The safari wildlife index

Witnessing elephants strolling across the savannah and lions lounging in the shade is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for many. So, for wildlife lovers and adventurers, the allure of a wilderness safari is unmatched.

South Africa is one of the most popular safari destinations, but which other locations offer the best combination of diverse wildlife, conservation of endangered species, and accessible travel?

We’ve pulled together a list of some of the best alternate destinations around the world for animal lovers so that you can add the best wildlife holidays and tours to your travel bucket list.

The must-visit locations for animal lovers

1. Periyar National Park, India - 7.98/10 wildlife safari score

All wildlife lovers should add Periyar National Park to their travel bucket list, as it boasts a wildlife safari score of 7.98 out of 10. The sanctuary, located in the Kerala area of southern India, is thought to be home to over 540 animal species, with a significant number of tigers and elephants. Over 684,500 Google searches were made for Periyar National Park over the last year.

A three-hour safari through the park's tourism area costs 275 Indian rupees, which is around £2.60 ($3.20/€3). Periyar National Park receives 4.3 stars out of five on Google reviews, and 25.32% of its TripAdvisor reviews mention the spectacular animals and stunning landscapes.

2. Ranthambore National Park, India - 7.26/10 wildlife safari score

If you’d prefer to visit northern India, Ranthambore National Park in Rajasthan is a great option, scoring 7.26 out of 10. Ranthambore National Park is very well-loved, hence its 4.5 star rating on Google and 1.66 million Google searches within the last year. Almost 40% of its TripAdvisor reviews refer to the amazing sights within the park, including the animals and views.

Visitors can take a safari tour around the park in a six-seater Jeep, which costs 2,000 Indian rupees (£38/$47/€45) per person. This allows visitors to potentially see almost 400 different animal species in their natural habitat, including tigers, leopards, hyenas, deer, and many more.

3. Wilpattu National Park, Sri Lanka - 6.73/10 wildlife safari score

Sri Lanka is also full of diverse wildlife, particularly at Wilpattu National Park, which scores 6.73 out of 10. Over 51% of the park’s Tripadvisor reviews mention the amazing animals that can be observed while on the safari tour, including elephants, sloth bears, buffalos and mongoose. Tickets for a full-day tour around Wilpattu National Park cost around £39 ($48/€47) per person.

The park is one of the most popular places for wildlife lovers to visit in the country, as proven by its 4.5-star rating on Tripadvisor and 50,400 tagged location posts on Instagram. There were also over 264,700 Google searches made for Wilpattu National Park over the last year.

The wildlife destination with the most affordable flight prices

1. Ranthambore National Park, India - £855/$1,073/€1,032 average price for a return flight from London

Ranthambore National Park is the most affordable safari to get to from London. As mentioned previously, the nearest airport to the park is Jaipur Airport, costing around £855 ($1,073/€1,032) for a round trip. The journey can be done with just one layover and takes upwards of 11 hours.

The highest-rated wildlife location on Google

1. Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania - 4.9 out of 5 Google review score

For a guaranteed amazing safari experience, visit Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania. The conservation area is rated an impressive 4.9 out of five on Google, with previous visitors dubbing it a ‘must visit’ and a ‘great experience.’ Ngorongoro Crater is well-known for being home to the ‘big five’ game: elephants, lions, leopards, buffalos and rhinos.

The best-reviewed wildlife destination on Tripadvisor

1. Kanha National Park, India - 90.91% of Tripadvisor 4 & 5-star reviews mentioning keywords

Kanha National Park is another popular place to spot wildlife in India. The park, located in Madhya Pradesh, is full of amazing animals, with many of them gathering at the watering holes of Sondar Tank and Babathenga Tank. Almost 91% of its reviews on Tripadvisor mention words such as ‘animals’, ‘safari’, ‘beautiful’ and ‘exciting.’ One previous visitor said, “You’ll never lack something to see or do.”

The wildlife location with the most varied species

1. Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Reserve, Costa Rica - 1,464 animal species

If you want to witness as many different animal species as possible on your holiday, then the biological reserve at Monteverde Cloud Forest in Costa Rica is the place to visit. The reserve is thought to be home to over 1,460 types of animals, including 120 mammal species, 425 bird species, 101 reptile species and 60 amphibian species. There are also almost 660 species of butterflies and 100 species of dragonflies and damselflies.

The animal-lover destination with the most affordable tours

1. Hemis National Park, India - £1/$1/€1 average tour/ticket price

For those who want to witness some fascinating wildlife on a more budget-friendly scale, head to Hemis National Park in the Ladakh area of India. Foreign tourists are charged 100 Indian rupees per person to enter the park, equating to just £0.90 ($1.20/€1.10), making it the most affordable ticket on the list. You can witness a wide variety of animals at Hemis National Park, including snow leopards, Tibetan wolves, Eurasian brown bears and red foxes.

The most Instagram-worthy wildlife location

1. Featherdale Sydney Wildlife Park, Australia - 160,000 Instagram-tagged location posts

It’s no secret that Australia is home to both stunning scenery and amazing animals, as Featherdale Wildlife Park in Sydney tops the list as the most Instagram-worthy location for animal lovers. The park has over 160,000 tagged location posts on Instagram, showing just how popular it really is. You can see plenty of Australian-native animals at Featherdale Wildlife Park, such as wombats, kangaroos, wallabies and koalas.

The most-searched wildlife destination on Google

1. Ranthambore National Park, India - 1,656,500 Google searches

Ranthambore National Park makes an appearance yet again, this time for being the most-searched location on our list. As mentioned previously, over 1.66 million Google searches were made for the park between December 2023 and November 2024. The best time to visit Ranthambore National Park is between October and March, making it the perfect place for a winter getaway. This is because temperatures range between 10℃ and 30℃, meaning the weather is pleasant.

Methodology:

We began by creating a seed list of some of the best wildlife destinations to visit around the world, using sources such as Responsible Travel, Viator, Trafalgar and Wayfairer Travel.

Next, we researched the nearest airport to each park before using Skyscanner to calculate the average cost of a return flight from London.

We then used Google to discover the average review score out of 5 for each location.

Next, we used Tripadvisor to gather the total number of reviews for each park before collecting the number of four and five-star reviews containing the following keywords: ‘animals’, ‘exciting’, ‘safari’ and ‘beautiful.’ We then calculated this figure as a percentage of the total reviews.

We gathered the approximate number of species and average tour/ticket prices from individual websites for each park.

Next, we used Instagram to collect the number of tagged location posts for each park.

We then used Google Keyword Planner to discover the number of searches made worldwide for each park between December 2023 and November 2024.

Finally, we gave each of the seven factors a normalised score out of 10 before taking an average across all factors to form our wildlife safari score.

All data is correct as of 3 February 2025 and all currency conversions were rounded to the nearest whole number.