Login
Login

List of women explorers and travelers

{{Short description|none}}

File:BellK 218 Gertrude Bell in Iraq in 1909 age 41.jpg in Iraq, 1909]]

File:Cabra Graphic.jpg]]

File:Junko Tabei.jpg]]

File:Mocsáry Béláné.jpg]]

File:Aloha Wanderwell publicity photo.jpg

The women listed below are or were explorers or world travelers. They include naturalists, sailors, mountain climbers, dog sledders, swimmers, pilots, and underwater explorers. Astronauts are not included here but in the list of women astronauts.

class="wikitable sortable"

! Name

!Nationality !! Born !! Died !! Achievement/s

data-sort-value="Adams, Harriet" | Harriet Chalmers Adams

|American

18751937Explored and photographed South America, Asia, South Pacific
data-sort-value="Aebi, Tania" | Tania Aebi

|American

1966Held the record as the youngest person and first American woman to sail solo around the world (with stops and assistance)
Alexis Alford

|American

|1998

|

|Youngest person to travel to every country in the world

data-sort-value="Aston, Felicity" | Felicity Aston

|British

1977First person to ski alone across the Antarctic land-mass using only personal muscle power, as well as the first woman to cross the Antarctic land-mass alone
data-sort-value="Arduin, Dominick" | Dominick Arduin

|French

19602004Disappeared on her attempt to become the first woman to ski alone to the North Pole
data-sort-value="Bailey, Florence Augusta Merriam" |Florence Augusta Merriam Bailey

|American

18631948American ornithologist and nature writer, who conducted extensive field work in the American West
data-sort-value="Bancroft, Ann" |Ann Bancroft

|American

1955First woman to travel over the ice cap to the North and South Poles
data-sort-value="Baré, Jeanne" | Jeanne Baré

|French

17401807First woman (disguised as a man) to circumnavigate the world
data-sort-value="Batten, Jean" | Jean Batten

|New Zealander

19091982First person to fly between England and New Zealand solo - broke other records
data-sort-value="Beckwith, Carol"| Carol Beckwith

|American

|1945

|

|Photographer, author, and filmmaker known for documenting the tribal cultures of Africa, most notably in partnership with Australian photographer Angela Fisher

data-sort-value="Bell, Gertrude" |Gertrude Bell

|British

18681926Explored and mapped the region of Syria, Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, Arabia
data-sort-value="Benham, Gertrude" |Gertrude Benham

|British

18671938Explorer, hiker and mountaineer; Truda Peaks of Mount Rogers is named after her
data-sort-value="Bent, Mabel" |Mabel Bent

|Anglo-Irish

18471929Explored and excavated with her husband James Theodore Bent in the Eastern Mediterranean, South Africa and Southern Arabia
data-sort-value="Bingham, Laura" |Laura Bingham

|British

1992Executed expedition to cross continent of South America with no money
data-sort-value="Bird, Isabella" |Isabella Bird

|British

18311904Explorer, writer and naturalist who travelled by herself through

North America, Hawaii, Japan, Korea, China, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, India, Persia, Kurdistan, Turkey, and Morocco

data-sort-value="Bird-Walton, Nancy" |Nancy Bird-Walton

|Australian

19152009Australian aviation pioneer
data-sort-value="Bly, Nellie" |Nellie Bly

|American

18641922Pioneering journalist who travelled around the world in 72 days, the first person to do so
data-sort-value="Boarelli, Alessandra" |Alessandra Boarelli

|Italian

18381908Italian mountaineer and the first woman to summit Monviso in the Alps in 1864
data-sort-value="Bougault, Laurence" |Laurence Bougault

|French

19702018French poet and long-distance horseback adventurer in Africa, Middle East and Europe
data-sort-value="Bourbonnaud, Louise" |Louise Bourbonnaud

|French

18471915French philanthropist, explorer and writer who traveled alone through North and South America and the Far East
data-sort-value="Boyd, Louise Arner" |Louise Arner Boyd

|American

18871972Explored Greenland and the Arctic
Beatrix Bulstrode

|British

|1869

|1951

|Journalist and writer who traveled through China and Mongolia in 1911–1913

data-sort-value="Butcher, Susan" |Susan Butcher

|American

19542006Dog musher in Alaska
data-sort-value="Cabra, Berthe" |Berthe Cabra

|Belgian

18641947Belgian traveller, first European woman to travel across central Africa from East to West
data-sort-value="Canary , Martha" |Calamity Jane

|American

18521903American frontierswoman and professional scout, known for her claim of being an acquaintance of Wild Bill Hickok and for fighting Indigenous peoples of the Americas
data-sort-value="Charlotte, Cameron" |Charlotte Cameron

|American

1872 or 18731946American traveller and author
data-sort-value="Chlumska, Renata" |Renata Chlumska

|Czech and Swedish

1973Climbed Mount Everest, kayaked and bicycled around lower 48 states of USA
data-sort-value="Chojnowska, Krystyna" | Krystyna Chojnowska-Liskiewicz

|Polish

19362021First woman to sail solo around the world
data-sort-value="Cottee" |Kay Cottee

|Australian

1954First woman to sail solo, non-stop around the world
data-sort-value="Coudreau, Octavie" |Octavie Coudreau

|French

{{circa|1870|sortable=yes}}{{circa|1910|sortable=yes}}Early explorer and geographer of the Amazon region in Brazil and French Guiana
data-sort-value="Crocker, Aimée" |Aimée Crocker

|American

18641941Heiress, writer spent a decade exploring the Far East in the 1890s; toured the interior of Java and Borneo
data-sort-value="Danenberg, Sophia" |Sophia Danenberg

|American

1972First black woman to reach summit of Mount Everest
data-sort-value="Dautheville, Anne-France" |Anne-France Dautheville

|French

c.1943First woman to motorcycle solo around the world
data-sort-value="David, Alexandra" |Alexandra David-Néel

|French

18681969Travelled to Tibet while closed to foreigners
data-sort-value="Davidson, Robyn" |Robyn Davidson

|Australian

1950{{convert|1700|mi|km|order=flip|abbr=on}} camel trek from Alice Springs to the west coast of Australia
data-sort-value="DePecol, Cassandra" |Cassandra De Pecol

|American

1989

|

Traveled to all sovereign nations on a trip from July 24, 2015, to February 2, 2017; she thus obtained the Guinness World Record for "Fastest Person (Female) to Travel to All Sovereign Nations" and is the first documented woman, fastest American, and youngest American to do such a trip{{cite web|last=McNulty |first=Rose |url=http://www.mensfitness.com/life/travel/how-cassandra-depecol-became-first-woman-travel-every-country-planet-and-stayed-insanely |title=How Cassandra De Pecol became the first woman to travel every country on the planet—and stayed insanely fit |publisher=Mensfitness.com |access-date=2017-02-14}}
data-sort-value="Dekker, Laura" |Laura Dekker

|Dutch, German, and New Zealander

1995Youngest person to sail around world solo
data-sort-value="Dickson, Eva" | Eva Dickson

|Swedish

19051938Swedish explorer, aviator, travel writer and rally driver; first woman to cross the Sahara by car
data-sort-value="Drummond, Lady Hay"| Lady Hay Drummond-Hay

|British

18951946First woman to circumnavigate the world by air (by zeppelin)
data-sort-value="Durham, Edith" | Edith Durham

|British

18631944Explored Albania and the Balkans
data-sort-value="Earhart, Amelia" | Amelia Earhart

|American

18971937First woman to fly solo across Atlantic
data-sort-value="Eberhardt, Isabelle" | Isabelle Eberhardt

|Swiss

18771904Swiss explorer and writer in Algeria, who converted to Islam and traveled freely dressed as a man
data-sort-value="Ederle, Gertrude" | Gertrude Ederle

|American

19052003First woman to swim English Channel
data-sort-value="Fiennes, Ginny" | Ginny Fiennes

|British

19472004First woman to be awarded the Polar Medal, and architect of the Transglobe Expedition{{cite news |title=Lady Virginia Fiennes Wife of explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes and first woman to receive the Polar Medal |url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/12516822.lady-virginia-fiennes-wife-of-explorer-sir-ranulph-fiennes-and-first-woman-to-receive-the-polar-medal/ |access-date=21 May 2024 |work=The Herald (Glasgow) |date=25 February 2004}}
data-sort-value="Gordon-Gallien, Enid" | Enid Gordon-Gallien

|British

{{circa|1887|sortable=yes}}1931Explored and mapped Kalambo Falls
data-sort-value="Hillary, Barbara" | Barbara Hillary

|American

19312019First African American woman to reach North Pole
data-sort-value="Hosmer, Dorothy" | Dorothy Hosmer

|American

19112008Photographer and travel writer, first woman freelance contributor to the National Geographic magazine
data-sort-value="Johnson, Amy" | Amy Johnson

|British

19031941Pioneering aviator who set long-distance flying records
data-sort-value="Johnson, Osa" | Osa Johnson

|American

18941953Made films of and wrote books about travels in Africa, South Pacific, Borneo

|data-sort-value="Kaltenbrunner, Gerlinde" | Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner

|Austrian

| 1970

First woman to climb all fourteen eight-thousander mountains without supplementary oxygen
data-sort-value="Karlin, Alma" | Alma Maximiliana Karlin

|Slovene

| 1889

1950World traveler, writer, poet, polyglot and theosophist; second European woman to circle the world solo; in an eight-year travel, she explored North and South America, Oceania, Australia, East Asia, and India
data-sort-value="Kingsley, Mary" | Mary Kingsley

|British

| 1862

1900Ethnographer and explorer of West Africa
Belinda Kirk

|British

|{{circa|1974|sortable=yes}}

|

|Founder of Explorers Connect; has travelled across Africa, Nicaragua, and the Chinese Taklamakan Desert; captained the first all-female rowing team to circumnavigate Britain non-stop

data-sort-value="Kutincheva, Lyuba" | Lyuba Kutincheva

|Bulgarian

|1910

|1998

| Bulgarian traveler and polyglot who traveled for almost a decade (1929–1938) through the Middle East, Far East, northern Africa and Europe

data-sort-value="Legendre, Gertrude Sanford" | Gertrude Sanford Legendre

|American

|1902

|2000

|American socialite who was a noted explorer and big-game hunter; contributed rare specimens from Africa, Iran, Southeast Asia, Canada, and Alaska to natural history museums

data-sort-value="Londonderry, Annie" | Annie Londonderry

|Latvian American

| 1870

1947First woman to bicycle around the world
data-sort-value="Maillart, Ella " | Ella Maillart

|Swiss

| 1903

1997Explorer and travel writer in Asia from the late 1920s through to World War II; wrote Forbidden Journey – From Peking to Kashmir
data-sort-value="Mansfield, Charlotte" | Charlotte Mansfield

|British

| 1881

1936Wrote Via Rhodesia (1911) about her travels in Southern Africa
data-sort-value="Markham, Beryl" | Beryl Markham

|British

| 1902

1986British-born Kenyan aviator (one of the first bush pilots), adventurer, racehorse trainer and author; first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic from east to west
data-sort-value="Marquis, Sarah" | Sarah Marquis

|Swiss

| 1972

Swiss adventurer and explorer who walked {{convert|10000|mi|km|order=flip|abbr=on}} across Asia, Siberia and Australia
data-sort-value="Maxwell, Nicole" | Nicole Maxwell

|American

| 1906

1998Traveled the Amazon jungle gathering plants for natural remedies and medical use, reportedly amassing over 600 plants; wrote Witch Doctor's Apprentice: Hunting for Medicinal Plants in the Amazon
data-sort-value="Mazuchelli, Elizabeth Sarah " | Elizabeth Sarah Mazuchelli

|British

| 1832

1914Reportedly first western woman to see Mount Everest; wrote The Indian Alps and How We Crossed Them
data-sort-value="Meakin, Annette" | Annette Meakin

|British

| 1867

1959First Englishwoman{{citation needed|date=February 2020}} to cross the Trans-Siberian Railway; wrote about this in The Ribbon of Iron; travelled in Russian Turkestan and other parts of Russia
data-sort-value="Mexia, Ynes" | Ynes Mexia

|Mexican-American

| 1870

1938Mexican botanist and explorer who started her career at age 55; discovered one new genus (Mexianthus) and many new species of plants
date-sort-value="Mock, Jerrie" |Jerrie Mock

|American

|1925

2014First woman pilot to circumnavigate the world, flew solo in 1964 in her plane Spirit of Columbus from and to the Port Columbus International Airport in Ohio
data-sort-value="Mocsary, Belane" | Béláné Mocsáry

|Hungarian

| 1845

1917Hungarian geographer and travel writer who journeyed solo to four continents in the early 1900s
data-sort-value="Murphy, Dervla" | Dervla Murphy

|Irish

| 1931

2022Irish travel writer known for cycling alone through Europe, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan to India
data-sort-value="North, Marianne" | Marianne North

|British

| 1830

1890Prolific English Victorian biologist and botanical artist
data-sort-value="O'Brien, Vanessa" | Vanessa O'Brien

|American and British

| 1964

First woman to reach Earth's highest (Mt. Everest 8,848m) and lowest points (Challenger Deep 10,925m)
data-sort-value="Pfeiffer, Ida" | Ida Pfeiffer

|Austrian

| 1797

1858Travelled alone around the world in 1847, published books of her numerous travels
data-sort-value="Pine, Dorothy" | Dorothy Pine

|American

| 1920

2011Possibly first woman to visit all 193 UN-recognised countries
data-sort-value="Pinheiro, Anésia" | Anésia Pinheiro Machado

|Brazilian

| 1904

1999Second Brazilian licensed female pilot in Brazil
data-sort-value="Puigaudeau, Odette du" | Odette du Puigaudeau

|French

| 1894

1991made three trips to northern Africa to conduct field research among the nomads of the western Sahara region and eventually moved to Morocco
Teresa Remiszewska

|Polish

|1928

|2002

|first Polish woman to make a solo sailing voyage around the Baltic Sea, using the yacht Zenit, taking a 690-mile route

data-sort-value="Rice, Kate" | Kate Rice

|Canadian

| 1882

1963First woman prospector in Northern Canada, writer, and trapper well known for her dog sled abilities
data-sort-value="Robertson, Ruth" | Ruth Robertson

|American

|1905

|1998American photojournalist, pilot and explorer who led the successful expedition which measured Angel Falls, as the highest waterfall in the world.
data-sort-value="Rutkiewicz, Wanda" | Wanda Rutkiewicz

|Polish

| 1943

1992Polish mountain climber, first woman to successfully summit K2
data-sort-value="Saint-Pierre, Vefa de" | Vefa de Saint-Pierre

|French

| 1872

1967Global voyager and hunter traveling across North and South America and Australia, writing about her adventures
data-sort-value="Salak, Kira" | Kira Salak

|American

| 1971

Travelled in Mali and Papua New Guinea
data-sort-value="Schwarzenbach, Annemarie" | Annemarie Schwarzenbach

|Swiss

| 1908

1942Journalist and photographer, travelled to Iran, Afghanistan, Africa
Eliza Scidmore

|American

|1856

|1928

|Journalist and travel writer on Alaska and Far East; introduced idea of Japanese cherry trees to Washington, D.C.

data-sort-value="Smeeton, Beryl" | Beryl Smeeton

|British

| 1905

1979Mountaineer, cruising sailor, overland traveller
data-sort-value="Smith Peck, Annie" | Annie Smith Peck

|American

| 1850

1935First person to climb Mount Nevado Huascarán in the Andes
data-sort-value="Solomonides, Stephanie" | Stephanie Solomonides

|Cypriot

| 1982

First Cypriot person to reach North and South Poles
data-sort-value="Stanhope, Hester" | Hester Stanhope

|British

| 1776

1839Conducted first modern archaeology in Holy Land; travelled dressed as a man (unveiled)
data-sort-value="Stark, Freya" | Freya Stark

|British and Italian (French born)

| 1893

1993Travelled within and wrote about the Middle East, including the Arabian deserts, Afghanistan
data-sort-value="Stevenson, Matilda Coxe"| Matilda Coxe Stevenson

|American

| 1849

1915Ethnologist and geologist who explored the Rocky Mountain region and the Southwest U.S.
data-sort-value="Stinnes, Clärenore"| Clärenore Stinnes

|German

| 1901

1990First woman to circumnavigate the world by automobile
data-sort-value="Swale-Pope, Rosie" | Rosie Swale-Pope

|Swiss, Irish, and British

| 1946

Has run, walked and sailed around the world
data-sort-value="Tabei, Junko" | Junko Tabei

|Japanese

| 1939

2016First woman to reach summit of Mount Everest
data-sort-value="Taylor, Annie" | Annie Edson Taylor

|American

| 1838

1921First person to survive a trip over the Niagara Falls in a barrel
data-sort-value="Thorbjarnardóttir, Gudrid"| Gudrid Thorbjarnardóttir

|Icelandic

| 980

1019With her husband, led an expedition to North America
data-sort-value="Tinne, Alexine"| Alexine Tinne

|Dutch

| 1835

1869Dutch explorer in Africa and the first European woman to attempt to cross the Sahara
data-sort-value="Van Buren, Adeline" | Adeline Van Buren

|American

| 1889

1949Along with her sister Augusta Van Buren, the first women to ride solo motorcycles across the continental US
data-sort-value="Van Buren, Augusta" | Augusta Van Buren

|American

| 1884

1959Along with her sister Adeline Van Buren, the first women to ride solo motorcycles across the continental US
data-sort-value="Vassal, Gabrielle Maud" | Gabrielle Maud Vassal

|British

| 1880

1959Naturalist in Vietnam, Congo, Gabon
data-sort-value="Wanderwell, Aloha" | Aloha Wanderwell

|Canadian

| 1906

1996First woman to drive around the world
data-sort-value="Watson, Jessica" | Jessica Watson

|Australian and New Zealander

| 1993

Youngest person to sail non-stop and unassisted around the world (but did not fulfil WSSRC criteria)
data-sort-value="Workman, Fanny" | Fanny Bullock Workman

|American

| 1859

1925American cartographer, explored glaciers in Himalayas

|

See also

{{Div col|small=yes}}

{{Div col end}}

References

{{reflist}}

explorers