Top 500 Places to See in the World

The world is divided below into continental regions, then countries – showing the Top 500 Places in the World I would like to see. The U.S. Travel Wish List page separately details the Top 280 Places in the United States I would like to see. This page contains the remaining 220 places in the world I would like to see. Here is how the Top 500 Places in the World list breaks into continental regions:

• • • Top 280 Places of the United States
    • Top 20 Places of Canada
    • Top 20 Places of Latin America
    • Top 100 Places of Europe
    • Top 50 Places of Asia
    • Top 20 Places of Africa
    • Top 10 Places of Australasia

Obviously this list skews heavily on the side of the United States, followed by places in Europe. Please know this list in no way should be taken as a measure of value, but instead interest due to my proximity and personal culture. I know there is universal value spread equally across the world. If I grow in my ability to travel, I will definitely add more places around the world to better balance out this list.

Please also see my shorter Top 300 Places in the World List.

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North America

1. United States

(1) Yellowstone National Park(a World Heritage Site)

The world’s first national park. Yellowstone is an amazing geothermal wonderland of geysers (like Old Faithful), hot springs (like the Grand Prismatic Spring), travertine terraces (like at Mammoth Hot Springs), mudpots (like at Fountain Paint Pots), and fumaroles (steam vents – like at Roaring Mountain) – unique to only a few places on earth. Yellowstone also abounds with fantastic wildlife viewing.

(2) New York City (including: Statue of Liberty – a World Heritage Site; Ellis Island – World Heritage Tentative List; Brooklyn Bridge – World Heritage Tentative List; Central Park – World Heritage Tentative List; and Frank Lloyd Wright’s Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum – part of the Frank Lloyd Wright Buildings World Heritage Site)

New York is the greatest city in the world, in my humble opinion. It’s home to the United Nations. It’s the world capital of finance, word capital of media, and the world capital of fashion. It is the city that never sleeps – teaming with vitality. It has amazing architecture.

(3) Grand Canyon National Park (a World Heritage Site)

(4) Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve (a World Heritage Site)

(5) Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park  (a World Heritage Site)

(6) Everglades National Park (a World Heritage Site)

(7) Badlands National Park

(8) Washington, DC

(9) Mackinac

(10) Great Smoky Mountains National Park (a World Heritage Site)

(11) Chicago (including: Chicago Early Skyscrapers – World Heritage Tentative List; Frank Lloyd Wright’s Frederick C. Robie House and Unity Temple – part of the Frank Lloyd Wright Buildings World Heritage Site)

(12) Mesa Verde National Park (a World Heritage Site)

(13) Philadelphia (including Independence Hall, Independence National Historical Park – a World Heritage Site)

(14) Yosemite National Park (a World Heritage Site)

(15) New Orleans

(16) Chaco Culture National Historical Park (a World Heritage Site)

(17) Glacier National Park (a World Heritage Site)

(18) Mount Rushmore National Memorial

(19) Baxter State Park and the Appalachian Trail

(20) Charleston (including Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park)

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2. Canada – Top Places East to West:

1. 1. 1. Newfoundland and Labrador: L’Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site (a World Heritage Site)
      2. Gros Morne National Park (a World Heritage Site)
      3. Red Bay National Historic Site – Basque Whaling Station (a World Heritage Site)
      4. Nova Scotia: Old Town Lunenburg (a World Heritage Site)
      5. Prince Edward Island: Prince Edward Island National Park and Charlottetown
      6. New Brunswick: Bay of Fundy, Hopewell Rocks, and Fundy National Park
      7. Quebec: Old Quebec City (a World Heritage Site)
      8. Old Montreal
      9. Ontario: CN Tower and Toronto
      10. Manitoba: Polar Bears at Churchill
      11. Saskatchewan: Saskatoon and the Wanuskewin Heritage Park (World Heritage Tentative List)
      12. Alberta: Canadian Rocky Mountains Parks (a World Heritage Site)
      13. Calgary and the Calgary Stampede
      14. Dinosaur Provincial Park (a World Heritage Site)
      15. Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump (a World Heritage Site)
      16. Aisinai’pi/Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park (World Heritage Tentative List)
      17. British Columbia: Vancouver Island’s Pacific Rim National Park and Victoria
      18. Queen Charlotte Islands: SGang Gwaay (a World Heritage Site), together with Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve (World Heritage Tentative List) and Haida Heritage Site
      19. Vancouver and Highway 99 “Sea-to-Sky” – Vancouver to Whistler, plus the Stein Valley Nlaka’pamux Heritage Park (World Heritage Tentative List)
      20. Yukon: Klondike National Historic Site – Dawson City  (World Heritage Tentative List)

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Latin America

3. Peru

1. 1. 1. Machu Picchu (a World Heritage Site) and Great Inka Trail “Qhapac Ñan” (a World Heritage Site)
      2. Peruvian Amazon (Amazon Rainforest is also listed under Brazil, where it is actually counted)
      3. Lake Titicaca and the Uros Floating Islands (World Heritage Tentative List)
      4. Cusco (a World Heritage Site)
      5. Nazca Lines (a World Heritage Site)

4. Bolivia

1. 1. 1. Salar de Uyuni and Isla Incahuasi
      2. Laguna Colorada (Red Lagoon) and Laguna Verde (Green Lagoon)
      3. Cerro Rico and Potosí (a World Heritage Site)
      4. La Paz and its Witchcraft Market

5. Argentina

1. 1. 1. Buenos Aires
      2. Iguazú National Park
      3. Patagonia (e.g., Tierra del Fuego National Park)

6. Brazil

1. 1. 1. Rio de Janerio
      2. Amazon Rainforest
      3. Pantanal Matogrossense National Park

7. Mexico

1. 1. 1. Maya Archaeological Sites of the Yucatán Peninsula: Chichén Itzá, Tulum, Palenque, etc.
      2. Mexico City
      3. Teotihuacan

8. Cuba

• • • Havana

9. Jamaica

• • • Island culture

10. Barbados

• • • Bridgetown (a World Heritage Site)

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Europe

11. United Kingdom

1. 1. 1. London
      2. Stonehenge and Bath
      3. Highlands and Lock Ness
      4. Edinburgh
      5. White Cliffs of Dover and Canterbury Cathedral
      6. Giant’s Causeway
      7. Hadrian’s Wall
      8. Lake District
      9. Portmeirion
      10. Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park

12. Ireland

• • 1. Dublin
    2. Newgrange
    3. Skellig Michael
    4. Cliffs of Moher and the Aran Islands
    5. Blarney Castle and the Blarney Stone
    6. Ring of Kerry and Killarney National Park
    7. Rock of Cashel

13. Italy

1. 1. 1. Rome
      2. Venice
      3. Florence, Tuscany
      4. Mount Vesuvius and Pompeii
      5. Pisa, Tuscany
      6. Italian Lake District (especially Lake Como)
      7. Italian Riviera and the Cinque Terre
      8. Milan
      9. Siena, Tuscany
      10. Ravenna

14. Vatican City

• • • Vatican City

15. Spain

1. 1. 1. Barcelona
      2. Seville, Andalusia
      3. Córdoba, Andalusia
      4. Granada, Andalusia
      5. Nerja – Costa del Sol (Spanish Riviera), Andalusia
      6. Windmills of Consuegra
      7. Madrid
      8. Alcázar of Segovia
      9. Ronda, Andalusia
      10. Santiago de Compostela

16. Greece

1. 1. 1. Athens
      2. Santorini
      3. Rhodes Town and Lindos on Rhodes
      4. Mycenae
      5. Delphi
      6. Olympia
      7. Knossos
      8. Meteora Monasteries
      9. Mount Olympus National Park
      10. Ionian Islands

17. France

1. 1. 1. Paris
      2. Mont Saint-Michel
      3. Château of the Loire Valley (Château de Chambord, Château de Chenonceau, etc.)
      4. French Riviera – Côte d’Azur
      5. Chamonix and Mont Blanc
      6. Carcassonne
      7. D-Day Beaches
      8. Prehistoric Cave Paintings in Lascaux
      9. Papal Palace and Pont Saint-Bénézet in Avignon
      10. Millau Bridge

18. Netherlands

1. 1. 1. Amsterdam
      2. Windmills of Kinderdijk

19. Germany

1. 1. 1. Neuschwanstein Castle
      2. Munich
      3. Aachen Cathedral
      4. Lorelei at Sankt Goarshausen/Oberwesel on the Rhine River
      5. Wittenberg (Lutherhalle/Lutherhaus, All Saints’/Castle Church)
      6. Black Forest
      7. Bremen
      8. Berlin
      9. Bodensee (Lake Constance)
      10. Rothenburg ob der Tauber

20. Switzerland

• • 1. Matterhorn and Zermatt
    2. Chapel Bridge in Lucerne
    3. Interlaken

21. Austria

1. 1. 1. Vienna
      2. Hallstatt
      3. Salzburg

22. Turkey

• • 1. Istanbul
    2. Cappadocia
    3. Pamukkale and Hierapolis
    4. Troy
    5. Ephesus

23. Russia

• • 1. Moscow
    2. Saint Petersburg
    3. Trans-Siberian Railroad

24. Norway

1. 1. 1. Preikestolen (Pulpit Rock)
      2. Sognefjord (King of the Fjords, including Nærøyfjord – a World Heritage Site)
      3. Bergen (including the Bryggen – a Hanseatic League commercial building dock area – a World Heritage Site)
      4. Geirangerfjord – a World Heritage Site
      5. Urnes Stave Church – a World Heritage Site
      6. Oslo
      7. Jotunheimen National Park

25. Denmark

• • 1. Copenhagen
    2. Greenland

26. Iceland

• • • Golden Circle (Þingvellir National Park, Gullfoss waterfall, and the geysers Geysir and Strokkur)

27. Croatia

• • 1. Dubrovnik
    2. Split
    3. Plitvice Lakes

28. Bosnia and Herzegovina

1. 1. 1. Sarajevo
      2. Mostar

29. Czechia

• • • Prague

30. Hungary

• • • Budapest

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Asia

31. India

1. 1. 1. Taj Mahal in Agra
      2. Ghats (riverfront steps) in Varanasi
      3. Ranthambore National Park in Rajasthan
      4. Jaipur, Rajasthan – “The Pink City” (Amer Fort and Hawa Mahal “Palace of Winds”)
      5. Jodhpur, Rajasthan – “The Blue City” (Mehrangarh Fort)
      6. Udaipur, Rajasthan – “The City of Lakes” (City Palace)
      7. Jaisalmer, Rajasthan – “The Golden City” (sandstone city of the Thar Desert)
      8. Mumbai (Bombay) – Gateway of India
      9. Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple)
      10. Delhi – Red Fort, Chandni Chowk (Moonlight Square), Humayun’s Tomb, Qutb Minar monuments, and the Jantar Mantar observatories

32. Nepal

• • 1. Himalayas trekking
    2. Kathmandu

33. China

• • 1. Beijing (Forbidden City, Tian’anmen Square, Temple of Heaven, and Summer Palace)
    2. Great Wall
    3. Suzhou, Jiangsu (the Venice of the East)
    4. Xi’an, Shaanxi (Terracotta Army Museum)
    5. Guilin (Li River Cruise of limestone mountain landscape and Cormorant Fishing)
    6. Zhangjiajie, Hunan (jagged sandstone mountain columns)
    7. Shanghai (The Bund, Oriental Pearl Tower, Yu Garden, Shanghai Museum, and Nanjing Road)
    8. Hong Kong (Victoria Central Business District, Victoria Peak, Star Ferry, Temple Street Night Market, and Tai O Fishing Village)
    9. Lhasa (capital city of Tibet)
    10. Kashgar (Silk Road oasis city)

34. Japan

• • 1. Tokyo
    2. Mount Fuji
    3. Kyoto
    4. Torii Gate/Itsukushima Shinto Shrine
    5. Jigokudani Monkey Park
    6. Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Genbaku Dome)
    7. Osaka Castle
    8. Nagoya
    9. Nara
    10. Chūbu-Sangaku National Park

35. Israel (including Palestine)

• • 1. Jerusalem
    2. Sea of Galilee
    3. Bethlehem
    4. Jericho
    5. Dead Sea
    6. Masada
    7. Caesarea
    8. Haifa

36. Jordan

• • • Petra

37. Cambodia

• • • Angkor Wat

38. Thailand

• • 1. Damnoen Saduak Floating Market
    2. Bangkok

39. Indonesia

• • 1. Bali
    2. Tanjung Puting National Park – with orangutans on Borneo
    3. Borobudur Buddhist temple
    4. Prambanan Hindu temple ruins
    5. Komodo National Park

40. Uzbekistan

• • • Samarkand

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Africa

41. Morocco

• • 1. Medina of Marrakesh World Heritage Site
    2. Erg Chebbi camel treking
    3. Atlas Mountains
    4. Old City and Medina of Chefchaouen “The Blue City”
    5. Medina of Essaouira World Heritage Site
    6. Casablanca

42. Egypt

• • 1. Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx World Heritage Site
    2. Luxor (Valley of the Kings and Karnak Temple – Ancient Thebes with its Necropolis World Heritage Site)
    3. Abu Simbel (part of the Nubian Monuments World Heritage Site)

43. Ethiopia

• • 1. Rock-Hewn Churches of Lalibela
    2. Blue Nile Falls
    3. Simien Mountains National Park

44. Tanzania

1. 1. 1. Serengeti National Park
      2. Mount Kilimanjaro
      3. Stone Town/Mji Mkongwe, Zanzibar

45. Zambia

• • • Victoria Falls/Mosi-oa-Tunya

46. Namibia

• • • Sossusvlei and Deadvlei – Namib-Naukluft Park

47. Madagascar

• • • Avenue of the Baobabs

48. Mali

1. 1. 1. Great Mosque of Djenné
      2. Timbuktu

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Australasia & Antarctica

49. Australia

1. 1. 1. Sydney
      2. Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park (Ayers Rock)
      3. Great Barrier Reef
      4. Blue Mountains National Park World Heritage Site
      5. Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World Heritage Site
      6. Daintree National Park (part of the Wet Tropics of Queensland World Heritage Site)
      7. Indian Pacific Rail Line

50. Rapa Nui/Easter Island (Chile)

• • • Rapa Nui National Park

* French Polynesia (France)

• • 1. Tahiti
    2. Bora Bora

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Top World Cities

List of Countries with Overseas Territories