List of female explorers and travelers


This is a list of women who explored or travelled the world in a pioneering way. The list may include women naturalists, sailors, mountain climbers, dog sledders, swimmers, pilots, and underwater explorers. Astronauts are not included here but in the list of female astronauts. The list is presented in alphabetical order of surname, but can be sorted to other orders by using the arrow-heads in the column headers.
NameNationalityBornDiedAchievement/s
Harriet Chalmers AdamsAmerican18751937Explored and photographed South America, Asia, South Pacific
Tania AebiAmerican1966Held the record as the youngest person and first American woman to sail solo around the world.
Felicity AstonBritish1977First 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
Florence Augusta Merriam BaileyAmerican18631948American ornithologist and nature writer, who conducted extensive field work in the American West
Dominick ArduinFrench19602004Disappeared on her attempt to become the first woman to ski alone to the North Pole
Ann BancroftAmerican1955First woman to travel over the ice cap to the North and South Poles
Jeanne BaréFrench17401807First woman to circumnavigate the world
Jean BattenNew Zealander19091982First person to fly between England and New Zealand solo - broke other records
Carol BeckwithAmerican1945Photographer, author, and filmmaker known for documenting the tribal cultures of Africa, most notably in partnership with Australian photographer Angela Fisher.
Gertrude BellBritish18681926Explored and mapped Greater Syria, Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, Arabia
Mabel BentAnglo-Irish18471929Explored and excavated with her husband James Theodore Bent in the Eastern Mediterranean, South Africa and Southern Arabia
Laura BinghamBritish1992Executed expedition to cross continent of South America with no money.
Isabella BirdBritish18311904Explorer, writer and naturalist who travelled by herself through
North America, Hawaii, Japan, Korea, China, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, India, Persia, Kurdistan, Turkey, and Morocco.
Nancy Bird-WaltonAustralian19152009Australian aviation pioneer
Nellie BlyAmerican18641922Pioneering journalist who travelled around the world in 72 days, the first person to do so.
Alessandra BoarelliItalian18381908Italian mountaineer and the first woman to summit Monviso in the Alps in 1864.
Louise Arner BoydAmerican18871972Explored Greenland and the Arctic
Beatrix BulstrodeBritish18961951Journalist and writer who traveled through China and Mongolia in 1911-1913.
Susan ButcherAmerican19542006Dog musher in Alaska
Berthe CabraBelgian18641947Belgian traveller, first European woman to travel across central Africa from East to West.
Calamity JaneAmerican18521903American frontierswoman and professional scout, known for her claim of being an acquaintance of Wild Bill Hickok and for fighting Indians.
Renata ChlumskaCzech and Swedish1973Climbed Mount Everest, kayaked and bicycled around lower 48 states of USA
Krystyna Chojnowska-LiskiewiczPolish1936First woman to sail solo around the world
Kay CotteeAustralian1954First woman to sail solo, non-stop around the world
Octavie CoudreauFrenchc.1870c.1910Early explorer and geographer of the Amazon region in Brazil and French Guiana
Aimée CrockerAmerican18641941Heiress, writer spent a decade exploring the Far East in the 1890s. Toured the interior of Java and Borneo.
Sophia DanenbergAmerican1972First black woman to reach summit of Mount Everest
Alexandra David-NéelFrench18681969Travelled to Tibet while closed to foreigners
Robyn DavidsonAustralian19501700 mile camel trek from Alice Springs to the west coast of Australia
Cassandra De PecolAmerican1989Traveled 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 to Travel to All Sovereign Nations" and is the first documented woman, fastest American, and youngest American to do such a trip.
Laura DekkerDutch, German, and New Zealander1995Youngest person to sail around world solo
Eva DicksonSwedish19051938Swedish explorer, aviator, travel writer and rally driver. The first woman to have crossed the Sahara by car.
Lady Hay Drummond-HayBritish18951946First woman to circumnavigate the world by air
Edith DurhamBritish18631944Explored Albania and the Balkans
Amelia EarhartAmerican18971937First woman to fly solo across Atlantic
Isabelle EberhardtSwiss18771904Swiss explorer and writer in Algeria, who converted to Islam and traveled freely dressed as a man.
Gertrude EderleAmerican19052003First woman to swim English Channel
Enid Gordon-GallienBritish1931Explored and mapped Kalambo Falls
Barbara HillaryAmerican19312019First African American woman to reach North Pole
Amy JohnsonBritish19031941Pioneering aviator who set long-distance flying records
Osa JohnsonAmerican18941953Made films of and wrote books about travels in Africa, South Pacific, Borneo
Gerlinde KaltenbrunnerAustrian1970First woman to climb all fourteen eight-thousander mountains without supplementary oxygen
Alma Maximiliana KarlinSlovene18891950Slovene world traveler, writer, poet, collector, polyglot and theosophist
Mary KingsleyBritish18621900Ethnographer and explorer of West Africa
Belinda KirkBritishFounder of Explorers Connect. Kirk has travelled across Africa, Nicaragua, and the Chinese Taklamakan Desert. She captained the first all-female rowing team to circumnavigate Britain non-stop.
Ness KnightSouth African1985Explorer and first female in history to swim the Thames River from source to London in 2013. Completed a solo traverse of remote regions of Northern Namibia in 2016.
Gertrude Sanford LegendreAmerican19022000American socialite who was a noted explorer and big-game hunter. She contributed rare specimens from Africa, Iran, Southeast Asia, Canada, and Alaska to natural history museums.
Annie LondonderryLatvian American18701947First woman to bicycle around the world
Charlotte MansfieldBritish18811936Wrote Via Rhodesia about her travels in Southern Africa
Beryl MarkhamBritish19021986British-born Kenyan aviator, adventurer, racehorse trainer and author. She was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic from east to west.
Sarah MarquisSwiss1972Swiss adventurer and explorer who walked across Asia, Siberia and Australia
Elizabeth Sarah MazuchelliBritish18321914Reportedly first western woman to see Mount Everest; wrote The Indian Alps and How We Crossed Them
Annette MeakinBritish18671959First Englishwoman to cross the Trans-Siberian Railway. Wrote about this in "The Ribbon of Iron". Travelled in Russian Turkestan and other parts of Russia.
Ynes MexiaMexican-American18701938Mexican botanist and explorer who started her career at age 55. Discovered one new genus and many new species of plants.
Dervla MurphyIrish1931Irish travel writer known for cycling alone through Europe, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan to India
Marianne NorthBritish18301890Prolific English Victorian biologist and botanical artist
Vanessa O'BrienAmerican and British1964First Woman to reach Earth’s Highest and Lowest points
Ida PfeifferAustrian17971858Travelled alone around the world in 1847, published books of her numerous travels
Dorothy PineAmerican19202011Possibly first woman to visit all 193 UN-recognised countries
Anésia Pinheiro MachadoBrazilian19041999Second Brazilian licensed female pilot in Brazil
Odette du PuigaudeauFench18941991made three trips to northern Africa to conduct field research among the nomads of the western Sahara region and eventually moved to Morocco.
Kate RiceCanadian18821963First woman prospector in Northern Canada, writer, and trapper well known for her dog sled abilities
Wanda RutkiewiczPolish19431992Polish mountain climber, the first woman to successfully summit K2
Kira SalakAmerican1971Travelled in Mali and Papua New Guinea
Annemarie SchwarzenbachSwiss19081942Journalist and photographer, travelled to Iran, Afghanistan, Africa
Beryl SmeetonBritish19051979Mountaineer, cruising sailor, overland traveller
Annie Smith PeckAmerican18501935First person to climb Mount Nevado Huascarán in the Andes
Hester StanhopeBritish17761839Conducted first modern archaeology in Holy Land; travelled dressed as a man
Freya StarkBritish and Italian
18931993Travelled within and wrote about the Middle East, including the Arabian deserts, Afghanistan
Matilda Coxe StevensonAmerican18491915Ethnologist and geologist who explored the Rocky Mountain region and the Southwest U.S.
Clärenore StinnesGerman19011990First woman to circumnavigate the world by automobile.
Rosie Swale-PopeSwiss, Irish, and British1946Has run, walked and sailed around the world
Junko TabeiJapanese19392016First woman to reach summit of Mount Everest
Annie Edson TaylorAmerican18381921First person to survive a trip over the Niagara Falls in a barrel
Gudrid ThorbjarnardóttirIcelandic9801019With her husband, led an expedition to North America
Alexandrine TinnéDutch18351869Dutch explorer in Africa and the first European woman to attempt to cross the Sahara
Adeline Van BurenAmerican18891949Along with her sister Augusta Van Buren, they were the first women to ride solo motorcycles across the continental US.
Augusta Van BurenAmerican18841959Along with her sister Adeline Van Buren, they were the first women to ride solo motorcycles across the continental US.
Jessica WatsonAustralian and New Zealander1993Youngest person to sail non-stop and unassisted around the world
Aloha WanderwellAmerican19061996First woman to drive around the world
Fanny Bullock WorkmanAmerican18591925American cartographer, explored glaciers in Himalayas