14 of the most stunning islands in the world

24.12.2024 - 16:15 / lonelyplanet.com

Dec 23, 2024 • 9 min read

Whether you're looking to immerse yourself in local culture, watch wildlife, explore magnificent natural landscapes, or simple relax on a beach, be inspired by some of the world's most interesting and unspoiled islands. With help from The Islands Book, Lonely Planet's compilation of the world's most amazing 150 islands, we've pulled together this list of fascinating islands and archipelagoes around the world.

Best for seeing penguins and seals

One of the Earth’s more remote islands, Macquarie is roughly halfway between Tasmania and Antarctica. Its leading attractions are its epic colonies of 100,000 seals (mainly elephant seals) and four million penguins, including about 850,000 breeding pairs of royals (which only raise young here and on the nearby Bishops and Clerks islands). That these huge colonies survive is remarkable: sealing (for skins) and penguin-hunting (for oil) historically wrought havoc upon seal and bird populations: after the discovery of then-uninhabited Macquarie in the early 19th century, the wildlife was pretty much wiped out by the dawn of the 20th century.

Apart from the hunting, whalers and sealers upset the ecosystem by bringing horses, donkeys, dogs, cats, mice, rats, rabbits, goats, pigs, cattle, ducks, chickens and sheep to Macquarie. Rats, mice and rabbits remain numerous and problematic, but penguin and seal numbers rebounded following legal protections in the 1980s and beyond.

Best for raw nature

Centuries-old totem poles reach toward the skies on the edge of misty rainforests, while the roar of crashing waves echoes through the treetops. Around 80km (50 miles) off the coast of British Columbia, the islands of Haida Gwaii showcase a world where nature rules supreme. Sudden thunderstorms and icy winds can’t blunt the power of seeing foraging black bears, nesting bald eagles and scurrying pine martens amid moss-laden forests that harbor some of the largest spruce and cedar on Earth.

Haida Gwaii’s cultural treasures are equally inspiring. The Haida people have lived on their ancestral land for over 10,000 years, with historic villages and ancient archaeological sites attesting to their age-old presence. About 2500 Haida live on the islands, and they continue to contribute to a thriving arts and crafts scene while also playing a critical role in helping to protect the natural environment of the islands.

Best island to explore by bike

The call of the wild harks back centuries on this chic Breton island, scattered with whitewashed villages in hues of aqua-green and eggshell blue. This might be the hobnobbing hot spot of weekending Parisians in summer, but the roots of tradition run deep in salt-of-the-earth Brittany: sauniers (salt workers)harvest sel fro