Global Adventures

Glaciers, volcanoes, geysers, fjords, waterfalls, the Northern Lights, and midnight sun — Iceland contains more dramatic natural phenomena per square mile than any country on earth.

Bungee jumping, glacier hiking, fiord kayaking, the Tongariro Crossing — New Zealand built its entire tourism identity on the concept of adventure. It delivers.

Machu Picchu, the Inca Trail, the Amazon River tributary system, the Colca Canyon (deeper than the Grand Canyon) — Peru is the Americas' great adventure country.

Everest Base Camp, the Annapurna Circuit, whitewater rafting on the Trishuli, paragliding over Pokhara. Nepal is an adventure destination with a 1,000-year hospitality tradition.

Torres del Paine, Los Glaciares, the Carretera Austral — the tip of South America contains some of the most dramatic and least-visited landscapes in the Southern Hemisphere.

Zip lines through cloud forest, white-water rafting class IV rapids, surfing, volcano hiking — Costa Rica was the prototype for the modern adventure tourism model.

Cage diving with great whites, Big Five safaris, the Drakensberg hiking range, bungee jumping off Bloukrans Bridge (the world's highest). South Africa rewards adventure travelers.

Skiing at Niseko, hiking the Nakasendo, cycling Shikoku's 88-temple pilgrimage, sea kayaking through the Inland Sea — Japan's adventure infrastructure is extraordinary.

Desert hiking in the Fish River Canyon, sandboarding at Sossusvlei, tracking desert-adapted elephants, the Skeleton Coast. Namibia is Southern Africa's adventure capital.

Horse trekking through the Gobi, eagle hunting with Kazakh herders, crossing the Mongolian steppe by camel. Mongolia represents a genuine frontier that is becoming accessible.

The Trolltunga hike, the Lofoten Islands sea kayaking, skiing in Tromsø under the Northern Lights. Norway is the adventure country of northern Europe.

Grizzly bear watching, kayaking in Gwaii Haanas, heli-skiing in the Rockies, canoeing the Nahanni River. Canada's wilderness is larger than most people's comprehension.

Kilimanjaro, the Serengeti migration, hot air ballooning over the Masai Mara — Tanzania combines wildlife and landscape adventure better than any country in Africa.

Ha Long Bay kayaking, motorbiking the Ho Chi Minh Trail, trekking to Sapa's rice terraces — Vietnam's combination of landscape, culture, and price point makes it the world's best-value adventure destination.

Three adventures in one country: diving the Galápagos, climbing Cotopaxi (world's highest active volcano you can summit), and kayaking the Amazon headwaters.

Wadi Rum desert camping, the Dead Sea float, the Siq to Petra, diving in the Red Sea at Aqaba. Jordan packs an extraordinary variety of adventure into a small country.

Surfing at Uluwatu, hiking Rinjani volcano, diving Raja Ampat's reefs — Indonesia's 17,000 islands offer an essentially infinite adventure menu.

Ice sheet trekking, kayaking alongside calving glaciers, dog sledding in winter, and the boat journey through the Scoresby Sund — the world's largest fjord system. Greenland is the last great frontier of expedition tourism.