Stunning landscapes Breathtaking vistas Awe-inspiring getaways The World’s Most beautiful places 100 Unforgettable Destinations Lake Pehoe in Torres del Paine National Park, Patagonia, Chile The World’s Most beautiful places The World’s Most beautiful places 100 unforgettable destinations WASHINGTON, D.C Page 1: The setting sun lights the walls at Toroweap Point on the rim of the Grand Canyon Pages 2–3: The Shwesandaw Pagoda temple at sunrise in Bagan This page: A beachcomber strolls across the sands at Frégate Island in the Seychelles contents World Map peaks & valleys 1–25 Verdant hills, jagged peaks, mist-shrouded jungles, rippling grasslands, rocky moors, and undulating landscapes majestic enough to steal your breath away rivers & shores 38 26–50 Magnificent landmarks and worlds shaped by water, from bright coral reefs and white-sand shorelines to twisting rivers and glistening fjords cities & beyond 68 51–75 Structures and foundations so beautiful it’s hard to believe that we created them: spectacular cities, architectural gems, and remnants of great civilizations past stark & wild 98 76–100 Vistas of shimmering heat and sparkling ice, strange shapes, and sharp contrasts sure to inflame your imagination and inspire the adventurous spirit Illustrations Credits 128 peaks & valleys Saguaro National Park, Southern Arizona (U.S.), p Redwood National Park, Northern California (U.S.), p 10 Chiang Mai Province, Northern Thailand, p 12 Masai Mara National Reserve, Southwestern Kenya, p 14 Torres del Paine, Patagonia, Chile, p 16 91 Tuscany, Central Italy, p 18 Olympic National Park, Olympic Peninsula, Washington (U.S.), p 20 Yosemite National Park, Eastern California (U.S.), p 22 Mount McKinley, Denali National Park, Alaska (U.S.), p 24 Jeju Island, South Korea, p 26 Taktshang Monastery, Bhutan, p 26 Bryce Canyon, Southwestern Utah (U.S.), p 26 16 Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland, p 27 Alpine National Park, Victoria, Australia, p 27 15 Glacier National Park, Northern Montana (U.S.), p 27 50 Jasper National Park, Alberta (CANADA), p 28 N O R T H 93 Killarney, County Kerry, Ireland, p 30 87 78 Annapurna Sanctuary, Nepal, p 32 29 Jotunheimen National Park, Besseggen, Norway, p 34 Munnar, Western Ghats, India, p 34 85 12 74 34 100 Cradle Mountain National Park, Tasmania, Australia, p 34 88 A M E R I C A Autumn in New England, Vermont (U.S.), p 35 90 Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park, New Zealand, p 35 56 The Highlands, Scotland (U.K.), p 35 49 Bali Rain Forest, Bali, Indonesia, p 36 A r c t i c ARCTIC CIRCLE 19 82 57 24 32 37 17 42 70 64 75 22 72 47 54 59 55 E 13 67 A 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 97 t 28 30 89 TROPIC OF CANCER l 58 a 39 n t c EQUATOR 81 35 O S O U T H 53 c beautiful places A i The World’s Most A M E R I C A e 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia, p 38 Guilin, Guangxi, China, p 41 Na Pali Coast, Kauai, Hawaii (U.S.), p 42 Crater Lake, Klamath, Oregon (U.S.), p 44 The Everglades, Southern Florida (U.S.), p 46 Plitvice Lakes, Croatia, p 48 Clifs of Moher, County Clare, Ireland, p 50 Zanzibar, Tanzania, p 52 Big Sur, Coastal California (U.S.), p 54 The Amazon River, South America, p 56 Bays of Fires, Eastern Tasmania, Australia, p 56 Loch Katrine, Stirling, Scotland (U.K.), p 56 Milford Sound, Fiordland, New Zealand, p 57 Great Blue Hole, Belize, p 57 Okavango Delta, Botswana, p 57 Seychelles, Africa, p 58 Newfoundland, Eastern Canada, p 60 Iguaỗu National Park, Paranỏ, Brazil, p 62 Lofoten Islands, Northern Norway, p 64 Tahiti, French Polynesia (France), p 64 Kaikoura, Canterbury, New Zealand, p 64 The Lake District, England (U.K.), p 65 Cathedral Cove, Coromandel Peninsula, New Zealand, p 65 Okefenokee Swamp, Southern Georgia (U.S.), p 65 Cannon Beach, Coastal Oregon (U.S.), p 66 Pacific TROPIC OF CAPRICORN 43 Ocean n rivers & shores 80 a 45 map key peaks & valleys rivers & shores cities & beyond stark & wild ANTARCTIC CIRCLE A N T A R C T I C A F O 44 c e a cities & beyond n 76 62 U P O R A I 61 S E 95 A 51 31 68 52 63 98 65 10 71 69 18 11 94 I C 96 A Neuschwanstein Castle, Bavaria, Germany, p 68 Rome, Italy, p 70 Machu Picchu, Peru, p 72 Oxford, England (U.K.), p 74 Sintra, Portugal, p 76 Savannah, Georgia (U.S.), p 78 Bergen, Western Norway, p 78 Chichén Itzá, Yucatán, Mexico, p 78 New York City, New York (U.S.), p 79 Kyoto, Japan, p 79 Rostov Veliky, Russia, p 79 Saint Petersburg, Russia, p 80 The Great Wall of China, China, p 82 London, England (U.K.), p 84 Santorini, Greece, p 86 Bagan, Myanmar, p 88 Seville, Andalusia, Spain, p 90 Istanbul, Turkey, p 92 Pyramids of Giza, Egypt, p 94 Amsterdam, The Netherlands, p 94 Petra, Ma’an, Jordan, p 94 Washington, District of Columbia (U.S.), p 95 Cape Town, South Africa, p 95 Mesa Verde, Colorado (U.S.), p 95 Paris, France, p 96 27 66 R 60 99 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 Pacific Ocean 83 20 33 41 25 Indian Ocean 40 26 77 84 stark & wild 73 79 A U S T R A L I A 92 76 Artic Circle, Sweden (Kiruna, Lapland), p 98 77 Devils Marbles, Outback Australia, p 100 78 Badlands National Park, South Dakota (U.S.), p 102 14 79 Ice sheets, Antarctica (ice flow on the Southern Ocean), p 104 80 Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia, p 106 21 81 Galápagos Islands (Ecuador), South America, p 108 36 82 Landmannalaugar, Southern Iceland, p 108 83 Chocolate Hills, Bohol Island, Philippines, p 108 84 Sossusvlei Dunes, Namibia, Africa (Namib Naukluft National Park), p 109 85 Racetrack Playa, Death Valley, California (U.S.), p 109 86 Emerald Lakes, Tongariro National Park, New Zealand, p 109 87 Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming (U.S.), p 110 88 Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona (Wotan’s Throne on the north rim) (U.S.), p 112 89 Haleakala Crater, Maui, Hawaii (U.S.), p 114 90 Mojave Desert, (U.S.), p 116 91 Northwest Passage, Canada, p 118 92 The Pinnacles, Cervantes, Australia (Nambung National Park), p 118 93 Oregon Lava Fields, Oregon (U.S.), p 118 94 Simien Mountain National Park, Ethiopia, p 119 95 Lake Baikal, Siberia, Russia, p 119 96 Socotra, Yemen, p 119 97 Sahara Desert, Africa (Erg Chebbi, Maroc), p 120 98 Mineral Forest, Pamukkale, Turkey, p 122 99 K2, Karakoram Range, China/Pakistan, p 124 100 The Prairies, Midwestern U.S (Flint Hills), p 126 7 86 38 0 23 48 46 2000 km 2000 mi mojave desert SOUTHWESTERN UNITED STATES Far from the madding metropolitan crowds of Las Vegas and Los Angeles that surround it, the Mojave desert ofers the balm of silence and solitude Canyons, giant mesas, mountains, towering dunes, and vast, dustdry plains make up one of North America’s most elemental landscapes It is a world little touched by humans, save for the odd crumbling mine or homestead, but one which nature adorns with the beauty of the Joshua tree and spring’s brief-lived wildflowers DON’ T MISS Watch the sunset at Keys View on the crest of the Little San Bernardino Mountains in Joshua Tree National Park Take in the incredible view across the desert heights to the Peninsular Ranges Joshua trees set against a glowing sunset make for one of the most recognizable symbols of the Mojave 1 S TA R K & W I L D 91 « northwest passage CANADA The Northwest Passage is not one place, nor one route, but a long-sought means of transit from the Atlantic to the Pacific through the labyrinth of icebound Arctic waterways of northern Canada Retreating pack ice has made the route increasingly accessible, opening up an elemental world of tundra, mountains, and icy seas Melting ice paints patterns in the frozen seas of the Northwest Passage 92 the pinnacles » WESTERN AUSTRALIA Beyond the obvious agents of wind and rain, no one can agree on quite how the limestone pinnacles in Western Australia’s Nambung National Park were created, but no one disputes their eerie beauty Many of the region’s 250,000 annual visitors come at dusk or dawn when the sun casts long shadows and the soft light brings out the pinnacles’ sandy reds, yellows, and ochers to dazzling efect The Pinnacles limestone formations in Australia’s Nambung National Park 93 « lava fields OREGON Oregon is one of North America’s volcanic hot spots, dotted with volcanoes that have erupted and will almost certainly erupt again Much of the region is scattered with the spectacular geological legacy of past eruptions, not least the great lava fields, buttes, and petrified forests near Bend in the Cascade Range Lava fields near Bend, Oregon, make up one of the many volcanic landscapes scattered across the state 94 « simien national park ETHIOPIA It has been called Africa’s Grand Canyon: a high and undulating plateau in Ethiopia’s Simien Mountains that over millions of years has been massively eroded to form vast gorges, dizzying precipices, jagged peaks, and gigantic canyons that in places are 5,000 feet (1,500 m) deep The Simien Mountains in northern Ethiopia, Africa’s “Grand Canyon,” is also a World Heritage site 95 lake baikal » SIBERIA, RUSSIA The sublimely beautiful Lake Baikal in southeast Siberia is a place of superlatives: It is the world’s oldest (25 million years) and deepest (5,387 ft/1,642 m) lake It is also one of the largest (12,248 sq mi/31,722 sq km) and contains an estimated 20 percent of the world’s free-flowing fresh water It has more than 1,000 plant and 1,500 animal species, 80 percent of them endemic A fisherman hauls nets on a horsedrawn sleigh over frozen Lake Baikal 96 « socotra YEMEN Socotra, 220 miles (355 km) from the Yemen mainland, is among the world’s most important centers of biodiversity, combining elements of Africa, Asia, and Europe in one tiny four-island archipelago Its plants and animals have adapted to a range of landscapes, from the hot dry lowlands to the mistshrouded granite peaks of the Hajhir Mountains at the islands’ heart The strange dragon’s blood tree is a feature of the Socotra archipelago sahara desert AFRICA Only the Arctic and Antarctic rival the Sahara desert among the Earth’s emptiest places Covering 3.6 million square miles (9.4 million sq km)—just smaller than the United States— it appears in the popular imagination as a sea of sand, a landscape of endless, windblown dunes stretching to sun-hazed horizons In truth, most of the Sahara consists of hamada—huge, barren, rocky plateaus—as well as salt flats and vast dry valleys Every few years, it has snow on its highest point, Emi Koussis (11,204 ft/3,415 m) DON ’T MISS Go camel trekking in the immense Erg Chebbi Dunes in Morocco, the safest and most accessible way to experience the Sahara, and see the desert landscapes as they have been seen and traveled by many of its inhabitants for thousands of years A camel train traverses the undulating and apparently limitless dunes of the Sahara S TA R K & W I L D mineral forest PAMUKKALE, TURKEY Snow white, Arctic blue: the colors of Turkey’s strangest landscape appear to belong in another climate The white is not snow but calcium carbonate, deposited when mineral-laden water from a series of hot springs cools as it cascades through natural pools and overflows petrified terraces of travertine The ancient Greeks and Romans swore by the pools’ therapeutic properties and built temples, baths, and theaters on the site, the ruins of which add to the magic of a place the Turks call the “Cotton Castle.” DON’ T MISS Rise early before the tour groups arrive, put on a bathing suit, and soak in the shadow of Roman ruins in a natural pool at the top of the travertine terraces Then walk down (no shoes allowed) through the pools of the “petrified forest.” Water from hot springs deposits calcium carbonate as it tumbles over outcrops in southwestern Turkey S TA R K & W I L D k2 KARAKORAM RANGE, PAKISTAN/CHINA K2, said climber Fosco Maraini, is “all rock, ice, storm and abyss, all atoms and stars . with the nakedness of the world before the first human, or of the cindered planet after the last.” No matter its humble name, coined by 19th-century British surveyors, and no matter that at 28,251 feet (8,611 m) it is the world’s second highest peak, 778 feet (237 m) lower than Everest With its classic, pyramidal profile and the grandeur of its immense rock walls, it yields to no mountain in its majesty DON’ T MISS Travel by helicopter over three days, following the route of a trek that normally takes 11 days, and then fly among the Karakoram’s peaks, with direct views of K2 and the Baltoro Glacier, the world’s second largest glacier outside the Poles K2 in the Himalaya is the world’s second highest mountain, after Mount Everest S TA R K & W I L D 100 the prairies MIDWESTERN UNITED STATES The prairies of the Midwest are one of the great mythic landscapes of America, a place whose wide skies seem to speak directly to the pioneering soul “This was my country,” said writer and painter Georgia O’Keefe, “terrible winds and a wonderful emptiness.” Today it remains an epic landscape that has the capacity to inspire—where change, said Walt Whitman, comes over us “like the stealthy perfume of wildflowers hidden in the grass.” DON ’T MISS Visit Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve in Chase County, Kansas, at the heart of the Flint Hills to explore America’s last great swath of tallgrass prairie An early morning rainbow arcs over meadows of wild tall-grass prairie in the Flint Hills of Kansas S TA R K & W I L D THE WORLD’S MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACES 100 unforgettable destinations Produced by the National Geographic Society 1145 17th Street N.W Washington, D.C 20036-4688 U.S.A ILLUSTRATIONS CREDITS John M Fahey, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Ofcer Declan Moore, Executive Vice President; President, Publishing and Digital Media Melina Gerosa Bellows, Executive Vice President; Chief Creative Ofcer, Books, Kids, and Family Lim H M/Shutterstock; 11, Andrew Geiger/The Image Bank/Getty Images; 12-3, adisorn- STAFF FOR THIS PUBLICATION LLC/National Geographic Stock; 26 (UP), Maxim 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Call toll-free 1-888-966-8687 or visit ngexpeditions.com/explore Above: The architectural splendor of India’s Taj Mahal, mirrored in a reflecting pool ... The World’s Most beautiful places The World’s Most beautiful places 100 unforgettable destinations WASHINGTON, D.C Page 1: The setting sun lights the walls at Toroweap Point on the rim of the. .. is—one of the most redwood national park beautiful places on Earth We start with the world’s great peaks, which inspire great awe; no wonder we have long been drawn to them To gaze on the majesty... within these pages, the notion that The spaces between the realms of peak and valley ofer up resplendent landscapes of infinite beauty is in the eye of the beholder is disproved variety, from the