Travel
12 Hard-To-Reach Destinations That Are Totally Worth It
Slide Nr 1“The journey is the destination” isn’t just one of the things we tell ourselves when we get stuck at an airport, miss a train connection or have to walk because that local bus didn’t turn up. Sometimes places really are more alluring because they are hard to reach, appealing precisely because of their elusiveness. Most importantly, making it there makes us feel like we’ve accomplished something, which in this time of easy international travel, is worth a lot.
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Travel
12 Hard-To-Reach Destinations That Are Totally Worth It.
Slide Nr 2No wonder the Faroe Islands advertise themselves as “Europe’s best-kept secret“ – they barely register as part of the continent. In theory, the archipelago isn’t all that hard to reach by plane, but getting there by ferry will put you in the right frame of mind to appreciate how remote these 18 tiny islands way out in the North Atlantic ocean really are. A ferry from Denmark to Iceland stops in the capital Tórshavn, on Streymoys Island. From there, getting around is a delightful hodgepodge of boats, ferries, driving through sub-sea tunnels, hiking, biking and even helicopter rides to visit the least accessible of the islands.
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Travel
12 Hard-To-Reach Destinations That Are Totally Worth It.
Slide Nr 3Millions of Star Wars fans fell in love with the Skelligs after The Last Jedi showcased Luke Skywalker’s idyllic retirement retreat to great effect. Little Skellig and Great Skellig (also known as Skellig Michael), rocky islands in the open Atlantic, 12 kilometres from Ireland’s West Coast, have seen an increase in visitors wearing Jedi cloaks and bearing lightsabers, but numbers are limited due to conservation efforts, a short season and unpredictable weather. Getting there involves a choppy boat ride, followed by a steep climb up 618 slippery steps to reach the beehive huts, where you can get a sense of the solidarity the monks who once built them sought.
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Travel
12 Hard-To-Reach Destinations That Are Totally Worth It.
Slide Nr 5Bhutan itself is already a challenging destination, requiring a special visa, which is given out in limited numbers each year and requires visitors to travel with a guide. This serves to keep numbers down, so you will be one of relatively the few people who get a chance to visit the spectacular Taktsang Palphug. The monastery known as Tiger’s Nest is located more than 3,000 metres above sea level, a 900-metre climb from the Paro valley below. Those who make the journey are rewarded with a tour of one of the Himalaya’s most sacred sites – and breathtaking views all around.
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12 Hard-To-Reach Destinations That Are Totally Worth It.
Slide Nr 7Superlatives aside, there are at least two good reasons to visit the most northerly permanently inhabited place in the world. Alert, in Canada’s vast Nunavut territory, boasts midnight sun in summer and northern lights in winter. The entire area is inaccessible over land year round, as there are no roads, but there are boats between settlements in summer. Alert itself is only served by military planes, and there is no accommodation for civilians, so it’s at best a bucket-list stop, followed by a stay in one of the slightly less northerly towns or national parks. [Photo courtesy Nunavut Tourism]
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Travel
12 Hard-To-Reach Destinations That Are Totally Worth It.
Slide Nr 8The Grand Canyon is one of the world’s most spectacular natural wonders, but for many visitors, it’s a mere pit stop on a road trip from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. If you want more than a photo opportunity at one of the overrun viewpoints, try hiking to the Havasupai reservation village of Supai. It is accessible only on foot, by horse or mule from the nearest road, 13 kilometres away. Once there, you can shack up on the local campsite or in the lodge, and visit the beautiful Havasu Canyon, an offshoot of the Grand Canyon on tribal land, with its own waterfall.
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Travel
12 Hard-To-Reach Destinations That Are Totally Worth It.
Slide Nr 9Choquequirao may be known as Machu Picchu’s sister – and the Inca ruins certainly rival those of her brother city. She does, however, play significantly harder to get. While thousands of visitors of all ages, physical abilities and on wildly varying budgets are brought to Machu Picchu by train, the minimum two-day trek through the Peruvian Andes keeps the crowds away from Choquequirao. Get there sooner rather than later, before a planned cable car changes that. [Photo: Wikimedia Commons]
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12 Hard-To-Reach Destinations That Are Totally Worth It.
Slide Nr 10The relative obscurity of Ciudad Perdida can partly be attributed to the fact that, until recently, the Colombian jungle wasn’t exactly a place foreign travellers were drawn to. Thanks to the country’s new-found reputation as a safe destination, it may one day become easier to reach the “lost city”, built by a Pre-Columbian society in the 11th century and rediscovered in 1975. For now, it is accessible only on foot, on a hike through the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountains that takes several days. [Photo: Alexander Schimmeck/Flickr]
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Travel
12 Hard-To-Reach Destinations That Are Totally Worth It.
Slide Nr 11Sure, there are more remote islands on earth, but none quite rival the allure of the mysteries Easter Island holds. Getting there is simply a matter of catching a 4,000-kilometre flight from Santiago, Chile. The entire island has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, most of it protected within Rapa Nui National Park. Some parts, especially on the West Coast, are inaccessible by car. Hikes take in an extinct volcano, deserted beaches, the famous Moai stone figures and rock carvings.
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Travel
12 Hard-To-Reach Destinations That Are Totally Worth It.
Slide Nr 12Tristan da Cunha doesn’t quite have the same ring to it, but it is the most remote inhabited archipelago in the world, 2,000 kilometres from the nearest inhabited landmass. To really drive home the point, one of its islands – an uninhabited wildlife reserve – is actually called Inaccessible Island. The only way to reach this part of the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha is by supply boat from Cape Town, a two-week round journey. [Photo: Brian Gratwicke/Flickr]
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Travel
12 Hard-To-Reach Destinations That Are Totally Worth It.
Slide Nr 13There’s a reason why “the desert” is shorthand for solitude, remoteness and difficult travel. The beauty of the Sahara, the world’s largest hot desert, is that it offers a choose-your-own-adventure experience of desert travel. You can dip your toes in by approaching its edges from popular tourist destinations like Marrakech, Tunis or Cairo. You can go the other extreme and traverse the desert on an overland tour, taking your risks as you travel through unsafe regions. There are plenty of options in between, involving some challenges but no major safety risks, just do your research and be well prepared.
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