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With tourism back to normal, 2025 is going to be a year full of travel. Enjoy this travel guide featuring some of the best places to visit this year. From exploring the the wonders of New Zealand, to relaxing on the Greek Islands, I hope you can visit some new destinations this year. Where do you want to travel most in 2025?
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TravelTranscript
00:00What's up guys!
00:01My name is Ryan and with almost all countries open for tourism I think we're all excited
00:05to travel some new destinations this year so here's my top 10 places to visit in 2025.
00:17With tourism back to normal 2025 is going to be a year full of travel.
00:21Whether you experience the dramatic landscapes of New Zealand or go cliff jumping in Greece
00:25I hope you can all safely visit some new places this year.
00:28Let's start this video off in Slovenia.
00:30Of all the countries in Europe I don't think there's a more compact country that offers
00:33just about every type of landscape you'd expect to find in Europe.
00:36From the capital city of Ljubljana you can drive one hour and either be in the Alps or down
00:41by the Adriatic Sea.
00:42I spent some time in Slovenia this year and it quickly became one of my favorite European
00:46countries.
00:47One of the most famous places in Slovenia is the Lake Bled.
00:50It's a picturesque lake with an island that has a scenic church built on it.
00:53While we were there we did a hike to this lookout and got some amazing views of Lake Bled and
00:57the surrounding area.
00:58One of my favorite places I visited in Slovenia was the river Soča.
01:01It's this incredibly clean river with clear turquoise water and I had such a fun time swimming
01:06in it and riding down the current as I floated in the water.
01:09A unique experience you can do in Slovenia is to explore the Postona Cave.
01:13To get into the cave you get on this train that goes nearly 4 kilometers under the earth.
01:18I felt like we were riding into Gringotts Bank from the Harry Potter movies.
01:21Once you make it to the end you can explore the cave.
01:23I mean it's absolutely huge.
01:24Another one of my favorite features of Slovenia is its hilltop churches.
01:28They dot the landscape and create some of the most picturesque sceneries.
01:31One of the most notable ones is the Church of St. Thomas.
01:34It's perfectly placed on this hill overlooking the area where the Alps is in the distance.
01:38After Slovenia we're going to head up to nearby Austria.
01:41If you love the Alps, picturesque villages and idyllic scenery, Austria is your place.
01:46It has the charm and beauty of nearby Switzerland but it's not nearly as expensive.
01:49One of the most famous places in Austria is Hallstatt.
01:53It's this fairytale village built on the edge of a lake.
01:55When we went there we took the ferry into Hallstatt and it gives an incredible view from the
01:59boat.
02:00We had a great time just walking throughout the alleyways of this village.
02:02Now if you want to explore some of Austria's mountains, the Schaffberg is an incredible
02:06peak to visit.
02:07Now to get there you ride up on Austria's steepest train, I mean I couldn't believe how steep
02:11it was.
02:12Now when we got to the top it was super fun to explore.
02:13I mean the views up here are unreal with all the lakes that surround this mountain peak.
02:17Now if you're feeling really adventurous you can do the Sky Ladder at Via Ferrata.
02:21It's located near the town of Gosao which is about a 20 minute drive from Hallstatt.
02:25Now to get to the start I took up a gondola and made the short hike to begin the Via Ferrata.
02:29It took me about 2 hours of climbing to finally reach the sky ladder when when I got there
02:34I didn't realize how big it was.
02:35I was a little nervous to do it.
02:37As I started climbing it was a little wobbly but it was overall pretty easy and you're
02:41always hooked in so it's basically impossible to fall.
02:44After a few minutes of climbing I made it to the end of the sky ladder and it was super
02:47fun.
02:48If you want to get the adrenaline going in 2025 this Via Ferrata is for you.
02:52Now afterwards we're going to head to Africa to visit Namibia.
02:56Located in the southern part of the continent Namibia is home to just other worldly landscapes.
03:00If you're wanting to visit Africa for the first time Namibia is a great option.
03:04It's one of Africa's safest countries and its roads and infrastructure are rated the best
03:08in Africa.
03:09When we travel to Namibia we flew into the capital city of Vindhuk and then we rented
03:13a 4x4 truck and started our Namibia road trip.
03:16One of the most famous places in Namibia is Dead Vlea.
03:19It's this clay pan with dried tree skeletons that are believed to have died 700 years ago.
03:24There used to be a river in the area but it dried up and the trees eventually died and
03:28since the area is so dry the trees have decomposed and remained frozen in time.
03:32I mean it was just so surreal to walk amongst these ancient trees.
03:36Overlooking Dead Vlea is the Big Daddy Sand Dune.
03:39It's the tallest dune in the Sosisfleet area with a height of 325 meters.
03:43I wanted to hike to the top of it.
03:45We began by walking along the bridge of the dune next to Dead Vlea and we were able to
03:49get views of the clay pan.
03:50As we got closer to Big Daddy I was just amazed by the scale of the dune.
03:54After about an hour and a half of hiking we made it to the top.
03:56We had the most incredible 360 view of the Namibia desert and the landscapes just seemed
04:01to go on forever.
04:02Another one of the most iconic places in Namibia is Sandwich Harbor.
04:06It's where the Namib Desert meets the Atlantic Ocean.
04:08To get here you basically need to go with an experienced driver since you're navigating
04:12through deep sand the whole time.
04:13I mean it was a little nerve wracking driving on the dunes but it was such an adrenaline rush.
04:17Now my favorite thing that we did in Namibia was witnessing the desert elephants.
04:21There are only a few desert elephants in Namibia and they have adapted to live in the harsh
04:25conditions of the desert.
04:26To see them we went deep into the remote region of Damar Land.
04:30And after an hour of tracking our guide found a herd of 14 elephants.
04:33We spent the next few hours just observing them and it was one of my favorite wildlife
04:37experiences I've ever had.
04:39Namibia's landscapes and wildlife are truly on another level.
04:43After we're going to head to Asia to visit Vietnam.
04:46Located in Southeast Asia, Vietnam is an adventure and backpacker's paradise.
04:49One of the most impressive places in the country is Ban Gioc Falls.
04:53It's located in the northern part of Vietnam straddling the Chinese border.
04:57Ban Gioc is the biggest waterfall in South Aphasia and the scenery here is just absolutely
05:01insane with the iconic Karst Mountains in the background.
05:04Another amazing spot in Vietnam is Ha Long Bay.
05:07Located in the Gulf of Tonkin, Ha Long Bay is this incredible area made up of emerald
05:11water and thousands of limestone islands covered in lush vegetation.
05:14Probably the best way to experience Ha Long Bay is by taking a cruise, but I recommend
05:18at least doing an overnight cruise so you can witness Ha Long Bay during sunset and sunrise.
05:23One of my personal favorite places in Vietnam is the T-fields of Long Coq.
05:27It's one of the most picturesque places I've ever seen with dome shaped hills and perfectly
05:31manicured T-fields.
05:32If you're looking for an adventure, one thing you can do at Vietnam is the Ha Giong Loop.
05:36It's a several day motorcycle route that takes you through the mountains of northern Vietnam.
05:40The scenery is absolutely insane, it looks like something out of a Dr. Seuss book.
05:44Definitely something to add to your 2025 bucket list.
05:47After it we're going to head over to Central America to visit El Salvador.
05:50For world class surfing, the stunning volcanoes, El Salvador has so much to offer.
05:54I have a special place in my heart for El Salvador because I lived here 10 years ago.
05:58Now the capital of the country is San Salvador and there are some cool places you can visit
06:02like the Centro Historico.
06:04One of my favorite places in El Salvador is El Tunco.
06:06It's probably the most famous beach in the country and has amazing waves perfect for surfing.
06:10We came here for sunset and the scenery did not disappoint.
06:13Another incredible place in the country is the Santa Ana Volcano.
06:16We hiked up the volcano's rim and it took us about an hour to reach the top.
06:20The landscapes up here were insane.
06:22Now at the base of the volcano there's this lake called Lago de Cuatapeque and the scenery
06:26here is also next level.
06:28I found this restaurant that had a diving board and it was so fun to send some jumps into the
06:31lake.
06:32If you're looking for adventure in 2025, El Salvador is worth the visit.
06:37After we're going to head back to Europe to visit Norway's Lofoten Islands.
06:40Lofoten is located in Northern Norway and even though it's in the Arctic Circle it
06:44feels like you're on a tropical island with all the incredible beaches and fairly mild
06:48weather.
06:49We were here last summer and the scenery was next level.
06:52One of my favorite places is the fishing village of Henningsvar.
06:55It's built on a few islands and it's home to one of the most scenic soccer fields
06:58in the world.
06:59One of the best beaches on the islands is Cavalvlika.
07:02It's a decent hike down to the beach but you're rewarded with some of the most incredible
07:06scenery.
07:07We came here for sunset and it was one of the best I've experienced.
07:09If you're into hiking the trek to Rhino-Bringen is worthwhile.
07:12It's probably the most famous hike in Lofoten Islands.
07:15Now to get to the top we had to climb nearly 2000 stone steps.
07:19You get a perfect panoramic view of the fjord, villages and sea mountains.
07:23If you come during the months of June and July this is an insane place to experience the
07:27midnight sun.
07:28We stayed up here for a good hour enjoying the sunset and other world reviews.
07:31If you're in Lofoten and are able to hike you gotta come experience the scenery of Rhino-Bringen.
07:37After it went ahead to Greece to visit some of its islands.
07:39With over 6000 islands Greece has a lot to choose from.
07:42One of the most well known islands is Santorini.
07:45It's home to whitewash houses and all the landscape you'd expect to find a Greek island
07:49but I will say it can get very crowded.
07:51One of my personal favorite Greek islands is Milos.
07:53It has the classic whitewash houses but a more relaxed vibe compared to Santorini.
07:57One of the most famous places on Milos is Saracanico beach.
08:01It's home to white lunar like landscapes and there's so many places to cliff jump.
08:05There's this one iconic ledge that is the perfect place to do some dives and jumps into
08:08the sea.
08:09One of my favorite places on Milos was Kleftiko.
08:11It's this incredible bay with white rocks that come out of the sea.
08:15You can boat or hike into the area and we had an incredible time just relaxing here.
08:19If you do boat into Kleftiko you can also go to the nearby Sikia cave.
08:23It's one of the most unique places I've ever been.
08:25It's this cave with a collapsed ceiling that connects to the sea.
08:28There's a little beach that some people would ride up their dinghies to land on and then
08:32they could explore the cave.
08:33I mean the water was just some of the clearest I've ever experienced and the boulders in the
08:36water created for one of the most beautiful settings I've ever came across.
08:40Now I have to say my favorite Greek island is Zakynthos.
08:43I've been here several times now and I just keep wanting to come back.
08:46It's one of the most impressive locations I've ever been.
08:49From thousand foot white glyphs to the bluest water you've ever seen, Zakynthos has it all.
08:54The most famous place in Zakynthos is Shipwreck beach.
08:57Back in the 1980s a cargo ship from Turkey was carrying illegal contraband and the greece navy
09:02chased something into this cove where it crashed.
09:04Over the years the sand has built up around the ship and has created one of the most visually
09:08stunning locations in the world.
09:10You can boat into the beach or you can also get a great view of it from the cliffs above.
09:14Another stunning place is Zakynthos is Mesithres.
09:16It's this massive rock formation on the Aegean and you get a nice view of it from the nearby
09:21cliffs.
09:22We came here for sunset and the sea was pretty rough which turned up the water giving it a
09:26milky color.
09:27It was such an amazing landscape with a setting sun coupled with the greens of the pines and
09:31blues of the water.
09:32Greece's islands are some of the most spectacular on earth.
09:35After we went ahead to French Polynesia to visit the island of Morea.
09:39Known as the pearl of the sea, Morea is one of the most beautiful places I've ever experienced.
09:43We stayed here several nights and it was just absolutely incredible.
09:46Now to reach Morea you'll first fly into the island of Tahiti and you can either take
09:49a ferry or another quick flight.
09:52Once you arrive on the island there's just so much to do here.
09:54I think Morea is home to some of the most spectacular mountains.
09:57They're just so jagged and unique looking.
10:00My favorite one was called Mount Mo'aroa which translates to the shark's tooth.
10:04It rises 880 meters above the sea and I totally get where it gets its name with its sharp rigid
10:10appearance.
10:11Now if you're more into beaches, one of my favorite one was the public beach Ta'ahiamanu.
10:15It's this really relaxing beach with sailboats and amazing scenery all around.
10:19It's a prime place to watch the sunset.
10:22Another great thing you can do on Morea is go on a boat tour.
10:25We went on a tour and unfortunately it was really rainy but it still was a great experience.
10:29We swam with black tip sharks and we went outside the reef and swam in the deep ocean.
10:33I mean I couldn't believe how warm the water was.
10:35One of the main reasons people come to Morea is to swim with humpback wells.
10:39If you come in between the months of August to November you can swim with these gentle giants.
10:44After we're going to head to New Zealand.
10:46I think it's safe to say we all want to experience the scenery of New Zealand.
10:49It's a land full of fjords like Norway, beaches like Hawaii, and landscapes straight out of
10:54middle earth.
10:55New Zealand is made up of two main islands, the north and the south.
10:57Now to get to New Zealand we flew into Auckland which is on the north island and from there
11:01we went to one of my favorite places, Cathedral Cove.
11:04When I imagine New Zealand this is one of the first places that come to mind.
11:08To get there you can either hike or take a boat in.
11:10We had such a good time exploring this place.
11:12There's this cave archway that gives you the famous view of Cathedral Cove.
11:16With the Te Ho Ho Rock.
11:17Now if you want to venture to middle earth you can visit Hoppeton.
11:20It was the filming location for the Shire and the Lord of the Rings films and you can take
11:23a guided tour of it.
11:24If you're looking for some epic adventures you gotta head to New Zealand's South Island.
11:28It's home to Mount Cook which is the tallest mountain in the country with a height of 3,724
11:33meters.
11:34The drive to Mount Cook is arguably one of the most scenic in the world since you have views
11:38with the incredible southern alps coupled with the glacier blue waters of the lake leading
11:41up to it.
11:42After the hike to the base of Mount Cook it was about a 10 kilometer trek and I loved the
11:46bridges we walked on that crossed the glacial rivers.
11:48When we got to the lake at the base of Mount Cook it was possibly the windiest place I've
11:53ever been and it almost blew my wife away.
11:54Now one of the most epic places you gotta visit in New Zealand is the Milford Sound.
11:58Located in the Fjordland National Park the Milford Sound is possibly the most famous place
12:03in all of New Zealand and after exploring it I understand why.
12:07The Milford Sound is pretty isolated and the closest town is Te Anu which is about 2 hours
12:11drive to get there.
12:12The road is one of the most beautiful I've ever been on.
12:14The scenery reminds me of the Fjords of Nori but slightly more tropical.
12:18We saw some Kia birds which are the only alpine parrots in the world.
12:21I mean they were seriously so beautiful.
12:23Once we arrived at the Milford Sound we got on a boat that took us on a tour of the famous
12:27fjord.
12:28The views on the front of the boat were amazing as we headed into the fjord.
12:31I mean the scale of this place is insane.
12:33The mountain was right straight up thousands of feet high.
12:36We came across several waterfalls cascading into the Sound.
12:39Now after the boat tour I really enjoyed just walking around the Sound.
12:42There were some nice trails and I liked this little coastal area that had smooth rocks and
12:46really unique vegetation that lined the shore and it was just so calming to watch the little
12:50waves roll in.
12:51For our final destination we're going to head over to nearby Australia.
12:54If you like world class beaches, tons of wildlife and just good vibes you gotta give Australia
12:59a visit.
13:00There was some time there earlier in 2024 and I just absolutely loved it.
13:03One of my favorite regions in the country is Western Australia.
13:06It's home to some of the most pristine coastline I've ever seen.
13:09There's endless white sand beaches, crystal clear waters and kangaroos just chilling around.
13:14I think the area around Esperance is particularly beautiful.
13:17It's home to some of the widest sand in Australia and the world.
13:20Another place to visit in Australia is the Outback.
13:22The most iconic landmark in the Outback is the Uluru or Ears Rock.
13:26It's a massive monolith that's made up of sandstone.
13:28Now if you want to see some of Australia's wildlife, a great place to go is Tasmania.
13:33It's a pretty big island located in southern Australia and the main reason I came here
13:37was to see the wombats.
13:38They live in this area around Cradle Mountain and we could go on these raised walkways and
13:42there were several wombats grazing.
13:44It was so peaceful to watch them munch on the grass.
13:46Now my all time favorite place in Australia is Lord Howe Island.
13:49I think it's one of the most perfect places in the world.
13:52It's located in the Tasman Sea and you can get to Lord Howe by taking a two hour flight
13:55from Sydney.
13:56The island is just insanely beautiful.
13:58It's called the Hawaii of Australia and after visiting it I understand why.
14:02There can only be 400 tourists on the island at a time.
14:05And another interesting fact about Lord Howe is that it's the largest island ever to eradicate
14:10all its rats which in turn has allowed the birds and wildlife to flourish here.
14:15One of the main reasons I wanted to go to Lord Howe Island was to visit Balls Pyramid.
14:19It's the tallest sea stack in the world with a height of 572 meters.
14:24It's one of the wildest rock formations I've ever seen as it sits alone in the desolate ocean.
14:28Now to get to Balls Pyramid, it was about an hour boat ride from Lord Howe Island.
14:32We boated around the entire sea stack and I was just baffled by the scale of this place.
14:36I felt like Jack Sparrow discovering a treacherous island.
14:40After exploring Balls Pyramid, we headed back to Lord Howe Island and got some incredible
14:44views on the way.
14:45While we were on Lord Howe, we had bikes to get around and we did some great hikes.
14:49One of my favorites was Malabar Kim's.
14:51There were some incredible views of the sea cliffs and then we walked on this ridge and
14:54got an amazing view of the whole island and this place is paradise.
14:58Now for sunset, I love going down to Lagoon Beach to watch the sun light up the mountains
15:02of Lord Howe.
15:04Places don't get more perfect than this island.
15:06Well that is it for my 2025 top 10.
15:09Let me know where you want to travel this year in the comments below.
15:11You can follow me on Instagram and TikTok at Shirley.Films.
15:15It's Ryan and we will see you later.
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