At DK Travel we’ve been helping readers make every trip extraordinary for over 30 years. Now, with all that knowledge under our belts, we've made one book to top them all, The Travel Bucket List. This ultimate travel list counts down the 500 experiences every traveller should have in a lifetime.
To give you a taste, we’ve picked out 10 things to add to your bucket list, from spell-binding train journeys to technicolour festivals.
The Travel Bucket List
View BookHop aboard the Staten Island Ferry in New York
It’s New York’s biggest bargain – a free ferry ride in one of the world’s most expensive cities. Sailing between Whitehall Terminal and Staten Island 24 hours a day, these unassuming vessels offer a free trip to the city’s southernmost borough – plus priceless views along the way. Jump aboard any time and grab your preferred space on the outside deck, camera at the ready.
Departing Manhattan, the back of the boat provides sweeping views of the Financial District, with skyscrapers soaring up from the water and boats puttering around Battery Park, while the front reveals the low hills of Staten Island. It’s the right side of the boat that most photographers cherish, though – from here you’ll glimpse the emotive Statue of Liberty, the pale green giant brandishing her torch high above the harbour as the ferry slips by.
Departing Manhattan, the back of the boat provides sweeping views of the Financial District, with skyscrapers soaring up from the water and boats puttering around Battery Park, while the front reveals the low hills of Staten Island. It’s the right side of the boat that most photographers cherish, though – from here you’ll glimpse the emotive Statue of Liberty, the pale green giant brandishing her torch high above the harbour as the ferry slips by.
Witness the Iguazú Falls in Argentina
Before these mighty waterfalls even come into view, their rumbling roar and great clouds of spray hint at the spectacle beyond. A set of cataracts straddling the frontier between Argentina and Brazil, the Iguazú (or Iguaçu in Portuguese) Falls take their name from the Indigenous Tupi-Guarani term for “great water”, and they certainly live up to the billing.
Protected by national parks on either side of the border, Iguazú consists of over 250 waterfalls and extends for more than 2.7 km (1.6 miles). A visit to both sections is more than worthwhile, but if you’ve only got time to see one side, go for Argentina.
While the Brazilian portion is best for panoramic views, including one of the powerful Devil’s Throat, it’s easier to get closer to the main cataracts and feel the spray from the forest trails on the Argentinian side. It’s an awesome display of the power of nature (and pretty refreshing, too).
Protected by national parks on either side of the border, Iguazú consists of over 250 waterfalls and extends for more than 2.7 km (1.6 miles). A visit to both sections is more than worthwhile, but if you’ve only got time to see one side, go for Argentina.
While the Brazilian portion is best for panoramic views, including one of the powerful Devil’s Throat, it’s easier to get closer to the main cataracts and feel the spray from the forest trails on the Argentinian side. It’s an awesome display of the power of nature (and pretty refreshing, too).
See the Scottish Highlands aboard the Jacobite Steam Train
The Jacobite Steam Train is perhaps better known as the Hogwarts Express for its role in the Harry Potter movies, but you don’t need to be a Potterhead to be dazzled by this journey. On leaving Fort William, the Jacobite chuffs its way through Scotland’s most jaw-dropping landscapes, while inside, the carriage’s vintage charm and mahogany interiors bring a touch of old-world magic.
Gazing out across the shores of Loch Eil – which, on a still day, mirrors its surrounding, looming peaks – you’ll feel the anticipation build as you approach Glenfinnan Viaduct. This concrete colossus with 21 enormous arches sweeps its way across Glen Shiel in a feat of Victorian engineering. Your journey concludes, not at Hogwarts of course, but in the coastal town of Mallaig, a fishing port where ferries cross crystal clear waters to Skye and the Outer Hebrides. All in all, this journey will leave you spellbound.
Gazing out across the shores of Loch Eil – which, on a still day, mirrors its surrounding, looming peaks – you’ll feel the anticipation build as you approach Glenfinnan Viaduct. This concrete colossus with 21 enormous arches sweeps its way across Glen Shiel in a feat of Victorian engineering. Your journey concludes, not at Hogwarts of course, but in the coastal town of Mallaig, a fishing port where ferries cross crystal clear waters to Skye and the Outer Hebrides. All in all, this journey will leave you spellbound.
Step into the Colosseum of Rome
As far as ancient sights go, the Colosseum might well be the most impressive. This is, after all, the largest amphitheatre in the ancient world, and where the imperial passion for bloody spectacle reached its peak of excess.
Commissioned by Emperor Vespasian in 72 CE and built by enslaved Jewish people, the arena opened in 80 CE with 100 days of celebratory games, some involving the massacre of 5,000 wild beasts. For centuries after, the arena was the site of wild animal fights and deadly gladiatorial combats, put on to entertain wealthy citizens, until they were banned in 404 and 523 CE respectively.
Today, the main spectacle of this 2,000-year-old arena isn’t bloody combat but the very building itself – a feat of great beauty, despite being damaged over the years by neglect and theft. Peer up at the arched entrances, walk its underground tunnels, stand on the arena floor – and try not to gasp at every turn.
Commissioned by Emperor Vespasian in 72 CE and built by enslaved Jewish people, the arena opened in 80 CE with 100 days of celebratory games, some involving the massacre of 5,000 wild beasts. For centuries after, the arena was the site of wild animal fights and deadly gladiatorial combats, put on to entertain wealthy citizens, until they were banned in 404 and 523 CE respectively.
Today, the main spectacle of this 2,000-year-old arena isn’t bloody combat but the very building itself – a feat of great beauty, despite being damaged over the years by neglect and theft. Peer up at the arched entrances, walk its underground tunnels, stand on the arena floor – and try not to gasp at every turn.
Watch the penguins at Boulders Beach in South Africa
In the southern hemisphere’s summer, the blond strip of sand at Boulders Beach in Simon’s Town, just outside of Cape Town, is dotted black and white. Milling around the seashore, waddling over granite boulders and ducking and diving into the waves that lap the shoreline, are innumerable little African penguins.
Also known as jackass penguins, for the donkey-like braying sound they make, African penguins are an endangered species, so it comes as quite a surprise to see them gathered in such large numbers on this sheltered town beach. The first pair of penguins turned up at Boulders Beach in the 1980s, when food was abundant, and the colony was quickly populated.
Today the penguins face competition for breeding sites, while climate change has affected the number of fish available for them to eat; the beach’s entrance fee goes towards protecting and preserving them. You can view the colony on boardwalks that run across the beaches – if you’re lucky enough, you might even see a penguin couple holding wings.
Also known as jackass penguins, for the donkey-like braying sound they make, African penguins are an endangered species, so it comes as quite a surprise to see them gathered in such large numbers on this sheltered town beach. The first pair of penguins turned up at Boulders Beach in the 1980s, when food was abundant, and the colony was quickly populated.
Today the penguins face competition for breeding sites, while climate change has affected the number of fish available for them to eat; the beach’s entrance fee goes towards protecting and preserving them. You can view the colony on boardwalks that run across the beaches – if you’re lucky enough, you might even see a penguin couple holding wings.
Glide through the Okavango Delta
The Okavango is the only major river in the world that doesn’t reach the ocean. It rises in the jagged mountains of Angola and, thanks to a quirk of geology, eventually disappears without trace into the sands of the Kalahari Desert.
En route, the river creates a dry-season delta in the northwest corner of Botswana that is a latticework of water channels and lagoons, a lifeline for elephants, hippos and crocodiles. Smaller creatures enjoy the Okovango Delta’s bounty, too: herons and cranes patrol the waterways, and jewel-bright malachite kingfishers glimmer among the reeds.
Settle into the hollow of a mokoro – a traditional canoe, poled from the back like a punt – for a frog’s-eye view of this glittering wilderness. Once crafted from sausage trees, mokoros are now fibreglass, but this doesn’t dim the romance. Your boatman will skilfully glide you through the water, with only the grunt of hippos and the swish of reeds against the mokoro’s hull disturbing the silence.
En route, the river creates a dry-season delta in the northwest corner of Botswana that is a latticework of water channels and lagoons, a lifeline for elephants, hippos and crocodiles. Smaller creatures enjoy the Okovango Delta’s bounty, too: herons and cranes patrol the waterways, and jewel-bright malachite kingfishers glimmer among the reeds.
Settle into the hollow of a mokoro – a traditional canoe, poled from the back like a punt – for a frog’s-eye view of this glittering wilderness. Once crafted from sausage trees, mokoros are now fibreglass, but this doesn’t dim the romance. Your boatman will skilfully glide you through the water, with only the grunt of hippos and the swish of reeds against the mokoro’s hull disturbing the silence.
Experience the colours of Holi in India
When choosing your outfit for India’s most colourful festival, you could don your oldest clothes that you’d be happy to part with – they’re going to be almost destroyed, anyway – or do as many locals do and dress all in white, creating a blank canvas for the millions of would-be Jackson Pollocks preparing to fling gulal (coloured powders) and water at all and sundry.
During Holi, the Festival of Colours, towns and villages across northern India erupt in a huge kaleidoscope of chaos, streets teeming with Hindu devotees celebrating the triumph of good over evil in the most flamboyant way possible. Each hue has meaning, of course: red dye symbolizes love and fertility; green represents new beginnings; and blue is the colour of Lord Krishna, the deity whose eternal love for Radha is a focus of the festival.
The revelry begins on the night of Holika Dahan, when blazing bonfires recall the demise of an evil demon, before mayhem ensues the next day. Munch on traditional Holi gujiya, fried parcels packed with spiced nuts and dried fruits, before getting stuck back into this rainbow riot.
During Holi, the Festival of Colours, towns and villages across northern India erupt in a huge kaleidoscope of chaos, streets teeming with Hindu devotees celebrating the triumph of good over evil in the most flamboyant way possible. Each hue has meaning, of course: red dye symbolizes love and fertility; green represents new beginnings; and blue is the colour of Lord Krishna, the deity whose eternal love for Radha is a focus of the festival.
The revelry begins on the night of Holika Dahan, when blazing bonfires recall the demise of an evil demon, before mayhem ensues the next day. Munch on traditional Holi gujiya, fried parcels packed with spiced nuts and dried fruits, before getting stuck back into this rainbow riot.
Explore the beauty of Mongolia’s landscape
From the Gobi Desert sands to the Siberian frontier, space and solitude reign supreme in Mongolia, one of the most sparsely populated countries on Earth. Piloting a 4WD across an expanse of grass, or gripping the reins of a horse as you skirt the shore of a lapis-blue lake, it can feel like you’ve got the country all to yourself.
These are landscapes so boundless they change only imperceptibly from one moment to the next. Every so often, bone-white yurts, known as ger, break up the green uniformity of the grasslands. Away from the capital, Ulaanbaatar, most Mongolians live in these small, felt-lined abodes, tending animals and moving with the seasons; theirs is a way of life hardly changed since the days of the ruler Genghis Khan. Stepping inside to share milk tea and mutton with a herding family, with the stove crackling as the ger creaks in the gusty wind, is a memory you’ll be reminiscing about for a long time.
These are landscapes so boundless they change only imperceptibly from one moment to the next. Every so often, bone-white yurts, known as ger, break up the green uniformity of the grasslands. Away from the capital, Ulaanbaatar, most Mongolians live in these small, felt-lined abodes, tending animals and moving with the seasons; theirs is a way of life hardly changed since the days of the ruler Genghis Khan. Stepping inside to share milk tea and mutton with a herding family, with the stove crackling as the ger creaks in the gusty wind, is a memory you’ll be reminiscing about for a long time.
Island-hop around the Philippines
There are three essential ingredients for an island retreat – sea, sand and sun – and the Philippines is blessed with each one. A country that is 95 per cent isle-based, the Philippines has a wealth of pristine, untouched coastlines, many of which are accessible and blissfully quiet.
Among the 7,000-strong archipelago, there are a few centrepiece jewels that can’t be missed. A vision of limestone cliffs and aquatic life, the island of Palawan is just a short hop away from stunning El Nido, famed for its soft sands and impeccable surfing conditions. If hidden lagoons, pristine white sand beaches and captivating coral reefs are what you’re after, then the idyllic Coron area is an ideal stop. The island Siargao leads to secluded islets such as Naked Island and Daku Island, where tranquil, untouched seas bearing the freshest seafood feasts await.
Wherever your island-hopping journey takes you, there’s almost certainly a secluded bit of sand awaiting you.
Among the 7,000-strong archipelago, there are a few centrepiece jewels that can’t be missed. A vision of limestone cliffs and aquatic life, the island of Palawan is just a short hop away from stunning El Nido, famed for its soft sands and impeccable surfing conditions. If hidden lagoons, pristine white sand beaches and captivating coral reefs are what you’re after, then the idyllic Coron area is an ideal stop. The island Siargao leads to secluded islets such as Naked Island and Daku Island, where tranquil, untouched seas bearing the freshest seafood feasts await.
Wherever your island-hopping journey takes you, there’s almost certainly a secluded bit of sand awaiting you.
Scale the scenic trails of Mount Fuji in Japan
Visible across the Kanto Plain, Mount Fuji’s iconic lilac-grey, sometimes snow-capped peak emerging through low cloud is instantly recognizable. The tallest peak in the country, Fuji-san (as it’s known locally) stands at over 3,700 m (12,300 ft), and straddles the prefectures of Yamanashi and Shizuoka. The mountain is in fact an active volcano – although there haven’t been any eruptions since 1707 – and, until 150 years ago, it was believed to be so sacred that it was only ever climbed by pilgrims.
Today, over 200,000 people trek the paths of Mount Fuji each year. Some of the easier trails – or stages – don’t require a lot of specialized tools, although they do necessitate some preparation. The most popular way to ascend is to hike partway up the night before, rest in one of the mountain huts along the trail, and then finish the climb just before dawn in order to see the sunrise from the peak, with the Fuji Five Lakes gleaming below.
Today, over 200,000 people trek the paths of Mount Fuji each year. Some of the easier trails – or stages – don’t require a lot of specialized tools, although they do necessitate some preparation. The most popular way to ascend is to hike partway up the night before, rest in one of the mountain huts along the trail, and then finish the climb just before dawn in order to see the sunrise from the peak, with the Fuji Five Lakes gleaming below.
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