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Feeling adventurous? There are many ways to define it, and Eric Stoen of Travel Babbo has probably experienced them all. (After all, he’s traveled to 54 countries and all seven continents with his kids!) We asked him to share with us his favorite adventurous destinations to visit, with or without kids.
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Adventure
There’s no single definition of adventure. If you’ve never seen the ocean, a trip to the beach is adventurous. For someone who’s always dreamed of going on a cruise, that cruise could be the adventure of a lifetime. For us, heading off on an adventure usually means traveling to somewhere less touristed, ideally remote, and engaging in outdoor activities — especially kayaking, hiking and climbing.
When Travelocity asked me to write about adventure, I thought about our most active vacations and it became fairly easy to narrow down this list. A Greek island with amazing beaches and restaurants? Nope. Antarctica, with lots of hiking among penguins? Yep, that qualifies. Here are our top twelve adventure destinations. Please comment below with your favorite. Where should we head next?
The Dolomites, Italy
It’s hard to beat the Italian Dolomites and the greater Trentino area. After all, it’s Italy! And Italy has amazing food and culture. But this is a modified Italy, a mountainous Italy, and the outdoor activity possibilities are endless. There’s skiing, hiking and cycling, but there are also adventure parks for the kids (or adults), rafting, paragliding, climbing and kayaking. Canazei in Val di Fassa is a good base for all that Trentino has to offer.
Riding bikes through Trentino’s Val di Fiemme
Qatar
Doha, Qatar is known more for its airport than for, well, anything else. But everyone who simply connects through on Qatar Airways is missing out! Beyond Doha’s culture (Souq Waqif and the Islamic Museum of Art shouldn’t be missed), there’s a desert full of adventure, including dune bashing (so fun!), camel-riding, sand skiing, falconry and quad biking. Plus you can hike through the dunes close to the Saudi border, or go diving or kayaking. Next time you’re flying through Doha, stop for a couple days!
A quick dune bashing stop to run in the sand!
Patagonia
Patagonia spans Chile and Argentina, and the entire area is amazing. Wherever you choose to base, you’re not going to be in your hotel room much. The past two years we’ve hiked extensively through both countries, cycled, kayaked and gone on multiple nature/animal walks with the kids. If “Patagonia” is too broad a suggestion, look at San Martín de los Andes in Argentina for a more budget-oriented trip, or Tierra Patagonia, a few hours outside of Punta Arenas, Chile, if you want some luxury with your adventure.
In Argentinian Patagonia – kayaking up Rio Hermoso from Lake Machonico
Panama
I like Costa Rica as much as anyone, but as it’s become more touristed, I’ve become more and more likely to head to Panama instead. The Panama Canal is always fun to see, but beyond that it’s a country made for adventure. Head to the cloud forest and go zip lining and hiking. Head to the coasts for kayaking, snorkeling and surfing. And there are animals everywhere!
Zip-lining through the Panamanian cloud forest
Atacama Desert, Chile
Chile’s Atacama Desert is the second of three desert destinations on this list. I previously never thought of myself as a desert kind of person, but every desert is different, and I’ve found that I really enjoy them all! In the Atacama Desert there are sand dunes (and my kids LOVED running down them), but the majority of the desert is flat — perfect for exploring/hiking and mountain biking. Plus there are natural springs and geysers. And be sure to look up — it’s one of the best places in the world to see the night sky, as there’s very little light pollution.
Hiking above Death Valley in Chile’s Atacama Desert
Greenland
If you truly want to escape from the world for a week of adventure, head to Greenland. Flying into Narsarsuaq we traveled all around South Greenland, on foot and by boat, hiking a lot, riding horses, kayaking among icebergs, fishing and riding ATVs. It’s a stunning destination with very few other tourists, yet there’s enough of a tourism infrastructure to make travel easy.
Fishing in Itilleq, Greenland
Palawan, Philippines
I absolutely loved Palawan in the Philippines. Choose a base and then set out to experience some of Palawan’s 1,780 islands. We swam, kayaked, paddle boarded, snorkeled and hiked, and generally just explored, whether on foot or by kayak. And when we weren’t exploring we were relaxing in an overwater bungalow (at El Nido’s Miniloc Island Resort), so it has that going for it as well!
Kayaking in Palawan
Tuscany, Italy
Sure Tuscany has Florence, Pisa, Lucca and a lot of perfect hilltop towns, with all of their culture, architecture and art, but it’s also a great adventure destination. Last year I hiked roughly 100km on the Via Francigena pilgrimage path — an amazing way to see the countryside. It’s also an outstanding cycling destination, plus there’s rafting, caving, climbing, skiing, snorkeling/diving, and kayaking and sailing (Tuscany includes the island of Elba).
Arriving in Monteriggioni on Tuscany’s Via Francigena
The Amazon Rainforest, Brazil
What’s more adventurous than heading into the Amazon Rainforest? Yet it’s so easy to do! We flew into Manaus and then based on a boat on the Rio Negro for four nights. We fished for piranhas, swam a lot (in the same river as the piranhas, but it’s safe), kayaked, headed up tributaries to waterfalls, explored abandoned villages and went on daily hikes. Plus we found caymans and sloths, which the kids in the group loved!
Hiking through the Amazon Rainforest
Antarctica
Yes, Antarctica is far away and it’s tough to get there on a budget. But it is accessible, and it’s amazing! Simply book a cruise, fly to Ushuaia, Argentina, get on your ship and reach Antarctica a day and a half later. My 8-year-old daughter and I saw a lot of animals — primarily birds, whales and penguins — either from the ship, from kayaks, or on foot. She even got to belly slide alongside penguins! Nothing about the experience was difficult, but eight is a good minimum age.
In Antarctica. You can’t get much closer to a Humpback!
Rajasthan, India
Rajasthan, India is perfect for an adventure-based vacation! Of course simply driving in India is an adventure, but beyond that we’ve camped in the desert and spent many hours on camels. You can also cycle, search for tigers at Ranthambore National Park, and head up in a hot air balloon. And the food is amazing everywhere!
A short stop during a camel ride through Rajasthan
Montana
On the off chance that you were looking at this list and thinking that all of these destinations sound too far away, fear not! There are fun adventures to be found virtually everywhere in the US. We particularly love Whitefish and Glacier National Park in Montana, given how easy it is to fly into Kalispell and be fishing, kayaking, mountain biking or hiking within an hour. And in the winter, there’s downhill and cross-country skiing.
Hiking above Whitefish, Montana
And I’m not staying still! For my next trips, I’ll be seeking out adventure in Sweden (very excited!), Turkey, the Faroe Islands and Vietnam, among other destinations.
How about you? Where’s your favorite adventure destination? What are you planing next?
Eric Stoen
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What a great list! We have been to Italy, and Glacier National Park is at the top of our bucket list. My husband is always talking about going to Panama, and I’d love to go to Chile. We recently visited Isla Holbox, Mexico and think it’s a super fun adventurous place to take the family too.
This IS a great list! We’re always searching for destinations like these for our family trips. I think you hit the nail on the head with this: “enough of a tourism infrastructure to make travel easy.” Thanks, Eric!
Yeah bookmaking this wasn’t a risky decision outstanding post! .
Thank you for the great information about this Amazing destination for Adventure Lovers. I visited Rajasthan for more than three times because Rajasthan is the nearest place from my home. Nice article!!
Took me time to read all of the feedback, but I actually loved the article. It proved to be very useful to me and I am sure to all the commenters here! It is always good when you cant solely learn, but in addition engaged! Im sure you had pleasure writing this article. Anyway, in my language, there arent a lot good source like this.