Back in 2001, the BBC aired a new nature documentary called Blue Planet. Narrated by the esteemed Sir David Attenborough, the show visited 35 locations over an astounding five years of filming.
We saw colour-changing walruses; the blue whale with its car-sized heart; the horror-movie style anglerfish, and we were, if you’ll forgive the pun, hooked.
Cut to present day. Attenborough is no longer just highly esteemed, but a much-loved British icon; some say the country’s grandfather. In the last 16 years, a further four series have aired under the Planet franchise.
Here at eShores, we were inspired. We’ve heard that the Attenborough’s shows have positively impacted travel and tourism around the world, and we wanted to know more.
So, we decided to find out every location that Attenborough has taken us to over the years and try to build it into the ultimate multi-centre holiday. Some places proved to be unreachable, but we managed to come up with an adventure as close as possible to walking in the footsteps of the film crew.
Along with the first series of Blue Planet, we looked at the 2006 series of Planet Earth, followed by Frozen Planet in 2011, Planet Earth 2 in 2016 and 2017’s Blue Planet II.
Here are the routes we put together for each series, along with a map showing every location of the complete Attenborough trip:
Blue Planet (2001)
Planet Earth (2006)
Frozen Planet (2011)
Planet Earth 2 (2016)
Blue Planet 2 (2017)
All Locations
The Attenborough Trip: In Numbers
Patience was a significant characteristic required by the crew, and if you wanted to emulate them as part of the ultimate wildlife-seekers holiday, you’ll probably need some too.
On a route that would take in every location across the six series, you’d have to embark on 175 plane journeys (there are trains and car hires along the way too). The most of which comes from the locations for Blue Planet II, where you’d need to board 37 planes to emulate Attenborough’s feat in that series alone.
Best take a good book or two with you too. You’ll clock up a mammoth 373,744 miles on your Attenborough-mimicking journey, including 103,976 just to visit the locations of Blue Planet I. Think of the air miles.
As you might have guessed, this trip of a lifetime can’t be done on the cheap. Taking in flights, travel and hotel stays, we estimate the cost at £402,220!
That price also includes a selection of Attenborough-inspired excursions, just to make sure you’re actually seeing these incredible locations along the way. Included in our final costings is a 9-day safari in South Africa, a 3-day scuba diving trip of the Great Barrier Reef, and even an 18-day trek to Mount Everest base camp (along with many others).
As for other locations that the five series’ have shot at, the list is far from brief! Did you spot those methane volcanoes erupting in Blue Planet II? They are located 650 metres deep in the Gulf of Mexico. Nearby Costa Rica and the Bahamas also featured in that series.
Meanwhile, of course, its predecessor Frozen Planet was filmed in 15 much icier spots, including many in the Arctic and Antarctic.
However, the series that covered the most locations was the original Planet Earth. It covered a staggering 66 different filming spots, from New Zealand to Norway, the West coast of Scotland to the Great Barrier Reef of Australia.
The shows have undoubtedly given every viewer a renewed desire to travel and see the world. After all, it looks incredible! But overcrowding is increasingly damaging cities like Venice and Santorini, something that Attenborough explains and demonstrates in the shows.
Thankfully, the Planet series seem to be having a different effect. Experts say that people are heeding Attenborough’s warnings, and predict travellers will increasingly venture to new destinations instead. ABTA research found that one in four travellers has plans to visit a country they’ve never been to before, with around one in three travellers hoping to tick a brand new city or resort from their bucket-list this year.
The welfare of the earth and sea is not the only impact the Planet series is having, however. A brighter light than ever is now shining on the wellbeing of animals, and travel agencies are taking important steps to do their part.
As Attenborough himself said at the close of Blue Planet II, “surely we have a responsibility to care for our blue planet.” He was not wrong.
So, here’s to you, David Attenborough. Thank you for showing us not just the world, but our entire, beautiful planet.
Why choose eShores?
One to One Service
Our experienced personal travel consultants will ensure you find the most suitable holiday, whilst taking care of every last detail. Everything from start to finish will be effortless.
100% Tailor Made
We can use any hotel, in any destination, so we will craft an itinerary to suit your exact needs. Also, as we can provide any itinerary, the only holiday we'll offer, is the one that's right for you.
Fully Protected
Our ATOL bonding provides you with the financial protection you need and as a member of the Travel Trust Association, you'll have 100% financial protection. Covering you for any eventuality.
Competitive Pricing
As a tour operator & travel agent, we'll search the market to ensure that we find you the best price. Also as an online business, we can ensure our prices are as competitive as possible.
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AlisonFletcher
Brilliant trip organised by Dave, included Helsinki, Tallin, Vilnius and Riga. (4 different countries) Everything ran smoothly. Dave organised hotels, flights, taxis, ferry and coach. Have used this company a few times and can't recommend highly enough they are fab 😀
Posted 2 days ago -
Sandra
As always, Chris was extremely helpful and knowledgeable. He gave me good advice on my travel plans and booked the holiday on my behalf. I've used eshores a number of times, and will continue to do so.
Posted 5 days ago -
Harrison
We haven’t been on our trip yet but based purely on the experience of booking the trip we are pleased with the result. It started with a bit of a hiccup as we spoke to a member of staff who never came back to us but when we reached back out again we were placed in the hands of Andy who has helped us book a 2 week trip to India including the golden triangle and then a few days on the beach. Andy was very patient with us with our changes to our tailor made holiday, even when we asked him to explore different areas only to revert back to the original plan. He also recommended moving the holiday back one week which created a saving of over £700 which meant we could upgrade the room for our beach stay in Goa. Andy was also available on weekends if we wanted to speak and regularly picked up the phone as opposed to keeping it to purely email dialogue. Hopefully the holiday will be amazing but based on the booking experience I would recommend eShores if you’re looking to book a tailor made holiday
Posted 5 days ago -
Wendy
I spoke to Lynette who was extremely helpful in understanding the trip that myself and my sister in law wanted from Thailand. Myself and my sister in law are both 72years young and we are really looking forward to our trip.
Posted 6 days ago -
Dawn
Excellent service from Matt at eShores. So very helpful and nothing was too much trouble. I booked Mya holiday after all his hard work finding me the perfect holiday that I wanted. Superb service and not pushy all all.
Posted 1 week ago -
Amrik
We have booked two big holidays this year for a group of 8 and a group of 10, Rachel has coordinated our holidays with the utmost excellence, during the consultation we changed countires hotels and even flights but it did not phase Rachel one bit. Exceeds customer expectations by helping advising and supporting throughout the holiday. We are off to Thailand and Dubai in August and then followed by India and Thailand in November, I have rang emailed Rachel many times during the booking and I got very prompt responses even on her days off. Rachel is a credit to EShores and EShores is setting standards regarding customer focus.
Posted 1 week ago -
IainWilliam
I can’t praise Lynette at EShores enough. She has organised my trips perfectly to the point that I wouldn’t use anyone else. She listens to what I want or to the problem I have and comes up with a solution. Nothing is too much trouble. Try them out yourselves and I bet you become a repeater too!
Posted 1 week ago -
Kevin
At short notice, I needed a quote to travel through the USA (July the 20th) I emailed eShores with an idea of what I wanted to do, within a short period of time I had a response from Matthew, After several amendments to my holiday which wasn't any trouble to Matthew, Holiday all booked, now looking forward to travelling through the USA Have to say, the service I had through eShores was fantastic, well done Matthew for working through the changes,
Posted 1 week ago -
Marcus
Dealt with Adam who was great, I went back and forth many times, nothing was a problem for him. We got there in the end and Adam arranged a 3 place holiday to Malaysia and Singapore. We go on 5th August, will if update review when we return. EShores so far brilliant hats of to Adam.
Posted 1 week ago -
Jill
We as a family used eShores last year to go to USA, and they were brilliant, my husband and 1 are going to Italy with them this September and we have just booked again to go back to USA with them next May, very efficient and Matt is lovely to deal with
Posted 1 week ago