Isolation has always fascinated travelers seeking authentic experiences away from tourist crowds. Remote communities offer a glimpse into lives adapted to extreme conditions, unique cultural practices, and stunning natural landscapes untouched by mass tourism.
Despite their remoteness, each settlement welcomes intrepid visitors willing to journey—though getting there is often half the adventure. Here is a list of 20 of the most isolated human settlements on Earth that you can visit:
Tristan da Cunha, United Kingdom
Tristan da Cunha is a remote island in the South Atlantic Ocean, 1,500 miles from the nearest continent. Its journey requires a six-day boat trip from Cape Town, South Africa, as the island has no airstrip.
The 250 residents share just nine surnames and welcome visitors who arrange permits in advance and are willing to adapt to the island’s limited infrastructure.
Ittoqqortoormiit, Greenland
Located on Greenland’s eastern coast, Ittoqqortoormiit is home to around 350 people who live in colorful houses surrounded by the world’s largest national park. Residents prioritize hunting polar bears, musk oxen, and seals, maintaining traditional Inuit practices despite the harsh Arctic climate.
During the brief summer season, visitors can reach this settlement via helicopter from a nearby airport or on expedition cruises.
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Supai Village, Arizona
Nestled in the Grand Canyon, Supai Village is the capital of the Havasupai Indian Reservation and can only be reached by helicopter, horseback, or an 8-mile hike. Mail is still delivered by mule to this settlement of about 200 people, making it the only place in America where mail is transported this way.
Visitors must reserve permits months in advance to experience the village’s famous turquoise waterfalls and unique cultural isolation.
Pitcairn Island, United Kingdom
Home to just 50 people, mainly descendants of the HMS Bounty mutineers, Pitcairn Island sits in the South Pacific with no airstrip and only quarterly supply ship visits. The islanders speak a unique dialect blending 18th-century English with Tahitian, reflecting their unusual heritage.
Travelers can visit by booking passage on supply vessels from New Zealand, though they should be prepared for a multi-day journey and basic accommodations in locals’ homes.
La Rinconada, Peru
Perched at 16,700 feet in the Peruvian Andes, La Rinconada is the world’s highest permanent settlement. Nearly 50,000 people live in harsh conditions to work the gold mines. The thin air contains roughly half the oxygen found at sea level, causing many visitors to experience altitude sickness.
Despite difficult living conditions and no plumbing or sanitation system, the settlement welcomes adventurous travelers who can endure the winding mountain roads and extreme elevation.
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Oymyakon, Russia
Known as the coldest permanently inhabited place on Earth, Oymyakon in Siberia has recorded temperatures of -90° F, when eyelashes can freeze. The 500 residents live without running water, as pipes freeze solid, and cars must be kept running continuously during winter.
Visitors typically arrive via a two-day drive from Yakutsk along the aptly named ‘Road of Bones’ during winter, when the frozen rivers create natural ice bridges.
Palmerston Island, Cook Islands
On Palmerston Island in the South Pacific, all 35 residents are descendants of one Englishman who arrived in 1863 with three wives. The island receives supply ships just a few times yearly, and residents still use traditional outrigger canoes for fishing and transportation.
Adventurous travelers can visit by arranging passage on passing yachts and then staying with local families who operate a rotation system to host the rare visitors who make it to their shores.
Coober Pedy, Australia
To escape the blistering outback heat that regularly exceeds 120°F, most of Coober Pedy’s 1,700 residents live underground in homes carved into the sandstone. The town produces most of the world’s opal supply, attracting miners and adventurers seeking fortune in the harsh landscape.
Visitors can reach this unique settlement via a long drive through the Outback or flights to the small local airstrip, where they can stay in underground hotels and explore subterranean churches and shops.
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Socotra Island, Yemen
The otherworldly landscape of Socotra Island is home to over 50,000 people, and hundreds of plants and animals found nowhere else on Earth, including the iconic dragon blood trees. Traditional life on this UNESCO World Heritage site has remained largely unchanged for centuries, with many residents still living in caves and practicing subsistence fishing and herding.
Despite Yemen’s ongoing conflict, limited tourism to the island is possible via weekly flights from Abu Dhabi for travelers willing to navigate the complex visa process.
Longyearbyen, Svalbard
As the northernmost town with over 1,000 residents, Longyearbyen experiences four months of complete darkness during winter and has polar bear warning systems throughout the settlement. The town has an unusual law forbidding dying, as bodies don’t decompose in the permafrost and must be sent to the mainland.
Regular flights from Oslo make this Arctic community surprisingly accessible to visitors, who can experience dog sledding, view the northern lights, and tour the Global Seed Vault.
Villa Las Estrellas, Antarctica
One of the few civilian settlements in Antarctica, Villa Las Estrellas is a Chilean research station where families must have their appendixes removed before moving there due to limited medical facilities. About 100 residents in summer and 80 in winter maintain a school, post office, and bank in this remote outpost.
During the Antarctic summer, tourists can visit via expedition cruises, stay in basic accommodations, and experience life at the bottom of the world.
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Easter Island, Chile
Easter Island is one of the most isolated islands in the world. It is 2,300 miles from Chile’s coast and famous for its massive stone moai statues. The 7,750 residents, mostly of Polynesian descent, maintain many traditional customs while adapting to the growing tourism industry.
Daily flights from Santiago make this remote outpost more accessible than many others on this list, though its extreme isolation has created a unique cultural identity worth experiencing.
Kerguelen Islands, French Southern Territories
Known as the ‘Desolation Islands,’ the Kerguelen archipelago hosts about 100 scientists, military personnel, and support staff who rotate through this subantarctic research station. The islands have no indigenous population but are home to abundant wildlife, including elephant seals, penguins, and introduced reindeer.
Visitors can only reach the islands on occasional supply ships from Reunion Island, requiring advance permission from French authorities and a journey of several weeks.
Barrow (Utqiagvik), Alaska
The northernmost settlement in the United States, Utqiagvi, experiences 65 days of darkness during winter when the sun doesn’t rise above the horizon. Many 4,500 residents still practice traditional Iñupiat subsistence hunting of bowhead whales and caribou alongside modern jobs.
Regular commercial flights from Anchorage make this Arctic community surprisingly accessible to tourists interested in experiencing polar culture and viewing the midnight sun or northern lights, depending on the season.
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Badakhshan Province, Afghanistan
In Afghanistan’s northeastern corner, remote villages in the Wakhan Corridor sit nestled among 20,000-foot peaks, where locals have little contact with the outside world. The mainly ethnic Kyrgyz and Wakhi people maintain traditional pastoral lifestyles, leading their livestock to high pastures during the summer months.
Despite Afghanistan’s complicated political situation, the Wakhan Corridor remains one of the country’s safest regions. Determined travelers can arrange guided treks to experience this ancient way of life.
St. Helena Island, United Kingdom
Famous as Napoleon Bonaparte’s final place of exile, St. Helena now has around 4,500 residents and received its first airport only in 2016, ending its dependence on a five-day boat journey from Cape Town. The island’s isolation has created unique ecosystems, including at least 500 endemic species and distinctive local traditions blending British, African, and Asian influences.
Visitors can now fly from Johannesburg to experience this remote Atlantic outpost with its colonial architecture, rugged landscapes, and famously friendly locals known as ‘Saints.’
Motuo County, Tibet
Until 2013, Motuo was the last county in China without road access, requiring visitors to hike for days through mountain passes often blocked by snow. Tibetan Buddhists consider this isolated region sacred, believing it to be a hidden paradise described in ancient texts.
The area’s biodiversity spans tropical, subtropical, and alpine ecosystems within a small area, making it a fascinating destination for adventurous travelers willing to undertake the challenging journey.
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Hanga Roa, Chile
Located on the remote Pacific island of Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Hanga Roa is home to nearly all of the island’s 7,750 inhabitants. The village serves as the gateway to the island’s mysterious moai statues, massive stone figures carved by the ancestors of today’s residents.
Despite being one of Earth’s most isolated inhabited places, daily flights from mainland Chile bring a steady stream of tourists to experience this unique Polynesian culture and its archaeological wonders.
Siwa Oasis, Egypt
Surrounded by hundreds of miles of empty desert, the ancient Siwa Oasis has remained culturally distinct from the rest of Egypt with its own Amazigh (Berber) language and traditions. The 33,000 residents live among date palm groves and freshwater springs that have sustained human settlement for thousands of years.
Accessible via a long desert drive from the Mediterranean coast, the oasis welcomes visitors to experience its unique mud-brick architecture, ancient temples, and therapeutic hot springs.
Adamstown, Pitcairn Islands
With fewer than 50 permanent residents, Adamstown is not only the only settlement on Pitcairn Island but also the smallest capital in the world. The entire population descends from nine Bounty mutineers and their Tahitian companions, who settled here in 1790 after fleeing British naval justice.
Visitors who make the arduous journey are welcomed into local homes, as the island has no hotels, providing an intimate glimpse into one of the world’s most isolated communities.
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The Final Frontier
The isolation of these settlements reveals humanity’s remarkable adaptability to extreme environments, from Arctic tundra to scorching deserts and remote islands. Each community has developed unique solutions to the challenges of their environment while maintaining connections to the outside world, however tenuous.
As transportation technology advances, these once-unreachable places become increasingly accessible to travelers seeking authentic experiences beyond the familiar tourist trail—though the journey remains a significant part of what makes visiting them so meaningful.
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