Grand prize, and first prize, nature

A powerful eruption of the Colima volcano in Mexico on 13 December 2015. That night, the weather was dry and cold, and the friction in the ash particles generated a lightning bolt about 600 metres long between the ash and the volcano.

Photo: Sergio Tapiro Velasco/National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year

Cities, third prize

This football field in Henningsvær in Norway’s Lofoten Islands is one of the most striking aerial views in Europe. The photo was taken with a drone during a sailing trip in June 2017.

Photo: Misha De-Stroyev/National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest

Nature, honorable mention

The marbled caves beneath glaciers in Patagonia, South America.

Photo: Clane Gessel/National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year

People, third prize

A surfer in Tavarua, Fiji.

Photo: Rodney Bursiel/National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year

Nature, third prize

An image captured in Costa Rica, between Monteverde and Playa Hermosa, of gigantic crocodiles relaxing on the muddy banks of the river.

Photo: Tarun Sinha/National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year

Cities, honorable mention

New buildings rise from the desert floor near Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates.

Photo: Andrzej Bochenski/National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year

Cities, second prize

Kowloon’s Walled City was one of the most densely populated places on Earth, with hundreds of houses stacked on top of each other. The settlement was demolished in 1990s, and now a park and new buildings stand on its ruins.

Photo: Andy Yeung/National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year

Nature, honorable mention

Fireflies carpet a stairway leading to a small shrine in a remote village in the Tamba area of Japan.

Photo: Yutaka Takafuji/National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year