I’ll be honest and say that the main thing I’ve been doing for the past 10 years is perfecting my bucket list. Ignore everything else – my bucket list has always been the most important.
I don’t know what it is about researching the world’s farthest flung places and jotting them in a little faux-leather notebook, but man, I love it. Luckily for you, this obsession means that I’ve worked out some of the absolute best things to do on earth – and now I’m finally ready to share them and inspire bucket lists around the world!
Europe
⬡ Disneyland Paris
⬡ Eiffel Tower, Paris
⬡ Alhambra, Grenada
⬡ Palace of Versailles, Paris
⬡ See the Northern/ Southern lights
⬡ Portmerion, Wales
⬡ Afternoon tea at Fortnum and Mason, London
⬡ Climb Mount Snowdon, Wales
⬡ La Tomatina, Spain
⬡ See a German fairytale castle (e.g. Liechtenstein, Eltzm Neuschwanstein_)
⬡ The Alps, France
⬡ Walk the Camino de Santiago
⬡ Interrail around Europe
⬡ Colosseum, Rome
⬡ Leaning Tower of Pisa, Italy
⬡ Tulip Fields, Netherlands
⬡ Experience bright Italy (Vernazza, Procida, Burano)
⬡ Do the waltz at a ball in Vienna
⬡ Lavender Fields, the Netherlands
⬡ Go inside the Sistine Chapel, Vatican City
⬡ Consume space cake, Amsterdam
⬡ Stay in the Ice Hotel, Sweden
⬡ Kew Gardens, London
⬡ Visit a German market at Christmas
⬡ Acropolis of Athens
⬡ Camp at the Lake District, England
⬡ Stonehenge, England
⬡ Mont Saint Michel, France
⬡ Visit the Notre Dame de Paris
⬡ Dracula’s Castle, Romania
⬡ Take an outdoor bath in Budapest
⬡ The Louvre, Paris
⬡ Chinatown, London
⬡ Attend a British Music Festival
Asia
⬡ Taj Mahal, India
⬡ Diwali Festival of Lights
⬡ Virapaksha Temple, India
⬡ Stay at an Indian Ashram
⬡ Ride in an Indian tuk tuk
⬡ Walk the Great Wall of China
⬡ Turfan, China
⬡ Zhangjiajie national forest park, China
⬡ Rainbow Mountains, China
⬡ Lantern Festival, Taiwan
⬡ Hagia Sophia, Turkey
⬡ The Grand Palace, Bangkok
⬡ Bagan, Myanmar
⬡ Ride a camel
⬡ Sea of Stars, Vaadhoo Island
⬡ Meenakshi Temple, India
⬡ See the Meeting of the Waters
⬡ Ride the Trans-Siberian railway
⬡ Swim in Jellyfish Lake, Palau
⬡ Yellow Mountain, Anhui Province, China
⬡ Eat fresh sushi at a stall in Japan
⬡ Go to a Japanese Onsen
⬡ Wisteria Tunnel, Japan
⬡ Stay in a Japanese Monastery
⬡ Hanami, Japan
⬡ Japanese tea ceremony
⬡ Mount Everest, Nepal
⬡ Visit an underground city like Cappadocia, Turkey
⬡ The Angkor Wat, Cambodia
⬡ Phnom Kulen Rong Chen, Cambodia
⬡ Amman, Jordan
⬡ Float in The Dead Sea
⬡ Yaunyang County, China
⬡ Taste tea in Darjeeling
⬡ Terracotta Army, Shaanxi
⬡ Dubai Miracle Garden
⬡ Songkran, Thailand
⬡ Spring Lantern Festival, Hong Kong
Africa
⬡ Visit the Sphinx and Pyramids of Giza, Egypt
⬡ Go on an African safari
⬡ Lalibela, Ethiopia
⬡ Great Zimbabwe
⬡ Abu Simbel, Egypt
⬡ Visit Madagascar’s avenue of ancient baobab trees
⬡ Lake Natron, Tanzania
⬡ Mount Kilamanjaro, Tanzania
North America
⬡ See the Grand Canyons
⬡ The Republic of Molossia
⬡ Actun Tunichil Muknal, Belize
⬡ Go inside the Empire State Building
⬡ Visit Mount Rushmore
⬡ Host a New York tea party
⬡ Antelope Canyon, Arizona
⬡ Drive down Route 66 on an American road trip
⬡ Dive to the Titanic
⬡ Camp in Oregon, Portland
⬡ Yosemite, California
⬡ Niagara Falls, Ontario + New York
⬡ Party in Las Vegas
⬡ The Statue of Liberty
⬡ See Times Square at Christmas
⬡ Death Valley National Park, California
South America
⬡ The Andes, Chile
⬡ Machu Picchu, Peru
⬡ Choquequirao, Peru
⬡ El Mirador, Guatemala
⬡ Carnival Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
⬡ Angel Falls, Venezuela
⬡ Chiapas, Mexico
⬡ Wander the bright streets of Cuba
⬡ Visit Christ the Redeemer
⬡ Welsh Patagonia
⬡ Rio De Janeiro Carnival
⬡ Ik Kil Cenote, Mexico
⬡ Chichen Itza, Mexico
Australasia
⬡ Swim in the Great Barrier Reef
⬡ Glowworm caves, New Zealand
⬡ See a pink lake (e.g. Lake Hillier, Australia)
⬡ Climb Sydney Harbour Bridge
⬡ See the Red Crab Migration
⬡ See the Moai, Easter Island
⬡ Stay in an overwater bungalow in Bora Bora
Experiences
⬡ Go to Antarctica
⬡ Fly in a hot air balloon
⬡ Go parachuting
⬡ Go tandem biking
⬡ Ride a segway
⬡ Go wild swimming
⬡ Hike a volcano
⬡ Do up an old van and travel across a continent in it
⬡ Go cliff jumping
⬡ Stay in an underwater hotel
⬡ Bungee jump
⬡ Go glass blowing
⬡ Sleep overnight in a lighthouse
⬡ Sleep overnight in a cave
⬡ Sleep overnight on a beach
⬡ Horse ride through the surf
⬡ Milk a cow
⬡ Spend a few months in a completely new country with an equally new language and learn it
⬡ Swim with something big (e.g. a whale or shark)
⬡ Sleep outdoors watching the stars
⬡ Go surfing
⬡ Snowboard
⬡ Flyboard
⬡ Ride a pedalo
⬡ Hire a houseboat
⬡ Ride in a sleigh pulled by huskies
⬡ Go hand gliding
⬡ Fly first class
⬡ Skydive
⬡ Go Water-skiing
⬡ Go to a nude beach and blend in 😉
⬡ Bicycle cross-country
⬡ Ride in a yacht
⬡ Go on a cruise
⬡ Drive a helicopter
⬡ Swim in marine phosphorescence
⬡ Swim in an infinity pool
⬡ Throw a dart at a map and go to that place, wherever it lands
⬡ Go on holiday with no luggage
⬡ Ride in a canoe
⬡ Explore an unexplored island
⬡ Go paragliding
⬡ Busk
⬡ Ride in a limousine
⬡ Go rock climbing
⬡ Skinny dip
⬡ Ride a steam train
⬡ Swing through the sky on a trapeze
⬡ Get kissed under mistletoe
⬡ Drive a motorbike
⬡ Get a penpal in another country
⬡ Put a message in a bottle and send it across the ocean
And so, have you guys done many of the things on this list? Will it help inspire your next trip, or is your bucket list already flawless?
Let me know in the comments below!
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This is the most useful list I’ve ever seen for travelers! Thank you for this Amy! This really helps a lot! Like a lot!
I tried to keep track of how many I’ve done, but there are so many great options. I can check quite a few of these off, but I still have a long way to go before I complete everything. I’m saving to add to my personal list!
Definitely sharing with my family most helpful list
That is a big, ambitious list. I hope that you can get to all your wish list places.
Your bucket list looks pretty similar to mine! One of the coolest things I’ve checked off my list was hiking the Great Wall of China, and I’m so excited to finally see the Eiffel Tower when I go to Paris this December.
I really enjoyed reading your blog. And this bucketlist is amazing gave me so much inspiration! Keep it up!
Awesome list! I’ve been keeping one of my own and now need to add an “experiences” section to my list as well!
This is an awesome bucket list! I can’t wait to travel again to tick some of these cool ideas off!
I think the Spring Lantern Festival is mostly called the Chinese Lantern Festival in Hong Kong, but the better lantern festival happens during the Mid Autumn Festival and includes cake!
You should also go to the Cheung Chau Bun Festival. It’s a very uniquely Hong Kong festival!
The Mid Autumn and Cheung Chau Bun festivals both sound wonderful – thank you for the suggestions!!
Making a bucket list is fun, and really motivating! You have lots of great destinations to see. Better book some flights! (I have a similar list on my site, but, being older, I’ve been lucky enough to have checked of many)
What an epic bucket list! I’ve done a handful of these but still have a long way to go! Many of these are on my bucket list too! Good luck completing it!
Great list. You should add Telleride Colorado to your North America list. Absolutely amazing town and nature all year around.
Wonderful suggestion, thank you – I’ll add it now!!
This is such a fun post! I definitely found a few ideas to add to my own bucket list 🙂
Hoi An and Halong Bay Vietnam are musts too!
Consider them added!
Great suggestions, I need to update my bucket list!
I have always wanted to visit so many of these places, such as Athens and Stone Henge. I might have to steal parts of this!
my god, you weren’t lying when you said this was the ultimate bucket list! i can only imagine how long it took you to compile all of these – thank you for sharing them 🙂
I remember reading about when you went trapeze-ing to tick it off your bucket list, but wow, I didn’t imagine that it had grown this big. Bloody big achievement just in itself.
I’ve been wanting to try it for ages!! Thanks for inspiration!
These are all great suggestions. Hope you are having a lovely week so far.