The UK's most popular outdoor travel blog
Put these dates in your diaries. Over 400 US national parks are free to visit on five days this year
Visiting one of America’s iconic national parks is always a great idea and it’s even sweeter when it’s free. The National Park Service (NPS) has announced five days in 2023 when entrance fees will be waived at every site around the USA.
From the rocky headlands of Acadia to the sandstone cliffs of Zion, we share the best hike in every US national park
America’s 63 national parks offer an encyclopaedic array of natural sights – from trees that existed at the time of dinosaurs to fiercely active volcanos. That’s before we even get into the hundreds of other units such as national monuments, historic sites, preserves, reserves, rivers, parkways and recreation areas.
Can’t decide between the Arctic or Antarctic for your polar adventure? Our guide will help you choose between 66° north or south
The North and South Poles were only “conquered” in relatively recent history. The South Pole was first attained in 1911 by the Norwegian Roald Amundsen after his epic race with the ill-fated Robert Falcon Scott.
With bandits, molten lava and wild animals posing a threat, blisters are the least of your worries on the world’s most dangerous hikes
From trekking across the treacherous windswept mountains of South Georgia to picking your way along the rickety walkways of Mount Hua Shan in China, these hikes are not for the fainthearted.
From lost ancient cities to the world’s largest underwater theme park, these man-made dive sites are sure to intrigue
At Atlas & Boots, we’ve dived some astonishing sites, from Steve’s Bommie in the Great Barrier Reef to the Sonesta plane wrecks in Aruba. We’re pretty hopeless at fish identification, so when it comes to diving, unless it’s a truly amazing reef system, we’re generally more interested in something unusual or unique (like an airplane or enormous bommie).
We profile some usual suspects plus one or two surprises in the top 10 most visited countries in the world
Have you dreamed of a romantic kiss atop the Eiffel Tower? Perhaps you’ve thrown a wish into the Trevi Fountain or stopped and stared at the Sistine Chapel. If so, you’re certainly not alone.
There are no ‘death zones’ on these non-technical mountain climbs but they offer plenty of challenges for mere mortals like me
As a climber, I have completed several indoor climbing and winter mountaineering courses but my technical climbing skills still leave a lot to be desired. I have mastered basic rope, ice axe and crampon skills but don’t practise them as often as I’d like.
From eastern Greenland to northern Alaska, we explore some of the most remote places on Earth
Whether it’s astronomical distances, inhospitable climates or extreme terrains that define these remote and hostile lands, there’s one thing they all have in common: they are on my bucket list. That and the fact that people live there.
We share the three best hiking trails in every US state, according to America’s most popular hiking app
The US knows how to do wilderness. Wedged between the two great oceans of the world, it is home to practically every landscape under the sun. Beaches, lakes, mountains, rainforests, deserts, canyons and glaciers all rise and fall across this continent-sized country. And thanks to the outstanding National Park Service, huge swathes of it are readily accessible.
The seven second summits are considered to be a much harder mountaineering challenge than the more popular seven summits
Previously, I’ve written about my dream of climbing the seven summits and laid out a realistic if not deeply challenging and expensive program of how to achieve that goal.
This week I look at the seven second summits; the second-highest mountains on each continent. The highest summits are a dream of mine, but I draw the line at the second-highest – they’re simply too scary for an amateur enthusiast like me!
Author Amit Patel tells us about his favourite trip, what remains on his bucket list and how travel changed for him after his sight loss
Amit Patel was born to be a boy racer. In his teens, he nearly rode himself (and two of his friends) into a pond on a clapped-out motorbike. Around the same time, he joined his local squadron of the Air Training Corps and took to the skies every chance he got. When he finished his GCSEs, he celebrated by jumping out of a plane at 13,000 feet.
As a difficult year draws to a close, we reflect on the top 10 posts that our readers most enjoyed
Well, what can we say about 2020 that hasn’t been said already? As a writer, I feel that I should be able to say something grand and stirring about the global pandemic, but to be honest, I can’t. I don’t know how to aptly describe the hopelessness and inertia that so many of us have experienced this year.
We take a look at the world’s most urban countries and why they go hand in hand with the most stressed
City life is stressful. It presses on our weary bones, wafts through windows on pungent fumes and boxes up our personal space.
We profile the world’s megadiverse countries, from obvious contenders like Ecuador and Brazil to one or two surprise entries
It should be comforting to know that a mere 17 countries hold more than 70% of the world’s species. It should be easy to rally this small group of ‘megadiverse countries’ to protect the planet’s extraordinary biodiversity. Alas, some of these countries are also the world’s biggest consumers and polluters.
Two thru-hikers lied and broke the law this year to finish the Appalachian Trail. Should we dismiss it as a daring adventure or tackle what lies deeper?
The first thing to admit before I begin is that I’m a person who follows the rules. I never cheat at games or quizzes despite being stupidly competitive. I hate being late to meetings or gatherings and I’ve even been known to Google “how late to arrive at a dinner party” because I know it’s impolite to turn up on time (the consensus is 15 minutes).
From Canada’s wild backcountry to the jungles of Brunei, we share some fantastic hikes through the cleanest air in the world
A few months after we moved to the country, some friends from London came up to visit. Stepping from the car, one commented that ‘it feels like mountain air up here’. I laughed and said, ‘it’s not that cold.’ He shook his head and said, ‘I don’t mean the temperature. I mean the quality.’
From grizzly bears to bugbears, five park rangers share the vagaries of their unique job
There’s no doubt that nature is flourishing under lockdown. There are heartening stories of the Himalayas emerging from Indian smog, moles in the UK being seen above ground and deer wandering the streets of Japan.
We take a look at the biggest buildings in the world, from airplane factories to royal palaces
Modern architecture has made relentless and remarkable progress over the past century, and with the construction of the world’s tallest and first 1km-high building beginning this week in Saudi Arabia, it doesn’t look to be slowing any time soon.
International Dark Sky Reserves are protected areas that offer exceptionally starry nights. We review the 16 places that hold this hallowed status
They sound like something out of Star Trek, these ‘Dark Sky Reserves’ – like they may have been conjured one evening in a lively LA writers room. Unlike the ‘Delta Quadrant’ or ‘Delphic Expanse’, however, International Dark Sky Reserves actually exist.
Climbing the seven summits – the highest mountain on every continent – is an improbable dream of mine… but that’s the beauty of dreams
I have always loved trekking and climbing. I usually spend several weeks of any given year on the grades of the Scottish Highlands or Welsh Snowdonia or ideally further afield such as the Arctic Circle Trail in Greenland or the K2 base camp trek in Pakistan.
