483 Hand-Picked Bucket List Ideas For You To Steal

The following is a hand-picked list of the greatest and most interesting bucket list ideas from around the web. I have read hundreds of people’s bucket lists over the last five years and the list below includes all of the ones that jumped off the page for me. (I am kind of obsessed with lists so I keep spreadsheets of these kinds of things :-p)

They range from funny like ‘tickle a fish’ to epic like ‘drive a tank’ to just genuinely interesting like ‘live a day without one of your five senses’.

Feel free to steal these items and use them for inspiration for your own bucket list. I have organized them into basic categories to make scouring them easier. Enjoy!

Bucket List Idea Categories:

Bucket List Ideas Related To Attending Events

Attend the Dead Guy festival in Nederland Colorado
See the Pope speak at Vatican City
Attend the finale of Eurovision
Attend a UFC Fight
Attend a sumo match in Japan
Attend the Surges motorcycle party
Attend a ballet
Spend a week at the Louvre (from the movie The Bucket List)
Have dinner at La Cherie d’Or (from the movie The Bucket List)
Attend an opera
Attend the Kentucky Derby
Celebrate New Years in Time Square
Crash a wedding
Attend the inauguration of a US President in Washington DC
Attend the Hot Air Balloon Races in Albuquerque
See a Broadway show
Witness the monarch butterfly migration
Attend the Calgary Stampede
Attend Coachella Music Festival (Coachella Valley, California)
Attend the Street Parade in Zurich
Attend the Love Parade in Berlin
Attend a taping of SNL
Attend a movie premiere
Attend the changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace
Attend Sleep No More in New York (an interactive play)
Attend a Blue Man Group Show
Attend Hershey’s Chocolate World
Attend the Midnight Screening of a Blockbuster Movie on Opening Day
Stay at the Icehotel in Sweden
Attend the Monaco Grand Prix
Spend Christmas in Leavenworth, Washington
Attend a Cirque du Soleil show
Fly a Kite at the Cervia International Kite Festival
Experience A Symphony of Lights on the Star Ferry
Play in the Mud at the Boryeong Mud Festival
Attend the World Expo
Attend the Naadam Festival in Mongolia
Attend Purna Kumbh Mela
Attend Hogmanay in Scotland
Participate in the Color Festival in Utah
Attend the Glastonbury Festival
Attend Comiccon
Go to a party at the Playboy mansion (The Buried Life)
Go to a rock concert in all leather (The Buried Life)
Attend a Roller Derby
See the Dali Lama speak
Visit Japan during the Cherry blossom festival
Attend Bonnaroo
Attend EDC
Attend Electric Daisy Carnival electronica festival in Vegas
Attend Donauinselfest (biggest music festival in the world 3mil+)
Attend the Mummers Parade in Philadelphia
Participate in Loy Krathong
Participate in Songkran
Attend Glamis dune racing
Attend a Japanese tea ceremony
Go to a Gatsby-themed party
Sit in the audience of a tv show
Attend Yacht Week in Croatia

Bucket List Ideas Related To Visiting Locations

Visit the real-life Up house in Seattle
Wade in a cranberry bog
Visit Ibiza, Spain
Visit Reykjavik, Iceland
Visit the Serengeti (from the movie The Bucket List)
Ride the Great Wall of China (from the movie The Bucket List)
Visit Johannesburg, South Africa
Visit Argentinian glacier
Visit every country (Use United Nations list)
Go into space
Go to the North Pole
Visit the Amazon rain forest
Visit the Serengeti
Visit the standing guards in England
Visit Loch Ness in Scotland
Visit the Sistine Chapel
See the Terra-cotta Warriors in Xian
Visit Ayers Rock in Australia
Visit Pearl Harbor
Drive on the Autobahn
See the Resilient Uffizi Gallery
See Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater
Visit the Great Barrier Reef
See Ephesus
See Angkor Wat
See the Yangtze River
See the Cliffs of Mesa Verde
See Pompeii
See Tikal
Visit Ilulissat / Jakobshavn Glacier
Visit Grand Cayman
Visit Ko Phi Phi Don, Thailand
Visit Venice, Italy
Visit Siem Reap, Cambodia
Visit Kyoto, Japan
Visit Cape Town, South Africa
Go on an edge of space flight
Visit Victoria Falls in Zambia/Zimbabwe
Visit the Leaning Tower of Pisa
Visit The Maldives
Visit Yosemite National Park
Go to all non-Americas countries in the Western Hemisphere
See Old Faithful
Visit Hearst Castle
Ride in a gondola
Go to Madison Square Garden
Go to Ground Zero Memorial
Go to St. Peter’s Square
Go into The White House
Visit the Grand Kremlin Palace
Walk across the Golden Gate Bridge
Go to Copenhagen, Denmark
Travel to Iceland
See the Trevi Fountain
See the Roman Forum
Visit the National Cemetery in Washington DC
Visit Galway, Ireland
Visit Monument Valley
Visit Cocos island (the untouristy version of Galapagos)
Visit Area 51
Visit the birthplace or gravesite of a cultural icon
Visit Mount Rushmore
Bathe in the Blue Lagoon Geothermal Spa
Kayak in the Bioluminescent Bay of Fajardo, Puerto Rico
Go to a blues bar in Chicago
Visit Death Valley in July
Tour Hagia Sophia
Visit Walt Disney World
Visit Red Square in Moscow
Go on an Amazon Rainforest Expedition
Tour Kiyomizu-dera
Observe the Burj Khalifa
Visit Jerusalem’s Old City
Explore the Paleolithic Cave Art in Altamira
Visit Yosemite Valley
Drive on Route 66
See Taksand Dzong in Bhutan
Visit Myanmar
Stargaze at Atacama Desert, Chile
Bathe in the Blue Lagoon, Iceland
Visit the happiest country on earth (Denmark)
Visit Advanced Base Camp on Everest
Surf Cloud Break in Fiji
Backpack around Europe as an adult
Try to make a guard laugh at Buckingham Palace
Dive “The Ghost Fleet of World War 2”
Hike the Camino de Santiago Trail
Explore Chitwan National Park in Nepal
Hike the Atlas Mountains
Sail the Whitsundays in Australia
Eat bread in Paris
Drink vodka in Russia
Have polenta in Spain
Eat Pizza in Chicago
Drink Kava in Fiji
Visit Folsom Prison (The Buried Life)
Go to Chris McCandless’s bus in Alaska
Visit 100 countries
Visit an observatory
Go to Taal Lake – a lake in an island in a lake in an island
Go to the Palace of Versailles (Versailles, France)
Go to Al-Azhar Mosque (Cairo, Egypt): 972
Go to Fatehpur Sikri Palace (Fatehpur Sikri, India)
Go to St. Paul’s Cathedral (London, England)
Visit Chiang Rai’s White Temple
Go to Antelope Canyon, Arizona
Visit Masdar City (city of the future)
Visit the Zhangye Danxia landform in Gansu, China
Visit Sea of Stars on Vaadhoo Island in the Maldives
Visit the Tunnel of Love in Klevan, Ukraine
Visit the Glowworm Caves in Waitomo, New Zealand
Visit San Sebastian, Spain
Visit Ristorante Grotta in Palazzese, Italy
VisitChichilianne, Rhone Alpes in France
VisitTiger’s Nest Monastery in Paro Valley, Bhutan
Visit Dubrovnik, Croatia
Visit Albarracín, Aragon, Spain
Visit Bagan, Burma
Visit Aescher, Switzerland
Visit Haiku Stairs, Hawaii
Visit Þingvallavatn Lake, Iceland
Visit Chefchaouen, Northwest Morocco
Visit Lord Howe Island, Australia
Visit Bishop Castle, San Isabel National Forest, Rye, Colorado
Visit Huacachina, Peruvian desert
Visit The Bastei Bridge in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains, Germany
Visit Cappadocia, Turkey
Visit Hallstatt, Austria
Visit Leptis Magna, Tripoli, Libya
Visit The Alcázar of Segovia, Spain
Visit Alter do Chao, Brazil
Visit Hotel Moulin de Roc, France
Visit the Peacock Room in Castello di Sammezzano, Tuscany
Visit Melissani Cave, Kefalonia, Greece
Visit Meghalaya, India
Visit Craco, Matera, Basilicata
Visit Quinta da Regaleira, Sintra, Portugal
Visit Weißgerbergasse, Nuremberg, Germany
Visit Procida, Italy
Visit Lofoten Islands, Norway
Visit Cocos Island, Costa Rica
Visit the Rock Tombs in Myra, Lycia, Turkey
Visit Herrenchiemsee New Palace, Lake Chiemsee, Germany
Visit Fès, Morocco
Visit Blagaj, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Visit Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic
Visit Ittoqqortoormiit, Greenland
Visit Mount Ai-Petry, Crimea, Ukraine
Visit Marsaxlokk, Malta
Visit Monument Valley, Utah
Visit Jellyfish Lake on the island of Palau
Visit Palmyra Atol – The United State’s only uninhabited incorporated territory
Throw a dart at a map and go to wherever it landed

Bucket List Ideas Related To Doing Activities

Catch a fish with your bare hands
Sleep in a capsule hotel in Japan
Visit a Death Row Inmate
Climb Mt Kilimanjaro
Run a 5:30 min mile
Circumnavigate the globe
Worship in a Buddhist Temple
Build a house with Habitat for Humanity
Live a day without each of your senses (sight, hearing, touch, smell, taste)
Do a Triathlon
Grow a garden
Go hardcore zip lining
Witness something truly majestic (from the movie The Bucket List)
Help a stranger for a common good (from the movie The Bucket List)
Laugh until you cry (from the movie The Bucket List)
Drive a Shelby Mustang (from the movie The Bucket List)
Kiss the most beautiful guy or girl in the world (from the movie The Bucket List – only do this with consent)
Get back in touch (previously “Hunt the big cat”) (from the movie The Bucket List)
Meet an American president
Score a hole in one
Be an extra in a movie
Leave your mark in graffiti
Be on the cover of a magazine
Walk on a nude beach naked
Flip a house
Be a game show contestant
Go hitchhiking
Complete an Ironman
Voluntarily live homelessly
Go whale watching
Ride an elephant
Go ice climbing up a frozen waterfall
Drive a John Deere tracker
Go in a blimp
Go in a Blue Angel jet
Go 24 hours without speaking
Swim with sharks
Sleep on a beach
See Michelangelo’s David
Touch an iceberg
Eat chocolate in Belgium
Throw or catch a fish in Seattle pike market
Fly at the speed of sound
Go to a big boxing match
Ride on a bicycle built for 2 (or even 3)
Take an overnight train ride
Catch a billfish
Give 100 dollars to a stranger
Solve a Rubik’s Cube
Swim in each ocean (Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern, Arctic)
Cage dive with sharks
Do a five day fast
Swim with whales
Fly on a private jet
Join the mile high club
Ride on the top of a moving train
Become a citizen of another country and get a 2nd passport
Go indoor sky diving
Get arrested for a cause you believe in
Eat a pizza in Naples, Italy
Drive through a tollbooth and pay for myself and the car behind you
Kiss the blarney stone
Swim with stingrays
Explore a ghost town
Give a lecture at a major university
Cross the road at abbey road
Drive a tank
Go surfing
Go tobogganing
Hold a tarantula
Collect honey from a beehive
Watch the sunset and rise on the same day
Chop a tree down with an ax
Hang from Toronto’s CN Tower
Skydive over Mt. Everest
Finish a jigsaw puzzle
Vacation in an igloo
Cross a country on a bicycle
Climb Pacaya
Watch the sunset from Oia, Santorini, Greece
Stargaze at the Atacama Desert in Chile
Get through the Longleat Hedge Maze
Take a week-long technology hiatus
Write your “Last Will and Testament”
Milk a cow
Chase a tornado
Work for tips
Drink a Piña Colada in San Juan, Puerto Rico
Fast for three days
Attend a murder mystery dinner
Eat at an undersea restaurant
Thrown down a large amount of money on roulette
Go Couchsurfing
Leave a hefty tip for excellent service
Ride a cable car in San Francisco
Participate in geocaching
Watch a movie at a drive-in movie theater
Buy a round of drinks for a whole bar
Travel on the Beijing–Shanghai High-Speed Railway
Participate in a polar bear plunge
File your own taxes
Travel through the Channel Tunnel
See a lunar eclipse
Build a bonfire and make s’mores
Go wakeboarding
Sleep in a hammock
Go water jetpacking
Take a bite into the hottest chili in the world
Drive a tank
Drive a speed boat
Eat chocolates in Belgium
Write an article published in the newspaper
Be the best man in a wedding
Get stitches
Experience being broke
Kiss a total stranger (with their consent)
High five a monk
Break the sound barrier
Party in a fountain
Rush the field after a football game
Order something off the In-N-Out Burger secret menu
Swim with penguins
Chew coca leaves in Columbia
Catch fireflies in a jar
Sleep in a yurt
Meet Richard Branson
Grow an urban veggie patch
Be a nude model for a life drawing class
Wake up on a beach
Get my palm read
Fly in a corporate jet
Land on the water in an airplane
Go to a nudist colony
Be on a game show
Actively boycott companies whom you dislike or distrust
Free dive over 15m in the sea
Buy & run a pub
Catch, kill and prepare a fish
Meet someone in-person with your name
Be friends with your ex
Get barred from a bar
Sail a boat
Sleep in a tree
Take a road trip in an RV
Go to an indoor trampoline park
Order the most expensive thing on the menu
Write a letter to your hero
Try and dig your own massive hole
Write a page on Wikipedia
Donate Blood
Surf a sand dune
Eat sushi in Tokyo
Take care of a plant for six months
Shoot ten different weapons
See a dinosaur fossil
Abstain from alcohol for 100 consecutive days
Avoid all McDonalds for six months
Watch no television for six months
Help deliver a baby (The Buried Life)
Go on a date with a celebrity (The Buried Life)
Give a toast at a strangers wedding (The Buried Life)
Open the news (The Buried Life)
Lead a parade (The Buried Life)
Go down a mountain on a longboard (The Buried Life)
Plant a tree (The Buried Life)
Ride a bull (The Buried Life)
Kick a field goal (The Buried Life)
Help someone build a house (The Buried Life)
Get on the cover of Rolling Stone (The Buried Life)
Tell a joke on late-night television (The Buried Life)
Get a song you have written on the radio (The Buried Life)
Approach the most beautiful girl you’ve ever seen and kiss her (The Buried Life – only do this with consent)
Solve a crime or capture a fugitive (The Buried Life)
Tell a judge “you want the truth? you can’t handle the truth” (The Buried Life)
Give a stranger a $100 bill (The Buried Life)
Send a message in a bottle (The Buried Life)
Make a big donation to charity (The Buried Life)
Cut a ribbon at a major opening (The Buried Life)
Get something named after you (The Buried Life)
Pay for someone groceries (The Buried Life)
Sing the national anthem to a packed stadium (The Buried Life)
Throw the first pitch at an MLB game (The Buried Life)
Win and yell bingo at a bingo hall (The Buried Life)
Kiss the Stanley Cup (The Buried Life)
Stand under a plane while it lands (The Buried Life)
Make it on the front page of the newspaper (The Buried Life)
Host a cooking show (The Buried Life)
Catch something and eat it (The Buried Life)
Sleep in a haunted house (The Buried Life)
Do a comedy sketch with Will Farrell (The Buried Life)
Take a stranger out for dinner (The Buried Life)
Make a television show (The Buried Life)
Write an article for a major publication (The Buried Life)
Spend a week in silence (The Buried Life)
See a dead body (The Buried Life)
Design a shoe (The Buried Life)
Smash a guitar on stage (The Buried Life)
Compete in a soap-box derby (The Buried Life)
Take a kid on a toy shopping spree (The Buried Life)
Meet the Lonely Island dudes (The Buried Life)
Street perform and make $100 (The Buried Life)
Teach an elementary class (The Buried Life)
Escape from a deserted island (The Buried Life)
Ride through the desert in a dune buggy (The Buried Life)
Party with a rockstar (The Buried Life)
Play ball with Obama (The Buried Life)
Race horses (The Buried Life)
Host SNL (The Buried Life)
Mash grapes with your feet at a winery
Give a graduation speech
Walk away from an explosion in slow motion
Have theme music follow me for a day
Say yes to everything for a whole day
Travel on a cargo ship
Eat dog
Eat an eyeball
Create a short film
Climb the mast of a tall ship
Enter a film contest
Devise the perfect crime but never perform it
Cross a country on a bicycle
Photograph an endangered species
Take a homeless person out to eat
Follow a river from its mouth to its source
Take a photo every day for a year
Get airborne in a car
Shoot a flaming bow and arrow
Train hop
Front row tickets to a concert
Quit something every Thursday for a year
Moon someone out of a moving vehicle
Do a wall flip
Design a new product with a 3D printer
Tickle a fish
Put a fly on a leash
Walk around a crowded area in a Where’s Waldo costume
Party for Songkran in Chang Mai
See a Polar Bear
Ride across the entire length of the Russian – Trans-Siberian railroad
Place gum on the Seattle gum wall
Walk barefoot with paint
Sell a song on iTunes
Cut off all your hair
Kayak over a waterfall

Bucket List Ideas Related To Learning

Learn to tie a cherry stem with only your tongue
Take a basic mechanic class
Take a boxing class
Learn some form of karate
Read the entire Bible, Torah, and Koran
Take a dance class
Take a surfing class
Take a glass blowing class
Make fire without matches or a lighter
Eat fire
Learn to paint
Make your own ice cream
Live abroad for at least one year
Take a pottery class
Try Pilates
Brew your own Beer
Learn to juggle
Learn CPR
Learn to whistle
Learn how to write a computer algorithm
Learn how to roll r’s
Learn more about your ancestors
Learn a magic trick
Learn how to skim stones across water
Better your penmanship and write by hand more
Complete the seven-day primitive living course of the Boulder outdoor survival school training