10 Secret Places at the Edge of the World

Mt. Aspiring National Park, South Island, New Zealand

Untouched and remote, this national park on New Zealand's South Island is so striking, so otherworldly that it was the set for The Lord of the Rings movies. At Mt. Aspiring National Park, where civilization as you know it ends and Middle-Earth fantasy begins, aquamarine ice edges ancient glaciers on mountains. Rocky landscapes are like sculptures. And glowing green moss droplets blanket dense forests. It's the edge of a completely uninhabited, epic landscape.

How to Experience the Edge: Heli-hike, heli-ski, rock climb, ice climb, or mountaineer. Guided hikes to glaciers and jet-boat rides take you deep into the park, to places you never knew existed.

Getting There: Fly into Auckland and connect to Queenstown on South Island. You can hitch a ride with an alpine helicopter pilot and fly over the Crown Range and Pisa Mountains, or drive through them to get to the village of Wanaka. From there, you can fly, walk, or boat into the park.

North Cape, Finnmark, Norway

If you're looking at a globe, Norway's North Cape sits near the very top, overlooking the Arctic Ocean. Snapping a photo here at the spot dubbed "The Top of the World" is a rite of passage among European road trippers, especially motorcyclists and RVers striving for the continent's northern reaches. When they finally arrive, they celebrate. Recycling bins full of empty champagne bottles are the evidence.

How to Experience the Edge: Stand at the edge of the North Cape plateau, about 1,000 feet above the Arctic Ocean, where churning water and endless skies stretch as far as the eye can see. Roaming herds of reindeer, the summer's midnight sun, and the northern lights are other reminders that you've entered a new frontier.

Getting There: Since there are no international airports in northern Norway, the "shortcut" is a six-day cruise (12 days round-trip) with Hurtigruten ASA, a 120-year-old freight-and-passenger shipping company. During the voyage from Honningsvag, you cross the Arctic Circle before disembarking and taking a motor coach to the North Cape.

Makgadikgadi Pan, Botswana, Africa

A stark, eerie, and vast salt flat—one of the world's largest—was left behind thousands of years ago when a superlake dried up here in the Kalahari Desert. No vegetation can grow on this pan the size of Switzerland, and very little wildlife can exist here during the harsh, dry season of unrelenting hot winds. The sheer emptiness of the hauntingly featureless terrain seems to stretch to eternity on the Makgadikgadi Pan.

How to Experience the Edge: On tour operator Africa Exclusive's Jack's Camp tours, stay in a luxury tent on the desolate salt flat, or quad-bike across the cracked landscape for a few days then sleep out on a bedroll. Take a guided safari to learn about the desert-adapted fauna and flora, and walk with San Bushmen who can show you how to survive in this harsh environment. You might even find fossils of the giant hippo or zebra.

Getting There: Fly into Johannesburg and catch a connecting flight to Maun, where you can take a light aircraft into the pan.

Ilulissat, Qaasuitsup, Greenland

In Greenland, the world's least populated country, there are no roads between any of the towns, leaving your transport options to boat, plane, helicopter, or dogsled. It's one of the world's most inhospitable places, where larger boats can navigate for only part of the year and where the growing season isn't long enough for fruits and vegetables. Fly into the isolated west coast town of Ilulissat or the nearby Saqqaq village, where each year, billions of tons of icebergs more than 300 feet tall calve off and glide out of the fjord.

How to Experience the Edge: "Hiking during the summer is more akin to hiking on the moon," says traveler Elliot Gillies. Sailing among icebergs and taking helicopter trips to the ice sheet are other popular summer activities. In winter, take a dogsled trip.

Getting There: Most flights from North America connect through Copenhagen or Reykjavik. No ferries run to Greenland, but the country is a stop on many cruise itineraries.

Mt. Kailash, Himalayas, Tibet

This Himalayan mountain may not be the globe's highest point, but many religions revere it as the meeting place of heaven and Earth. Each year, thousands pilgrimage through the remote villages of Tibet's High Plateau and around Mt. Kailash. A holy ritual, the trek at the edge of heaven is said to bring good fortune, and many travelers call the encounter life changing.

How to Experience the Edge: Soma Journeys leads a Mt. Kailash trek that explores Buddhist traditions along the way, with meditation in caves and visits to monasteries. Tour operator In the Saddle's Tibet horseback-riding trip gives you the chance to meet nomads and monks on the isolated grasslands of one of Earth's highest plateaus that stretches as far as the eye can see.

Getting There: Soma Journeys' Mt. Kailash trip starts in Kathmandu, Nepal, where you can take two small airplanes into the plateau region for the hike. In the Saddle's trip begins in Chengdu, China.

Bunda Cliffs, Nullarbor Plain, Australia

At the edge of the world in southern Australia, great white sharks occasionally swim in the ocean below the imposing precipice of the Bunda Cliffs, which reach heights up to 393 feet and stretch on for 62 miles. It's not much kinder or gentler up on the cliff top, the biggest single slab of limestone in the world. This remote, treeless, and arid Nullarbor Plain is nearly the size of the United Kingdom, but making the drive is the ultimate Aussie road trip.

How to Experience the Edge: Follow the signs to one of the five main lookouts on gravel roads that lead from the Eyre Highway. In winter at the eastern lookout, watch migrating southern right whales mating and calving by the shore. Nearby, you can also go cage diving with sharks or swim with dolphins and sea lions.

Getting There: Check out Tourism Australia's six-day, 1,242-mile driving itinerary. Or take the Indian Pacific train on a track that claims the record for the longest, straightest section on the planet (about 310 miles).

Tierra Del Fuego, Patagonia, Argentina

The small town of Ushuaia in the Tierra del Fuego archipelago is Argentina's last outpost at the end of the Pan-American Highway. Here, trees are stunted and twisted by extreme weather, and everything in town feels permanently battened down. There's nothing but miles and miles of water between you and the frozen loneliness of Antarctica.

How to Experience the Edge: You can snap your photo by the sign in the archipelago's national park that marks the end of the Pan-American Highway, which runs to Alaska. But to get the real edge-of-the-world feeling, take a boat ride to Cape Horn, where circumnavigating ships used to sail before the Panama Canal opened. Real World Holidays' Encompass Argentina trip includes sea kayaking or canoeing among the farthest-flung islands so you can have the edge of the world all to yourself.

Getting There: Fly to Ushuaia, the world's southernmost city, from Buenos Aires, then head into Tierra del Fuego National Park by jeep or small boat.

Antarctica

At the world's southern tip, Antarctica has no buildings apart from the occasional abandoned scientific station. There are no roads or tracks, no power lines, no permanent inhabitants—nothing. It's a continent that is 98 percent covered by ice that averages at least a mile in thickness. But the magnitude of wildlife that is here, among intricately carved icebergs and giant glaciers, seems impossible, like a forgotten paradise.

How to Experience the Edge: Glide through the waters of a glacial fjord in a small Aurora Expeditions ship dwarfed by ice-clad peaks on every side. Ride in an open-air zodiac to see penguins, whales, and elephant seals, or put on snorkel or dive gear and see them among the icebergs below the water's surface. Overland treks and on-ice camping are other options.

Getting There: Large cruise ships and smaller expedition ships sail from South America. Trips take about two days of sailing or two hours of flying.

Fogo Island, Newfoundland, Canada

You don't have to go to extreme lengths or great expense to arrive at the edge. According to the Flat Earth Society, one of the four corners of the globe is across the border in Canada. Fogo Island, an isolated eastern annex of the already remote Newfoundland, juts so far into the North Atlantic that it practically neighbors Greenland. Here, currents sweep past the craggy coast, carrying majestic chunks of blue ice and migrating humpback whales. Along untouched stretches, you can find the odd avant-garde studio, part of the local Shorefast Foundation's international artist-residency program.

How to Experience the Edge: Hike the steep trail to Brimstone Head, one of the four corners, or go cod fishing in the North Atlantic. Travel reporter Laura Bly suggests the new five-star Fogo Island Inn, a starkly modern hotel set on the granite shoreline.

Getting There: From Newfoundland's Gander International Airport, it's an hour's drive and a 50-minute ferry ride from the appropriately named town of Farewell to the island.

Kamchatka, Siberia, Russia

Eight time zones east of Moscow is a massive swath of unpopulated Siberian wilderness and one of the most active volcanic regions in the world. Kamchatka also happens to be home to roads potholed beyond repair, cities that feel post-apocalyptic, and crumbling old Soviet military bases with rusting fighter jets. At the edge of the capital city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, smoking volcanoes dominate the horizon, threatening to destroy what's left of this civilization. But the scenery is stunning and unspoiled in this portion of the Pacific Ring of Fire.

How to Experience the Edge: Trekking is the best way to feel like you are in the middle of nowhere. Secret Compass and 56th Parallel are two expedition companies that can take you to the volcanic peaks and introduce you to Siberian culture and traditions en route. There's also heli-skiing, fishing, rafting, and bear watching—the area has one of the highest concentrations of brown bears in the world.

Getting There: In summer, you can fly direct from Anchorage to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. Most year-round regular service runs through Moscow.

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