Islands, Ranked

A volcanic island ringed by a turquoise lagoon and barrier reef, its overwater bungalows helped define the modern luxury-resort template. Mount Otemanu towers 727 m over some of the clearest water on Earth.

Repeatedly named a top island in Travel + Leisure reader awards, it packs Haleakala's 3,055 m summit, the Road to Hana, and Molokini snorkeling into one island. Winter humpback whales gather in its channels by the thousands.

Voted the world's best island multiple times in Travel + Leisure and Conde Nast reader polls, home to the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. El Nido's limestone karsts and lagoons are its calling card.

Its whitewashed cliff towns sit on the rim of a caldera formed by one of history's largest volcanic eruptions around 1600 BC. The Oia sunset is among the most photographed views in the Mediterranean.

A Hindu-majority island in a Muslim-majority nation, its terraced rice paddies (subak system) are UNESCO-listed and its temples like Uluwatu and Tanah Lot draw millions yearly. Surf, volcanoes, and Ubud culture in one package.

The oldest and greenest of the main Hawaiian islands, nicknamed the Garden Isle, it holds the Na Pali Coast cliffs and Waimea Canyon, called the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. Mount Waialeale is among the wettest spots on Earth.

A limestone island in the Bay of Naples famed for the Blue Grotto sea cave and the Faraglioni rock stacks. A resort favorite since Roman times, when Emperor Tiberius ruled the empire from its cliffs.

The Mediterranean's largest island and home to Mount Etna, Europe's most active volcano at roughly 3,350 m. Greek temples, Norman cathedrals, and arancini reward the effort, though summer crowds and heat test patience.

A Balearic island whose superclubs made it the global capital of electronic dance music, yet its old town Dalt Vila is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Great if you want the party; less so if you want quiet.

A volcanic island crowned by Hallasan, South Korea's highest peak at 1,947 m, with UNESCO-listed lava tubes and the free-diving haenyeo women. A hugely popular honeymoon spot, though heavily developed.

The spice island's Stone Town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the birthplace of Freddie Mercury, fronted by white-sand beaches and dhow-dotted waters. Its history as an East African slave-trade hub adds sobering weight.

Home to Spain's highest point, the volcano Teide at 3,715 m, and year-round mild weather that draws over five million tourists annually. The package-resort south can feel more concrete than paradise.

A Lake Huron island that has banned motor vehicles since 1898, so travel is by horse, bike, or foot. Charming and fudge-scented, but tiny and seasonal, shutting down for much of the frozen winter.

A historic amusement district and boardwalk, home to the landmarked Cyclone coaster (1927) and Nathan's July 4th hot dog contest. Iconic Americana, but now a peninsula and a shadow of its early-1900s heyday.

The world's smallest island nation was gutted by a century of phosphate strip-mining that left roughly 80% of the interior uninhabitable moonscape. Once briefly among the richest countries per capita, now economically hollowed out.

A cold, wind-lashed rock in San Francisco Bay that housed a maximum-security federal prison from 1934 to 1963, holding Al Capone. Fascinating to tour, but by design one of the least desirable islands to actually stay on.

Closed to the public by the Brazilian government because it teems with the critically endangered golden lancehead viper, by some estimates one snake per square meter. Its venom can melt human flesh; visits are effectively forbidden.

Home to the uncontacted Sentinelese, who violently repel all outsiders and killed an American missionary in 2018. India bans approach within a wide exclusion zone, making it perhaps the one island on Earth you truly cannot visit.