List of female explorers and travelers

Adeline Van Buren (American, 1889-1949): Along with her sister Augusta Van Buren, one of the first women to ride solo motorcycles across the continental US.

Aimée Crocker (American, 1864-1941): Heiress and writer who spent a decade exploring the Far East in the 1890s, touring the interior of Java and Borneo.

Alessandra Boarelli (Italian, 1838-1908): Italian mountaineer and the first woman to summit Monviso in the Alps in 1864.

Alexandra David-Néel (French, 1868-1969): Travelled to Tibet while it was closed to foreigners.

Alexine Tinne (Dutch, 1835-1869): Dutch explorer in Africa and the first European woman to attempt to cross the Sahara.

Alexis Alford (American, born 1998): The youngest person to travel to every country in the world.

Alma Maximiliana Karlin (Slovene, 1889-1950): World traveler, writer, poet, polyglot, and theosophist; second European woman to circle the world solo in an eight-year journey exploring North and South America, Oceania, Australia, East Asia, and India.

Aloha Wanderwell (Canadian, 1906-1996): First woman to drive around the world.

Amelia Earhart (American, 1897-1937): First woman to fly solo across the Atlantic.

Anésia Pinheiro Machado (Brazilian, 1904-1999): Second Brazilian licensed female pilot in Brazil.

Anne-France Dautheville (French, born c.1943): First woman to motorcycle solo around the world.

Annemarie Schwarzenbach (Swiss, 1908-1942): Journalist and photographer who travelled to Iran, Afghanistan, and Africa.

Annette Meakin (British, 1867-1959): First Englishwoman to cross the Trans-Siberian Railway; wrote about this in "The Ribbon of Iron"; travelled in Russian Turkestan and other parts of Russia.

Ann Bancroft (American, born 1955): First woman to travel over the ice cap to the North and South Poles.

Annie Edson Taylor (American, 1838-1921): First person to survive a trip over the Niagara Falls in a barrel.

Annie Londonderry (Latvian American, 1870-1947): First woman to bicycle around the world.

Annie Smith Peck (American, 1850-1935): First person to climb Mount Nevado Huascarán in the Andes.

Augusta Van Buren (American, 1884-1959): Along with her sister Adeline Van Buren, one of the first women to ride solo motorcycles across the continental US.

Amy Johnson (British, 1903-1941): Pioneering aviator who set long-distance flying records.

Barbara Hillary (American, 1931-2019): First African American woman to reach the North Pole.

Beatrix Bulstrode (British, 1869-1951): Journalist and writer who traveled through China and Mongolia from 1911-1913.

Béláné Mocsáry (Hungarian, 1845-1917): Hungarian geographer and travel writer who journeyed solo to four continents in the early 1900s.

Belinda Kirk (British, born c.1974): 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.

Berthe Cabra (Belgian, 1864-1947): Belgian traveller, first European woman to travel across central Africa from East to West.

Beryl Markham (British, 1902-1986): British-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.

Beryl Smeeton (British, 1905-1979): Mountaineer, cruising sailor, and overland traveller.

Calamity Jane (American, 1852-1903): American frontierswoman and professional scout, known for her claim of being an acquaintance of Wild Bill Hickok.

Carol Beckwith (American, born 1945): Photographer, author, and filmmaker known for documenting the tribal cultures of Africa, most notably in partnership with Australian photographer Angela Fisher.

Cassandra De Pecol (American, born 1989): Traveled to all sovereign nations from July 24, 2015, to February 2, 2017, obtaining the Guinness World Record for "Fastest Person (Female) to Travel to All Sovereign Nations."

Charlotte Cameron (American, 1872 or 1873-1946): American traveller and author.

Charlotte Mansfield (British, 1881-1936): Author who wrote "Via Rhodesia" (1911) about her travels in Southern Africa.

Clärenore Stinnes (German, 1901-1990): First woman to circumnavigate the world by automobile.

Dervla Murphy (Irish, 1931-2022): Irish travel writer known for cycling alone through Europe, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan to India.

Dominick Arduin (French, 1960-2004): Disappeared during her attempt to become the first woman to ski alone to the North Pole.

Dorothy Pine (American, 1920-2011): Possibly first woman to visit all 193 UN-recognised countries.

Edith Durham (British, 1863-1944): Explored Albania and the Balkans.

Elizabeth Sarah Mazuchelli (British, 1832-1914): Reportedly first western woman to see Mount Everest; wrote "The Indian Alps and How We Crossed Them."

Eliza Scidmore (American, 1856-1928): Journalist and travel writer on Alaska and Far East; introduced the idea of Japanese cherry trees to Washington, D.C.

Ella Maillart (Swiss, 1903-1997): Explorer and travel writer in Asia from the late 1920s through World War II; wrote "Forbidden Journey – From Peking to Kashmir."

Enid Gordon-Gallien (British, 1887-c.1931): Explored and mapped Kalambo Falls.

Eva Dickson (Swedish, 1905-1938): Swedish explorer, aviator, travel writer, and rally driver; first woman to cross the Sahara by car.

Fanny Bullock Workman (American, 1859-1925): American cartographer who explored glaciers in the Himalayas.

Felicity Aston (British, born 1977): First person to ski alone across the Antarctic landmass using only personal muscle power, and the first woman to cross the Antarctic landmass alone.

Florence Augusta Merriam Bailey (American, 1863-1948): American ornithologist and nature writer who conducted extensive field work in the American West.

Freya Stark (British and Italian, French born, 1893-1993): Travelled within and wrote about the Middle East, including the Arabian deserts and Afghanistan.

Gabrielle Maud Vassal (British, 1880-1959): Naturalist in Vietnam, Congo, and Gabon.

Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner (Austrian, born 1970): First woman to climb all fourteen eight-thousander mountains without supplementary oxygen.

Gertrude Bell (British, 1868-1926): Explorer who mapped regions of Syria, Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, and Arabia.

Gertrude Benham (British, 1867-1938): Explorer, hiker, and mountaineer. Truda Peaks of Mount Rogers is named after her.

Gertrude Ederle (American, 1905-2003): First woman to swim the English Channel.

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.

Ginny Fiennes (British, 1947-2004): First woman to be awarded the Polar Medal, and architect of the Transglobe Expedition.

Gudrid Thorbjarnardóttir (Icelandic, 980-1019): With her husband, led an expedition to North America.

Harriet Chalmers Adams (American, 1875-1937): Explorer and photographer who documented South America, Asia, and the South Pacific through her travels and photographic work.

Hester Stanhope (British, 1776-1839): Conducted first modern archaeology in the Holy Land; travelled dressed as a man (unveiled).

Ida Pfeiffer (Austrian, 1797-1858): Travelled alone around the world in 1847, published books of her numerous travels.

Isabelle Eberhardt (Swiss, 1877-1904): Swiss explorer and writer in Algeria, who converted to Islam and traveled freely dressed as a man.

Isabella Bird (British, 1831-1904): Explorer, writer, and naturalist who travelled alone through North America, Hawaii, Japan, Korea, China, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, India, Persia, Kurdistan, Turkey, and Morocco.

Jean Batten (New Zealand, 1909-1982): First person to fly between England and New Zealand solo and broke multiple other aviation records.

Jeanne Baré (French, 1740-1807): First woman (disguised as a man) to circumnavigate the world.

Jerrie Mock (American, 1925-2014): First 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.

Jessica Watson (Australian and New Zealander, born 1993): Youngest person to sail non-stop and unassisted around the world (but did not fulfill WSSRC criteria).

Junko Tabei (Japanese, 1939-2016): First woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

Kate Rice (Canadian, 1882-1963): First woman prospector in Northern Canada, writer, and trapper well known for her dog sled abilities.

Kay Cottee (Australian, born 1954): First woman to sail solo, non-stop around the world.

Kira Salak (American, born 1971): Travelled in Mali and Papua New Guinea.

Krystyna Chojnowska-Liskiewicz (Polish, 1936-2021): First woman to sail solo around the world.

Lady Hay Drummond-Hay (British, 1895-1946): First woman to circumnavigate the world by air (by zeppelin).

Laura Bingham (British, born 1992): Executed expedition to cross the South American continent with no money.

Laura Dekker (Dutch, German, and New Zealander, born 1995): Youngest person to sail around the world solo.

Laurence Bougault (French, 1970-2018): French poet and long-distance horseback adventurer in Africa, Middle East, and Europe.

Louise Arner Boyd (American, 1887-1972): Arctic explorer who explored Greenland and the Arctic regions.

Louise Bourbonnaud (French, 1847-1915): French philanthropist, explorer, and writer who traveled alone through North and South America and the Far East.

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.

Mabel Bent (Anglo-Irish, 1847-1929): Explored and excavated with her husband James Theodore Bent in the Eastern Mediterranean, South Africa, and Southern Arabia.

Marianne North (British, 1830-1890): Prolific English Victorian biologist and botanical artist.

Mary Kingsley (British, 1862-1900): Ethnographer and explorer of West Africa.

Matilda Coxe Stevenson (American, 1849-1915): Ethnologist and geologist who explored the Rocky Mountain region and the Southwest U.S.

Nancy Bird-Walton (Australian, 1915-2009): Australian aviation pioneer.

Nellie Bly (American, 1864-1922): Pioneering journalist who travelled around the world in 72 days, the first person to do so.

Nicole Maxwell (American, 1906-1998): Traveled 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."

Octavie Coudreau (French, 1870-c.1910): Early explorer and geographer of the Amazon region in Brazil and French Guiana.

Odette du Puigaudeau (French, 1894-1991): Made three trips to northern Africa to conduct field research among the nomads of the western Sahara region and eventually moved to Morocco.

Osa Johnson (American, 1894-1953): Made films and wrote books about travels in Africa, South Pacific, and Borneo.

Renata Chlumska (Czech and Swedish, born 1973): Climbed Mount Everest, kayaked, and bicycled around the lower 48 states of the USA.

Robyn Davidson (Australian, born 1950): Made a 2,700 km (1,700 mi) camel trek from Alice Springs to the west coast of Australia.

Rosie Swale-Pope (Swiss, Irish, and British, born 1946): Has run, walked, and sailed around the world.

Ruth Robertson (American, 1905-1998): American photojournalist, pilot, and explorer who led the successful expedition which measured Angel Falls as the highest waterfall in the world.

Sarah Marquis (Swiss, born 1972): Swiss adventurer and explorer who walked 16,000 km (10,000 mi) across Asia, Siberia, and Australia.

Sophia Danenberg (American, born 1972): First black woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

Stephanie Solomonides (Cypriot, born 1982): First Cypriot person to reach North and South Poles.

Susan Butcher (American, 1954-2006): Champion dog musher in Alaska.

Tania Aebi (American, born 1966): Held the record as the youngest person and first American woman to sail solo around the world (with stops and assistance).

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.

Vanessa O'Brien (American and British, born 1964): First woman to reach Earth's highest (Mt. Everest 8,848m) and lowest points (Challenger Deep 10,925m).

Vefa de Saint-Pierre (French, 1872-1967): Global voyager and hunter traveling across North and South America and Australia, writing about her adventures.

Wanda Rutkiewicz (Polish, 1943-1992): Polish mountain climber, first woman to successfully summit K2.

Ynes Mexia (Mexican-American, 1870-1938): Mexican botanist and explorer who started her career at age 55; discovered one new genus (Mexianthus) and many new species of plants.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_women_explorers_and_travelers