What should I put on my Bucket List Top 5 places ?

[Talios]

I’m recently retired, early 50s, very fit and active. I’ve decided to draw up a top 5 inspirational places to visit with the aim of doing them in the next 10 years.

So I’m looking for suggestions, preferably personal/recommended specific places to visit or things to do (so not a general “do an African safari”), or somewhere unusual or breathtaking.

NOT looking at Europe (unless it’s an unusual or not well known fabulous place) and NOT Australia/NZ.
I have reasonable budgets but nothing extortionate like £30k for Antarctica!

Things I love:

Wildlife (on land and under water)
Adventurous and outdoorsy
Amazing scenery
A little history/culture but not the main driver

Things I’m not interested in:

Food and wine
Fancy hotels (unless there’s more to the place that the hotel)
Cruises (unless it’s a smaller boat somewhere special )

Provisionally on my list is:

Diving with manta rays (any specific recommendations welcome as there’s several places in the world, I’m a certified diver)

Visit/ canoe up the Amazon jungle probably Brazil or Guyana

So any suggestions what else I can add?

It's a huge island. The capital is where most tours start. Antananarivo. Not the most inspiring of cities although the rats we saw were impressive. A night is enough to get your bearings.

We booked through recommendations on trip advisor. I can send you the itinerary and the guide we used. He was wonderful. Such passion for his country. He accompanied us for most of the tour but it wasn't intrusive at all. You need to do a couple of internal flights to see Madagascar and that was a little daunting. And it's not cheap. They have so little so drinks etc that are imported from France can be really expensive. Local beer was good though.

We travel a lot and it was a unique experience. If you like wildlife and immersing in magnificent scenery. Plus seeing a culture so far removed from ours then I'd deffo recommend.

You mentioned Japan. That's also one of our best although we probably tried to cram too much into ten days. The mountain lodges with the hikes to the snow monkeys. Or the sobering trip to Hiroshima were highlights along with the gardens and parks of Kyoto

Keep us updated.

From your description, the places I’ve actually been that fit the bill are:

• Mongolia - not easy outside the capital if you want comfort and luxury but the scenery is amazing, the people are incredibly hospitable and it’s very different from pretty much anywhere else I’ve ever been. I lived there for a few months and it was such a culture shock but I totally loved it. Experiences I’d recommend are (1) staying with eagle hunters in the north west mountains (2) a tour of the Gobi dessert, particularly the flaming cliffs and the singing sand dunes (3) horse trekking in any of the national parks and (4) some of the remote monasteries.

• Greenland - can be done as an add on to Iceland as you really only need a few days unless you’re going to spend a fortune on helicopters to get to multiple towns. We stayed in Tasiilaq and it was magical. We were the only tourists in the only hotel in town. Best activities were taking a speedboat out to see the icebergs (the creaking sound they make as they move is one of the weirdest things I’ve ever heard) and kayaking in the bay but to be honest it was really just how peaceful and different the place was that made it special.

• Pingyao - a walled city in China that’s basically been turned into a giant museum with all the buildings preserved. It wasn’t easy to get to when I went (7 hour train from Beijing which I wouldn’t bother visiting again) but they were building an airport which is probably finished by now. Again, you’d only need a couple of days so could combine it with somewhere else, maybe Xi’an, Nanjing or Chongqing all of which we loved. My only hesitation with Pingyao is whether the airport has changed the character of the city which was really quite peaceful when we visited.

• I second a previous posters suggestion of Syria which I was lucky enough to do before it got so dangerous. Damascus is one of my favourite cities I’ve ever visited and I’d love to go back if it’s ever safe to do so.

• Egypt - I had a real downer on Egypt before I went. I thought it would be horrifically touristy and that I’d hate it. Certain bits were horrifically touristy but the country itself was fascinating enough to make up for it. If you do go I’d do a Nile cruise but pick your boat carefully, my parents did an amazing one on a traditional felucca with an Egyptologist leading a very small group. I’d also do the trek up mount sinai, far too busy but still great.

• Myanmar - Inlay Lake and Bagan are fantastic. Skip Mandalay (nothing to do) and spend minimal time in Yangon (though I did an amazing street food tour there which I’d 100% recommend - the company was called Saba Street tours or something).

• Peru - we did the Amazon here through Otorongo Lodge. It was fantastic, we saw so much but it really is basic and you will be checking your clothes for tarantulas and scorpions each morning so not for the faint hearted - the first day we just wanted to get out of there until we settled in and had a great time. Cusco was also brilliant (Stay at Inkaterra) and you can get flights into the Amazon from there.

• Laos - very slightly less touristy version of other SE Asian countries. I’d recommend Luang Prabang for a bit of history and great food, Si Pan Don for relaxing (though it’s very backpacker) and Kor Long Cave.

Feel free to pm me if you go for any of these and I’ll have more specific recommendations, planning other people’s holidays scratches a bit of the itch of being stuck on short haul with little kids!

Places I haven’t been that are on my bucket list:

• Botswana - my South African friend who has done a zillion safaris says it’s the best place to do it.
• Namibia - my parents went last year and saw everything, ridiculously jealous.
• Antarctica
• Chengdu
• Japan
• The Maldives
• Uzbekistan - especially Samarkand and Bukhara
• DRC to see the gorillas
• Bhutan
• The trans Siberian railway - if Russia clams down
• Patagonia
• Iran - if it’s ever safe enough

Japan

I’m kind of amazed about Antarctica - a place with no plant life, extremely cold, tough and expensive to get to etc. There must be something about it though as people who’ve been there tend to rave about it.

i agree with @DisplayPurposesOnly south luangwa abd lake Malawi are amazing
I would also recommend Zimbabwe for Victoria falls, hwange and mana pools

Kyoto during the spring when the cherry blossom is out.

Hands down my favourite place

Knight Inlet Lodge in British Colombia, Canada. You have to get a seaplane in and stay in a floating pontoon hotel. Bear watching, whale watching etc trips daily in small boats up close and personal.
very easy to add in to a broader holiday in the rockies/Vancouver/Victoria island and quite simply the best place I’ve ever been

Costa Rica, stay in a tree house, visit a coffee plantation, horse ride, stay on a canal boat, beaches and the best but - cloud forest with sloths, macaws, hummingbirds, monkeys etc

I would second Costa Rica.

I loved my road trip round Iceland. Also loved Japan and would love to go back seeing more of the islands and Kyoto. It's amazing. Also enjoyed a couple of road trips down the west coast of the US and closer to home down the west coast of Ireland. Angkhor Wat in Cambodia is wonderful too.

Cycle tour in Vietnam taking in Hoi An.

Peru. Do the Inca trail.

You may have already done it, but Yosemite Park in California is the most beautiful place I have ever been.

Like the idea of going to America for the total eclipse in 2024 as well - I would totally do that if I could!

@TheGander The temperature in Antarctica not as you might expect. The "tourist season" is fairly short, midsummer in the southern hemisphere, and it was zero degrees down to minus 5 while I was there. No noticeable plant life, but the most incredible wildlife, and the most stunning scenery! It's the only place I've been that is unspoiled by humans.

No-one's said Sri Lanka yet so I'll throw that into the mix, although I've not kept up to date with the politics but my vague sense is that things are settling back down again now. Stunning country: incredibly range of habitats and scenery, and therefore animals. We stayed in (cheap!) air bnbs (often with either a private chef/housekeeper/option to get someone in to cook, and small hotels (usually with a breakfast but no supper) and absolutely loved it. We used a driver as we wanted to travel around a lot, and I'm really glad we did, but all our accommodation was booked independently. I'd especially recommend:

• Climbing Siygara (busy, but stunning)
• Udawalawe National Park for elephants, water buffalo (we stayed in an annex owned by an ex park ranger who did a safari with us and also took us to see fruit bats coming out of roost and a family of owls the evening before!)
• The train across the tea country -best train ride ever!
• Stay in a tree house: we slept with fireflies round the beds, and were woken by the dawn chorus before removing frogs from the shower: there is a lot of that generally, but it sounds like you'd be up for that!
• Adam's Peak/Ella and Little Adam's Peak as a sunrise climb
• Some time by the beaches - which coast would depend on time of year (we loved Tangalle) Its more surfing than easy diving although we did a bit of snorkelling and saw turtles
• Galle for amazing colonial architecture and a bit of a luxury feel
• Polonnaruwa for amazing history and lots of moneys: we stayed at the smithsonian primate centre and they did monkey tours and also tours of their amazing grounds by night (with lots of slow loris, and nearly a couple of cats)
• I would have liked to spend more time in Kandy or Nuwara Eliya: but that and Yala are for next visit...

I’m off to the Maldives soon, going to the south ari atoll which is supposedly the best for whale sharks. Fingers crossed I see them

Zanzibar has a good mix of history, nature and scenery; stay in Stonetown rather than one of the coastal resorts and you can explore the town easily on foot, and arrange visits to other parts of the island. Can also be tied in easily with Tanzania or Kenya.

Dh and I did that few years ago, it was amazing.

The most interesting place I've ever visited was Cuba - we were there 2 weeks before Castro died, it was incredible.

Easdale Island just south of Oban. It is a tiny island that hosts the world championships of stone skimming. Glorious views, abundant wildlife and just pure bliss. You reach it via a shuttle boat as no cars are allowed on the island. It is a truly magical place.

Some really interesting places in Bosnia & Herzegovina are worth visiting...

Mostar
Dervish House at Blagaj
Počitelj
Kravica Waterfalls

Maldives 100%
you don’t need an expensive resort, nature is amazing everywhere

also atacama desert in Chile

Same

also walk Hadrian’s wall, Isles of Scilly,

pyramids yes- anything else Egypt has to offer no
great barrier reef was amazing

Alaska looks amazing too
the Inca trail

Would second a few of the places already mentioned on here - Luang Prabang in Laos, Yosemite and Sequoia in California, Oman for the desert, diving and the forts. I would add Angkor Wat in Cambodia and a tour of Vietnam, especially Hoi An, Hue and Halong Bay. I too wanted to go to Syria but ended up in Jordan instead - Petra, Jerash, the Dead Sea and Kerak are all worth a visit - as are Efes and Pammukale in Turkey but can be busy with tourists. Iceland is amazing! I would finally add Iran - loads to see, especially in Psargadae and Isafahan - truly amazing architecture but may be tricky if you plan on going to the US in the following five years.

Definitely Iceland self drive of the ring road. It's a country that needs multiple visits at various times of the year. I rarely want to return somewhere and loved Iceland so much. Stunning place. Hoping to go again this year.

Hawaii's big island is fantastic.

Japan.

The Pantanal region of Brazil is amazing. Enjoyed more than the Amazon.

Bolivia. Peru.

Myanmar was good but not sure if visitable at the moment.

Self drive of Namibia.

Gorilla trekking + national parks in Uganda

Haven't been but on my list:
Western Canada and Alaska
Chile - huge variety of landscape - everything from desert to penguins.
Galapagos.

Didn't enjoy:
USA (except Haiwaii, which doesn't really count imo)
India (golden triangle plus tigers)
Brunei
Singapore

Yes also to Jordan - Jerash and Petra.

Really liked Istanbul too.