23 of the world’s best adventures for thrill-seekers

Dream up an activity and it probably exists somewhere around the world, with something to suit every level of physical ability. The super-fit can tackle a 155-mile race across the deserts of Namibia or ascend the peaks of Patagonia. If that sounds too strenuous, try horse-riding across the steppes of Mongolia or snowmobiling across a glacier in Iceland. And for something altogether more sedate, take a boat trip to the Outer Hebrides or catch a train to one of the most remote parts of Canada.

1. Run through the dunes of Namibia

Morocco’s Marathon des Sables is notorious as a gruelling foot race — but at the other end of the continent is another desert marathon to give it a run for its money. The Namib Race charters 155 miles through Namibian territory, passing through the world’s most ancient desert and beneath its loftiest dunes. Over a week of running, competitors cross primaeval landscapes: wheezing over eerie salt pans, sprinting over the lunar-like wastes of the ‘Moon Valley’, and reaching the finishing line where the sands meet Atlantic waves near the town of Swakopmund.

2. See marine life on a sailing to Lundy Island

A speck of land in the Bristol Channel, Lundy Island has had a swashbuckling history — the sometime retreat of Barbary pirates, slavers and a man who, as late as the 1920s, proclaimed himself king of Lundy. These days its shores are a refuge for marine wildlife. Set out on a day tour on a RIB boat from Ilfracombe to circumnavigate the island. On the way, look out for dolphins and porpoises in the surrounding seas — as well as an Atlantic grey seal population basking beneath Lundy’s granite cliffs.

3. Snowmobile in Iceland

Langjökull is the second-largest chunk of ice in a country that was named after the stuff. To see this 368sq mile glacier up close, join a guided day-long snowmobile tour departing from the hamlet of Skjól. You’ll board a super-jeep whose humongous tires allow it to traverse the icy rivers and brittle volcanic terrain, then suit up in specialist gear at snowmobile base camp. Up on the ice, trainee drivers are at liberty to zip across the frozen desert, casting clouds of snow in their wake — be sure to look up from the controls to see the Kerlingafjöll range as well as the neighbouring glacier of Hofsjökull, beneath which Iceland’s largest active volcano slumbers and simmers.

4. Join the pride in Gujarat

The mention of lions typically evokes the plains of Africa — the prides of the Great Rift Valley, the songs of Elton John. The exception to this rule is the Asiatic lions of India’s Gir National Park; the swathe of teak and acacia forest is the only place outside Africa where numbers of lions roam in the wild. See them as part of a 12-day wildlife tour around India’s westernmost state of Gujarat, with stops to track wolves in the scrubs of Velavadar National Park and observe flamingos in the wetlands of Nal Sarovar Bird Sanctuary, too.

5. Cycle in Vietnam

A spur of green mountains protruding into the sea, Hai Van Pass — also known as Ocean Cloud Pass — has traditionally been a dividing line between northern and southern Vietnam; once a border between rival medieval kingdoms and still a barrier for weather systems. It’s also become something of a scalp for cyclists — a little road slaloms its way to the summit with a punishing gradient of 7% over seven miles. Those who reach the top are rewarded with a panorama that the motorists in the tunnel below could only dream of — lush forests, beaches and islands, as well as mists blowing in from the South China Sea, after which the pass takes its name. See it as part of a 10-day cycling tour of Vietnam, pedalling past places like the pine forests of Bidoup Nui Ba National Park and up to the gates of Imperial Hue.

(A slow journey through Vietnam's Mekong Delta and Con Dao islands)

6. Snorkel in Comino

Halfway between the islands of Malta and Gozo lies the sometime smuggler’s retreat of Comino — a nugget of land just over a mile long, its shores guarded by old gun batteries and watchtowers. While it's very pleasant on dry land, arguably more alluring are the waters that encircle it — the island is ringed by lagoons, reefs, bays and shallows that are perfect for snorkellers. Join a guided tour to swim through some of its loveliest corners — among them the Santa Maria Caves, a series of caverns beloved of shoals of sea bream. With a deep breath, you might also plunge down to the wreck of an East German patrol boat, scuttled some 15 years ago to have a second career as a home to Maltese fish.

7. Hike in Chile

Torres del Paine is a national park at the end of the world — its mountains rising at the southern tip of Chilean Patagonia, buffeted by Pacific winds and capped by Arctic-like icefields. Many come to gaze at these sublime summits from below; to feel their jagged granite underfoot, hike the ‘W’ trail (so-named because its course forms a vague W-shape on the landscape). Over four or five days of hiking, the highlights of the national park appear with every bend in the trail — among them the iceberg-dotted leagues of Grey Lake and the cathedral-like towers of Mirador las Torres. W-hikers shelter from the wild weather by staying in refugios (hiking hostels) along the way.

(What it's like to hike to the end of the world in Chile's Tierra del Fuego.)

8. Set out on a DIY Tour de France

If you fancy yourself as the next Wiggins or Froome, book onto a Tour de France-themed adventure, riding the same revered French tarmac as the real competitors, but using an e-bike that helps mere mortals conquer the cols. As part of a week-long odyssey with five days of cycling, participants tackle calf-achingly steep gradients — traversing Goliath passes such as the 2,360m-high (7,743ft) Col D'Izoard in the French Alps. Unfortunately, there’s no victorious finishing line on the Champs Elysees — you get to tackle the 21-hairpin bends of the Alpe D'Huez instead.

9. Trek in Greece

The Vikos Gorge is hailed by the Guinness Book of World Records as the planet’s deepest in proportion to its width – an accolade that’s disputed but feels especially resonant to those who pass through it, awed by its mighty ramparts of limestone and the echoes that ping-pong within them. Part of the Pindus mountains in northwestern Greece, this eight-mile-long canyon lends itself to hiking throughout the year — the long shadows ensuring trekkers stay cool while the rest of the country sizzles in summer heat. Take a self-guided walking tour through it, while also taking time to explore the surrounding stone villages and humpbacked Ottoman bridges beyond. Be sure also to trek to one of the so-called ‘dragon’ lakes — mountaintop pools in which the dragons believed to have created this jagged landscape were said to dwell.

(Goats, gorges and Greek hospitality on a hiking adventure in Zagori)

10. Camel trek in South Australia

Camels bring to mind the desertscapes of North Africa or the Middle East — but in truth, the country with the most camels in the wild is actually Australia. These ships of the desert were imported in the late 19^th century as a way of exploring the Red Centre and building railway lines — ever since they’ve been an enduring pillar of Outback culture. Master these temperamental beasts on a four-day trek through the Tiriari Desert of South Australia. Participants rise early to saddle up, spending happy hours loping through a mosaic of salt lakes and spinifex, dunes systems and coolibah trees. Camp is established and billies boiled before sunset, after which stories are shared around an open fire.

11. Make an expedition to K2 Base Camp

Many people trek to Everest’s Base Camp in Nepal — fewer make the slog to the foot of the world’s second highest peak, K2 — where the approach is even more spectacular. The trailhead is Pakistan's highest village, Askole — from here, walking parties advance among the leviathan summits of the Karakoram, home to seven of the world’s 20 highest peaks and immense glaciers that loom above the trail. It takes just over a week to trek to base camp one way — those wanting a taste of high-altitude can pack ice axes and crampons and extend their trip with a crossing of the 5,650m Gondogoro La pass.

(Pakistan's mountains are calling—here's why you should go.)

12. Take the boat to St Kilda

The Hebrides don’t get any wilder than the windswept archipelago of St Kilda. These little specks of Scottish soil sit in heaving seas some 40 nautical miles from the rest of the Outer Hebrides — they had a permanent community from the Stone Age until 1930 when the last three dozen remaining islanders voted to evacuate. Today it’s accessible on a long day’s boat tour from the Isle of Harris, and you’ll need to keep a window of a couple of days free for a chance of favourable conditions. Landing on this remote plot, you’ll find the UK’s tallest coastal sea stacks — home to nigh on a million seabirds during the breeding season — plus a little museum and a row of tumbledown cottages stalked by the ghosts of St Kilda’s past.

13. Surf in Tahiti

Summer 2024 saw the surfing events of Paris Olympics taking place not on the seas off France, but on the swells of Tahiti, part of French Polynesia. While it’s only the second time surfing has featured at the Olympics, the sport has a long history in Tahiti, having been first observed by outsider visitors in 1767 and doubtless originating centuries earlier. There are few better places to learn the art than this steeply sided Pacific paradise, on the baby-blue waters of the lagoon and beside the jungly slopes of Mount 'Orohena. Instructors pick beaches subject to the temperament of the wind and the behaviour of the waves: some of the best breaks lie only a hop from the capital Papeete.

(Hiking, surf culture and island life in southeast Tahiti.)

14. Strike into Saharan dunes in Morocco

For the most part, entering the Sahara entails a serious expedition — with years of planning, gallons of water and nerves of steel. Fortunately, southern Morocco provides an accessible foretaste of the world’s largest hot desert in the form of its ‘Ergs’. While ‘Erg’ sounds like a noise made by a grumpy camel, it in fact applies to tracts of rolling, windblown sand such as Erg Chebbi — a 30-mile long mini-desert near the Algerian border, easily reached by paved roads. The town of Merzouga is the springboard for guided adventures in its dunes. Some opt to explore on quad bikes, a few skid down on sandboards, one or two ride camels — and most dismount beside traditional tents to spend a night under Saharan stars.

(Journeying along an ancient trading route in the Moroccan Sahara)

15. Snowshoe in Bulgaria

Edinburgh has Arthur’s Seat, Rio has Sugarloaf, Cape Town has Table Mountain and the Bulgarian capital Sofia has Vitosha – a domed 2,292m (7,513ft) summit rising just on the edge of the city. In summer, it's a popular retreat from the urban sprawl, but it comes into its own in winter, when snow clings to its upper reaches, and guided snowshoeing tours take place in the potted wilderness. Begin a six-day snowshoeing adventure on its slopes before venturing a little further south, treading through the drifts of Rila National Park to enter a realm of frozen waterfalls, fairytale forests and rime ice, looking out for the prints of mountain hare and deer in the virgin snow.

16. Meet the spirit bears of British Columbia

Canada is a country for bear aficionados: there are polar bears in the Arctic, grizzly bears in the north west, black bears almost everywhere. The rarest creature in this teddy bears’ picnic, with a population no greater than 150, is the kermode bear — also known as the spirit bear — its white fur allowing it to sneak up on salmon on its fishing trips. Try to spot these elusive animals for yourself on a visit to Spirit Bear Lodge, an Indigenous-owned establishment among forested slopes in the staggeringly beautiful (yet disconcertingly named) Swindle Island. Getting there is half the adventure — it's accessed by a two-hour boat ride from a remote airstrip south of the lodge.

(From floatplanes to via ferrata, these are British Columbia's wildest experiences)

17. Enter the jungles of Nicaragua

The Indio Maiz Biological Reserve is one of Central America’s last wildernesses — a swathe of jungle running to the Caribbean coast, with large tracts where no roads enter and few humans tread. The way to see this virgin rainforest is by riverboat. Catch a launch downstream along the Rio San Juan from the port of San Carlos, listening out for the splash of caiman launching off from the riverbank. You eventually arrive at the little town of El Castillo, where a 17th-century fortress watches out over a river bend from a lone hillock. It’s a good base for immersing yourself in the surrounding jungle of Indio Maiz over a few days — put on stout, snake-proof boots to enter parts of the jungle accustomed to the pawprints of pumas and jaguars.

18. Horse ride in Mongolia

Horses are part of the fabric of Mongolian society: wealth can be measured in horses, children learn to ride them as infants and long ago the Mongol Horde conquered the world on horseback, riding as far as the gates of Vienna in the 13th century. You won’t need to ride quite that distance on a five-day horse-riding holiday in 21^st-century Mongolia, instead averaging about 20 miles a day. All the same, the landscapes seen from the saddle are undoubtedly epic — with the sands of the Gobi Desert transitioning to mountain steppe. On the way, groups dismount to visit nomadic families, halt to enter Buddhist temples and idle beside flower-fringed lakes. Days end pitching camp under starry skies with your steed tethered close by.

19. Explore the Colombian side of the Amazon

The Amazon is synonymous with its heartland of Brazil or its source in Peru — but 10% of the rainforest counts as Colombian territory. Set a course for the southernmost nook of Colombian soil to see technicolour Amazon fauna and flora: bright butterflies, black caiman, pink dolphins and the Victoria Regia lily — one of the largest lilies in the world, with a brilliant white flower. Over four days in the jungle, as well as climbing rope walks in the canopy of the Tanimboca Nature Reserve, you’ll also get an understanding of Indigenous communities who inhabit the region, passing stilt-house villages where, in the absence of roads and cars, the soundtrack to life is the swish of a paddle in the current.

20. Catch a train to the ‘polar bear capital of the world’

Railways don’t come more intrepid than the twin iron rails that link Winnipeg and Churchill. At the southern end of the line are skyscrapers and rush-hour commuters; at the northern terminus are polar bears, beluga whales and the wisps of the Northern Lights. It takes two days for passengers to cross the thousand or so miles in between — in doing so, you traverse some of Canada’s wildest regions, watching grasslands turn to boreal forests and, lastly, arctic tundra. On its final stretches, the train is a lifeline for communities — no roads link the far north of Manitoba to the rest of the country, so locals are allowed to flag down twice-weekly services with an outstretched thumb.

21. Trek to a rock arch in Canyonlands National Park

The Canyonlands region is best known as the location of the real-life ordeal depicted in 127 Hours – in which a mountain climber saws off his arm after it gets trapped by a rockfall. Fortunately, the vast majority of people exit this Utah national park in one piece: it’s nonetheless a wilderness that demands respect, with deep gouged canyons, citadel-like mesas and lone buttes that keep sentry over the parched expanses. See it as part of a four-day guided hike through the park, learning to traverse ‘slickrock’ — a kind of rocky pavement formed of petrified sand dunes — and passing beneath crags sculpted into hypnotic shapes by aeons of erosion. A highlight is reaching Druid Arch — so-named because it supposedly bears a passing resemblance to the trilithons of Stonehenge.

22. Get lost in the rainforests of Gabon

Only a trickle of visitors make their way to Gabon, a little country on Africa’s west coast squished between Cameroon and the Republic of the Congo. Those who do, however, can quickly find themselves in remote wilderness — it may be small, but Gabon lays claim to 13 national parks. Head to the rainforests and rolling hills of Lope National Park to go in search of rare mandrills, a red-nosed primate or to neighbouring Ivindo National Park to see tumbling waterfalls and forest clearings carved out by elephants. Best of all, tracks for vehicles are scarce to non-existent — travel here often means setting out in a pirogue or on your own two feet.

23. Get a scent of Lynx in eastern Poland

The Bieszczady National Park is a kind of European Serengeti: the southeasternmost nook of Poland is home to mammal species that have long since vanished from much of the rest of the continent — a retreat, in particular, for European bison and brown bear. The holy grail for naturalists here, however, is the Eurasian Lynx — the tufted-eared feline about the size of a labrador, most commonly spotted on its evening hunting trips. Naturetrek runs eight-day tours in early spring timed to give the best chance of spotting these beautiful cats — before trees come into leaf and they vanish into the foliage.