Ten of the world’s top adventure playgrounds (including three at home)

Top destinations for 2026: Adventure and outdoors

Beyond the familiar peaks and plains, a new frontier of epic adventure awaits the prepared traveller in 2026, from a newly opened trail on Whitsunday Island to a demanding trek in Timor-Leste. If your ideal trip involves epic views and pristine nature, try these grand escapes.

Kyrgyzstan

Beyond the Himalayas, all of Asia is ribbed with sky-scraping mountain ranges including the little-considered Tian Shan mountains of Kyrgyzstan. The sixth-highest range in the world, topping out at 7439 metres, the Tian Shan offer wonderful routes over high passes and through meadowed valleys. Many treks focus on Ala Kol, a vivid-blue glacial lake high in the range near the 5216-metre Karakol Peak. Trekkers approach from the west and cross the 3800-metre Telety Pass before making a long climb to the lake, which is as brightly coloured as the slopes above it are barren. World Expeditions’ Kyrgyzstan And The Tian Shan Mountains 15-day trip includes a five-day trek to Ala Kol and beyond staying in semi-permanent camps along the route. See worldexpeditions.com

Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park

In 2026 you can be among the first travellers to hike between Kata Tjuta and its famous rock neighbour, Uluru. Created in consultation with the Anangu traditional owners, the guided Uluru-Kata Tjuta Signature Walk launches next April and leads walkers on a 54-kilometre, five-day journey across the desert between these two rock stars. After a day of walking around Kata Tjuta, the next three days are spent crossing the desert towards Uluru, spending one night in tents with plush beds and two nights in the walk’s private lodge, where there’ll be the chance for a pampering massage or facial. The walk’s final steps are around Uluru, guided by Anangu elders to Mutitjulu Waterhole. See taswalkingco.com.au

Greenland

Greenland is a byword for remoteness and adventure and in August 2026 it will be one of the best places in the world to see a rare total solar eclipse. But the heavens aren’t the country’s sole drawcard. If it’s adventure you seek, Greenland’s east, a region remote even by the autonomous territory’s extreme standards, delivers in spades. Much of the east is blanketed by Northeast Greenland National Park, the world’s largest national park that covers an area about the size of South Australia. Scoresby Sund lies south of the park and is the world’s largest fjord poking more than 300 kilometres into Greenland’s eastern flank. The only feasible way into the park is by cruise ship. For adventurers with deep pockets, HX Expeditions is running a 17-day Solar Eclipse Expedition cruise departing August 3, 2026. See travelhx.com

Arctic

Next year marks a milestone anniversary in human exploration of the North Pole. In 1926, Norwegian Roald Amundsen (the first person to reach the South Pole) and 15 others flew an airship over the North Pole, becoming the first verified people to reach the North Pole. A century on, travellers can reach 90 degrees north aboard the polar exploration ship Le Commandant Charcot, sailing out of Spitsbergen and pushing its way through the ice to the Earth’s northernmost point. The sailings with cruise company Ponant explore the coast of Spitsbergen (the last land mass before the Arctic ice floe) and then navigate north through the sea ice, weaving through open channels and the thinnest sections of ice to reach the Geographic North Pole. See au.ponant.com

Whitsunday Islands

In 2026 the Whitsunday Islands will go from an ocean destination to a land destination with the opening of the Ngaro Track. The 32-kilometre walking path is now under construction and is due to open towards the middle of next year. It is named after the traditional Ngaro custodians of the islands and connects Whitehaven Beach and Hill Inlet at the southern end of Whitsunday Island. The three-day route has two campgrounds, one overlooking Silica Bay and the other in the forest behind Torres Herald Bay. The one-way hike begins on the dazzlingly white start-line of Whitehaven Beach and passes through Chance Bay and Torres Herald Bay. Walkers can get an upstairs view with a trek to the summit of 353-metre Whitsunday Craig. The Ngaro can be walked independently or guided by the track’s selected operator, World Expeditions. See parks.qld.gov.au

Baltic states

Former Eastern Bloc nations have been emerging as adventure destinations, with the likes of the Caucasus Trail and Trans Dinarica pushing countries such as Georgia, Armenia, Bosnia and Albania into the hiking and cycling spotlight. As the trend continues, get ahead of the crowds on the Baltic Coastal Hiking Route, a 1400-kilometre trail that wriggles along the shores of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The route is divided into 73 sections of roughly 20 kilometres, with each stage able to be walked in a day. For shorter journeys, it can easily be broken into smaller highlight sections. In Lithuania, consider the wonderful Curonian Spit, a matchstick-thin filament of land that, at its southern end, peers into locked-away Kaliningrad. In Estonia, the route heads across the waters to quiet islands such as Saaremaa and Hiiumaa. See baltictrails.eu/en/coastal

Otago, New Zealand

New Zealand’s reputation as a hub for cycling took off when the Otago Central Rail Trail was launched in 2000. In 2026, Otago’s cycling offerings will reach further heights when the 32-kilometre Kawarau Gorge Trail opens, the final piece in the region’s interconnecting network of cycling trails. When the new trail is launched it will become possible to cycle from Queenstown almost to Dunedin entirely on trails that form part of the country’s Great Rides collection. The ride begins on the Queenstown Trail and links into the new Kawarau Gorge Trail at Gibbston, merging into the Lake Dunstan Trail at Cromwell. Rounding its namesake lake, this trail concludes in the town of Clyde, where the Otago Central Rail Trail takes over, finishing the long ride in Middlemarch, where you can hop aboard the Taieri Gorge Train into Dunedin. From Queenstown to Middlemarch, it will be a ride of about 265 kilometres. See nzcycletrail.com

Purnululu National Park

Western Australia’s Purnululu National Park is almost 40 years old and protects the famous beehive domes of the Bungle Bungle Range that came into came to travellers’ attention in 1983 when they were unexpectedly sighted by a TV crew in a helicopter. The park’s walks are divided into two areas, each with a signature Bungle Bungles feature – the narrow slot of Echidna Chasm, lit by beams of sun around noon each day, in the north, and the deep, acoustically blessed Cathedral Gorge in the south. The grandest adventure here, however, is an overnight hike into Piccaninny Gorge, where five side gorges known as the “fingers”, each one distinctive in sight and nature, prod deeper into the range. Hikers need to register at the park ranger station and are required to carry a personal locator beacon. See exploreparks.dbca.wa.gov.au

United States

The Adventure Cycling Association was founded in 1976, along with the association’s first marked cycling route: the 6800-kilometre TransAmerica Trail. It was the first cycle-touring route to cross from shore to shore in the States and remains the classic way to pedal across America. Now it is just one of more than 30 long-distance cycle-touring routes, covering more than 80,000 kilometres, that the association has created. On the association’s 50th anniversary, ride the TransAmerica or head down the 1650-kilometre Bicycle Route 66 for a two-wheel journey from Chicago to Santa Monica. Ride border to border – Canada to Mexico – on the 3000-kilometre Pacific Coast Route, or get serious on the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, billed as the world’s longest off-pavement route, travelling 5000 kilometres through the Rocky Mountains with a “mere” 60,000 metres of climbing. See adventurecycling.org

Timor-Leste

Lying along the southern edge of the revered Coral Triangle, Timor-Leste’s adventure claims have long been tied to the water, with excellent snorkelling around Atauro and in the coral-rich channel between the main island and tiny Jaco of its eastern tip. But with the recent opening of the La Rende! trail, there’s now a reason for hikers to enjoy Timor-Leste. The 130-kilometre-long La Rende! is Timor-Leste’s version of the Kokoda Track and crosses the island from north to south. It connects key sites of the Battle of Timor, which was fought between Allied military personnel (with the support of the Timorese) and Japanese forces. Like the Kokoda Track, the trek is demanding and challenging. It crosses the slopes of Timor-Leste’s highest mountain and cuts through jungle, rivers, ridges and Portuguese-era coffee plantations. Local specialist Maddog Adventures runs 10-day trips along the first 90 kilometres of the route. See maddogadventures.com.au

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