Fly me to the moon: Planet Earth’s best unearthly landscapes

Jan 30, 2011 5:14:11 AM

Samantha Wilson
Lonely Planet Author

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How’s this for a space oddity? Forty years have passed since the historic Apollo moon landing, and yet the prospect of space tourism remains as distant as ever. Just as well, then, that getting that out-of-this-world feeling without leaving the planet is easier to do than a Vulcan salute!

So all you cosmic cadets, moonwalkers and astral travellers out there – prepare for lift off, as we take you to some of our favourite outer-space hotspots here on earth.

Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon), Chile

Buzz Aldrin could have been talking about Chile’s Valle de la Luna when he described the moon’s ‘magnificent desolation’. Strange lunar landforms eroded by eons of wild weather crowd the horizon; bleak dunes and distant volcanoes amp up the surreality. For maximum impact, visit at sunset, when the valley is bathed in an unearthly purple, pink and gold glow…

Volcanic Iceland

Dotted with dramatic steaming fumaroles, bubbling mudpots, weird rock formations and lava fields, Iceland is a sci-film waiting to happen. The starkly beautiful and gloriously strange landscapes around Mývatn will make you question what planet you’re on.

Southeastern Utah, USA

Mars is closer than you think! Canyonlands and Arches National Parks in southeastern Utah give the Red Planet a run for its intergalactic money with their rugged arches, bridges, needles, spires, craters, mesas and buttes. Touch down in high summer for that extra blast of Martian intensity.

Lac Abbé, Djibouti

…seen from out here everything seems different. Time bends. Space is boundless. Gazing awestruck upon Lac Abbé’s natural smoking ‘chimneys’ and vast, eerie salt plains, you may recall these words spoken by astronaut George Taylor in Planet of the Apes. Well, he should know: the movie was filmed here!

Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia

This immense, shimmering sea of salt will haunt your daydreams for years to come. In fact, such is Salar de Uyuni’s breath-taking, blinding-white otherworldliness, it might just send you into interstellar overdrive.

Cappadocia, Turkey

With its exquisite fairy chimneys, valleys of cascading cliffs, and labyrinthine underground cities, Cappadocia is outer space as it might have been imagined by Jim Henson: picturesque and endearing.

Lanzarote, Canary Islands

The extraordinary volcanic moonscape of central Lanzarote would make Armstrong and Aldrin feel right at home. The glowing green waters of El Golfo Crater might even tempt them to shrug off those cumbersome spacesuits and go for a paddle…

Nazca Lines, Peru

Was Erich Von Daniken onto something? One of Peru’s most impressive and enigmatic sights, the mysterious Nazca Lines could easily be mistaken for the doodlings of ancient astronauts. Deep in desolate desert, and only visible from the air, these mysterious lines will certainly stir your imagination…

Great Barrier Reef, Whitsunday Islands, Australia

Plunge beneath the waves into the technicolour parallel universe that is the Great Barrier Reef. No spaced-out superlative could do this coral wonderland justice; no cinematic alien could come close to the marvellous marine critters that call it home…

Nubra Valley, Ladakh, India

Sometimes known as ‘Moonland’, Ladakh is bound by mountains and comprised of mountains. Human habitation is sparse, and during the wild winter months, the region is only marginally easier to reach than the moon itself. The imposing, inhospitable Nubra Valley is its wild lunar heart.

Beam us up, earthly astronauts! What do you think is the world’s best otherworldly destination?

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Comments

21 July 2009 3:36AM ryanroxx Report this comment
The red rocks on the Poike Peninsula of Easter Island will make you feel like you just landed on Mars.
3 August 2009 11:59PM moonge13 Report this comment
What a cool posting! If you're doing an Australian adventure, try WA's own moonscape - the limestone Pinnacles, North of Perth. Stark and strange, even those not usually enamoured with geology will get a kick from these other-worldly structures!
12 September 2009 9:37AM the5neumanns Report this comment
Try Hell's Half Acre in Wyoming-it was the set for the movie Starship Troopers.
18 September 2009 6:50PM bazzap1976 Report this comment
The peak of Mount Kinabalu in Borneo.
26 November 2009 2:11AM planar Report this comment
Dead Vlei in Namibia. Completely otherworldy
15 February 2011 9:15PM cecilia Report this comment
Good post! I am fortunate enough to have seen three: Valle de la Luna (Chile), Salar de Uyuni (Bolivia), Mývatn area (Iceland). Isn't Madagascar missing in this list?
17 February 2011 1:18AM thatweirdgrrl Report this comment
What about Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland? Very eerie other-worldly feeling.
17 February 2011 6:53AM nowornever Report this comment
lencois maharenses in brazil should be added as well!
8 August 2011 2:48AM connerg Report this comment
Nice post!
How about all that lava at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park or MOON VALLEY on Mauna Kea, also on the Big Island, where they actually tested the moon rover before blast off? Also, there's Kalapana, where they filmed Planet of the Apes.
11 January 2012 9:56PM traveliniceland Report this comment
Being in Mývatn in Iceland is a little bit like landing on Mars. I strongly recommend this place