Revealed: Lonely Planet’s ultimate bucket list

From the Temples of Angkor to the Colosseum, Lonely Planet has revealed its Ultimate Travel List for 2015.

The team of travel experts and authors drew up a list of 500 of the world’s must-see places with the Cambodian temple of Angkor taking top spot due to its “spiritual devotion”.

With the Great Barrier Reef and Machu Picchu taking the second and third spots in the top 500 places to visit, those Brits that are unsure of where to go this year may now have some inspiration.

The Great Wall of China, the Taj Mahal and the Grand Canyon National Park found themselves in the top six, while a range of other UNESCO World Heritage Sites followed closely behind.

Some 34 of the top places can be found in the UK and Northern Ireland, with the Lake District, Snowdonia and Wales among the favourites.

The British Museum, which was founded back in 1753, was also among the top 20 – just behind Tikal in Guatemala – and was named the “greatest treasure house in Europe”.

In fact the British Museum proved so popular that the home of eight million artefacts attracted a whopping six million visitors last year alone.

The top 20 in the Ultimate Travel List

The top 20 places that should be on everyone’s bucket list, as voted by the contributors of Lonely Planet were:

1. Temples of Angkor, Cambodia
2.  Great Barrier Reef, Australia
3. Machu Picchu, Peru
4. Great Wall of China, China
5. Taj Mahal, India
6. Grand Canyon National Park, USA
7. Colosseum, Italy
8. Iguazu Falls, Brazil-Argentina
9. Alhambra, Spain
10. Aya Sofya, Turkey
11. Fez Medina, Morocco
12. Twelve Apostles, Australia
13. Petra, Jordan
14. Tikal, Guatemala
15. British Museum, England
16. Sagrada Familia, Spain
17. Fiordland National Park, New Zealand
18. Santorini, Greece
19. Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
20. Museum of Old & New Art, Australia

In celebration of the release of the Lonely Planet’s Travel List, three of the world’s top sculptors will be recreating five sights from around the world on Peter’s Hill in London later this summer.

If you’re planning on visiting one of these famous sites, don’t forget to book worldwide travel insurance in advance.

Date Created: 19/08/2015