Taj Mahal

• Location: Agra-Uttar Pradesh, India

When people think about the nation of India, the first thing they’ll usually think about is the absolutely beautiful Taj Mahal. While it might not seem like it in some images, this is actually an ivory-white marble mausoleum. It sits right on the bank of the Yamuna River in Agra. Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan commissioned the building of the Taj Mahal back in 1631 and they completed it in 1653. At the time, it cost roughly 32 million Rupees, which would today cost 70 billion Rupees or around 1 billion USD. It was initially made to house the tomb of his favorite white Mumtaz Mahal and would eventually house Jahan’s tomb. The Taj Mahal sits on a 42-acre complex and along with the tomb, a mosque and guest house are present along with a formal garden. To us, this amazing building is a must-see in person.

Sea Of Stars On Vaadhoo Island

• Location: Vaadhoo Island, Maldives

If there is one place known for its luxury on the planet, it’s certainly the Maldives. Tourism here is massive and one of the top sources of income among the local people. While the white sand beaches and clean roads make the Maldives great, one island stands out big time for something quite special. Vaadhoo Island is known for something called bioluminescence plankton or Redhan. The plankton is quite active in the water at night and results in what seems like stars in the ocean as they light things up. They can be found here throughout the year, which has made the island relatively famous. The “Sea of Stars” must be seen in person, which is why Vaadhoo Island is one of the places to visit before you die, in our book.

Preacher’s Pulpit

• Location: Rogaland County, Norway

We’re not trying to get religious with you here, but we will tell you that you’ll likely feel pretty amazing if you can ever reach the Preacher’s Pulpit. We do not mean the random pulpit in your local church(es). We’re talking about the amazing rock formation in Norway. It is officially known as “Preikestolen.” This steep cliff is around 1982 feet (602 meters) above Lysefjorden. The flat portion of the cliff is roughly 82 x 82 feet. Scientists were able to figure out that the cliff formed sometime during the last major Ice Age roughly 10,000 years ago. Apparently, the edges of a glacier reached the cliff back then. Water from the glacier froze in the crevices of the mountain and would eventually break off into large angular blocks. Those were carried away by the glacier and now we see the famous formation.

The Outback

• Location: New South Wales, Queensland, and Western, Southern, and Northern Australia

Australia is one of the most unique countries/continents on the planet. Due to splitting off from the rest of the world millions of years ago, the wildlife here is unlike anything you’ll see elsewhere. The landscape here is also amazing, and the entire country is just so incredible. Yet The Outback might be the most infamous part of the country. This is mostly the central section of the country, taking up inland areas of New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, and sections of Northern Australia. Aborigines lived here for hundreds of years. Eventually, their land was taken from them (a lot like what we saw in the Americas) by colonialists years back. While portions of the Outback were their home (for some it still is), today it’s mostly unoccupied by humans but littered with unique animal species.

Great Blue Hole

• Location: Off The Coast of Belize City, Belize

Telling someone to go see a giant hole might seem a bit odd. Certainly not worthy of being one of the places you need to visit before you die. Yet we have to make an exception for this area. Lying at the center of the Lighthouse Reef around 43 miles off the coast of Belize City, the “Great Blue Hole” is present. It is so large, in fact, that it can be seen from the International Space Station. The hole is 1,043 feet across and 403 feet deep. In total, it is roughly 760,500 square feet. Apparently, the area was formed after several episodes of quaternary glaciation, back when sea levels were lower. The initial formation began 153,000 years ago but continued to develop. The last time formation occurred was roughly 15,000 years ago. Overall, this entire Barrier Reef is beautiful and well worth exploring.

Palace And Park Of Versailles

• Location: Versailles, France

The Palace of Versailles was the former home of the infamous King Louis XIV. Today, it’s owned by the French Republic. The palace was not there at first. In fact, Louis XII only had a small hunting lodge there and replaced it with a small château by 1634. When Louis XIV came in, he transformed the château into a palace. This occurred in several phases from 1661 to 1715. Once it was formed, Louis moved his seat of court and government to the palace, making Versailles the de facto capital of France. Louis XV and Louis XVI made their own alterations, but was largely abandoned by the late 1700s during the French Revolution. In fact, it would not be occupied again until Napolean used it as a summer home from 1810 to 1814. Today the palace and park are a huge part of France, and millions visit them annually.

The Old City

• Location: Jerusalem, Israel

The city of Jerusalem has been around for centuries in some form. Today, “The Old City” is divided into 4 uneven quarters. These are the Muslim Quarter, Christian Quarter, Armenian Quarter, and Jewish Quarter. There is a fifth area, the Temple Mount (home to the Dome of the Rock), which was once the site of two Jewish Temples. Of course, this sector has switched back and forth between the Jews and Muslims for years. The current designations we see here were introduced in the 19th Century. Yet the current walls were actually built by the Ottoman Empire in the mid-1500s. Multiple sites here are historic and critical to all three Abrahamic Religions from the Temple Mount and Western Wall to the Chuch of the Holy Sepulchre and Dome of the Rock. It’s a major place many should visit.

Yellowstone National Park

• Location: Northwest Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana

When we discuss places to visit before you die, Yellowstone is probably the top park you must visit. While the United States has several amazing National Parks, it seems that Yellowstone is perhaps our crowning achievement. The park takes up the Northwest corner of Wyoming, then extends into Montana and Idaho. It was President Ulysses S. Frant that signed the Yellowstone National Park Protection Act in 1872 to keep it preserved. This also made it the very first National Park in the United States. The geothermal features and wildlife, especially the infamous Old Faithful Geyser make the park stand out heavily. Interestingly, outside of Native Americans, organized exploration of Yellowstone did not occur until the late 1860s. The park has still not been completely explored to this day.

Iceland

• Location: Iceland

It is probably odd to see us say an entire country is one of the places to visit before you die. Yet Iceland sort of fits this concept. It is such a beautiful place with so many amazing things to see. First, you have incredible volcanoes that are well worth checking out at any time. You’re able to see the Northern Lights here too, which is always fun. There are great mountains one can hike as well. If that isn’t enough for you, they have some of the best beaches you’ll ever see. From white and yellow sand to black sand. If all of this isn’t enough for you, most tourists love visiting the shops and conversing with the people. It’s truly a dream place to visit for a reason.

Great Wall Of China

• Location: Border of China

The Great Wall of China is one of the most amazing sites on the planet. While historically there have been many walls in the country, the “Great Wall” was supposed to be made to wrap around all of modern China. The wall was built for border control and defensive purposes and was a huge part of the Silk Road route. As it controlled immigration and trade throughout the region. Throughout many dynasties, it was enhanced to include watchtowers, troop barracks, signaling stations, and garrison stations. The wall collectively stretches from Liaodong in the east to Lop Lake in the west. Along with the present-day Sino-Russian border to the north and the Tao River to the south. This allows it to span a total of 13,170.70 miles. In spite of this, the wall was actually never finished and it is damaged in many areas.

The Great Pyramids

• Location: Cairo, Egypt

Very few will understand how amazing the Egyptian pyramids truly are, at least not unless you see them in person. That makes Egypt one of the places to visit before you die for sure. While there are many great places to visit in Egypt overall, the pyramids usually catch your eye immediately. There are three main pyramids present today but others were built before this that did not hold up. The most critical pyramid is certainly the Pyramid of Giza. The building began to become the tomb of Pharoah Khufu, starting in the 26th Century BCE. It took roughly 27 years to complete. It is the only remaining Ancient World Wonder and has stood for 4500 years as of this writing. In spite of its coloring today, the pyramid used to be white with a gold top, but centuries of theft changed its appearance.

Inca Trail To Machu Picchu

• Location: Piscaucucho Village to Machu Piccu, Peru

Going to the infamous Machu Picchu site is terrific. Many people have enjoyed seeing what Peru has to offer along the most popular route to getting there, known as the Inca Trail. This is a 3 to 5-day hike depending on your preference and how you choose to trek the area. The Inca Trail covers around 26 miles of land, beginning out of the Piscaucucho Village. Most hikers rate it as a “moderately difficult hike,” mostly due to how long it can be and the fact that you’re part of a tour rather than doing it alone. The trek is quite long too, and you reach an elevation just shy of 14,000 feet. Yet this is all worth it to see the amazing landscape. You’re then rewarded at the end by seeing the amazing Machu Picchu site too.

Temples Of Petra

• Location: Petra, Jordan

If you’ve never seen Petra (The Lost City), we feel you need to get there. It is most certainly one of the places to visit before you die and is highly underrated. The Temples here are part of a grand monumental complex within Petra. It is said that the complex was likely finished sometime in the early century CE. The construction was ordered under the rule of Nabataean King Aretas IV. The Grand Temple, which everyone usually notices first, was critical to Ancient Petra. It is not clear whether or not the complex was built for a religious or political purpose, funny enough. In fact, many are not sure it is religious at all but it gets the Temple name due to how it appears. Everything is built into the rocky mountain and has to be restored off and on as a result.

Where do We Find this Stuff? Here Are Our Sources:

UNESCO World Heritage Convention

United States National Park Service (NPS)

National Geographic

Smithsonian Institution

American Museum of Natural History