The only thing that gets me in the mood for a trip more than watching travel vlogs on YouTube is watching travel shows – in depth professionally produced documentary or reality shows showing beautiful places from all over the world. If you’re visiting my website you no doubt have an interest in travel yourself. So I thought I would put together a little list of the best travel shows that inspire me to trek out into new parts of the globe. To be considered for this list, the primary focus of the show doesn’t necessarily need to be travel. It could be a show about sport or food or science, but if it also shows and gives information about interesting and different parts of the world, it’s as good as a travel show. So here they are: ten shows to ignite wanderlust within you.
10: Dark Tourist
This Netflix show is dedicated to the more creepy tourist attractions from around the world. Each episode takes the hosts to a new corner of the world, from New Orleans to Japan, where they visit a variety of bizarre places. It’s actually a really interesting show and can give new ideas, introducing you to locations and cultures you we not yet aware of. The film makers actually go to some risky lengths for the sake of producing this show. In Mexico they spend time with a death cult, and in Japan they visit the site of a nuclear disaster. Dark Tourist is a very strange show, but fun, which is why Netflix has commissioned a second season.
9: Legendary Locations
Josh Gates is an American adventurer, having traveled over 100 countries and taken part in archaeological excavations across the globe. In recent years he has gained fame thanks to his hosting of two different travel shows. The first is expedition Unknown, a reality series that shows him traveling to a different part of the world in each location and attempt to solve a famous mystery. It takes him to some very unique places – like the jungles of south America – where he seeks the lost city of gold. Josh Gates’ second, newer travel show is called Legendary Locations. It’s more of a straight forward format, leaving him free to showcase some amazing destinations without having to spend time hunting for treasures and things like that.
8: Jim Shockey’s Uncharted
Jim Shockey’s Uncharted is actually a hunting show, and although I have little interest in hunting, he and his crew often travel to foreign nations and unusual locations in their hunt for new prey. You don’t need to be into hunting to enjoy the show, especially if you have a love of cinematography and travel. Among the places Jim Shockey visits are Papua New Guinea, Pakistan, Mexico, Tanzania, Russia, and many more places. It’s so much more than just a hunting show, and it’s just interesting to get a view of these locations from the perspective of Canadian hunters.
7: Himalaya with Michael Palin
Michael Palin rose to prominence as a member of the comedy group Monty Python, but he has since gained respect in a very different genre also. For decades he has been making some of the best travel shows to emerge, often going on long epic journeys. In this documentary series, Palin takes a 6 month long trip around the Himalaya mountain range, a vast range of mountains that stretch from Pakistan, through India Nepal Bhutan, and into China. The documented journey shows off some of the most beautiful places in Asia. It gives an insight into the cultures that live in and around the mountain range, as well as the political climate that clouds different regions of the Himalaya.
6: Fight Quest
Yet again I’m listing a sport based program as a travel show, but it will make sense, so hear me out. Fight Quest stars two trained American martial artists, who in each episode attempt to learn a new fighting style. For one week they are trained in the new martial art, when on the seventh day they will fight with a high level practitioner of such art. Here’s where the travel comes into it. Each episode takes places in a different part of the world, often in beautiful rural settings. They learned Kung Fu in China, Kali in the Philippines, Karate in Japan, Kalarippayattu in India, Krav Maga in Israel, and many more fighting systems in many more countries. So clearly this show does not only give an insight into various martial arts, but an insight into the communities who practice them and the cultures that produced them.
5: Huang’s World
Huang’s World started off as a YouTube show, produced by Vice and hosted by Chef Eddie Huang. It’s a great show, now produced in full length installments for the television channel Viceland. With a heavy focus on food, each episode sees Eddie explore a new part of the world: from Sicily to Taiwan. Sometimes he focuses on a single town or city, while in others he looks at entire nations – small nations like Jamaica. Much of the show is spent looking into local culture in a depth few other travel shows can match – giving a platform for concerns locals might have political wise or just showcasing artists on the up. Perhaps this is why Anthony Bourdain himself praised the show as one of his favorites.
4: An Idiot Abroad
An Idiot Abroad is brilliant. Put together by comedians Ricky Gervais and Steve Merchant, their friend Karl Pilkington is sent around the globe to visit the seven wonders. That might sound no different to all of the other bland travel shows. But you need to take something into account: Karl Pilkington is a miserable idiot. His perspectives on the world are so strange and hilarious, meaning while he is embarking on what most would consider the trip of a lifetime, he hated every minute of it. Even for those who don’t like travel shows, an idiot abroad is a must watch. It proved so popular the series had two following seasons, seeing Karl Pilkington sent to more amazing and strange places as the time goes on.
3: Rick Steves’ Europe
Rick Steves’ Europe is so much more complete that other travel shows, in that it has covered so many different locations. This depth is partly due to the fact that the show has been running since the year 2000. You can do a lot in 18 years, and for Rick Steves he has spent it becoming one of the world’s most loved travelers. Each episode is spent on a different part of Europe – usually a region rather than just one city. He takes us on a journey into the history of said region, as well as giving an insight into local culture and what kind of foods visitors would do well to order. Unlike the others on this list, Rick Steves’ Europe has it’s own YouTube channel, where you can watch most of the episodes so far.
2: Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown
Parts Unknown is Anthony Bourdain’s greatest show: an amazing blend of travel, history and food gives it just the right flavour other shows are just missing. Living up to the title, Bourdain used this platform to give an insight into places we in the western world don’t understand – places not often travelled by us – like the Punjab or Libya. In the very first episode he traveled to Myanmar, where the country’s unspoiled landscape was shown in all it’s beauty. The cinematography of Parts Unknown is a big element of what makes it so great. But there are so many other elements, some of which I don’t even understand. The show is a must watch for anyone interested in not just travel but in film-making in general.
1: Michael Palin: Around the World in 80 Days
As mentioned before, Michael Palin has spent several decades building his reputation as a great travel documentary film maker. This is one of the shows that gained him such a reputation. In it, he takes inspiration from the Jules Verne novel Around the world in Eighty Days. The novel features the character Phileas Fogg, who accepts a challenge to travel around the world – from London to London – in 80 days or less. Now in real life, Michael Palin has been challenged to do the same. To match it, he was not allowed to use air plane travel.
From London he took the Orient express to Greece and then on to Egypt. He then travels across the desert to Dubai. From Dubai he sailed across the Ocean to India, buying passage on a small boat crewed by people who don’t even speak his language. Palin then traveled through China, Japan, and America before finally returning to England. It was an epic journey and a classic travel show not to be missed.