Washington Monument, Washington DC

Lonely Planet Ultimate Travel List

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

Angkor Wat, Cambodia
Angkor Wat, Cambodia
  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
At the British Museum
At the British Museum

Part two of the list – 31 onwards

    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)


  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
Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle

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
Chichen Itza - Yucatan, Mexico
Chichen Itza – Yucatan, Mexico

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
Aiguille du Midi, France
Aiguille du Midi, France

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)
National Mall - Washington DC
National Mall – Washington DC

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.


Ruby is originally from the Philippines, and now lives in Jacksonville, FL with her boy, Alex, and her husband, Peter. She shares her tips and adventures on family travel on this site, as well as traveling solo as a mom. Her focus areas are USA, Europe, and Asia.

One Comment

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.