The world has so many exciting places to visit that making a list of the best tourist sites is difficult, however, we did it.
The following are the 11 best tourist places in the world that are visited by millions of people annually, making them special and unique. Let’s meet them.
1. Great Wall of China
Photo by Chastagner Thierry on Unsplash
This fortification of 212 thousand km, of which approximately 1/3 is preserved, is the largest construction of its kind in the world and one of the tourist icons of China. The work linked the Sino-Korean border with the Gobi desert and was built as a protection against hostile Chinese peoples and foreign enemies, between the 5th and 16th centuries BC.
Its height is between 6 and 7 meters and its maximum width is 5 meters, so it cannot be seen from the Moon, much less from Mars. For its construction, the materials that were at hand along the extensive route were used. It has sectors of limestone, crushed gravel, fired bricks, and granite. The watchtowers and the barracks were located to take advantage of the strategic advantages of the topography.
The Great Wall of China was listed among the New Seven Wonders of the Modern World and is a World Heritage Site.
2. Great Pyramid of Giza, Egypt
Photo by Osama Elsayed on Unsplash
In the Giza Necropolis, 14 km southwest of Cairo, you will find the Mycerinus, Khafre, and Cheops pyramids, the latter being the most attractive for tourists as it is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World that is still standing. In addition, it is the largest of the Egyptian pyramids and was the tallest building on the planet for almost 4 millennia.
Cheops has a height of 136.9 meters and each of its sides measures 230 meters and a fraction. It was built by the pharaoh, Cheops, around the year 2570 BC, and how the ancient Egyptians mined, transported, carved, lifted, and assembled its more than 2 million stone blocks is one of the colossal engineerings works in the history of mankind.
Its chambers, galleries, and interior passages are spaces full of mystery.
3. The Alhambra, Granada, Spain
Photo by Enes on Unsplash
The most visited Spanish monument after the Expiatory Temple of the Sagrada Familia.
This Andalusian citadel, a World Heritage Site in which the Nasrid king and his court lived, is made up of palaces, beautiful gardens, and a fortress.
Its buildings include the citadel, several Nasrid palaces and buildings (Palacio de Comares, Palacio de Los Leones, the Emperor’s rooms, El Partal and Paseo de las Torres), the Palace of Carlos V (Renaissance building), the Convent of San Francisco (a former 14th-century palace built by Muhammad III) and the Generalife, a resting place for Muslim kings.
The architectural ensemble was wisely inserted into the surrounding nature and its interior decoration is one of the pinnacles of Hispano-Muslim art.
In the buildings, there are about 10 thousand inscriptions written in classical Arabic, most of the texts from the Koran, verses of poems of the time, and sentences.
4. Eiffel Tower, Paris, France
The most famous tower in the world has an architectural height of 300 meters, rising to 324 meters when including its antenna. It has 3 floors located respectively at 57.6, 115.7, and 276.1 meters from the base, which you can reach by climbing its more than 1600 steps or in elevators.
The structure was erected for the Universal Exhibition of 1889 and described by the French artistic community as an iron monstrosity, without suspecting that it would become the most visited monument with paid admission in the world. At night it lights up with thousands of light bulbs and flashes, to also be the night emblem of Paris.
Its most famous restaurant is Le Jules Verne, whose haute cuisine kitchens are managed by the famous chef, Alain Ducasse. Hardly anyone knows who Maurice Koechlin, Émile Nouguier, and Stephen Sauvestre were, designers of the famous tower, but everyone has heard of its
5. Hollywood Sign, Los Angeles, USA
What began in 1923 as a huge commercial advertising a real estate development, became the main tourist postcard of Los Angeles, California. Real estate developer, HJ Whitley, also known as the “Father of Hollywood,” used mules to carry the original 50-foot-high, 30-foot-wide letters. Since 1978 they measure 13.7 meters high.
The Hollywood sign has been the scene of suicides, car accidents, acts of vandalism, and film and television footage. Few tourists, perhaps none, will have left Los Angeles without taking a photo of it. The letters are on Mount Lee in Griffith Park. They have a perimeter fence with cameras and motion detectors to prevent acts of vandalism and unauthorized access.
The original letter H was partially destroyed in 1940 by a drunk driver. In 2005 it was auctioned by eBay.
6. Expiatory Church of the Sagrada Familia, Barcelona, Spain
The masterpiece of the 19th-century Spanish architect, Antoni Gaudí, the great master of modernism, is one of the most photographed cathedrals in the world. The Catalan artist began the monumental church in 1882 and despite spending more than 130 years, the most visited temple in Europe after Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome is still unfinished.
Gaudí achieved with the Sagrada Familia a perfect harmony between the structural and decorative elements. The cathedral is an artistic compendium of his experiences of works he carried out in Barcelona, among which Park Güell stands out.
The temple consists of 5 central naves and 3 facades dedicated to the Birth, the Passion and Death, and the Resurrection of Jesus. When it is finished it will have 18 towers, one for each apostle, 4 for the evangelists, one for the Virgin, and one for Jesus.
Before Gaudí’s death, run over by a tram, the façade dedicated to the Birth (partially), the apse, and the crypt had been completed.
7. Tower of Pisa, Italy
Among the tourist places in the world, this is the one that has demanded the most attention to avoid collapse. It is a jewel of Romanesque art that began to lean as soon as its construction began in 1173. Since then, it has leaned on micro-movements, which required its closure and reinforcement in 1990. It was reopened in 2011 after more than 20 years of work with which it is believed that it will stop moving, at least for 200 years.
The tower has a length of 56.7 meters on its tallest side and 55.9 meters on its shortest side, for an inclination of 4 degrees and 3.9 meters from the vertical. It weighs 14,700 tons and is located in the Piazza del Duomo in the Tuscan city of Pisa. There is a legend that Galileo climbed to the highest level to launch 2 cannonballs of different masses and thus demonstrate that the speed of descent was independent of those.
8. Grand Palace in Bangkok, Thailand
The most important architectural monument in Thailand was built in the 1790s by the King of Siam, Rama I the Great. It is protected on one side by the Chao Phraya River and the other by a canal built for defensive purposes, so it appears to be on an island. The palace complex was a royal residence until the middle of the 20th century. It is now used for ceremonies such as coronations, weddings, state banquets, and royal funerals.
Its most famous sight is the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, the most revered Buddha figure in the country. It was brought from Vientiane (current capital of Laos) when this city was occupied by Rama I in 1779. Laotians claim that the true home of the Emerald Buddha is Vientiane.
The figure, which is not made of emerald but green jade, measures 45 cm. It is believed to have been made in India in 43 BC.
9. Mount Fuji, Japan
The main Japanese geographic symbol is visible from Tokyo in clear weather. Its 3,776 meters above sea level make it the highest peak in Japan, a sacred place, and an entertainment center. It is a volcano considered active but with low eruptive risk. Its last activity was recorded in 1707.
Along the way, there are stations with shelters, Buddhist temples, and other attractions. The ascent to Fuji is relatively comfortable since the paths have a little slope. A road reaches 2,300 meters above sea level at the fifth station and there are 4 ascent routes. It is usual to go up one route and down another to learn more about the mountain and admire the landscape.
The most popular climbing season is July and August when there are more tourist services, including the opening of the shelters and bus transportation to the fifth station.
10. Neuschwanstein Castle, Bavaria, Germany
Germany’s most photographed site was commissioned in 1869 by the fevered mind of King Ludwig II of Bavaria when castles had lost their strategic utility as defensive bastions.
It is a combination of towers, naves, and courtyards in harmony with the mountains and lakes of the Bavarian Alps, conceived by the king as an idealized medieval castle. It contains several allegories of the legendary characters from the operas of Richard Wagner, friend, and confidant of the king. The castle is a mixture of styles with Romanesque, Gothic, and Byzantine elements. Among its main rooms are the throne room and the singers’ room, beautifully decorated.
The royal chambers are located on the third floor of the eastern sector of the palace and are splendidly decorated with murals, tapestries, and furniture. The work served as Walt Disney’s model for his Sleeping Beauty castle at Disneyland Park in Anaheim.
11. Burj Khalifa, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
The 828 meters high of this stylized Dubai skyscraper makes it the tallest building in the
world and also the most expensive: 20 billion dollars. It was designed by the American architect, Adrian Smith. Its base is inspired by the Hymenocallis, a 6-petal flower that grows in Dubai.
The ingenious design of the tower, which is part of an urban complex in the center of Dubai, allows it to withstand the strong winds and sandstorms of the city. The work consists of 163 floors that are accessed by 58 elevators. It is built in reinforced concrete and high resistance steel. Its interior design inspired by Dubai culture combines rock floors, polished stone, stainless steel, glass, stucco, handcrafted textures, and more than a thousand works of art.
The building has 700 luxury apartments, a gazebo, an observatory, and the world’s first Armani brand hotel.
