Rate Our Top 12 Travel Pictures for 2023
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A map of our Vagabond travel route for 2023 starting in Santiago, through Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego, and then both the Antarctic to Arctic circles, before ending the year in Budapest. Click to open the image in lightbox.
The Year in Pictures
2023 was another remarkable travel year as we made our way around the planet on our Vagabond Adventure. Thanks for joining us!
There was plenty to see and we captured thousands of images — many of them shared in our regular Journal updates. Here are what we consider some of the greatest travel photos of 2023.
But which were the best? You tell us. You’ll find all 12 below, including one beauty from fellow Vagabond, world-class hiker and orthopedic surgeon Jorina Jurth.
These images, and many more, are available in the Vagabond Adventure Store as high quality prints.
Click an image to open it into a lightbox to get the full high resolution image.
Click the link below to choose your top 2023 travel photo, Feel free to share your comments! And if you send us a message on Facebook or here and tell us your favorite picture, we’ll send you a free digital copy.
Skip Directly to the Poll and Choose Your Top 2023 Travel Photo
Nørvøya Island - Ålesund, Norway
Tuesday · Oct 3, 2023 · 2:22 PM
On a blustery day a little less than halfway up the Norwegian Coast, Cyn and I climbed the 700 — vertical feet to the top of this outlook. Ålesund is a beautifully walkable city that sits on a peninsula that juts into the Atlantic Ocean The town is filled with Art Nouveau architecture built after the original city was burned to the ground in a fire in the early 20th century.
Download a high resolution digital copy of Norwegian Peninsula here or buy a high quality print.
The Road to Patagonia - Torres del Paine, Chile
Feb 13, 2023 · 10:59 AM
In Chile they call them Torres del Paine, a combination of Spanish and native words that mean the Blue Towers, and they actually are that remarkable color. Enormous mountains carved to their sharp edges by glaciers that have now departed and left this awesome peaks. I caught the image as we were driving into the heart of Patagonia and the view, with the road and car ahead, said all that any place this unique and beautiful can — come closer!
Download a high resolution digital copy of The Blue Towers of Patagonia or buy a high quality print here.
Night Church, Jokkmokk Sweden
Nov 3, 2023 · 7:50 PM
It was dark and snowing when we arrived at this tiny Swedish village, home to an annual Lapland Festival with the region’s native Sami people. Bathed in golden light and luminaries, and surrounded by fresh snow, with its lovely steeple, it looked like something out of a fairy tale; a perfect Christmas card.
Download a high resolution digital copy of Night Church here or buy a high quality print.
The High Andes of Peru
May 8, 2023 · 2:38 PM
We met Jorina while traveling through Patagonia on Navimag. An orthopedic surgeon from Germany, she’s a self-admitted travel addict and hiker. She’s walked among some of the most spectacular views anywhere and prefers to seek out little know hikes, including this one in Peru’s Cordillera Huayhuash (the northern Andes), a spectacular photo. She says she was hiking between Mitococha and Carhuacocha — probably 10°13′21.36″S 76°52′54.51 if you want to check it on Google Earth.
Download a high resolution digital copy of Peru’s Cordillera Huayhuash.
Antarctic Icebergs
Mar 5, 2023 · 5:01 PM
Antarctica is a part of planet earth unlike anything you will ever see. We are determined to explore all seven continents, so Antarctica was must. This image taken as we road among hundreds of immense icebergs surrounded by the sea, whales, penguins, seals and flocks of seabirds shows you the scale of Antarctica’s beauty and uniqueness.
Start here to read the story of our Antarctic excursion and see more stunning images.
Download a high resolution digital copy of Antarctic Icebergs or buy a print copy here.
Cape Horn, South America
Feb 19, 2023 · 7:43 AM
On our voyage through Tierra Del Fuego onboard Australis, we made our way to the very tip of South America, the storied land called Cape Horn, home to the roughest seas in the world. Just after our zodiac got us on land and we hiked to summit shortly after dawn and I caught this image of the sun above a place where three oceans (the Atlantic, South and Pacific) collide.
Read about the visit to Cape Horn then follow the links to other portions of the cruise through Tierra del Fuego.
Download a high resolution digital copy of Sunrise at Cape Horn or buy a high quality print.
Arctic Monster, Svalbard, Norway
Oct 24, 2023 · 3:26 PM
Svalbard is home to the northernmost human habitations on earth. As I walked to the dock nearby where coal used to be loaded for delivery around the world, I took this picture because the mountain is monstrous, at least half a mile high with these mesmerizing geological features. I couldn’t seem to take my eyes off of them.
Read the Longyearbyen entries starting with our travel from Tromsø in the Vagabond Journal
Download a high resolution digital copy of Arctic Monster or buy a high quality print.
Antarctic Sun
Mar 2, 2023 · 3:14 PM
We were kayaking through Danco Bay among humpback whales and these immense Antarctic icebergs. I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. It was dead quiet. A storm was moving in and that background against the grand iceberg, the glinting ice and the darkening sky delivered this picture.
Start here to read the story of our Antarctic excursion and see more stunning images.
Download a high resolution digital copy of Antarctic Icebergs or buy a high quality print.
The Shire - Kystpilgrimsleai Park, Norway
Oct 5, 2023 · 1:32 PM
It had been raining all morning when we came to this living museum that shows off what life was like in small Norwegian fishing villages. Then the sun came out and the green carpet of trees and grass and an old cemetery lay before me. I thought we had arrived in the Shire in The Lord of the Rings.
Download a high resolution digital copy of The Shire or buy a high quality print.
Lake & Mountains, Narvik, Norway
Oct 18, 2023 · 1:19 PM
We were just outside the port town of Narvik in the faith north of Norway, heading to Sweden. Snow had fallen in the faraway mountains that surrounded this enormous bay. I had to at least try to capture that magnificent view.
Read the Narvik entry in the Vagabond Journal.
Download a high resolution digital copy of Hålogaland Bridge or buy a high quality print.
Lapland Pines, Kittilä, Finland
Nov 2, 2023 · 12:32 PM
While looking for a dog-sledding camp in the far north of Finland on an early November afternoon, we got lost, but stumbled into the entrance of this park. Not a soul was around and the sun was brilliant after a hard snow. This part of the world is thick will millions of acres of trees, but in the sunlight and following the snow storm, these particular ones stunned me with their quiet beauty.
See more images while passing through Pallas in the Vagabond Journal.
Download a high resolution digital copy of Lapland Pines or buy a high quality print.
Lapland Moon, Kolari Finland
Nov 1, 2023 · 3:23 PM
We were headed to the far north of Finland in search of Lapland, reindeer and serenity. We found it on this road after a recent snow storm. The sun was already setting and then this big moon arose. The open road beckoned, and so did the big moon that hung in a perfect blue sky. What a world we live in.
Download a high resolution digital copy of Lapland Moon or buy a high quality print.
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