What to Binge on Netflix (on Your Next Layover)

Have some time to kill between trips or on a flight and not sure what to binge on? You’d be surprised at all the wonderful content that’s sitting on Netflix right now. And because we’re travel lovers at heart, we’ve gone ahead and pulled together the best travel shows on Netflix. And just to show that we’re well-rounded individuals, we’re also sharing our favorite comedy series on Netflix, as well as a few other genres that we can’t stop binging.

Best Travel Shows on Netflix

Looking for the best reavel shows on Netflix? Well, this epic guide has all the shows (including Extreme Engagement, and Our Planet)

1. Extreme Engagement – An engaged couple travel around the world for a year, exploring marriage customs in diverse cultures; the journey may bring them closer or tear them apart.

2. Stay Here – Homeowners renting out rooms, or their entire abodes, to short-term renters is becoming an increasingly common alternative to vacationers staying at hotels. But the properties need to offer unique features or amenities for the property owners to maximize their earnings.

On “Stay Here,” designer Genevieve Gorder and real estate expert Peter Lorimer show property owners how they can turn their rentals into moneymaking showstoppers. Episodes feature a floating vacation rental that becomes a romantic waterfront retreat and a family-friendly makeover for a historic firehouse in Washington, D.C.

One of the best travel shows on Netflix- Dark Tourist is one that needs to be on your list.
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3. Dark Tourist – Most tourists like to visit popular sites and attractions, like beaches, stadiums and museums, while on vacation. There is a subset of tourism, however, that involves visiting places that are historically associated with death and tragedy.

Journalist David Farrier focuses on that area of travel, known as dark tourism, in this docuseries. In each episode, Farrier travels to a different locale to visit destinations and have experiences that wouldn’t be on most vacationers’ bucket lists.

He embeds himself in a death-worshipping cult in Mexico, sees tourists soaking up radiation left behind in Fukushima, meets vampires in New Orleans, and travels to the most-nuked place on Earth for atomic swimming and fishing.

4. Street Food – The creators of “Chef’s Table” take to the streets in this half-hour series. “Street Food” brings viewers to some of the world’s most vibrant cities, where the rich culture of street food is explored. From the hawker stalls of Singapore to the food carts of India, episodes highlight the stories of perseverance and culture that bring life to various countries’ cuisine.

Nations visited include Thailand, Japan, Indonesia, South Korea and Vietnam, and you’re a foodie like us, you’ll find this to be on of the best travel shows on Netflix.

Photographers will love Tales by Light. It is one of the best travel shows on Netflix.

5. Tales By Light – The reason why this is one of the best travel shows on Netflix, at least in our humble opinion, is because it shows the true grit of those photographers who take those life-changing photos and the work that they have to put into their craft.

The photographers in this series are probably some of the best in the world, and anyone who has ever even thought of entering this world really needs see everything that goes into travel, wildlife and portrait photography. Genuinely, have no other words because recommending that you watch it because it is one of the best travel series on Netflix and elsewhere.

6. The World’s Most Extraordinary Homes – One of the more addictive shows. What makes The World’s Most Extraordinary Home one of the best travel shows on Netflix is the way we feel like we’re spying on a lifestyle that’s slightly above our pay grade. The hosts are wonderful (one of them is an architect who actually explains things) and the homes are jaw dropping. The kind of places you see in a Bond film or on Pinterest, and wonder about who actually lives there.

If you’re an architecture nerd and love travel as much as we do, then we highly recommend checking out this one out.

7. Our Planet – This Sir David Attenborough narrated series is a visually stunning nature series and very much reminds us of Planet Earth. It’s a such a wonderful way to see all the beauty that our wonderful planet has to offer.

8. Ugly Delicious – We’ll be honest, this Chef David Chang centered food show is a travel series made for the foodies of the world and possibly one of the best travel shows on Netflix. The show has that laid back approach that makes it easy to binge while learning new things about the locals, food, and life. While it’s not a replacement for the holy grail of food and travel shows, Parts Unknown, it does do a great job at filling the void left by the great Anthony Bourdain.

Looking for the best travel shows on Netflix to binge on? This list covers all that more- including some of the best Netflix Originals.

Best Netflix Original Series

1.The Witcher – We can’t write this entire list of our favorite and best shows on Netflix to binge on without mentioning a shirtless Henvy Cavil. This particular series has everything – including magic, drama, intrigue, fun accents, and Henry Cavil (aka Superman). We may have binged the entire season over the weekend and highly recommend you do so, too.

2. Self Made – We just finished this series and can’t say enough great things about it. Based on a true story- Self Made follows Madam C.J. Walker throughout her journey to become the first African American self-made millionaire.

3. Tiger King – To be completely honest, we’re not huge fans of Tiger King because we find the subject matter extremely disturbing, however, we recommend you watch it if you want to be part of any pop culture conversation for the next few weeks.

4. Love is Blind – There’s a very very good possibility that you were living under a rock when the hype for this show was its peak- regardless- highly recommend catching up. Also, if you find that this show is for you- we recommend checking out Married at First Sight as well.

Best reality TV shows on Netflix

1 . The Bachelor – Peter Weber, an airline pilot who caught the attention of Hannah Brown and fans alike during Season 15 of “The Bachelorette,” comes back to Bachelor Nation looking for a co-pilot who will join him for a life full of love, laughter, dancing and adventure.

Peter, who has his heart broken after expressing his love on “The Bachelorette,” is back and ready to capture hearts across America yet again as he looks for another shot at love. Peter’s parents — who met working on the same flight more than 30 years ago — set the perfect example of lasting love for him, and he’s more ready than ever for his love story to take flight.

2. The Big Family Cooking Showdown – Hosted by Nadiya Hussain and Zoe Ball, “The Big Family Cooking Showdown” sees 16 families compete for the top spot. The competition takes place over eight heats, three semifinals, and one final, with each of the heats split into three categories: the £10 challenge, the home visits challenge, and the impress-the-neighbors challenge.

As the rounds go on, the families have to impress judges Giorgio Locatelli and Rosemary Shrager in order to progress in the competition before one family claims the crown in the final.

3. Tiny House Nation – There’s a trend in the U.S. housing market, albeit a very small one. Drawn to the prospect of financial freedom, a simpler lifestyle, and limiting one’s environmental footprint, more buyers are opting to downsize — in some cases, to spaces no larger than 300 square feet — and this series celebrates the “tiny house” movement.

Hosts and renovation professionals John Weisbarth and Zack Giffin travel across America to show ingenious small dwellings and their creative inhabitants. They also help families design and construct their own dream minihomes.

Looking for the best travel shows on Netflix to binge on? This list covers all that more- including some of the best Netflix Originals.

Best Detective & Crime Shows on Netflix

1. Mindhunter – Catching a criminal often requires the authorities to get inside the villain’s mind to figure out how he thinks. That’s the job of FBI agents Holden Ford and Bill Tench. They attempt to understand and catch serial killers by studying their damaged psyches. Along the way, the agents pioneer the development of modern serial-killer profiling. The crime drama has a strong pedigree behind the camera, with Oscar-nominated director David Fincher and Oscar-winning actress Charlize Theron among the show’s executive producers.

2. Bloodline – From the creators of “Damages,” “Bloodline” is a dramatic thriller that explores the demons lurking beneath the surface of a contemporary American family.

The Rayburns are hard-working pillars of their Florida Keys community, but their past contains dark secrets that they hope remain buried. Paranoia and mistrust build as lies pile up, alliances are shattered, and an unthinkable crime takes place. The tight-knit family’s formerly harmonious relationship deteriorates, and good people are forced to consider doing very bad things.

3. Dexter – Dexter Morgan is a Miami-based blood splatter expert who doesn’t just solve murders; he commits them too. In fact, he’s a serial killer — but he only murders the guilty, so he feels justified with his lifestyle choices.

His policewoman sister and his cop co-workers have no idea Dexter lives a double life; however, adoptive father Harry knows his secret, and does, in fact, help Dexter hone his “skills.” It’s a unique brand of justice for which charming Dexter feels a psychological hunger.

Looking for the best travel shows on Netflix to binge on? This list covers all that more- including some of the best Netflix Originals.

Best Teen Shows on Netflix

There’s a very very good chance that you’ve already watched all of these teen dramas when they were airing live a few years ago, but there’s nothing wrong with going back and binging with a fresh set of eyes (or watching them for the first time). And yes, they might not have all the glory of the best travel shows on Netflix, but they are a great way to kill a few hours and get sucked into the drama that is highschool.

1. American Vandal – “American Vandal” takes a look at the aftermath of various high school pranks. Aspiring student documentarian Peter Maldonado takes it upon himself, with help from friend Sam Ecklund, to investigate the cases and find out exactly who is responsible for the crimes.

After looking into vandalism at a public high school, Peter and Sam head to a Catholic school after the cafeteria’s lemonade is contaminated with laxatives. In the style of the genre it lampoons, the series leaves viewers wondering who the real perpetrator is until the very end.

2. The O.C. – This modern soap opera mines the intertwined lives of the Cohen, Cooper and Nichol families for drama, with a contemporary music soundtrack adding to the proceedings. Ryan, a teenager from the wrong side of the Chino tracks, finds himself in well-to-do Newport Beach — an enclave of Southern California’s Orange County.

Taken in by a lawyer and his family, Ryan winds up in the midst of snarky, wealthy high schoolers and their sun-drenched angst.

3. Pretty Little Liars – It has been one year since Alison, then the queen bee of the bunch, went missing. Spencer, Aria, Hanna and Emily have gone on with their lives, though they’ve grown apart.

Now in high school, each girl finds herself facing a new set of challenges when anonymous text messages from `A’ threaten to expose all of their secrets – both old secrets the girls were sure only Alison knew, and newer secrets developed after Alison’s disappearance. Who is `A’ and how does he or she know the things he or she knows? `Pretty Little Liars’ is based on the series of novels by Sara Shepard.

Best Kid Shows on Netflix

1. Ask the Storybots – The StoryBots are curious little creatures who live under our screens. The intrepid quintet of Beep, Bing, Bang, Boop and Bo of Team 341B go on an adventure to the human world to help answer kids’ biggest questions.

2. Puffin Rock – The adventures of Oona the Puffin and her little brother, Baba, on the coast of Ireland. Their family and friends learn and explore on their gorgeous and wild Irish island.

3. Mr. Young – Take Doogie Howser out of the O.R., put him in a classroom and you have the basic premise of “Mr. Young.” The titular Adam Young is a whiz kid who entered college as a 9-year-old. At 14, now a college graduate, he begins his career teaching science to high schoolers — including both his best friend and his crush, which presents a challenge for him in balancing his personal and professional lives. As if being a teen isn’t hard enough!

Best comedy shows on Netflix

1. Gilmore Girls – Set in a storybook Connecticut town populated by an eclectic mix of dreamers, artists and everyday folk, this multigenerational drama about family and friendship centres around Lorelai Gilmore and her daughter, Rory. Lorelai owns the town’s bed-and-breakfast, the Dragonfly Inn, with best friend/chef Sookie, and contends with weekly dinners with eccentric, well-off parents Richard and Emily Gilmore (who always have something to say about their daughter’s life).

2. Parks and Recreation – Leslie Knope, a mid-level bureaucrat in an Indiana Parks and Recreation Department, hopes to beautify her town (and boost her own career) by helping local nurse Ann Perkins turn an abandoned construction site into a community park, but what should be a fairly simple project is stymied at every turn by oafish bureaucrats, selfish neighbors, governmental red tape and a myriad of other challenges. 

3. Schitt’s Creek – In the sitcom “Schitt’s Creek,” a wealthy couple — video store magnate Johnny and his soap opera star wife Moira — suddenly find themselves completely broke. With only one remaining asset, a small town called Schitt’s Creek, which the Roses bought years earlier as a joke, this once-wealthy couple must give up life as they know it.

With their two spoiled children in tow and their pampered lives behind them, the Rose family is forced to face their newfound poverty head-on and come together as a family to survive.

Best science fiction and fantasy shows on Netflix

1. Charmed – A group of sisters discover they are witches. Luckily for the world, they’re of the good variety. Banding together in their ancestral home in San Francisco, they work together to fight evil, with each having a specific special power. Although outwardly they are average women, with jobs, relationships and friends, they are also powerful witches, but when they work together, their powers are enhanced. As The Charmed Ones, their destiny is to protect innocents from evil.

2. The Magicians – Quentin Coldwater, a grad student at Brakebills College for Magical Pedagogy, has been fascinated by the magical fantasy world since he was young. But as he has gotten older, Quentin and his 20-something friends have discovered that the magical world they read about as children is not only real, but it poses dangers to humanity. While studying at the secret upstate New York school, the friends struggle to cope with the aftermath of a catastrophe that befalls the institution. The fantasy series is based on a series of novels by Lev Grossman.

3. Star Trek The Next Generation – Featuring a bigger and better USS Enterprise, this series is set 78 years after the original series — in the 24th century. Instead of Capt. James Kirk, a less volatile and more mature Capt. Jean-Luc Picard heads the crew of various humans and alien creatures in their adventures in space — the final frontier, and while this doesn’t really count as one of the best travel shows on Netflix, we found space exploration extremely fascinating.

And there you have it- our list of the not only the best travel shows on Netflix, but also the best Netflix Original series that we’ve loving right now. Use this list along with our best travel movies that you need to watch to create the perfect-worthy playlist to get through long periods at home or on your next long haul flight.