Tuesday, April 07, 2009
The 100 most beautiful places in the world
Here is a list, with clickable pictures, of the 100 most beautiful places in the world. While I am sure there is room for argument, it is an excellent list, especially insofar as it combines natural and man-made, ancient and modern.
How many have you seen?
13 Comments:
By 
, at
Tue Apr 07, 10:26:00 AM:
The list doesn't include Disneyland. Surly there was room on the list for that architectural marvel. Given the hundreds of thousands of people who pay to visit it every month Disneyland gets the peoples vote over a lot of the other choices. The "Happiest place on Earth" was designed to be that way and it should get more recognition for it's success.
I don't travel much so I have only seen three on the list. Yosemite Valley should be there and Mecca should not. Almost anyone is free to visit Yosemite, but Mecca is closed to unbelievers. I guess we will just have to take their word for it.
By 
Roy Lofquist, at
Tue Apr 07, 11:08:00 AM:
I have seen 15 of them. I have seen many others that top the 15. This is one of my favorites.
http://www.chapeloftheholycross.com/store/images/frontpage/Chapel-Picture.gif
http://travel.webshots.com/photo/1089643128010207316WOGjPp
http://family.webshots.com/photo/1244702279063370502uRfWRo
By Sotosoroto, at
Tue Apr 07, 12:11:00 PM:
I've been to 18 of them and plan to go to several more (in China) within a year.
Most of the list is either natural or artificial beauty, but Greece's Meteora are a perfect combination of the two. It's the best of the ones on the list I've been to, certainly.
Some of the ones which I've seen surprise me that they're on the list. Las Vegas? Big Ben? Kennedy Space Port? Even New York City or Istanbul's Blue Mosque aren't so great when compared to the Meteora or Milford Sound (or the North Cascades or Kenai Fjords or . . .).
By GreenmanTim, at
Tue Apr 07, 12:49:00 PM:
A fair number of these are also World Heritage Sites. How many of them have you seen?
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list
How about a few examples of "Small is Beautiful" in among all these monuments, vistas and spectacles? Or a region with many small wonders?
For my money, it is hard to beat Monhegan Island, ME for that sort of beauty. But then, this stuff is personal.
By , at
Tue Apr 07, 12:55:00 PM:
16, but a number to add after a trip this year ...
By , at
Tue Apr 07, 12:55:00 PM:
I've hit 20 (I didn't count Vegas cuz I've not been there in years). Big gripes with list--how can the Alhambra be down at 68 ?(quite possibly the coolest place ever) and Tikal in Guatemala should make the list.
Goody
By , at
Tue Apr 07, 02:56:00 PM:
One of the interesting things about this list, is that it is examples of EXTERIOR architecture or outdoor spaces created by vistas or architecture. This list was dollars to doughnuts developed by a man or several men.
Women tend to experience space differently. Little boys build towers and look at it from the outside. Little girls have dollhouses where the places are interior. In architecture school, I noticed that women looked at walls differently although we all learned to look at it from the exterior as we went along.
Why are their almost no interior places in the list? Are places only experienced as exterior points? You can experience an epiphany in the Chinese room at the Winterthr Museum in Wilmington that is just as breathtaking.
Assuming Sister Wendy is right that "Art is a pagan form of worship", then perhaps architecture is also. So, aside from the man-made on the list, the beauty of the natural world (including all the senses) when truly breathtaking, is the inspiration for every derivative.
So instead of this list, there should be two lists...one of the sublime in natural places...and..
one of the great derivatives inspired by the first. The second list could include the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, sculpture, art, music, planning, architecture, even a masterpiece in the design of a chair, physical equations, even the law or literature.
Perhaps all that is beautifully sublime is an inspired 'pagan form of worship'.
a moderate
By TigerHawk, at
Tue Apr 07, 03:22:00 PM:
I'm fortunate to say that I have seen 32 of those places. I still have a lot to see!
By Unknown, at
Tue Apr 07, 03:24:00 PM:
What kind of list doesn't include Yosemite?
By , at
Tue Apr 07, 03:51:00 PM:
As a Hungarian, I am extremely proud that our Parliament in Budapest made onto the list. One other thing which could possibly on the list from Hungary is Holloko - an old village left in its old state.
A couple of things I miss from the list. It would be great to see an extended (200?) list or classified (natural/manmade/etc)
Crater Lake, Oregon, USA
Bryce Canyon, Utah, USA
Mt. Fuji, Japan
Lauterbrunnen Valley, Switzerland
Eiger/Monch/Jungfrau from the north, Switzerland
Kandersteg and the lake, Switzerland
Matterhorn, Switzerland
Gornergrat, Switzerland
Harbour view, Victoria, BC, Canada
Vancouver Downtown from south, BC, Canada
Vilmos
By Georg Felis, at
Tue Apr 07, 04:16:00 PM:
One here. Two if you count Disneyland :) And I would be glad to compare the frozen white immensity of Antarctica to the golden/green immensity of standing in the middle of a Kansas field and seeing nothing but wheat to the horizon. Makes you feel like standing inside of life itself.
By JPMcT, at
Tue Apr 07, 08:23:00 PM:
The Big Wall of China?
The Great Canyon?
Is it now impolite to allow anything to be communicated in American vernacular?
By , at
Tue Apr 07, 09:42:00 PM:
Something representing the Pacific Northwest mountains should be on this list; the North Cascades, Hurricane Ridge, Mount Rainier or Mount Baker.
The volcanic craters at Mount Saint Helens or Crater Lake.
The entire West Coast of America, especially from mid-Oregon to Santa Barbara. There are thousands of miles of stunning rocky shores, pristine sandy beaches, tumbled headlands and spectacular cliffs and waterfalls. You have to drive it to believe it!
