Hiking and swimming in the rock pools of Kakadu National Park

Nature
The wow factor for nature - does it show nature at its best? Doesn't need to be the wildebeest migration or diving with hundreds of hammerheads. Rather make you pause as you realise just how awesome the natural world can be
8
Culture
How much does this experience showcase some of the better and finer things that us humans can offer? Sure, it can be ancient ruins and renaissance churches, but it can also be festivals or soaking up some of the great modern cities of the world
6
Fun factor/activity
Very simple - was it fun? This is usually linked in with doing some kind of activity - i mean, walking along some cliffs is nice, but paragliding from them, now that is fun. Its a vastly underrated factor in a truly great experience
7
Avoid the crowds
Big tour groups and being surrounded by loud fellow tourists can sap the life out of even the greatest of travel experiences. This score is to reflect just how much you can avoid this. But. . . The score also takes into account if the crowds actually add to the experience, such as with a party town or a bustling local market
6
World famous
How world famous is the experience?
6
unique
How hard is it to have a similar experience in other places round the world?
7
Overall TE Score
The overall travel experiences score:  fun factor + avoid the crowds + (best of nature or culture) + (best of world famous or unique). Then convert into a score out of 100
70 *What the scores mean and where do they come from
RANKING
How this travel experience ranks compared to all the other experiences on this site, based on the travel experience (te) score
157th/454
Top 40%
continent
Oceania
country
Australia
Length of time
1 day or less
Typical daily price
This gives you a rough idea of the daily price based on 2 people travelling where they can split costs like accommodation. It excludes travel there and back, and factors in inflation the numbers in brackets show the price range for the full time of the experience (so not necessarily daily). It is a range to reflect different budget vs higher end
$50 (typically $30 - $80)
Time of year visited
December
Primary Tags
Click on any of the tags to see all travel experiences with the same tag
Hiking Rock arches Waterfalls
All Tags
Art Bird spotting Cliffs Swimming UNESCO world heritage site
Wow Factor
The wow factor reflects just how much you’re likely to say “wow”. As there’s a lot of experiences in the world, and a lot of wows, i’ve gone with a simple ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ to ⭐️ score, and a separate category for the truly "gash"
⭐⭐⭐

Summary

Kakadu is the highlight of the top half of Australia’s Northern Territory.  A vast national park where the combination of scorching dry seasons and flooded wet seasons have created sharp rock formations and billabongs that attract a variety of wildlife and make it feel like the definition of what you have in mind when you think of Australian Wilderness.

In addition, its one of the best places in the country to experience the traditional Aboriginal way of life with its ancient rock art.

Only a brief travel entry on this occasion as we only had a day in this wonderful place.  But key tip is to head out to one of the many hikes that finish with a refreshing swim in the rock pools and views across the national park.  Motorcar Falls was in particular beautiful.

 

Highlights

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#1 Hiking up to the beautiful rock pools that sit up on top of the rocky outcrops that are littered through Kakadu

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#2 Taking a boat trip through the billabongs just after the rains and being able to drift through the steep rock sides

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#3 Seeing some of the huge crocodiles up close . . . maybe a little too close

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#4 Taking a swim in the cool rock pools after a hot hike in summer

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#5 Checking out some of the giant termite mounds that are just about everywhere through the national park. As you can see, enormous

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#6 The overall adventure of it all as you drive through what feels like the definition of Australian wilderness

Experiences Nearby

The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences

Other Fresh Water Swimming Experiences around the World

Semuc Champey all to yourself
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Camping in Corcovado National Park
⭐⭐⭐

Hiking the Lost City Trek
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Mekong tubing in Vang Vieng
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Waterfalls and mountain views in Luang Prabang
⭐⭐⭐

Fairytale views by Lake Bled
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rafting the Navua River, near Pacific Harbour
⭐

3 days relaxing and diving by the beautiful Lake Atitlan
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

4WDing around Fraser Island
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

PR3 hike from Ermelo to Figas de Ermelo
⭐⭐

Boating around the serene Inle Lake
⭐⭐⭐

Score Detail

The scores above are the real point of this site.

Over 20+ years and 100+ countries, I’ve tried to rank the world’s best travel experiences — from genuinely mind-blowing ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to the properly gash.

Every one of the 500+ places on this site has both a Wow Factor rating and a more analytical Travel Experience (TE) score based on the things that actually make travel memorable.

If you're curious about the thinking behind it, head to the About page.

Otherwise, explore the map above or on the Home page and see which places truly deliver maximum wow.

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