Destination library
Explore practical guides to difficult, remote, and logistically complex destinations around the world, with notes on visas, safety context, access, timing, and realistic trip planning.
Middle East
Iraq
Najaf to Karbala on foot: millions of pilgrims, thousands of volunteer food stalls, free places to sleep, black flags, heat, dust, road closures, chanting, generosity, and one of the most intense religious journeys on earth.
Central Asia
Bamyan's empty Buddha niches, the Band-e-Amir lakes, the Minaret of Jam, the blue-tile shrines of Mazar and Herat, the bazaars of Kabul, the Wakhan corridor in the far north-east. Almost nothing in tourism has been built in 30 years.
South America
Venezuela
A jungle-and-river journey to the world's tallest uninterrupted waterfall, involving flights, canoes, weather windows, and local guides.
Caribbean
"365 beaches, one for every day of the year" is the marketing line and not far off. English Harbour and Nelson's Dockyard (UNESCO), Shirley Heights for the Sunday sundowner with steel band, Half Moon Bay's pink sand crescent, the deserted Barbuda beaches (a 90-minute ferry).
South Asia
Tiger's Nest (Paro Taktsang), the dzongs of Paro/Thimphu/Punakha, the Punakha suspension bridge, mountain trekking, the Tshechu festivals (Paro April, Thimphu September). Deliberately slow tourism.
Africa
SIAO contemporary African art biennale in Ouagadougou (held every two years in late October), Sindou peaks, the rock-built villages of the Lobi country, Tiebele painted mud architecture, and the spectacular Sahel cultural belt that bleeds into Mali and Niger. Pair it with Niger and Mali on a single overland.
Africa
"Africa in miniature": the Mandara Mountains in the north, equatorial forest in the east (Dja Reserve), Mount Cameroon (4,095 m, West Africa's highest), Atlantic coast (Kribi, Limbe), volcanic crater lakes, pygmy communities in the east, and Foumban's royal palace. Pair it with Chad or Equatorial Guinea/Gabon overland.
Africa
Bujumbura on Lake Tanganyika, the Rusizi National Park hippos and crocodiles on the Congolese border, the southern source of the Nile near Rutovu, the Karera (Kagera) waterfalls south of Rutana, the Royal sacred drummers of Gitega, and the Kibira and Ruvubu national parks. Also the practical East African base for picking up the harder regional visas - DRC in particular.
Southeast Asia
Kampong Ayer - the world's largest stilt-village water settlement (30,000 people live on the river). Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque.
Africa
Chad
A remote Saharan sandstone world of arches, gueltas, rock art, desert camps, and expedition-scale overland logistics.
Africa
Ethiopia
A furnace-hot volcanic lowland of salt caravans, sulfur fields, lava landscapes, and long desert drives.
Africa
Dzanga-Sangha and Dzanga-Bai for forest elephants and lowland gorillas; the Boali Falls; Bangui's riverside markets; one of the rarest passport stamps in the world. Most visitors are doing every-country circuits; some are wildlife specialists going specifically for the BaAka (pygmy) community guided forest walks.
Africa
Ennedi Plateau - Saharan rock arches, prehistoric rock art, the Guelta d'Archei oasis with desert crocodiles. Zakouma National Park - one of Africa's great elephant comeback stories.
Africa
Virunga National Park: mountain gorilla trekking (when open) and Mount Nyiragongo, the world's largest lava lake. Kinshasa for the African mega-city experience, Boyoma Falls and Congo River boats, Mbandaka rainforest.
Southeast Asia
Atauro Island - world's highest reef biodiversity per Conservation International. Mount Ramelau (2,963 m) sunrise hike.
South America
Marine iguanas, blue-footed boobies, wild giant tortoises, equatorial penguins, hammerhead schools, sea lions on park benches. Three habitable islands plus uninhabited islands via day-tour or cruise.
North Atlantic
Saksun and Tjrnuvik villages, Mulafossur waterfall, Kalsoy and the "Lake above the ocean" Srvagsvatn illusion, Viareii (the northernmost town), Mykines for puffins, Mulberg hike. Wet, dramatic, almost no other tourists outside July-August.
Caribbean
Cap-Haitien, the Citadelle Laferriere (the largest fortress in the Americas), Bassin Bleu near Jacmel (when accessible), the painted tap-tap art scene, Vodou heritage, the Caribbean north coast that almost no tourists see. Travel here is a deliberate choice with significant friction.
Middle East
Isfahan (Naqsh-e Jahan Square, one of the largest public squares on earth), Persepolis, Yazd's desert architecture and qanat system, Shiraz gardens and the Pink Mosque, Tehran's contemporary art scene, the Lut Desert, the rose festival in Kashan, ski resorts in the Alborz, and a hospitality culture (taarof) that is genuinely uncommon elsewhere.
Middle East
Mosul (now partially reopened post-ISIS), Erbil citadel, the Marsh Arabs, the ziggurat of Ur, Babylon, Karbala and Najaf shrines (with permission), the Malwiya Minaret at Samarra, and Iraqi Kurdistan mountain trekking. The hospitality culture is famously generous.
Indian Ocean
Whale sharks, manta rays, reef sharks, hammerheads, vibrant coral away from Male. The water-villa experience.
Pacific
Tarawa - World War II battle sites at Betio (some of the most haunting WWII memorials in the Pacific; Japanese guns and pillboxes still on the beach). Christmas Island (Kiritimati) - bonefishing, surfing, the world's largest coral atoll.
Africa
Leptis Magna and Sabratha - among the most complete Roman ruins anywhere. Ghadames - the white "pearl of the desert", a UNESCO oasis caravan town.
Eurasia
300 volcanoes (29 active), the lava lakes and geyser valley of Kronotsky, killer whales and Steller's sea lions in Avacha Bay, brown bears at Kuril Lake (when helicopter access permits), Russian Arctic in summer. From the archive: "Russia begins here" reads the monument at the airport - paradoxically, since geographically this is Asia.
Africa
Historically: Djenne mosque, Timbuktu manuscripts, Dogon country cliff villages, Niger River pinasse trips between Mopti and Timbuktu. In 2026, the realistic accessible list shrinks to Bamako, Segou and selected day trips.
Indian Ocean
One of the world's largest coral lagoons, mangroves, snorkelling with humpback whales (July-October), Mont Choungui hike, traditional Mahorais villages on Petite-Terre, the Lac Dziani crater lake. French stamp from a place very few visit.
Pacific
Nan Madol - abandoned megalithic basalt city built on artificial coral islands in Pohnpei, one of the most underrated archaeological sites on earth. Yap's stone money and traditional manyaap meeting houses.
Africa
Bazaruto Archipelago and Quirimbas (when accessible) - some of the best diving in the Indian Ocean. Tofo for whale shark snorkelling.
Southeast Asia
Bagan's temple plain (still magnificent, still mostly empty in 2026), Mandalay's monastic quarter, the Shwedagon Pagoda, Inle Lake stilt villages, the Mergui Archipelago (mostly inaccessible), and a country whose hospitality remains remarkable in spite of the politics.
Pacific
The world's least-visited country: a 21 km ring road, the moon-like phosphate-mining "Topside" pinnacles, the inland Buada Lagoon, Command Ridge and Kanakra peak with Japanese WWII guns and bunkers, the broken-coral Anibare Bay, and the aviation curiosity of Nauru Airlines' Pacific-region monopoly. Most visitors come because they collect every UN state; the surprise is how friendly the locals are.
East Asia
The destination is unlike anywhere on earth: Pyongyang monuments, the Juche Tower, the metro, the DMZ from the north side, Mount Paektu, Wonsan. It is a deeply curated experience - about 90% of what you see is choreographed, but the people-meeting moments are real.
Europe
Sognefjord and Nryfjord, Flam railway, Lofoten's fishing villages, North Cape, midnight sun in summer, northern lights Oct-March, Bergen's Hanseatic wharf, Oslo, Stavanger and Preikestolen, Troms, Svalbard. Per the archive (Rick Steves): "Sognefjord is Norway's most spectacular fjord.
South Asia
K2 Basecamp and the Karakoram. Hunza Valley and the Karakoram Highway.
Central Asia
Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan
A high-altitude road journey through thin air, huge valleys, border zones, and some of Central Asia's most dramatic mountain scenery.
Pacific
Rock Islands Southern Lagoon (UNESCO) - among the most photographed seascapes in the Pacific. Jellyfish Lake (golden jellyfish, numbers recovered after a near-collapse).
Africa
Lagos - the African mega-city: Lekki, Victoria Island, Yoruba art and Afrobeats. Calabar Carnival in December.
Pacific
Mount Hagen Show or Goroka Show - vast Highland-tribe sing-sing festivals, hundreds of dressed clans in face paint, headdresses, feathers (Aug each year). Kokoda Track - WWII trek over the Owen Stanley Range.
Pacific
British Overseas Territory
One of the world's most isolated inhabited islands, reached by sea after flights, transfers, and a great deal of calendar patience.
Africa
Gerewol - the Wodaabe Fulani men's beauty competition, one of the most photographed cultural festivals on earth, normally September-October near Ingall or in the Tahoua region. Agadez old city (UNESCO).
Eurasia
St Petersburg and Moscow remain among the great European cities. Kamchatka and the Trans-Siberian remain unique.
Caribbean
Brimstone Hill Fortress (UNESCO) - "the Gibraltar of the Caribbean". Timothy Hill Overlook (the single best photo in the country).
Pacific
To Sua Ocean Trench - the most photographed swimming hole in the Pacific (a deep, vine-draped pool reached by ladder). Lalomanu Beach.
Middle East
Yemen
An isolated Arabian Sea island where alien-looking dragon blood trees, limestone plateaus, and empty beaches reward careful logistics.
Pacific
Roderick Bay - wreck of MS World Discoverer reef and bungalows. Savo Island volcano hike and dolphins.
Africa
Sudan rewards careful travelers with complex history, distinctive landscapes, and routes that need serious preparation.
South America
Paramaribo's Dutch colonial centre (UNESCO). Central Suriname Nature Reserve and Brownsberg jungle.
Africa
Laas Geel - Neolithic rock art, ~5,000+ years old, among the best-preserved on the continent. Hargeisa's livestock market and qat culture.
Middle East
Damascus old city (one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities on earth) - Umayyad Mosque, Bait al-Mamlouk, Azem Palace. Aleppo - old souk and citadel (now in slow reconstruction).
Africa
Boma-Badingilo annual antelope migration (mid-2024 discovery that this may rival the Serengeti). Pari Mountains.
Pacific
Moorea - the better-value sister to Bora Bora and (per the archive) preferred by most who've done both. Swim with humpback whales (July-November).
East Asia
Lhasa (Potala, Jokhang, Barkhor), the 4,000m+ plateau, Everest North Base Camp (Rongbuk), Mt Kailash kora, Friendship Highway to Nepal, Yamdrok and Namtso lakes. Permits You need TWO things to enter TAR: Chinese visa AND Tibet Travel Permit.
Central Asia
Pamir Highway (M41) - 1,200 km from Osh (Kyrgyzstan) to Dushanbe via the Wakhan Corridor, the world's second-highest international road. Iskanderkul Lake.
Pacific
Whale-swimming season (July-November) - Vava'u group is one of the very few places in the world where you can legally swim alongside humpbacks. Eua Island's sea cliffs and limestone caves.
Central Asia
Darvaza Gas Crater ("Door to Hell") - burning gas pit in the Karakum desert. Ashgabat - possibly the world's most surreal capital, vast white marble buildings, gold statues, empty boulevards.
Pacific
To see one of the most remote and lowest-lying nations on earth. Funafuti Conservation Area on the leeward side.
Africa
Uganda, South Sudan & Kenya
One of Africa's most unusual overland journeys - Gulu and the Nimule border into South Sudan, the White Nile and Mundari at Juba, then the hard road east into Kenya.
Europe
Ukraine rewards careful travelers with complex history, distinctive landscapes, and routes that need serious preparation.
Pacific
Mount Yasur on Tanna - possibly the most accessible active volcano in the world, you can stand 100 m from its lava-spitting crater. Land diving (Naghol) on Pentecost (April-June).
South America
Angel Falls (Salto Angel) - the world's tallest uninterrupted waterfall, in Canaima National Park; the tepui plateaus (Roraima); Los Roques archipelago for diving and beaches; Merida and the Andes; the Orinoco delta. See also the Angel Falls chapter in the Ten Destination Guides for full detail; this is the lean planning page.
Middle East
Socotra - UNESCO-listed island with endemic species (dragon's blood trees, bottle trees), turquoise lagoons (Detwah), pristine beaches. Mainland: Old Sana'a (when accessible) was one of the most photogenic cities on earth; Wadi Hadramaut and Shibam (the "Manhattan of the desert"); Aden as a working port city with Ottoman ruins.
