The Adventure Travel Index from Forbes Advisor scores countries on the number and density of 12 heart-racing activities, including mountain bike trails, bungee jumps, zip lines, and skydiving experiences.
Between the 95,000 miles of coastline, vast mountain ranges and rushing rivers, America’s diverse landscape makes it the perfect destination for adventure seekers.
The U.S. scored 95.7 on our adventure travel index, and with tourists having a choice of activities like mountain biking in Moab, hiking in the Rockies, or rock climbing in Yosemite it’s not hard to see why.
While Spain is typically associated with white sandy beaches it’s also home to 15 national parks, all of which present unique opportunities to those who enjoy a little adventure as part of their holiday. Whether you’re looking to try your hand at canyoning in the Pyrenees, hike up a volcano, or hit up some of Europe’s best surf spots in Basque country, Spain has plenty to keep you busy.
In third place with an Adventure score of 90.2 is France. While culture vultures flock to Paris and sun seekers head to the south coast, some of the best ski slopes in the world can be found in the French Alps. And when ski season ends and the snow melts, mountain bikers, hikers and rock climbers can get in on the action as well.
Across the border from France, and offering up its own share of Alpine adventure, is Italy in fourth place while Australia finished in fifth with a score of 83.4.
Top 10 best destinations for adventure travel
By Adventure Index score
- United States – 95.7
- Spain – 91.4
- France – 90.2
- Italy – 86.4
- Australia – 83.4
- Brazil – 82.7
- Germany – 81
- New Zealand – 79.8
- Canada – 77.7
- Mexico – 69.3
See the top 50, here.
The best countries for thrill-seekers
While we’ve already covered the numerous reasons why the United States is the best destination for adventure lovers in general, adrenaline junkies will also have plenty to keep them busy with more than 1,000 bungee jumps, zip lines, skydiving and paragliding experiences to choose from.
For those with a head for heights, France offers more bungee jump experiences than any other country included in our study. The 204 paragliding experiences and 192 zip lines were also the second most in their respective categories.
With a reputation for extreme sports, New Zealand has long been a bucket list destination for thrill seekers. While New Zealand might not have the sheer number of activities on offer in the U.S. and France, with a total area of just 268,000 square kilometres, travellers will be able to pack in more fun in less time.
Top 10 destinations for thrill-seekers
By thrill seeker score
- United States – 88.6
- France – 85.5
- New Zealand – 80.9
- India – 77.6
- Australia – 77.1
- Spain – 74.9
- United Kingdom – 72.0
- South Africa – 67.3
- Mexico – 65
- Germany – 63.4
You can find more information including the best European destinations for adventure lovers, as well as the top countries for mountain and water sports, here.
If you could kindly credit the study with a link to the following URL that would be great: https://www.forbes.com/uk/
Any questions or if you’d like me to send over any of the images just let me know.
All the best,
Dan
Methodology
Using data from a range of sources stated below, Forbes Advisor analysed the adventure activities on offer at worldwide destinations. For each, it found the number of:
- mountain bike trails
- rock climbing routes
- mountainous hikes (rated hard with an elevation gain of 600 metres or higher)
- ski resorts
- canoe/kayak trails
- surfing spots
- scuba diving sites
- river rafting trips
- bungee jumping sites
- zip line spots
- skydiving experiences
- paragliding experiences.
To better compare results, it then calculated the number of activities per 100 km2.
When calculating the number of mountain activities per destination, Forbes Advisor considered activities that typically take place on mountains. Mountain biking routes are all off-road.
Thrill-seeker activities are those Forbes Advisor considers suitable for adrenaline junkies. The number of bungee jumping, zip lining, skydiving and paragliding activities per destination were calculated based on the number of Google business profiles found for each activity.
Each destination was scored on its relative performance in each category using a min-max normalisation formula to create an index score.
Activity density was weighted at half the value of the number of activities. The extreme sports activities were given twice the weight of other activities.
The higher the score the better suited the destination was considered to be for adventure travellers.
Any country considered not safe to visit by travelsafe-abroad.com was excluded from the study.
Destinations with incomplete data were also removed.
Data is correct as of September 2023.
Sources
Surf spots – surf-forecast.com
Hard hikes with over 600 metres elevation gain – alltrails.com
Canoe/kayak trails, scuba sites, rafting – wikiloc.com
Unpaved mountain bike trails – bikemap.net
Rock climbing routes – mountainproject.com
Ski resorts – Skiresort.info
Areas in km2 – protectedplanet.net
Bungee jumps, zip lines, skydiving, paragliding – Google Maps
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