Arctic & Polar

Ranked · where to go & why

The Top 20 in Arctic & Polar

The ends of the Earth — the white continent and its penguins, fire-and-ice Iceland, aurora over Lapland, and polar bears on the pack ice. Here is the Arctic & Polar world, ranked.

1. 1Antarctic PeninsulaExplore →The white continent — penguin colonies, calving glaciers and a silence like nowhere else, by expedition ship.
2. 2IcelandExplore →Fire and ice on one ring road — waterfalls, volcanoes, geothermal lagoons, and the northern lights.
3. 3The Norwegian FjordsGeirangerfjord and Nærøyfjord — sheer green walls and waterfalls dropping to mirror-still water.
4. 4Svalbard, NorwayThe high Arctic at 78°N — polar bears, walrus, and the midnight sun above the pack ice.
5. 5Greenland (Ilulissat)The Ilulissat Icefjord calving city-sized icebergs — raw, immense, and humbling.
6. 6Tromsø & Arctic NorwayThe aurora capital — northern lights, whale safaris, and dog-sledding above the Circle.
7. 7Finnish Lapland (Rovaniemi)Glass igloos under the aurora, husky safaris, and the official home of Santa Claus.
8. 8Lofoten Islands, NorwayRazor peaks rising from the sea above red fishing villages — the Arctic’s most beautiful coast.
9. 9Churchill, CanadaThe “Polar Bear Capital of the World” — tundra-buggy encounters each autumn, beluga whales in summer.
10. 10Swedish Lapland (Abisko & the Icehotel)The clearest aurora skies in Europe and the original ice hotel, rebuilt each winter.
11. 11South GeorgiaKing-penguin megacolonies hundreds of thousands strong — the wildlife crown of any polar voyage.
12. 12Alaska (Inside Passage & Denali)Glacier-carved fjords, breaching whales, and North America’s highest peak.
13. 13The Faroe IslandsStorm-sculpted green cliffs, turf-roofed villages and waterfalls that fall into the sea.
14. 14North Cape & Arctic road, NorwayDrive to the northern edge of Europe across treeless Arctic plateau and Sámi country.
15. 15The Falkland IslandsFive penguin species on white-sand beaches — a wildlife wonder in the South Atlantic.
16. 16East Greenland (Scoresby Sund)The largest fjord system on Earth — towering ice and Inuit settlements, deeply remote.
17. 17Baffin Island, CanadaInuit culture, narwhals at the floe edge, and Auyuittuq’s granite spires.
18. 18Jökulsárlón & the Icelandic HighlandsA glacier lagoon of drifting icebergs and a Diamond Beach — Iceland’s most surreal sight.
19. 19Hurtigruten Coastal NorwayThe classic voyage up the Norwegian coast — fjords, fishing ports and aurora from the deck.
20. 20The Ross Sea, AntarcticaThe deep, wild side of Antarctica — historic huts, vast ice shelves and emperor penguins, for the few.

Curated by TravelWell, in the spirit of the great travel guides. Linked picks open a full guide + Safety Card; more are being added.