Bon Voyage! – a Top Ten List of Travel Puzzles

My last post for our travel-themed week is a look at the top ten travel-themed puzzles currently available on Puzzle Warehouse. First a question. What constitutes a ‘travel-themed’ puzzle? It’s a large category that has vague edges. For example, is a train puzzle a travel puzzle? Hmm. You could argue the point, but a train puzzle is probably better off in a “transportation” category. Is a photographic puzzle of Paris a travel puzzle? It sort of is, unless you live in Paris! But I decided to avoid the very specific “places” puzzles as those seemed best suited to a “locations” or “cities” theme. We’ll reserve those for another day.

For this category, I include all blatant travell-y puzzles such as Route 66 and also puzzles that feature a wider geographic location like “the US”, “Europe” or even “New England” because presumably there would be some travelling involved.

Now that that’s defined, are you ready?

Counting up to the very best…. As usual, I couldn’t stick to ONLY ten. Please forgive me.

13. “Globetrotter: World”, Eurographics — 1000 pieces

Eurographics has a lot of good travel-themed collage puzzles. You can see them all here. Their “Globetrotter” series images feature a collage of themed photographs in a scrapbook style. This one with iconic world landmarks is particularly attractive and clean-looking. (Click on the image below to see the puzzle on Puzzle Warehouse.)

12. “Safe Travels” by Aimee Stewart, MasterPieces — 1000 pieces

A travel-themed collage from Aimee Stewart? Pretty much guaranteed to make my list, and in fact I liked it so much I chose it as one of the puzzles I reviewed this week. You can read my full review here. I really like the suitcase packaging and the puzzle image. This one would have ranked higher on this list, but I had an issue with some pieces not being fully separated in the unit I assembled. It didn’t affect the look of the completed puzzle though. (Click on the image below to see the puzzle on Puzzle Warehouse.)

11. “Postcards from Europe”, Melissa and Doug, 1000 pieces

I have never done a Melissa and Doug adult puzzle, but they’re generally a quality company and the reviews for this puzzle look good. I love the scrapbook style, the theme of famous European landmarks, and the soft palette on this one. Looks fun to assemble too with the collage style making for a bunch of smaller puzzles inside the large one. (Click on the image below to see the puzzle on Puzzle Warehouse.)

10. “Canada”, Eurographics — 1000 pieces

Another Eurographics puzzle to make this list is “Canada”. The vintage ads chosen for this are lovely and the blue and green palette is very relaxing and woodsy.

9. “United States of America” by James Mellett, White Mountain — 1000 pieces

This is a brand new release from White Mountain, and I couldn’t resist including it. The image has a ton of detail and all kinds of interesting tidbits about the USA, plus it features James Mellett’s awesome art style. (Click on the image below to see the puzzle on Puzzle Warehouse.)

8. “Dachshund ‘Round the World”, Cobble Hill — 500 pieces

Love this one! The stickers on the suitcase are freaking awesome. I love how the dog shows up in all the travel-themed stickers. And then there’s the dog itself. Really fun.

7. “Southwest Travels” and “New England Road Trip” by Mary Thompson, Sunsout — 1000 pieces each

Mary Thompson has been producing a number of puzzles recently with travel and location themes. The locations are broad enough to quality for my “travel puzzle” criteria. Among my favorites of hers are “Southwest Travels”, which is state-shaped, and “New England Road Trip”, which is rectangular. I like the hand-painted quality of these puzzles, the college effect, and bright colors. Read my full review of “New England Road Trip” here.

6. “Route 66” by Kate Ward Thacker, White Mountain — 1000 pieces

There has to be at least one Route 66 puzzle on this list, and this is my pick. I’ve been digging White Mountain lately, especially thanks to that awesome 30% off sale at Puzzle Warehouse all of August! (It’s embarrassing how many I bought). I’ve done a few White Mountains lately and I like the larger size, the non-grid cut, and the snug fit. This Route 66 puzzle has a nice mix of vintage art, map, and extra elements added to the collage. There’s a wide variety of colors in it too, so should be a pretty easy one to assemble. (Click on the image below to see the puzzle on Puzzle Warehouse.)

5. “Oceania” by Finchley Arts, Ravensburger — 3000 pieces

Are you up for a real challenge? This gorgeous 3000 piece puzzle from Ravensburger would absolutely be worth the hours required to piece it together. I love the gorgeous, high-resolution vintage travel art with the exotic travel feel. Looks really fun to assemble! (Click on the image below to see the puzzle on Puzzle Warehouse.)

If you prefer a smaller size, this similar puzzle from Finchley Arts, called “Balloon Flight”, is from Schmidt (their new Premium Quality line) and is a mere 1000 pieces.

4. “World of Books” by Aimee Stewart, Ravensburger — 2000 pieces

I loved this puzzle as soon as I saw it. I bought it and reviewed it. You can see my review here. It’s a lovely mix of iconic travel locations and has beautiful, brilliant colors. I can’t recommend it enough. (Click on the image below to see the puzzle on Puzzle Warehouse.)

3. “Vintage America” (1000 pieces or 2000 pieces), Buffalo Games

This puzzle has a nice mix of elements from the large red “AMERICA” letters, to the beige-and-symbols map, to the variety of license plates. Best of all, it comes in both 1000 and 2000 piece sizes, so you can pick your level of challenge! Buffalo Games quality is very dependably good too.

Our review by Melodie here.

CLICK HERE FOR THE 2000 piece version on Puzzle Warehouse

CLICK HERE FOR THE 1000 piece version on Puzzle Warehouse

2. “A World of Possibilities” (vintage travel posters), New York Puzzle Company — 2000 pieces

This is a fantastic puzzle. I love the large, 2000-piece size, and the collage effect. But also the chosen posters are much better than the ones used in most vintage-ad puzzles. I love the characters in the posters, the interesting perspectives, and bright colors. High on my to-do list! (Click on the image below to see the puzzle on Puzzle Warehouse.)

1. “Travel the World” by Lewis T. Johnson, White Mountain — 1000 pieces

Another White Mountain makes the top of the list. I simply love the small vintage country and city poster images that were chosen for this puzzle. It’s a great selection of iconic travel images and the colors are awesome. Makes me want to get out my suitcase and go explore! (Click on the image below to see the puzzle on Puzzle Warehouse.)