Since my Tasmanian trip, I’ve been increasingly obsessed with amazing landscapes and have been doing lots of “travel daydreaming”, so I decided to put together a list of beautiful places I’d like to visit. So be warned, there is lots of travel-lover’s eye candy here and if you’re feeling stuck in a rut this post might make you feel worse rather than better! If not, I hope you enjoy dreaming about some of these beautiful places with me – and giving me some suggestions of your own in the comments (thank you in advance!).
1. The Bungle Bungles
The Bungle Bungles or Purnululu is an amazing area of my very own state, yet it is practically the width of Europe away from where I live (hence I haven’t actually made it there yet!). That, and given its remoteness it’s not that cheap to visit “properly” (it’s one of those places that looks spectacular by air, so you want to budget a fly-over into your trip). I highly recommend it for all visitors to Western Australia!
 |
| Purnululu – Bungle Bungles, Western Australia |
2. Norwegian Fjords
Technically, I’ve been here already as a nine-year-old but my main memories of Norway are playing badminton in caravan parks and seeing grass roofs. A friend of mine recently took a cruise through the Norwegian fjords and that has reignited my desire to get there again – some day!
 |
| Geiranger Fjord, Norway |
3. Thar Desert
After my brush with the Sahara Desert in Tunisia, I’ve become a little bit addicted to vast desert landscapes and one I’d like to experience is the Thar Desert (aka Great Indian Desert, in case you’ve heard that name instead) which actually straddles India and Pakistan. Seems like getting there via Rajasthan tour packages is probably the way to go and one day when I finally get to India I’ll take a look here.
4. Pyramids at Giza
I almost went here when I had a short trip to Egypt during a summer break while I lived in Germany. Unfortunately the only way to get there from our resort would have meant a gruelling 24-hour trip so I satisfied myself with sightseeing around Luxor, but I have certainly been pining for another Egypt vacation ever since.
5. Franz Josef Glacier
Getting to New Zealand is definitely one of my short-term travel goals (it is one of our neighbours, after all!), and there are numerous parts of the country that appeal to me. But for sheer impressiveness of landscape, I think the Franz Josef Glacier is what I really want to see.
 |
| Franz Josef Glacier, New Zealand |
6. Sossusvlei
 |
| Sossusvlei, Namibia |
7. The Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China is not quite a landscape view as such, rather a man-made icon stretching through the landscape, but for me it fits on this list because I would need a good wide angle shot to do it justice (and that’s a landscape, for me!).
 |
| Great Wall of China |
8. Machu Picchu
From what I hear, Machu Picchu has almost become an overrun tourist icon but it still is incredibly impressive and I would still like to go there. Well, there and pretty much everywhere else in South America, actually. (Oh, and yes, ditto on the man-made/landscape comments as per Great Wall.)
 |
| Machu Picchu, Peru |
9. Grand Canyon
I heard an incredible statistic about visitors to the Grand Canyon recently – the average visitor stayed something ridiculous like just ten minutes there. I plan to stay a LOT longer.
10. Kakadu National Park
 |
| Kakadu National Park, Australia |
11. Gobi Desert
Mongolia was sadly dropped from my travel list en route to Russia a few years back (a long story, but the SARS outbreak in Hong Kong meant my flights were cancelled and I had to re-plan my route). But my longing to see the Gobi Desert (and stay in a yurt and do all those typical Mongolian things!) is still strong.
 |
| Gobi Desert |
12. Antarctica
As yet, I don’t know enough about the mysterious continent of Antarctica to be more specific about what I’d like to see – but from the reports of bloggers I know who’ve been, pretty much the entire place is mind-blowing.
 |
| Penguins in Antarctica |
Thanks to the following great travellers for the pics (via Flickr/Creative Commons): Purnululu by Obliot, Fjord by Edward Dalmulder, Giant’s Causeway by locace, Pyramids by Steve’s Wildlife, Franz Josef by edwin.11, Sossusvlei by Monica Guy, Great Wall by rich115, Machu Picchu by MikeBash, Grand Canyon by Cape Town Craig, Kakadu by Rita Willaert, Gobi Desert by PnP!, Antarctica by HamishM.
Machu Picchu is overrun, but it is still jaw-droppingly beautiful!!
Good to know – so it does deserve its place on my list! Perhaps though I should have gone there 10 years ago to enjoy it properly … oh well, no time machine available unfortunately!
A great list of places to visit. I’d love to see the Northern lights so seeing this combined with the fjords would be perfect
I’d love to see the northern lights too, Jenny – smart idea to combine it with some fjord cruising. I will remember that!
I love landscapes as well – they’re my favorite things to photograph! Sadly I haven’t seen any of these (yet!), but Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland is high on my list, as are the Pyramids of Giza. And of course Machu Picchu. Hell, I’ll just add all of these! 😛
Ha ha, sorry to add so many places to your “want to visit” list! Giant’s Causeway really fascinates me too.
the only place in your list I have been to Is the Grand canyon – and it is truly spectacular- we did a round trip and stayed both North and South Rims which is worth it, mule ride, and amazing Lodges. If able bodied you can trek down and across or even canoe some of the river!
Sounds like you stayed a lot longer than the average ten-minute visitor, Nicole. Good on you! A mule ride sounds pretty cool (and something I’ve never done – that’s always a good sign).
I have seen number 5. But to be honest I found the glacier in switzerland (probably due to the scale of the alps) more memorable. Franz Josef, which has receded a lot…made me quite sad. Catch it while you can!
Ah – good tip, Andrea. I will lower my expectations for Franz Josef then. I’m sure I’ll get there some day – having New Zealand as a neighbour makes it somewhat inevitable (I still can’t believe I haven’t got there yet!).
p.s Otherwise i might have to steal your list!!
Ha ha go ahead! This is something of mine I’m more than happy for people to steal. Might bump into you at one of those spots, then!
I’d recommend adding Lençóis Maranhenses in northern Brazil to your list. Stunning landscape with hundreds of blue lagoons hiding amidst a sea of white sand dunes.
Thanks Kyle, I must admit I’d never heard of this spot but it really does sound divine – and it *looks* divine too, I just googled it and saw some amazing photos! Thanks for the tip!
Great list and good photos to back it up! I’m excited that I get to see the Great Wall in just a couple of months. CRAZY
Thanks, Brooke! That is definitely something that you’ll be at the Great Wall soon – I’m certainly more than a little jealous! At least I get to read about it …
Oh and one day I hope I can replace every single one of these photos with ones I took instead!
Wow, those are some amazing views. I dream of viewing the Potala Palace in Tibet, it has fascinated me from ever since I first saw a photo of it as a young child.
The Potala Palace is truly amazing, you’re right – I’d love to get there too some day! It’s funny how as kids we grab onto these particular things – and wonderful when as adults we’re able to finally see them.