80 ways to travel the world.
Feeling like you’ve run out of travel ideas? Don’t worry: In honor of National Vacation Planning Day on Tuesday, National Geographic is showcasing the 20 “coolest” travel adventures for 2024, from a horseback safari in Kenya to antiquing in the Hudson Valley.
“We’re incredibly excited,” National Geographic editor-in-chief Nathan Lampe said during an exclusive preview in New York last week. “We’re bigger than we’ve ever been.”
As in previous years, National Geographic enlisted the help of experts including photographers, editors and explorers to compile its annual overview of off-the-beaten-path places.
But in 2024, a change has been made to ask seasoned globetrotters to also suggest unique activities for each destination.
In honor of National Holiday Planning Day on Tuesday, National Geographic presents the 20 “coolest” travel adventures for 2024, from horseback safaris in Kenya to antiquing in the Hudson Valley. NurPhoto via Getty Images Stars shining above Naveta de Es Tudons, Menorca’s most famous burial site. Sebastián Iturralde
“We’re not just mentioning places,” Amy Alipio, a senior editor at National Geographic who has led the roundup since its inception 12 years ago, told USA Today. “We’re mentioning where to go. [also] What to do when you get there. I think we’re really figuring out exactly how to allow people to connect with a destination and be immersed in the place.”
What’s the point of going to Tanzania if you’re going to spend your entire trip at a hotel poolside bar?
As an added service, our experts ranked the experiences in order of which they thought travelers would like most.
Ultimately, National Geographic hopes the list will inspire people to step out of their comfort zones and, in the words of the late Anthony Bourdain, move “as far out as you can, as far away as you can go.”
America
Kodiak bears facing off in Katmai National Park, Alaska. Acacia Johnson/National Geographic
This year’s list features a number of US-based adventures, perhaps most notably a trip to see giant Kodiak bears in Katmai National Park in Alaska, home to the world’s largest population of bears.
“To me, seeing a single brown bear in the wild is significant because it shows that the land is healthy enough to support a brown bear,” enthuses Alaska photographer Acacia Johnson, a frequent National Geographic contributor.
Other highlights include driving Route 66 through New Mexico, perusing antiques in the Hudson Valley and watching the total solar eclipse on April 8 at Niagara Falls State Park.
The latter doesn’t seem to be as “overrated” as Reddit users think.
Africa
Horseback safari in Kenya. Nicole Sobecki / National Geographic
Exploring Kenya in a safari jeep seems like a cliché at this point, but luckily the National Geographic brain trust has come up with another, more traditional way to see the pride of Africa: by horseback.
“Horseback safaris, which originated in Kenya in the 1970s, are a perfect fit for today’s growing number of travelers looking for more captivating and sustainable wildlife encounters,” writes National Geographic. “The 32,000-acre Borana Conservation Area has two stables housing thoroughbreds and ex-polo ponies for riders of all levels.”
Not up to riding a horse? Travelers can explore the area on foot or by car by visiting Algeria’s Tassili N’Ajjer National Park, the largest in Africa. According to National Geographic, the park is home to “a geological wonderland of sandstone towers, arches and sculpted outcrops.”
Europe
Runners pass the Eiffel Tower during the 45th Paris Marathon on April 3, 2022. AFP via Getty Images
Avoiding tourist traps in one of the most traveled regions on Earth can be a challenge. Luckily, NatGeo has come up with a way for European travelers to get off the beaten path: run the Olympic Marathon in Paris.
That’s right, for the first time, members of the public will be invited to run the 26.2-mile race at the 2024 Summer Olympics in the City of Lights, a move that appears to be part of an ongoing campaign to make the Olympics more inclusive for the general public.
When Bill Murray said during the 2016 Summer Olympics that “every Olympic sport should have one regular person in it as a reference,” they seemed to take it seriously.
Asia
The new nearly 200-mile Pekoe Trail cuts through the central highlands of Sri Lanka, passing through remote villages and tea plantations. Tom Sigler, Weekend Hiker
Asia is too vast and diverse to compile into an online list, but NatGeo has managed to select some hidden gems (we’re not talking about a colorful flag tour of the Great Wall) on the continent.
Suggested experiences include listening to live music in Kyoto, Japan, eating your way through Thailand, and trekking through the tea ceremony in Sri Lanka.
“Beginning just outside Kandy, the trail follows the 19th-century paths along which workers and horse-drawn carts transported freshly plucked leaves,” National Geographic writes. “Hikers pass through hill towns and tea plantations, where they can stop to take a cooking class or taste fragrant Ceylon tea.”
south america
Magdalena River, Colombia. Florence Goupil/National Geographic
National Geographic’s South America picks are basically an assortment of outdoor adventures that would make British explorer Percy Fawcett blush.
That includes everything from hiking a volcano in Panama to cruising Colombia’s majestic Magdalena River, which “flows nearly 1,000 miles from the Andes to the Caribbean Sea.”
Full list of recommended experiences:
Go on a horseback safari in Kenya, run the Olympic marathon in Paris, ski around UNESCO World Heritage sites in Georgia, watch bears in Katmai National Park in Alaska, experience live music in Kyoto, Japan, cruise the Magdalena River in Colombia, drive Route 66 in New Mexico, explore ancient rock art in Algeria, dive with whale sharks off the coast of Australia, hike a volcano in Panama, watch a total solar eclipse at Niagara Falls, trek a glacier in Chile, explore ruins in Menorca, ride a classic rail in Scotland, find authentic Isan in Thailand, explore a tea trail in Sri Lanka, tour galleries in Sao Paulo, Brazil, whitewater raft in West Virginia, hunt for antiques in the Hudson Valley, and sleep overnight on the water in Tofino Island, British Columbia.
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