17 gloriously remote places for a secluded escape

21.07.2023 - 08:02 / roughguides.com / Ernest Shackleton

If you’re sick of jostling for towel space on the beach, or tired of selfie sticks bobbing about in front of that scenic mountain vista, then here are some pointers to terrain less trodden.

From majestic icebergs and swampy jungles to idyllic sun-kissed islands with not a sun lounger to be seen, here are 17 gloriously remote places for your next trip.

It doesn't get much more remote than the bottom of the Earth, where the sun shines continually for six months of the year and is dark for the remainder. Visiting this inhospitable but enthralling land of translucent icebergs, curious penguins, humpback whales and gliding albatrosses is quite a schlep – although cruises running from Ushuaia in southern Argentina make it a far less arduous trip than it was for Ernest Shackleton.

Emperor Penguin, Snow Hill, Antarctica © vladsilver/Shutterstock

There's a whole lot of wilderness to go round in the largest and least-visited national park in the USA: giant serrated peaks, blue tinted glaciers, deep gorges and twisting rivers. It's an untouched landscape of astounding beauty, home to caribou, grizzly and black bears. With some cabins only accessible via a shaky ride in a tiny plane, accommodation doesn't get much more away-from-it-all than this.

View to Mount Wrangell and Zanetti from the Richardson Highway Viewpoint Alaska © Gail Johnson/Shutterstock

Don't expect a map to help you in the Tarkine – much of this area in the far northwest of Tasmania, aptly called «The Forgotten Wilderness», is uncharted. The only way to explore the immense stretches of some of the oldest cool-temperate rainforest in Australia, wild rivers and a desolate coastline pummelled by waves from Patagonia, is on foot and by kayaking along its isolated rivers and tributaries.

Trowutta Arch, Tasmania © Visual Collective/Shutterstock

As difficult to get here as it is to spell it, this remote town on the east coast of Greenland is not for the sun worshipper: it's cold, with its waters covered in ice for much of the year. But for outdoorsy nature lovers (and those with warm mittens) there's the pristine vastness of the National Park of Greenland on its doorstep to entice, with dogsledding adventures, sailing on glacial fjords, and a chance to see reindeer, the odd polar bear and walruses.

© Adwo/Shutterstock

continued below

There’s no place more likely to ease the stress of frenetic modern life than this sleepy little island in the Indian Ocean, some 600km east of Mauritius. At this laidback retreat, where exquisite sandy beaches with not a parasol in sight meet a preposterously aquamarine sea, you can stay with friendly locals and sample delicious creole cooking.

St Francois Rodrigues island Mauritius © Shutterstock

It's certainly remote but that's