Ten Top National Parks Around the Globe

Torres del Paine

Many adventure travelers flock to America's national parks, but the U.S. doesn't have a monopoly on spacious skies and purple mountain majesties. You can find protected lands, natural beauty, and exotic wildlife around the globe. The next time you want to see our planet at its most breathtaking, hop a plane to one of these 10 international parks.

The iconic peaks of Torres del Paine National Park reach for the sky in Chilean Patagonia. Many visitors snap photos of glacial lakes and rocky slopes from tour buses, but to see the real park, pack your gear and set out on the Torres del Paine Circuit, an eight- to 10-day hike through forests, bogs, and gullies. Keep an eye out for guanacos (relatives of the llama) and rheas (ostrich-like birds).

For those short on time, G.A.P Adventures offers a five-night tour for $855 a person, which includes three days of trekking, a visit to the Salto Grande Waterfall, and a catamaran cruise on Lake Pehoe. At the end of the trek, toast your travels with Chile's national drink, the pisco sour.

Herd of guanacos in Torres del Paine National Park, Chile (Photo: D. Mathies, iStockphoto.com)

Iguazu Falls

Straddling the border between Brazil and Argentina, Iguazu National Park is famous for the waterfalls that share its name. From the Brazilian side, an easy one-mile hike follows the Iguazu River to the Devil's Throat, the loudest and most impressive of the falls. Visitors can venture out on a catwalk above the falls to get a closer look. The lush jungle of the park is home to jaguars, pumas, giant otters, and anteaters.

Many travelers tack an Iguazu Falls tour onto the end of another South American itinerary. If you're looking for the complete package, waterfall buffs may like Imaginative Traveller's Brazil Gauchos and Waterfalls family tour. The 11-night tour costs $2,555 with a local payment of $440 and includes two days in Iguazu, as well as visits to Rio de Janeiro, the Pantanal, and Bonito, where you can see more waterfalls.

Iguazu Falls National Park, Brazil and Argentina (Photo: Index Open)

Morne Trois Pitons

Seemingly worlds apart from the lush green landscape found on the rest of this Caribbean island, Dominica's Morne Trois Pitons National Park is a hotbed of volcanic activity, hissing with steaming fumaroles and hot springs. The ultimate adventure here is hiking across the barren Valley of Desolation to Boiling Lake, whose murky waters bubble as gases rise up from the molten lava beneath its surface.

Adventure travelers looking to stay on the border of the national park can sign up for the Jungle Spa Adventure Package at the Jungle Bay Resort and Spa. Prices start at $199 per person per night based on double occupancy and include accommodations, all meals, a daily yoga class, a daily half hour in the spa, and a choice of scheduled activities, which can include the hike to Boiling Lake. If you choose to stay at the resort but not book the package, you can join the Boiling Lake Hike excursion for $75 per person plus taxes.

Valley of Desolation in Morne Trois Pitons National Park, Dominica (Photo: Discover Dominica)

Serengeti

Animal lovers often find their way to Tanzania's Serengeti National Park, a major wildlife reserve boasting the world's largest herds of hoofed animals in the wild. Wildebeest, zebras, and gnus trek between the northern hills and southern plains twice a year in a migration as old as the land itself. The park also has the highest concentration of lions anywhere in the world.
Game safaris take intrepid travelers through the parks to view the wildlife.

For a unique take on the typical safari, try KE Adventure Travel's nine-night On Foot in the Serengeti Masai walking safari. The trip revolves around a three-day walking tour of the Serengeti accompanied by guides and Masai warriors, and includes visits to Ngorongoro Crater and Olduvai Gorge. You'll camp six nights under the endless African sky, and stay three in hotels or lodges. The trip costs $2,595 per person and runs three times a year in March, June, and October.

Sunset at Serengeti National Park (Photo: IndexOpen)

Connemara

Snuggled between the Irish Coast and the peaks of the Twelve Bens, Connemara National Park lures walkers to County Galway. Sturdy boots and all-weather gear is a must for trekking through the park's misty bogs and heathland. Wander up the rocky Diamond Hill, climb up to the lakeside perch of Kylemore Abbey, or tackle a Ben or two if you dare. The sheep who roam the area won't tell if you choose to sit on a sand dune for an hour or two instead.

Footfalls Walking Holidays can help you get out and about in Connemara with its seven-night Connemara Special walking tour. For $1,299 per person, you'll stay right in the Connemara mountains and spend your days journeying five to nine miles into the surrounding countryside. To get around a little faster, Cross Country International offers a seven-night horseback-riding tour along Connemara's beaches from $2,075.

Mountain view in Connemara National Park (Photo: Michael Steden, iStockphoto)

Ordesa

You'd think it would be hard to lose a 3,355-meter massif, but someone named the focal peak of Spain's Ordesa and Monte Perdido National Park the "lost mountain." Located in the central Pyrenees just south of the French border, this park was created to protect the ibex, a type of wild goat, but is better known as a popular spot for adventure activities. Hikers have a choice of easy or difficult routes, with many trailheads located in the gateway town of Torla. Climbers head to the technical Petit Vignemale and Aqisclo Valley, while water buffs can canoe or raft down the Ara and Cinca Rivers. Canyoning, potholing, and randonee skiing (a mix of backcountry cross-country and downhill Alpine skiing) offer a greater challenge.

Experienced hikers can go it alone with the help of Alto Aragón, a walking holiday company. You provide $709 per person and map-reading know-how, and they'll book your accommodations, arrange for breakfasts and dinners, and supply you with maps and route notes. The six-night self-guided tour takes you through valleys, canyons, and clifftops.

View of Ordesa National park, Spain (Photo: Franc Jimenez, iStockPhoto.com)

Sagarmatha

The Nepalese name for Mount Everest is Sagarmatha (meaning "goddess [or head] of the sky"), and visitors will indeed be far from sea level in the national park that shares the peak's name. The park offers stunning views of jagged mountains, miles-long glaciers, deep valleys, and wildlife including the oft-spotted Himalayan tahr and Musk deer and the rare snow leopard and lesser panda.

Getting to the park is also no easy feat—you'll need to walk two to 10 days from nearby airports or fly into Syangboche, the highest airstrip in the world. You're better off leaving planning to the professionals. Intrepid Travel offers a 15-day expedition to the Everest Base Camp for as low as $680, plus a local payment of $200. You must be in peak physical condition to do the 12-day hike from Lukla to the foot of Mt. Everest. The trip takes a remote mountain path through the Himalayas, and guests spend the night in teahouses, learning about local traditions and culture.

Yaks at Everest Base Camp, Nepal (Photo: WeAreAdventurers; iStockphoto.com)

Kaziranga

Rhinos and tigers and sloth bears—oh my! India's Kaziranga National Park is a wildlife sanctuary, which protects the Great Indian One-Horned Rhinoceros, as well as tigers, Barasingha swamp deer, Indian elephants, and other creatures. Its swamps and grasslands are a perfect habitat for these species. To tour the park, book an elephant safari and search for wildlife from atop a pachyderm. Or ride in a jeep instead.

If you stay near Kaziranga, you can wake up to rainforest scenery and squeeze in a safari before breakfast if you choose. The Bonhabi Resort is a minute away from the main park entrance, and rooms start at $20. Or, try the Wild Grass Lodge, also outside the park, with rooms starting at $133 for a single and $194 for a double. Both accommodations offer one-hour elephant safaris for $25 per person.

Bengal tiger (Photo: David Davis, iStockphoto.com)

Fiordland

In the magical, misty land of New Zealand's Fiordland National Park, kayakers paddle across still lakes, dwarfed by the jagged cliffs that rise above them. Backpackers duke it out for coveted permits to walk the Milford and Kepler Tracks that pass through green forests, across suspension and swing bridges, and past lakes, streams, and waterfalls. For tamer adventure, take a scenic cruise along the fjords of the Doubtful or Milford Sounds, and search for glowworms in the caves of Te Anau.

A kayaking tour on Doubtful Sound combines scenic driving and cruising, as well as paddling. For $150 per person, you can book a full-day kayak tour with Adventure Kayak and Cruise. The trip includes a 45-minute boat ride on Lake Manapouri; a drive over the Wilmot Pass Road; kayaking from Deep Cove to Elizabeth Island, Anchor Bay, and Hall Arm on Doubtful Sound; and snacks along the way.

Milford Sound in Fiordland National Park, New Zealand (Photo: Rob Suisted, Tourism New Zealand)

Banff

Even your car can be an adventure traveler in Canada's Banff National Park. Scenic drives along the Icefields Parkway and Bow Valley Parkway pass through stunning mountain scenery, icefields, glaciers, waterfalls, and wildflowers. You may even have to give way for a moose, bear, or caribou. Out of the car, visitors can stretch their legs on hikes or bike rides by crystalline Lake Louise and the park's many other lakes, wander through the flowers of Sunshine Meadows, or ski in the wintertime. After a hard day of play, take a refreshing dip in the hot springs that first attracted attention to the park.

White Mountain Adventures offers a variety of guided excursions in the Canadian Rockies. Bike tours in Banff, Lake Minnewanka, or Sundance Canyon cost $270 CAD (about $256 US dollars; see XE.com for current exchange rates) for up to six people, plus $30 CAD per bike. Or escape the crowds in a helicopter for a heli-hiking trip above the Bow River Valley. The cost is $319 CAD per person plus tax for a short helicopter ride and three to four hours of hiking.

Canoes on lake Moraine in Banff National Park, Alberta (Photo: Rob H, iStockphoto)