10 Orange Places Around the World That’ll Brighten Your Day

The otherworldly Antelope Canyon is a monumental work of nature that was sculpted by millions of years of water and wind. At midday, the sun beams down shafts of light that reach the canyon floor and illuminates the orange, pink, and gold sandstone walls. Located on private land in the Navajo Nation, Antelope Canyon can only be accessed by tour. Many travelers visit on photography tours that focus on capturing the colors and shapes of the canyon's sinuous walls, or on combination tours that also visit Lake Powell or nearby Horseshoe Bend.

The seemingly endless row of fiery-orange torii (Japanese Shinto gates) that lead to Fushimi Inari Taisha is an image that has been immortalized in countless Instagram posts. Nevertheless, the vivid orange vision still evokes a sense of wonder in visitors to the shrine. The gates line a pathway that leads through the forest of the sacred Mt. Inari, creating a stunning canopy of color to enjoy during your forest stroll. Guided tours offer insights into the shrine’s many intricate symbols and can take you off the beaten path on nearby hiking trails.

Perhaps the world’s most famous rock, the sandstone monolith of Uluru is much more than mere eye candy. Sacred to the Pitjantjatjara, the Aboriginal people of the Central Australian Desert who call themselves Anangu, Uluru is a sacred cultural landscape and resting place for ancient spirits. Uluru is also a UNESCO-listed World Heritage site and, together with Kata Tjuta, makes up the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. Tour Uluru and its surroundings with an Indigenous guide then watch the setting sun color it a fiery orange.

Set amid rugged canyons, between the Red Sea and the Dead Sea in Jordan’s southwestern desert, the ancient Nabataean city of Petra was carved directly into steep orange, red, and pink sandstone cliffs more than 2,300 years ago. Today, Bedouin and other local guides welcome visitors to the UNESCO World Heritage site and the surrounding area where there are opportunities for hiking, camping, and following in the Nabataeans’ footsteps along ancient trade routes.

Deadvlei, a white clay pan inside the Namib-Naukluft Park, has a name that translates to “dead marsh”—and, for the most part, it is. Skeletal trees dot its bleached and cracked clay surface, appearing like something out of a Gothic fairy tale. But, surrounding this eerie “dead” zone are towering sand dunes in life-affirming hues of vibrant orange, creating one of the most spectacular natural wonders in southern Africa. Multi-day guided tours departing from Windhoek can get you there.

In a city as frequently folded in fog as San Francisco, you need to stand out. And the Golden Gate Bridge, one of the most recognizable bridges in the world, certainly does that. The majestic suspension bridge is painted in a warm vermillion shade that is known as “international orange” and selected for its visibility to passing ships—in Lisbon, the Ponte 25 de Abril (25th of April Bridge) wears the same color. Baker Beach provides a great view of the Golden Gate Bridge and visitors can get close to San Francisco’s grand span by walking or cycling across.

Set on the edge of the shape-shifting sands of the mighty Sahara Desert, the dusty little town of Merzouga is the gateway to the vast dunes of Erg Chebbi which turn rich shades of orange and pink as the sun sets. From Merzouga, visitors can join a camel safari into the desert and take part in a variety of adventures, from quad bike tours and ATV safaris to sandboarding and sleeping under the starry skies.

This rusty, orange-hued lake may appear inhospitable, but it provides a home to a variety of wildlife including pumas, viscachas, llamas, alpacas, and vast numbers of rare puna flamingos (also known as James’ flamingos). Red algae and sediment give the shallow salt lake its peculiar hue and massive borax deposits have created chalk-white islands on the surface. The Bolivian altiplano is home to some astonishingly otherworldly landscapes, so visit with a guided tour that also takes you to Salar de Uyuni.

With the flaming oranges and russet reds of its terracotta buildings; its warren of medieval streets; and its elegant, UNESCO-heritage porticoes, Bologna looks as though it were designed specially to adorn postcards and Instagram feeds. But the so-called “Learned City” doesn’t get by on its looks alone: it’s home to the oldest university in the world and a large student population that gives it an unmistakably cosmopolitan character. Bologna’s cuisine has earned it the alternative nickname, the “Fat City,” so get a taste of some of Italy’s most beloved dishes on a food tour.

On the full moon night of the 12th month of the Thai lunar calendar (usually in November in the Gregorian calendar), the skies over Chiang Mai glow orange with thousands of lanterns (khom loy). This is the Yi Peng Festival, a celebration that dates back to the ancient Lan Na Kingdom, which emerged in the 13th century and is still celebrated today together with the Loy Krathong festival. You can join in with the festivities by buying your own lantern on the street and releasing it to symbolically let go of the previous year’s misfortunes.