The planet’s best unearthly landscapes

How’s this for a space oddity? Forty years have passed since the historic Apollo moon landing, and yet the prospect of space tourism remains as distant as ever. Just as well, then, that getting that out-of-this-world feeling without leaving the planet is easier to do than a Vulcan salute.

So all you cosmic cadets, moonwalkers and astral travelers out there – prepare for lift off, as we take you to some of our favorite outer-space hotspots here on earth.

Lonely Planet: The world’s most unusual beaches

Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon), Chile

Buzz Aldrin could have been talking about Chile’s Valle de la Luna when he described the moon’s ‘magnificent desolation’. Strange lunar landforms eroded by eons of wild weather crowd the horizon; bleak dunes and distant volcanoes amp up the surreality. For maximum impact, visit at sunset, when the valley is bathed in an unearthly purple, pink and gold glow…

Volcanic Iceland

Dotted with dramatic steaming fumaroles, bubbling mudpots, weird rock formations and lava fields, Iceland is a sci-film waiting to happen. The starkly beautiful and gloriously strange landscapes around Mývatn will make you question what planet you’re on.

Southeastern Utah, USA

Mars is closer than you think! Canyonlands and Arches National Parks in southeastern Utah give the Red Planet a run for its intergalactic money with their rugged arches, bridges, needles, spires, craters, mesas and buttes. Touch down in high summer for that extra blast of Martian intensity.

Lac Abbé, Djibouti

“…seen from out here everything seems different. Time bends. Space is boundless.” Gazing awestruck upon Lac Abbé’s natural smoking ‘chimneys’ and vast, eerie salt plains, you may recall these words spoken by astronaut George Taylor in “Planet of the Apes.” Well, he should know: the movie was filmed here!

Lonely Planet: Soaking in Iceland’s social scene

Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia

This immense, shimmering sea of salt will haunt your daydreams for years to come. In fact, such is Salar de Uyuni’s breath-taking, blinding-white otherworldliness, it might just send you into interstellar overdrive.

Cappadocia, Turkey

With its exquisite fairy chimneys, valleys of cascading cliffs, and labyrinthine underground cities, Cappadocia is outer space as it might have been imagined by Jim Henson: picturesque and endearing.

Lanzarote, Canary Islands

The extraordinary volcanic moonscape of central Lanzarote would make Armstrong and Aldrin feel right at home. The glowing green waters of El Golfo Crater might even tempt them to shrug off those cumbersome spacesuits and go for a paddle…

Nazca Lines, Peru

Was Erich Von Daniken onto something? One of Peru’s most impressive and enigmatic sights, the mysterious Nazca Lines could easily be mistaken for the doodlings of ancient astronauts. Deep in desolate desert, and only visible from the air, these mysterious lines will certainly stir your imagination…

Great Barrier Reef, Whitsunday Islands, Australia

Plunge beneath the waves into the technicolor parallel universe that is the Great Barrier Reef. No spaced-out superlative could do this coral wonderland justice; no cinematic alien could come close to the marvelous marine critters that call it home…

Nubra Valley, Ladakh, India

Sometimes known as ‘Moonland’, Ladakh is bound by mountains and comprised of mountains. Human habitation is sparse, and during the wild winter months, the region is only marginally easier to reach than the moon itself. The imposing, inhospitable Nubra Valley is its wild lunar heart.

Lonely Planet: The world’s hottest cool places