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.

The Taj Mahal. More beautiful than I could have imagined, and the way it changed in all the different lights throughout the day.

Maldives - such a beautiful place
Temple of the tooth in sri lanka
Rome - and I’m not even a history buff/lover
Grand Canyon is pretty awe inspiring

disneyworld

I'm not particularly well travelled but Pompeii is by far my stand out place, I would love to go back.

Machu pichu the most amazing place I’ve been to on earth I just sat there for hours just taking it all in and even that wasn’t enough time

Venice
Santorini
Rome

All of Italy, except Naples.

whale-watching off the coast of Cape Cod was so memorable
Oh yes I’ve done that too, fabulous.

The Taj Mahal. I went twice in a week. I couldn't get my head around its beauty, and that 20,000 people worked on it for 22 years.

It's only when you see it close up that you see the incredible inlays with precious stones. And all to house 2 graves - boggling.

The Sistine Chapel stayed with me for days - it was amazing.

The Empire State building. We have been to the viewing deck about 6 times and it just never gets tired.

Uluru. We drove ourselves there and it took us forever, but OMG, when you see it.

And not hugely famous, but Lake Matheson in NZ and the view of Aoraki reflected in the water. A-mazing.

Statue of Liberty
Grand Canyon
Redwood National Park
Flying over the Canadian Artic

St Stephens cathedral in Vienna.

Lake Wanaka in New Zealand

Dubrovnik old town, within the walls, is beautiful.
Closer to home, the Slaughters in the Cotswolds in summertime.
Icefields Parkway is truly awe inspiring.

Table Mountain. Standing on the top. Loved it!
DH lived in Cape Town for a few years; his parents are South African and he never got bored of seeing the mountain every day.

Grand Central Station and the New York Public Library.

Chicago in general - loved the city.

Death Valley.

@Hoppinggreen I went to a German war cemetery in Belgium and stood in the doorway of the monument in the very footsteps of Hitler. Really spooky feeling!

The Menin Gate never fails to blow me away. All those names...

@LadyMonicaBaddingham I laid a wreath one night during the ceremony at the Menin Gate and it was incredibly emotional hearing the last post played.

Flew over Angel Falls in Venezuela in a rickety plane.

I still love Tower Bridge & the Tower of London as much as I did as a child.

Les Invalides and Sacre Coeur.

Statue of Liberty. It made the hairs on my neck stand up thinking of all the people who'd crossed the Atlantic to build a new life for themselves. All that hope.

In fact I loved all of New York, it really did feel like walking around the biggest film set. Such a colourful vibrant city. Can't wait to go again.

Lake Wanaka in New Zealand

It loved Lake Wanaka they had a kids cardboard box raft race when we were there last year, great fun

Venice

Koh Phi Phi there were only a few beach huts and restaurant shacks the first time I went. I thought it was so beautiful I cried

Went back 15ish years later really had changed still beautiful but not like it was

Dubrovnik in 1987. Haven’t seen it since the war but hope it is still as special

Sunset on Koh Samui in 2002. Still dream about the view from our hotel.

Sunset at lands end summer 2018 perfect.

Newgrange but I was lucky enough to be taken inside. Awesome.