Best Travel Destinations: 25 Bucket List Places You Must Visit

Over the years, I’ve been lucky enough to visit some of the best travel destinations and most incredible places on Earth! From ancient ruins in the Andes to the Great Barrier Reef in Australia to desert wonders in Jordan.

If you’re looking for some inspiration for your upcoming trip, these are 25 bucket list places I truly think everyone should experience at least once.

Best Travel Destinations: South America

1. Machu Picchu, Peru

Machu Picchu was the top place on my travel bucket list of places to visit for so long! I finally got to visit Machu Picchu in 2017, and it was everything I’d hoped and dreamed it would be. The whole journey feels surreal, from landing in the mountainous town of Cusco, to taking the train up to Aguas Calientes, and finally seeing these ancient ruins in the middle of nowhere. It’s truly magical.

Buy your tickets now!

2. Easter Island, Chile

A close second on my bucket list after Machu Picchu was Easter Island in Chile. This little island in the middle of nowhere feels like nowhere else I’ve ever been. Because there are such few planes flying in, the island feels very intimate. After a couple of days you keep seeing the same people, hitch-hiking from place to place is common and builds connections with other travellers and standing in front of the Moai statues is something you will never forget 🙂

3. Torres del Paine, Chile

Another Chile destination has made it to my travel bucket list – this time it’s Chilean Patagonia! The hike up to the Torres del Paine is wild, dramatic, unpredictable and unforgettable. It’s not uncommon to get all four seasons in one day, but that’s what makes the experience even more rewarding – and in the end the views all throughout the hike make it worth the effort any day and definitely make it one of the best travel destinations in the world!

Best Travel Destinations: North America

4. Grand Canyon, USA

No photos prepare you for how massive the Grand Canyon is. This is a place where the view is so captivating that you could just stand on the edge with your jaw open and stare into the distance. In addition, I also loved how accessible the Grand Canyon is. There’s an easy walk along the edge up top, or you can hike down however far you want into the canyon and see it from different angles!

5. Bryce Canyon, USA

After roadtripping through Arizona, Utah and Nevada in 2025, Bryce Canyon surprised me the most of any U.S. national park! The hoodoos are such unique rock formations, the colours of the park are amazing, and there’s so many different hikes for all kinds of visitors. While I’d describe the Grand Canyon as captivating, I’d say Bryce Canyon is just a super fun and unique national park.

6. The Florida Keys, USA

Driving the Overseas Highway is another one of my favorite road trips! To me The Keys are the perfect easygoing “island” escape, without the usually long flights to get to some tropical destination. And if you don’t care about beautiful sceneries, then the delicious key lime pies are still reason enough to visit 🙂

Colourful Beach Bar in Key West (perf for sunset!)

Feeling inspired to plan a Florida Keys road trip? Check out my Ultimate 5 Day Road Trip Itinerary!

7. New York City, USA

If you’ve made it this far into the list you will have noticed that my bucket list places to visit don’t include many cities – which speaks even more to the greatness of New York! There’s truly no other place on earth that feels so alive, diverse and exciting 🙂 Another honorable dessert mention, New York has the best cheesecakes!

8. San Diego, California

Contrary to New York, San Diego just feels easy. The beaches are wide and plentiful, there’s sunshine year round, but at the same time you still have the historic old town that take you back to another time. Overall, we loved the vibes in San Diego on our visit in 2025, and I highly recommend also visiting some of its surrounding coastal towns!

Best Travel Destinations: Africa

9. Kruger National Park, South Africa

My first safari drive in 2023 (or for the more adventourous people out there maybe even a foot safari) is still one of the most exciting and thrilling experiences I’ve ever had. Seeing elephants, zebras, giraffes, lions, hyenas and lions in the wild is such a surreal moment that you’ll never forget. But it’s not only the animals that make a safari special, but also the expansive African bush and the beautiful sunsets under the African sun.

We stayed at the Crocodile Bridge Lodge and Kruger Gate Hotel and had a fabulous time!

10. Curieuse Island, Seychelles

This island is one of the few places on earth that you can still see giant tortoises walking around. The island can be reached on a day trip from Praslin, which has some of the bluest waters that I’ve ever seen.

Interested? Check out the Curieuse Island Tour that we did!

Best Travel Destinations: Pacific Islands

11. Bora Bora, French Polynesia

Before visiting Bora Bora in 2025 I was a bit hesitant, because I thought for sure this place must be overhyped and way too expensive. But I stand corrected, it truly is one of the prettiest places I have ever visited. The lagoon colours are unreal, the sea life is thriving (we saw mantas, dolphins, eagle rays, tons of fishes, …), I love the Polynesian vibe, and all the tropical flowers are stunning. Yes it’s expensive, but if you don’t stay at the super fancy resorts it not more expensive than any of the other best travel destinations in this list! 🙂

The highlight of our time in Bora Bora was this full day tour!

Best Travel Destinations: AUS & NZ

12. Great Barrier Reef, Australia

If you’re a diver like me, this place will be your paradise on Earth. No other place that I’ve dived compares to the Great Barrier Reef, the variety of corals and fish are just unmatched. I’ve been fortunate enough to visit in 2022 and 2025, and I hope to be back again soon.

Fascinating underwater world at the Great Barrier Reef

13. Uluru, Australia

Uluru has a powerful atmosphere. This big rock in the middle of nowhere is so fascinating, and it’s a great place to disconnect from our busy lives. While it is a tourist destination, if you time things right I found that you can manage to be alone at many places, enjoying the quietness, remoteness and even spirituality of the Australian Outback.

14. Lucky Bay, Australia

White sand, crystal-clear water, and kangaroos on the beach. It sounds made up, but it’s real!! Another added fun factor is that you can take your car onto the beach and have some fun driving on the sand 🙂 Watch out though, when we visited in 2025 there was a shark sighting nearby!

15. Queenstown, New Zealand

Queenstown is heaven for all outdoorsy people! You can do adventure sports, you can hike the surrounding hills (our favourtie was Queenstown Hill) and enjoy the lake views and there’s great food in the city – it’s impossible to get bored here and therefore definitely one of the best travel destinations for nature lovers 🙂

Best Travel Destinations: Europe

16. Ohrid, North Macedonia

One of the most underrated travel bucket list places in Europe. While some of the Balkan countries have started to rise in popularity in recent years, Lake Ohrid is still mostly a hidden gem: peaceful, charming, full of history and with lots of choices for outdoor activities. I keep coming back year after year 🙂

Not convinced yet? Check out these 7 Reasons to Have a Balkan Summer This Year!

17. Tromsø, Norway

Seeing the Northern Lights in Tromsø was pure magic. It’s a very cold experience, you need some luck – but it’s soooo worth it when it works out! In addition, there’s plenty of other things to explore in and around this arctic town, e.g. visiting a Sami reindeer farm or trying interesting local foods (like whale meat!!).

Reindeers in Tromsø — Feeding reindeers in Tromsø

18. Mallorca, Spain

Mallorca has some of the most beautiful coves and crystal-clear waters I’ve seen in Europe, making it one of the best travel destinations for beach lovers. I highly recommend to rent a car and explore the whole island, all of it is worth it 🙂

19. Bordeaux, France

While many tourists gush over Paris, Cannes or Nice – I believe that Bordeaux is actually the cutest city in France! We loved the laid-back city surrounded by the famous bordeaux wine vineyards. Another plus: It’s super close to the coast, which allows for fabulous day trips filled with fresh oysters in cute little coastal towns such as Arcachon. Check out my Bordeaux weekend getaway itinerary for more infos!

Bordeaux Porte Cailhau — Bordeaux’s city center

20. Swiss Alps, Switzerland

Can’t forget about my home country – Switzerland! When you live somewhere sometimes it’s easy to forget how much “home” has to offer. But every time I visit the Alps I am reminded once again home fortunate I am to live in one of the best travel destinations in the world! I guarantee that after your visit you too will fall in love with the nature here. Some of my favourite hikes include Lake Oeschinen, the Aletsch Glacier and the Pizol 5 Lakes Hike.

21. Athens, Greece

Athens blends history and modern city life beautifully. Seeing the Acropolis in person really takes you back to another time, and Greece in general is worth visiting for the food alone!!

Best Travel Destinations: Asia

22. Bangkok, Thailand

Bangkok is busy, colorful, chaotic and overall amazing. We aren’t usually fans of big cities, but from the moment we arrived in Bangkok we were captivated! The people are so friendly, the markets are exciting, the food is delicious, and the spa offers are endless 🙂

23. Bali, Indonesia

Bali has everything you could ask for in a perfect holiday: beaches, waterfalls, temples, friendly people and incredible food. From the ricefields in Ubud, to the surfers in Uluwatu, the bars in Seminyak and the visits to surrounding islands (e.g. Gili T)…It’s easy to see why people keep coming back.

I have to say that we visited in 2022 right after covid, where tourism was still not back in full swing. From what I’ve heard it has changed quite a lot since then, but in my memory it’s still one of the best travel destinations in the world!

Ready to plan your trip? Check out all my Bali travel tips!

24. Hakone Loop, Japan

My favourite memory from our Japan trip in 2017 is seeing Mount Fuji from the Hakone Loop. The whole area has so much to offer, including Onsens, the Ashinoko Lake, waterside temples and of course the ropeway views of Mt. Fuji on a clear day are unforgettable.

25. Petra, Jordan

Petra is a travel destination where you just can’t find anything comparable in any other place in the world! The whole visit is an experience: From arriving at the entrance in the desert, to following the narrow gorge deep into the canyon, until suddenly a spectacular view of the Treasury opens up!

Final Thoughts

Looking back, every one of these places gave me something different. Some gave me adventure, some gave me peace, and some simply had me admiring earth’s beauty.

These 25 places are some of the most unforgettable destinations I’ve ever experienced, but they’re really just the beginning. There are always more places to discover and more cultures to learn from.

So pick a destination and book the ticket. The world is incredible and it’s out there waiting 🙂