swap_horiz Samuel de Champlain Alternatives

1

Ferdinand Magellan

Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan entered Spanish service to lead an expedition seeking a westward route to the Sp...

Pacific Maritime Portuguese Circumnavigation

9.18 Excellent

2

Vasco da Gama

Vasco da Gama's first voyage reached Calicut in India in 1498 after rounding the Cape of Good Hope and crossing the Indi...

Maritime Portuguese Indian Ocean Age Of Exploration

8.91 Great

3

Xuanzang

Xuanzang was a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk who traveled overland to India around 629–645 CE to collect sacred text...

Asia Ancient Chinese Terrestrial

8.86 Great

4

Alexander Mackenzie

Alexander Mackenzie was a Scottish-born fur trader and explorer whose journeys mapped major waterways across what is now...

18TH Century Canada British Terrestrial

8.12 Great

5

Vasco Núñez de Balboa

Vasco Nunez de Balboa was a Spanish explorer and colonial administrator active in the early 16th century. In 1513 he cro...

Spanish Pacific Panama Terrestrial

8.05 Great

6

Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca

Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca was a Spanish explorer who, after a failed 1527 expedition to Florida, spent eight years wand...

Spanish North America Terrestrial Age Of Exploration

7.83 Good

7

Alexandra David-Néel

Alexandra David-Néel was a French-Belgian explorer, writer, opera singer, and student of Asian religions whose travels c...

French Asia 20TH Century Terrestrial

7.82 Good

8

Jacques Cartier

Jacques Cartier was a French navigator whose three voyages to North America between 1534 and 1542 helped establish Franc...

French Canada Maritime St Lawrence

7.46 Good

9

Francisco de Orellana

Francisco de Orellana (c. 1511–1546) was a Spanish conquistador and explorer credited as the first European to navigate...

Spanish South America Terrestrial Age Of Exploration

7.42 Good

10

René Caillié

René Caillié was a French explorer who in 1828 became the first non-Muslim European to visit Timbuktu in present-day Mal...

French 19TH Century Africa Terrestrial

7.36 Good

11

René-Robert Cavelier de La Salle

René-Robert Cavelier de La Salle (1643-1687) was a French explorer who led expeditions across the Great Lakes region and...

French North America 17TH Century Mississippi

7.35 Good

12

Jacques Marquette

Jacques Marquette (1637–1675) was a French Jesuit missionary and explorer who, alongside fur trader Louis Jolliet, led t...

French North America 17TH Century Mississippi

7.31 Good

13

Louis Joliet

Louis Jolliet was a French-Canadian explorer prominent in the mapping of North America during the 17th century. He is be...

French North America 17TH Century Mississippi

7.19 Good

14

Hernán Cortés

Hernán Cortés was a Spanish conquistador who led the military campaign that resulted in the fall of the Aztec Empire and...

Spanish Mesoamerica Terrestrial Conquistador

7.12 Good

15

Hernando de Soto

Hernando de Soto was a Spanish explorer and conquistador who led an expedition from Cuba into Florida in 1539 and across...

Spanish North America Terrestrial Conquistador

6.92 Fair

16

Francisco Pizarro

Francisco Pizarro was a Spanish conquistador who led the Spanish campaign against the Inca Empire in the 1530s. His forc...

Spanish South America Terrestrial Conquistador

6.86 Fair

17

Captain John Smith

Captain John Smith was an English soldier and explorer who helped establish the first permanent English settlement in No...

British Virginia North America Terrestrial

6.86 Fair

18

Francisco Vásquez de Coronado

Francisco Vásquez de Coronado was a Spanish conquistador and explorer who led an expedition from New Spain across the pr...

Spanish North America Southwest Terrestrial

6.79 Fair

19

Juan Ponce de León

Juan Ponce de León was a Spanish explorer and colonial administrator associated with the early Spanish expansion in the...

Spanish Florida North America Terrestrial

6.74 Fair

20

Walter Raleigh

Walter Raleigh was an English courtier, soldier, writer and explorer during the reign of Elizabeth I. He sponsored Engli...

British South America Guiana Terrestrial

6.61 Fair