What famous places have wowed you?

[wowfudge]

Inspired by the thread about the famous places that have disappointed, I thought I'd ask which places have been awe-inspiring, perhaps unexpectedly?

For me, a visit to Ephesus in Turkey in the 80s was amazing - baking hot, but hardly any tourists and you could go pretty much anywhere.

I loved climbing up to the crown of The Statue of Liberty.

We've also stumbled across local festivals in Corsica and a wedding procession in Corfu and have great memories.

I absolutely loved Rome. All of it.
I know it's hot and crowded but all that history, right there. Amazing!

I also loved new York.
It's like walking around a film set.

We went to Rome after Florence. It was bonkers, but amazing - something spectacular around every corner.

Seeing the Birth of Venus in Florence when the Uffizi was open late one evening will stay with me.

I loved a lot of plaves that were on the disappointed thread.
Yosemite
San Francisco
Grand Canyon

I also love New Zealand. Some amazing scenery in the South Island and am very fond of the Wye Valley

The Thiepval memorial floored me. I'm not prone to dramatics (never wailed at fancy ceilings), but the scale of human loss made me shed a few silent tears. Possibly not the kind of wowed you were after.

Glastonbury (the town) especially the Tor. 12 years I could get up there but it's impossible now.

I do love the atmosphere of Glastonbury even though now I live 8 miles away from it.

Eiffel Tower.. Went in April for the first time expecting it to not be anything special but I loved it.

Most man made places are a disappointment, but those places which have exceeded expectations so far are:

• Sequoia National Park
• Big Sur
• Yosemite
• valley of the Kings
• Cairo Museum
• Machu Pichu

The national parks in the US are one of my favourite things there. We've been to a few of them and they're a great antidote to big cities and miles of freeway.

Monument valley

Newgrange
Blasket islands
Skellig islands
Puglia
Seville

Valley of the Kings
Pilau Sipadan
Mt Kinabalu
National Memorial Arboretum

Carcassonne! 😍

Waimea Canyon on the Hawaiian Island of Kauai, plus the Napilli Coast view from the very top of the drive up there.
Ephesus.
Westminster Abbey.

Also the Austrian Alps and Niagara Falls!

I LOVED Rome. One of my all time favourite holidays. The history is just mind blowing.

I also loved Disney World and Universal Studios

Petra. It's quite a walk through the Siq, and then to see the Treasury suddenly appear in glorious sunlight is such a treat. The rest of Petra is pretty impressive too.
Also The Giant's Causeway in N. Ireland. Hexagons! blew my mind!

sagrada familia

Not in a good way but we went to Zeppelin platz near Nuremberg and stood in the spot where Hitler delivered most of his speeches
It’s an eerie place and it was easy to imagine the army marching past. The kids minds were blown too

Þingvellir National Park
The Holy Grail
Transylvania
Sitting in the PMs seat in commons
Valley of Kings
Namibian desert
Ceaușescu‘s palace but not in good way.
Auschwitz but more awed than wowed.

The Hypogeum, Malta. So old and truly astonishing.

Sigiriya, Sri Lanka

Rome. All of it. I love it.

Buckingham Palace - when I went to walk up the stairs it really made me think about all of the other people who had held that handrail as they went up or down.

I found Venice just so, so beautiful. And seeing it for real was very special. I've not travelled a massive amount, but for me whale-watching off the coast of Cape Cod was so memorable. I'm not a huge lover of all things nature, but that was mind blowing.

Copan (Mayan city in the jungle) in Honduras was amazing. Would like to get to Tikal one day.

Rome
Iceland
Mt Vesuvius and Pompeii
Ronda

Also: Coyote Buttes South. The rock formations have to be seen to be believed.

The Olympic Stadium in Berlin - Like Hoppinggreen says about Nuremberg, it was eerie and fascinating and strange to imagine Hitler there and to think about how he conned so many people into thinking that he was in any sense a sane or credible leader. Scary.

Oia in Santorini - it's the place featured in most of the 'generic blue and white' pics of Greece, and is stunningly beautiful.

Hampstead Heath and Blackheath - all of that green always takes me a bit by surprise, and I'm so glad that they have been allowed to remain, and not built all over.

And yes to Giants' Causeway. Incredible - and made my brain hurt a bit!