BIG bucket list Adventures

1. Why? To see the great gorge from a completely different and rare angle. Looking down on the squiggle of the Colorado River from a mile up on the rocky rim it seems impossible that this river could have carved the gargantuan Grand Canyon. Of course it s had about two billion years to do so slowly slicing through the black red orange purple strata to create one of the natural wonders of the world. And this is why seeing the canyon from wate .....

See the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City Italy

2. Why? Massive art small crowds. Damn Michelangelo for not picking a bigger room! The 40m long by 13m wide box squished into the Vatican Museum complex is woefully inadequate for the 25 000 odd people who now traipse through here every day. Yes the iconic ceiling and particularly the altar wall s Last Judgement are probably the most impressive paintings you ll ever see but that s only if you can see them over the heads of the rest of human .....

Sleep at Everest Base Camp Nepal

3. Why? To complete an epic trek then snooze with the summiteers. The trek to Everest Base Camp a breathtaking 14 day out and back into Sagarmatha NP to the foot of the world s highest mountain is a classic. And after the tragic earthquakes in 2015 the surrounding communities need the support from tourists. But while the teahouse hospitality and Himalaya views en route are magnificent most treks are not actually allowed to stay at Everest Ba .....

Trek to Machu Picchu Peru

4. Why? It s more satisfying than the train and there are lots of options. It s virtually impossible to make a bucket list that doesn t include Machu Picchu. A secret city never found by those pesky conquistadores perched in the mountains swirled by mists and mysteries it s the stuff of travel legend. The trouble is when you ve seen so many many photos of the Inca citadel there s a danger it ll be a bit of a let down. And that s one reason .....

Hike the Milford Track New Zealand

5. Why? Complete one of New Zealand s Great(est) Walks in great style. New Zealand has nine official Great Walks and the Milford Track is arguably the greatest of the lot. This four day 53.5km hike from Lake Te Anau to Milford Sound slices through the splendour of Fiordland National Park taking in lakes waterfalls ice fields forest and plenty of pioneer history and tops out at the panoramic Mackinnon Pass (1 154m). In the peak summer trekki .....

Sleep under the stars in NamibRand Namibia

6. Why? To experience some of the world s best celestial sights. Sure leave the big city and you can see stars almost anywhere. But the experience will be extra heavenly if you travel somewhere very dark very clear and very remote. Namibia s vast NamibRand Nature Reserve is one of only a few gold certified Dark Sky Reserves. Simply it has some of the world s best dark skies. There are no towns or settlements inside it or even nearby Namibia i .....

Swim with turtles in Ningaloo Western Australia

7. Why? To take a dip with endangered species. Western Oz s Ningaloo Reef isn t as big as the Great Barrier on the opposite coast. But it s still comprises 250 types of coral and attracting 500 species of fish; best of all in parts it lays only 100m offshore making its underwater riches extremely accessible the snorkelling is superb too. Three of the world s seven species of marine turtles nest on beaches and islands near Ningaloo between Nove .....

Visit an endangered tribe in the Amazon Ecuador

8. Why? To glimpse a unique culture but to do it sensitively and responsibly. Understandably many struggling minority tribes don t want to be gawped at by tourists passing through the arrow firing Sentinelese of the Andaman Islands being a case in point. But for some such groups tourism is providing a cultural lifeline and travellers staying at lodges or booking tours owned and run by the tribes themselves are helping to keep endangered tradi .....

Spot a snow leopard in Ladakh India

9. Why? Few have seen this endangered cat. There are thought to be just 4 000 to 6 500 snow leopards left in the wild. Coupled with the fact that these charismatic big cats tend to live in cold inhospitable rocky clifftops at altitudes above 3 000m they re not that easy to spot. This makes a sighting very special and most trips that venture into their domain largely Tibet the Himalaya and the Stans make it clear that you d be fortunate to .....

Descend into a volcano Iceland

10. Why? For a unique descent into the earth s belly. To inject some Jules Verne adventure into your bucket list you need to head to Iceland. It s a strange singular place; a newborn babe in geological terms you can virtually see it being formed before your eyes the land groans hisses and spews. This makes delving beneath the surface quite exciting indeed though something that s been easy to achieve since 2012 when commercial tours began plun .....

Sail to St Helena South Atlantic

11. Why? To cruise to one of the remotest islands aboard the last Royal Mail Ship? and before the first plane lands. The romance of a high seas voyage. A last of its kind journey. A fascinating far flung isle. The knowledge that it s all about to change... This may tick every bucket list box. St Helena is a worthy port of call in its own right: the South Atlantic speck is a crumple of glorious geomorphology small but riven with deep gullies gul .....

Sleep on a private isle in Scotland

12. Why? Who doesn t fancy an island to themselves? Sadly most of us don t have a Branson sized budget but that doesn t mean you can t claim your own patch of sea lapped solitude. Thanks to the fact that Scotland has almost 800 islands as well as a favourable attitude to wild camping it s possible to tick this must do off the list without spending a penny. Tiny Tanera Beag the second largest of the 20 odd north western Summer Isles has never .....

Visit North Korea

13. Why? Who knows what the future holds? The secretive nation is the ultimate destination for the world curious. Those who want boutique hotels or fancy cuisine look away now. Forget even the ability to chat to a local or take a detour down a side street just because you fancy it. This is totalitarian tourism freedom less but fascinating for the brief insight it gives into a country like no other. If you visit now you can (probably) expect to see .....

Climb Kilimanjaro Tanzania

14. Why? It s travel s greatest trekking summit and it could well be losing its snows. Tanzania s Mount Kilimanjaro deserves to be on every travel bucket list. No other mountain manages to combine such a wealth of wow factors to tick all those boxes: it s an aesthetically awesome monolith poking out of the African plains; it s a tough but achievable challenge; at 5 895m it s the roof of a continent; it s a climatological oddity proving snow can .....

Tour Havana in a classic car Cuba

15. Why? Hop in an iconic vintage motor before they get scrapped. It s all change in Cuba. A gentle thaw in relations with their big neighbours to the north means that some travel to the island has become (slightly) easier for American citizens and some trade restrictions have been lifted. The result? A 95% increase in online Cuba searches. For now Cuba remains quite unique with an intoxicating je ne sais quoi that s strong of culture and loose o .....

Cuddle a whale in Baja California Mexico

16. Why? Closer encounters with massive mammals. You can see whales in lots of places but there are few spots where you can actually give one a hug. From December to April grey whales gather in Baja California s San Ignacio Lagoon to mate calve nurture their young and so it seems have a jolly old time with the weird human creatures that sail out to see them. Despite having been hunted to near extinction these greys bear no grudge; indeed th .....

Capture the Northern Lights on camera

17. Why? To record a spectacular photo of the northern lights that you saw. In this age of instant images and selfies it s not good enough anymore to just see the planet s most spectacular light show to hopefully be in the right place at the right time now you have to snap a frame worthy photo of it too. One way to increase your chances of filling that memory card is to join an aurora photography tour. You ll not only get tips from pros on how .....

Leaf peep on the Appalachian Trail US

19. Why? See fall colours without the other people. The idea of visiting New England in autumn wending between comely white clapboard houses verges lined with pumpkins and forested hillsides completely aflame is a romantic notion. Now add in hiked prices and all the other cars and coaches trying to get to the same scenic lookArguably out and it isn t quite so dreamy. the best way to appreciate the glorious death of New England s trees is to stri .....

Drive through Glacier National Park US

20. Why? See retreating ice from a capricious drive. The Going to the Sun Road somehow carves an 80km long furrow through the mountains of north west Montana. It s also notoriously difficult to clear of winter snows. Portions of it remain open year round but the very earliest in the season that the entire length might be accessible is mid June. Then by late September parts are off limits all over again leaving a brief window for a traverse. It s .....

See a spirit bear in British Columbia Canada

21. Why? These rare bears roam only here. Even for a country big on big empty Canada s Great Bear Rainforest takes some beating. What the GBR does have though is lots of lovely wildlife: grey wolves grizzlies cougars orca sea otters humpback whales and uniquely Kermode or spirit bears. These unusual ursines are black bears with a recessive gene which renders about 10% of them creamy pale. Like spirits though they re tricky to spot .....

Ride the Trans Siberian Russia China

22. Why? To take the slow route across Siberia. What s the old adage? It s better to travel than to arrive? Could have been written for the Trans Siberian train journey. If you were that desperate to get between Moscow and Beijing (the route of the network s Trans Mongolian branch arguably the most interesting) you could fly it in under eight hours. But no it s this six night 7 621km train that is slow travel at its most atmospheric an unhurrie .....

Raft the Zambezi River Zambia

23. Why? Run the great river while you can. The Zambezi is one of the world s most iconic waterways slicing its way through south eastern Africa and famously plunging over Victoria Falls. Rafting it whether you choose a short trip from Livingstone or a multi day beach camping expedition is up there with the world s greatest river journeys. You ll tackle hair raising rapids called things like Oblivion and The Devil s Toilet Bowl. You ll might .....