Top choice in Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
Rapa Nui's most luxurious establishment, this property blends into a forested patch of volcano-singed countryside. Rooms, all overlooking the Pacific and fiery sunsets, are abundant with indigenous materials (local Rauli wood, volcanic stone) that instill a sense of place. Prices include meals, drinks and top-quality excursions.
One proviso: it feels a bit cut off from the rest of the island at 6km east of Hanga Roa.
5.94 MILES
Nearly covered in a bog of floating totora reeds, the crater lake of Rano Kau resembles a giant witch's cauldron and is a wild greenhouse of endemic…
4.28 MILES
Known as 'the nursery,' the volcano of Rano Raraku, about 18km from Hanga Roa, is the quarry for the hard tuff from which the moai were cut. You'll feel…
5.18 MILES
The monumental Ahu Tongariki has plenty to set your camera's flash popping. With 15 imposing statues, it is the largest ahu ever built. The statues gaze…
5.62 MILES
Beach bums in search of a place to wallow will love this postcard-perfect, white-sand beach. It also forms a lovely backdrop for Ahu Nau Nau, which…
5.26 MILES
The vast majority of Rapa Nui falls within the boundaries of this national park. Think of it like an open-air museum with mysterious archaeological sites…
5.64 MILES
At the eastern end of the island, this high plateau is crowned by the extinct volcano Maunga Pu A Katiki (400m) and bound in by steep cliffs. There are…
4.4 MILES
Ahu Tahai is a highly photogenic site that contains three restored ahu (ceremonial platform). Ahu Tahai proper is the ahu in the middle, supporting a…
3.34 MILES
Unusual for its inland location, Ahu Akivi, the first scientific restoration on the island (in 1960), sports seven restored moai. They are the only ones…
1.02 MILES
This new open-air interpretation center aims to help visitors better understand the rubble surrounding many of the island's archaeological sites by…
2.87 MILES
The volcanic Puna Pau quarry was used to make the reddish, cylindrical pukao (topknots) that were placed on many moai. Some 60 of these were transported…
3.34 MILES
Unusual for its inland location, Ahu Akivi, the first scientific restoration on the island (in 1960), sports seven restored moai. They are the only ones…
3.6 MILES
Beyond the eastern end of the airport runway, a road heads south past some large oil tanks to this ceremonial platform, with two major ahu. One of them…
3.91 MILES
Off the dirt road to Akivi, Ana Te Pahu comprises former cave dwellings with an overgrown garden of sweet potatoes, taro and bananas. The caves here are…
4.16 MILES
The unmissable Iglesia Hanga Roa, the island's Catholic church, is well worth a visit for its spectacular carvings, which integrate Christian doctrine…
7. Museo Antropológico Sebastián Englert
4.24 MILES
This well-organized museum makes a perfect introduction to the island's history and culture. It displays basalt fishhooks, obsidian spearheads and other…
4.28 MILES
Known as 'the nursery,' the volcano of Rano Raraku, about 18km from Hanga Roa, is the quarry for the hard tuff from which the moai were cut. You'll feel…