These are the best travel photos of 2025
Selected by the picture editors at National Geographic Traveller (UK), these are the best travel photos of this year.
Selecting the best travel images from a year’s worth of fantastic photography is quite a challenge when the photographers have travelled to all corners of the world to document features for National Geographic Traveller (UK). From the snowy peaks of Greenland and sun-kissed hills of Bhutan to the cowboys of Ecuador and lions on the prowl in South Africa, these images all capture natural moments of beauty, personality and culture from the world around us.
Ben Rowe, picture editor and Aisha Nazar, associate picture editor
A pride of lions in pursuit of a lioness who has strayed onto their territory at the Phinda Game Reserve in South Africa. Photographer Jonathan Gregson captured this encounter while on assignment for the Jan/Feb 2025 issue of National Geographic Traveller (UK), tracking the elusive pangolin in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal province.
When on assignment to capture life in northwestern Greenland for the March 2025 issue, photographer Justin Foulkes photographed these twin mountain peaks of Uummannaq Island, with dogs on the frozen bay.
"After 13 years of trying, I finally managed to gain access to some of the most remote regions of Algeria’s Ahaggar National Park, following a long period of political instability. Encompassing 173,745sq miles, the park is dominated by vast desert expanses and towering pinnacles sculpted by wind and time. Volcanic activity, tectonic uplift and extreme weathering have also played their part, shaping one of the Sahara’s most stunning and surreal desertscapes. I was joined there by a Tuareg guide, who you can just make out walking across the ridge of dunes," says photographer Marsel van Oosten.
In this image, photographed by Aisha Nazar for a feature on Sierra Leone in the May 2025 issue, trainee tailors are seen chatting between sheets of gara cloth at Mary-Ann Kai Kai's studio in Freetown.
Photographer Karolina Wiercigroch captured the journey hiking up to Laya, the highest permanent settlement in Bhutan at over 12,500 feet above sea level, for a feature on Bhutan's Royal Highland Festival in the September 2025 issue.
A snow-covered camper van in Hokkaido, northern Japan. "Winter is the season that most defines Hokkaido. The island’s snowfall — up to 50 feet a year in places — has brought it fame with winter sports enthusiasts," says photographer Lorraine Turci in her photo story for the December 2025 issue.
Photographer Annapurna Mellor captured this moment of a security guard walking through the arches at the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi when on assignment for a October 2025 feature on what makes Abu Dhabi an attractive city break.
"Every year, thousands of warkaris (pilgrims) take part in the Wari Yatra, a 21-day pilgrimage that sees devotees of Lord Vitthal carry sacred relics from Pune to the Hindu deity’s temple in Pandharpur. Drawn by rhythmic chanting, I found myself swept into the heart of the procession, with the pilgrims forming a circle around their relics to pray and sing in perfect harmony," says photographer Abhishek Basak.
Here, photographer Ben Pipe photographed the chagras, the cowboys of the Andes, who have been herding cattle in the highlands of Ecuador for centuries, for the Ecuador guide, published with the September 2025 issue.
"I heard about Margret through her granddaughter Dee, a talented stylist with a great eye for detail. During one of our regular photoshoots, she mentioned that she’d started styling the 84-year-old — now a viral fashion icon — and suggested doing a collaborative session in the village of 10 Miles in Central Province. I loved the idea of capturing their intergenerational bond, their harmoniousness and contrasts. While Dee brings that modern edge, Margret embodies a sort of timeless grace. She’s confident and carries herself with such dignity," says photographer Danny Chilambwe.
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A moment captured of Kema Ceramics founders Daiana and Pablo with their dog in Poblenou, Barcelona by photographer Eddi Fiegel for a feature on the revival of this old-school neighbourhood for the June 2025 issue.
Keenan Barlow from Moenave is of Diné (Navajo) and Lakota descent. Here he’s pictured at the Western Navajo Fair Pow Wow in Arizona, photographed by Matt Dutile when on a road trip through America's Indigenous southwest.
"On the final day of Durga Puja, a change comes over my hometown. The 10-day Hindu festival marks the victory of good over evil, but it’s also a celebration of the art, communities and traditions of West Bengal, concluding with the festival of Vijaya Dashami. On this day, devotees take to the streets en masse to bid farewell to warrior goddess Maa Durga as she returns to her celestial home. Amid the crowds and chaos, I spotted my neighbour light a match, tilt back his head and spit a huge plume of flame into the sky. I instinctively pulled out my phone and captured the joyful act raw and unfiltered — a fleeting moment now frozen in time," says photographer Ankit Ghosh.
Photographer Mihail Onaca captured this evocative shot of rákóczi túrós, a dessert of apricot jam, cottage cheese and meringue served by baker Réka Nagy-Nádházi, when photographing the food and wine culture around the Hungarian town of Tokaj.
Photographer Simon Urwin shot this aerial image of the mushroom-like islands of Wayag in Indonesia when on assignment for a story on new coral conservation voyages in Raja Ampat for the October 2025 issue.
(2025: The Pictures of the Year)
