20 Places to See before You Die in the World, A Perfect Bucket List

We get reminded often that life is too short and time flies by so fast and of the waning days we have left on the planet earth. Sooner or later, we become too busy with work, too married to live the kind of life we always desired or too old to do the things that we should have done years ago. 

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

Yes, definitely, now is the time to start living and stop dreaming. To help you accomplish this, we have compiled a list of unbelievable places around the world to see before you die. Yes, so many other-worldly places are there right on the earth, and we never even knew about it. Here we are providing you 20-landmarks that appear like scenes and paintings from Sci-fi movies and you must take time to visit them once in your lifetime.

We know that life is short and funds are limited; therefore, we have narrowed down are selection. We have picked 20- landmarks, but as you know “beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.”

Now without any further ado, we bring to you 20 places to see before you die – the global bucket list

Skaftafell Ice Cave, Iceland

The ice-cave nestles on the frozen lagoon of the Svinafellsjokun glacier in Skaftafell in Iceland. The ice caves are known to fall easily; therefore, the safest time for you to explore this incredible place is winters when it has hardened. Well, duh…yes it is an ice cave.

The glacier ice soaks almost all the visible light except from the blue fraction, which you will see. It looks amazing from inside, we cannot literarily wait to get there with our tripods and spoil someone else’s photos. 

Antelope Canyon, USA

Another place on our list of 20 places to see before you die is Antelope Canyon, USA. It is one of the most visited and most-photographed slot canyons in USA. It is situated on Navajo land close to Page, Arizona. The place includes 2-separate, absolutely photogenic slot canyon segments; individually referred to as the Upper Antelope Canyon/ The Crack, and the Lower Antelope Canyon/The Corkscrew.

The Canyon was created by erosion of Navajo Sandstone, mainly because of flash flooding and other sub-aerial processes. Rainwater, particularly during monsoon season, flows in the extensive basin over the slot canyon sections, picking up sand and speed as it runs into the narrow passageways.

Over time, the narrow passageways have eroded away, smoothing the hard edges and making the corridors deeper in such a manner as to create characteristic “flowing” shapes in the rock. 

Santorini, Greece

The place is perhaps the most charming and most adored island of Greece in the Aegean. The name of the island is more than enough to unleash in mind volcanic landscape, dazzling white houses, heart-melting sunsets, red and gray beaches, pleasurable connotations, wild fun and terraces with phenomenal sea views.

Image Courtesy - Wikipedia

All this, tagged with remnants of lost civilizations explored in the volcanic ash clearly justify the epithets with which most visitors identify Santorini and is rightly called – indescribable, magical and incredible. 

Bora Bora Island, France

The next place on our list of 20 places to see before you die is Bora Bora Island, France. Wow, Bora Bora, the most renowned of all French Polynesia Leeward Islands. It is so pretty that they has to name it twice (Bora-Bora). 

The tropical paradise offers a plethora of activities like snorkeling and scuba-diving for a fun-filled time with a family, and it is one of the most loved romantic getaways as well.

image courtesy -tahiti-tourisme.com

With a spectacular view of the ocean, you would not mind spending moths unleashing here. 

The Great Wall of China

One of the greatest wonder of worlds, the Great Wall of China, became the World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1987. Just like the colossal monster, the Great Wall of China winds up and down across the mountains, plateaus, desserts and grasslands, spanning around 8,851.8 kilometers from east to west of China.

 With a history of over 2,000 years, some of the parts of the wonder are now in ruins or have disappeared. Nevertheless, it is still one of the most impressive attractions all around the world because of its historical significance and architectural grandeur. 

image courtesy - wikipedia

Mount Fuji, Japan

The tallest mountain of Japan, which though dormant since 1707, remains an active volcano, finally became listed in UNESCO’s illustrious World Heritage list in 2013 after years mysteriously absent. Home to eight Shinto shrines, five prominent lakes and Shiraito Shrine, reverence of this towering icon appears only in some of the earliest recorded literature of Japan when Fuji-san, as it is known locally, was stated to puff clouds of smoke across Honshu.

Today, it is one of the most visited attractions of Japan, with thousands of tourists enduring the tough climb to the apex each year for a moment of tranquility and peace as they look back over the most populous island of Japan. 

Image courtesy - wikipedia

Fields of Lavender, Provence, France

Another place to see before you die is Fields of Lavender, Provence, France. The beauty of Provence is well- encapsulated by the texture, fragrance and color of lavender. Lavenders bloom at full swing in early July, thus, if you wish to capture an amazing panorama of lavender fields in Provence, France than come here at that time. Je t’adore!

Image Courtesy - wikipedia

The Caves of Crystal in Naica Mine, Mexico

The Naica Mine of Chihuahua in Mexico is a working mine that is widely known for its outstanding selenite crystals. The astonishing Cave of Crystals is a cave around 1,000 feet underneath the surface in the limestone host rock of the Naica mine.

The chamber includes huge selenite crystals – some of the largest natural crystals found ever. The giant selenite crystals were formed by hydrothermal liquids discharged from the magma chambers underneath the surface. 

Image courtesy - revue-technique.lu

Berlin Wall, Germany

The Berlin Wall was the establishment for one of the most defining times of living memory, when on November 9, 1989, it fell off after around 3-decades dividing Germany into 2 parts –West and East. At least 136-people died when trying to cross it between 1961 and 1989, and the fence is remembered today more for what it was than what it is today.

Currently, only 2-sizeable sections remain as memorials: The East Side Gallery – loaded with vivid murals, including the popular “Fraternal Kiss”, showing Soviet Leader Leonid Brezhnev smooching his East German Counterpart Erich Honecker, and the Bernauer Strasse division in the city’s north, which acts like an exhibition about the city’s life during the times of Berlin Wall. 

Image Courtesy - soggiornilinguistici.wordpress.com

The Wave in Arizona, USA

Another place on our list of 20 places to see before you die is the Wave in Arizona, USA. The Wave is a sandstone hard rock formation situated in the US near the Arizona and Utah border on the Coyote Buttes’ slopes located in the Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness situated on the Colorado Plateau.

 Around 200-million years ago, the area was a sandy dessert, where giant dunes migrated across the landscape moved by the seasonal winds. Prevailing winds of the ancient Jurassic times can be ascertained by identifying the layers (cross-bedding) in the sandstone rock.

image credit - tp-photoart.com

What we see now are some of the original layered dunes shaped into impressive landforms and disclosed by erosion from eons of runoff. The stunning ribbons of various hues known as Liesegang Bands were created by precipitation and movement of oxidizing materials like manganese and iron by ground water. The fins/veins of calcite cut across the rock sandstone, adding another element to the landscape. 

The Sistine Chapel, Vatican City

Full four years in the making, Michelangelo’s translation of some of the Old Testament’s most influential tales – the tale of Noah, three each from the creation and the fall of Adam and Eve – has turned out to be one of the iconic images in the Western art.

While it was surely the talk of the town in 1512, around 501 years later – the Sistine Chapel is so popular that it allures as many as 20,000 tourists daily, who line up to explore the world’s most visited room. 

Image Courtesy - famouswonders.com/sistine-chapel

Taj Mahal, India

 If ever there was a more enchanting monument of love than Taj Mahal in India, it has long since vanished to dust. Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan built this amazing marble- white mausoleum in the memory of his beautiful third wife, Mumtaz Mahal in the year 1632.

The resulting structure, conceptualized by Afgan Ustad Ahmed Lahori has been titled as the jewel of Muslin Art in India, and architectural masterpiece and one of the incredibly romantic buildings in the world. 

Image Credit - Wikipedia

Galapagos Islands, Ecuador

Another place on our list of 20 places to see before you die is Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. Charles Darwin called this island “a small world within itself.” The renowned naturalist developed his theory of evolution via the natural selection not long post his visit to the quixotic Isles in the year 1835, and now almost 2-centuries later it is still possible to get a glimpse of the extremely oddball creatures that startled him.

The island is the melting pot of enticing marine life, thanks to its location at the conflux of 3-ocean currents. Atop the crystalline waters, this astonishing 19-island archipelago is home to a plethora of colorful species, many endemic, like blue-footed booby, giant green tortoise (can live for more than 170-years, meaning some of the tortoise roaming in the island today may have been born at the time of Darwin’s visit) and pink iguana. 

Image courtesy - getty images

Canals of Venice, Italy

If there was a more romantic place on the face of earth than Venice Canals, definitely we would see that place simulated in every casino worldwide. However, since there are arguably more Roman statues and fake canals in casinos worldwide than anything else, it is absolutely true to say that the real Venice is the Romantic Winner.

 And hey why would not it be?  Who on earth does not wish to transport themselves into a gondola for a lethargic ride around the “beautiful floating city” past its popular Byzantine and Gothic palazzos, enticing cafes and bohemian shops?

 The astounding city is a marble masterpiece, the engineering marvel and a sight tha would not be around forever. 

Image courtesy - hoodaki.com

Machu Picchu, Peru

Machu Picchu stands tall at 2,430 meters above the sea-level in the heart of the tropical mountain forest, in an outstandingly charming setting. It was likely the most astonishing urban creation of the Inca Empire at its giant walls, height, ramps and terraces appear as if there have been naturally cut in the persistent rock escarpments.

The natural setting, especially on the eastern slopes of the Andes, encircles the upper Amazon basin with its wide diversity of flora and fauna. 

Image courtesy - hoodaki.com

Sydney Opera House, Australia

Another place on our list of 20 places to see before you die is Sydney Opera House, Australia. The Sydney Opera house is a world-famous landmark of the city skyline, a projection screen for Sydney’s numerous festivals, barometer of international talent and a lighthouse for ferries entering the harbor. It is an architectural wonder that was constructed well ahead of time, one that changes the picture of the whole country and far ahead of the available technology. 

image courtesy - wikipedia

Pyramids of Giza, Egypt

Spent your whole life just by looking and fantasizing at the pictures of Great Pyramids of Egypt and figured them to be in the nitty-gritty of the desert? 

The proximity to contemporary Cairo may startle you; however, somewhat modern setting does not take away from the core reality that these giant limestone beacons, the Great Sphinx and their guard cats are more than 4,500 years old and still standing solid as the sole surviving marvels of the ancient civilization.

For modern, high-tech day time travel, it definitely does not become much better than this. 

Image courtesy - famouswonders.com

Stonehenge, UK

Stonehenge symbolizes one of the most remarkable prehistoric megalithic monuments worldwide on account of sheer sophistication of its concentric plan and size of its megaliths. Constructed between 3,000 BC and 2,000 BC, this impeccable complex is now a spiritual site of pilgrimage in Neo-druidry, as well as one of the most iconic attractions of UK.  Just what precisely Britons built it for; however, Stonehenge remains one of the great mysteries of archeology.

 Was it a sacrificial burial ground or a celestial timepiece? The answers can be found any day now. 

Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia

Another place on our list of 20 places to see before you die is Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia.  The sizzling Plitvice National Park is situated in the Lika region of Croatia. The beautiful park is surrounded by the mountains Mala Kapela, Medvedak and Pijesevica, which are parts of the famous Dinaric Alps.

The 16-blue-green Plitvice lakes that were separated by the natural dams of travertine are located on the Plitvice Plateau. The lakes are famous for their unique colors, ranging from azure to gray and green. The colors change regularly based on the angle of sunlight and quantity of organisms and minerals in the water. 

We humans have transformed and exploited the Planet Earth beyond recovery; however, fortunately not everything gifted to us by the Lord is lost yet. Blue water lakes, stunning mountains, opulent oceans with sizzling islands – our planet has innumerable breathtaking vistas and amazing places, just waiting for you to visit and explore them.

We hope you will visit the above-mentioned 20 incredible places in at least once in your lifetime and see the beauty the Lord has bestowed us humans with….yes there is a Paradise on every nook and cranny the Earth.

We would recommend you to book flights to these stunning places at Hoodaki.com, an agency that is known within the industry for enterprise quality service to holiday seekers. To book your flights and plan your holidays contact Hoodaki.com.