One of the benefits of the amount of television now available at our fingertips is the ability to travel the world and learn about different cultures from the comfort of our own homes. It’s obviously not a perfect solution—it’s a pretty poor substitute for packing a bag, hopping on a plane, and experiencing the real thing first hand—but these shows help satisfy our wanderlust when the real thing isn’t an option, either because of affordability or something else.
Most of the shows in question are documentary series—or docuseries—which offer viewers a unique travel experience by highlighting the perspectives of both natives and visitors to foreign countries. Netflix has an abundance of these types of programs. Some are specifically about traveling the world and experiencing different cultures, while others simply make us want to travel because of the lush scenery on display, the mouth-watering food that’s highlighted, and the intriguing stories of the people who are featured. No matter what you’re looking for, though, there is something for everyone. These are the best travel shows on Netflix.
World’s Most Amazing Vacation Rentals
Netflix nailed the travel genre with World’s Most Amazing Vacation Rentals, a series that takes viewers around the globe and reveals what they can get in the way of vacation homes depending on budget and travel preferences. It’s essentially an extended advertisement for Airbnb, but the properties showcased are worth your time. From an open-air home in Bali and an igloo in Finland to a cattle ranch in Montana and a private island in the Caribbean, the show has a destination and home for everyone. Each episode also finds the hosts partaking in various adventures and activities in the areas they visit. In all, it’s an excellent way to see the world. However, the show does induce a certain amount of FOMO, and the hosts do little to improve the exquisite scenery on display as they explore. But if you want to escape for a bit or plan some future trips, there is no better show purely about the travel experience than this one.
Salt Fat Acid Heat
Culinary-themed programs often make for some of the best travel shows because they take viewers around the world to explore the cuisines of various cultures. Salt Fat Acid Heat, which is hosted by chef and author Samin Nosrat and based on her book of the same name, stands out for the way it explores the four elements of the series’ title and why they’re the key to great cooking. Although the series is just four episodes, it takes viewers from the olive orchards of Italy to the shores of Japan as Nosrat attempts to learn all she can about the use of salts, fats, acids, and heat in the kitchen. By the end of the show, you’ll have traveled the world and hopefully learned a little bit more about the food you eat—and how to be a better cook as well.
Our Planet
While you can’t properly visit some of the places featured in Our Planet, Netflix’s answer to the BBC’s Emmy-winning documentary series Planet Earth, you’ll learn a lot about the place we call home and its different ecosystems without ever having to leave your couch. Narrated by Sir David Attenborough, the series travels from jungles and grasslands to the tundra and oceans. Each episode highlights the world’s natural beauty through the unifying lens of climate change, and how it’s threatening more than just human life on Earth. This groundbreaking docuseries makes excellent use of awe-inspiring visuals, but it’s also educational, and hopefully you’ll come away from it with a better understanding of what’s at stake when we talk about humanity’s influence on plant life, the animal kingdom, and the marine world.
Somebody Feed Phil
You’d be hard-pressed to find a better or funnier travel documentary series about food and culture than Somebody Feed Phil, which is a successor of sorts to I’ll Have What Phil’s Having, which aired on PBS. In the show, Everybody Loves Raymond creator Phil Rosenthal travels around the world, tasting and experiencing the local delicacies of various cities and countries. You’ll learn a lot about different cultures, and you’ll laugh a lot along the way, because Rosenthal’s charm and sense of humor are infused in every moment of what might also be one of the most comforting shows on Netflix.
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