Cappadocia is a living example of just how odd yet beautiful nature can be. The lunar landscape is stunning on its own, but the countless hot-air balloons that fill up the sky with shades of red, yellow, orange and cream simply take its beauty to the next level. The Goreme Open Air Museum and its rock-cut churches and the subterranean wonders of Kaymakli are among the best things to see in Cappadocia.
The magnificent 7 km stretch of white sand that feels like your own private slice of heaven presents an aura of peace and serenity, letting you experience relaxation at its very best. To enjoy the best view of Whitehaven Beach, make your way to Tongue Point. You might suddenly start believing in fairies the moment your eyes fall on the Fairy Pool, an ethereal oasis that bewitches visitors with its crystal clear water, picture-perfect scenery and magical atmosphere. The place also has its own infinity pool, bounded by a beautiful stone wall!
Considered to rank among one of the top 7 wonders of the world, this fascinating piece of art feels strikingly familiar, yet entirely unique. Its sheer size leaves you speechless and visiting the canyon during sunrise or sunset leaves you mesmerized because the scenery on display is so serene, so beautiful, so pure.
The 10 Most Beautiful Places in the World
The canyon is divided into three rims, North, West and South, and all three offer incredibly unique experiences. The South Rim is the most visited feature of the Canyon for it hosts a majority of the regions infrastructure, Native American ruins, viewpoints and historic artefacts. Psy lovers and artists will fall in love with Huacachina, a stunning desert oasis that leaves you mesmerized with its raw beauty and fantastical legends.
Think of yourself sitting on a huge sand dune enjoying breath-taking sunset views as the landscape reveals vivid colors of red and yellow all around you.
Right in front of you lies a dreamy oasis which looks like a still from one of those Arabian Nights movies, dotted with palm trees, covered with rustic hotels that offer the very best of luxury. Huacachina might lose out to Machu Picchu and Nazca in terms of popularity, but it provides a picture-perfect setting for those searching for mystery, adventure or romance.
The largest salt mine in the world is also one of its most beautiful wonders. Salar de Uyuni looks like one of those fantasy-like paintings of the renaissance era, but it proudly stands as one of the most stunning spectacles of South America. The sheer beauty of this vast desert leaves you speechless and the strange islands that form in a sea of salt present an unforgettable landscape that is sure to remain etched in your minds forever. No list of the most beautiful places in the world would ever be complete without mentioning Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia. This mesmerizing park is the largest national park in the country and is most famous for its 16 crystalline lakes that join one another through a series of cascades and waterfalls.
You explore the park via 18 kms of wooden pathways and footbridges that snake their way around the edges and across the waterfalls to offer unparalleled views of the area. Clouds of colorful butterflies also keep you company throughout your hike. No wonder that Plitvice Lakes manages to attract as many as 1,, people per year. However, the moment your visit Milford Sound, everything else pales in view. This m high mountainous fjord is where you see all those Lord of the Rings fantasies come to life, and your first glimpse is likely to leave you with butterflies in your belly.
No wonder that Milford Sound attracts more than , visitors per year. You can visit Milford Sound on foot, via helicopter or via bus tours. Considered to be as stunning as the Grand Canyon, and one of the most beautiful places in all of China, the mountains present dramatic colors of maroon, magenta, yellows and greens due to trace minerals within the sandstone. Machu Picchu was built around the year and was occupied for almost years before the Spanish Conquest. This mesmerizing city was never discovered by the Spaniards and was literally forgotten until the early 20th century, meaning that most of its architectural wonders still remain intact.
The hike up the hills is an adventure in itself, and this mysterious city looks most beautiful from the Inca Trail lookout point. Each of these places leave you speechless with their beauty, mystery and ingenuity, making you wonder just how many secrets this beautiful planet still has in store for us.
Exploring the most beautiful places in the world is a time-consuming affair, for there are so many destinations that could make your list, but each experience is sure to be incredible, fascinating and extremely rewarding. Formed approximately million years ago, the rock is rich in Aboriginal myth, heritage and lore — not to mention stunning natural beauty.
Visitors have marveled at the way its colors seem to shift depending on the season and time of day. Watching the isolated mound of sandstone glow like an ember under a breathtaking Australian sunrise or sunset is bound to inspire a sense of awakening and renewal. Astonishingly, a cloudy bed of hydrogen sulfide, three feet in thickness, keeps a layer of freshwater apart from the saltwater below it in the foot-deep body of water. The result is the mesmerizing stream — complete with banks and the kind of natural debris typical of regular rivers.
Seuss might have dreamt up. In reality, the vivid peaks gained their color over 24 million years thanks to the laying down of mineral and sandstone sediments. Visitors are bound to leave with a new perspective — and perhaps an appreciation for what can be achieved with patience. To reach them, visitors must kayak or trek before completing an ice climb, but these caves are certainly worth the effort.
Archeologists claim that permanent human activity in Varanasi dates back to around BCE, making it among the oldest continuously populated cities on the planet. Hindus believe that dying there can put an end to the ongoing cycle of reincarnation, granting spiritual release, or moksha. Each year, Varanasi attracts more than three million tourists from India and beyond. I have no words. A boat tour of the lake is like riding through an ice wonderland of pristine blue and white where the sky and water seem to blend into one magnificent vista.
Visitors often come away feeling spellbound. The area was first populated by Ancient Puebloans the Anasazi, and the canyon has traditionally been revered as sacred territory by the Hopi. These days, it draws nigh on five million visitors annually.
49. Mount Aspiring National Park – South Island, New Zealand
The first fossil discovery of an upright-walking hominid at Sterkfontein occurred in the mid s. With light filtering down to reveal the swirling colors of its chambers, Antelope Canyon in the American Southwest is another breathtaking natural wonder that may offer a potentially life-changing experience. Located in the semi-independent Navajo Nation area, not too far from the sacred Rainbow Bridge, the slot canyon was chiefly created by the erosive forces of flash floods.
Its immense fiords were scraped out by glaciers over tens of thousands of years; then when the glaciers receded, they left beautiful lakes like Manapouri and Te Anau in their place. The park covers over three million acres and is the result of millions of years of natural sculptural work by the elements: Through the centuries, the river has become a symbol of freedom and spiritual rebirth, celebrated in popular music as well as poetry and other literature. The royal chronicles of Burma state that it was instituted some time in the second century CE.
During that time, Bagan became a mighty and sophisticated city, filled with thousands of sacred monuments and known far and wide for its scholarly and religious pursuits. As its name suggests, the marine lake is jam-packed with jellyfish, and every day millions of the fascinating creatures move crossways within the water body. With construction of some of the now interconnected walls dating back as far as the eighth century BCE, the Great Wall of China is a marvel of human accomplishment.
Over 2, years back in time, Herod the Great used the salty lake as the location for one of the earliest health spas, and historical figures like King Solomon, Cleopatra and the Queen of Sheba are all said to have sampled its rejuvenating powers. The lake has also been mined for everything from beauty products to mummification balms and fertilizer salts. And today people come from all over the world to float in its amazingly buoyant waters and cover their bodies in its healing, mineral-packed mud. Although formed between two and five million years back in time, it was only discovered in and became common knowledge as recently as The cave was opened to tourists in The Western Wall — often referred to as the Wailing Wall — is one of the most sacred sites in Judaism.
The Western Wall has long been a holy destination for Jewish people, while the first identified Christian pilgrimage to the locale dates back to CE. Completed in the mid 17th century, the Taj Mahal is among the most iconic structures in the world. As such, the famous marble mausoleum is celebrated as an international symbol of love. Situated on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe, mighty Victoria Falls is another example of the awe-inspiring and transformative power of nature. Today, Victoria Falls is surrounded by a pair of national parks abundant in wildlife and vegetation, while species of fish call the Zambezi River home.
Ruled by the Pope and serving as the special territory of the Holy See, Vatican City is the global seat of Catholicism. The small sovereign city-state was proclaimed an independent entity in , and its ongoing allure and power to transport people can be attributed at least in part to its timeless landmarks, Renaissance architecture and art, and saintly relics.
The 10 Most Beautiful Places in the World | Bookmundi
Walled off from the rest of Rome, this holy city houses religious and cultural attractions like St. In , from March through December, Vatican City drew an estimated 6. Looking down on Tanzania from the top of snowcapped Mount Kilimanjaro is, unfortunately, not a view most will get the chance to experience. Shaped around a million years ago by volcanic activity in the Great Rift Valley, Kilimanjaro has been challenging climbers since the mid 19th century and was first summited in This pilgrimage — staged annually and known as Hajj — first became part of Islamic tradition in CE, but its origins are said to date back to the BCE traditions of Ibrahim Abraham.
According to archeologists, the presumed burial site was constructed from around 3, BCE, and it has yielded human remains that are around 5, years old. Stonehenge is steeped in folklore and Arthurian legend, and today it is viewed as a sacred religious destination by Neo-Druids, among others. That said, even non-religious visitors have connected with its air of spirituality. Sights include the footprints of locals caught up in a volcanic explosion in What could be more inspiring than staring out over Rio de Janeiro from the top of beautiful Mount Corcovado with the world-famous Cristo Redentor statue towering 98 feet overhead?
The statue known to English speakers as Christ the Redeemer is a true global icon. It was built between and and is composed of reinforced concrete covered in a medley of steatite tiles. Located in Tijuca National Park, it has been featured countless times in movies, video games and TV shows, and in it was identified as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.
The site contains the Mahabodhi Temple, which the emperor Ashoka built in roughly BCE to honor the spot where Buddha is believed to have achieved enlightenment under the sacred Bodhi tree. The temple is among the most ancient remaining examples of original Indian brickwork in Eastern India. With the Bodhi tree to the west and a plethora of monasteries and holy relics scattered about, going to Bodh Gaya is like stepping back in time. Visitors have written about its tranquility and almost tangible holiness. In Mahabodhi Temple was recognized as a World Heritage site.
And in the King of Thailand and other adherents made a contribution of some pounds of gold, for use in adorning the dome of the temple.