Whether you can’t afford to travel to these places and just want to take a virtual tour or you’re planning to visit them and need to scout ahead, these 11 best travel documentaries streaming on Netflix can be very helpful for both real and virtual travelers.
A vast majority of us doesn’t get to travel as much as we would want to. Fortunately, we have Netflix, so we can at least enjoy the scenery other people filmed. Granted, it is a far cry from the real deal, but if that’s the only thing we can afford, we’ll take it. At least, we get to enjoy these exotic places in the comfort of our home. And to be honest, it is highly unlikely that many of us will ever visit some of the places featured in these movies. Not too many people have K2 or Antarctica on their bucket list.
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To rank the best travel documentaries streaming on Netflix, we had to devise a system, similar to that we used in our list of best tech documentaries streaming on Netflix. Going simply by IMDb rating just wouldn’t cut it, although we did include it in our final ranking. We also scoured dozen of lists on most popular sites in order to get an accurate feel for public opinion. We mixed it all together and came up with a genuine Insider Monkey ranking.
11. K2: Siren of the Himalayas
Site Rank: 3, IMDb rank 3 Total Rank: 6
Directed by Dave Ohlson
Year: 2012
In 1909 Prince Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi tried and failed to reach the summit of K2. In frustration, he claimed that the mountain will never be climbed. It took 45 years for someone to prove him wrong and as chance would have it, it was a group of Italian climbers. The route Duke took is commonly known as the Abruzzi Spur. In 2009 a group of climbers used the same route to honor 100 years of the Duke’s expedition. Among them was Dave Ohlson, who used the material he filmed, as well as the footage of the earlier expeditions and created K2: Siren of the Himalayas. Apart from some stunning view of the Himalayas, the movie also presents a short history and geography of the region.
10. The Epic of Everest
Site Rank: 1; IMDb rank 8; Total Rank: 9
Directed by J.B.L. Noel
Year: 1924
Another documentary on our list of best travel documentaries streaming on Netflix about the Himalayas, but this time a bit older. The George Mallory and Andrew Irvine expedition set out in 1924 to conquer Mount Everest. Among their crew was Captain J.B.L. Noel, who reverently filmed the entire journey with a custom camera. Mallory and Irvine disappeared in the course of the expedition. Mallory’s body was discovered in 1999, but no conclusive evidence of what has happened to the two climbers could be discovered. The film was digitally restored in 2013 by BFI National Archive and features not just the climb itself, but sequences of Tibetan life filmed in the villages and monasteries of the Himalayas.
9. Mile… Mile & a Half
Site Rank: 7, IMDb rank 2 Total Rank: 9
Directed by Jason M. Fitzpatrick and Ric Serena
Year: 2013
Mile… Mile & a Half ranks 9th on our list of best travel documentaries streaming on Netflix. It is a story of five friends who spent 25 days trekking through the wilderness of Yosemite, reaching Mount Whitney, the highest US continental peak. The stunning view of the untouched nature and beautiful sights are accented by the story of their journey, friendship, and people they meet along the way. The group followed the legendary John Muir Trail, named after John of the Mountains, a famous naturalist who helped create Yosemite National Park. Unlike our previous entries on the list, this one you can recreate yourself, which is one of the reasons why this movie is so popular.
8. The Summit
Site Rank: 9, IMDb rank 1 Total Rank: 10
Directed by Nick Ryan
Year: 2012
August 1st, 2008 was a sunny day, ideal for climbing the second highest mountain in the world, the infamous K2. Conditions were perfect for an international expedition consisting of 25 climbers set out to achieve their goal and summit the mountain. Some 48 hours later, 11 of them were dead and three more severely injured. The series of disasters that happened in those two days are among the worst in the climbing world. The footage one of the members recorded was used to create the film, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2012.
7. The Endless Summer
Site Rank: 6, IMDb rank 4 Total Rank: 10
Directed by Bruce Brown
Year: 1966
Bruce Brown is the man responsible for introducing the cliché plot traveling the world in search of a perfect wave of The Endless Summer which ranks 7th on our list of best travel documentaries streaming on Netflix. He spent 10 years making surfing documentaries and this is his masterpiece. The film follows two surfers from California who decided to travel to Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Tahiti, and Hawaii in order to escape the cold waters of their home state during winter. Throughout the year they followed the summer across the globe, hence the title of the movie. Some of the sites they discovered, like Cape St. Francis, are today among the most popular surfing destinations in the world, thanks to this movie.
6. Encounters at the End of the World
Site Rank: 4; IMDb rank 7; Total Rank: 11
Directed by Werner Herzog
Year: 2007
Werner Herzog doesn’t make ordinary films. Hence Encounters at the End of the World doesn’t include a destination any of us is likely to visit, but that’s just a reason more to watch this film which ranks 6th on our list of best travel documentaries streaming on Netflix. Documentaries filmed in Antarctica don’t have to be about “fluffy penguins”, as Herzog put it, in order to be interesting. They can also be about people who live and work there and unusual places, unique to the area, just like any other travel documentary. Based on the 94% positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes and a nomination for the Academy Award, this is a movie well worth watching and not just for the people interested in Antarctica.
5. Marley Africa Roadtrip
Site Rank: 2, IMDb rank 10 Total Rank: 12
Directed by David Alexanian
Year: 2011
Created by the team behind Long Way Around, Marley Africa Roadtrip ranks 5th on our list of best travel documentaries streaming on Netflix. It follows the Marley brothers (Ziggy, Rohan, and Robbie) on their adventure through Africa, in search for their father’s roots. The legacy of Bob Marley is very much alive in Africa and they see it on every step of their way, as they rush to Ziggy’s concert in South Africa. They also try to promote the African Unity Movement, which Bob Marley championed on his legendary concert in Zimbabwe in 1980. Although there seem to be a few discrepancies between the goal of their trip and the way they do it (sleeping in luxury hotels, riding expensive Ducati bikes) the movie is worth watching if you enjoy African scenery and Marley’s music.
4. Maidentrip
Site Rank: 8; IMDb rank 5; Total Rank: 13
Directed by Jillian Schlesinger
Year: 2013
Sailing alone in a boat around the world isn’t something that a typical 14-year old teenage girl would dream about. But for Laura Dekker, who was born on a boat and spent the first five years of her life living on one, it makes perfect sense to want to become the youngest person ever to do it. After the initial hustle with the Dutch child protection services, she sets out to achieve that goal. Unlike some other adventures, she doesn’t have a second boat filled with cameras or any other support during her battle with the ocean storms, currents, and the wind. She is truly alone. Next time you have trouble getting off your couch, think of this girl. But watch the movie first, even if that means sitting on the couch a bit longer. And now, let’s see the top three best travel documentaries streaming on Netflix.
3. Touching the Void
Site Rank: 5, IMDb rank 9 Total Rank: 14
Directed by Kevin Macdonald
Year: 2003
Touching the Void tells one of the most amazing mountaineering stories that ever happened. On 1985 Simon Yates and Joe Simpson tried to climb Siula Grande by West Face, which has never been done before. Initially, the things went according to plan, but once the descent started disaster struck. Simpson broke his leg and while Yates tried to lower him down on ropes, the pair becomes stuck on the cliff. Yates had to make what he described as the “toughest decision of his life” and cut Simpson off. He left him for dead and continued his descent. Five days later, just as he was about to leave the base camp, starved and dehydrated Simpson appeared, crawling along the ice and snow. The movie is based on a book by Joe Simpson with the same title.
2. 180° South: Conquerors of the Useless
Site Rank: 11, IMDb rank 6; Total Rank: 17
Directed by Chris Malloy
Year: 2010
The main premise of 180° South is simple enough: Jeff Johnson tries to repeat his childhood heroes’, Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins, trip to South America, ending on the slopes of the Corcovado Volcano. Unlike other adventure movies, 180° South isn’t filled with adrenaline rushes and loud music. Despite few disasters that happened to Johnson along the way, like getting shipwrecked, the film has a serene, almost philosophical note. At the end, he meets his heroes, who have come to Patagonia in order to try and preserve it.
1. Long Way Round
Site Rank: 10, IMDb rank 11 Total Rank: 21
Directed by David Alexanian and Russ Malkin
Year 2004
Perhaps the most famous on our list of 11 best travel documentaries streaming on Netflix and quintessential biking TV show, Long Way Round is a series of 14 episodes documenting Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman’s trip from London to New York via Europe, Asia, Alaska and Canada on bikes. The team suffers several accidents on the way and even had to replace one of their BMW bikes with a Russian bike, due to BMW break down in Siberia. If travel and bikes are your things, definitely a must-see series.
