Adventure travel is one of my favourite ways to explore the world and I am constantly looking for more destinations or ideas to add to my ever expanding adventure travel destinations bucket list. These are a few of my favourite adventure destinations that I have been to and I hope that they will inspire your next adventure travel trip no matter what type of adventure floats your boat.

1. Chile

Chile is among my favourite destinations of all times and a great place for those with adventure on the mind. In Chile My family spent 6 days white water rafting on the Futaleufu river which is one of the best white water rivers in the world. Honestly I don’t know how any other river is going to compare after paddling it. The trip also included hiking, kayaking, canyoning and a rappel so high I though I was going to throw up half way through. For the second half of the trip we went way down south to hike the W trek for 5 days in Torres del Paine which was staggeringly beautiful.

There is so much to see and so much adventure to be had in Chile. Patagonia is probably the most well known adventure travel destination in the world, but there are tons of lesser known spots as well. I will defiantly be including a visit to the extreme terrain of Atacama Desert the next time I’m in the country. Here are a few ideas to inspire your adventurous soul to visit Chile!

Chile Adventure Travel Inspiration

• Hike the W or the O trek in Torres del Paine, Patagonia
• Trek the Cerro Castillo Circuit, Castillo National Park – Great summary here.
• Ice walk on Exploradores Glacier
• Sea kayaking
• The Hanging Glacier Moraine Trail – great summary here
• Learn to surf in Taucu Biobio
• Visit the Atacama Desert, Valle de la Luna
• White water raft of kayak the Futaleufu river

2. Nepal

Nepal is probably the trekking capital of the world, but if trekking is not your thing there are still a lot of adventure to be had. However most people do come to Nepal to trek and treks are incredibly easy to organize and plan, with or without a guide. I spent just over 6 weeks in Nepal, most of it trekking the Annapurna Circuit. I also spent some time white water rafting, on walking safaris in Chitwan National Park (one of the best places to see tigers), a fair bit of time in Kathmandu and on a week long Buddhist meditation retreat.

The main adventure hub in Nepal is Pokhara, but as far as cities go I actually preferred Kathmandu (an unpopular choice). I think Kathmandu is one of the most underrated cities out there and it can be an adventure just walking the streets there. However most of the adventure or adrenaline activities are based out of Pokhara. On top of Nepal being a great adventure travel destination it is also an incredibly cheap one. While hiking I struggled to open over 10USD a day! Here are a few adventurous options for your next trip to Nepal.

Adventure Travel Inspiration

• Trek the Himalayan mountains – the main reason most people come to Nepal. Everest is the most popular, but I want to do the Upper Mustang Trek when I go back.
• Adrenaline activities – Pokhara is well known for having relatively affordable adrenaline inducing activities like bungee jumping or paragliding.
• Mountain biking – particularly popular around Pokhara. We even saw people doing the Annapurna Circuit on mountain bikes!
• Caving – Pokhara is also has several caves, although I didn’t go to any, here is a good description.
• White water rafting or kayaking – Nepal is not well known for white water, but it should be! There are several day trips, but I think the best experience is on a multi-day trip, here is a great summary of the most popular rivers.

3. Canada

My home! Been adventuring here since I could walk so obviously this has to make the list. But for good reason, Canada has more open land and wilderness then most other countries and most of it is kept pretty pristine. With that much space there is truly a staggering number of adventurous activities here, truly a must for any adventure travel destinations list.

One of my favourite adventures in Canada is white water canoeing which is such a staple of Canadian life. I’ve been doing it since I was a kid, including 1 month on the DuChef river in Quebec. There are so many great rivers to paddle in Canada, I want to do them all! If you’re looking at planning a paddling trip in Canada, Black Feather is a great company to go with (or even if you just want some inspiration on what river to do). There are also tons of place to hike, bike, ski, climb – pretty much anything you could imagine. While I believe Ontario and Quebec are best for white water paddling, most other adventure activities will be located in BC. Keep in mind Canada is huge and BC is no where near Ontario. Here are just a few ideas to inspire you’re Canada trip!

Adventure Travel Inspiration

• White water paddling – one of my favourites!
• Kayak, sail or hike Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands), BC
• Multi-day treks – there is a great round up here
• Skiing and boarding – largely in BC. Whistler is the more well known, but there are plenty of options. Another great round up here.
• Ski or hike to a backcountry lodge – I’ve been to Skoki Lodge and it was fantastic.
• Arctic expeditions – 15,000 of the worlds 25,000 polar bears live in Canada. Churchill Manitoba is the main spot to see polar bears, but there are tons of different ways to explore the arctic.
• Rock climbing – I climb in Ontario, but most of the well known climbing is in BC. If you don’t know how to climb there are a lot of tours or lessons that you can join – here are some ideas for your climb.

4. New Zealand

New Zealand is a lot like Canada in terms of the shear number and variety of adventures that you can have there. The main difference is that New Zealand is 100 000x (yes that’s exact math) smaller then Canada. Don’t let that foul you though, there is a ton to do and it still takes a decent amount of Tim,e to get in-between places. Almost 11% of New Zealand’s land is protected by 13 different National Parks, which means a lot of area to explore.

I’m a big fan of road trips and New Zealand is a perfect county for them. Be warned though – the roads are small! We spent about 2 weeks driving the South Island a few years ago and greatly enjoyed it. Queenstown is the adventure capital of New Zealand and there are a lot of expats or backpackers who spend a season there to take full advantage of everything there is to do.

Adventure Travel Inspiration

• New Zealand’s 9 Great Walks – There a 9 famous multi day treks in New Zealand and it quite popular to try to walk them all! New Zealand has a ton of hiking, but these are the most well known. If multi-day trekking is not your thing there are also tons of day trips.
• Bungee jumping – probably the most famous bungee jumping destination in the world. I’ve done the Kawarau Bridge bungy, the first commercial jump in the world!
• Surfing – very popular in New Zealand!
• Jet boating – this was lot more fun than we expected!
• White rafting – you can go to the highest commercially waterfall in  Rotorua!
• Caving – we really enjoyed floating through the glow worm caves at Waitomo Caves 

5. Ecuador

South America in general has lots of active travel opportunities, but particularly in Ecuador. Quito is beautiful and you could spend ages exploring it, but outside of the capital there is tons of adventure to be had. We spent several days just outside of Mindo in the Cloud Forest which was likely our favourite part of the trip. We also greatly enjoyed exploring the Amazon rainforest. You can read more about my suggestions for Ecuador here.

The adrenaline capital of Ecuador is Banos, a small city located at the foot of a volcano not too far from Quito. It is most famous for the swing at the edge of the world, which is a lot less scary than it looks – you never actually go beyond the cliff. There are a ton of other activities like zip lining, white water rafting, trekking and canyoning in Banos as well.

Adventure Travel Inspiration

• Galapagos Sailing adventure – my family will be doing this over Christmas this year!
• Amazon jungle – there are tons of different ways to see the Amazon and many of the eco-lodges will include activities like tree house trekking, canoeing, fishing or swimming with piranhas (not actually dangerous)
• Trek Cotopaxi Volcano / Quilotoa Loop – The most famous hiking destination in Ecuador. Consider stopping at Quilotoa Lake for a kayak .
• Visit the Cloud Forest – a mountain top rainforest with lots of zip lining, rappelling, horse back riding and mountain biking. Plus tons of wildlife.

BONUS! Mongolia

Ok so I’ve never been to Mongolia, but it is at the very top of my adventure travel destinations wish list so I thought I should include it in this one. I think visiting Mongolia would count as an adventure just based off of the remoteness and the difficulties of traveling there. Then you add in all the different types of adventures that you can have there and you can see why it is at the top of my list.

Adventure Travel Inspiration

• Horse back riding trip – apparently you can BUY a horse in Mongolia for a few hundred dollars, go explore the country then sell the horse back to the stable at the end of your trip. I can’t speak for the validness of this, but it would complete the ‘own a pony’ bucket-list goal of mine.
• Homestay – Live like a local in yurts
• Motorbike across the country – I don’t bike, but I might have to learn to do this tour.
• Go watch (or participate) in the ‘three games of men’ festival – Naadam in July. A very manly competition of wrestling, horse-racing and archery – everything you need to be a nomad of Mongolia. This festival is why I initially got interested in traveling to Mongolia, it looks so cool!

If you have any suggestions for adventure travel destinations that I should add to my list let me know in the comments below!