If you’re a new reader of our blog (or a follower), you would know that I love lists — and I try to scratch off as many to-dos as I can. So, while I was browsing around the library looking for the next thing to read, I stumbled upon Lonely Planet’s Ultimate Travel List. Its claim? The 500 best places to see – ranked. I am not really a firm believer in rankings, but seeing as I only have a few weeks to keep this book, I’d much rather note down all the destinations and slowly scratch them off my list of places to see. Yes, even on top of my Travel and Adventure list aka bucket list.

I’ll note down what they are and where to find them, so you too can slowly scratch off these destinations — and maybe add to them too (knowing Lonely Planet they will publish another version of this, rendering the original one a bit useless, but hey, we like change, and this will be a welcome change. I may not agree to the full list so I have deliberately taken out all the places I have no intention to visit and put down Maybes in a different section altogether.

The list is very long – over 500 places to go. This will be part one in a two-part series of the Ultimate Travel List coverage.

Places on this list we have visited: 33/180 (18%)

Lonely Planet’s Ultimate Travel List

1. Angkor Wat – Siem Reap, Cambodia (February 2012)
2. Great Barrier Reef – Australia
3. Machu Picchu – Cuzco, Peru
4. Great Wall of China – China
5. Taj Mahal – India
6. Grand Canyon National Park – Arizona, USA (May 2015)
7. Colosseum- Rome, Italy
8. Iguazu Falls – Brazil/Argentina
9. Alhambra- Spain
10. Hagia Sofia – Turkey
11. Fez Medina – Morocco
12. Twelve Apostles – Australia
13. Petra – Jordan
14. Tikal – Guatemala (long been a dream of mine to visit)
15. British Museum – London, England (2011)
16. Sagrada Familia – Barcelona, Spain (Peter crossed this off his list 2013)
17. Fiordland National Park – New Zelaand
18. Santorini- Greece (Peter in 1994)
19. Galapagos Islands – Ecuador (another dream of mine)
20. Yosemite National Park – USA
21. Dubrovnik Walls – Croatia
22. Salar de Uyuni (Salt Flats) – Bolivia
23. Bagan – Myanmar
24. Pyramids of Giza – Egypt
25. Piazza San March – Venice, Italy
26. Victoria Falls – Zimbabwe/Zambia
27. Acropolis – Athens, Greece
28. Versailles – France
29. Djemaa el-Fna – Morocco’s main square
30. Hanoi Old Quarter – Vietnam

Part two of the list – 31 onwards

1. 1. Uluru – Australia (although a friend said this is very expensive to get to)
   2. Charles Bridge – Prague, Czech Republic (2011)
   3. Abel Tasman National Park, New Zealand
   4. Lake District, England
   5. Louvre – Paris, France (Paris Itinerary)

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1. Torres del Paine – Chile
2. Eiffel Tower – Paris, France
3. Pompeii – Italy
4. Havana Vieja – Havana, Cuba (Feb 2017)
5. Table Mountain – South Africa
6. Prague Stare Mesto – Czech Republic (2011)
7. Serengeti National Park – Tanzania (safari)
8. The Hermitage Museum – St Petersburg, Russia
9. Bay of Kotor – Montenegro (I’ve heard about this from Travel is Free)
10. Ngorongoro Crater – Tanzania (another safari)
11. Hiroshima Peace National Park – Hiroshima, Japan
12. Pantheon – Rome, Italy
13. Tate Modern – London, England (2011)
14. Tiger Leaping Gorge – China
15. Notre Dame – Paris, France
16. Edinburgh Castle – Edinburgh, Scotland (2011)
17. Sydney Opera House – Sydney, Australia
18. Anne Frank House – Amsterdam, Netherlands
19. Jokulsarlon – Iceland (icebergs)
20. Yellowstone National Park -Wyoming, USA
21. Stonehenge – England (2008)
22. Berlin Wall – Berlin, Germany
23. Isle of Skye – Scotland
24. Halong Bay – Vietnam
25. The Duomo – Florence, Italy

And the list goes on, 61- onwards

1. Cappadocia – Turkey
2. Palenque – Mexico
3. Ilulissat Kangerlua – Greenland
4. Mt Sinai – Egypt
5. Sugarloaf Mountain – Brazil (2014)
6. Mosque of Cordoba – Spain
7. Lalibela – Ethiopia
8. Lake Bled – Slovenia
9. Arashiyama’s Bamboo Grove – Kyoto, Japan
10. Redwood National Park – California, USA
11. Chichen Itza – Mexico (February 2015)
12. Masai Mara National Reserve – Kenya
13. Metropolitan Museum of Art – New York City, USA (Feb 2019)
14. Valley of the Kings – Egypt
15. Franz Josef and Fox Glacier – New Zealand
16. Hoi An Old Town – Vietnam
17. Monument Valley – Utah, USA
18. St Peter’s Basilica – Vatican City/Italy
19. Red Square – Moscow, Russia
20. Dome of the Rock – Israel
21. Forbidden City – Beijing, China
22. Uffizi – Florance, Italy
23. Shwedangon Pagoda – Myanmar
24. Pyramids of Teotihuacan – Mexico
25. Blue Lagoon – Iceland
26. Abu Simbel – Egypt
27. Pere Lachaise Cemetery – Paris, France
28. Big Sur – California, USA
29. Matterhorn – Switzerland
30. Stockholm Old Town – Stockholm, Sweden

91- onwards:

1. Golden Gate Bridge – San Francisco, USA (Peter in 2011)
2. Giant’s Causeway – Northern Ireland (2011)
3. Auschwitz – Poland
4. Corcovado National Park – Costa Rica
5. Niagara Falls – USA/Canada (June 2017)
6. Potala Palace – Lhasa, Tibet
7. Bora Bora – French Polynesia
8. Empire State Building – New York, USA (seen so many times but nope, not going up: rip off) (2013, 2015)
9. Budapest’s Thermal Baths – Budapest, Hungary
10. Topkapi Palace – Turkey
11. Tallinn Old Town – Estonia
12. Stari Most – Bosnia-Herzegovina
13. Ayuthaya – Thailand (near Bangkok, and I nearly went here too)
14. Vatican Museums – Rome, Italy
15. Anakena Beach – Easter Island, Chile (moais)
16. The Peak- Hong Kong (1997 and 2009)
17. St Paul’s Cathedral – London, England (2008, 2011)
18. Meteora – Greece
19. Aiguille du Midi – France (June 2016)
20. Bryggen – Norway
21. Plitvice Lakes National Park – Croatia
22. Prinsengracht Canal – Amsterdam, Netherlands
23. Pantanal – Brazil
24. Great Buddha of Nara – Nara, Japan
25. Skara Brae – Scotland
26. Geirangerfjord – Norway
27. Ephesus – Turkey
28. Kruger National Park – South Africa
29. Tulum – Mexico (April 2018)
30. Tsukiji Makret – Tokyo, Japan

121 onwards:

1. Sintra – Portugal (May 2018)
2. Carcassonne Walled City – France
3. Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island – New York City, USA (January 2016)
4. Vatnajokull National Park – Iceland
5. Blue Mosque – Turkey
6. Kyoto – Japan
7. Grand Buddha, Leshan – China
8. Ribeira Neighborhood of Porto – Portugal
9. Koya-San – Japan
10. Walt Disney World – Florida, USA (2014 onwards)
11. Chernobyl – Ukraine
12. Shibuya Crossing – Tokyo, Japan
13. Neuschwanstein Castle – Germany (April 2015)
14. Terracotta Warriors – Xian, China
15. Antarctica
16. Icehotel – Sweden (or any other place with an ice hotel)
17. Banff National Park – Canada
18. Roman Baths – Bath, England (2008, 2011)
19. Inle Lake – Myanmar
20. National Mall – Washington DC, USA (May 2014)
21. Royal Mile – Edinburgh, Scotland (2011)
22. Christ the Redeemer – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (June 2014)
23. Prague Castle – Prague, Czech Republic (2011)
24. Brussels Grand Place – Brussels, Belgium
25. Kinkaku-ji (Golden Temple) – Kyoto, Japan
26. Gulfoss – Iceland
27. Rocky Mountain National Park – Colorado, USA
28. Egyptian Museum – Cairo, Egypt
29. Snowdonia – Wales, UK
30. Volcanoes National Park – Rwanda (trekking with gorillas)

150 onwards:

1. Mont Blanc – France (technically we saw the mountain but no way are we going to hike to it) – we stayed in Chamonix (June 2015)
2. Karnak – Egypt
3. Gardens by the Bay – Singapore (September 2012)
4. York Minster – England
5. Van Gogh Museum – Netherlands
6. Sigiriya Rock – Sri Lanka
7. Tbilisi Old Town – Georgia
8. Changdeokgung Palace – South Korea (February 2012)
9. Korea’s DMZ – South Korea/North Korea (February 2012)
10. Krakow Main Square – Krakow, Poland (More things to do in Krakow with kids)
11. Vat Phou – Laos
12. Mont St Michel – France
13. Blue Mountains National Park – Australia
14. Mozambique
15. San Gimignano – Italy
16. Vasa Museum – Sweden
17. Portmeirion – Wales
18. Times Square – New York City, USA (Dec 2013, March 2015, Jan 2016)
19. El Nido – Palawan, Philippines (August 2013)
20. Robben Island – South Africa
21. Wiliczka Salt Mine – Poland
22. Jellyfish Lake – Palau
23. Vigeland Sculpture Park – Oslo, Norway
24. Summer Palace – Beijing, China
25. Old Quebec City – Canada
26. Canterbury Cathedral – England (2011)
27. Carthage – Tunisia
28. German Bundestag – Berlin, Germany (City Hall)
29. Malecon – Cuba (Feb 2017)
30. Bru na Boinne – Ireland (March 2017)

And that’s it for part one. That’s a thousand plus words and 180 places in the list. It’s quite insane that there’s so many places to see in the world and we only have very limited time to do it. Hopefully this list helps you out in your travels! Watch out for part two of this post.

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