9 Amazing Travel Experiences to Have Before You Die

The fragrant lavender fields of Provence bloom from June to August into a sea of purple, creating an incredible, color-rich, aromatic scene. Close your eyes, breathe deep, and exhale.

A vision of towering limestone rainforest islands surrounded by emerald-green waters, Hạ Long Bay in the Gulf of Tonkin, Vietnam, includes more than 1,600 islands and islets, mostly uninhabited. The area provides lots of interest for sightseers, scuba divers, rock climbers, and hikers alike.

Located on the North Island of New Zealand, the Champagne is a terrestrial hot spring formed by a hydrothermal eruption 900 years ago. Its name derives from its abundance of flowing carbon dioxide, which causes a similar bubbling to Champagne, and its unusual colors come from mineral deposits. Water in the pool is around 163°F—swimming is not recommended.

At this low-tech tourist attraction in Baños, Ecuador, La Casa del Arbol, nicknamed “the end of the world,” non-acrophobes swing over a deep abyss below, the crater of Mount Tungurahua, an active stratovolcano. The building—a tree house—that the swing is attached to is a seismic monitoring station.

Located on the outskirts of Kyoto, Japan’s Sagano Bamboo Forest is a magical wonderland of towering, verdant bamboo stalks gently moving in the wind, eerily creaking as they collide.

Located in central Croatia at the border of Bosnia and Herzegovina, heavily forested Plitvice Lakes National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a sight for sore eyes, with 16 tumbling crystalline lakes and a series of cascades and waterfalls of mineral-rich water.

This Incan citadel set high in the Andes Mountains, which was built in the 15th century and later abandoned, presents a fierce challenge for hikers, offering incredible panoramic views as a reward.

Take in breathtaking sights of natural fairy chimney rock formations (hoodoos), panoramic vistas, and the picture-perfect image of vibrant hot-air balloons—all the while experiencing flying high in the sky—in the semi-arid town of Cappadocia, Turkey.

A volcanic archipelago in the Pacific Ocean studied by famous evolutionary theorist Charles Darwin, the Galápagos Islands of Ecuador are famous for their great number of endemic species (unique to the islands), including giant tortoises, marine iguanas, flightless cormorant birds, tiny penguins, blue-footed boobies, and magnificent frigatebirds (pictured).