50 years since the first step on the Moon: Top 10 similar places on Earth

The free travel metasearch momondo.ro team found the places on Earth that look alike different parts of its natural satellite. On the 20th of July 1969 Neil Armstrong had set the first foot on the moon and even though many astronauts have enjoyed the original pictures, there are accessible ways for every traveler who wants to get a clearer idea of how the moon looks like from a few meters away.

The first place that closely resembles is really close, in Buzau County: Vulcanii Noroioși/Mud Volcanoes. About 150 km away from Bucharest, small volcanic structures, caused by mud eruptions and natural gas, guide every visitor on a serene looking journey.

America

Apollo 11 was the first US mission to land a human team 50 years ago. However, there are still places that reproduce the images on the same continent. The Bisti / De-Na-Zin Wilderness Area is located in the state of New Mexico and is an immense area (18,000 ha) of rocks and valleys of different shapes and colors formed in the space of an ancient sea.
On Maui Island, there is Haleakalā National Park, a place where volcanic formations make this space an ideal background for astronaut costumes pictures.
Going to the south of the continent, Salar de Uyuni (Bolivia) and Valle de la Luna (Chile) are two desert areas that look similar to the lunar land. Salt is a common element of the two areas, but differently arranged: in the first one it looks like a huge white carpet, while in the second one are oases or formations that resemble sculptures made by wind and water.

The average price of a round trip flight ticket in economy class:

Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness Area (New Mexico, USA) – Las Vegas (LAS): 835 EUR

Haleakalā National Park (Hawaii, USA) – Honolulu (HNL): 1113 EUR

Valle de la Luna (Chile) – Santiago (SCL): 992 EUR.

Europe

Romanian travelers can admire such landscapes in closer places too, enjoying lower airfare prices. Bardenas Reales is a semi-desert area in the northeastern part of Spain, with plains, canyons or tubular shapes sculpted by wind and water, as well as the specific bumps of this area (called cabezos). Without leaving the country, you can also visit the Timanfaya National Park, in the southwest of Lanzarote, part of the Canary Islands. Volcanic soil makes this park a good place for those in search for lunar images.
Also in the western part of the continent is Landmannalaugar, part of the Fjallabak Nature Reserve in the mountains of Iceland, formed after a volcanic eruption around the half of the second millennium. Besides the specific appearance with red / brown mountains, the area also attracts lovers of mountain trails or geothermal springs.

The average price of a round trip flight ticket in economy class:

Bardenas Reales – Zaragoza (ZAZ): 217 EUR / Bilbao (BIO): 191.5 EUR

Timanfaya – Lanzarote (ACE): 260 EUR

Landmannalaugar – Reykjavik (KEF): 367.5 EUR

Africa, Asia, Oceania

Long trips use to include locations as diverse as possible and the holidays become more and more intense memories when viewed through the backgrounds of the pictures.
In the southern part of Namibia is the Fish River Canyon, the largest canyon in Africa (160 km long, up to 27 km wide and depths up to 550 m). The 90 km route attracts hiking lovers around the world and is one of the most famous in the southern part of Africa.

Another moon-like landscape, but a bit more colorful one, is located in the central-northern part of China in Zhangye National Geopark. The most visited part is 30 km west of Zhangye town and attracts tourists mainly through rock formations of several hundred meters high with different layers of color.
In an even farther place (New Zealand) is Whakaari Island, whose almost circular shape is determined by an active volcano with a diameter of about 2 km and a height of 321 m above sea level. The interesting part is that this is just a peak of the submarine mountain who sits below the sea level and stretches at a height of about 1600 m from the seafloor. The landscapes on the island are largely dominated by the gray color of the rocks and columns formed by yellow sulfur vapors. Apart from a few birds, there are no other creatures on the island – just like on the moon!

The average price of a round trip flight ticket in economy class:

Fish River Canyon (Namibia) – Windhoek (WDH): 936 EUR

Zhangye National Geopark (China) – Chengdu (CTU): 646 EUR

Insula Whakaari (Noua Zeelandă) – Auckland (AKL): 1109.5 EUR