From cool glaciers to sapphire lagoons and powder blue cities, our world is home to fifty shades of blue. Bold and beautiful, here are 12 destinations to add to your bucket list, each one bathed in calming, beautiful blues. Scroll on to be inspired!
Instantly recognisable, Heart Reef is one of the most popular sites in the Great Barrier Reef. Located in Australia's dreamy Whitsunday Islands, it’s a coral bommie – or outcrop – that, over time, has formed naturally into the shape of a heart.
Conservation is super strict and no swimming or sailing is allowed, so it’s definitely best seen from the air in a small plane or helicopter. There is, quite literally, nowhere more romantic. For a dash of luxury and even more romance, stay on nearby Hamilton Island. We heart it.
Prepare to be dazzled! Literally. Argentina’s Perito Moreno glacier glistens so brightly that you need a good pair of sunglasses. Set in Los Glaciares National Park, this cool blue glacier is constantly cracking, with vast chunks of ice crashing into the water below every 20 minutes or so. It’s an extraordinary thing to witness first hand and the surrounding Patagonian landscape is gorgeous.
You can hike on the walkways within the National Park or, for an even closer experience, you can book a boat trip alongside the glacier. It’s magic.
The world’s largest marine sinkhole, Belize’s Blue Hole was formed during the last Ice Age when an entire network of ice caverns sunk into the sea. Both over and under water, it’s a stunner. Part of Lighthouse Reef, off the coast of Belize, its surface is a perfect circle of sapphire water.
Beneath the waves, there’s an astounding series of stalactites and stalagmites, some measuring 40 metres in length. The caves provide a home to all kinds of exotic marine life, but you need to be an experienced diver to disappear down the hole.
Bolivia’s Salar de Uyuni is one of the best places on the planet to be a big kid. The world’s largest salt flats are somewhere to run and jump for joy. The endless expanse distorts depth perception and reflects the clear blue skies, allowing for all kinds of playful photos.
The flats extend over a whopping 11,000 square metres and they are crisscrossed by pink flamingos, making the experience even more surreal. Bizarre, beautiful and very blue.
Holidays don’t get more exotic than Bora Bora. It’s a classic bucket-list topper and a beautiful rhapsody in blue. Bora Bora’s lagoon is filled with dazzling azure waters under pure blue skies. It’s nothing short of dreamy.
Sleep in an overwater bungalow, snorkel in the translucent lagoon, swing in a hammock and enjoy the warm, unforced French Polynesian hospitality. It sounds like paradise and that’s because IT IS.
Morocco’s ‘Blue Pearl’ - Chefchaouen - is a sleepy town and an Instagram sensation. Nestled in the Rif Mountains, the houses, alleys and stairways of Chefchaouen are painted fifty shades of blue. It’s steeped in nostalgia and a sense of Old World romance, with tiny tea houses, traditional hammams and a lively medina. Here, the powdery blue is broken up only by cheerful plant pots in rainbow colours, adding more charm to every side street.
Smack bang in the centre of New Zealand’s South Island, surrounded by the Southern Alps, Lake Tekapo is a lovely place to regain some perspective. Fed by melted glacial waters, its bright turquoise colour reflects the snowy peaks of the nearby mountains, lending it a calm and magical quality.
Like most of New Zealand, it’s brilliant for hiking, cycling, kayaking and pretty much any other activity you can dream up. In summer, pink and purple lupins pop up all around the sunny lake, creating a stunning alpine tableau.
Full of mystery and intrigue, the Moai statues of Easter Island mostly stand with their backs to the bright blue sea. Created by the Polynesian Rapa Nui people over 1,500 years ago, some were believed to protect the islanders from dangers beyond the coastline while others marked burial sites.
Other than that, all questions remain unanswered. In total, there are over 900 statues, each one as enigmatic as the next. It’s an ancient riddle with a blue backdrop.
Known as India’s ‘Blue City’, Jodhpur is seriously blue. The second largest city in Rajasthan, Jodhpur is a jumble of chaotic bazaars, twisting alleyways and peeling Brahmin-blue guesthouses.
Like much of India, it’s a full sensory experience which hits you with a heady mix of sights, sounds and smells. Take a deep breath, throw yourself into the madness and be enchanted by the warmth of the local people. For panoramic views over the blue houses, hike to Mehrangarh Fort and watch the changing hues at sunset.
Go and play amongst the glaciers in Vatnajökull National Park, a wintry wonderland in the heart of Iceland. Home to the largest glacier in Europe outside the Arctic Circle, it’s full of stark, surreal beauty.
Surrounded by volcanoes and dotted with dramatic waterfalls, Vatnajökull is one of three National Parks in Iceland. Here, you can clamber into ice caves to get a closer look at the amazing natural structures created by the icy fingers of Mother Nature. It’s epic.
Deep turquoise and scattered with jungle-topped karst islands, the Andaman Sea is tropical Thailand at its best. Beyond the packed beaches of Phuket, you’ll find all manner of sleepy islands fringed with dreamy sands, such as Ko Yao Noi, Ko Jum and Ko Muuk. These gorgeous pocket-sized islands feel worlds away from the tourist clutter of Patong, so hop on a ferry and disappear into the wide blue yonder.
The ultimate icy wilderness, Antarctica is an endless stretch of white on blue. Here, the blindingly white glaciers, ice shelves and drifts are set against deep cobalt skies, giving the whole continent a beautiful, surreal glow. No wonder so many of us rank Antarctica as a dream destination.
Home to the South Pole as well as 90% of the world’s ice, Antarctica is chilly, to say the least. It’s higher AND colder than the Arctic, so not for the faint-hearted, but there really is nowhere quite like it.
We can build you a brilliant tailor-made holiday that includes one (or more!) of these beautiful places to visit. We have years of experience in putting together bespoke multi-destination flights, round the world holidays and road trips all over the world. Simply give us a call on +44 1273320580 or send us an email with your request, and we'll get straight to work.
Bryony is an explorer in every sense of the meaning. In 2013 she took the plunge, quit her marketing job and decided to face down her lifelong panic disorder to begin life as a freelance digital nomad. Journeying all over Asia, for years she earned her keep writing for travel brands. Almost by accident, she ended up in Cali, Colombia where she discovered a remarkable (as yet latent) talent for Salsa dancing. After spending a year in sequins shimmying from dance show to dance show, she returned to the UK, tanned, toned and ready to settle down. Bryony joined Travel Nation as a round the world specialist in 2016 and is currently working as a marketing specialist, with a little salsa on the side.
