen them is never going to forget them. I think we shouldn’t worry about safety. It is one of the great countries on Earth and, as Aatish was saying, not like anywhere else.

V.S.: Yes, I agree. We should keep it. Just Aatish’s description — I’m ready to go.

13. Follow the Silk Road Through the Caravan Cities of Uzbekistan

Step back in time with a visit to three of the most important stops on the Silk Road, each city a distinctive meld of Greek, Turkish, Mongol, Muslim and Russian cultures. In the tiled expanse of the Registan, ancient Samarkand’s public square framed by three madrasas (Islamic schools), stand transfixed beneath the grand portals, patterned minarets and ornate cupolas. A little down the road to the west lies Gur-e-Amir, the resting place of the Turco-Mongol conqueror Tamerlane. Resplendent with intricate tile work and crowned by a heavenly blue dome, the mausoleum inspired the Mughal master craftspeople of the Taj Mahal. A leisurely walk northeast, past new developments and century-old buildings, calls for a stopover at Siyob Bazaar, where you can wander the food stalls selling pomegranates, dates, halvah, naan and more. A few hundred paces away is Bibi-Khanym: One of the largest mosques built in the 15th century, the structure was restored to much of its former glory in the latter half of the 20th, its grand azure dome and four minarets suspended against the backdrop of the iwan. There are no direct flights from Samarkand to Bukhara, so take the scenic route by train, past rippling red sands, the oases that punctuate the bleached-out plains of the Kyzylkum Desert and Poi-Kalyan, the sprawling mosque complex, where the baked brick of minaret, madrasa and mosque glow pink at sunset. And though all three cities have centuries-old caravansaries — the famed inns where Silk Road merchants stayed — Ichan-Kala, a remnant of the ancient Khiva oasis, checkered with medieval Islamic buildings, appears completely untouched by time. Countless others have walked these walls before, and now you have joined your steps to theirs, grounded together in the richness of the past. — M.M.

A.T.: I mean, unparalleled, the most wonderful Silk Road trip you can do. Stunning monuments, red desert, old Persianate culture mixing with the culture of the steppe and then, obviously, the Soviet empire. I would recommend it very highly.

14. Tour the Lofty Potala Palace in Lhasa, a Sacred Repository of Tibetan Artifacts

Rising out of a cliff face more than 12,000 feet above sea level, Tibet’s Potala Palace feels like a lavish retreat, a religious sanctuary and an impregnable fortress all in one. The climb to the top of the 13-story building is breathtaking in every sense of the word; make sure you’ve acclimated to the altitude before you attempt it. And the palace’s sloped red-and-white facade — repainted annually with a mixture of honey, milk, brown sugar and saffron — is as inviting as it is magisterial. (Frank Lloyd Wright found it so inspiring that he kept a photo of it in his drafting room.) Completed in 1649, the palace’s two divisions, one red and one white, together comprise at least one thousand rooms that encapsulate the vibrant multiplicity of Tibetan history. Guided tours, lit by traditional butter lamps, take you through rooms crowded with hundreds of murals, works of porcelain and jade, intricate carpets and Buddhist scriptures; the world’s longest scroll of Tibetan calligraphy, measuring 676 feet in length, has been housed here since 2014. Also on display are astonishing gilded stupas — wooden towers of concentric rings inlaid with jewels, each crowned with a sun and moon — containing the remains of eight Dalai Lamas. The Potala is a tribute to Buddhism and an embattled people; located on a mountaintop in the Tibetan capital, Lhasa, or “place of gods,” it has survived numerous attempts at looting and destruction since Tibet was annexed by China in 1950. Its resilience is reason enough to go. — D.P.

P.I.: Tibet is a really important place for people to visit culturally and politically because it’s so imperiled. Ladakh is more beautiful and Bhutan is more protected. But Tibet, the center of this rich culture and religion, is being destroyed very quickly, and anyone who goes there suddenly feels deeply invested in its protection.

15. Explore the Architectural Syncretism in South India’s Deccan Plateau

The vast highlands stretching between the eastern and western coastal ranges of the peninsular subcontinent have seen the rise and fall of countless kingdoms, each of which has left behind architectural remains as proof of its former glory. Nowhere is that immense cultural wealth more evident than in the temple towns and former imperial capitals of northern Karnataka, near the Deccan Plateau’s semi-arid heart. Beginning in the sixth century, the Eastern Chalukya dynasty, a vast and culturally diverse empire, turned its successive capitals in the now-sleepy villages of Aihole and Badami and the ceremonial center of Pattadakal into hubs for experimentation in religious architecture, assembling free-standing temples from elaborately carved stone that drew influence from both North and South India and excavating and erecting sites of Hindu, Jain and Buddhist devotion. In the 14th century, the Muslim Bahmani kings introduced Persianate domes and crenellated walls at the fortress capital of Bidar, while in Bijapur, roughly six hours southwest, the skyline bristles with minarets and domes left behind by the Adil Shahi sultans, who ruled there in the 16th and 17th centuries. Farther south, the subcontinent’s last great Hindu empire blossomed in the city of Vijayanagar, built over the course of 200 years, then abandoned in 1565 after its defeat by the sultanates of the northern Deccan. Now known as Hampi, that great city marks the pinnacle of Dravidian architecture, with its soaring temple towers and colonnades. Taken together, these cities and towns, clustered in the northern districts of Karnataka state, represent a practically endless trove of architectural treasures at least as rich as the Mughal mosques and Rajput temples of North India’s well-trodden tourist circuit. More important, they speak to the long tradition of syncretism that has always defined India, a tradition that contemporary politics increasingly — and tragically — aims to erase. — M.S.

A.T.: I went to school in South India, and the Deccan is very far from the world of the Taj Mahal and North Indian Islamic architecture. It was this unbelievable trail with beautiful temples in Aihole and Badami. Then you come to Hampi, which was once the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire, and it’s a site like Angkor Wat: absolutely stunning. Then you carry on to Bidar and Bijapur [Vijayapura] and you see mosques — it’s one of the most interesting, beautiful meeting points of Islam and Hinduism, but in the south of India as opposed to the north.

P.I.: I’ve been to India quite a few times and I’ve never heard about those wonders. It’s a fresh, eye-opening suggestion.

16. Hike Japan’s Lore-Steeped Kumano Kodo Trail

South of the ancient cities of Kyoto and Nara, Japan’s Kii Peninsula offers dramatic ocean vistas and dense old-growth cedar forests. Its flickering shadows, creeping mosses and shrouds of ethereal mist have enraptured pilgrims and seekers since antiquity, and the region’s awe-inspiring tranquillity has come to embody the long commingling of Shinto and Buddhist traditions. Every year, as many as 15 million people hike the Kumano Kodo, a network of trails more than a thousand years old and totaling more than 600 miles, whose cobblestone stairs and long wooden footbridges lead to three grand shrines: the Kumano Hongu Taisha, the Kumano Nachi Taisha and the Kumano Hayatama Taisha, all prized for their ability to heal and purify. (That last one is said to date to A.D. 128, when it was built for gods who’d descended to Earth.) Comprising seven routes around the peninsula or through the heart of the Kii Mountains, the Kumano Kodo is so sprawling that no two journeys will ever be alike, though all are formidable; its Kohechi trail, a four-day, 43-mile hike over three mountain passes, includes vertiginous ascents of more than 3,200 feet and is renowned for its difficulty. Those who make the strenuous climb will find weathered milestones, natural hot springs and a hand-operated cable car suspended over a riverbank. Visitors can seek shelter for the night at designated campsites or at minshuku, guesthouses scattered along the route. Further on, at the Kumano Nachi Taisha shrine, a stately three-tiered pagoda overlooks the 436-foot Nachi no Taki, Japan’s tallest single-drop waterfall, long considered a sacred entity, which has enveloped generations of travelers in its awesome roar. — D.P.

T.M.: I like the idea of Shinto mountain worship: It’s a challenging but incredibly cleansing experience — like the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia.

D.Z.: I know two people who’ve done it, both after their fathers died. They said it was transformative.

T.M.: It’s arduous, and that makes it a strange spiritual experience unlike anything else.

17. Spend the Day in the Womblike Emptiness of the Teshima Art Museum in Japan

Before the pandemic, hundreds of thousands of travelers visited the art islands of Japan, a collection of some 20 former fishing and industry isles turned art havens scattered across the Seto Inland Sea, just over an hourlong flight from Tokyo. They made the trek via a combination of train, ferry, car, bus and bicycle, some with visions of Yayoi Kusama’s “Pumpkin” (1994), a polka-dot yellow fiberglass pumpkin positioned at the end of a pier, in their heads. That sculpture was responsible for much of the foot traffic at the Benesse Art Site on Naoshima, a small island with several museums designed by Tadao Ando, until it was swept out to sea during a typhoon in 2021. (The work was eventually recovered, restored and, last month, put back on display.) As Japan slowly reopens, the Art Islands continue to attract pilgrims. Inujima, Shodoshima and Megijima host installations and art fairs in once-abandoned buildings, but it’s Teshima Island, home of the Teshima Art Museum, that travelers most need to experience. Designed by the Tokyo-based architect Ryue Nishizawa, the museum’s low-lying concrete shell is a feat of engineering and a work of art in itself. Inspired by the bulbous curve of a water droplet resting on a sheet of glass, it appears to emerge organically from a forested hillside overlooking the sea. Inside, two open-air oculi frame shifting scenes of water, sky and sunlight alongside the museum’s single permanent installation, 2010’s “Bokei” (Matrix), by the Hiroshima-based artist Rei Naito. The contemplative work features beads of water that emerge from, pool atop and are reabsorbed into pinholes perforating the floor. To enjoy a few hours in its engulfing silence, watching the light change with each passing hour, is to surrender to time itself. — A.K.

P.I.: I’ve been really impressed by the art project around Naoshima in the Seto Inland Sea and how it has developed over the past 30 years. Though I would recommend the entire Naoshima project, the most piercing place is Teshima. You take a bus across a quiet island, end up on a hill and step into this vast empty space, which is the museum. There’s nothing there except two openings in the roof and drops of water being made to emerge from the ground. And somehow it’s transfixing — like a James Turrell Skyspace doubled and taken in an almost feminine direction. So many people, from billionaires to meditation teachers, have told me this is the single most moving place they have ever been.

THE AMERICAS

18. take the ultimate road trip: drive the pan-american highway from argentina to alaska.

Roughly tracing the path that early man followed after crossing the land bridge over the Bering Strait, the Pan-American Highway runs at least 19,000 miles from Prudhoe Bay in Alaska to Ushuaia at the edge of Tierra del Fuego, a subantarctic territory split between Chile and Argentina. Crossing 14 countries and interrupted only by the ecologically fragile forests of the Darién Gap between Panama and Colombia, the highway — really a collection of interconnected freeways splintered across various routes — traverses the tundra of western Canada and the peaks of the Rockies, the deserts of northern Mexico and the pampas of Patagonia. Options for detours along the way are almost endless. You might weave through the national parks of the American West. In Mexico, depending on which route you take, you might feast on roasted goat in Monterrey or raw seafood in coastal Mazatlán. You could wander colonial cities like Antigua, Guatemala, or Granada, Nicaragua, and bird-watch in the rainforests of Costa Rica. In the valleys between Colombia’s triplicate Cordilleras, you could sip coffee among green hills in the department of Quindío and salsa dance in the lowland city of Cali. Following the Andes south, you’ll gaze upon the gilded extravagance of Ecuador’s whitewashed capital, Quito, or hike in the highland planes below the snow-dusted dome of Cotopaxi, that country’s highest active volcano. You could deviate from the main road to lose yourself in the endless white expanse of Bolivia’s Salar de Uyuni, then follow the spine of South America through regions of Argentina and Chile punctuated by vineyards and lakes. To drive the Pan-American Highway is to glimpse the immensity of the Americas and the unthinkable marvels of a world both ancient and irrepressibly new. — M.S.

V.S.: You’re driving through at least 14 countries including the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina. There’s surfing, jungles, swimming, birding, colonial towns, the history, the culture, glaciers, caves, blue lakes, beaches, hot springs in Mexico — it gives you everything.

19. Behold the Natural Wonders of Chile’s Atacama Desert

Ranging from the Pacific Coast to the Andean Altiplano and locked in the rain shadow of the world’s longest mountain range, the Atacama Desert, located mostly within northern Chile, is among the most alien landscapes on the planet. Pink flamingos gather at the edges of salt lakes the color of lapis or topaz or garnet. Perfectly conical volcanoes loom over salt flats and desolate plains where guanacos, elegantly proportioned cousins of llamas, and viscachas, which resemble long-tailed rabbits, drift through prickly wisps of ground-hugging vegetation. Jets of steam slip through the arid turf in some of the highest geyser fields, and rocky hills drop into the frigid blue waters of the Pacific. Uncontaminated by light or clouds or moisture, the night sky explodes with stars, recorded and studied by some of the most advanced telescopes on Earth. Covering a swath of 70,000 square miles and contiguous with similar biomes in neighboring corners of Argentina, Peru and Bolivia, the Atacama is so extreme in its atmospheric conditions that NASA used it as a test site for its Mars rovers in 2017. Until civilian space travel becomes a reality, the Atacama, with its spectral beauty, will remain perhaps the closest one can get to an extraplanetary experience. — M.S.

V.S.: The Atacama is the driest nonpolar desert on Earth. And I love extremes, obviously. I felt that this would offer a remote and diverse experience with lunar landscapes, salt pools comparable to the Dead Sea, sand dunes, rock formations, hiking and incredible stargazing.

T.M.: You can have an amazing time looking at stars, and it’s incredibly dry, so the atmosphere is very different. A truly visceral experience.

20. Feast on the Cuisines of Oaxaca City, Mexico

The state of Oaxaca has long been a focal point of Mexican culinary identity. But in the past few years, the namesake capital’s limestone buildings and dazzling evening light have attracted unprecedented numbers of visitors, upending the equilibrium between its Indigenous identity and the constant demands of tourists for elegant restaurants and luxury hotels. Yet growing awareness of Oaxaca’s cultural wealth and diversity has also made it possible for chefs with local roots to open revelatory new businesses in spaces as simple as they are unforgettable. At Levadura de Olla, for instance, the chef Thalía Barrios García prepares food straight out of the remote hill country south of the city where she grew up. Bowls of black beans fragrant with wood smoke or, in season, tacos made with the brilliant crimson flowers of the pipe tree are the closest thing to country cooking you’re likely to find in any major city. Outside the center, the chef Jorge León has turned the tranquil garden of his family home into a restaurant called Alfonsina, where he serves an ambitious, adventurous tasting menu that draws on his experience as a cook at Pujol, the high-concept gastronomic temple in Mexico City, while his mother and aunts turn out a parallel menu of traditional dishes like a meticulously prepared hoja santa-scented mole amarillo. Every corner of this wondrous city and its surrounding countryside contains its own culinary jewels — from market stalls selling steamed tamales swaddled in banana leaves and crisp corn tlayudas folded like envelopes around sheets of chile-rubbed beef, to relaxed mezcalerías and market halls redolent of barbacoa cooked overnight in underground pits. The newer restaurants aim neither to replicate nor supplant these spaces but, rather, to honor them and, in their down-to-earth manner, expand their reach. — M.S.

A.T.: A lot of food scenes can be quite fussy. What was moving to me here were restaurants like Levadura de Olla, with a woman who’s come from the hills of Oaxaca to bring the cuisine of her home to this restaurant. Besides the food being wonderful, it seemed like a real break from the sort of fine dining you find elsewhere.

21. Dance Until You Drop at Carnival in Cuba

Cuba’s massive Carnival celebrations have been held in some form or another since the 17th century. As a series of winter events tied to the Catholic Church’s calendar, Carnival was largely reserved for Cubans of mostly Spanish ancestry, while its summer counterpart, the Mamarrachos, allowed laborers and the lower classes (mostly enslaved Africans and their descendants) a period of riotous release after the sugar cane harvest. Many other Carnivals across the Caribbean are still observed in February, before Lent, but Cuba’s Carnival has evolved into an exuberant summer event that is celebrated across the country. The most famous parties, held in Havana in August and in Santiago de Cuba at the end of July, have preserved the vibrant spirit and Afro-Caribbean influences of the original Mamarrachos. Spangled and feathered groups of dancers called comparsas perform in the streets between giant effigies of religious figures and celebrities, decorated floats and conga performers. The mainstreaming of festivals that originated from marginalized communities hasn’t been entirely seamless, with periodic attempts by conservative Cubans to sanitize them, but the omnipresent rhythm of the Carnival drums is a permanent reminder of their roots in resilience, triumph and pure joy. — A.C.

P.I.: Cuba is one of the most powerful places I’ve been and Carnival is a wild concentration of its energy, music and spirit.

A.T.: That’s a great way to do Cuba — because it’s atmospheric. Going there is one of those experiences that, 20 years on, I can’t stop thinking about.

22. Take In the Magnificent Scale and Immutable Geology of the Colorado Plateau

The high desert of the Colorado Plateau covers 150,000 square miles, stretching across the Four Corners region in an arid, empyrean expanse including not only its namesake state but parts of Utah, Arizona and New Mexico, as well as the whole of the Navajo Nation. From its massive sedimentary rocks rise gnarled, sweeping geological marvels that seem to defy gravity and dwarf the human concept of space: Here are the mesas, petrified forests, monoliths, pinnacles and hoodoos that define the rugged archetype of the American West. The Ancestral Pueblo people, who lived on the plateau until around A.D. 1300, left ruins in the form of kivas — circular subterranean chambers often used for ceremonies — adobe pueblos and intricate dwellings built into the sides of cliffs. These are enshrined among the plateau’s eight national parks and 18 national monuments, which together constitute some of the greatest, most diverse terrain in the United States. In addition to the Grand Canyon, there’s Bears Ears, a pair of burnt-sienna buttes revered by Indigenous groups; and Grand Staircase-Escalante, an imbricated series of ascending rock layers punctuated with canyons and cliffs. The plateau, in its vastness, offers many opportunities for hiking, cycling, rafting and birding, but the best way to experience it is to camp there, watching as its endless horizons become a vault of stars. — D.P.

V.S.: This area of the country is physically magnificent and encompasses so much of what I find engaging in the West: the Kodachrome red rock formations; the sweeping views; the canyons, mountains, valleys, deserts; the 600-million-year-old geologic history of the plateau and the culturally significant sites of Ancestral Puebloans, reminding us of what was here before. It’s an awe-inspiring trip that will remind you of our fleeting time here while you experience the grandeur where past and present converge.

23. Witness a Solar Eclipse in a Sleepy Fishing Village in Newfoundland, Canada

The next total solar eclipse in North America will occur on April 8, 2024. Among the many scenic vantage points on its path of totality is Bonavista, a town of some 3,000 people on a bucolic peninsula in Newfoundland. There are plenty of remote places here from which to take in the atavistic spectacle: a sublime, disquieting experience, full of renewal and destruction, that shatters one’s sense of magnitude. When you’re not watching the moon engulf the sun in a rite of astronomical passage, you can enjoy more earthly pleasures at the Bonavista lighthouse, which looks out onto a seascape of unsurpassed beauty, featuring calving icebergs, breaching humpback whales and ambling colonies of puffins. Nearby are the Dungeon, a collapsed sea cave warped by erosion into a natural archway, and the Ryan Premises, a set of white clapboard buildings from the 19th century, striking in their simplicity, and once the locus of the town’s thriving cod-fishing industry. (Their slogan: “Where cod is culture.”) Bonavista takes its name from the Italian explorer Giovanni Caboto, often Anglicized as John Cabot, who is said to have exclaimed, “O buona vista!” upon glimpsing its shores in 1497. A full-scale replica of Cabot’s ship, the Matthew , floats in a harbor near the village center, where visitors can rent kayaks for whale-watching excursions. — D.P.

D.Z.: The one experience where I’m like, “I will die on this hill for this,” is to observe the next [full] solar eclipse in North America from the path of totality. I’ve never had the chance to [do this] myself, but I will be traveling to Toronto with my son — he’ll be two then — and I want to “ Lion King”-style raise him into the eye of the moon when this happens. It’s something our ancestors have built entire mythologies around: a way of keeping track of celestial bodies and realizing there were powerful forces far beyond our own imagination. With the association eclipses have historically carried with the end of the world, it’d be fitting to witness it from what’s colloquially known as the end of the world: Newfoundland. The province [Newfoundland and Labrador] doesn’t get a lot of credit, but it has some of the most beautiful coastal wild nature in North America. April is also iceberg season, which will only compound the viewing experience.

24. Labor on an Organic Farm in New Zealand

Travel can be alienating, expensive and bad for the environment. WWOOF , or World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms, was started in England in 1971 by Susan Coppard as “a way of getting back into the countryside.” The first weekend she spent on a biodynamic farm spawned a global movement with a simple premise: Volunteers lend a hand on organic farms in exchange for food, lodging and an introduction to agriculture. WWOOFing in New Zealand, particularly in Northland, the milder, less-urbanized agrarian hub that spans much of the North Auckland Peninsula and is renowned for its white-sand beaches and giant Kauri forests, pairs this enterprise with a fairy-tale atmosphere. More than 100 farms here accept volunteer workers throughout the year, letting you experience nature and tend to it at the same time, living alongside New Zealanders, learning firsthand about their way of life and finding a way to give back to the picturesque landscape. Farm life often requires rising with the sun, but chores, whether pulling redroot weeds or tending sheep, usually conclude by lunch. Afterward, grander adventures can be had as well: backpacking Northland’s Great Walks, where you can rove through remote subtropical forests, or canoeing down the Whanganui River. But the most rewarding and memorable aspect of the trip comes from forging a bond with the earth and the resilient people who work it. — M.M.

D.Z.: Working on a farm is something everyone alive should do so that they understand where food comes from. WWOOFing is a great way to do that.

A.H.: It’s interesting in that it touches upon a recent trend toward voluntourism but in a less expected way.

T.M.: I have a miniature farm, but it takes all seasons and years to really understand a cycle. It depends on when you go, but you might see the planting, you might see harvesting; you might only get to do weeding.

D.Z.: It’s not a hotel; you can’t come and go as you please. But I don’t think the fact that you don’t get to completely embed yourself in agriculture over the course of multiple years or seasons negates the importance of learning what it’s like to farm.

A.H.: Why New Zealand specifically, David?

DZ: New Zealand, which is absolutely otherworldly for its natural landscape, is also an island nation that is super self-reliant thanks to the work of its farmers. If you chose to, say, help locals regenerate their surroundings by planting food forests, harvesting fruits in an organic orchard or rewilding land to create more habitat for native and endangered species, you would also get to reap the benefits of spending your off hours exploring Middle-earth, finding yourself a short drive from amazing landscapes like Spirits Bay [Piwhane] at the very tip of the North Island or the Te Paki sand dunes. Plus, I mean, who wouldn’t want to see a Kiwi bird in real life, crossing your path as you work in the field?

25. Float in a Zodiac to the Edge of Human Experience

The only continent with no permanent residents, Antarctica is synonymous with isolation. A two-day cruise through the notoriously rough Drake Passage (or a two-hour flight over it) from the tip of either Argentina or Chile brings you to the planet’s southernmost landmass. Once you’re there, the sights are simultaneously imposing and palpably ephemeral; the grandeur of miles-high glaciers in an exquisite spectrum of blues and greens is only heightened by the fragility of the climate that supports them. Antarctic sea ice is melting less quickly than that of the North Pole, but the vulnerability of the frozen sheet that contains more than half of the Earth’s freshwater supply has never been more difficult to ignore. Earlier this year, Antarctic ice was measured as at a record low (though it fluctuates from year to year, in contrast to Arctic ice, which has been consistently shrinking for decades). If the world’s governments fail to limit warming in the coming years to 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels, as seems increasingly likely, ice sheet collapses in the Antarctic could cause a catastrophic rise in sea levels over the next several centuries. Still, Antarctica’s sublime beauty persists. In addition to its penguin colonies, best encountered from November till January, the whale watching is revelatory. Go in February or March, when receding ice allows the dozen or so passengers in the inflatable Zodiac rafts of expedition cruises to get up-close views of blue whales, orcas, humpback whales and other cetaceans. Travel to Antarctica remains heavily regulated: Unguided landings are forbidden, and the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty, signed in 1991, instituted “leave no trace” guidelines designed to limit the human impact of tourism and scientific exploration alike. Before you go, do some research to identify the most sustainable way to explore . — A.C.

P.I.: I’m not very sensitive to nature, but this was beyond anything I’ve imagined or experienced, even in nearby Patagonia. It awakens you to the environmental concerns of the world, which are probably paramount in most travelers’ minds these days; being exposed to such majesty and beauty and also to the underlying frailty, you go home with important questions for your conscience as well as radiant memories.

At top: Footage of the World/Getty Images, Nick Ballon, Andrew Rowat, Iwan Baan, M’Hammed Kilito, Fernando Maquieira, Michael Turek (3), Nick Bondarev, Salvatore Di Gregorio, @SteMajourneys (2), Sjo/Getty Images, Luca Donninelli, Felix Odell, Stefan Ruiz (2), Grant Harder (2), Minasse Wondimu Hailu/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images, James Thompson, Kelly Cheng/Getty Images

Research Editors: Mario Mercado and Alexis Sottile

Copy Editors: Diego Hadis, James Camp and Polly Watson

Photo Editor: Katie Dunn

Ashlea Halpern is a Contributing Editor for T Magazine.

An earlier version of this article rendered incorrectly the name of a city in Cuba; it is Santiago de Cuba, not Santiago del Cuba.

An earlier version of this article misspelled the name of a city in the Achaemenid Empire; it was Pasargadae, not Parsargadae.

How we handle corrections

Experiential Travel: Creating Memories, Not Checklists

Trends in the tourism industry are constantly evolving, and experiential travel is one of the latest trends that has only increased in popularity over the years. The key point of experiential travel is to create memories that will last you a lifetime, and if that sounds like exactly your type of travel, this guide will be helpful.

What exactly is experiential travel, why should you engage in it more often, and the top tour operators for experiential trips are just some of the key things covered in this detailed guide. Keep reading to learn more about experiential travel and see why so many people have become engrossed with it!

What Is Experiential Travel?

Experiential travel is a travel method that has been talked about for decades but has become increasingly popular over the last few years. It’s essentially a way of traveling that allows you to really dig deep into the local culture and fully experience every new place you visit.

Experiential tourism is mostly focused on experiences as opposed to destinations. It also entails spending more time with locals and exploring off-the-beaten paths, instead of just visiting tourist attractions with the highest ratings on Trip Advisor and Google Maps.

This type of tourism is also known as immersion travel because it entails travelers being fully immersed in a local culture. I like to think that immersion travel is just one aspect of experiential travel, and that adventure travel is just as an important part of it.

You can immerse yourself in a local culture all you want but if you don’t actually have authentic local experiences, I don’t think you can still call it experiential travel.

The complete opposite of experiential travel would be something like traveling to a foreign destination and staying at a resort the entire time you’re there. Sure, it’s nice to relax for a few days and spend your time sipping cocktails on the beach, but can you really say you’ve visited Mexico if you’ve never left the hotel? Experiential travelers would disagree.

Benefits of Experiential Travel

The main advantage of experiential travel is that you will end your trips feeling enriched by local cultures, and you will create memories that will last forever. You will actually get to learn and understand the history and traditions of a place, and if you do it right, you can make friends everywhere in the world.

Another benefit of experiential travel is that it should be more affordable. You wouldn’t stay in a fancy hotel, but rather in an apartment rented out by a local. You can even look into house-sitting and pet-sitting options, or just stick to couchsurfing for the most authentic experiences.

Choosing local accommodation instead of mass hotel chains allows you to get in touch with the hosts, which can provide valuable tips about the local communities and the destination’s culture.

Examples of Experiential Travel

When I plan a trip to a new country, I usually start off by creating a map on Google Maps with all the most famous landmarks, tourist attractions, and museums. I prefer to do things by myself and I avoid hiring guides and travel agents, so I do aim to achieve some level of immersion into local culture.

I also make it a point to eat at as many local restaurants as possible and try all the most famous foods in that city. The opposite would be sticking to Burger King or McDonald’s because they’re “safe” options.

While all of that is part of immersion travel, a true experiential traveler wouldn’t aim to visit just the most famous attractions in a new city. Instead, they would look for knowledgeable locals who would help them find all the best-hidden gems and places that locals enjoy the most. It could include visiting a quaint restaurant with the best local cuisine or partaking in an activity that is specific to that city.

It means joining a pasta-making class when you’re in Italy, partaking in a Flamenco dance class while you’re exploring Spain, or attending a local football game when you’re staying in England.

Planning an Experiential Travel Trip

When you’re planning an experiential travel trip, try to focus on encountering authentic local experiences. I would suggest starting off with a quick walking tour of the city. But try to look for local guides that do these tours in smaller groups – it will be a much more immersive experience and you’ll get to actually learn something, especially if you’re spending time with like-minded travelers.

Then, I suggest you do some research about the cuisine of the place you are visiting and learn about the different local dishes. Try to find restaurants that are frequented by locals – if you’re not having too much success, ask your host or a local guide for recommendations.

I’ve found that asking people on Reddit can also yield some great results because there are often locals who are willing to help tourists get to know their cultures.

Next, consider what the country or city you’re visiting is most famous for and try to find attractions or experiences that incorporate that to really get a sense of how the locals are living. An example of this would be going on at least one hike if you’re traveling in the more rural areas of Switzerland, or swimming in the Rhine River if you’re staying in Basel because it’s what the locals actually do.

Top Experiential Travel Companies

Velocity black.

Velocity Black is one of the best examples of a modern concierge service that goes above and beyond for its clients. Services offered by the company include organizing trips and holidays that are tailored to your wants and needs. Velocity Black can offer its members deals on flights with the world’s best airlines, free upgrades, and access to some of the best hotels in the world.

The company is also able to organize special experiences for its clients, which range from hanging out with celebrities to swimming with orcas. The annual membership fee is £2,000 and there’s currently a waiting list to join.

Vivid Travel

Vivid Travel is an experiential travel company that focuses on creating personalized travel itineraries for their customers. The agents will ask you questions about preferences for accommodation, ideas for experiences, and attractions, but also about your budget and preferred vacation length.

Then, they can create you a unique itinerary that explores all the things that interest you the most, while staying within your budget. They’ll do all the booking for you, and it’s a great company to use if you don’t like doing the research and bookings yourself.

Niquesa Travel

Niquesa Travel is another tour operator that specializes in custom travel itineraries. It’s more of a luxury travel company, so not the best operator to use if you’re trying to travel on a tighter budget. The company can plan and organize every aspect of your trip, from flights to immersive experiences.

You can contact Niquesa Travel to arrange any type of trip you want, and they also have a few pre-made itineraries that sound amazing. Travel to Morocco on a limited budget and follow a series of clues as you explore the local culture, or go on a road trip through England in a supercar.

Black Tomato

Black Tomato is a favored luxury travel company for experiential travel. This company has pre-made itineraries for virtually every corner of the world, but its agents can also create entirely new customized itineraries for customers.

Trekking in Nepal, safaris in Uganda, and sailing in the Galapagos Islands are just some examples of trips this company can arrange for you. Allowing Black Tomato to plan your trip means you’ll need to tell them everything about your preferences and budget, and they’ll do absolutely everything for you from booking the plane tickets to reserving you a spot in the pasta-making class in Tuscany.

Abercrombie & Kent

Abercrombie & Kent is one of the oldest luxury travel companies with a history of more than six decades. The company is known for incredibly detailed personalized itineraries, as well as excellent service.

Booking a trip with Abercrombie & Kent means that you could attend a private tour of a museum, get customized meals, and stay at places that are off-limits for regular people. This is one of the priciest tour agencies for experiential travel, but also one that can offer you a unique and personalized experience in every corner of the world.

Current Trends in Experiential Travel

Trends in the travel industry are constantly changing, but the core of experiential travel will always be immersive experiences. Adventure tourism is becoming an increasingly important part of experiential travel, and more and more travelers are spending their time hiking, backpacking, rafting, skydiving, and engaging in all sorts of other adventures that are typical for the places they are visiting.

Meaningful engagement with the local communities is also a growing trend in experiential travel. Forming an emotional connection with people in a foreign place is essential for creating lifelong memories, and an increasing number of people will spend their time visiting schools, museums, theaters, and similar places that the locals frequent in their daily lives.

But the way I see it, you should focus on experiences you’re genuinely interested in, and skip any experiences you might not enjoy, regardless of how local they are. An example of this would be if you were in London – maybe it would be a truly authentic local experience to spend an afternoon at a pub and go to a football match, but if that’s not something you would genuinely enjoy, you absolutely shouldn’t do it.

Instead, do something that’s fun for you – see a play at the Globe Theater, or spend an afternoon in the Natural History Museum, if that’s more up your alley.

The Future of Experiential Travel

Even with the rise of experiential travel among young adults, there is still absolutely a market for those who prefer to spend their vacation days lounging and relaxing. However, experiential travel has become extremely popular over the past few years, and it was in part a result of the global pandemic of 2020.

Most of the world was stuck for nearly a year, unable to leave their house properly, let alone travel to a new destination. When the countless restrictions were finely dropped and we were allowed to start traveling again, people wanted to get out of the house and do something.

The future of experiential travel lies in more personalized experiences and sustainability. More and more tour operators are shifting to offering immersive travel experiences to satisfy the growing demand for experiential trips. Also, the importance of AI is growing at the same time as the demand for experiential tours, and it’s hard to imagine a world in which the two don’t become integrated.

It’s expected that travel companies will turn to AI to help create unique and personalized itineraries and that VR will become a bit component of experiential travel. It’s only a matter of time until VR allows us to become fully immersed in destinations that we cannot physically visit, whether it’s a trip to Macchu Picchu from the comfort of your couch or a tour of ancient Rome.

About the Author Anna Timbrook

Anna is the co-owner of expert world travel and can't wait to share her travel experience with the world. With over 54 countries under her belt she has a lot to write about! Including those insane encounters with black bears in Canada.

Leave a Comment:

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

• Overview Guide
• 1 Week Itinerary
• Train Journeys
• Epic Drives
• Stunning Lakes
• Historic Castles
• Lauterbrunnen
• Grindelwald
• Chocolate Tours
• Swiss National Park
• Majestic Mountains
• Spectacular Waterfalls
• Famous Things
• Tasty Fondue
• 10 Day Itinerary
• Cherry Blossoms
• Tokyo Shrines
• Dos and Don’ts
• Osaka Guide
• Osaka Itinerary
• Osaka or Kyoto
• Kyoto Day Trips
• Matsumoto Castle
• Tokyo Luxury Hotels
• Island Hopping
• Best Campsites
• Driving Tips
• Beaune, France
• Barcelona Itinerary
• Spain Itinerary
• Greece Itinerary
• Italy Road Trips
• Berlin Day Trips
• Norway Northern Lights
• Netherlands National Parks
• Mostar, Bosnia
• Best Airlines
• Midwest Ski Resorts
• Florida RV Parks
• Washington RV Parks
• Oregon RV Parks
• Utah Camping
• Texas Camping
• Chicago National Parks
• East Coast National Parks
• Colorado National Parks
• Joshua Tree
• Yellowstone
• Alberta Hikes
• Flashlights
• Water Filters
• Sleeping Pads
• Solar Lanterns
• Tent Brands
• 4-Person Tents
• 4 Seasons Tents
• Backpacking Tents
• Beach Tents
• Cabin Tents
• Multi-room Tents
• Pop-up Tents
• Truck Bed Tents
• Underwear (Men)
• Backpacks Under $100
• Microspikes
• Boonie Hats
• In The World
• New Zealand
• Hardisde Luggage
• Lightweight Luggage
• Luggage Sets
• Spinner Luggage
• Durable Suitcases
• Duffel Bags
• Kids Luggage
• Teen Luggage
• Space Saving Luggage
• Business Carry-Ons
• Garment Carry-Ons
• Suitcases Under $50
• Travel Briefcase
• Zipperless Suitcases
• Rolling Briefcase
• Luggage Straps
• Luxury Brands
• American Tourister
• AmazonBasics
• Delsey Chatelet
• Anti-Theft Backpacks
• Backpacks Under $50
• Baby Carrier Backpacks
• Cooler Backpacks
• Backpacking Backpacks
• Climbing Backpacks
• Backpacks for Back Pain
• Beach Backpacks
• Hiking Backpacks
• Business Travel Backpacks
• Laptop Backpacks
• Backpacks for Tablets
• Commuter Backpacks
• Travel Backpacks (Men)
• Travel Backpacks (Women)
• Waterproof Backpacks
• Wheeled Backpacks
• Down Jackets
• Down Parkas
• Fleece Jackets
• Hardshell Jackets
• Rain Jackets
• Softshell Jackets
• Eco Friendly Jackets
• Gore Tex Alternatives
• Heated Jackets
• Lightweight Jackets
• 3-in-1 Waterproof Jackets
• Parajumper Jackets
• Rain Poncho
• Ski Jackets
• Travel Hoodies
• Travel Jackets
• Winter Coats
• Helly Hansen
• Mammut Jackets
• Patagonia Nanopuff
• Survival Jackets
• Flower Captions
• Waterfall Captions
• Tree Captions
• Sunset Captions
• Sunflower Captions
• Rainbow Captions
• Paddle Boarding Captions
• Hot Air Balloon Captions
• Kayaking Captions
• Airplane Captions For Instagram
• Forest Captions

10 of the Best Virtual Reality Travel Experiences

  With the time and expense required to travel being prohibitive to many, there are alternative ways of indulging your wanderlust – including via the burgeoning world of Virtual Reality.

(Photo: Cubicle Ninjas)

There are a huge number of VR companies all vying to create ever more unique experiences for consumers – and one of the biggest growth categories has been travel. And what better time to get a taste of exploration and adventure from the comfort of your living room, equipped only with a VR headset, than now, when travel is a luxury that many just can’t stretch to? We’ve picked out 10 of the best virtual reality travel experiences currently on the market.

So which VR headset should you go for? Our favourite is the Meta Quest 3, which launched onto the market in mid-2023 and is the successor to the Meta Quest 2. For immersive games and travel experiences, we believe the Meta Quest 3 is destined to become the leading VR headset over the coming years. It’s pretty affordable, too, and unlike other headsets, doesn’t require cords or a computer. You can purchase the Meta Quest 3 at Amazon.com.

Guided Meditation VR

Developed by Cubicle Ninjas, Guided Meditation VR is designed to bring peace, joy, and calm back into your daily life by teaching you ancient meditation practices in a cutting-edge way. It features over 40 lush environments to escape the everyday, 30-plus hours of guided meditations on anxiety, depression, maternity, resilience, sleep and zen, and hundreds of hours of calming musical audio tracks to help enhance your meditation experience. Users can also customise their sessions to their own specific preferences and needs, including the option to switch into Motion mode and gently float through beautiful vistas like you would on a lazy river, leaving the worries of your life behind before returning calmer and stronger.

PRICE £10.99 HEADSETS Meta Quest 3

Be anywhere in the world with anyone, instantly, in this captivating game developed by Wooorld Inc. Visit hundreds of cities, architectural landmarks, natural wonders, and vacation spots in incredible 3D detail, and get tips about the best places to visit, the hidden gems, where to get the best food and all the tourist traps to avoid. You can also create your own 3D avatars with face and body tracking and test your worldly knowledge by guessing where you are after being teleported to 5 random locations, with only the landscape, flora, architecture, and road signs for clues. The game can played as collaboratively as you wish, with options to explore the world with friends and meet new people, or hop into a Solo World without any distractions.

PRICE Free HEADSETS Meta Quest 3

(Photo: Wooorld Inc.)

Blueplanet VR Explore

(Photo: Blueplanet VR Explore)

Highlighting sacred and fragile locations of natural beauty and cultural heritage, Blueplanet VR Explore  is a collection of remarkable places across the world. With freedom to move around and explore, the virtual reality experiences are captured in volumetric 3D with great detail and accuracy. The scenes look and feel like these places do in real life, and enable you to freely move around to enjoy and explore these remarkable, fragile, and priceless environments. Concern for the environment often comes from direct experience, and being as close as we can get to experiencing a sense of actually being there, Blueplanet can help encourage people to appreciate and protect these treasures.

PRICE £18.99 HEADSETS Meta Quest 3

BRINK Traveler

Travel to some of the world’s most amazing natural wonders in fully immersive 3D and feel like you’re really there in this awe-inspiring game by Brink XR. Step into a scene akin to a postcard as you visit a total of 28 (with more on their way) of the most breathtaking places on Earth. In-game highlights include room-scale walkable areas in each destination, a virtual guide and assistant to learn about where you’re visiting, and the chance to shoot photos to share with friends. You can either play the game solo or with friends and family in multiplayer mode.

PRICE £11.99 HEADSETS Meta Quest 3

(Photo: BRINK XR)

National Geographic Explore VR

Created in partnership with National Geographic, a world-leading society in the fields of geography, cartography and exploration, this magical VR experience invites you to discover two of the most iconic locations on Planet Earth. Don your explorer hat and head to Antarctica for an exhilarating expedition. Navigate around icebergs in a kayak, climb a vast ice shelf and survive a snowstorm as you hunt for a lost emperor penguin colony. Visit the ancient Inca citadel of Machu Picchu in Peru and get immersed in amazing digital reconstructions of the legendary site. Witness mummy worships, raise a cup of sacred chicha and encounter cute and furry alpacas as you match Hiram Bingham’s photographs from when he rediscovered the citadel. Be sure to take a camera as your best snaps may even make it into the prestigious National Geographic magazine.

PRICE £7.99 HEADSETS Meta Quest 3

(Photo: Force Field Entertainment B.V)

The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners

Fans of the hugely popular TV blockbuster The Walking Dead can now join the world of zombies in this new VR adventure. Travel through the ruins of New Orleans as you fight, scavenge, and survive, each day unravelling another mystery lurking within the city’s historic quarters. Encounter desperate factions and lone survivors who could be friend or foe. Whether you help others or take what you want by force, every choice you make has consequences. What kind of survivor will you be for the people of NOLA? Scavenge for anything that you can; weapons, food, tools, and clues. Be wary of the living and the dead, with spatial audio drawing attention to any loud noise. Craft makeshift gear out of scrapped material; blades, guns, medicine, and more. Test your morals and make difficult choices for yourself and others. It’s all here, bringing the small screen to life in a big way.

PRICE £29.99 HEADSETS Meta Quest 3

(Photo: Skydance Interactive)

Narrated by award-winning actress Anna Friel, this trail-blazing VR series opens the door to some of the planet’s wildest environments while redefining the limits of 3D-180 cameras. Meet the humans protecting our most precious wildlife, explore the great savannahs of Kenya, discover the ancient jungles of Borneo and dive into the rich coral reefs of Raja Ampat. Encounter elephants, orangutans, manta rays and some incredible humans, all in stunning cinematic footage filmed from the air and deep into the ocean. The series was produced in partnership with World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF),

(Photo: PHORIA)

The world is your oyster with this interactive, immersive VR experience that’s designed to be played by the whole family. There’s global travel and adventure in which your friends and family can join city tours, hot air balloon rides, back-country road trips, and plenty more. Or you can simply kick back and relax, practice meditation and get back to nature – all in the company of a guide or going solo, if you prefer. Other features include photo sharing, soundtracks, a range of fun games and media customisation.

(Photo: AARP Innovation Labs)

Rome Reborn: The Pantheon

Created by Flyover Zone, an American company specialising in virtual travel applications that present the world’s most important cultural heritage sites and monuments, Rome Reborn is one of five applications that present different areas of ancient Rome. This particular one transports users over the entire ancient city, focussing on the Pantheon, perhaps the best-preserved building from antiquity. In the company of two virtual guides, you’ll get to explore the exterior forecourt and interior sanctuary of the reconstructed complex as you listen and learn about the Pantheon’s design and decoration, as well as the nature of the religious cult once housed within it.

PRICE £3.99 HEADSETS Currently only available on Oculus Rift

(Photo: Flyover Zone Productions)

Monte Fitzroy is Argentina’s most famous mountain landmark and is even used as the logo for outdoor retailer, Patagonia. It is a place that immediately evokes a sense of adventure. At the foot of the mountain is a beautiful and remote glacial lake known as Laguna Sucia. Most people who visit Monte Fitzroy view it from a location that is much easier to access. Laguna Sucia requires a much tougher hard-to-access trail that culminates in one of the most beautiful and remote glacial lakes in existence. You are rewarded with a sense of almost meditative stillness as you approach this untouched natural amphitheatre. This VR experience utilises Pterovision, a 3D technology that integrates computational photography, 360 Video, and gaming and allows you to take off like a bird, fly around the lake, visit the waterfalls along the edge, and fly over glacial formations beneath the mountain peaks. Numerous narrations will tell you about the challenges we faced when filming in this location, as well as educate you about the geology, culture, and history.

PRICE $2.99 HEADSETS Currently only available on Oculus Rift 

(Photo: Specterras Productions)

Gala360 – Travel & Relax

Taking you on awe-inspiring virtual adventures across the globe, Gala360 is the result of the magic touch of an array of exceptionally talented photographers who have captured their globe-trotting trips in all their glory before being rendered into VR form. In professional 6K resolution, more than 300 tours around the world are featured, with some also including narration which allows you to listen to the stories behind the trips. Most of the tours are free, but you can pay a small fee to unlock more.

PRICE Free HEADSETS Currently only available on Oculus Go (soon available on Quest 2)

(Photo: Gala 360)

Latest Articles

• 5 Unique Belize Shore Excursions April 18, 2024
• 5 of the Best Tuk Tuk Tours in Lisbon April 17, 2024
• Where to Find Short Term or Monthly Rentals in Brooklyn April 17, 2024
• Where to Book Hotel Transfer from Fort Lauderdale Airport April 17, 2024
• 5 of the Best Yoga Teacher Training Retreats in France April 17, 2024

Boutique Japan

30 Japan Experiences to Add to Your Bucket List

At Boutique Japan, our specialty is helping travelers who believe that travel is about unique experiences, not just sightseeing or checking items off a list.

But when you’re planning a trip to Japan , it can be hard to know which places are worth visiting, and which places to skip. After all, some popular experiences are actually worthwhile and live up to the hype, while others are just as touristy as they look on Instagram.

If you’re looking for inspiration on where to go and what to do for a truly memorable Japan trip, we recommend the remarkable places and experiences listed below. Some are more well-known, while others will help you get off the beaten path (and into the Japanese countryside ).

Originally written in 2015, this post was updated and republished on September 21, 2021.

To Tour or Not to Tour

While we specialize in planning custom trips to Japan, we realize many people refer to our website to help them plan their itineraries independently. Many of the experiences featured below can be done without a guide, though most can be greatly enhanced with a fun, local expert.

We hear from lots of travelers who have had mediocre tours in the past, and we get it. Few things are more frustrating than a boring, or bad, guide. Along with visiting boutique and luxury hotels and ryokans , perhaps the most important part of our team’s work is vetting guides and local experts (there are plenty of guides throughout Japan, but few who are knowledgeable, flexible, and authentically engaging).

Of course, even for travelers who appreciate a great guide, there may be times where you simply want to relax or explore on your own. This might mean wandering around a charming neighborhood, people watching at a stylish cafe, or enjoying a spa treatment. We take this into account when designing your Japan itinerary , and suggest local experts especially where we think it will most enhance your experience.

We hope our ideas provide you with travel inspiration, whether you contact us for your trip or plan independently!

Here are 30 unique and immersive experiences to consider for your Japan bucket list:

• Drink and Dine at an Izakaya
• Soak in Healing Onsen (Hot Springs)
• Explore Art & Architecture on The Art Island of Naoshima
• Splurge on a Night at a Tokyo Luxury Hotel
• Attend a Japanese Matsuri (Festival)
• Sample the World’s Finest Sushi & Sashimi
• Ride the Shinkansen (Bullet Train) Around Japan
• Stroll Through Arashiyama’s Bamboo Forest
• Eat The Best Ramen of Your Life on a Ramen Deep Dive
• Stay at a Shukubo (Buddhist Temple Lodging)
• Watch Sumo and Baseball
• Ski or Snowboard Japan’s Legendary Powder
• Admire Sakura During Cherry Blossom Season
• Taste Premium Nihonshu (Sake)
• Hike Through the Japanese Countryside
• Experience Nightlife in Japan
• Cycle Through Kyoto or Tokyo
• Trek Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine
• Eat Your Way Through Tsukiji’s Outer Market
• Climb or Admire Fuji-san (Mount Fuji)
• Marvel at Japan’s Modern Architecture
• Find Zen in a Japanese Garden
• Experience Japanese Coffee Culture
• Savor Matcha , Genmaicha , and More
• Visit an Original Japanese Castle
• Get Lost in Tokyo’s Stylish Backstreets
• Sip on Rare Japanese Whisky
• Experience Paradise in the Islands of Okinawa
• See the Famous Snow Monkeys in Nagano
• Obsess Over Japan’s World-Class Baked Goods

1. Drink and Dine at an Izakaya

You’ll find an amazing variety of culinary experiences in Japan , but there’s nothing like eating and drinking at an izakaya .

In addition to being the perfect place to sample a wide variety of Japanese dishes — from sashimi and fried foods, to tofu and seasonal vegetables — eating and drinking at an izakaya is also a great way to mingle with locals. Kanpai!

2. Soak in Healing Onsen (Hot Springs)

Soaking in a remote onsen while the snow falls around you is one of the most magical experiences you can have in Japan, and makes braving the cold all the more worthwhile. It’s one of our favorite things about winter in Japan .

Combined with a stay in a traditional ryokan (Japanese-style inn) , and you have all the makings of an unforgettable trip. For more ryokan inspiration, see our Luxury Ryokans & the Japanese Countryside sample trip.

3. Explore Art & Architecture on The Art Island of Naoshima

For art lovers, the so-called art island, Naoshima , is a must-visit, with museums designed by Tadao Ando and works by world-class artists from around the world. Stay at the museum-hotel Benesse House, and also make sure to visit the tiny nearby art islands of Teshima and Inujima.

4. Splurge on a Night at a Tokyo Luxury Hotel

Tokyo is home to some of Japan’s best hotels . Luxury options include Aman Tokyo, Palace Hotel Tokyo, and HOSHINOYA Tokyo. Stylish boutique hotels in Tokyo include TRUNK, K5, and Hotel Ryumeikan Ochanomizu Honten.

And there are many, many others (including, of course, the Park Hyatt Tokyo made famous in Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation ). With so many fun and beautiful options, it’s worth splurging on at least one night at a luxurious Tokyo hotel.

If you can, it’s also worth splurging on a night at a luxury ryokan in rural Japan , as well!

5. Attend a Japanese Matsuri (Festival)

If you want to see Japan at its liveliest, a high-energy matsuri is the place to do it! Japanese festivals ( matsuri ) are full of color, tradition, and exuberance. Some of the most remarkable include Hokkaido’s Yuki Matsuri (Snow Festival), Shikoku’s boisterous Awa Odori dance festival, and the beautiful Gion Matsuri of Kyoto.

6. Sample the World’s Finest Sushi & Sashimi

Sushi and sashimi in Japan are, unsurprisingly, on a level of their own. Tokyo’s best sushi shops are just the tip of the iceberg, and you’ll find top-quality sushi and sashimi throughout the country, in places such as Kanazawa , Hokkaido, Toyama Prefecture, and beyond.

Even more price-conscious travelers will find excellent sushi and sashimi at moderately priced restaurants, and in beautiful depachika bentos.

7. Ride the Shinkansen (Bullet Train) Around Japan

Whether or not you’re a train geek, you’re likely aware that Japan’s rail network is part of what makes traveling around Japan such a joy. Even though we typically don’t recommend the Japan Rail Pass for most of our clients, we do recommend getting around via shinkansen whenever possible, and fortunately Japan’s extensive rail system connects the country from Hokkaido in the north, to Kyushu in the southwest.

Part of the fun of riding the bullet train is the food. Before hopping on the train, pick up a delicious seasonal bento and a bottle of sake (eating and drinking on the train is a national tradition), and enjoy the landscape as it zips by.

8. Stroll Through Arashiyama’s Bamboo Forest

Too touristy? Not necessarily . Yes, Kyoto’s scenic Arashiyama district (home to Zen temples and the iconic bamboo forest) can get extremely crowded at peak hours, and during peak seasons such as spring and fall .

On the other hand, if you visit off-season — or have the motivation to wake up early — you may have this magical place all to yourself. Depending on the time of year, the crowds often also begin thinning out in the late afternoon, when most tourists head back to their hotels.

9. Eat The Best Ramen of Your Life on a Ramen Deep Dive

These days you can find good-quality ramen in most major cities around the world, but there’s still nothing like ramen in Japan. Wherever you go, from Fukuoka (aka Hakata) in the southwest to Sapporo in the north, you’ll find incredibly good ramen shops with passionately devoted followers.

If you’re a hardcore ramen lover, geek out with a ramen-obsessed expert who will take you to a selection of great ramen-ya to experience distinct styles and varieties. There are also less obsessive ramen guides for travelers seeking a more basic introduction to these famous noodles.

For more on ramen, see our introduction to ramen in Japan and our guide to Tokyo’s 5 top historic ramen shops .

10. Stay at a Shukubo (Buddhist Temple Lodging)

For a taste of traditional Japanese Buddhist life, there’s no better experience than spending a night or two at a shukubo (temple lodging).

Temple accommodations are typically on the rustic side, but prepare for a fascinating and immersive cultural experience, and delicious vegetarian shojin ryori cuisine. Japan’s most famous destination for shukubo stays is sacred Mount Koya (Koyasan) , and there are many other off-the-beaten-path options elsewhere in Japan as well.

11. Watch Sumo and Baseball

The chance to watch sumo in Japan should not be missed! Along with being highly entertaining, attending a sumo basho (tournament) is also a fascinating cultural experience.

And even if you’re not a baseball fan, few things are more fun than going to a baseball game in Japan. Japanese baseball fans are renowned for their liveliness, and the food and drink is also a highlight!

12. Ski or Snowboard Japan’s Legendary Powder

From the legendary powder of Niseko and Hokkaido, to the Japanese Alps and Tohoku, Japan has some of the best skiing and snowboarding in the world. After a day on the slopes, rejuvenate with cozy izakaya food and healing onsen .

13. Admire Sakura During Cherry Blossom Season

We were torn about whether to include this on our list, as we generally believe Japan is best experienced with fewer crowds. On the other hand, despite the number of tourists, there is nevertheless something beguilingly magical about sakura (cherry blossoms).

During hanami (cherry blossom viewing) season, the country is covered in pink blossoms, and parks and gardens are filled with revelers celebrating over sake and seasonal bentos. It’s definitely not for everyone though, so make sure to read all about the pros and cons of visiting Japan in cherry blossom season .

A popular and slightly less crowded alternative is Japan’s autumn , renowned for its brilliant fall colors.

14. Taste Premium Nihonshu (Sake)

Many would-be nihonshu (sake) lovers have been turned off of sake thanks to subpar experiences at Japanese restaurants outside of Japan. But the quality of sake to be found in Japan is simply remarkable. Forget the sake you’ve tried in the US, Europe, or Australia. Come to Japan with an open mind and prepare to sample premium nihonshu from small local producers who rarely export.

15. Hike Through the Japanese Countryside

Japan is a hiker’s paradise, with wonderful day hikes and multi-day walks throughout the country (there are even great hikes near Tokyo , and many more in and around Kyoto).

Two of Japan’s best multi-day hiking adventures are the charming Nakasendo Trail in central Japan’s Kiso Valley, and the Kumano Kodo pilgrimage route in the Kii Peninsula, but for intrepid travelers there are also plenty of other options, on and off the beaten path.

16. Experience Nightlife in Japan

Japan is culturally thrilling during the day, and equally dynamic at night.

Whether you’re enjoying craft cocktails or Japanese whisky at a tiny bar, drinking with locals at a casual izakaya or tachinomi (stand bar), or singing all-night karaoke, Japan has some of the most varied and entertaining nightlife in the world. Tokyo’s nightlife is legendary, and you’ll also find bustling nightlife scenes in cities such as Sapporo, Osaka , Fukuoka, and more.

17. Cycle Through Kyoto or Tokyo

For serious cyclists, the Japanese countryside offers countless opportunities for distance rides (mountain biking is also popular in Japan). But even if you’re not looking to plan your whole trip around cycling, you can still fit some in while having fun exploring cities such as Kyoto and Tokyo.

Both are great cycling cities, especially when you’re winding your way through charming backstreets, away from the tourist centers. Think of it as a neighborhood stroll by bicycle, taking in quiet areas filled with authentic street life, old-fashioned shops, and neighborhood shrines and temples.

18. Trek Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine

Like Arashiyama’s bamboo forest, Kyoto’s Fushimi Inari Taisha tends to draw huge crowds. Yet also like the bamboo forest, Fushimi Inari is nevertheless still worth visiting.

One way to minimize exposure to crowds is by coming here early in the morning before most travelers have had their morning tea or coffee. For a more off-the-beaten-path experience, hike up Mount Inari and you’ll see that gradually the selfie sticks give way to peace and quiet!

19. Eat Your Way Through Tsukiji’s Outer Market

Wait, didn’t Tokyo’s fish market move to Toyosu ? Yes, it did! But Tsukiji remains a must for food and market lovers. While the market’s wholesale operations have moved to the slightly out-of-the-way Toyosu, the jogai (outer market) at Tsukiji is still thriving.

In Tsukiji’s Outer Market you’ll find historic lanes and alleys packed with a colorful array of shops and small restaurants, not to mention atmosphere and charm to spare. For more info, see our guide to visiting Tokyo’s Tsukiji Market .

20. Climb or Admire Fuji-san (Mount Fuji)

As the old saying goes, there are two types of fools in the world: those who never climb Mount Fuji, and those who climb it more than once. On the way up you’ll see children and grandparents, and while not the most scenic trek, it is all worthwhile when you reach the summit in time for sunrise.

There are other great ways to admire Mount Fuji, as well. One is to visit Hakone , which offers good views of the mountain if and only if the weather is clear. For an even closer vantage point, and incredible views when it’s clear, head to the lakeside resort of Kawaguchiko. And for active travelers seeking a vigorous hike with views of Mount Fuji, there are some excellent off-the-beaten-path in the Fuji-san area.

21. Marvel at Japan’s Modern Architecture

Along with its traditional gems, Japan is home to some of the world’s most accomplished architects, and you’ll find stunning architecture throughout the country.

In Tokyo, you could spend hours strolling the main avenues and backstreets of the Ginza, Aoyama, and Omotesando neighborhoods, filled with iconic buildings by Japanese luminaries and Pritzker Prize winners. Throughout Japan, from tiny villages to major cities, you’ll come across the work of legendary architects such as Tadao Ando and Kengo Kuma, often in the most surprising of locations.

22. Find Zen in a Japanese Garden

Kyoto is particularly renowned for its wealth of gardens (not to mention shrines and temples ). Even beyond Kyoto, impeccable gardens abound in Japan, from stroll gardens like Kenrokuen in Kanazawa , to the gorgeous gardens of the Adachi Museum of Art. See our full guide to the best gardens in Japan .

23. Experience Japanese Coffee Culture

Coffee has been an art form in Japan for decades, and while tea may still be a more prevalent part of traditional daily life, coffee is also deeply ingrained in Japanese culture. Throughout Japan you’ll find classic kissaten (old-school tea and coffee shops), where part of the experience is slowing down.

You come to a kissaten to sit for a while, chat quietly or read a book, and enjoy an expertly, laboriously prepared cup of coffee. As with most things in Japan, you’ll find that kissaten proprietors on the whole take a meticulous approach to quality and technique. At some shops, the obsession with perfection is taken to another level!

To complement your quaint kissa experiences, you’ll also want to seek out some of the modern temples of specialty coffee in Japan .

24. Savor Matcha , Genmaicha , and More

Even coffee-obsessed travelers should make sure to sample tea in Japan .

Though best known for green tea, while exploring Japan you’ll come across an incredible variety of teas, ranging from matcha and genmaicha , to tea made from sakura and more. Whether at a specialty tea shop, or as part of a tea ceremony, few things are more heartwarming than a thoughtfully prepared cup of matcha .

25. Visit an Original Japanese Castle

Lovers of history and traditional architecture should go out of their way to visit at least one original, preserved Japanese castle. Most castles you see in photos (for example, Osaka Castle) are reconstructions, with beautiful external appearances but lackluster interiors.

Japan retains a small but wonderful collection of preserved original castles including Himeji-jo (Himeji Castle), Matsumoto-jo (in the alpine city of Matsumoto ), Hikone-jo, Matsuyama-jo, and more. With gorgeous exteriors and captivating interiors full of intrigue, these national treasures are a must for history buffs.

26. Get Lost in Tokyo’s Stylish Backstreets

Getting lost is not everyone’s idea of fun, but in a safe and gem-filled city like Tokyo, it can lead to some delightful travel experiences.

For expert insight to complement your wanderings, spend some time walking through the maze-like backstreets of Daikanyama and Naka-Meguro, two of Tokyo’s most unique neighborhoods , with a fun local guide. Leave the main streets behind as you find endless inspiration in the labyrinthine (and astoundingly quiet) lanes of these fashionable and picturesque districts.

27. Sip on Rare Japanese Whisky

One option for spirit lovers is to visit some of Japan’s whisky distilleries , but you don’t necessarily need to go to the source to enjoy some of the country’s best whisky.

There are few better places to drink Japanese whisky than in Tokyo (and other major cities, including Kyoto and Osaka), which are home to some of the best whisky bars on the planet. You can venture out on your own, or with a local whisky expert be introduced to exclusive whisky establishments where you can splurge on rare samples.

28. Experience Paradise in the Islands of Okinawa

The islands of Okinawa are home to stunning beaches, world-class scuba diving, and fascinating culture and history. In particular, the remote islands of Okinawa — such as the pristine Yaeyama Islands — feel worlds apart from mainland Japan. For culinary travelers, Okinawa’s food is also a highlight.

29. See the Famous Snow Monkeys in Nagano

Located in the mountains of Nagano Prefecture, animal lovers flock to the Jigokudani Yaen Koen (Snow Monkey Park) to see Japan’s famous snow monkeys up close. While possible to visit throughout the year, the best time to visit the onsen -loving snow monkeys is in deep winter, when the landscape is completely covered in snow.

30. Obsess Over Japan’s World-Class Baked Goods

It’s easy to focus on Japanese cuisine when traveling through Japan, but for lovers of bread, croissants, and pastries, do not miss out on enjoying baked goods while in Japan! You can find top-quality bakeries and patisseries around the country, from the remote countryside of Hokkaido, to cities like Osaka and Tokyo. While you’re at it, make sure to save a meal for one of Japan’s legendary pizza specialists, too.

Japan Has Even More Amazing Places to Experience

Whether you usually plan your own trips, or normally work with a destination expert, planning a trip to Japan can seem overwhelming at times.

At Boutique Japan, our specialty is crafting completely customized trips for travelers seeking unique, authentic experiences. If you are interested in learning more about working with us, please feel free to explore our trip planning process .

More Great Posts

Japan’s Best Boutique and Luxury Hotels & Ryokans

The best hotels and ryokans in Japan range from charming traditional inns in the countryside, to stylish design hotels and…

Traveler’s Guide to the JR Pass (Is It Worth It?)

The Japan Rail Pass (or JR Pass, for short) can be a good way to get around Japan, but many…

Major Holidays and Peak Travel Seasons in Japan

If you’re considering a trip to Japan during one of the country’s peak travel seasons, be aware that things can…

Plan Your Japan Trip

Learn more and contact us to discuss your unique trip.

Get Started

• The Process
• Testimonials

• Destinations
• Travel Tips
• Travel With Us
• Paid Travel Internship
• TTIFridays (Community Events)
• SG Travel Insider (Telegram Grp)

• Around The World

19 Unique Travel Experiences You Can Buy That Make You Richer

If “Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer”, these unique travel experiences are a jackpot!

Earlier this year, I went on my first solo trip to Japan. For 10 days, I backpacked through Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo, roomed with strangers and did (almost) everything alone.

It wasn’t because I had no friends 🥺 — but having only been on school trips and family holidays, I wanted to see what the ‘solo travel’ hype was all about.

Read also: 9 Practical Benefits of Solo Travelling That Have Nothing To Do With “Finding Yourself”

An unexpected lesson from travelling alone: How to take boomer-esque selfies

And the hype wasn’t for nothing. If you’re looking for “richer” unique travel experiences yourself, check out these creative and challenging adventures. Some of these experiences may be a nudge out of your comfort zone, but the memories gained and lessons learnt are sure to last a lifetime.

1) Conquer new heights

Photo credit: Matthew Irving

Apart from being able to get a good healthy dose of the outdoors, getting to the top of a hike is possibly one of the most rewarding feelings.

Try conquering Mount Kinabalu — the tallest in Southeast Asia, or a 14-day trek up to Everest Base Camp . You don’t have to be a world-class athlete to attempt these, but you do need a good fitness level and possibly deal with altitude sickness.

Pick your torture mountain and see how far your mind and body takes you.

For a destination with no shortage of scenic mountain views, check out this guide on the best way to travel around Switzerland !

2) Explore the unbeaten path with TTI Experiences

If you’re looking to satisfy your #wanderlust, TTI Experiences takes you on raw adventures through the wilderness of Mongolia .

Relatively untouched by tourism, Mongolia has a surreal beauty you’d rarely find anywhere else. Most commercial tours visit the Gobi Desert, but we venture deep into the Mongolian Steppe to experience nomadic life. Yes, you get to live with eagle hunters and reindeer herders who continue their centuries-old traditions till this day.

If blazing campfires, endless starry nights, hearty Mongolian delicacies and toughing it out with nomads sound like a good time, then join us for our upcoming trips !

*Update: TTI Experiences has been put on hold for the time being. Leave us your email address here if you’d like to be notified of future adventures!

Read more: 7 Reasons Why Travelling to Mongolia Will Cure Your Quarantine Blues

3) Earn your scuba diving licence

Photo credit: Heron Island

Yes the grand Mongolian plains are fascinating but it’s a whole new world down under and nothing beats diving into the depths of the ocean. If you don’t already have an open water certification, then it’s time to get one! And what better place to do it than at the Great Barrier Reef .

Off the coast of Queensland, Australia, the Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest coral reef system. With over 2,900 reefs, it’s arguably the world’s most iconic place to dive at.

Photo credit: @greatbarrierreef.australia via Instagram

Both PADI and SSI courses typically take four to seven days. They include theory lessons and open water dives that’ll get you up close to the colourful corals. Once certified, you can dive up to 18m anywhere in the world, as long as you’re accompanied by another certified buddy or professional.

Learning to dive takes some grit so this ain’t your usual lazy holiday. But, you walk away with a new life skill and sick dives in the Great Barrier Reef!

Other fantastic diving destinations: – Discover World War II shipwrecks in Palawan, Philippines – Dive with sharks in Durban, South Africa – Mingle with playful seals at Montague Island, Australia

Read more: 9 Most Adventurous Things to Do in Palawan, Philippines

4) Hunt for the Milky Way on a stargazing trip to Death Valley

Photo credit: Miguel Claro

MacBook wallpapers are glamorous, but nothing beats seeing the Milky Way in person. For this, one of the best ways is to camp out in Death Valley National Park . Located in California, it’s one of the world’s largest Dark Sky Parks and best places for stargazing.

As city dwellers, camping in the desert together with coyotes and other wild beasts sounds like a death wish, but the experience is worth it! Far from the pollution of city lights, there’s no better experience than sleeping undisturbed underneath billions of stars. Perhaps you’ll walk away with some new survival skills too 😉

Other great stargazing destinations: – Canary Islands, Spain – Lake Tekapo, New Zealand – NamibRand Nature Reserve, Namibia

5) Live out of a campervan in Iceland

If silent retreats are a bit of a stretch for you, here’s another way to get away from it all.

Whether it’s escaping the mundane or taking on the world, we all love a good road trip — and Iceland is the perfect setting for one! The Land of Ice and Fire has plenty of hot springs, volcanos, glaciers and sprawling roads that promise an unforgettable adventure.

Road trips in Iceland are a great way to disconnect and enjoy life’s simplest pleasures. Driving from mystical waterfall to glamorous glacier, you’ll learn to rough it out with your best buds while cooking meals on the road and sleeping under the northern lights.

Read also: 10-Day Budget Iceland Itinerary for S$2.8k — The Epic Camper Van Road Trip

Other wondrous destinations for road trips: – Route 66, USA – Great Ocean Road, Australia – Pacific Coast Highway, USA – South Island, New Zealand

6) Embark on a solo trip

Fansipan, Vietnam

The benefits of solo travel are often waaay overstated, but there’s some truth in it too. Travelling alone is a fun way to test your independence and inject excitement into your trips. Since you can’t rely on anyone else, you’ll have to learn how to read maps or befriend strangers!

I absolutely loved the feeling of freedom on my first solo trip. I got to call the shots on which attractions to visit, if I should take a bus or do a long scenic hike, and even where to eat (restaurant or a 7-eleven?).

If you’re looking for unique experiences, solo travel is one of the easiest ways to get them. Even if you realise that it’s not for you, you’re bound to learn new things along the way.

Read also: 7 Life Lessons From a Solo Female Singaporean Traveller

7) Pick up a winter sport in Japan

Photo credit: The Ride Side

If you live in Singapore, or anywhere tropical, you’ll get me when I say winter sports have a mysterious allure.

If it’s your first time with the sport, Japan’s one of the best places to start. The slopes are powdery and very forgiving. Mix in cultural experiences like onsens and izakayas , it’s no wonder why people keep returning.

If you’ve never been on a ski trip, check out The Ride Side , a local Singaporean company that organises snowboarding trips to Hokkaido and Nagano — even better if you’re a solo traveller looking to meet other like-minded individuals!

8) Shred some gnarly waves on a surf trip to Hawaii

If winter isn’t your thing, how about picking up skills on a board in Hawaii? There are tons of exciting adventures across the island, including the famous Waikiki Beach where first-timers can learn the ropes.

Photo credit: @brentbielmann via Instagram

The highlight for surfers, though, is the Banzai Pipeline in Oahu. It’s what some consider as the most challenging surfing spot in the world. Needless to say, it’s every surfer’s dream to conquer its picturesque barrelling waves!

Other rad surfing destinations – Byron Bay, Australia – Cape Town, South Africa – Siargao Island, Philippines

Read also: 13 Reasons why Everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, should visit Honolulu Hawaii

9) Join a whale shark expedition in the Maldives

Photo credit: Maldives Whale Shark Research

If you’re in between jobs or on a gap year, volunteering with the Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme is a great way to visit an exotic destination and give back to nature!

The non-profit organisation runs two and four-week programmes for volunteers to help with marine conservation activities, like shark spotting and data collection. Outside of work, you can explore the exotic island and get a taste of Maldivian culture. It’s technically a working holiday, but it’s a good cause that’ll look great on your resume.

Do note you’ll need to make a financial contribution to join the programme. The fees will cover the rental of the research dhoni (boat), accommodation, food, and project-related expenses.

Read also: Swimming With Whale Sharks in Oslob — IG Worthy Photos at What Expense?

10) Escape on a Digital Detox

Photo credit: Bali Silent Retreat

If you’re feeling overwhelmed or overstimulated, a silent retreat may be the answer to slow down the pace of life.

Going days without speech may sound impossible, but Bali Silent Retreat creates the perfect environment to do so. Hidden deep in Bali’s lush rainforests, the resort offers a slew of wellness activities like spas, yoga and meditation sessions. Without the need to socialise, you get to escape from life’s obligations and focus on yourself.

The resort is also completely off-the-grid. WiFi or power outlets aren’t available — a solid excuse to ignore all of your boss’s emails!

11) Run a marathon in North Korea

Photo credit: Pyongyang Marathon

You’re probably wondering, “Why the #@&* would I run a marathon on my holiday? And in North Korea !?”

If you’re looking for unique experiences, it’s hard to pass up the chance to travel to the most secretive country in the world! Plus, the annual Pyongyang Marathon is the only event that’s open to foreign participants in North Korea.

Photo credit: Great Wall Marathon

In case North Korea’s not your cup of tea, there are many other iconic races around the world, like the Great Wall Marathon and Mt Fuji Marathon . You get to check out these wondrous landmarks and smash your #fitnessgoals, all at the same time!

12) Party at the world’s most epic music festivals

Photo credit: @tomorrowland via Instagram

Sure, we have ZoukOut and Ultra in Singapore — which are pretty rad too with sick beats dished out by world-famous DJs.

But music festivals are also huge melting pots of art and fashion. And part of that experience is being thrown in with people from all around the world.

Organisers often go the extra mile when designing sets, sculptures and light shows to make the experience extra magical. Festival-goers also love to dress up, donning everything from immaculate body paint designs to colourful tutus .

Bucket list music festivals to check out: – Tomorrowland in Belgium – Coachella in California – Burning Man in Nevada – Fuji Rock in Japan

13) Fulfil your childhood safari dreams in Africa

As kids, I’m sure many of us were wonderstruck by the enchanting beasts of the savannah. Now that we’re older, it’s time to actually don the symbolic safari hat and slap on some insect repellant — trust me, they’re a must.

First-timers can check out safaris such as Masai Mara in Kenya and Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. Their plains are teeming with wildlife and have flatter roads that make them newcomer-friendly.

The best time to visit is between July to October when the Great Migration happens. The huge herds of moving wildebeests attract predators like lions and cheetahs. Maybe don’t go on a full stomach though. The safari plains are a no-holds-barred land and the circle of life is on full display. We even spotted an antelope giving birth and a leopard dragging her kill up a tree!

Read more: 12D Budget Kenya Safari Itinerary under $1.1k: Hidden gems in Nairobi, Safaris in Maasai Mara, chill Mombasa

14) Soak up the atmosphere at live sport events

Photo credit: Olympic.org

Worldwide events like the Olympics never fail to excite the world with its festivities — so you can imagine what travelling to the heart of it is like!

On top of watching top-notch athletes battle it out on the world’s biggest stage, you also get to participate in the multitude of exhibitions and parades. It’s an iconic event that embodies the community spirit, celebrates mankind, and unifies cultures. Essentially, everything you’re looking for in a mindblowing trip.

Photo credit: FIFA

There are similar large-scale events for almost every sports fan in the world too. Even if you’re not big on sports, competitions like the FIFA World Cup and Grand Prix are exciting just for their extravagance and performances alone.

15) Trade luxurious hotels for couchsurfing

Couchsurfing in Japan. Photo credit: @allthegoodplaces via Instagram

Staying at a stranger’s place may sound scary, but Couchsurfing offers unique experiences that are hard to come by when you travel like a typical tourist.

First, you get insider info that most tourists wouldn’t know — and you can bet it’s more reliable than that Tripadvisor review you found from 2015! Second, it’s more than just free lodging. You get a cool insight into authentic local life. Lastly, it’s a neat way to spice up any trip you go on.

Photo credit: Couchsurfing

Hosting travellers at your own place also offers the opportunity to bring the “travel experience” to you. Surfers often have exciting travel stories to share, and may even cook dishes from their home country in return for your kindness.

Read also: “Couchsurfing Changed My Life” — Epic Stories and Life Lessons from 3 Singaporean Couchsurfers

16) Live and work overseas

Photo credit: @wwoof via Instagram

World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) is an organisation that connects travellers with organic farmers around the world. In exchange for accommodation, you basically get to stay in the countryside and help your host with gardening or farming.

Like couchsurfing , it’s a more intimate way of experiencing the local culture compared to regular sightseeing trips. WWOOF also has opportunities all over the world from Japan to South Africa, so you can even turn it into a world tour on a budget!

Read more: 5 Simple Ways To Practise Sustainable Tourism After COVID-19 Passes

17) Sail on a 50-day voyage with over 300 youths from ASEAN countries

Photo credit: @pgnarisara via Instagram

In a nutshell, the Ship For Southeast Asian and Japanese Youth Programme (SSEAYP) is a massive cruise exchange programme that visits five countries in 50 days. If you’re aged 18–30, this is one of the most unique travel experiences you’ve got to try.

Together with new friends from ASEAN and Japan, participants engage in cultural exchanges and important discussions on social matters. But the “travel” part’s not just for show. At each stop, you’ll get to experience homestays with local families and even pay visits to local dignitaries.

Sign-ups usually open at the start of the year, so keep an eye out if you want to seize this opportunity!

Read more: This Unique Youth Exchange Programme Sends You on a Voyage to 5 Countries — SSEAYP

18) Chill out at the annual Harbin Ice Festival

Photo credit: Mitalivshanbhag1810338 via Wikimedia

Harbin’s International Ice and Snow Festival is the largest one in the world. Held from January to February, it has loads of fun festivities to check out. There are snow-themed fashion events, snowfield football games, and (of course) the legendary ice sculpture competition.

Photo credit: Reuters

Expert ice carvers from all over the world come together to painstakingly build several breathtaking ice exhibits. These towering sculptures can reach 30m tall, and be dolled up with glamorous lights and ice slides that’ll make Elsa jealous.

Joining in the festivities is no easy feat though. Temperatures can drop as low as –38°C (there’s a reason the festival’s in Harbin), so travellers have to brave weird situations like having their hair and eyebrows freeze! Word of caution: come prepared or you might end up as an exhibit yourself.

Read more: 9 Epic Ice Palaces, Snow Hotels and Igloos For Your Winter Bucket List

19) Ride the Trans-Siberian Railway, the world’s longest railway

Photo credit: @ilyasenya via Instagram

Switch up the pace aboard the Trans-Siberian Railway — for a 7,621km journey from Beijing to Moscow, the is truly a once-in-a-lifetime adventure. Besides travelling for a week on the world’s longest railway, you also get to ride through eight time zones.

Photo credit: @beer_ha_umai via Instagram

Taking this railway is like going back in time — you’re stripped of creature comforts with no WiFi and limited showers on board. But, the bright side is that you’ll have lots of time to bounce between heart-to-hearts with your travel mates and watching grazing animals on sprawling fields pass by.

Open your mind with unique travel experiences

At the end of my first solo trip, I didn’t “find myself” or come to any life-changing revelations. But I realised that some trips do indeed make you “richer” than others.

Travel is incredibly exciting, but it can still go stale if we fall back to familiar routines. For your next trip, try something you’ve never tried before, pick up a new sport, strike up a conversation with strangers — be it lifelong friendships or new perspectives, you never know what you might gain. But one thing’s for sure: You’ll return much richer than before.

Facebook image credit: @ilyasenya via Instagram , The Ride Side , Heron Island

Have more unique travel experiences that didn’t make the list? Share them in the comments below!

For more travel inspiration, follow us on Facebook , Instagram , YouTube , and Telegram !

View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Travel Intern (@thetravelintern) on Jan 16, 2020 at 5:11am PST

RELATED ARTICLES MORE FROM AUTHOR

The Ultimate USJ Guide and Tips (2024) — Universal Studios Japan

Mobile Payment in China: Step-by-step Guide to Using Alipay and WeChat Pay without a Chinese Bank Account

10 Lesser-known Countries That Are Surprisingly Visa-free for Singapore Passport Holders

10 Disney-inspired Adventures Beyond Disneyland — Bucket List for Disney Fans

7 Best Hikes in New Zealand for Lord of The Rings Fans — Where to find The Loneliest Mountain, Mount Doom, Chetwood Forest and...

7 Must-visit K-pop and K-drama Filming Locations Out of Seoul — Busan and Jeju Travel Guide

Leave a reply cancel reply.

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

11 Things to do in Clark, Philippines — A Quiet Adventure...

20 Things to Eat-See-Do in Sabah’s Capital Besides Climbing Mount Kinabalu

Experience Macao Singapore Roadshow: Get Exclusive Deals, Experience the Macau Grand...

Ultimate 6-Day Adelaide Itinerary — The Best of South Australia’s Underrated...

31 New Deals and Attractions in Singapore this April 2024

• Terms Of Use
• Privacy Policy

• Search Please fill out this field.
• Manage Your Subscription
• Give a Gift Subscription
• Newsletters
• Sweepstakes

Dog Company Announces New Air Travel Experience Designed Specifically for Canines: They 'Will Be the VIPs'

Routes will currently serve the New York City metro area with flights to Los Angeles and London

Man's best friend will soon be able to get the VIP treatment when taking to the skies!

Earlier this week, BARK , a dog-focused company that provides products, services and content for canines, launched BARK Air , the "world’s first air travel experience designed specifically for dogs first, and their human companions second," according to a press release obtained by PEOPLE.

Currently, routes will serve the New York City metro area through Westchester County Airport (HPN) with flights to the Los Angeles area via Van Nuys (VNY) and London, by Stansted Airport (STN).

According to the release, an Argus Platinum-rated charter company is "responsible for all aircraft, crew, maintenance, and insurance-related matters." BARK, meanwhile, the release said, is "focused on creating and delivering a world-class air travel experience for dogs and their people."

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

After booking a trip online, users will be contacted by a BARK Air concierge, who will gather information about each dog and their human’s travel plans.

On the day of travel, pets and their human counterparts will arrive at the airport 45 to 60 minutes before takeoff, when the dogs will mingle with other canine companions as their owners dine on meals prepared by onsite chefs.

Next, dogs will be greeted by BARK Air concierge, who will "help them settle into their experience through socialization and dog-centric cabin preparation," per the release. They will also have access to various aids, the company added, including "calming treats, noise-canceling ear muffs and calming jackets to ensure a stress-free and enjoyable flight."

Once onboard, BARK-branded treats, snacks and "surprises" will be offered to the dogs, and they will be "served their beverage of choice during ascent and descent to ensure they do not experience any ear discomfort commonly caused by changes in cabin pressure," BARK said.

“When we started BARK in 2011, we were on a mission to disrupt the dog space and create products designed for dogs and their humans. We are excited to take the insights we’ve learned over the years to create an experience that is truly dog-first, which is drastically different from just accepting dogs — from the ground to the skies,” said Matt Meeker, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer at BARK.

“We believe this initiative will elevate awareness of our brand’s mission and values, introduce more dog lovers to the BARK family, and help enrich the lives of dogs and their people around the world," he added.

In a statement of his own, Zahir Ibrahim, Chief Financial Officer at BARK, echoed those sentiments, stating, “We believe this initiative will raise awareness of BARK’s mission in a cost-effective manner. Given we are not committed to booking flights far in advance, we have a lot of flexibility to opportunistically charter flights during times of high demand."

"In parallel, we believe the additional traffic to BARK.co will raise awareness of our full offering, benefiting our core business in the long term," he continued.

Related Articles

Ingredients for a Beautiful Life!

7 Tips to Take Your Travel Experiences to the Next Level

Are you seeking to elevate your travel experiences? There are many ways to improve your trip, whether it is going off the well-trodden main routes or simply getting more out of each excursion you plan. To guide you, we’ll provide our top seven pieces of advice for entering a brand-new world of discovery and adventure. So continue reading if you’re ready to make routine vacations memorable. Here are seven tips to take your travel experiences to the next level.

1. Look Into the Destination Before You Travel 

It’s a smart idea to research your destination before you travel there. Learning more about the destination is more important than just the attractions. What is the local culture like? Do they communicate in a language you are fluent in Knowing this information can make it simpler to enjoy your journey and establish connections with the individuals you encounter along the way. Of course, knowing the best restaurants and activities to do is always a plus. You may avoid a lot of hassle when you’re on the go by doing some preliminary research.

2. Consider Renting a Campervan

The best approach to maximize your vacation experience is to take a road trip and stay in comfortable accommodations. For instance, consider renting a camper to travel Christchurch or wherever your next stop may be. A campervan lets you go as far or as little as you want. It also lets you utilise your kitchen and bathroom appliances, saving money. You can visit destinations that most tourists rarely get to visit because of your flexibility. So, if you want to explore a new culture in depth and become part of it for a few days, consider this option.

3. Pack Light and Only Bring Essentials 

There’s no need to overpack your suitcase if you only plan to spend a few days away from home. Additionally, packing lightly can save you the trouble of lugging around big luggage. The essentials should be brought, including a few clothing changes, toiletries, and bathing suits. This will allow you to travel more efficiently and focus on the experiences that make travelling special—meeting new people, trying local cuisine, and exploring a new culture and environment.

4. Try Local Cuisine To Get a Taste of the Culture  

You’ll miss much of the culture if you stick to chain restaurants and fast food. Eating at local places will give you more insight into the country you’re visiting. Not to mention, local restaurants often serve up more unique and delicious dishes. Also, try visiting a local market. You can get fresh produce and other items you may not find in your country. Markets are also great places to interact with locals and gain more cultural insight.

5. Take Time To Explore Off-The-Beaten Path Locations 

The most rewarding experiences in life might include travelling. Another piece of advice is to visit places off the usual route to get the most out of your trip. Sure, touristy spots can be fun and exciting, but there’s something uniquely special about discovering hidden gems. That feeling of uncovering something unexpected can truly add to your travel experience and give you a deeper understanding of the local culture.

6. Document Your Journey With Photos and Videos  

The best method to reflect on your travels is through photos and videos. Using a camera to record unforgettable events will also help you maintain a connection to the location and culture you experienced. In addition, sharing photographs and videos with others is one of the best ways to share your journey with loved ones back home. 

7. Make Connections With Locals for an Authentic Experience 

There’s nothing like meeting local people and getting their insight into the city or country in a foreign land. It might be as easy as chatting up someone in line at the shop or engaging an artist in a gallery. You can learn more about how the population views their country by interacting with locals. Making new acquaintances while doing this is a fantastic way to have an authentic experience when travelling. 

Travelling allows you to learn about the globe and discover different cultures. Following these seven suggestions may ensure that your next trip is even better than the last. With careful planning and an open mind, you’ll have more meaningful experiences and memorable moments while on the road. Don’t forget to take lots of photos along the way. Have fun!

Share this:

• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
• Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)

Discover more from

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Type your email…

Continue reading

You will be redirected to your dashboard shortly. We will also call you back in 24 hrs .

• 50 Amazing Travel Experiences Around The World

23 Mar 2023

Travel makes us wealthier. We see new places, meet new people, indulge in new activities. The experiences make us a different person. Travelling isn’t merely about stepping foot on a landmark, but also inhaling the essence of the very place. The culture and the beauty should grow in you.

So, if you are wondering how to go ahead with that, treat this list of most amazing travel experiences as your bible, and you wouldn’t have to maintain a travel bucket list!

Just sit back and scroll through!

1. Hike the Andes to reach Incan ruins of Machu Picchu, Peru

The Inca archaeological ruin of Machu Picchu is one of the Seven Wonders of the world. The trail is 4-day long taking you through some of country’s most beautiful landscapes.

Looking To Book An International Holiday?

Book memorable holidays on TravelTriangle with 650+ verified travel agents for 65+ domestic and international destinations.

Trip to Sri Lanka at Rs 13,500/-

Plan Your Vacation Today!

Trip to Singapore at Rs 20,499/-

Get Quotes From Local Experts

Mauritius Holiday Starting at Rs 65,000/-

Talk to Our Experts Today

Maldives Honeymoon Trip at Rs 39,800/-

Pay with easy EMI Option

Europe Trip at Rs 89,999/-

All Inclusive Deals

Vacation in Dubai at Rs 27,499/-

Hong Kong Holiday at Rs 24,999/-

Money Safe Guarantee

Thailand Holiday at Rs 7,999/-

Flights Excluded

See more at TRAVELTRIANGLE.COM

2. Ride hot-air balloon in Cappadocia, Turkey

The hot air balloon ride in Cappadocia is among major tourist attractions of Turkey. The ride takes you above a volcanic landscape and pleases you with golden sunset.

3. Release the lanterns in Yi Peng Festival, Thailand

Yi Peng Festival or the Lantern Festival is an important time of the year. Locals return to their home to celebrate this day with their families. They decorate houses and streets, and release sky lanterns, which is symbolic of letting go all the misfortunes.

4. Enjoy a hot spring bath in Blue Lagoon, Iceland

The geothermal spa, Blue Lagoon, is located in a lava field. With steam released from its blue waters, it looks nothing less than a dream paradise.

5. Behold the Northern Lights from Glass Igloo in Finland

Northern Lights obviously is found in many people’s bucket list, but watching Aurora Borealis right from the comfort of your bed, in a luxurious glass igloo is an experience to cherish!

Suggested Read: Glass Igloo In Finland: A Dream Stay That Must Be In Your Bucketlist

6. Spend nights with the penguins in Antarctica’s Emperor Camp

Image Source

Who doesn’t want to visit Antarctica?! The cherry of the top is added when you’re spending nights in the camps amidst several friendly emperor penguins.

7. Go glamping and wildlife viewing in Masai Mara, Kenya

Kenya is considered the pilgrim for wildlife lovers. Right from game viewing to luxurious glamping experiences, you have everything sorted if you are a wild child!

8. Clink scintillating wine glasses amidst the vineyards of Tuscany, Italy

When we say wine, Tuscanian fields flashes right in front of our eyes. Italian wine already has made the world go gaga, but sipping the native wines amidst the vineyards, during a beautiful sunset will spell out Nirvana for you.

9. Scale the highest peak in the world – Mount Everest, Nepal

You must have hiked all your life, but have you thought of reaching the peak of world’s tallest peak? Well if you haven’t, consider it the milestone! But make sure you have sufficient experience and are guided by an expert on your expedition.

Suggested Read: Everest Base Camp Trek: A Guide To A Journey Of A Lifetime

10. Celebrate La Tomatina in Spain

After ZNMD, our travel goals have found a true meaning. People smash tomatoes around like crazy and then head to the bars for an after party. This festival takes place on the last wednesday of August in Valencian town of Buñol.

11. Climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge in Australia

We have seen the Opera House from different angles, but this one is what you will earn. Climbing at the Sydney Harbour bridge is a sport, something that gives you a 360 degree view of the city.

12. Explore the marine wonderland in The Great Barrier Reef, Australia

If you ask where the most beautiful seabed is, the answer has to be the Great Barrier Reef. Spread across an area of 2,300 km, this marine wonderland consists of over a thousand reefs and hundred islands.

13. Walk the Great Wall of China

The Great Wall of China is in fact one of world’s most talked-about tourist attraction. And to walk through the Wall isn’t suggested because of its hype. There are different regions, most of which aren’t even known to tourists, which you can explore and where you can indulge in various amazing adventure.

Suggested Read: Crazy Adventures You Need To Try At The Great Wall of China

14. Behold the Taj Mahal on a full-moon night in India

The Taj Mahal needs no introduction, as we have often seen people posting photographs with the Taj in cliche poses. But to go off the beaten track, you have to behold this masterpiece during a full moon, when the Taj Mahal seems to slightly change its hues complementing the moonlight.

15. Cliff dive off the tallest waterfall in the world, Angel Falls in Venezuela

Don’t say you’re a daredevil if you cannot do this one. Free falling off the tallest waterfall in the world requires more than just inspiration.

16. Dare to dive with the sharks in South Africa

Shark Cage Diving is among the craziest adventure activities. You wear the scuba suit, get inside a cage, and come face to face with the ferocious and furious sharks. These sharks may as well attack you, but you’re in the cage, but it still needs sheer courage to be an inch close to the sharp teeth of this creature.

17. Feel at the top of the world from the top floor of Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the tallest building in the world

Burj Khalifa in Dubai isn’t merely for show sake. The Observation Deck of this building will give you a breathtaking view from a height of 555 meters. This may also be a nightmare for the people with a fear of heights.

Suggested Read: Burj Khalifa: The Tallest Building In The World

18. Surf in the Surfing Capital of Canada, Tofino

Tofino is one of the best places in the world for surfing regardless of how experienced you are. This destination welcomes surfers all year round.

19. Tour the glowing caves of Waitomo, New Zealand

The Waitomo Caves in New Zealand looks like a fairyland with thousands of glow-worms illuminating the dark corners. A boat ride through Waitomo will captivate you.

Suggested Read: Walk Into The Dreamy World Of Waitomo Glowworm Caves, It’s Magical!

20. Try your luck in Las Vegas, USA

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but if you have your luck by your side what you win in Vegas will go home with you too!

Suggested Read: Honeymoon In Vegas: Must Experiences For Unforgettable Memories!

21. Ride the camels and mules in Petra, Jordan

The rugged lands of Petra is explored in many ways, but riding the mules and camels will have you travel back in time as well.

Suggested Read: Petra Caves In Jordan: A Rose-Red City Half As Old As Time

22. Chug finest beers in the world in Oktoberfest, Germany

This is unmissable for all the beer-lovers! The Oktoberfest is world’s largest Volksfest that’s not just about beer, but also parades, music and sumptuous food.

23. Smoke freshly-rolled cigars in Havana, Cuba

There is no vibe as the Cuban vibe. Let alone half, all of your heart will be in Havana oh nana! The Cuban cigars is of the utmost quality in the world. The hand-rolled cigars of Cuba go through as much as 222 different processes in order to be ready to be smoked.

24. Take a bike trip from Delhi to Leh, India

The surreal land of Ladakh can be pleasing and beautiful, but there’s also a rugged side to it that challenges even the toughest bikers. A bike ride from Delhi to Leh, Ladakh is picturesque, challenging and allows you to live life and travel in your own terms.

Suggested Read: Leh Ladakh Bike Trip: Everything You Need To Know From The Scratch

25. Walk on the salt flats of Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia

Often mistaken to be an optical illusion, the salt flats of Salar de Uyuni is world’s largest salt flat that’s spread across an area of 10,582 square kilometers.

26. Glance at the Pyramids of Giza, Egypt

The Egyptian pyramids have the power to move you with its secrets and history. There is so much to learn about the history, each of the aspect is intriguing in every sense.

27. Take a long drive through the Garden Route, South Africa

What’s a long drive, if you aren’t meandering through shoreline, drifting past or stopping by national parks en route, or landmarks, and gardens?!

Planning your holiday but confused about where to go? These travel stories help you find your best trip ever!

Real travel stories. Real stays. Handy tips to help you make the right choice.

Ramya Narrates The Story Of 6 Girls On An Extraordinary Trip To Thailand

Bangkok. Phi Phi. Krabi. Why should guys have all the fun?

Sandeep Illustrates On The Best Activities For A Family Trip To Mauritius

Water sports. Cocktail parties. And unlimited fun at Casela.

Nisarg Can't Stop Praising His Honeymoon Trip To Maldives

There was snorkeling, sightseeing, luxury, comfort, & much more!

Sabyacsachi's Romantic Trip Proves Europe To Be The Mother Of All Vacations

For Art, Culture, Luxury, & more...

Srishti Talks Of Her Amazing Trip To Singapore With Her Mother & Niece

A fun-filled destination for ages indeed!

67-Year Old Sridhar Tells How He Beat The Odds & Took A Solo Trip To Dubai

Desert safari. Burj Khalifa. Welcoming locals. Tell me more!

Not Adventure Lovers? Saurabh's Family Trip Proves Hong Kong To Still Be Full Of Fun

Your kids will love Disney Land & Ocean Park!

Ravi's Tale Of A Sri Lanka Family Tour Is All You Need To Know About Ramayana Tour

For the love of Ramayana & Travel!

28. Rejuvenate and pamper yourself with authentic Ayurveda spa treatments in Kerala, India

The age old legacy, Ayurveda finds its route in India, and Kerala is considered to be among the best places to an Ayurvedic treatment or therapy.

29. Enjoy the Full Moon Parties in Thailand

Your definition of nightlife will change drastically when you will attend the hypnotic full and half moon parties of Thailand. Hosted by the beach, these parties are nothing less than extravaganza filled with music, booze and dance.

Suggested Read: Full Moon Party In Thailand Is Going To Be Beach Madness At Its Loudest

30. Bathe, feed and spend good time with the adorable elephants in Chiang Mai, Thailand

The adorable creatures called elephants are friendly undoubtedly. But if you have been thinking of spending more time with these creatures in a safe environment, then Chiang Mai is the best place. You get to feed, bathe, play around with elephants in the orphanage.

31. Escape to Maldives with the one you love

One of the top honeymoon destinations in the world, Maldives will bewitch you with its turquoise and calm ocean waters. The luxury follows you as you spend the best of time in your majestic overwater villas.

Suggested Read: 28 Best Islands In Maldives For Honeymoon For An Instant Cupid-Strike

32. Dine in the Parisian landmark, Eiffel Tower in France

Paris, mainly the Eiffel Tower, is the synonym of love. Having a romantic feast in a lovely restaurant looking over this beautifully lit landmark is your very own fairytale moment.

Suggested Read: 10 Most Romantic Restaurants In Paris You Must Visit At Least Once

33. Strike a pose in front of the Petronas Tower in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Standing tall and strong, the Petronas is the tallest twin towers in the world. And when in Malaysia you have to click a picture with this landmark. And if you seek something more, head over to its Observation Deck for a soulful view of the Kuala Lumpur City.

34. Dare to walk at a height of 260 meters above ground, on the Zhangjiajie Glass Bridge in China

Walk 260 meters above the ground crossing a glass bridge in the Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon of China. Don’t look down or you’ll be crept with fear all over your body.

35. Feast on breakfast with the view in the white paradise of Santorini, Greece

Santorini’s stunning white village is an instagram-worthy landscape. But a nice Greek breakfast savored amidst this very vista is sheer travel goals.

36. Cruise the canal city of Venice onboard a gondola in Italy

One thing that Italy is most famous for is the Gondola of Venice. Sailing you past legendary landmarks and quite canals, the rower will sing folk songs to you to add that Italian touch.

37. Spend a night on-board a houseboat anchored on Dal Lake in Kashmir, India

Dal Lake is something that India is proud of. Sky soaring Himalayan peak coupled with tranquility make it a lovely escape. You may want to live for a longer period, so why not spend the night away in the traditionally built luxurious houseboats?!

Suggested Read: Magical Colors Of Srinagar’s Dal Lake That Change Every Season: In Pics

38. Enjoy the views of London from London Eye in England

The London Eye on the embankments of Thames consists of luxurious glass capsules that let you behold 360 degree view of the great English city.

39. Challenge yourself by base jumping off the Sky Tower of Auckland, New Zealand

Ever wanted to be a bird flying above a concrete jungle? Well, base jump off the iconic Sky Tower in New Zealand will make your dreams come true!

40. Swim in the iconic infinity pool of Singapore with jaw-dropping views of the city

The illusional infinity pool of Singapore will give you the shots that spark envy!

41. Amble through the Vatican Museums in Italy

Renaissance art aficionados! This is it! The Vatican City is bejeweled with museums which not only house masterpieces, but are masterpieces themselves.

42. Live up the night for more than 24 hours, with the startling phenomenon called Polar Night in Alaska, USA

‘Wishing this night never fades’ – Well, experience your dream coming true in Alaska. Here, in a particular time of the year, the Sun doesn’t come above the horizon, resulting in 24 hours of night light.

43. Go dune bashing in the deserts of Dubai, UAE

Dubai’s dune bashing doesn’t merely mean off roading. You have a cultural extravaganza awaiting you. A night desert safari will get you acquainted with local culture through its food, belly dance performaces and more.

44. Watch the dreamy pink lake, Lake Hillier in Australia

You must have seen lakes around the world, but if you haven’t seen the pink lake what are you even doing with your life?!

45. Live the reel life while taking the Game of Thrones Tour in Dubrovnik, Croatia

This is for all the GOT fans who always wanted to live the reel life. Most of the scenes are shot in Dubrovnik and you can actually go for a Game of Thrones tour here.

46. Get on cloud nine while skydiving in Wollongong, Australia

Skydiving is great! But skydiving in Wollongong is the best!

47. Celebrate the festival of colors, Holi in Vrindavan, India

The Festival of Colors, Holi is celebrated in all of India, and even around the world. But Vrindavan’s holi is considered the most colorful, craziest and picture-perfect.

48. Let the child in you come alive yet again in Disney World, Hong Kong

Meet your favorite Disney characters, shop for Disney goodies, and ride the movie-themed rides. If that’s not enough, live the night away in Disney resort in Disney World.

Suggested Read: Disneyland In Hong Kong: A Tailor-Made Guide To Endless Fun For Everyone!

49. Forget about the night sky in Iqaluit, Canada

Remember we talked about Polar Nights, well this one is the exact opposite. The sun here just won’t set!

50. Live life at the edge by staying for a night in the Skylodge, hanging 1200 feet above ground on a cliff in Peru

Ditch the traditional stays, and spend a beautiful night in Skylodge in Peru, a capsule hung on a 1,200 feet tall cliff.

Further Read: Skylodging In Peru: Camping While Hanging Off A 1,200 Feet Cliff

Which of these amazing travel experiences struck the chord for you?! plan a Trip with TravelTriangle without wasting a moment and make the best memories of your life.

Looking To Book A Holiday Package?

Spellbinding Cochin Family Tour 2D/1N Package @ Rs 2,750

Plan your trip today!

Himachal Family Tour Package 4D/3N @ Rs 8,750

Get quotes from multiple travel experts.

Exciting Andaman Family Trip 5D/4N @ Rs 10,250

Compare & customize quotes before booking.

Gangtok & Darjeeling Tour Package 5D/4N @ Rs 13,000

Have Questions? Talk to our travel experts today.

Wonderful Goa Family Package 3D/2N @ Rs 6,500

Best prices guaranteed.

Riveting Rajasthan Vacation 3D/2N Package @ Rs 6,499

EMI option available.

Enchanting Uttarakhand Tour 4D/3N Package @ Rs 7,199

Explore best destinations with our experts.

Delightful South Weekend Tour 3D/2N Package @ Rs 4,999

Thrilling weekend full of fun.

Marvelous Gujarat Tour 3D/2N Package @ Rs 4,999

Talk to our experts today.

People Also Read

Youngest Globetrotter To Travel Travelling With Your Mom Travel Etiquettes

Recent Posts

17 Meilleures destinations de lune de miel en Italie en 2024 pour les couples fous amoureux

10 Fabuleux endroits à visiter en Europe en juillet 2023 pour des vacances que vous n’oublierez jamais.

7 Nouvelles merveilles du monde: édition 2024!

2024 में अपनी घूमने की लालसा को संतुष्ट करने के लिए 37 दुनिया में मार्च में घूमने की जगहें

2024 में 40 सबसे रोमांटिक आपके बजट में अंतर्राष्ट्रीय हनीमून स्थल

2023 में आपकी छुट्टियों के लिए 32 बजट अंतर्राष्ट्रीय यात्राएँ जिनकी कीमत आपको एक आई – फ़ोन से भी कम होगी

Trending Blogs

20 Mysterious Places In India To Visit In 2023 More Bizarre Than The Bermuda Triangle

10 Scariest Roads In India That Are A Driver’s Nightmare

101 Places To Visit In India Before You Turn 30 in 2024

35 Exotic Places To Visit In December In India 2024 To Enjoy A Surreal Vacation

60 Best Honeymoon Destinations In India In 2024

95 Best Honeymoon Destinations In The World In 2023 For A Romantic Escape!

Best Places To Visit In India By Month

Best places to visit outside india by month.

• TravelTriangle
• International »
• Tour Packages
• Honeymoon Packages
• Family Packages
• Budget Tour Packages
• Luxury Tour Packages
• Adventure Tour Packages
• Group Tour Packages
• Kerala Tour Packages
• Goa Tour Packages
• Andaman Tour Packages
• Sikkim Tour Packages
• Himachal Tour Packages
• Uttarakhand Tour Packages
• Rajasthan Tour Packages
• Tour Packages From Delhi
• Tour Packages From Mumbai
• Tour Packages From Bangalore
• Tour Packages From Chennai
• Tour Packages From Kolkata
• Tour Packages From Hyderabad
• Tour Packages From Ahmedabad
• Kerala Tourism
• Goa Tourism
• Sikkim Tourism
• Andaman Tourism
• Himachal Tourism
• Uttarakhand Tourism
• Rajasthan Tourism
• Hotels in Kerala
• Hotels in Goa
• Hotels in Sikkim
• Hotels in Andaman
• Hotels in Himachal
• Hotels in Uttarakhand
• Hotels in Rajasthan

• EN - English
• PT - Portuguese
• ES - Spanish
• How it works
• Become a Host
• Download the app

Top Destinations

• United States
• United Kingdom

What type of experience are you looking for?

• Non-Profit School
• Permaculture project
• Eco Village
• Holistic Center
• Guest House
• How Worldpackers works

Learn from the most experienced travelers of the community

Traveling with worldpackers, planning and budgeting for travel, make a living while traveling as a lifestyle, travel with worldpackers.

• Using Worldpackers
• Work exchange
• Social impact

Plan your trip

• Women traveling
• Budget travel
• Solo travel
• Language learning
• Travel tips
• Get inspired
• Digital nomads
• Travel jobs
• Personal development
• Responsible travel
• Connect with nature

Top destinations

• South America
• Central America
• North America
• More destinations
• WP Life WP Life
• Exclusive discounts Discounts
• Personal Development

How to include (and leverage) travel on your resume

How to add travel to your resume. Including tips like where to put travel on your resume, which skills to emphasize, and how to effectively list Worldpackers experiences on your resume.

Gabrielle Budget Travel With Gabby

Apr 01, 2023

With the competitive and intense atmosphere that sometimes accompanies finding a job in this day and age, young people can feel an insane amount of pressure while job-hunting. We want to create the perfect resume, nail the perfect interview and make the perfect impression on potential employers.

Some people may think that traveling is just a hobby, and therefore not a useful credential to include on a resume. But depending on the type of travel you have done, it may just be a special addition to an otherwise ordinary resume.

Traveling is one of the bravest, hardest and most eye-opening things a young person can do . 

Through traveling you can gain new knowledge of the world and its cultures, and you can gain valuable life experience. 

Research now shows what wanderlusters have known all along —  traveling changes you for the better . Especially if you travel using work exchange  experiences through Worldpackers , you can also gain international work experience , which always looks good on a resume .

Do you like? Read more about volunteer experience:  TOP 5 Reasons why you should volunteer abroad

Employers often look for people that are adaptable, well-rounded and confident. If traveling has made you more open-minded and helped shape you into a better person, chances are that will show in your future career.

So don't be afraid to add travel to your resume. Rarely does traveling detract from your list of skills; it supplements them. 

But you have to know how to add travel to your resume in a strategic manner so that it enhances your credentials in a professional way.

With this guide of how to add travel to a resume , I will explain how to include and leverage travel so it makes you look like a more valuable employee . 

I'll list 10 tips, including where to put travel on a resume, what types of experiences to share and which ones not to, types of travel skills to include, and how to effectively share  Worldpackers exchange experiences  on a resume. 

How to add travel to your resume

• Share valuable travel experiences
• Don't share travel experiences with no professional value
• Where to put travel on a resume
• Share special skills gained while traveling
• Always include language skills on a resume
• Share Worldpackers experiences effectively
• Mention studying abroad on your resume
• Include any digital media work experience
• Account for gaps in your resume
• Always keep the job you are applying for in mind

1. Share valuable travel experiences

Though all travel is valuable in some way, only list the travel experiences that have benefited you as a future employee in your career path. 

Sometimes we just travel for fun, and while that is an awesome life experience it isn’t useful to an employer. But traveling through eye-opening third world countries, volunteering abroad, and learning new languages and skills probably made you a more compassionate and culturally aware citizen of the world, so that is the type of thing you should highlight on a resume.

Maybe one trip you took opened your eyes to the field you are now trying to work in. Explain how traveling developed your passion and how you are now dedicated to that field of work. 

As long as your travel experience increases your value as a future employee, it can fit nicely into your resume .

2. Don't share travel experiences with no professional value

As I just mentioned, not all travel is beneficial to a career path. 

Traveling for fun without any sort of responsibility isn't appropriate for a professional resume. Don't write about trips where you just gallivanted around, partying and sunbathing. Employers don't care about your trip unless it gave you skills that will benefit their company.

So if you didn't learn anything new, gain any useful experience or feel like you matured or developed as a potential employee, don't write about it. Save that space on your resume for the valuable stuff.

3. Where to put travel on a resume

Where you include travel on your resume depends on the type of traveling you did .

If you actually worked, with set hours and a list of responsibilities and tasks, then include it in the " Work Experience " section. Even if it was volunteer work and you didn't get paid, but it is relevant to the job you are applying for, then include it under the " Work Experience " section of your resume. 

Employers want to see the most relevant information first, so if you volunteered somewhere that gave you similar experience to your potential new job, then list that at the top of your resume .

If you did international volunteer work that was very beneficial to you but still isn't relevant to the job, include it in a different section. 

You can always write a " Volunteer Work " section to list all your volunteer experience. Or if you did volunteer work that taught you a specific skill, you can include it under the " Special Skills " section of a resume.

4. Share special skills gained while traveling

Speaking of special skills, it is essential to note any skills that you gained while traveling the world . 

A huge part of learning how to add travel to a resume is learning how to showcase your skills in an attractive way to employers . 

To do this, you have to learn the difference between "hard skills" and "soft skills."

Hard skills are skills that can be taught , such as learning a sport, a craft or a language. They can usually be measured or graded and are very specific.

Soft skills are skills that you adapt throughout life , through interacting with other people and with certain life situations. Examples of soft skills include learning how to communicate, how to budget, how to organize a group, how to adapt, how to handle pressure or stress and how to negotiate.

Consider which skills are useful to the job and whether they should be mentioned on your resume . You should almost always mention hard skills, but sometimes soft skills aren't necessary .

For example, any leadership or organizational skills are usually valuable in any working environment, so you could mention those. Budgeting skills will only be useful if the job you're applying for has anything to do with money, otherwise it is irrelevant. Communication skills, like being a good speaker, negotiator, or writer, probably don’t need to be mentioned because they will become obvious through your interview and your resume itself.

Sometimes job listings have a list of skills or personality traits they look for in future employees. If traveling helped you develop any of these skills, you can mention them because the employer specifically asked for them.

5. Always include language skills on a resume

I included this tip as a separate point because language skills are incredibly valuable to any employer . The world is so international and multicultural these days, so you never know when language skills may come in handy.

Many businesses hire people specifically for foreign language skills, so any proficiency in a foreign tongue is a huge plus on your resume . 

When listing foreign language skills on your resume, include if you are a beginner, intermediate or advanced in speaking, reading and writing. Never exaggerate your language skills, just in case you have to prove your skills at work and can't live up to the high standard your resume set.

6. Share Worldpackers experiences effectively

Worldpackers exchange experiences are amazing ways to learn new skills and gain work experience. 

Because work exchanges are usually pretty laid back, you can often get accepted for a position with no prior experience, which rarely happens in the professional work world. Take advantage of this opportunity to work a new job with no experience and learn it all from open-minded people. 

A work exchange might just be the first step in a lifelong passion and career .

You can find work exchanges in hospitality, digital marketing, agriculture, permaculture, construction, sports instruction, teaching English and much more. These types of work can actually be followed as career paths, so it is easy to gain relevant work experience through Worldpackers.

As I mentioned earlier, volunteer positions that gave you experience in the same field as the job you are applying for should be listed early on in your resume. Highlight that your Worldpackers travel experience  taught you not only about different cultures, but gave you valuable work experience and skills. 

Emphasize the "work" part of your work exchange because work experience in a foreign country is just as impressive, if not more impressive than work experience at home .

7. Mention studying abroad on your resume

Studying abroad is often the first time young travelers leave home for a long period of time. Of course you should include education on your resume, but if you spent a semester or a year abroad make sure you highlight that.

Studying abroad shows that you were able to successfully continue your education in a foreign country with foreign professors . 

Adapting to a different culture and educational system can be challenging, so no doubt you learned some hard or soft skills from that experience.

All you need is one line detailing where and for how long you studied abroad, but make sure it is on your resume in the " Education " section.

8. Include any digital media work experience

If you are applying for any sort of job that includes communications, marketing, public relations, writing or journalism, make sure you include any blogging, photography or social media you may have done while abroad. 

I don't mean mentioning Instagram posts you shared while traveling; I mean sharing any time you did a work exchange involving digital marketing or photography, or any time your writing was published on a study abroad blog or travel website.

If you gained any digital skills through traveling and volunteering abroad, which can also be proved through published work or photos, put it on your resume . 

These days, every business needs social media and digital content if it wants to succeed in the modern world. So even if your job doesn't relate to communications, your business may need an extra hand with photography or social media.

9. Account for gaps in your resume

Even after these tips, if you are still struggling to decide which top Worldpackers travel experiences to include in your resume and which ones to leave out, ask yourself this: Does the traveling I did make me look like a better potential employer than the gap it leaves in my resume?

If you traveled for a few weeks and did lots of partying and sightseeing, that doesn't provide more value than a short gap in your resume. But if you took a few weeks off to do a Worldpackers work exchange in South America , practicing Spanish and learning new skills, that definitely looks better than the gap in your resume.

If you backpacked around the world for six months to a year, the soft skills you gained during that time add more value than a very long gap in your resume. Especially if you did a few Worldpackers experiences during that long gap, you can show the skills and experiences you gained in that time.

Basically, just use traveling to account for the gaps in your resume. Employers won’t mind if you took some time off from work to immerse in new cultures , gain valuable life skills, and experience travel as education .

You just have to explain how traveling benefited you just as much as working would have . 

And if you did work while traveling, then you definitely benefited from that gap in your resume.

10. Always keep the job you are applying for in mind

No matter what type of travel experience you had, long or short, working or relaxing, always keep the job description in mind. 

Employers use resumes to see how suited you are to their company. Will you benefit their business more than the other applicants? What can you contribute to their business?

Think of the role you are applying for, and explain how your travel experience makes you a good candidate for that role . 

What if you did a work exchange as a yoga teacher in Bali but you are now applying for an office job in business or finance? List your yoga teacher job under the " Volunteer Experience " section and explain how that role helped you learn how to organize large classes and lead with confidence. Explain how your yoga teacher position taught you about public speaking, about teaching and instructing others, and about working well with others.

Even the most random work exchanges and travel experiences can be shown as beneficial to employers if you highlight the relevant skills. 

Make sure you understand the job you are applying for and showcase your travels accordingly .

My final thought for readers is this: never be afraid to travel because you think you have to follow a career path instead. If you are intrigued by the thought of traveling, but nervous that taking time off will hurt your chances of finding a job in the future, you need to re-evaluate what you want in life. If you want a stable career more than anything else, pursue that. If you want to explore the world, do it. And do it now, while you're young.

If you do decide to travel, travel with Worldpackers . The diversity of hosts and experiences offered are unparalleled, and the many exclusive  benefits of Verified Membership  are more than worth the subscription cost. 

Yes, backpacking and partying around the world is fun but volunteering abroad is a unique and useful experience. While seeing the world, you can also save money by working and gain new skills that will probably benefit you in your future job searches. 

Work exchanges are in-depth cultural experiences that enrich your life and enhance your skill set more than breezing through the tourist attractions does.

So take a risk and choose travel. You never know, you might discover a new passion or career path, and you might gain some skills that impress your future employers.

Keep reading about personal development with Worldpackers: 

•   What is a Staycation and why now is the best time to have one
• 4 reasons why traveling can make you better

Join the community!

Create a free Worldpackers account to discover volunteer experiences perfect for you and get access to exclusive travel discounts!

Gabrielle Boucher

Budget Travel With Gabby

Hello! I am a 25 year old from the USA with a knack for traveling on a budget. I fell in love with traveling while studying in Europe, and that love grew even more when I started volunteering abroad in South America. Since then, I've worked odd jobs and volunteered all over the globe while cultivating passions for hiking, wildlife photography, food, wine, animals, permaculture, and more!

Be part of the Worldpackers Community

Already have an account, are you a host, leave your comment here.

Write here your questions and greetings to the author

Aug 02, 2021

Hello Sir/madam, I am Abdul Hamid Issaka from Ghana and I am a dump truck Oparetor and am searching for a job, please how will you help me to get something to do in life I completed my training since 2012 till now I have no job so please I need your help or any kind of machines am ready to operate if only the company will train me to oparete that kind of machines. Thank you

[email protected]

More about this topic

6 ways traveling encourages self-development

How to practice self-care when traveling.

14 ways traveling stimulates inner growth

How do Worldpackers trips work?

As a member, you can contact as many hosts and travel safely as many times as you want.

Choose your plan to travel with Worldpackers as many times as you like.

Complete your profile, watch the video lessons in the Academy, and earn certificates to stand out to hosts.

Apply to as many positions as you like, and get in contact with our verified hosts.

If a host thinks you’re a good fit for their position, they’ll pre-approve you.

Get your documents and tickets ready for your volunteer trip.

Confirm your trip to enjoy all of the safety of Worldpackers.

Have a transformative experience and make a positive impact on the world.

If anything doesn’t go as planned with a host, count on the WP Safeguard and our highly responsive support team!

After volunteering, you and your host exchange reviews.

With positive reviews, you’ll stand out to hosts and get even more benefits.

Travel Experience in India Through the Eyes of Foreign Travelers

India Travel Tips

Last Updated on: Dec 1, 2023  

India is a country of extremes. And travel experience in India is going to be an emotional roller coaster ride. For you cannot be enough prepared for India, no matter how much you try, especially if you are coming from the European and North American countries. India can shock you, stun you and surprise you at every corner. You must have known about the beautiful landscapes, the ornate temples, colorful festivals and culture and the friendly people of India. And you must have also heard about the poverty, noise, traffic, pollution, dirt and chaos that prevail in India. India is truly the land of extremes.

Your first visit to India can nothing be short of a culture shock. The crowded cities, cows on the roads, homeless people on the pavement, the dung and dirt on the road, crazy train rides can be quite difficult to take for the travelers in India. I have so long painted a stark picture of my country. But India is much more than this. Traveling in India can be a life-changing experience. The mountains, forests, plains, deserts, rivers and oceans are a testimony to the diversity of the landscape of India. The ancient temples, mosques, churches and monasteries speak volumes about the rich heritage of the country. People are different from each other, they have different culture, yet they will welcome their guests with an open heart. Indians believe in “ Atithi Devo Bhava ” (meaning the Guest is God).

It is usually said that a person who visits India either falls in love with the country or simply hates it. I am yet to meet anyone who hates his/her visit to India. Travel experience in India is always a mixed affair. So I decided to ask a few of my blogger friends about their experience in India – both good and bad. And believe me, their answers were an eye-opener for me as well. While I am overwhelmed by the stories of their experiences in India, I am equally sorry to know about their annoying moments in the country, especially all the women travelers who had, at some point in time, felt uncomfortable.

As a female traveler myself, I have traveled solo in many Indian destinations. While there are always a few uncomfortable stares and touch, India, in general, is quite safe for female travelers. People, in general, are quite friendly and helpful, especially in rural areas. The best part, however, is that all the travelers and bloggers have agreed to return to India again. To be honest, this post has made me all emotional. So before I babble more, let’s read about the travel experience in India through the eyes of foreign travelers.

Travel Experience in India as revealed by Foreign Travelers

Campbell louw of stingy nomads.

Traveling in India was a very authentic experience, meeting a few tourists and being immersed in the local culture. The country is rich in history and the culture is very different and interesting. It is not the easiest and most comfortable place to travel, but exploring India was so worth the effort. I traveled around India for about two months, half of it alone and the rest with my wife. I loved exploring Rajasthan for a couple of weeks, spending days on trains to go to Delhi, Agra and the Taj Mahal, the unique spiritual city Varanasi, the Golden Temple in Amritsar, doing a tiger safari in West Bengal, exploring the mountains of Darjeeling and Mcleodganj.

Our best travel experience in India was at Amritsar. We loved staying in the Golden Temple in Amritsar, the holiest place for the Sikh religion in Punjab . A monk saw us walking with backpacks around the temple and took us to dormitory accommodation called “Guru Arjan Nev Diwas” , simple accommodation with a shared bathroom reserved for tourists, we stayed here for free for 3 days. Hundreds of pilgrims slept outside in the temple complex. We ate with thousands of pilgrims in the temple every day and felt very welcome even though we were not pilgrims. It was an amazing experience.

• Any bad experience in India?

I had no real bad experience. Some travelers I met in India had problems with diarrhea, my one friend from Israel became very sick and after a couple of days, he was so dehydrated that he had to go to the hospital to recover.

• Any tips for first-time travelers?

If you travel on sleeper class trains (the cheapest trains) for long distances it is easier if you are two people, so that one of you can keep an eye on luggage if the other has to use the toilet. During the night especially people without tickets just walk through the carts and take empty seats. Only drink from sealed water bottles and use this water to brush your teeth and wash fruit. I met more than one person that got sick from the water.

• What about Indian Food?

India is a foodie paradise, the street food is the best, I loved Dal Fried (thick lentil soup) with chapati (almost like a wrap) and Masala Dosa a crispy filled pancake.

• Would you visit India again?

RECOMMENDED READ : A COMPLETE VARANASI TRAVEL GUIDE

Joel Baldwin from World Heritage Journey

We spent just over three weeks traveling in India in early 2019. Starting from Delhi, we visited the typical tourist cities of Jaipur and Agra before heading south to Bhopal and Aurangabad. We also headed west to Ahmedabad in Gujarat before finishing our trip with a few days in Mumbai. We traveled specifically to visit UNESCO World Heritage Sites of which India has a staggering number – 38 in total. Our entire trip was self-guided and used local transport only: trains, public buses, metros, and taxis, though we did hire private drivers once or twice. Everyone was friendly, welcoming and helpful. We had prepared for some difficult moments on our travels, but thankfully none of our fears we realized!

Our best travel experience in India was enjoying the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Of course, there are the famous glorious Mughal-era monuments like Taj Mahal, Agra Fort and Humayun’s Tomb, but there is much more beyond that too! Ancient rock art at Bhimbetka, Sanchi Stupa, the mind-blowing Hindu art at Rani-ki-vav Stepwell, beautiful nature at Keoladeo National Park and modern Indian history with the colonial-era buildings of downtown Mumbai completely stole my heart.

Many of these are just completely unknown to people outside of India, and it felt like a real privilege to explore these. It seems like even locals don’t know about the Bhimbetka rock art – we had to provide directions for our driver, and it was the only place in India that we had completely to ourselves!

Very little, to be honest. It can be challenging at times, but we were prepared for our trip to be occasionally challenging and that was fine – it’s part of the fun. I think if you approach traveling with the right mindset then you’re prepared for most things. The only genuinely sour experience was in Delhi where someone squirted cow dung on my shoe without me noticing, and then offered to clean it off – for a price of course! I realized immediately it was an attempted hustle so cleaned it myself, and my shoes were brown leather and waterproof so no permanent damage was done. But I was pretty furious for a couple of hours!

We also got quite tired with taxi touts at train stations, sometimes even hovering around the train doors waiting for you! But at least these days with Uber, Ola and Google Maps’ fare estimates, you know when you’re getting a fair price.

If you’re going for more than a few days, get a local SIM card. It can take a couple of hours waiting around at a phone store, but having instant access to Google Maps, translate, the IRCTC app and others make things much easier. Uber/Ola can be a life-saver at times as well, cutting down on your potential interactions with dishonest taxi drivers.

Although we didn’t have any issues with food, stick to busy places and places where you can see your food getting cooked. You’re far less likely to get sick from a street cart making hundreds of bhajis an hour than you are in a restaurant where they only get a few customers each day and the curry might not be very fresh. Eat vegetarian.

Delicious! We had a lot of fantastic thali plates, lots of amazing dosas, bhajis, sweets, curries, daals and the like. I only had one digestive issue, and it wasn’t the usual “Delhi Belly” – I got a 24-hour stomach ache from eating an oily potato curry. It was nice as well to experience the regional varieties in Indian cuisine since here in Australia we mostly only get North Indian food.

Yes, absolutely. Still 17 World Heritage Sites to visit.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: BRIHADEESWARAR TEMPLE, THANJAVUR , UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITE

Ellis Veen of Backpack Adventures

I had a rough start with India. On my first trip, I was completely overwhelmed by the chaos of Delhi. The sounds, sights and smells of the city as well as all the people that seemed to want something of me made me leave India’s capital as soon as I could. Things turned around soon though. As I traveled throughout Rajasthan I fell in love with the country and 4 more trips followed.

India is such a huge and diverse country that every journey was a unique experience. South India with the peaceful backwaters of Kerala and ancient temples of Karnataka is very different from the desert landscapes and royal palaces in Rajasthan or the holy city of Varanasi in the north. The beach resorts of Goa are again something else as well and a great place to relax. Still, I only feel I have seen the tip of the iceberg and there is still so much left to explore in India.

One of my best experiences in India was the sleepy village town of Gokarna . After Goa, I was looking for a quieter and peaceful beach destination and found Gokarna. Away from the party scene and the crowds Gokarna still has palm-fringed beaches where almost nobody is around. Some are so remote that they can only be reached on foot or by boat.

The Gokarna beach trek connects all beaches and is a wonderful hike with beautiful views over the Arabian ocean. No matter what beach you are on. The sunsets and sunrises are amazing. I was lucky that I had a simple beach hut right at the seashore and that I could enjoy the sunset from a hammock under the palm trees. It was the best sunset I experienced in India.

India is a country of extremes and even though I love India and I had so many positive experiences, there were some negative experiences as well. First of all, there is poverty. The differences between the have and have nots is huge in India. There are a lot of people that work very hard in very difficult circumstances to serve the rich for a wage that is so little that they can barely survive on.

As a foreigner, you will be confronted with things that are difficult to see and it will be hard to know sometimes what is the best way to respond. It might be tempting to give money to beggars or street children, but things in India are not always what they look like. For some, poverty is a business model and the money you give might not be used in good ways.

Another negative experience in India is trash. India can be extremely dirty and there is garbage everywhere. Being in Varanasi was shocking. It was hard to see how much rubbish was floating in the Ganges while it is India’s holiest river.

I traveled to India as a solo female traveler and let me be honest that this isn’t always easy. People will stare at you and there is always the risk of sexual harassment. Therefore, my first rule of safety in India is to dress modestly. This means covering my legs and shoulders and not wearing tight clothes. My second tip is to look confident as if you know where you are going and what you are doing, even if you don’t. Also, I will trust my instincts. If a situation doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t.

When I need help I will always try to look for other women in the street. People, in general, are very helpful and friendly. If you have the idea that someone is following you often informing passersby of a dodgy situation is enough to scare away a possible offender. Try to avoid crowds, especially during festivals. This is when large groups of young men can become drunk and rowdy. Either watch from a distance or stay close to other women.

Indian food is my favorite cuisine in the world. I love it and one of the things I look most forward to when traveling to India. Some of my favorites of south Indian cuisine are rasam and dosa. Rasam is a delicious soup that is tangy and spicy. Dosas are thin rice flour pancakes with different fillings. In Karnataka, I also loved puliyogare , tamarind rice with peanuts that you can eat for breakfast. For foodies, I can recommend Mysore.

North Indian food is quite different but just as delicious. The curries are creamier and one of my favorites is shahi paneer (cheese in a creamy tomato curry) and dal makhani (lentils in a creamy and buttery curry). For meat, I love the kebabs from Karim’s in Delhi or the restaurants in the Nizamuddin Basti. Do try the Haryali kebab. This kebab is delicious and unique because of its mint-flavored marinade.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE : SOME MAGNIFICENT & COLOURFUL FESTIVALS OF INDIA

Ayngelina Brogan from Bacon is Magic

I had always been hesitant to visit India because so many people loved it or hated it, and I wanted to love it. Finally, when I was invited to take a trip to the luxury Maharajas Express I couldn’t pass it up. It is a 7 night stay on the train with a butler, two dining cars and two bars. You visit major sites including Jaipur, Ranthambore, Agra and Gwalior, Khajuraho and Lucknow. It was such an incredible way to see the country in just one week and I loved it. Afterward, I stayed another two weeks so that I could continue to explore the country independently and went to Kerala, and discovered a completely different side of India but equally wonderful. I can’t wait to return someday soon.

I arrived a few days before I went on my train journey and booked a street food tour in Old Delhi. A guide took me around all of the places he loved, that he knew would be safe for me to eat and we explored so many nooks and crannies. At each spot, we tried a dish and he gave me the history of the eatery and also the food. It was an amazing time that set the tone for India. I visited for nearly a month and I didn’t get sick once.

I loved every minute but we only had a few hours at the Taj Mahal and I felt a bit rushed. I wish I could have stayed there all day.

As a woman I was very careful to bring respectful, modest clothing, would be appropriate for all places but also would be breathable and cool. I have a post on my site from other travel bloggers who recommend specific pieces of clothing that they brought with them.

I loved the diversity of Indian food. I always chose the thali each night on the train as it was always different. It was such a treat to experience this part of the culture.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE : A COMPLETE DELHI TRAVEL GUIDE

Claudia Tavani from My Adventures Across The World

I spent around a month visiting India, going from Madhya Pradesh to Uttar Pradesh, where I visited Varanasi and Agra, along with the Taj Mahal, Delhi and then Rajasthan. These are fairly touristy places with good infrastructure, easy to visit. Not to mention, the sights are stunning. The only issue is in places such as the Taj Mahal or the Palace of Udaipur, where the crowds tend to be overwhelming. You need to time your visit properly to avoid being crushed!

Varanasi is by far the most interesting place to visit in India . The city is massive, chaotic, dusty and upon arriving you will feel overwhelmed. But as soon as you enter the old city, where no cars are allowed (the streets are too narrow anyway) you will feel safe, you will feel as if the city is embracing you. Experiencing the Ganga Aarti, seeing the funeral fires, walking along the ghats all add to the experience. It is a spiritual city where even the most reluctant will be swept away by the atmosphere.

The crowds can sometimes be overwhelming, as well as the chaos – with everybody on their horns, for no apparent reason other than making noise. Some parts of the country are dirty too – there is a real problem with garbage and pollution that the authorities do need to tackle.

Beware of touts. You will especially find them near the most touristic sites. They will nudge you and nudge you until you give in, literally following you around to make a sale. A firm no usually works wonders.

Make sure to also dress modestly. Cover your legs – either wear jeans, elephant pants or long skirts; as well as your arms, shoulders, and chest. In other words, do as the locals do!

Unfortunately, I am not a big fan of Indian food. I find the food very heavy on my stomach, due to the large amounts of garlic and to the fact it is very spicy. I am also lactose intolerant, which means that there aren’t that many options for me. During my time in India, I mostly ate dahl to be on the safe side, but it got boring after a while.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE : I NDIAN SOUVENIRS TO TAKE BACK HOME

Joanna from The World in My Pocket

One of the most fascinating experiences that I had in India was taking part in a traditional Indian wedding in the state of Haryana. During my first trip to India, I used Couchsurfing to meet people to show me around, and that’s how I’ve met Sandeep, with whom I later became good friends. When his sister got married, Sandeep invited me to the wedding, and I was so excited to say yes. It was an unforgettable event, with 3 days and 3 nights of different celebrations and traditions. I took part in the ceremony of painting the bride’s hands and feet with henna, and afterward to the lady’s night evening, where only women gathered around in a big tent in front of the house and danced until the early hours of the morning. The following day was filled with many traditions, from the uncles of the bride coming to bring gifts, to the blessings of the bride by the entire extended family. The night of the wedding was fabulous and luxurious, with dancers performing traditional Hindu dances on two different stages, food caterers on both sides of the hall and over 40 different dishes served. The wedding ceremony lasted until the early hours of the next morning, with many small rituals being performed by the bride, the groom, and both together.

I did not have a bad experience in India.

Make sure you wash your hands with soap very often and always eat very hot food, so you don’t get food poisoning.

I love Indian food. The best dish I had in India was a potato stuffed with cheese curry, in Jaisalmer. It was so delicious, something that I have never tasted before and I couldn’t find it in any other place after.

Yes, I would love to explore the South as well, now that I have been three times to the North.

Alexander Waltner from Gourmand Trotter

We accidentally got ourselves in the sleeper class on a 14-hour train ride to Varanasi from Agra. It’s one of the lowest classes on the train and two classes below the standard tourist class. We were met by a stench and people staring at us like we were aliens.

It was our first time in India, and our first long-journey around the world, so it was a new experience. We had valuables with us and were a bit scared at first, but everything went fine and it turned out as a memorable experience that we will never forget. The locals on the train were friendly and it made us realize how privileged we are in the Western world and how many things we take for granted. We visited New Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Varanasi, and Kerala. All in all, our India travel experience was very interesting and culturally enriching.

Some of my best experiences in India were meeting the locals, eating delicious food and getting impressed by the fantastic architecture and heritage of India.

We arrived in Delhi on a Sunday and were told that we couldn’t book any train tickets to Agra, but the booking office could arrange train tickets if we purchased a package that included Jaipur, Agra, and Varanasi, which we also wanted to visit. However, what we didn’t expect was that while we were promised tickets in tourist class, we were given tickets in the non-tourist class in a sleeper train from Agra to Varanasi.

This was our worst experience in India along with getting Salmonella, but it did give as an invaluable life lesson.

Do a lot of research before going, and look out for scams. Try to connect with locals who want to show you around genuinely, and you will have a wonderful time.

Indian food is delicious. Unfortunately, we got food poisoning and salmonella after eating an undercooked chicken tikka masala in Jaipur, at the finest restaurant.

Yes, of course, it’s amazing.

Brittany Kulick from The Sweet Wanderlust

In 2016, I traveled through Kerala on a blogger trip called the Kerala Blog Express. Over my two weeks in the southwestern state, I trekked through the hills of Wayanad and slept on a houseboat on the backwaters in Alleppey. My belly was filled with many different kinds of curries and amazing desserts of Kerala like Rava laddu— I was so glad to find I loved Indian food because I’d only tried it once before my trip! I experienced the thrill of adrenaline as I ziplined over a lake and zorbed down a hill at an adventure park in Wayanad, experienced the beauty of the land at a tea plantation in Munnar and cast a net at Fort Kochi. I was impressed with the incredible hospitality, bright colors and activities for every type of traveler!

One of my memorable experiences in India was when I stayed at a homestay in Wayanad, and our host took us to a local soccer game. It was fun to cheer for the local team and meet the players and fans!

As someone who loves schedules and timelines (I was an event coordinator, after all!), I struggled when plans changed from moment to moment.

I was nervous about visiting India but visited as part of a blogger group. Traveling with others helped me to feel safe.

Just when I was beginning to think I had super strong tastebuds– immune to spicy food– I was invited to stay at Pranavam Homestay with a local family in Wayanad. Mrs. Rema made a traditional Sadhya, served on a banana leaf. The food was so spicy, I had tears running down my face, but it was so delicious, I couldn’t stop!

Yes, although it will be hard to top my first experience!

Wendy Werneth by Nomadic Vegan

My most recent trip to India was on a vegan tour of Bangalore and Pondicherry arranged by a social enterprise called Escape To. Not only did we stuff ourselves with delicious vegan Indian food throughout the tour, but we also got the chance to meet local grassroots activists and entrepreneurs. Even though I generally prefer independent travel, this small group tour was truly special and helped me to see a whole different side of India that I’d never experienced before.

In Auroville, just outside of Pondicherry, we visited an amazing project called EcoFemme. They make reusable cloth pads for women that are much more eco-friendly and also healthier than the usual disposable pads. Besides, the pads are sewn by local women from the surrounding villages who would otherwise not have employment. And for every pad sold internationally, one pad is given to a girl living in India. It was inspiring to meet the people behind this grassroots project that is changing so many lives.

One of my best experiences in India was seeing hundreds of men and boys praying outside the mosque in the Muslim area of Calcutta during Eid. The mosque itself was full, so the worshipers spilled out into the street.

Having my breasts and butt grabbed by men on the streets

Women should be prepared for sexual harassment, even if traveling with a male companion. Use the women-only carriages on city metros when available. And if someone touches you inappropriately, shout at them loudly and shame them publicly.

Indian food is incredible! India is probably the best country in the world for vegetarians. For vegans, there are many options too but double-check to make sure the dish doesn’t contain dairy products like ghee or curd.

Absolutely!

Derek Hartman from Robe Trotting

I recently spent a month in India. I was mostly with a guided tour traveling north to south from Delhi to Kerala. I then spent 4 days on my own in Varanasi. We traveled by bus, all-terrain vehicle, several trains, and three flights. We visited Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Udaipur, Kochi, Mumbai, Pushkar, and Varkala.

One of my favorite experiences was participating in a puja ceremony in Pushkar . While I was raised Christian, I consider myself agnostic. I don’t consider myself religious at all, but I loved being welcomed into a religious ceremony by a Hindu Brahmin. He explained the significance of what we would go through and the ceremony was beautiful. I felt a very peaceful connection to the culture and the experience was reflective and prayerful. Part of the reflection and prayer was for ancestors and family members who have passed. It was moving to spend time remembering my family in such a sacred place.

I fell in love with India, but I could never drive there. It took me a while to get used to just walking around India and I felt uncomfortable riding in any type of vehicle for the first few days. It’s something you get used to. There is beauty in the chaos and it’s enchanting. I did not like urban farming and stepping over animal poop. Having to watch every step you take can be annoying.

I felt very comfortable in India, but I was with a guide most of the time. I would advise that as an American, we are culturally uncomfortable saying “no” when we are offered a tour or someone is trying to sell us something, such as in a market. In India, it’s a common practice and you just have to get over being “American polite” and say “no” firmly instead of “no thank you, I’m okay”.

Because I was with a guide who knew good restaurants I had very little stomach upset, but I had a few nights of difficulty from eating at a homestay. If you do not live in India, you won’t be used to the spices. It isn’t a cleanliness thing. You DO have to make sure that cooking oils are changed though.

I cannot WAIT to visit India again and plan to return with my partner.

Larch from The Silver Nomad

Starting in Delhi, I went on to Agra and the Taj Mahal, Jaipur, Pushkar and Jodhpur before returning to Delhi for my last day. Traveling on coaches and trains, India was enchanting, exhilarating, dusty, noisy but serene, the people we met were helpful and curious about my blonde hair. My senses were bombarded by color, light smells and sound and the authentic taste of Indian cuisine.

Chai (milk tea) and a vegetarian thali became my staple diet and I sampled street food from the crowded vendors.

My second visit was to Goa. I went to Agonda Beach at the end of November and it rained every day. When it was not raining, I explored on a scooter going up into the hills. It was quite different from Rajasthan but I didn’t have enough time to fully appreciate it.

My best experience in India was my visit to the Taj Mahal. As one of the first people to enter the grounds, the calm, majestic Taj Mahal took my breath away in the early dawn light. Walking around the gardens the atmosphere was so serene and the Taj Mahal in the center was magnificent. The experience will stay with me for the rest of my life.

Visiting the hills forts in Jaipur, I was saddened to see elephants being used to take people up and down the steep hills to the forts.

Be modest and respectful in your clothing and your language. Be prepared for the assault on all your senses.

Being vegetarian, I found the food amazing. The flavors of the curries were clean, tasty and different from what I expected.

I am already planning a return trip to Goa, Kerala, and Kochi

Gloria Apart from Nomadic Chica

My love affair with India started around 25 years ago when Yoga and Meditation came into my mind. I always wanted to try these meditation retreats but I never had the time to get “locked out” for 12 days or I was not willing to spend that time instead of taking a trip somewhere. But I was in 2014 with a 6 -month visa in India, with plenty of time and with a little existential crisis. This was the perfect moment to give it a try!

So I went to Bodhgaya, the land where Buddha got enlighted and inscribed myself in the course of the Dhamma School, the ones who are supposed to teach this technique keeping the origins.

I won’t lie, it was one of the hardest experiences of my entire life. Imagine yourself sitting in a hot room (it was summer) meditating for a total of 10 hours per day.

When you start the 10-Days meditation retreat , you make a vote of silence, so you can’t talk or communicate with anyone in any way. That’s also including writing, reading or having your electronics with you!

After the 10 days, I was different. India was not feeling overwhelming anymore! I was calmer and relax and with weird new confidence and connection with my thoughts and feelings, it was the beginning of a new relationship with myself.

One of my best travel experiences in India until now was for 7 days in one of the most luxurious trains in the world, the Deccan Odyssey! A private cabin, two chefs on board, you personal butler and amazing tours daily, is there something better?

After being already for two months in India, and when I thought only weak travelers get sick, I got some stomach bug who had me sick for over a month! It was also the same moment when I have realized my travel insurance got expired, never did this again! Lesson learned!

Try to adapt to the local traditions and customs. Especially if you are a woman, keep your clothes modest and, even if it’s really hot, cover up your chest, legs, and arms. I prefer to blend and not call too much attention so I can walk more comfortably.

Amazing! I have tried Indian food in the northern areas, but it was not until I went to Maharashtra and Kerala that I could have a whole new experience with Indian food. The spices, the textures, eating with my hand, and all the flavors made me sing and dance of joy every time.

Definitely! I’ve been already four times and I would go back at any chance!

Karen Turner from Wanderlustingk

I traveled around Southern India and my favorite experience in India had to be sampling all the specialties from different regions from spicy Andra food to sweeter dishes from Kerala. I did a cooking class in Kochi, which was great for mastering the basics of Indian cooking to bring home Indian food with us! We also did a food tour in Mysore in addition to enjoying home cooking at a friend’s house in Bangalore in addition to following every food recommendation given to us from Mangalorean prawns to where to get the freshest idlis. Simply, everything was delicious!

Use the food apps (Zomato) to find the best restaurants and do a bit of research to figure out what are the most ordered dishes with the highest turn-over to avoid getting sick. Get a SIM card as soon as possible and don’t be afraid to use the various rideshare apps to get around rather than walking around by yourself.

Definitely, although I want to visit the North next!

Samantha Shea from Intentional Detours

I have many fond memories of India so far (I plan to return) but my best India travel experience was the time I attended a Himachali wedding in a village in Parvati Valley . One afternoon when heading back to our hotel in Chojh Village, I was struck by the cacophony of trumpets and singing in the not-so-far-off distance. Curious, my partner Charles and I headed off in the direction of the noise to find what felt like the whole valley gathered together for what was none other than a wedding. Though I was a bit nervous to enter at first-as I wasn’t sure if they wanted outsiders attending- we were soon welcomed in with open arms. Some of the villagers quickly gave us plastic chairs, jalebi treats, and cups of chai to slurp as we watched everyone dance around the circle in coordination. We wouldn’t watch for long though- two men clad in colorful headdresses insisted Charles and I join the fun. And so we did! I still to this day remember how exhilarating and pure fun it was to dance along with the rest of the villagers while trying and failing to match their never-ending stamina. I had always wanted to attend an Indian wedding, and I couldn’t have been happier that my first experience happened to be in a Himachali village of all places. I’ll remember that day forever.

My worst experience in India was during my first visit in 2018. We were unfortunately scammed horribly by a travel company “gang” upon arriving in New Delhi. My boyfriend and I both were without internet service and hadn’t read much about where we were staying in advance. Our rickshaw driver convinced us that our cheap hostel was closed and then brought us to a fake tourist agency who insisted that there was nowhere else with vacancy aside from 5-star hotels. Seeing as we were overwhelmed and without the internet, there was no way we could check such claims. Since we had been planning to head to the mountains anyway, we ended up getting what we later learned was an extremely overpriced taxi ride out of the city. To add to our crazy first day in India, our driver ended up being a wild character of sorts, making for an insane 24 hours. Though it sucks losing money, I still loved everything else about that trip, so much so that I came back a year later- which is when I had my super positive wedding experience.

I’ve always loved Indian food since I was a child and trying it in India was just magical. Nothing compares to street food and hole in the wall shops.

Never hail a rickshaw off the street unless you’re with a local. At best you’ll be ripped off, and at worst you’ll experience what we did with that scam tour agency.

I am planning to as soon as travel is possible again. I have a 10-year validity multi-entry visa.

Ellie Cleary from Soul Travel India & Soul Travel Blog

Over the last few years, I’ve traveled to India for months at a time, both solo and with my fiancé, who is Indian. We met on my travels in India. Some of my favorite places I’ve visited in India include Ladakh, the quieter corners of Kerala such as Wayanad and the southern backwaters, and the beautiful Konkan coastline of southern Maharashtra.

I’m lucky to have many memories to pick from, but many of my most memorable experiences in India involve long train rides. One of my best train journeys happened directly after my not-so-good experience and was a complete contrast. I was scared of getting back on an overnight train, alone, but I knew I had to do it to continue my journey.

On my journey from Bikaner in Rajasthan to Haridwar, I met a family who had a teenage daughter, and they were traveling from Rajasthan to Haridwar as well. Not only did she keep me company with chats and stories throughout much of the journey – interrupted only by kids from the next set of berths over who wanted to show off their newly learned card tricks – but I was offered food by her mum, and on reaching Haridwar they shepherded me off the train away from the rickshaw touts and did not leave my side until they’d found which bus I needed to get to Rishikesh and put me on it. I’m still in touch with the daughter to this day and fondly remember our conversations. It’s no exaggeration to say that his experience restored my faith in India.

Taking the train alone from Jodhpur to Jaisalmer, I was tired and looking forward to a good night’s sleep. Normally when traveling by train in India I try to get the upper-most bunk, but this time I’d been assigned the lower bunk. I didn’t bother to try and switch and settled in for the night. I awoke at around 3 am to find the man directly opposite me sitting upright on his bunk, staring at me and touching himself. Terrified I ran off to find the guard / Ticket collector, but there was no-one to be found. After shouting at the man, my neighbor woke up (another solo female traveler as it happened), and helped me to find a spare bunk at the other end of the train carriage. In the morning an awkward scene followed with the guard who failed to do much about the incident except telling me I could report him to the police if I wanted to. I arrived tired and scared at 5 am in Jaisalmer.

I can’t get enough – but be careful in Delhi and stick with hot food from popular stalls if you’re trying street food.

On trains, try to get the top bunk. Get a local tourist sim card from a network such as Airtel, Vodafone or Jio as soon as you arrive in India – don’t rely on international roaming – it’s useful for so many things.

We visit every year

So those were some of the best and not so good first-hand experiences of travelers and bloggers visiting India. As I mentioned before, this article is one of our favorites and we thank all who have shared their experiences in India .

How was your travel experience in India? Please let us know in the comments below.

Pin this for a later read!

Agni Amrita

Related posts.

Indian Souvenirs – What to Buy and From Where

Namaste! The Traditional Form of Indian Greeting & Its Significance

Best Indian Food to Try

Interesting and Famous Temples in North India & Others

Famous Temples of South India That You Must Visit

Famous Temples in India That You Must Visit

Salutations! I had to compliment this excellent blog! The amount of information it offers is genuinely astounding. It’s like having easy access to a treasure of knowledge for everyone. I applaud the creators for their amazing work. I sincerely appreciate the insightful information offered here. Folks, keep up the fantastic effort!

Great Information Keep it up.

Great Article. Thank you for providing such unique and valuable information to your readers. I really appreciate your work.

Thank you so much!

Wow, this brough a FLOOD of memories back to me from my trip to India several years ago. You summed up my experience perfectly in the first paragraph, it is so a land of extremes. I never thought that India would be so diverse. In Mumbai I was completely overwhelmed by culture shock. I experienced a lot of the homelessness, traffic, beeping horns, and things of that nature as you describe. We made our way to Udaipur, Goa, and Kerala and WOW they could not be more different from Mumbai and from each other. Totally accurate post!

Thank you Stephanie! I can understand your feeling. Most of my friends from the West have to say the same thing about India. Would definitely love to know more about your experience in India.

Submit a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Submit Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

Pin It on Pinterest

Enable JavaScript

Please enable JavaScript to fully experience this site. How to enable JavaScript

• Travel experience

Main Cabin Extra

A little more of everything

Enjoy more space with Main Cabin Extra seating, starting at $20. Seats are located in Main Cabin and offered on most flights, subject to availability.

Early boarding

Be one of the first to board after AAdvantage ® status members with Preferred Group 5 boarding and get easier access to overhead bin space.*

Boarding process

Extra legroom

Sit back and relax with more room to stretch out at the front of the Main Cabin.

Free carry-on

You can bring 1 personal item and 1 bag with you for free. See all the restrictions before you board.

Checked bag policy

Complimentary snacks and drinks

Enjoy complimentary beer, wine and spirits; plus free Biscoff cookies or mini pretzels and soft drinks. Additional food may be available for free, depending on your route.**

Main Cabin food

Free entertainment

Enjoy free movies and TV shows – on screen or your device.

Inflight entertainment

You can buy Wi-Fi on select aircraft so you never miss a beat while you’re on board.

Wi-Fi and connectivity

*Overhead bin space availability varies by aircraft.

**On flights with full drink service. The number of drinks served may be limited.

Book your seat

Look for the Main Cabin Extra icon when you choose your seats.

Book a flight and buy Main Cabin Extra

If you've already booked your flight, you can still buy a Main Cabin Extra seat. If you bought a Basic Economy ticket, boarding restrictions still apply.

Change your seat

AAdvantage ® members can now use miles to reserve Main Cabin Extra seats.

• Reserve seats with miles
• Find your trip

You can buy Main Cabin Extra through Reservations, select travel agencies and airport self-service kiosks. If you have a credit card stored in your AAdvantage ® profile, you can also buy on our mobile app.

American Airlines app

AAdvantage® status member access

Who gets complimentary main cabin extra seats.

• AAdvantage Executive Platinum ® , AAdvantage Platinum Pro ® and AAdvantage Platinum ® members
• one world ® Sapphire and Emerald members with elite status on Alaska Airlines, British Airways, Iberia, Finnair, Qatar Airways or Japan Airlines

All listed members are allowed complimentary access for up to 8 traveling companions on the same reservation.

AAdvantage Gold® and one world® Ruby members*

Enjoy complimentary access within 24 hours of departure when seats are available.

* one world ® Ruby members with elite status on Alaska Airlines, British Airways, Iberia, Finnair, Qatar Airways or Japan Airlines

Seat assignments

• We make every effort to ensure you get your chosen seat, but seat assignments are not guaranteed.
• We reserve the right to change seats for operational, safety or security reasons.
• You must check in at least 60 minutes before departure for international flights and 45 minutes for domestic flights within the U.S. Also, make sure you arrive at the gate 15 minutes before departure or you may lose your seat.

Main Cabin Extra seats

• Main Cabin Extra seats are on select flights operated by American Airlines and American Eagle and subject to availability.
• Seats are non-transferable and valid only on the flight purchased.
• We reserve the right to discontinue the sale of seats or refuse to sell seats to a passenger.
• Fees for seats are non-refundable with some exceptions.

Refunds issued for seats

We'll issue you a refund if:

• You pay to upgrade to First or Business
• You pay more for another seat on the same flight (but not if you change to a lower priced or free seat)
• You cancel your flight within 24 hours and booked at least 2 days before departure
• You cancel, rebook and buy seats on your new flight
• We cancel your flight and we're unable to get you a comparable seat on another flight rebooked by us*
• We delay your flight causing you to miss a connection and we're unable to get you a comparable seat on another flight*
• You’re denied boarding on an oversold flight and we're unable to get you a comparable seat*

*Unable to get you a comparable seats is defined as moving from Main Cabin Extra to a preferred or other Main Cabin seat or from an aisle / window Main Cabin Extra seat to a middle Main Cabin Extra seat

Receipts and refunds

Request a refund

You can request a refund online if you paid for seats and you make changes to parts of your reservation, and you lose your paid seats on the unchanged segments.

Keep in mind you need to submit separate refund requests for your flights, seats and other purchases.

Request a refund Opens another site in a new window that may not meet accessibility guidelines

You may also like...

• Admirals Club ®

The great outdoors are closer than you think. How to find hiking, camping, more near you.

There are more federal lands and waters than you can explore in a lifetime.

And there’s a free tool to help find the best ones for you. Recreation.gov is a one-stop shop for planning adventures in the great outdoors. 

“Our job with Recreation.gov is to set people out to have the best experience they can, and when they know what to expect, they know how to prepare, they know what passes they might need, if their entry fees, if they need time, reservations, anything like that,” said Janelle Smith, who works for the U.S. Forest Service and Recreation.gov Public Affairs.

Here’s how to use the site to plan your next getaway or level up your next road trip .

Is Recreation.gov a real website?

Yes. Fourteen federal agencies , ranging from the National Park Service to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, use Recreation.gov as a “centralized travel planning and reservation platform,” according to the website.

“All of our federal agencies that participate in Recreation.gov share their data with us, even if it's not a reservable location,” said Smith. Travelers can use that data to find points of interest across the country. “Today, there are about 5,000 recreation areas and 121,000 individual sites available to reserve on Recreation.gov .”

Where is a good place to camp? 

To find highly rated campgrounds near you, use the map tool in the middle of the homepage or select the Camping & Lodging thumbnail near the top. Either can help you search Recreation.gov’s database of campgrounds and other accommodations, which you can narrow by rating as well as distance, price, availability, and even mobile coverage. You can click on each location to find additional details like rules, activities and nearby attractions.

You’ll need to create an account on the website to make a reservation.

“There's many reasons for that, the most important being those local managers, who manage the locations where you're going to visit, need to be able to communicate with you for things like maybe a fire emergency or flooding or anything that could impact your stay,” Smith explained.

How do I plan where to stop on a road trip? 

Recreation.gov's Trip Builder can help you find all sorts of scenic places to stop, whether for a picnic or a full park day. 

From the homepage, click on Plan Your Vacation with Trip Builder. From there, you can enter a starting point and destination and filter what you’d like to do along the way. Do you want to go hiking or snorkeling? Are you interested in historical and cultural sites or simply driving around and looking at scenery? You can indicate how far out of the way you’re willing to go for these destinations.

“I can set this buffer zone right here to, say, 50 miles outside of my route,” Smith said. “It will show me then all of the different recreation opportunities along that route … that I wouldn't have known about otherwise just driving along the road.”

From Acadia to Zion: What travelers should know about each of America's national parks

Can you just show up to a national park?

Sometimes. Most national parks do not require reservations for entry. Of those that do, most only require reservations for certain areas, during certain times, like summit sunrises at Haleakalā National Park in Hawaii. 

Some may require reservations or fees for specific activities, like cave tours at Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky. Others may require activity permits or lotteries, like hiking Angels Landing at Zion National Park in Utah.

“If a location requires a permit, it's typically a location that is extremely popular and the demand is greater than the capacity of that experience,” Smith said. She encourages travelers to consider less visited destinations.

“All the participating agencies of Recreation.gov, beyond the big national parks, have hundreds and thousands of amazing locations that people may not know about,” Smith said. “By venturing out just beyond sort of the known areas, I think you can discover parts of this country that are really surprising, and they have so much to offer.”

• Kindle Store
• Kindle eBooks

Promotions apply when you purchase

These promotions will be applied to this item:

Some promotions may be combined; others are not eligible to be combined with other offers. For details, please see the Terms & Conditions associated with these promotions.

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required .

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

Image Unavailable

• To view this video download Flash Player

New Orleans Travel Guide 2024: "Immerse Yourself in Culture, History, and Unforgettable Experiences" Kindle Edition

Embark on an unforgettable journey through the vibrant streets and rich culture of New Orleans with our meticulously crafted travel guide. Whether you're a seasoned traveler or a first-time visitor, prepare to be captivated by the city's charm and allure.

Discover the soulful rhythms of jazz echoing through the historic French Quarter, indulge in delectable Creole cuisine at renowned eateries, and immerse yourself in the city's fascinating history, from its colorful Mardi Gras celebrations to its hauntingly beautiful cemeteries. With insider tips and hidden gems revealed, you'll unlock the secrets of New Orleans and experience it like a true local.

Fuel your wanderlust as you explore the city's iconic landmarks, including the majestic St. Louis Cathedral, the lively Bourbon Street, and the picturesque Garden District. Whether you're craving a lively night out or a peaceful stroll along the Mississippi River, New Orleans offers something for every traveler's desire.

Don't miss your chance to embark on the adventure of a lifetime in one of America's most enchanting cities. Grab your copy of "Enchanting New Orleans: Your Ultimate Travel Companion for 2024" today and prepare to be swept away by the magic of the Big Easy. Your unforgettable New Orleans experience awaits!

• Print length 149 pages
• Language English
• Sticky notes On Kindle Scribe
• Publication date April 15, 2024
• File size 8727 KB
• Page Flip Enabled
• Word Wise Enabled
• Enhanced typesetting Enabled
• See all details

Product details

• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0D1TYM4S7
• Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 15, 2024
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• File size ‏ : ‎ 8727 KB
• Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
• Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
• Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
• Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
• Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
• Print length ‏ : ‎ 149 pages

Customer reviews

Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.

No customer reviews

• Amazon Newsletter
• About Amazon
• Accessibility
• Sustainability
• Press Center
• Investor Relations
• Amazon Devices
• Amazon Science
• Sell on Amazon
• Sell apps on Amazon
• Supply to Amazon
• Protect & Build Your Brand
• Become an Affiliate
• Become a Delivery Driver
• Start a Package Delivery Business
• Advertise Your Products
• Self-Publish with Us
• Become an Amazon Hub Partner
• › See More Ways to Make Money
• Amazon Visa
• Amazon Store Card
• Amazon Secured Card
• Amazon Business Card
• Shop with Points
• Credit Card Marketplace
• Reload Your Balance
• Amazon Currency Converter
• Your Account
• Your Orders
• Shipping Rates & Policies
• Amazon Prime
• Returns & Replacements
• Manage Your Content and Devices
• Recalls and Product Safety Alerts
• Conditions of Use
• Privacy Notice
• Consumer Health Data Privacy Disclosure
• Your Ads Privacy Choices

The Definitive Voice of Entertainment News

Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood Reporter

site categories

How to make your own bespoke wine with the best vintners in the world.

With an initiation fee starting at $20k, private wine and travel club The Vines takes members around the globe to sip rare vintages, learn the art of blending and even create a personal barrel complete with 25 cases and bespoke labels.

By Elycia Rubin

Elycia Rubin

• Share this article on Facebook
• Share this article on Twitter
• Share this article on Flipboard
• Share this article on Email
• Show additional share options
• Share this article on Linkedin
• Share this article on Pinit
• Share this article on Reddit
• Share this article on Tumblr
• Share this article on Whatsapp
• Share this article on Print
• Share this article on Comment

Pulling a prized bottle of, say, a 2018 Dalla Valle Cabernet Sauvignon out of the cellar to relish with friends can be thrilling. But think about the bragging rights of pouring your own blend, which you personally crafted at a famed winery in the heart of Tuscany or in the hills of Argentina.

Related Stories

Don julio 1942 makes a splash at the oscars: here's where to buy the celeb-approved tequila online, 'abigail' review: dan stevens and melissa barrera in an exuberantly over-the-top vampire horror-comedy.

Over three or four days you’ll stroll vineyards, gain inside knowledge about the craft, inhale the enchanting aromas inside renowned barrel rooms and sip treasured wines. Members also have the option of creating their own personal barrel (25 cases, priced from $6,000-$40,000), which will be bottled, adorned with a bespoke label and shipped to your home after maturation. Intimate and masterfully executed, these “Blending Escapes” are the pinnacle of wine-tasting bliss for any oenophile.

“Through The Vines, we share winemaking experiences with others who are passionate about wine and the cultural and travel experiences that accompany it,” founder and CEO Michael Evans tells THR . “Drinking wines from a region, with the people who make them, and enjoying the unique foods of each locale is an unparalleled experience.”

Studded with culturally rich activities designed to deeply connect members with each region thanks to the meaningful relationships Evans and his team have cultivated, excursions are carefully curated. In addition to the deep dive with winemakers, expect dinners at off-the-beaten path cafés and trattorias, bountiful lunches set on sprawling vineyards, cooking classes with revered chefs, and gatherings with resident authors and artists.

Current destinations where members can globetrot and vine hop include: Priorat, Spain; Mosel, Germany; the Champagne and Burgundy regions of France; Mendoza, Argentina; Oregon’s Willamette Valley; Duoro Valley, Portugal; Napa Valley; Sicily; and Piemonte, Italy.

South Africa, Bordeaux and Georgia in Eastern Europe are currently being plotted for 2025. Plenty of scintillating activities are forthcoming as well, to include truffle hunting in Tuscany, clamming on the Oregon coast, and making one’s own perfume in Spain.

Those who are yearning to delve further into the terroir and grow their own grapes, literally, have the option to purchase an acre of mature vineyards in Argentina at The Vines of Mendoza for $120,000, plus additional farming fees. “Winemaking is a la carte and starts at $4 per bottle,” says Evans, who also owns The Vines Resort & Spa , the private vineyard’s sleek retreat delivering majestic views of the Andes Mountains and surrounding vines.

A version of this story first appeared in the April 10 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe .

THR Newsletters

Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day

More from The Hollywood Reporter

Rihanna calls new songs she’s been working on for potential next album “so good”, julia louis-dreyfus was recognized as her ‘seinfeld’ character while giving birth, rita moreno says she was “astonished” by lenny kravitz’s reaction to meeting her, how to watch bravo shows on hulu, bulgari, which just debuted world’s thinnest watch, opens new south coast plaza boutique, orlando bloom on why he “wouldn’t change” his relationship with katy perry for “anything”.