LAST UPDATED: 2/11/24 – Top Travel Experiences 11-20

We all have our bucket lists of places that we want to see and things that we want to do before we die.  If you are like me, your list keeps on getting longer instead of shorter regardless of how often we travel.  It seems like every beautiful place that I see or fun adventure that I hear about makes its way onto my ever-growing bucket list.  This is why I love to browse travel magazines, look through travel photographs on Instagram and Pinterest, and read travel blogs.

If you are looking for some new destinations and new experiences to add to your bucket list, then you have come to the right place.  I have been compiling a list of great travel experiences to do before you die for quite some time now and I would like to share the top 50 items on that list with you.  In this installment, I am going to review experiences 11-20 on my list of the Top 50 experiences to have before you die.

• Top 50 Travel Experiences to Have Before You Die (41-50)
• Top 50 Travel Experiences to Have Before You Die (31-40)
• Top 50 Travel Experiences to Have Before You Die (21-30)
• Top 50 Travel Experiences to Have Before You Die (11-20)
• Top 50 Travel Experiences to Have Before You Die (1-10)

If you have a travel experience on your list that didn’t make it onto my list, please let me know about it in the comments section.  Not only would I be excited to hear about it, but I am sure that other travelers reading this would appreciate hearing about it as well.

20.  Drive Across the Australian Outback

If you are looking for an amazing travel experience, it is always a good idea to start by looking near one of this world’s most amazing landscapes.  When it comes to amazing landscapes, the Outback in Australia is near the top.  People often misinterpret the term “Outback” to mean a specific place or location.  However, in reality, the term “Outback” means any area that is sparsely populated within Australia.   With Australia’s population primarily located on the Eastern and Southern Coasts, most of the land inland and in the Northwest is what most people think of when they picture the Outback.

Temperatures in the central deserts can soar to over 120 degrees Fahrenheit in the Summer and can drop below freezing at night.  So it is not a landscape that is for the explorers who aren’t prepared for the challenges.  However, if you are properly prepared, it also has some of the most beautiful and unique landscapes in the world.  Several excellent highways cross the Outback regions of Australia and driving one of those highways across the Outback is certainly a travel experience that every traveler should have before they die.

19.  Go on a Tiger Safari in Bandhavgarh National Park

When it comes to wildlife travel destinations, India ranks up there with the likes of Africa and the Amazon Rainforest as one of the premier wildlife destinations in the world.  Without a doubt, the top wildlife draw for visitors who come to Inda is the Bengal tiger.  These mammoth cats, which can grow to over 13 feet long and weigh over 650 pounds are critically endangered and India holds the largest population of the remaining tigers. One of the best places to see them is in the renowned Bandhavgarh National Park.

Because of a brilliant tiger conservation program that has been active since 1973, there are over 25 highly monitored tiger reserves in India where wild Bengal Tigers are protected.  Visiting one of these treasured tiger reserves to catch a glimpse of a Bengal Tiger in its natural habitat would be a dream come true for many wildlife enthusiasts.  This is why going on a Tiger Safari in India has to be one of the top travel experiences travelers should have before they die.

18.  Swim with Whale Sharks at Tofo Beach, Mozambique

When it comes to oceanic wildlife experiences, there are a lot of great destinations to visit around the world.  Some of the top spots are yet to come on my list of the top travel experiences.  However, not to be overlooked is swimming with the biggest fish in the Ocean.  While swimming with most sharks would terrify most people, this shark could not be more gentle and less harmful to humans.  Of course, I am talking about the behemoth Whale Shark.

These massive sharks, which despite their name have no relation to whales at all, can reach up to 46 feet and length and weigh over 12 tons.  Despite their size, Whale Sharks are plankton eaters, so they really have no interest in eating divers and snorkelers.  One of the best places to dive with Whale Sharks is in the Maldives.  While some places see these amazing animals during certain times of the year, at Tofo Beach, Mozambique the Whale Sharks are accessible year-round.

This gives visitors an unmatched opportunity to swim with Whale Sharks.  With such a great opportunity to swim with these gentle giants, this is why swimming with Whale Sharks at Tofo Beach, Mozambique is a can’t-miss travel experience you should have before you die.

17.  Drive Iceland’s Ring Road

If you are a fan of amazing road trips, then you are in luck.  When it comes to road trips with amazing and beautiful landscapes, few, if any, match driving the Ring Road in Iceland.  This 827-mile road takes visitors roughly a full week to complete and passes through some of the most gorgeous landscapes you will find on this planet.  Between the massive glaciers, breathtaking fjords, jaw-droppingly beautiful waterfalls, and the beautiful Basalt cliffs and sea stacks that were created by flowing lava, the landscapes in Iceland will leave you absolutely speechless.

If you would like to get away from the monotony of another beach vacation and see some of the other beautiful scenery that Mother Nature can create, then Iceland should be near the top of your list.  It’s a photographer and outdoor enthusiast’s dream.  This is why driving the Ring Road in Iceland is such an amazing travel experience and very much deserving of its place on my list of the top travel experiences to have before you die.

16.  Trek to See the Mountain Gorillas in Rwanda

There are a lot of really great wildlife experiences that travelers can have in this world, but one of the most moving wildlife experiences one can have is undoubtedly seeing Mountain Gorillas in their natural habitat.  When it comes to the great apes in this world, gorillas are some of the most endangered. 

Habitat loss and poaching have driven the number of both mountain and lowland gorillas to critically low levels.  Currently, Mountain Gorillas can only be found in two protected areas in Africa.  One is the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda and the other is in the Virungas mountain region of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, and Rwanda.

My favorite of these places is the Virunga Mountains of Rwanda.  This is the region that Dian Fossey made famous in her studies and is still one of the best places to visit Mountain Gorillas to this day.  There is something absolutely magical about seeing these powerful creatures interact with and be so gentle with each other.  The opportunity to see these beautiful animals in the wild is dwindling, which is why trekking to see the Mountain Gorillas in Rwanda is so high on my list of travel experiences to see before you die.

15.  Climb to the Tiger’s Nest in Bhutan

When it comes to beautiful buildings in mountainous landscapes, there are quite a few buildings throughout the world that are worth traveling to and seeing.  In Switzerland’s Ebenalp, there is an amazing mountain cliffside hotel that you can stay in that still amazes me to this day.  However, the king of all mountain-side dwellings is and probably always will be the Tiger’s Nest in Bhutan.  When it comes to the most breathtaking location of a building, it really is unmatched

Tiger’s Nest is actually a collection of four monasteries that lie in the Himalayan mountain range in the country of Bhutan.  It sits roughly 3,000 feet up in the mountains and is located at over 10,000 feet above sea level, so hiking up to see the monasteries can be a challenge.  However, once you get up there, the views of the monasteries and the surrounding mountains are absolutely breathtaking.  With views like these, it is no wonder that climbing to see the Tiger’s Nest in Bhutan is one of the top travel experiences travelers can have before they die.

14.  Stand on the Rim of Victoria Falls in Zambia

Since being discovered and named after the queen by the Western world by the great British explorer Dr. David Livingstone in 1855, Victoria Falls has drawn millions of visitors to see its beauty for themselves.  At over 5,600 feet wide and roughly 354 feet high, it is one of the most impressive waterfalls in the world.

Situated between the countries of Zambia and Zimbabwe, the falls can be seen from both countries.  However, a vast majority of the trails and the viewing areas for the falls are on the Zambian side.  Believe it or not, if you want to see the falls, the best time of year to view it is during the dry season from late March through the middle of November.  It may sound counter-intuitive, but during the rainy season, the falls become almost completely obscured by mist.  During the dry season, the falls are much more visible and easier to see.

If you are looking for an adventure that includes one of this world’s most impressive features, then it really is hard to go wrong with a visit to Victoria Falls.  It is the only large waterfall I know of where visitors can actually crawl up to the edge of the falls while in the water (at their own risk).  This is why standing on the rim of Victoria Falls in Zambia is on my list of the top travel experiences to have before you die.

13.  Climb Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania

Few mountains in this world are as mesmerizing as Mount Kilimanjaro or “Kili” as it is affectionately nicknamed, in Tanzania.  In addition to being one of the world’s most charismatic mountains, it is also one of the easiest of the 7 continent’s highest peaks to climb. 

Not only that, but it sits just 205 miles from the equator, which makes it the closest of the 7 summits to the equator as well.  This is a mountain that takes some effort to climb but doesn’t require the alpine skills that many of the other highest peaks in the world require to conquer.  Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro is definitely one of the top travel experiences you should have before you die.

12.  Take a Camel to Petra in Jordan

They say that getting there is as much a part of the adventure as the destination itself.  This definitely applies to the adventure of seeing Petra in Jordan.  Thought to have been built during the Byzantine Era of the 5th and 6th AD, most people are familiar with the magnificent wonder that is Petra.   However, beyond Petra, few people realize how much there is to see in Jordan.

Sure, you can always arrange transportation to drop you off at the doorstep of this magnificent man-made wonder, but that is missing a big part of the adventure.  If you really want to have an adventure when visiting Petra, take a camel ride to visit Petra and get the full experience.  If you are an adventurous traveler, this is a great experience to have before you die.

11.  See the Northern Lights in Abisko, Sweden

The Northern Lights are a natural spectacle that many people around the world dream of seeing in their lifetime.  These beautiful, shimmering lights dance across the sky as if Mother Nature is putting on a light display.  The lights can be so grand and colorful that they can actually be seen from space.

However, seeing these lights isn’t as easy as just looking up into the sky at night.  The phenomenon only happens near the poles of the Earth at certain times of the year, and the Northern Lights specifically are only visible in the far Northern hemisphere between April and August.

One of the best places to visit to see the Northern Lights is Abisko, Sweden.  With its location in the far North and its clean air and low light pollution, it has earned a reputation for being one of the best spots to watch the Northern Lights displays.  This is why watching the Northern Lights in Abisko, Sweden is on my list of the top travel experiences to have before you die.

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