Thrill seekers crave heart-pumping adventures that leave their palms sweaty and hearts racing. Whether it’s a cage dive with Great White Sharks in the Solomon Islands or hiking Table Mountain in Cape Town, these destinations provide adventure travel at its finest.
Panama offers more than just the Panama Canal and is a fantastic place for jungle hiking, mountain biking, white water rafting and even bungee jumping!
1. Chiang Mai
The quaint northern Thai city is the perfect base for visitors who want to hike, ride elephants, and take other outdoor excursions. Its old town has the feel of a small village, with ancient Buddhist temples and aged shophouses lining streets topped by crumbling brick walls and moats.
It’s a great spot for a culinary adventure, too. Many of the city’s restaurants specialize in “Lanna” cuisine, dishes that hail from the region’s 13th- to 18th-century kingdom. Look for dishes that won’t be found anywhere else in Thailand.
For an out-of-the-ordinary experience, sign up for a Vespa Adventures tour. You’ll explore the city on a classic scooter while learning about its culture, history, and daily life from an expert guide. Plus, the tour includes a meal at a local restaurant!
2. Gold Coast
Australia’s Gold Coast is a seaside playground that can be brash and tacky, but is now making a big effort to become more sophisticated. The region attracts surfers and families, but a visit to the Gold Coast also exposes travelers to an incredible natural landscape of rainforests, mountains, and beaches.
Inland, hiking trails crisscross Lamington National Park’s mountain ridges and valleys. During humpback whale season, tour companies offer daily tours to spot the marine mammals in their natural habitat on the Pacific Ocean.
In the city, nightlife is a mix of classic Aussie-style pub crawls, trendy cocktail lounges, and a few high-rise skyscrapers. Visitors can even take in a show at the Gold Coast Theater of a Lifetime, where they’ll be immersed in an enchanting story full of twists and unlikely happenings.
3. Waitomo Caves
If you’re a true adventure seeker, you can’t visit New Zealand without seeing the Waitomo Caves. The limestone caves are full of glow worms and other beautiful rock formations. There is so much to see and do here! You can even go blackwater rafting or tubing through the caves.
This is one of the best places for a family trip, but you’ll need to stay at Waitomo Village Chalets. It’s only a short walk from the glow worm caves and is one of the top accommodations near the Waitomo Caves.
You can also see the caves from a helicopter tour or a guided cave tour. However, the most adventurous way to see the caves is by tubing down the underground rivers and seeing the glow worms from below.
4. Rotorua
The town of Rotorua, set on its namesake lake on the North Island’s Volcanic Plateau, is known for its geothermal activity, from bubbling mud pools to steaming geysers, including the 30-m-tall Pohutu Geyser that erupts daily. At the Whakarewarewa Valley, a Maori village takes visitors on a mystical tour of their way of life.
Thrill seekers can scale Mount Ngongotaha, which offers a vista spread out like a 2D map. The area is also a hub for adventure sports such as white water rafting and bungy jumping.
A day trip to the thermally-heated Hot Water Beach lets hikers dig for their own private soak. Then unwind at the Polynesian Spa, which has 30 pools sourced from two natural springs. The resort is open year-round, but its best time to visit for general outdoor activities is from early January to late February.
5. Cape Town
Known as the Cape Town of South Africa, this cosmopolitan city is the ideal place to experience natural beauty and adventure. Whether it’s hiking Table Mountain, scuba diving to encounter a great white shark, or paragliding over the stunning landscape of the Swiss Alps, this destination is sure to excite even the most discerning travelers.
New Zealand is home to a myriad of incredible activities, especially in Queenstown, the adventure capital of the country. The origin of bungy jumping, this thrilling activity is one that everyone should try at least once in their lives.
Colombia is another adventure travel destination that offers a variety of activities for adrenaline junkies. Guests can surf world-class waves, trek through the rainforest in Corcovado National Park, or swim between two continents at Silfra Fissure.
