In Celebration of Earth Day, Here Are Our Favorite Places on Earth

Mary—New Zealand

Mary called dibs on New Zealand immediately, which is fair because she's been there and the rest of us haven't fully forgiven her for it yet. Some of her favorite places include:

Lake Tekapo in Lupin Season: The South Island's famous glacial lake turns a brilliant turquoise blue, and in late spring the surrounding hillsides bloom with purple and pink lupins. It looks photoshopped. It isn't. Mary has proof.

Hobbiton, Matamata: The Shire is real and it's in Waikato, and apparently it's every bit as magical as it looks in the films. If you've ever wanted to feel like a very tall hobbit, this is your move.

Honorable Mention: Fergburger, Queenstown. This is a casual, famously busy burger spot right in the center of Queenstown, and it has a bit of a cult following. Mary described it, completely unprompted, as “the best burger of my life,” which is saying a lot. The line is almost always long, but just about everyone agrees it’s worth the wait.

Kate — South Africa

Kate went for South Africa, and once you see the list of what she's done there, you'll understand why she called it without hesitation.

Cape of Good Hope: The rugged southwestern tip of the African continent, where two oceans meet and the scenery is spectacular in every direction. One of those places that earns the word "dramatic" without any help.

Simon's Town: A charming harbor town near Cape Town, and home to a colony of African penguins at Boulders Beach. They waddle. They argue. They're perfect.

Lion's Head, Cape Town: A hike that rewards you with panoramic views of Cape Town, Table Mountain, and the Atlantic coastline. Best done at sunrise or sunset if you want the full effect.

Kruger National Park: One of Africa's greatest wildlife reserves. Elephants, lions, leopards, giraffes, and buffalo, all doing their thing on 20,000 square kilometers of bush. Kate has the pictures to prove she was there for it (and we are jealous).

Eduardo — Amsterdam & New Amsterdam

Eduardo went for a two-for-one: Amsterdam in the Netherlands, and New Amsterdam (that's New York City, for the uninitiated) across the Atlantic. A wink at our transatlantic readership, and honestly a solid flex.

Amsterdam: One of the great cycling cities of the world, with canals, world-class museums, and a street food culture that rewards slow wandering. The Rijksmuseum alone could take an entire afternoon. The canal houses lean at improbable angles. The stroopwafels are non-negotiable. It's a city that feels both intimate and endlessly interesting, no matter how many times you visit.

New York: Manwhile, the Big Apple is the city that refuses to be summarized. Loud, enormous, perpetually under construction, and completely irreplaceable. There's an energy to it that you can't manufacture anywhere else. You step off the plane and the city is already moving faster than you are, and within an hour you've caught up and you don't want to stop.

Two cities. Two continents. The old world and the new. Very Eduardo.

Arianna — Nepal

Arianna trekked to Everest Base Camp and then explored the Annapurna region, and the rest of us had no choice but to sit quietly and feel like we hadn't tried hard enough with our own suggestions.

Nepal is one of the world's great trekking destinations, with routes that take you through remote Sherpa villages, rhododendron forests, and high-altitude terrain with views that don't seem real until they're right in front of you.

Everest Base Camp sits at 5,364 meters, and getting there involves roughly two weeks of walking through some of the most beautiful mountain scenery on the planet.

We will absolutely be asking Arianna for tips before any of us attempt this.

Sophie — Iceland

Sophie picked Iceland, and there's a very good reason it's the first place that came to mind: Iceland is where she got married.

A wedding in Iceland is about as good an endorsement as a destination can get. And it's easy to understand why she chose it. There is no shortage of reasons to love this country: the volcanoes, the geysers, the waterfalls that seem to appear around every turn, the northern lights in winter, the midnight sun in summer, the horses, the hot springs, the fact that Reykjavik is both a capital city and a place where you can see the aurora from the city limits on a clear night.

Iceland is the kind of place that makes people reconsider everything they thought they knew about what a landscape could look like. For Sophie, it's also the place where one chapter of her life began. That tends to make a destination stick.

Celia — Skellig Michael, Ireland

When it was my turn, I instantly thought of my favorite destination. One of the many reasons why I love traveling and this planet.

Skellig Michael, Ireland is about 12 kilometers off the southwest coast of Ireland and sticks straight out of the Atlantic like it was placed there by someone who wanted to make a point.

Skellig Michael is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a Star Wars filming location, and one of the most dramatic places I've ever been.

Sixth-century monks built a monastery up there, and climbing those ancient stone steps while Atlantic winds try to push you sideways is a genuinely humbling experience. But honestly? The puffins. The island is absolutely overrun with puffins from spring through summer, and they are so absurdly cute and unbothered by humans that you feel like you've wandered into a nature documentary. I'm still chasing the travel high of being on that island. I don't think I'll ever fully catch it.

Now that you've seen our list, we would love to wish you a Happy Earth Day from all of us! The planet is worth showing up for, worth protecting, and worth exploring. We hope this little tour around our team's most-loved corners of the world gives you something to dream about today. Now go outside.

Frequently Asked Questions: Earth Day Travel 2026

When is the best time to visit Skellig Michael in Ireland?

Day trips operate between May and early October, weather permitting. Summer months offer the best chance of calm seas for the boat crossing and the highest puffin activity on the island.

Do I need a permit to trek to Everest Base Camp in Nepal?

Yes. You'll need a Sagarmatha National Park entry permit and a Khumbu Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality permit, both of which can be arranged through a registered trekking agency in Kathmandu. Most organized treks handle this for you.

Is the Hobbiton movie set in New Zealand open to the public?

Yes. The Hobbiton Movie Set near Matamata in the Waikato region is open year-round and offers guided tours of the working farm set used during filming. It's one of New Zealand's most popular attractions.

What's the best way to see penguins at Boulders Beach in South Africa?

Boulders Beach is part of Table Mountain National Park near Simon's Town, about 40 kilometers from Cape Town. It's easily accessible by car or public transport. Entry requires a conservation fee, and the colony of African penguins is usually visible at close range from the boardwalks.

What is the best time of year to see lupins at Lake Tekapo in New Zealand?

Lupin season at Lake Tekapo typically runs from late November through January, which is New Zealand's late spring and early summer. The purple and pink blooms against the turquoise lake are at their peak in December.

Do you need a guide to climb Lion's Head in Cape Town?

No, Lion's Head is a self-guided hike with a well-marked trail. The route includes some chain and ladder sections near the summit. It takes most hikers two to three hours for the full loop, and sunrise and sunset hikes are extremely popular for the views.

Is Iceland actually a good honeymoon or destination wedding location?

Genuinely yes. Remote luxury hotels, natural hot springs, dramatic scenery, and a country where you're unlikely to run into crowds outside of Reykjavik. It's unusual enough to feel special without requiring extreme adventure planning, and the ring road makes self-driving very manageable. One of our own editors got married there, and the photos speak for themselves.

Where exactly is Fergburger and why does everyone talk about it?

Fergburger is on Shotover Street in Queenstown, New Zealand. It's been serving enormous, high-quality burgers since 2001 and has developed an almost cult-like reputation among travelers. The queue is real, the burgers are large, and the hype appears to be fully justified.