15 of The World’s Most Beautiful And Wild Places

#1 Japan in Cherry Blossom Season

While Japan is beautiful year-round, the few weeks each spring when cherry trees across the country explode with blossoms is a particularly pretty time to visit.

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#2 Mù Cang Chải, Vietnam

Get off the beaten path in this rural district where the rice paddy-terraced mountains and twisting streams will make you feel like you’re living in a fairy tale.

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#3 Oia, Santorini, Greece

Located on top of a cliff with a spectacular view of the Palea volcano, Nea Kameni, and the island of Thirassia, Oia is the most popular and arguably the most beautiful of all the picturesque villages of the beautiful Greek island of Santorini.

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#4 Bora Bora, French Polynesia

With turquoise lagoons, coral reefs and overwater bungalows, this small island in the South Pacific is basically heaven on Earth.

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#5 Machu Picchu

This World Heritage site is easily the most famous spot in Peru, and for good reason. The ancient terraced city’s astounding architecture and sweeping views of the surrounding mountains will leave you breathless (as might the nearly 8,000 foot elevation.)

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#6 Great Ocean Road, Australia

#7 Grand Canyon, USA

Its sheer size is breathtaking and although you can see only a small portion of it even from the best vantage point, its geology and its age fire the imagination. The layers of colorful rock show the passage of time and some of the rocks at the bottom are 1,8 billion years old.

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#8 Victoria Falls, Zambia/Zimbabwe

Victoria Falls, aptly named Mosi-oa-Tunya – the Smoke that Thunders – by locals is a breathtaking spectacle of incomparable beauty and majesty.

The largest water curtain in the world, this enormous waterfall on the Zambezi River on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe can be heard from 40 kilometers away.

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#9 Apenzell, Switzerland

Apenzell is the most traditional of all the Swiss regions, a rural world where time has stopped, where culture and tradition are celebrated, and where the charming landscape of rolling green hills full of plump cows is guarded by the 8,200-foot Mount Säntis.

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#10 Geiranger Fjord, Norway

In the land of hundreds of magnificent fjords, Geiranger is considered Norway’s most beautiful: A spectacular creation by glaciers, this fjord is about 15 km long and 1.5 km wide at its widest part. With almost vertical mountain sides and no habitable coast, the occasional abandoned mountain farms bear witness to the relentless efforts of humankind to conquer nature and gain a foothold. The most popular way of seeing the fjord is by ferry, but kayaking is as much fun.

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#11 Great Barrier Reef, Australia

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#12 Torres del Paine National Park, Chile

If you’re looking to get off the grid, head to Chile’s Patagonia region for some of the most beautiful mountain views you’ll ever see.

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#13 Cape Town, South Africa

It might take nearly a full day of travel to reach Cape Town, but the city’s sweeping vistas from Table Mountain and miles of beaches are totally worth the long haul.

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#14 Venice, Italy

If traversing the canals with a be-striped gondolier sounds unbearably touristy, stick to the sidewalks and spectacular arched bridges to get your fill of this truly unique, wildly romantic floating city.

 

#15 Bagan, Myanmar

 

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