The Ultimate Leaf-Peeping Bucket List

This is the fall fantasy everyone else is trying to copy. Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine roll out hills that glow like neon, with cider mills and covered bridges ready for their close-up. It’s autumn doing its best Taylor Swift Eras Tour, every stop a sellout.

The temples and gardens turn into glowing mosaics of red, orange and gold. Maple trees frame every ancient gate like Mother Nature’s filter upgrade. Even the ponds look like they’re in on the show, reflecting every fiery detail.

Castles peek out from mountainsides like something straight out of a storybook. The forests wrap them in amber and crimson, turning every hike into a fairytale stroll. Add in a stein of beer and you’ve got Oktoberfest with stunning scenery.

Autumn shows off here with larches that glow like gold coins scattered across the slopes. Jagged peaks rise behind them like a stone backdrop, making the colors burn even brighter. It’s foliage shot in IMAX, no ticket required.

Wine country takes on a whole new vibe when the vineyards start glowing copper. Castles stand guard as vines twist themselves into autumn masterpieces, and your glass of red suddenly tastes a little more poetic.

The hillsides glow with deep golds and fiery reds that stretch as far as the eye can see. Rolling valleys and weathered cliffs turn the colors into something untamed. It’s autumn with the kind of wild energy that makes cable-knit look like battle armor.

Here, crystal-clear lakes double as mirrors for the rainbow of trees above. The colors pop so intensely it looks Photoshopped in real life, with waterfalls weaving through the scene like ribbons, tying it all together.

Just outside Melbourne, you’ll find fern gullies and mountain ash trees sharing space with fiery maples. Autumn shows up here in April, which means Northern Hemisphere leaf peepers can double-dip and score a second fall in the same year.

In northern Italy, vineyards blaze with copper and gold while chestnut forests wrap the hillsides. The region’s lakes shimmer with reflections of fiery trees, and villages glow like someone secretly cranked up the saturation.

An island church in the middle of a glowing blue lake is dramatic enough. Add in golden hillsides that catch the light and it shifts from a 007 villain showdown to a full-on fairytale backdrop. The whole place looks suspiciously perfect, like it signed a contract with a travel magazine.

At the far edge of South America, Patagonia delivers autumn like nowhere else. Lenga beech trees blaze in red and gold across Argentina’s jagged peaks and Chile’s iconic Torres del Paine. The mix of fire-colored forests and icy mountains feels like two seasons colliding in the best plot twist nature’s ever pulled.