One of the best ways to see the world is to take to the skies. Whether its soaring over turquoise waters in the Maldives, searching for hidden waterfalls in Norway's majestic fjords or whale watching in California, these are the seaplane journeys to add to your bucket list.

Take a seaplane journey through Norway’s majestic fjords and explore the sprawling archipelagos and seemingly never-ending waterways that make up the country's rugged northwest coastline. While Norway’s hairpin-bend-filled Fjord Coast is one of the world’s best destinations for a road trip, seeing the pristine mountain ranges and sparkling waters from the seat of a seaplane is also hard to beat.

Scandinavian Seaplanes flies from Norway's vibrant second city of Bergen, as well as Ulvik/Eidfjord and Aurland. Take off from the water and then gaze upon a landscape filled with ancient glaciers, mountain farms and waterfalls. 

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From cloud-skimming peaks and volcanoes to bamboo forests and lush islands, Japan packs a punch when it comes to epic landscapes. And what better way to experience the country’s famous archipelagos than by soaring over the picture-perfect Geiyo Islands (in the Seto Inland Sea) in a chartered seaplane?

Setouchi Seaplanes offers flights along Hiroshima Prefecture’s coast, known for its association with Japan’s most infamous pirates, the Murakami Suigun. The Setouchi Discovery Flight focuses on the Onomichi Channel, granting sweeping panoramas of the curving Shimanami Kaido expressway and its impressive bridges. 

Go whale watching along California’s jaw-dropping San Diego coastline on a seaplane safari. The best time to take to the skies is between December and April if you want to catch one of nature’s most awesome sights from a unique perspective, with San Diego Seaplanes. 

It’s during these months that grey whales undertake a winter migration, moving from Alaska to the warm waters of the Pacific Ocean. Seeing the mothers and their calves, as you travel over 60 miles (100km) along California’s coastline, will have you doing your best Attenborough impression in no time.  

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Combine a trip to the vibrant city of Vancouver on Canada’s west coast with a seaplane journey to Phantom Lake. Despite the ominous sounding name, the lake is breathtaking, surrounded by an endless horizon of pine trees and snow-capped mountains. You could be back in time to enjoy an evening on the town too.

Sea to Sky Air takes off from the turquoise blue lake surrounded by the Squamish Mountains and travels to an alpine beach at the base of a glacier – and it affords all the epic views you'd expect to see when visiting Canada’s largely uncharted wilderness.  

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The Maldives’ 26 ring-shaped coral atolls are home to over 1,000 islands, many of which are uninhabited. So it’s little wonder that the Maldives is home to the largest seaplane fleet in the world. Take a chartered flight with Trans Maldivian Airways over the azure waters and white beaches. You can even land on an uninhabited island and imagine it’s your own slice of paradise in the Indian Ocean.

The Maldives are home to some of the most diverse and impressive corals anywhere in the world, teeming with thousands of underwater species. Flying hundreds of feet above these unique natural structures, you’ll get unparalleled views – and with almost year-round sunshine, conditions are near perfect for photography too.

Vietnam's Halong Bay dazzles from above. With an area of 600 square miles (1,553sq km), it's home to nearly 2,000 islands and limestone pillars. Most people will explore these ancient giants on a ‘junk’ boat (a traditional Asian ship) – but getting an aerial view of this rocky labyrinth is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

After a take off from Tuan Chau Marina with Hai Au Aviation, you'll swoop over Dau Be Island, Bo Hon Island and Cong Do Island. The bay is recognised as a World Heritage site and home to lagoons teeming with sea life, plus grottoes and impressive vertical cliffs that look mesmerising from above and create an adventure-lover's paradise down below.

During the Klondike Gold Rush in the late 19th century hundreds of thousands of people from across the USA and beyond travelled to the country’s northwest in search of their fortune. Many of the mining settlements that sprung up in Alaska during this period are still populated today, while some are atmospheric ghost towns. Best of all, you can see them from the skies, along with the skyscraping mountains and glaciers that the Last Frontier is famous for. 

Alaska Seaplanes offers flights from its home base in Juneau to destinations including Skagway, Pelican and Ketchikan. The flight from Juneau to Elfin Cove is one of the prettiest, landing in the rich fishing grounds that attract anglers the world over for the sport and the awe-inspiring surroundings. Wildlife is abundant along the cove with regular visits from sea lions, sea otters, orcas, humpback whales and brown bears.

There’s nowhere quite like Dubai when it comes to architectural showmanship and 6-star luxury. A sprawling city of glass and steel has grown in two decades at a pace matched by few other places on Earth. There are many notable landmarks to see on a seaplane journey over Dubai from the Burj Al Arab, the sail-shaped hotel that redefined luxury hospitality, to the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building.

Seawings offers chartered flights over Dubai including the Palm Jumeirah – islands that radiate out into the Arabian sea like a giant palm tree frond and one of the most ambitious man-made constructions ever attempted – and Jumana Island, shaped like a giant seahorse. Take off is from Dubai Creek. 

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Fabled Loch Lomond sits within the Trossachs National Park in the western lowlands, around 35 miles (56km) north of the city of Glasgow. Easy to reach, the park is a breathtaking landscape of lakes, marshes and Munros – the Scottish name given to mountains over 3,000 feet (914m) tall.

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Take the journey across this dramatic, utterly romantic Scottish landscape with Loch Lomond Seaplanes. Fly past Ben Lomond (Scotland’s most southerly Munro), the Arrochar Alps, the quaint lowlands town of Callander and the magical landscapes that inspired writers including Romantic poet John Keats, Treasure Island author Robert Louis Stevenson and Danish children’s author Hans Christian Anderson.

Mount Ruapehu is New Zealand’s most active volcano reaching nearly 9,842 feet (3,000m). The volcano, which last erupted in 2007, is found within Tongariro National Park on New Zealand’s North Island between Auckland and the capital Wellington. The mountain is also home to New Zealand’s two largest ski areas, Whakapapa and Turoa. 

Taupos Floatplane takes chartered flights from Lake Taupo to Mount Ruapehu’s active crater. Fly over the Tama Lakes, Mount Ngauruhoe, the Emerald Lakes and many craters that make up Mount Tongariro along the way. It's a truly spectacular way to experience landscapes revered the world over.

Patagonia is unrivalled when it comes to off-the-beaten-path adventure. There are thousands of miles of wilderness that span two countries (Chile and Argentina) with ancient glaciers, roaring waterfalls, volcanoes and wild horses. 

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Aerolerce, based in Puerto Montt, takes chartered seaplane flights across Pumalín backcountry which includes low flying over the Andes mountains – the world’s longest mountain range – along the fjords, and culminating in a pass over the Chaitén caldera. The volcano had been dormant for over 9,000 years, but became active again in 2008.

Synonymous with Italian glamour, Lago di Como, or Lake Como, is the beautiful Alpine lake that stretches around 29 miles (47km) across northern Italy’s Lombardy region, close to the Swiss border. Many of the world’s glitterati, most famously George Clooney, have summer homes here (or should that be summer palaces?). 

Lake Como is home to Aero Club Como which was founded over a century ago in 1913 and is the oldest seaplane school in Europe. Travel from Como on the southern tip of the lake to Bellagio in the middle or Colico in the north in style. Who knows, you might catch a glimpse of an A-list celebrity cruising on their speedboat below.

99 of the world's most amazing bucket-list experiences for 2023