Inspired by the underwhelming landmark thread... what is the best landmark you've visited?

[ticketytock1]

Just that really.
Ive got a couple...
The Eiffel Tower
Pompeii
Mount melleray

The Empire State Building
The Vatican
The Colosseum in Rome

rome. all of it. we went to the sistine chapel in the evening. it was quiet, we got to sit down and spent nearly an hour listening to our audioguides ( including children aged 3-13). I can understand why it would be hellish with crowds though.

The tarragona roman ruins were special... I think mainly because there were very few tourists!

I have to admit I did blaspheme under my breath when we walked into the sagrada familia... internally it is just the most beautiful building i have ever been in.

I also thought the millau viaduct was awesome.

The giants causeway in Co Antrim, the formation of the rocks is amazing and shows you what mother nature can do.

Pinkk
Have you been to the Hypogeum on Malta - THAT is an amazing place

The garden of the bishops palace in Wells. So still and just the most perfect place I've ever been. Definitely a 'thin' place. (Where the veil between heaven and earth is very thin and you can see beyond it) Quite an odd feeling.

I enjoyed pamakulle (sp?) in Turkey more than expected and found Iceland inspiring and wonderful.

Not so much a landmark, but I was very very overwhelmed the first time I saw the night sky properly. I was in the middle of Catterick training area with no light pollution at all - it was a frosty night with no clouds at all and I saw galaxies!!!!! I could not take my eyes off the sky, I had no idea there were so many stars!

On a similar theme the first time I saw Luminescence in the ocean... I was mesmerised!

Nature is just so utterly humbling.

Natural world :
standing on the ice at the junction of two glaciers takes a lot of beating

The natural beauty in parts of the US is amazing - going to the Grand Canyon was fantastic.

Two landmarks in Italy - the first walking around a corner in Florence and seeing the Duomo and bell tower floodlit at night. I had no idea they were white, pink and green because you always see the terracotta tiles on the dome in photos. In Rome on the same trip we walked over the crest of a hill down a residential street and there was the Colusseum in front of us. Stunning.

Ooh - and climbing up the inside of the Statue of Liberty was worth it too.

The Alhambra in Granada is just stunning - but you need to book in advance.
I also really liked the Mezquita in Cordoba.
Lindesfarne was amazing for me - if you go off the paths and onto the beach it's a different world.

I've been to Pamukulle? too - a long time ago - that is a lovely place.

The other one I'd say is Hampi in India. Again, a different world.

I'm not very well travelled but these few places I'd love to see again.

The Terracotta Army has bee mentioned a lot. I just wanted to let people know that they are coming to the Liverpool Museum next year.

Sainte Chapelle in Paris - stunning stained glass windows.

Empire State building at dusk - a the city lights come on - in the rain, watching it fall up .... my kids loved that bit

@birdsgottafly forgive the stupid question but what do you mean the Terracotta Army are coming to Liverpool? They're transporting them across the globe?

Tekal, never seen anything like it.

Palenque in Mexico, I preferred this to Chichin Itza.

Mexico City museum, probably the best museum I have ever visited by far.

Yangshuo in China, beautiful at dawn or dusk.

I also agree about driving up toward such Glen Coe, especially if it's overcast and mist as it adds to the weird atmospheric feeling up there.

This is for all the people who mentioned . It's a film on show at this year's Venice Biennale

@Caspiana the Terracotta Army came to the British Museum around 8-9 years ago. Very interesting

Wow, I'm impressed. I'll definitely check it out in Liverpool!

The Pantheon for me too. Standing in the centre looking up and wondering how the hell it stays up and how they built it, thousands of years ago with no computers, no machinery. It's perfection and simply jaw dropping. Humans are bloody clever.

Arc de Triomphe.

Loved the very much hated Madame Tussauds as well.

In Rome, Castel St Angelo - the bottom of it is Hadrian's Mausoleum

For massive Roman stuff, the amphitheatre at Pozzuoli was a find of this summer
its nearly as big as the Colosseum but we were four of only about 30 people in there - you can explore the whole site
its just down the hill from Solfatara which is amazing in a scary way

The Alhambra

Cemetery of Comillas (Northern Spain) and the Angel sculpture by Llimona

The Winged Victory of Samothrace

The portrait of Innocence X by Velazquez, its setting at Palazzo Doria-Pamphillj in Rome

The gallery of Palazzo Colonna (so Galleria Colonna) in Rome and its "secret gardens" (on Quirinale)

The Pantehon

Sistine Chapel ceiling

Quinta da Regaleira (Sintra, Portugal)

Castle Howard

Arundel Castle

Seville in early spring

Stone Monastery (Zaragoza, Spain); the ruins, gardens, lakes and waterfalls

Dresden

Golden temple, Amritsar

I love ALL romanic and gothic cathedrals, never felt underwhelmed by a cathedral and cannot understand why anybody would prefer a more modern building or a (certainly inspired) pastiche such as the Sagrada Familia.
You have Santa Maria del Mar in Barcelona! Why is it that so many people walk past this awesome building and go to the Sagrada Familia? Marketing!
(Sorry).