27 Inspiring Places to See Before You Die

For 11 exhilarating miles, you can follow well-worn walking paths and footbridges around 16 turquoise lakes and waterfalls at the unspoiled Plitvice Lakes. This World Heritage site is renowned for its natural beauty and flourishing wildlife, including bears, deer, foxes, badgers, hawks, cuckoos, starlings, kingfishers, herons, black storks, and butterflies.

Nothing says Norway quite like Trolltunga, "The Troll's Tongue," a breathtaking rock formation situated about 2,300 feet above Ringedalsvatnet Lake. Pack your hiking boots if you want to see it for yourself: It's an eight-hour round-trip climb to get there. (But just look at that view!)

Imagine waking up in paradise—literally. With en suite infinity pools and unsurpassed views of the Pitons and the Caribbean Sea, Jade Mountain resort is arguably the most scenic spot in the entire Caribbean.

Ringed by hiking trails along its perimeter, accented by an idyllic church on the forested little island at its center, and nestled snugly in the foothills of the Julian Alps, words can't quite do justice to the magical setting of Lake Bled in Slovenia. Fortunately, seeing it for yourself isn't so hard. Slovenia is still an affordable alternative to the costlier tourist draws of its Western European neighbors.

As Japan's unofficial national flower, the cherry blossom is celebrated in art and pictures year-round. But to see these beautiful flowers in person, head to the small island nation in the spring (late March to early May) for a display you will never forget.

Also called Rapa Nui, Easter Island remains both an enticing destination and an enduring mystery to travelers the world over. And at more than 2,000 miles from both mainland Chile and its nearest Polynesian neighbors, it's also the most isolated spot in the world. No matter—who wouldn't want to travel thousands of miles to ponder the enigmatic moai in person? For a true once-in-a-lifetime experience, pair your trip with a stay at the Explora lodge Posada de Mike Rapu, the top-ranked Easter Island accommodation on TripAdvisor.

This mile-long, 355-foot-tall curtain of crashing water between Zambia and Zimbabwe might be the world's most spectacular waterfall. It's certainly one of the planet's great natural wonders. With up to 19 million cubic feet of water plummeting over the edge during the wet season and spray that shoots 1,000 feet into the sky, no wonder the indigenous name for these falls translates to "smoke that thunders."

When you picture the storybook beauty of the Swiss Alps—cows grazing on alpine hills, meadows ablaze with wildflowers, staggering snowcapped peaks casting shadows over quiet mountain lakes—you're picturing the real-life scenery of the Bernese Oberland. Head to car-free Murren and Gimmelwald for the authentic alpine experience.

The five villages of Cinque Terre aren't exactly secret anymore, but they're no less inviting than they were before the rest of the world fell in love with them. Dramatic cliffs, sun-drenched beaches, and colorful homes stacked one atop another make Cinque Terre a world-class destination for travel lovers.

Like something out of Tolkien or George R.R. Martin, it's easy to imagine the neo-gothic Swallow's Nest castle in southern Ukraine belonging to a fantasy world where dragons rule the skies. Even without the dragons, this 100-year-old castle looming over a 130-foot cliff is one of the most popular tourist attractions on the Crimean peninsula.

A sprawling pastiche of gates, temples, and towers, India's evocative Chittorgarh Fort sits on a nearly 600-foot-high hill and stretches across a staggering 691 acres. It has been a hot spot for tourists for centuries.

The Borobudur Temple Compounds in Indonesia are equally spectacular and infinitely less crowded than the more well-known Angkor Wat. Dating back to the 8th and 9th centuries, this UNESCO site was restored in the 1970s and 80s and is today recognized as one of the greatest Buddhist monuments in the world.

With sheer cliffs, sparkling beaches, and lush green jungles at every turn, Thailand's Phi Phi Islands are the very picture of an exotic tropical paradise. These islands really are free of the hustle and bustle of modern life: one (Phi Phi Leh) has no human inhabitants, and the other (Phi Phi Don) has no roads. Like we said: paradise.

Monasteries don't get much more remote—or spectacular—than the six Eastern Orthodox outposts at Meteora in central Greece. Built atop natural sandstone pillars that tower above the Plain of Thessaly, this UNESCO World Heritage site attracts hikers and tourists year-round.

Is there any more impressive man-made structure than the Great Wall of China? Stretching 5,500 miles across varied terrain, the Great Wall may be visible from space but it's best seen up close. For the ultimate Great Wall experience, lace up your walking shoes and go for a hike. Numerous companies offer tours and treks ranging from a day or two to weeks at a time.

Everyone should see the Grand Canyon in person at least once. To take in the scenery and get a little extra elbow room at the same time, visit the national park's North Rim side in the late summer or early fall. You get all of the dramatic scenery without the crowds. If you time it just right, you'll feel like you have the Grand Canyon all to yourself.

Just a short drive from Stonehenge, the Avebury stone circle has one significant advantage over its megalithic companion: Here, you can walk right up and touch the stones.

A scenic fall drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway—running through parts of Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee—proves the saying that travel is more about the journey than the destination. Here, the journey is the destination.

We could fill this list with a dozen locations on the Isle of Skye in northern Scotland, but the Quiraing is our pick because it's not only a marvelous natural rock formation (the name means "pillared stronghold") but also because the view from the top reveals the sea, the mountains, and the valleys that make Skye such a special place to begin with.

Bizarre and beautiful, the ancient underground cities of Cappadocia once housed communities numbering in the thousands. One of the largest and most elaborate is Derinkuyu, an underground labyrinth of tunnels and buildings that reaches more than a dozen stories below the Anatolian plateau.

At this roaring waterfall a few hours outside of Iceland's capital city of Reykjavik, you can actually walk behind the powerful downpour and soak up the misty spray. Two other magnificent falls—Gullfoss and Skogafoss—are within driving distance. All three are free to visit.

A dizzying marriage of form and function, France's Millau Viaduct is the highest cable-stayed bridge in Europe—and the most scenic, too. A drive along the viaduct is about more than getting from here to there: It's a chance to admire art, architecture, and engineering working together in perfect harmony.

The Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac towers over the mighty St. Lawrence River like a grand fortress of yesteryear, but this historical chateau isn't some drafty old castle. It's both a romantic fusion of the past and the present and a perfect place from which to take in the continent's only fortified city north of Mexico.

What better way to seek enlightenment than with a visit to the world's largest outdoor seated bronze Buddha? Start with a 25-minute aerial tram ride on the Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car to reach the Tian Tan Buddha and the nearby Po Lin Monastery. Then climb the 268 steps to enjoy panoramic views of Lantau and the South China Sea. The Buddha itself is 111 feet tall.

One of Ireland's top tourist attractions, the Cliffs of Moher rise a staggering 700 feet from the Atlantic Ocean. A walk along the four-mile expanse feels like a visit to the edge of the world.

Nestled on a cliff top in the picturesque Bavarian Alps, Schloss Neuschwanstein embodies the romance of a bygone era. No wonder more than a million people visit "the castle of the fairy-tale king" each year.

The most ruggedly scenic resort town in the southern hemisphere (and maybe the whole world), New Zealand's Queenstown has it all: snow-capped mountains, a crystal-clear lake, adreneline-pumping adventure activities, world-class resorts and spas … and, of course, Hobbits. But this frequent stand-in for Middle-earth in The Lord of the Rings films doesn't need any special effects to lure you "there and back again."

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