Route 89, Utah

Says who: Rory Smith, motoring journalist
“There’s something quite mystical about the vast emptiness of the scrubland – stretching either side of Route 89 as it cuts across Utah. Driving from Kanab to Lake Powell, the enormity of the sand-blasted, prehistoric landscape is hard to compute from the comfort of the car. I can only imagine it’s similar to the surface of the moon. Pull over and absorb the stark stillness in between the few patches of civilisation that straddle this lifeline stretching across the USA. It’s an out-of-this-world experience.” 

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Sri Lanka

Says who: Katie Bowman, features editor at The Sunday Times Travel Magazine
“Sri Lanka, for me, ticks so many bucket-list boxes in one hit: the cinematic train journey through tea country; safari in Yala National Park; spotting blue whales off the south coast; kicking back on an Indian Ocean beach beneath the palm trees. It’s all so accessible, too – in any other country, it’d take you months to see all this but in Sri Lanka, it can be done in a week. As a travel writer, it’s in my blood to try new places and avoid retracing my steps – but I have already booked my next trip to Sri Lanka. I just can’t get enough of the place!”

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The Polar Park, Norway

Says who: Rob Crossan, travel journalist
“Being French kissed by a wolf requires two prerequisites: firstly, be sure to stay very still. And secondly, don’t break off the snog. Because when a wolf sticks its tongue down your throat, you’re in little doubt as to who’s in charge of this close encounter. The Polar Park, just outside Narvik in Norwegian Lapland, is the only zoo in the world where semi-socialised wolves and human visitors are allowed to mingle. In such a ‘woke’ nation as Norway, the irony isn’t lost on me that this is one of the last places on earth where a wolf whistle really is the only way to attract the attention of these incredible, and surprisingly tactile, beasts.”

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Greenland cruise

Says who: Lizzie Pook, deputy editor at Brides magazine
“Exploring the wild east coast of Greenland is something that will be forever etched in my memory. I travelled on a small expedition ship with Natural World Safariswhere we spent our days (and nights, as the sun barely dipped below the horizon) cruising past crackling glaciers, venturing into unchartered fjords and watching polar bears pad across the pack ice (we didn't see any other humans for days). Their next Arctic departure’s not until 2020, but – I promise – it’s totally worth holding out for.”

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Bhutan

Says who: Amanda Morison, travel journalist
“If you love walking, views and wandering lonely as a cloud, Bhutan has to be a bucket-list box-ticker. I’ve longed to visit since discovering it was closed to the world until the 1960s, and that one of its nicknames is the Land of the Thunder Dragon. This Buddhist Democratic Monarchy (how special is that?) is 75 per cent forest and a haven for wildlife including Bengal tigers. I always get goosebumps travelling where it’s life, but not life as I know it.”

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Machu Picchu, Peru

Says who: Alicia Miller, associate editor at The Sunday Times Travel Magazine
“It sounds like a cliché, but Machu Picchu absolutely blew me out of the water. The journey there, over squiggly roads from Cusco and a train through the mountains, makes you appreciate how incredibly remote it is and makes it feel like a proper once-in-a-lifetime adventure. But it’s also very civilised – you can spend a half-day exploring the incredible ruins, and then come back down the mountain for a pisco sour-drenched lunch.”

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Angkor Wat, Cambodia

Says who: Cathy Adams, head of travel at The Independent and the Evening Standard
“Running the 10km race around Angkor Wat, Cambodia, in December 2017. We started just as the sun was rising over the imposing Angkor Thom temple, with its huge carved rock faces, and finished by running through the sagging banyan trees. I was exhausted, sweaty, empty – but it’s the only time I've ever come close to feeling like Lara Croft in Tomb Raider.”

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Jamaica

Says who: Melissa Lawford, editorial assistant at High Life
“Years before he won the Booker Prize, novelist Marlon James had his first manuscript rejected 78 times. Fortunately, he eventually took the first chapter to Treasure Beach, Jamaica, home of the The Calabash International Literary Festival. There, he met a writer who offered to edit his book for free – the rest is literary history. Since it was founded, Calabash has become a biennial meeting point of ideas, locals, and the likes of Zadie Smith and Salman Rushdie. It was free-thinking, free of charge, and filled with rum and reggaetón.” The next Calabash International Literary Festival runs 29-31 May 2020

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Skiing, Swedish Lapland

Says who: Gabriella Le Breton, ski and luxury travel writer
“For skiing with a difference, I headed north rather than south, only stopping when we reached the Arctic Circle. Here you can find yourself skiing beneath the swirling Northern Lights and exploring remote Swedish Lapland peaks by helicopter, the lunar landscape at your feet bathed in golden midnight sun. For your own Scandi experience, start at the largest resort in the Nordics, Åre in Sweden, from where you can travel overnight by train to the world’s northernmost ski resort, Riksgränsen.” 

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Cycling Pike’s Peak, Colorado

Says who: avid cyclist and travel writer, Matt Carroll
“On paper, a 40km bike ride sounds pretty reasonable. But this is Pike’s Peak, in Colorado, and those kilometres are all uphill, taking you to an eventual height of more than 4,300 metres. For us cyclists it’s a rite of passage. If you make it past the point where lush green Colorado plains are replaced by extraterrestrial-looking rock, congratulations: you deserve a medal. Instead, however, you’ve the prospect of 40km of uninterrupted descent back to civilisation.”

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The Seychelles

Says who: Hannah Ralph, travel writer and Club content editor
“The Seychelles is just about as bucket-listy as you can get: 115 (mostly uninhabited) islands that pair all the glitz of their Indian Ocean neighbours with a riot of verdent, virgin jungle. Otherwordly moments come thick and fast in paradise, but the most braggadocious? Our helicopter ride around Silhouette Island (courtesy of Hilton Labriz Resort and Spa –the island’s only hotel). Spotting my pool-clad villa against the white sands below, I half expected King Kong to crawl out from the dense vegetation. Back on the main island of Mahé, a trip to village hideaway, Cap Lazare, provided quieter thrills, peppered by the slow crawls of its famously huge hawksbill turtles, traipsing around their little slice of heaven.”

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Cottar’s 1920s safari camp, Masai Mara, Kenya

Says who: Charlotte Swift, group editor, The Club 
“This magical nine-tent camp is perched on a hill with views over its 7,600-acre private conservancy. But this is high-end glamping. Yes, we slept under canvas, but with a duvet in a 1920s four-poster, and a five-star bathroom attached. The next morning, our guides pointed out a leopard pair, baby giraffes and even a tortoise before a riverside bush breakfast. Afternoon activities included wild swims and a visit to the local school. Owner Calvin Cottar – whose family’s safari heritage dates back to the 1900s – leases the land from the Masai. So really, it’s they who are the boss, and what a brilliant job they’re doing.”

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Antarctica

Says who: Travis Levius, travel journalist
“When EYOS Expeditions debuted single-cabin yacht bookings to ‘The White Continent’ (the world’s first to do so), I was among 26 passengers to witness the coldest, driest place on Earth in all its glacial glory. The pinch-me experiences aboard the M/Y Legend were innumerable: encountering thousands of waddling penguins and elephant seals; humpback whales leaping within arm’s reach of our Zodiac boat; diving 100 metres deep in a glass submersible to see jellyfish and krill bobbing along; and losing my mind temporarily by doing the polar plunge – twice! EYOS will be doing more Antarctica excursions towards the end of the 2019, so I advise booking one of the world’s greatest adventures as soon as you can.”

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Blue Lagoon, Iceland

Says who: Ianthe Butt, travel writer
“You visit some talked-about tourist attractions and leave wondering what all the hype was about. Not so at Iceland’s Blue Lagoon, a great example of a natural wonder combined with the man-made to create something astonishing. The Lagoon's electric blue waters are almost hyperreal, with otherworldly puffs of rising steam. Plan a visit for night time, and you might see the Northern Lights streak across the sky as you bathe. To make things even more bucket-list worthy, splash out on a stay at the plush Retreat at the Blue Lagoon. Its private spa has a series of pools where cameras are banned, meaning you can soak in privacy and style.” 

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Karijini National Park, Western Australia

Says who: travel writer Rachel Truman
“I’ve never seen a night sky quite so dazzling as the one I camped underneath in the extraordinarily beautiful and remote Karijini National Park in Western Australia’s Pilbara region. In the first morning light, we showered under a waterfall and followed trails around the park’s spectacular red gorges. With only the odd curious rock wallaby for company, we scrambled through rocky tunnels and plunged into welcome waterholes every now and then. This vast and ancient wilderness made me feel very small, in a good way.”

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Matera, Italy

Says who: Simon Urwin, travel writer and photographer
“Soon to be a major filming location for the next James Bond movie, Matera is one of the oldest, and most beautiful, cities in the world. Its 8,000 years of history and spectacular setting (right on the edge of a river gorge) are best appreciated early in the morning, when the city serves up some of the most jaw-dropping sunrises I’ve seen in a lifetime of travels. To amp up those bucket-list moments, stay underground in the beautiful boutique hotel Corte San Pietro (a collection of converted former cave-dwellings), and eat world-class food in Vitantonio Lombardo, the only Michelin-starred cave in the world.”

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Snowcat tour, Japan

Says who: Andy Morris, Editor, High Life 
“My skiing experiences in my youth amounted to little other than praying for survival as I shuddered down a success of Austrian red runs in a near-perpetual snowplough. Which is probably why I’m so intrigued by Big Wave Snow Cat Tours, who operate out of Niseko in Japan. They give you the chance to take a snowcat up the mountain (no hiking) and a chance to hit untracked deep snow (no competition). According to the guys at Outside magazine – who, it has to be said, are significantly more gung-ho than me – one of their snowcat drivers Ken Komiya is a “madman” but the experience as a whole is nothing less than extraordinary. The masterstroke? Both an avalanche kit and a “big lunch” is included.”

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The Pantanal, Brazil

Says who: Lyn Hughes, Editor, Wanderlust
“The world’s largest wetland is home to the greatest concentration of wildlife in the Americas, yet is relatively little visited. Stay at Caiman Estancia in the southern Pantanal; a working ranch which is also home to a dynamic jaguar conservation programme. Safari drives through the mosaic landscapes take you close to capybaras, caimans and giant anteaters, and you have a 99 per cent chance of seeing a magnificent jaguar. You’ll feel a tingle down your spine when one of these powerful and beautiful beasts nonchalantly strolls past your vehicle.”

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Uig Sands, Scotland

Says who: Helen Ochyra, travel writer
“Travel transports you out of yourself, and at Uig Sands on the west coast of Lewis I was transported right back to childhood. My husband and I romped down through the sand dunes with a whoop and a smile to reach the never-ending ripple of pristine white sands. We’d woken to wall to wall blue sky – “you’ve won the lottery” Richard, the B&B owner, had said – and we spent hours ambling along the beach, its shimmering ridges disappearing underfoot with each step. I was mesmerised by the shape of the moulded sandscape slipping around me, as if I had any control whatsoever over nature.” 

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Kalsoy, Faroe Islands

Says who: John Summerton, editor and founder of Sidetracked
“Take a trip out to the small island of Kalsoy in the Faroe Islands and hike up to the Kallur Lighthouse, perched on a cliff edge, high above the ocean that thrashes on the shores far below. The vast history of time is apparent through the geology – black rocky crags carved into the rocks represents the many volcanic events that shaped these islands millions of years ago. And as you reach the light house and look out across the Atlantic, often facing the elements in full fury. It feels like you’ve actually reached the edge of the earth.”

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