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 inside of St Peter's. Literally breathtaking as the light falls through.
Driving into London across one of the bridges from the south bank always gives me a little frisson of what a fabulous city it is. I love it.
Salamanca.
Koh Samui. I was there in the early 90s. Not sure I'd want to see it now tbh.

Venice, went in May and it was glorious weather and not too busy, I was worried it wouldn't live up to expectations but I thought it was beautiful and charming

Canadian Rockies, the scenery is simply stunning, loved it

Edinburgh and Glasgow, very different cities but both well worth a visit

I never tire of the Empire State Building, either looking out from the observation deck or looking at it from the ground.

The view of LA from Griffith Observatory, particularly at sunset.

The Hoover Dam.

Yes, Kho Phi Phi, Xmas 1987, backpacking.

St Peter's, Rome.

Zion National Park, USA.

Uluru, Australia.

The Great Barrier Reef.

The Austrian Alps.

The Alhambra.

Holywell Bay, Cornwall.

sagrada familia
Kyoto, Japan
V&A museum
Any of Gaudis houses in Barcelona

Kayaking by moonlight at Halong Bay

More kayaking to see turtles in Ecuador

The Outer Hebrides. Haystacks.

Island hopping to some of the smaller Greek and Croatian islands.

In terms of cities I also live Seville and New York.

Venice

Rome

Great Barrier Reef

Sugar Loaf Mountain

Penguins on Boulders Beach by Cape Town

Fira, Santorini - literally as beautiful as the pictures of it.
Rome.
Pompeii - blew my mind years ago, I'd love to go back now more has been done.
Florence.

Park guell Barcelona, just a magical place!

Easter Island - just wow. One of the most remote inhabited islands in the world, and to sit on the beach looking out to sea and realising your closest neighbours are over 1200 miles away is pretty amazing. Loved the famous, mysterious moai 🗿 statues which are absolutely fascinating. No light pollution so wonderful sunsets and the star gazing was spectacular. No other place has ever made me appreciate just what a tiny speck we are in the universe!

Niagara Falls almost frozen over when we visited

New York - a film set around every corner

Tikal, Guatemala - fascinating. A Mayan city that was lost to the jungle

Taj Mahal - just stunningly beautiful

Top of my bucket list to visit is Machu Pichu - got as close as Lima but weather prevented a visit 😥

Not sure about awe-inspiring but certainly sad, heartbreaking and thought provoking were Cambodia's Tuol Sleng prison, codenamed S-21, converted from a school to a prison where 12,000+ people were tortured and killed during Pol Pot's regime and The Killing Fields 😥😥

Christ the Redeemer in Rio. Looking out over the city and bays and sugar loaf mountain below.

Lake Tahoe late in the ski season. White mountains, blue skies & shimmering aqua lake.
Tofino area of Vancouver island.
East coast beaches of Corsica are as beautiful as Caribbean.

St. Vitus Cathedral-I remember looking up as we walked in and it really took my breath away.

Menin Gate-still can’t get over the size and the sheer number of names. We also visited Chester Farm cemetery while in Ypres- it was a beautiful spring day and the only sound was that of the birds singing. Very surreal sitting somewhere now so peaceful but knowing it wasn’t always like that.

Anghor Wat... incredible

El Djem in Tunisia, ancient Roman amphitheater. Largest outside of Rome, (and Capua), well preserved and beautiful with the sun shining.

Ibiza Town was incredible back in my teens. Shame I didn't appreciate it back then.

And Auschwitz.

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

I've wanted to go for over 20 years. I don't think I'll ever cross it off my bucket list with being in a wheelchair now, but I find it awe-inspiring.

Mull.

I think it helped that it was a beautiful hot day when I went but I cycled round the whole island and was just blown away. So stunning.

Pulau Ubin off Singapore with its little shrines

Eating at hawker centres in Singapore

Whale watching in Digby, Nova Scotia. Amazing

Taking a tour out of the hotel in Cape Verde. Humbling. Beautiful beaches

Niagara Falls was cool, loved the maid of the mist

The Las Vegas strip. Mental

Troy was an absolute highlight and most of the places we visited in Egypt, particularly the Valley of the Monkeys, Bubastis and Tanis.

The Big Island of Hawaii. From rainforest to volcanos, it's all there and it was awe inspiring to see nature in all its glory. Seeing the volcanos bubbling to seeing the old lava in all its forms, the steam vents and crawling in the lava tubes is something I'll never ever forget as long as I live.

CERN, being brought down into it. Auschwitz changed me.
The Pantheon, well all of Italy.

Inspired by me!

Warsaw pretty much wowed me, I arrived at night and thought it looked awesome.

As well as Amsterdam.

Angkor Wat and all the other surrounding temples - really amazing and beautiful. I'd love to go back.
The Iguazu falls. I planned an entire trip to Brazil/ Argentina based on wanting to visit them, after seeing a photo - I wasn't disappointed.
Rorkes drift - and just how beautiful all of Kwazulu Natal is.
I love love love Rome and disneyworld it is my favourite place on earth. I think I've been 7 times - can't wait for number 8. I love the pantheon and the castel st Angelo and the trevi fountain - and everything else. So beautiful
I really loved pompeii as well (Herculaneum is good too - but smaller, and you have to really know what you're looking for to spot the priapus) - and climbing mount Vesuvius.
Delphi was amazing - amazing views.
Tiberius' palace at the top of Capri. We went for a day trip from Naples - the town was crowded but there was only us and one other person at the ruins.

Spion Kop
The golden gate bridge - we walked across in the sunshine and then came back across and just stood looking at it. The mist rolled in and - even though we were all of about ten feet away - it completely disappeared! madness.
Alcatraz
Christ the redeemer/ sugar loaf mountain
I also really love London - just something about it

Not a famous place but going on safari was one of the absolute best things I have ever done.

Eiffel tower - walk around the corner and there she was. I promptly burst into happy tears it was incredible.
Similar effect upon seeing the Colosseum for the first time too!
Statue of Liberty was awesome but Chrysler building stole my heart and makes me happy when I see it on TV