These are the best places to travel this summer

Chad

Lonely Planet's Best in Travel 2025

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Nomad with camels in the Sahara desert, Chad, November 17, 2017; Shutterstock ID 1565647990; your: Sloane Tucker; gl: 65050; netsuite: Online Editorial; full: Destination Page
1565647990

Shutterstock / Torsten Pursche

Overview

Chad has always been some place where travellers wave goodbye to their comfort zone and say hello to adventure. Even when it is safe to visit, which sadly it is currently not, the art of travel here is demanding in every sense of the word. This, though, is part of the country's allure, an opportunity to break emphatically away from all that you know, and come to a place that promises experiences, good and bad, that happen nowhere else. But if Chad is such a demanding place to travel, why ever bother? Picture sublime oases hiding in the northern deserts, stampeding herds of wildlife running through national parks and deep blues awaiting boats on Lake Chad – put simply, when Chad is accessible it's a country and an experience that can never be forgotten.

Attractions

Must-see attractions

  • Zakouma National Park

    Zakouma National Park

    Chad

    This national park is a major Chadian success story. After poaching and civil war ravaged the area's wildlife, the animal population has been steadily…

  • Bol

    Bol

    Chad

    Lake Chad was once one of the largest freshwater lakes in the world. Its dry season area of under 10,000 sq km can rise to 25,000 sq km at the height of…

  • Ennedi

    Ennedi

    Chad

    The Tibesti Mountains remain off-limits but Ennedi desert is just as weird and wonderful. Attractions include prehistoric cave paintings, slot canyons,…

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