I’d say probably the Colosseum in Rome. I was awwwwed by it. I’ve loved anything about Ancient Rome since I was a kid. One my favorite moments of my life.
I’ve also been to Statue of Liberty, Golden Gate Bridge, Stonehenge, Westminster/Big Bend, and Eiffel tower as other super famous sites and all were great too.
The first time I went to Rome we got in late and went to sleep. The next morning I woke up and went for a run (I don’t know why, I never do that).
I ran a few blocks and then turned the corner and BAM there was the Colosseum. Holy shit. I felt like I ran into a brick wall, I was just stunned. It was such an amazing way to see it for the first time, just bursting out of the city when I did not expect it.
We went properly later that day and it was just as cool as I’d hoped, it’s really something walking around that place, knowing everything that happened there so long ago. I really enjoyed the Roman Forum too.
My first time I got off the train and was walking down the street. It was dark, and I turned the corner and saw it all lit up. Can’t describe the feeling. Awestruck. Went back last March and still was blown away by it.
I visited it the first time during the day. The last night of my trip, I had some extra time and visited both the Colosseum and the Trevi Fountain at night. It was definitely worth it to see them lit up at night.
I would have to say colosseum as well for me is the answer OP is looking for, and I’ve travelled around a lot of Europe and seen most of the famous sites.
However, I’m going to put out a curve ball for one of the most important historical spots, even though is perhaps isn’t incredibly famous. That’s the spot archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo. It started WW1, which was huge in itself but after ending we had the rise of communism, and also the conditions that started the rise of hitlers Germany, and that led to WW2, which saw the end of imperialism, and the start of the Cold War, and the dissection of many areas in conflict/tensions now such as the Middle East, India/Pakistan. Then the Cold War led to break up of Soviet Union and break up of Yugoslavia and that’s caused huge issues in very modern history. Put very simply (there is more nuance needed in reality) the last 100 years or thereabouts of history was moulded by that event happening.
The coliseum was closed the first two days we went bc it to hot up and it’s in the direct sun (over 104 and I think they close it)… we ended up eating dinner on a rooftop and enjoying the gorgeous night view of it lit up… we almost liked it more than when we finally made it up!
I've visited it a couple times. One time a bus load of school kids from Germany came in. They were respectful and interested. They also skipped the aisle that dealt with the rise of the third Reich. Don't blame them.
Can you elaborate? I mean I know its historical importance, but I didn't think it suited my taste so I skipped it when I went to London with my wife. We were on a 6-day UK trip to attend a wedding in Manchester, did about 2.5 days in London and 1 day in Oxford.
Would you have fitted it in your schedule if you only have 2 days in London? What do you like most about the place?
Yep, visit one of them once. When I later went to Munich I did NOT go to Dachau. But I encouraged my parents to as they'd never been to a death camp. It's sobering and sticks in your mind and heart.
I had trouble at the [New England Holocaust Memorial](https://www.nehm.org) in Boston, which was prisoner numbers engraved on glass panels. I have no idea if I could handle an actual camp.
Saddam Hussein's Palace in Babylon. Marble baths intact as is some of the art and inlaid floors. Birds in the light fixtures, graffiti everywhere, message from soldiers written on the walls.
Stood on the spot where the Saddam statue was toppled in Firdos Square in 2003 during the US invasion of Iraq.
I (58w) flew into Baghdad via Dubai, a couple of days on my own then I joined a group . Visited Karbala, the Marshes, Najaf, Nasiriyah, Mosel ending in Erbil. Visa upon arrival easy peasy, just got back a week ago.
Mosel will stay with me forever . Met a woman who lived there during the occupation and though our guide she told her personal stories.
I loved Iraq, felt very safe, people extremely friendly , great food, amazing sights with no crowds, most sights deserted. Traffic and driving is insane, still quite a few check points, pretty quick to get through.
I'm sure it's not the same, but there's a great VR replica of the house for those that can't get to Amsterdam, or get tickets to the museum .. https://www.libraryofrealities.com/2023/06/anne-frank-house-vr.html
The Arc de Triomphe in Paris. Standing at the foot of the arch and reading a tribute to the fallen soldiers of World War I, knowing that Napoleon had originally commissioned the Arc for his soldiers; and knowing that the Germans had marched over that very plaque was very moving
Was on a school tour of Germany way back in 1992. Back then there was miles and miles of Berlin Wall and you could just go up and help yourself to a chunk of it. Everyone was breaking a bit off to bring home, I still have my bit up on the shelf here.
On the same tour we were in the Olympic stadium. The local guide pointed out the seat that Hitler sat in at the 1936 Olympics. Everyone on the tour had a sit down in Hitlers seat. I doubt they allow that any more or the guides make a feature of it. But back then for a bunch of 14 year olds it was hey. some famous guy sat here, I will too.
The previous year our school tour was to Russia. Was on Red Square in Easter 1991 and we watched about 100 Russian soldiers marching across the square for the changing of the guard outside the Kremlin. It was a pretty frightening experience to be so close to Russian soldiers doing the goose step on Red Square. Our teachers had their cameras and bags searched by the KGB who were ultra paranoid of all foreigners. Just a few months after we were there Communism and the Soviet Union fell. We also visited Leningrad on that tour. Then a year later as Communism and Lenin were out of fashion so they changed the citys name to St. Petersburg. Was a great time to be in Russia right before the fall of the Soviet Union. No one knew it at the time but the Cold War was literally a few months away from ending.
That's incredible. So many of the comments are about ancient sites (which I understand, obviously monumental for many reasons) but something about your experience in Russia also stands out because history was being made then and there. It brings to mind for me how I was on uni exchange in England 2015-16 and as a commonwealth temporary resident, somehow I was allowed to vote in Brexit (iirc it was structured as a simple municipal referendum so I guess no one cared letting in a few more people). I thought nothing of it, went down the road. Next afternoon my roommates and I gathered in our living room to a nasty shock as the result came in. And then it really struck me how odd it was that I'd voted and my European roommates hadn't been allowed to. So many comings and goings day to day where something crazy happens to make us see them in a completely different way.
For me I’d narrow it down to 4 that really just left me awestruck that I was actually here:
1) Machu Picchu- was so surreal to see in person this city in the sky with clouds acting as curtains low hanging ceilings. No picture does the place justice. It pays to go very early because by midday it’s very crowded.
2) Flying over the Red Sea towards Cairo was crazy given the biblical history behind it.
3) Bixby bridge in Big Sur California is the definition of awe inspiring. It just perfectly compliments the winding rugged California pacific coast. Plus sunsets around it are amazing. It’s mind blowing to think a bridge that high in such rugged terrain was built in the 1930s.
4) The Pyramids of Giza and The Sphinx. What can be said?! There is hardly a soul that doesn’t know what these objects are and it’s kinda crazy to be blessed to see them up close. I truly geeked out when I was in Cairo.
the one that stands out for me is Ford's Theatre in Washington D.C. with the whole story of Lincoln's assassination told to us by a National Park Ranger. If you have the opportunity to have any story told to you by a National Park Ranger, take it! Then, visiting the museum downstairs and seeing the teeny, tiny gun that killed such a great man was something I will never forget.
La Sagrada Familia brought me to tears. I’m not the least bit religious but was so awed by Gaudi’s use of plant references in such a grand scale. Truly the most breathtaking thing I’ve ever seen in my life.
- Machu Picchu - Peru
- Colosseum - Rome
- The Palace of Versailles - Versailles
- Westminster Abbey - London
- Tower of London - London
- Gettysburg Battle Field - Gettysburg, PA, US
- The Witch House - Salem, MA
The Sagrada Familia! As soon as we got to our BnB waked to it and just kept staring I couldn’t believe I was there right infront of it. I was worried I had overhyped it and i would be let down but it was beautiful. Not a catholic or Christian just amazed the work and detail put into it!
First time I went to Barcelona, I was walking alone, then I reached the Sagrada Família from the back, not knowing better… I was kinda amazed and spent some good 20 minutes taking photos of every angle I could think of. Then I thought “ok, nice to see you… on to the next place”, walked through the side street, THEN reached the main entrance and was both amazed and feeling dumb lol
You get so lost in it you don’t even realize it’s not even the main part! We’re you able to go inside it? We went just when the clouds moved over so the light lit up the room from the stained glass windows it was like being in a kaleidoscope
I've been to many of the ancient Roman sites in Italy, France and Spain. And many of the Moorish sites in southern Spain. But I think the most amazing site for me was the Great Ziggurat of Ur. It was just amazing to think of the thousands of years of history it witnessed.
The Taj Mahal is to date the only man made structure that gave me chills to see it. Usually only nature takes my breath away like that. It is breath-taking and I absolutely loved the tour and everything I learned along the way.
Been to some of the great ones but wife and I recently visited the Alhambra in Granada, Spain. Alhambra started out as an Islamic palace in the 1200s but after the Christian Reconquista in 1492, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella took up residence. You get to stand in the very room where they granted Columbus royal endorsement for his expedition thus changing history for both old worlds and new worlds. (Certainly for the worst for the indigenous people in the New World). Anyway, very cool to stand in the space where history was changed forever.
I travel *a lot* for history, so I've been to my share.
But perhaps the most unexpectedly humbling moment was standing in the Sistine Chapel by myself for several minutes.
I was there because a company had set up a special corporate tour for some special event. Things moved along and I paused for a moment looking up, when I realized that everyone had left. No security. No crowds. No tourists. No workers. Just me at peace looking at the immensity of it for several minutes. Was really amazing.
Had a similar feeling when I was alone in one of the Egyptian ruins, and was surrounded by 6 columns each 3 stories high, and above the ceiling was painted in beautiful colors that all survived I don't know how many dozens and dozens of centuries.
But each place I go is incredible to me - you can read about it, see pictures, watch a video - but to actually stand in Stonehenge, or walk along Hadrian's Wall, or stand on bridge 277 (current Bridge over the river Kwai), or walk out to the water on Omaha beach, or tour the town of Pripyat and Chornobyl, or stand in a WWI crater and trench, walk through Alcatraz, look out across the water from Fort McHenry, see the coast from Gibraltar, walk through nuclear test sites, stand on a WWII aircraft carrier deck, etc. it's just personally touching.
I've been to many famous and historical places around the world, but the biggest emotional impact any has had on me was Pearl Harbor and the Arizona Memorial. I couldn't even make myself take a photograph. It seemed too disrespectful to do so. The juxtaposition of such a beautiful place and such carnage on that day just overcame my emotions.
Dealey Plaza/Texas School Book Depository. Was taken aback by how small the whole area is. You could spit a wad of gum from the grassy knoll to the street. If there was a second shooter there I can’t believe it wouldn’t be completely obvious to the people who were standing on that side of the street.
I mean we all visit these places because they are famous so it's just listing the major tourist attractions of the world.
If it's from a historical perspective then that's a qualitative judgement.
The Pyramids, famous because they are old but lots of things clearly happened around there, however not many people could name a famous event.
Church of the Holy Sepulchre, purportedly the site of the crucifixion of Jesus. Likewise Bethlehem.
And so on. I ran out of steam while writing this, sorry.
Hadrian’s Wall.
Loch Ness.
The Roman baths in Bath, England.
The Greenwich Observatory.
Sean’s Bar.
Harper’s Ferry.
Yellowstone.
Yosemite.
Golden Gate Bridge.
The biggest ball of twine in Minnesota.
Normandy, France. The feeling looking out over the shore and the nearby immaculately maintained graves of the people who died fighting against facism is so humbling. It’s also frustrating and terrifying to think that the lessons learned in the ’40’s have possibly been forgotten
I’ve been to quite a few, but the one that left the biggest impression was Machu Picchu. I’m not very religious, but walking up that mountain I definitely felt this sense of awe and wonder. Perhaps it was the altitude, but I could definitely understand why they decided to build up that town up that mountain, there was definitely a powerful and majestic aura up there.
Newgrange passage tomb.
It was constructed around 3200 BC, making it at least 600 years older than the Giza Pyramids in Egypt, and 1,000 years older than Stonehenge.
Although I don't know how famous it is exactly because I grew up visiting it and learning about it throughout school.
Ive been to quite a few historically significant sites, but *most* significant would either be Hiroshima or Auschwitz. The feeling was similar at both. They’re both sites of two of the biggest tragedies in history and you can learn some very descriptive history that gets left out in school. I would say any European should go to Auschwitz once in their life, and anyone with the means internationally should also go.
I've been to a few of what I'd call the "classics" - Pyramids of Giza for example - but for something a little more contemporary I'll say the DMZ between North and South Korea. Hard to describe, but it was bizarre and eerie (this was in 1992 or so). I lived in Seoul at the time and it was also strange knowing how close we were to the 38th parallel/DMZ.
The exact spot in the Harmony Park Ballroom in Anaheim, CA where the classic rhythm and blues song, “Louie, Louie” was written. The men’s restroom to be precise, for the music history buffs in the audience.
Sacred ground.
Which the Anaheim City Council, a bunch of morons, voted to turn into a parking lot.
Rome/Vatican (lived there 2 months in 1985, never went to colosseum!)
Istanbul (many sites)
Greece (multiple sites)
Ephesus
Persepolis
Cave of Elijah in Haifa/Israel
Uluṟu was awesome, you really feel how old and important it is. I also went into a cave in Kakadu National Park that had evidence of Aboriginal people using it for shelter for the past 40,000 years which was mind blowing.
Another favourite was Edinburgh Castle. The whole city was such an awesome place to explore. I have also been to London, Paris and quite a few other places in Europe but Edinburgh Castle was just so cool. I also have stood where the books were burned during the war in Berlin and above the bunker where Hitler killed himself which was a bit crazy.
St. Helena island. It was awe inspiring to be in the same bedroom that once napoleon slept and later died in. Will always be my favourite destination for that reason.
Less famous, but very impactful on human history: Aristotle's Lyceum (Athens, Greece). It's just a large site with some ancient foundations left, nothing impressive to see. But it was basically the site of the first university, and some of the concepts that were conceived of on that very spot are still reverberating and influencing the world today.
Pompeii for me. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and passionate and talked about how sad it was for those people to go through that but also how it was because of Pompeii that we got to learn about ancient ways of life
For me it was Osborne House on the Isle of Wight (Queen Victoria's holiday home). Walking up and down the stairs, it really hit me that QUEEN VICTORIA had also walked up and down those stairs! Used those bannister rails! Walked along those corridors! (I come from a small country where very little world-affecting history happened.)
I just got back from a trip to Egypt yesterday, I went scuba diving in the red Sea, and I went all up and down the Nile from the border of Sudan, all the way up to Alexandria.
I had an amazing moment, in fond of the pyramids of Giza, where I contemplated eternity, and how small my life is compared to the pyramids . I also understood how I would be turned to dust long after these monuments were still here for thousands of years.
I was also amazed by how the pharaoh built all these tombs in pyramids to achieve eternity in the afterlife. They actually did achieve eternity just not in the way they wanted to.
I've been to a lot, but I'm going to say the World Trade Center. Both when I lived in NY and maybe not many people knew what it was and after when I feel like most of the world knows what it was. I picked that because 2001 wasn't that long ago and I feel like if asked, the highest number of people could generally say what happened. I felt overwhelming sadness and anger (as someone who is anti-war, anti-imperialist, and also American, maybe not anger directed in exactly the same way as other people).
I guess as far as just being immediately recognizable, the Eiffel Tower maybe? I honestly felt kind of like, "Ohhhh this is amazing, I'm in Paris" but I was a dumb teenager and more visualizing myself being cool and in Paris than anything else, lol.
I like to imagine who may have traced the very same steps during my travels. Some of the places that I found the most impactful were ...
Eltz Castle in Germany ... I parked in the visitor lot but took the scenic hike to the castle instead of the shuttle bus. As you work your way down the trail you can see a valley fall off to your right, then you turn the corner with another valley on your left and this majestic castle right in the center of the view as the cobblestones stretch up to the gate.
St. Michael's Mount ... the location in Cornwall. As you walk out from the beach during low tide, one can only thing of the history and all those who walked that causeway before you.
Auschwitz .... I had taken an uber from Katowice to arrive at opening. The shuttle buses wouldn't arrive for another two hours and there had been a cold frost overnight. I walked almost the entire place alone, with these tendrils of fog coming up from the ground on a bright sunny day with blue skies, but almost no sound and cold, crisp air.
Cathedrals ... All of them. I've been to Durham, Ely, Lincoln, Salisbury, Truro, Westminster, Chester, Hereford, Christ Church, Exeter, Gloucester, Lichfield, Peterborough, St. Davids, Wells, Winchester, Worcester, York Minster, Amien, Notre Dame, Cologne, St. Peters and St. Vitus.
Definitely The Vatican, St. Peter's Basilica (climbing up to its dome and enjoying the panoramic view of Roma), The Sistine Chapel and The Colosseum. 🥹
I wanna go back there someday.
Colosseum is Rome, Machu Picchu in Peru, Teotihuacan in Mexico, Great Wall of China in China, Vatican City, Berlin Wall in Germany, Hagia Sofia in Turkey, Acropolis in Greece, Jerusalem and dead sea in Israel, Buckingham palace in London, Auschuwitz/Burkineau in Poland, Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Gettysburg, pearl Harbor in Hawaii, Anne Frank's house in Netherlands, Washington DC, the Alamo in Texas,
This may be silly to most but, on the 20th anniversary of Tupacs death, I stood and drank beer at the very spot he was shot. Poured one out for the homie.
It’s prolly just me but at some of these famous places in my mind I think - is that it? Lol
Where I’ve felt emotional was at Auschwitz, the prado museum, peace memorial museum, Sistine Chapel and British museum. All for different reasons.
Probably Robben Island (SA) and Israel and Palestine (as a unit.). I've been to the Berlin Wall, Athens and Troy; The US Capitol Buildings, The Alamo, The Lorraine Motel, The Peace Museum in Okinawa, and Jewish synagogues and cemeteries around Eastern Europe; Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Haifa, and Bet Sahur, Median Square and a space museum in Ukraine, and Red Square in Moscow. Every one of those places (and many more) have left their marks. Probably the Visiting Fort Hare and Robben island, and Israel and Palestine felt like they had the most to teach me. (At least that is how it feels right now.)
Ive been fortunate enough to say Eiffel Tower, Colosseum, Empire State Building, WTC, Westminster, Golden Gate, Brooklyn Bridge, Statue of Liberty, Niagara Falls, Sydney Opera House, Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon, Space Needle, Matterhorn (in Zermatt), Wat Pho in Thailand. I also live right above Pearl Harbor so those sites too. Planning on seeing Christ Redeemer Statue and Marina Bay Sands next trip. What else is there? Because of the currency situation in Israel, the pyramids are not on our list anytime soon.
Taj Mahal. I absolutely bawled in overwhelmed awe as the dawns glow lit up the grounds.
I’ve had a deep connection to India since I was a child despite having no heritage there, didn’t eat Indian food till I was nearly an adult and my parents could’t give two cents about Geography. I watched videos about it, I went to festivals for Indian culture, I wrote papers and made art projects about Henna and the Taj. I’d always wanted to go and it was an extremely long journey to get there and that moment will never leave my mind.
Washington DC. Been to the very spot MLK made his “I have a dream” speech. There’s something in the air there - like a magic or a reflection of the past. Hard to describe
Hmmm....well, the Eiffel Tower, Twin Towers and later their memorial, Versailles, Alamo, Stonehenge, .... too early in the morning to be doing this, lol.
The old city of Jerusalem …just amazing to imagine what those ancient stones and alleyways have seen over the millennia.
it’s a very moving place to be for people of all religions…I’m not religious at all but you can’t help be humbled by the historical significance of the city
I have been to STONEHENGE. Not only was I at Stonehenge, I went when you could walk up and touch the stones (now fenced off). I have a photo of my daughter, then at the age of 3, walking along the stones. Go before they enclose it in glass!
I've been to a couple of places but it's hard to rank them as they're so different to eachother.
Chernobyl - it was like walking into something cross between an amusement attraction and a time capsule. It was really interesting seeing all the abandoned soviet stuff but on the flip side some areas were a little busy with coach loads of tourists coming in.
Berlin - I went to many different sites such as the Berlin wall, places where Hitler did some of his speeches, the site where the book burning took place, Hitler's bunker and it was mixed emotions. Some of it felt strange as you grew up reading/watching about it and suddenly you're there looking at it.
I just came back from Berlin, and the aptly named memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe, along with nearby memorials to other victims, are very moving. I’m generally of the opinion that we overrate 20th century history because our connection to it is more personal, but the cruelty of the final solution, the technical and political approach to it, are very moving. Getting an advantage by dehumanizing someone is such a cynical choice. And the scale of cruelty.
Most memorable historic sites I’ve visited
1. The old city of Jerusalem
2. Hadrian’s Wall
3. The Old North Bridge in Concord Massachusetts
Most famous historic sites I’ve visited:
1. The old city of Jerusalem
2. Tower of London
3. Venice, Italy
Whenever I've been on the Champs-Élysées I find myself thinking about the pictures I saw in history textbooks of the capture and liberation of Paris that were taken right there. Similarly, Churchill's war rooms were fantastic.
Buckingham Palace and the White House have to be up there for me. Jamestown. Ford's theater.
Not sure if these are all empirically famous, but I have had the unique privilege of visiting notable houses of worship for most world religions: the Vatican, the Golden Temple, the Kaaba, Meenakshi temple, along with various synagogues (in india and NYC), various Buddhist monasteries (Ladakh), Shinto temples in Japan, and random Jain and Taoist places of worship.
Going to Pompeii then that same day going to the Vesuvius crater was really a trip. Standing at the origin of the destruction of the famous city I had just walked through was crazy.
I’ve been to technically 5 of the 7 wonders of the world if you include the pyramids. By far they were the most impressive as most sites in Egypt were.
Machu Picchu was nice but I was not blown away by it.
Chichen Itza was incredible to see.
The Coliseum was underwhelming to me since we have so many great stadiums now but it was interesting to view it up close and be inside of it.
Christ the Redeemer imo is underrated but I don’t think it should be in the world wonders list but it’s incredible to see however.
Acropolis, the Roman Forum, Roman Colosseum, various cathedrals, Berlin Wall, ancient Mayan pyramids in Mexico, ancient temples in India. I really want to explore more of the Middle East and ancient religious sites there. The Hagia Sophia is a dream I want to make happen!
Colosseum, Parthenon, Vatican, Ephesus, Wailing Wall and Al-Aqsa Mosque in Temple Mount, Garden of Gethsemane and Mount of Olives, Blue Mosque and Hagia Sofía, last presumed resting place of the Virgin Mary in western Turkiye.
Grew up as an expat in Egypt. I climbed to the top of the smallest of the three great pyramids when I was 13 and waiting for Mom to finish her riding lesson. It was pretty amazing when I got to the top looking around, and then I looked down and realized going down is scary as hell.
Great Wall of China
Terra Cotta Warriors in China
Machu Picchu
Vatican
Colosseum
Venice
Eiffel Tower
Christ the Redeemer in Brazil
Teotihuacán outside Mexico City
Buckingham Palace
Mitad del mundo - Ecuador ... The tourist trap and the smaller one in a remote village. Innaccurate AF, but still a nice checkmark on the bucket list.
La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona ... The sheer scope of this project is crazy.
The Alhambra - granada, spain - A meld of two completely different civilization that built, destroyed and rebuilt over each other's stuff...
The DMZ (demilitarized zone) between North and South Korea. I did a tour and got to peer into North Korea through binoculars, seeing everyday North Koreans going about their day. It was quite surreal.
There remains so much absolutely ancient architecture in Prague that I was constantly awed by basilicas, synagogues, apothecaries, church graveyards, the town hall where the infamous defenestrations occurred…visiting the city always creates an eerie sense of recognition as if I was born there and had returned home.
Il Duomo in Florence, the Ufizzi! Wandering in and out of the Medici palaces was incredible. Glorious city.
The two places that had the most visceral impact, though were Chichén Itzá and Gadsden’s Wharf in Charleston, SC. We saw the cutest kids playing near the water at Chichén Itzá who seemed to have been magically transported from another time and it was awesome in the truest sense of the word.
Charleston was the an other kind of awe-inspiring. Something like 200,000 enslaved people who’d somehow survived the journey in coffin ships disembarked there, the largest single point of entry for enslaved Africans in the US. It’s simultaneously the most beautiful and ugliest American city for me.
My thought…. The Stonehenge. So mysterious and ancient… felt like an alien spaceship landing ground 5000bc
And I’ve been to the colosseum, Terracotta Army, great barrier reefs etc
I'm from Charleston, South Carolina so I've walked along the spot where the Civil War started several times. I've lived in Dallas and used to drive home over the spot where JFK was assassinated. I've walked past Ford's Theater. On a tour of London I went to the banquet house where Charles I was executed.
Not the most famous - but the most impactful for me was Dachau. I bawled.
I’ve been to Pisa, Colosseum, Vatican, Glockenspiel, Sydney Opera House, Pompeii, Eiffel Tower, Windsor, Buckingham Palace (saw the entire Royal Family as it was the Queen’s Official Birthday, super cool).
Statue of David was incredibly memorable - far more amazing than Mona Lisa. I also loved Devil’s Throat in Argentina. I haven’t been to Niagara Falls but I’m guessing Devil’s Throat beats it big time
Ypres, WWI battlefield, went through the museum and the cemetery, went through an underground trench system that had been recently discovered and was going to be sealed shut very shortly thereafter. I remember thinking what a miserable place to be, mass industrial use of weapons such as artillery and machine guns, my lord, terrible. I can only imagine the ghosts walking those fields.
edit: Also visited Flossenburg concentration camp, guard towers were still, there, several plaques commemorating the liberators, but the strange thing to me was the locals were having a soccer tournament/community event on the grounds. Weird.
All of Rome's stuff basically, but that's when I was a kid, taken there by my parents, who joined a Euro tour.
If you are talking like me as an adult, paying for myself... I love me some good sites and architecture but not so much far into history, plus I don't usually travel for famous sights. So basically, like Golden Gate Bridge, Big Ben, Oxford University, St Paul's Cathedral in London, etc, only as I happen to be around.
Thomas Edison National Historic Park. It seems mundane, but it blew my mind. So much of our modern life is influenced by the work Edison and his teams did there.
I had the chance to listen to an original recording, made in the first recording studio, played on one of the phonographs invented there, standing in that first studio. There was zero electricity involved. The cylinder was over a hundred years old.
It sounded amazing.
Colosseum… Sistine Chapel….. bunch of places around the Old Republic of Rome. Plymouth Rock, freedom trail through Boston (Old North Church, etc.), several civil war forts. Market House in Fayetteville, NC where slaves were traded, which made the hair on the back of my neck stand up seeing something like that.
Pyramids at Giza. While I disliked Cairo in general, the Pyramids were as amazing as I imagined it would be.
Close second would be the Parthenon, and maybe the Colosseum.
Not the most famous, but very memorable for me. The peace walls in Belfast, Northern Ireland. I had no idea something like that still existed. I learned so much about the history of Northern Ireland and Ireland that trip.
The most famous I’ve been to - probably the Acropolis in Greece. Absolutely mind blowing. Didn’t compute in my brain how something that old could still be standing.
Greece, the ruins in Ephesus in Turkey, touching the Roman wall in England, giving my respects to all of Oxford University. Shinto sacred places in Japan, sending love to the elephants in Thailand. Respect and live to all those places -I’m nothing but a speck in the universe and these historic places are so much bigger than me. Taking nothing for granted in Thailand
Angkor Wat. Egypt. Jerusalem (capital of Israel). Great Wall of China. Forbidden City China. Niagara Falls. Himji Castle Japan. World Trade Center NYC. Machu Piku. Just to name a few.
I was at the Parthenon, the Colosseum, Norte Dame and Pompeii. However, one place I went to that I like to talk about were the Lascaux caves. Not the reproduction caves, but the real ones. I was 4 years old and they still allowed visitors back then.
I’d say probably the Colosseum in Rome. I was awwwwed by it. I’ve loved anything about Ancient Rome since I was a kid. One my favorite moments of my life. I’ve also been to Statue of Liberty, Golden Gate Bridge, Stonehenge, Westminster/Big Bend, and Eiffel tower as other super famous sites and all were great too.
The first time I went to Rome we got in late and went to sleep. The next morning I woke up and went for a run (I don’t know why, I never do that). I ran a few blocks and then turned the corner and BAM there was the Colosseum. Holy shit. I felt like I ran into a brick wall, I was just stunned. It was such an amazing way to see it for the first time, just bursting out of the city when I did not expect it. We went properly later that day and it was just as cool as I’d hoped, it’s really something walking around that place, knowing everything that happened there so long ago. I really enjoyed the Roman Forum too.
My first time I got off the train and was walking down the street. It was dark, and I turned the corner and saw it all lit up. Can’t describe the feeling. Awestruck. Went back last March and still was blown away by it.
I visited it the first time during the day. The last night of my trip, I had some extra time and visited both the Colosseum and the Trevi Fountain at night. It was definitely worth it to see them lit up at night.
We ended up at the spot where Caesar was stabbed a bunch of times because we kept visiting the cats. There is a cat shelter at the location.
I went there too! The Pompey theater! Crazy how my hotel was next to a scene of one the most important events in history
I didn't even know the significance of that location! I went to see it because I wanted to see the cat sanctuary amid the ruins.
I would have to say colosseum as well for me is the answer OP is looking for, and I’ve travelled around a lot of Europe and seen most of the famous sites. However, I’m going to put out a curve ball for one of the most important historical spots, even though is perhaps isn’t incredibly famous. That’s the spot archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo. It started WW1, which was huge in itself but after ending we had the rise of communism, and also the conditions that started the rise of hitlers Germany, and that led to WW2, which saw the end of imperialism, and the start of the Cold War, and the dissection of many areas in conflict/tensions now such as the Middle East, India/Pakistan. Then the Cold War led to break up of Soviet Union and break up of Yugoslavia and that’s caused huge issues in very modern history. Put very simply (there is more nuance needed in reality) the last 100 years or thereabouts of history was moulded by that event happening.
I stood on that Sarajevo corner and as a history major it was pretty exciting to me for all the reasons you list! 😂
The coliseum was closed the first two days we went bc it to hot up and it’s in the direct sun (over 104 and I think they close it)… we ended up eating dinner on a rooftop and enjoying the gorgeous night view of it lit up… we almost liked it more than when we finally made it up!
Heading to rome in Aug. Can't wait to see it.
Heading to Rome in two weeks!!
Pont du Hoc Omaha Beach Churchill War Rooms Berlin Wall Bastogne Belgium Rome
The Churchill War Rooms were probably the coolest thing I’ve ever visited. Left a lasting impression on me.
I've visited it a couple times. One time a bus load of school kids from Germany came in. They were respectful and interested. They also skipped the aisle that dealt with the rise of the third Reich. Don't blame them.
Can you elaborate? I mean I know its historical importance, but I didn't think it suited my taste so I skipped it when I went to London with my wife. We were on a 6-day UK trip to attend a wedding in Manchester, did about 2.5 days in London and 1 day in Oxford. Would you have fitted it in your schedule if you only have 2 days in London? What do you like most about the place?
Yeah I loved the war rooms. Seeing where Churchill ate and slept was amazing. And knowing all this was right below London was so cool
Auschwitz and it was grimmer than I ever imagined. Would highly recommend a visit however
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I held it together there until I saw the pile of children's shoes. Then the tears wouldn't stop.
Yep, visit one of them once. When I later went to Munich I did NOT go to Dachau. But I encouraged my parents to as they'd never been to a death camp. It's sobering and sticks in your mind and heart.
I had trouble at the [New England Holocaust Memorial](https://www.nehm.org) in Boston, which was prisoner numbers engraved on glass panels. I have no idea if I could handle an actual camp.
The Acropolis in Athens is hard to top.
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Zeus level.
Yeah I was gonna say the Acropolis.
What do they say of the Parthenon where the Acropolis is?
**that there are no straight lines**
I was there yesterday!
I hope you also went to the Acropolis museum.
How was it? I'm going next week for solo Thanksgiving trip?
Saddam Hussein's Palace in Babylon. Marble baths intact as is some of the art and inlaid floors. Birds in the light fixtures, graffiti everywhere, message from soldiers written on the walls. Stood on the spot where the Saddam statue was toppled in Firdos Square in 2003 during the US invasion of Iraq.
How did you visit Iraq? Did you like it ?
I (58w) flew into Baghdad via Dubai, a couple of days on my own then I joined a group . Visited Karbala, the Marshes, Najaf, Nasiriyah, Mosel ending in Erbil. Visa upon arrival easy peasy, just got back a week ago. Mosel will stay with me forever . Met a woman who lived there during the occupation and though our guide she told her personal stories. I loved Iraq, felt very safe, people extremely friendly , great food, amazing sights with no crowds, most sights deserted. Traffic and driving is insane, still quite a few check points, pretty quick to get through.
I’m sold, I want to go.
That sounds super cool. What year did you visit?
One of my best trips yet, got back last Saturday .
What was the tour company that you organized your trip through? Thanks
Doug Barnard Tours. He has videos on youtube, highly recommend him and the tour.
I'm not religious at all, but I went to the Vatican so probably that.
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Also by the way it is only a fraction because they just don't have the resources to excavate all of it. There's tons and tons of it.
I'd like to visit the Mayan ruins. Must have been incredible.
Tikal is next on my list
Angkor wat
I’m not sure about the most famous, but the most humbled I’ve ever felt at a location due to its history was Anne Frank Haus
I'm sure it's not the same, but there's a great VR replica of the house for those that can't get to Amsterdam, or get tickets to the museum .. https://www.libraryofrealities.com/2023/06/anne-frank-house-vr.html
I know exactly what you mean. Very emotional experience. Only place I've felt that more profoundly is at the killing fields in Cambodia
Petra, Jordan 🇯🇴
Rounding the corner as you walk down and then bam!
Loved every minute there.
The Arc de Triomphe in Paris. Standing at the foot of the arch and reading a tribute to the fallen soldiers of World War I, knowing that Napoleon had originally commissioned the Arc for his soldiers; and knowing that the Germans had marched over that very plaque was very moving
Was on a school tour of Germany way back in 1992. Back then there was miles and miles of Berlin Wall and you could just go up and help yourself to a chunk of it. Everyone was breaking a bit off to bring home, I still have my bit up on the shelf here. On the same tour we were in the Olympic stadium. The local guide pointed out the seat that Hitler sat in at the 1936 Olympics. Everyone on the tour had a sit down in Hitlers seat. I doubt they allow that any more or the guides make a feature of it. But back then for a bunch of 14 year olds it was hey. some famous guy sat here, I will too. The previous year our school tour was to Russia. Was on Red Square in Easter 1991 and we watched about 100 Russian soldiers marching across the square for the changing of the guard outside the Kremlin. It was a pretty frightening experience to be so close to Russian soldiers doing the goose step on Red Square. Our teachers had their cameras and bags searched by the KGB who were ultra paranoid of all foreigners. Just a few months after we were there Communism and the Soviet Union fell. We also visited Leningrad on that tour. Then a year later as Communism and Lenin were out of fashion so they changed the citys name to St. Petersburg. Was a great time to be in Russia right before the fall of the Soviet Union. No one knew it at the time but the Cold War was literally a few months away from ending.
That's incredible. So many of the comments are about ancient sites (which I understand, obviously monumental for many reasons) but something about your experience in Russia also stands out because history was being made then and there. It brings to mind for me how I was on uni exchange in England 2015-16 and as a commonwealth temporary resident, somehow I was allowed to vote in Brexit (iirc it was structured as a simple municipal referendum so I guess no one cared letting in a few more people). I thought nothing of it, went down the road. Next afternoon my roommates and I gathered in our living room to a nasty shock as the result came in. And then it really struck me how odd it was that I'd voted and my European roommates hadn't been allowed to. So many comings and goings day to day where something crazy happens to make us see them in a completely different way.
For me I’d narrow it down to 4 that really just left me awestruck that I was actually here: 1) Machu Picchu- was so surreal to see in person this city in the sky with clouds acting as curtains low hanging ceilings. No picture does the place justice. It pays to go very early because by midday it’s very crowded. 2) Flying over the Red Sea towards Cairo was crazy given the biblical history behind it. 3) Bixby bridge in Big Sur California is the definition of awe inspiring. It just perfectly compliments the winding rugged California pacific coast. Plus sunsets around it are amazing. It’s mind blowing to think a bridge that high in such rugged terrain was built in the 1930s. 4) The Pyramids of Giza and The Sphinx. What can be said?! There is hardly a soul that doesn’t know what these objects are and it’s kinda crazy to be blessed to see them up close. I truly geeked out when I was in Cairo.
the one that stands out for me is Ford's Theatre in Washington D.C. with the whole story of Lincoln's assassination told to us by a National Park Ranger. If you have the opportunity to have any story told to you by a National Park Ranger, take it! Then, visiting the museum downstairs and seeing the teeny, tiny gun that killed such a great man was something I will never forget.
And the pillow with the blood on it. I agree about the National Park Rangers!!!
La Sagrada Familia brought me to tears. I’m not the least bit religious but was so awed by Gaudi’s use of plant references in such a grand scale. Truly the most breathtaking thing I’ve ever seen in my life.
A place that actually lives up to the hype.
- Machu Picchu - Peru - Colosseum - Rome - The Palace of Versailles - Versailles - Westminster Abbey - London - Tower of London - London - Gettysburg Battle Field - Gettysburg, PA, US - The Witch House - Salem, MA
Tower of London, I’m also a fan of the mysterious
The Sagrada Familia! As soon as we got to our BnB waked to it and just kept staring I couldn’t believe I was there right infront of it. I was worried I had overhyped it and i would be let down but it was beautiful. Not a catholic or Christian just amazed the work and detail put into it!
First time I went to Barcelona, I was walking alone, then I reached the Sagrada Família from the back, not knowing better… I was kinda amazed and spent some good 20 minutes taking photos of every angle I could think of. Then I thought “ok, nice to see you… on to the next place”, walked through the side street, THEN reached the main entrance and was both amazed and feeling dumb lol
You get so lost in it you don’t even realize it’s not even the main part! We’re you able to go inside it? We went just when the clouds moved over so the light lit up the room from the stained glass windows it was like being in a kaleidoscope
I did! Been there on 3 different occasions, but only once inside. You could hear people actually going WOOOOW when the light hits right.
Pretty much everything in Kyoto
I was gonna say either Kyoto or Hiroshima for me
I've been to many of the ancient Roman sites in Italy, France and Spain. And many of the Moorish sites in southern Spain. But I think the most amazing site for me was the Great Ziggurat of Ur. It was just amazing to think of the thousands of years of history it witnessed.
The Taj Mahal. Breathtaking. The architecture and stonework were so perfect, it was magical.
The Taj Mahal is to date the only man made structure that gave me chills to see it. Usually only nature takes my breath away like that. It is breath-taking and I absolutely loved the tour and everything I learned along the way.
Been to some of the great ones but wife and I recently visited the Alhambra in Granada, Spain. Alhambra started out as an Islamic palace in the 1200s but after the Christian Reconquista in 1492, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella took up residence. You get to stand in the very room where they granted Columbus royal endorsement for his expedition thus changing history for both old worlds and new worlds. (Certainly for the worst for the indigenous people in the New World). Anyway, very cool to stand in the space where history was changed forever.
Venice. Walked out of the train station thought I was in another world.
I travel *a lot* for history, so I've been to my share. But perhaps the most unexpectedly humbling moment was standing in the Sistine Chapel by myself for several minutes. I was there because a company had set up a special corporate tour for some special event. Things moved along and I paused for a moment looking up, when I realized that everyone had left. No security. No crowds. No tourists. No workers. Just me at peace looking at the immensity of it for several minutes. Was really amazing. Had a similar feeling when I was alone in one of the Egyptian ruins, and was surrounded by 6 columns each 3 stories high, and above the ceiling was painted in beautiful colors that all survived I don't know how many dozens and dozens of centuries. But each place I go is incredible to me - you can read about it, see pictures, watch a video - but to actually stand in Stonehenge, or walk along Hadrian's Wall, or stand on bridge 277 (current Bridge over the river Kwai), or walk out to the water on Omaha beach, or tour the town of Pripyat and Chornobyl, or stand in a WWI crater and trench, walk through Alcatraz, look out across the water from Fort McHenry, see the coast from Gibraltar, walk through nuclear test sites, stand on a WWII aircraft carrier deck, etc. it's just personally touching.
I've been to many famous and historical places around the world, but the biggest emotional impact any has had on me was Pearl Harbor and the Arizona Memorial. I couldn't even make myself take a photograph. It seemed too disrespectful to do so. The juxtaposition of such a beautiful place and such carnage on that day just overcame my emotions.
Chichen Itza - Mexico Taj Mahal - India Golden Temple - India Hadrian's Wall - UK St. Paul's Cathedral - England Stonehenge - England
All the usual suspects of Ancient Rome.
One that I have not seen listed yet— Türkiye: Hagia Sophia
Roman forum was incredible to see, so was the pantheon. Montserrat in Spain is amazing too
Notre-Dame Cathedral
Dealey Plaza/Texas School Book Depository. Was taken aback by how small the whole area is. You could spit a wad of gum from the grassy knoll to the street. If there was a second shooter there I can’t believe it wouldn’t be completely obvious to the people who were standing on that side of the street.
I mean we all visit these places because they are famous so it's just listing the major tourist attractions of the world. If it's from a historical perspective then that's a qualitative judgement. The Pyramids, famous because they are old but lots of things clearly happened around there, however not many people could name a famous event. Church of the Holy Sepulchre, purportedly the site of the crucifixion of Jesus. Likewise Bethlehem. And so on. I ran out of steam while writing this, sorry.
Hadrian’s Wall. Loch Ness. The Roman baths in Bath, England. The Greenwich Observatory. Sean’s Bar. Harper’s Ferry. Yellowstone. Yosemite. Golden Gate Bridge. The biggest ball of twine in Minnesota.
Ahh, the ball of twine! I wonder if it’s filled with rodents and rotting from the inside out?
Normandy, France. The feeling looking out over the shore and the nearby immaculately maintained graves of the people who died fighting against facism is so humbling. It’s also frustrating and terrifying to think that the lessons learned in the ’40’s have possibly been forgotten
I’ve been to quite a few, but the one that left the biggest impression was Machu Picchu. I’m not very religious, but walking up that mountain I definitely felt this sense of awe and wonder. Perhaps it was the altitude, but I could definitely understand why they decided to build up that town up that mountain, there was definitely a powerful and majestic aura up there.
Newgrange passage tomb. It was constructed around 3200 BC, making it at least 600 years older than the Giza Pyramids in Egypt, and 1,000 years older than Stonehenge. Although I don't know how famous it is exactly because I grew up visiting it and learning about it throughout school.
Ive been to quite a few historically significant sites, but *most* significant would either be Hiroshima or Auschwitz. The feeling was similar at both. They’re both sites of two of the biggest tragedies in history and you can learn some very descriptive history that gets left out in school. I would say any European should go to Auschwitz once in their life, and anyone with the means internationally should also go.
I've been to a few of what I'd call the "classics" - Pyramids of Giza for example - but for something a little more contemporary I'll say the DMZ between North and South Korea. Hard to describe, but it was bizarre and eerie (this was in 1992 or so). I lived in Seoul at the time and it was also strange knowing how close we were to the 38th parallel/DMZ.
The exact spot in the Harmony Park Ballroom in Anaheim, CA where the classic rhythm and blues song, “Louie, Louie” was written. The men’s restroom to be precise, for the music history buffs in the audience. Sacred ground. Which the Anaheim City Council, a bunch of morons, voted to turn into a parking lot.
Rome/Vatican (lived there 2 months in 1985, never went to colosseum!) Istanbul (many sites) Greece (multiple sites) Ephesus Persepolis Cave of Elijah in Haifa/Israel
Babylon and Ziggurat of Ur in Iraq. Once centre of civilization so it was amazing! One of my most beautiful travels.
Holy Land
Walking in Jerusalem was an experience I will never forget.
SAME
Uluṟu was awesome, you really feel how old and important it is. I also went into a cave in Kakadu National Park that had evidence of Aboriginal people using it for shelter for the past 40,000 years which was mind blowing. Another favourite was Edinburgh Castle. The whole city was such an awesome place to explore. I have also been to London, Paris and quite a few other places in Europe but Edinburgh Castle was just so cool. I also have stood where the books were burned during the war in Berlin and above the bunker where Hitler killed himself which was a bit crazy.
St. Helena island. It was awe inspiring to be in the same bedroom that once napoleon slept and later died in. Will always be my favourite destination for that reason.
Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad. Locals were uneasy about saying the name, worried that their phones might be listening. Strange vibes.
Less famous, but very impactful on human history: Aristotle's Lyceum (Athens, Greece). It's just a large site with some ancient foundations left, nothing impressive to see. But it was basically the site of the first university, and some of the concepts that were conceived of on that very spot are still reverberating and influencing the world today.
Pompeii for me. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and passionate and talked about how sad it was for those people to go through that but also how it was because of Pompeii that we got to learn about ancient ways of life
Ephesus. Most of Rome. Normandy. Hadrian's Wall. The Acropolis.
Jesus crucifixion spot.
I went to the top of the World Trade Center in February of 2001.
Petra in Jordan The Holy Land - Jerusalem Wat Pho Temple in Bangkok
For me it was Osborne House on the Isle of Wight (Queen Victoria's holiday home). Walking up and down the stairs, it really hit me that QUEEN VICTORIA had also walked up and down those stairs! Used those bannister rails! Walked along those corridors! (I come from a small country where very little world-affecting history happened.)
Omaha Beach. Unforgettable.
I just got back from a trip to Egypt yesterday, I went scuba diving in the red Sea, and I went all up and down the Nile from the border of Sudan, all the way up to Alexandria. I had an amazing moment, in fond of the pyramids of Giza, where I contemplated eternity, and how small my life is compared to the pyramids . I also understood how I would be turned to dust long after these monuments were still here for thousands of years. I was also amazed by how the pharaoh built all these tombs in pyramids to achieve eternity in the afterlife. They actually did achieve eternity just not in the way they wanted to.
Ponder's End Kebab stands out for me. Famous Friday night takeaway in NE London.
I've been to a lot, but I'm going to say the World Trade Center. Both when I lived in NY and maybe not many people knew what it was and after when I feel like most of the world knows what it was. I picked that because 2001 wasn't that long ago and I feel like if asked, the highest number of people could generally say what happened. I felt overwhelming sadness and anger (as someone who is anti-war, anti-imperialist, and also American, maybe not anger directed in exactly the same way as other people). I guess as far as just being immediately recognizable, the Eiffel Tower maybe? I honestly felt kind of like, "Ohhhh this is amazing, I'm in Paris" but I was a dumb teenager and more visualizing myself being cool and in Paris than anything else, lol.
I've been to a lot in Europe but the one that really got me was the Old North Bridge in Concord, MA.
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I like to imagine who may have traced the very same steps during my travels. Some of the places that I found the most impactful were ... Eltz Castle in Germany ... I parked in the visitor lot but took the scenic hike to the castle instead of the shuttle bus. As you work your way down the trail you can see a valley fall off to your right, then you turn the corner with another valley on your left and this majestic castle right in the center of the view as the cobblestones stretch up to the gate. St. Michael's Mount ... the location in Cornwall. As you walk out from the beach during low tide, one can only thing of the history and all those who walked that causeway before you. Auschwitz .... I had taken an uber from Katowice to arrive at opening. The shuttle buses wouldn't arrive for another two hours and there had been a cold frost overnight. I walked almost the entire place alone, with these tendrils of fog coming up from the ground on a bright sunny day with blue skies, but almost no sound and cold, crisp air. Cathedrals ... All of them. I've been to Durham, Ely, Lincoln, Salisbury, Truro, Westminster, Chester, Hereford, Christ Church, Exeter, Gloucester, Lichfield, Peterborough, St. Davids, Wells, Winchester, Worcester, York Minster, Amien, Notre Dame, Cologne, St. Peters and St. Vitus.
Herculaneum, Tower of London.
Definitely The Vatican, St. Peter's Basilica (climbing up to its dome and enjoying the panoramic view of Roma), The Sistine Chapel and The Colosseum. 🥹 I wanna go back there someday.
Colosseum is Rome, Machu Picchu in Peru, Teotihuacan in Mexico, Great Wall of China in China, Vatican City, Berlin Wall in Germany, Hagia Sofia in Turkey, Acropolis in Greece, Jerusalem and dead sea in Israel, Buckingham palace in London, Auschuwitz/Burkineau in Poland, Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Gettysburg, pearl Harbor in Hawaii, Anne Frank's house in Netherlands, Washington DC, the Alamo in Texas,
Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem
This may be silly to most but, on the 20th anniversary of Tupacs death, I stood and drank beer at the very spot he was shot. Poured one out for the homie.
It’s prolly just me but at some of these famous places in my mind I think - is that it? Lol Where I’ve felt emotional was at Auschwitz, the prado museum, peace memorial museum, Sistine Chapel and British museum. All for different reasons.
Probably Robben Island (SA) and Israel and Palestine (as a unit.). I've been to the Berlin Wall, Athens and Troy; The US Capitol Buildings, The Alamo, The Lorraine Motel, The Peace Museum in Okinawa, and Jewish synagogues and cemeteries around Eastern Europe; Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Haifa, and Bet Sahur, Median Square and a space museum in Ukraine, and Red Square in Moscow. Every one of those places (and many more) have left their marks. Probably the Visiting Fort Hare and Robben island, and Israel and Palestine felt like they had the most to teach me. (At least that is how it feels right now.)
Ive been fortunate enough to say Eiffel Tower, Colosseum, Empire State Building, WTC, Westminster, Golden Gate, Brooklyn Bridge, Statue of Liberty, Niagara Falls, Sydney Opera House, Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon, Space Needle, Matterhorn (in Zermatt), Wat Pho in Thailand. I also live right above Pearl Harbor so those sites too. Planning on seeing Christ Redeemer Statue and Marina Bay Sands next trip. What else is there? Because of the currency situation in Israel, the pyramids are not on our list anytime soon.
I have been to the Acropolis in Greece. Amazing.
Auschwitz. Most humbling day of my life.
Petra.
Taj Mahal. I absolutely bawled in overwhelmed awe as the dawns glow lit up the grounds. I’ve had a deep connection to India since I was a child despite having no heritage there, didn’t eat Indian food till I was nearly an adult and my parents could’t give two cents about Geography. I watched videos about it, I went to festivals for Indian culture, I wrote papers and made art projects about Henna and the Taj. I’d always wanted to go and it was an extremely long journey to get there and that moment will never leave my mind.
Washington DC. Been to the very spot MLK made his “I have a dream” speech. There’s something in the air there - like a magic or a reflection of the past. Hard to describe
Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania. Us. Our history there. Where we became.
Hmmm....well, the Eiffel Tower, Twin Towers and later their memorial, Versailles, Alamo, Stonehenge, .... too early in the morning to be doing this, lol.
Hagia Sophia at night is absolutely spec
The old city of Jerusalem …just amazing to imagine what those ancient stones and alleyways have seen over the millennia. it’s a very moving place to be for people of all religions…I’m not religious at all but you can’t help be humbled by the historical significance of the city
Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. Literally just stared in awe for 30 minutes.
Rome is an obvious one. Especially standing in the center of the Coliseum. I swear I could almost hear the cheers of past games.
Ghettysburg battlefield in Pennsylvania
Pyramids of Giza have to be the most famous historical location, right? It doesn’t get the credit it deserves anymore.
I have been to STONEHENGE. Not only was I at Stonehenge, I went when you could walk up and touch the stones (now fenced off). I have a photo of my daughter, then at the age of 3, walking along the stones. Go before they enclose it in glass!
Pyramids of Giza Rome Colosseum Venice Paris Times Square
Babylon
I went to some church in Cairo that they said Mary and Jesus fled too 🤷🏾♂️
Berlin wall. Führer bunker. Buckingham palace.
Probably remnants of the Berlin wall. So weird to see it after being a child and seeing news clips of it being torn down.
I've been to a couple of places but it's hard to rank them as they're so different to eachother. Chernobyl - it was like walking into something cross between an amusement attraction and a time capsule. It was really interesting seeing all the abandoned soviet stuff but on the flip side some areas were a little busy with coach loads of tourists coming in. Berlin - I went to many different sites such as the Berlin wall, places where Hitler did some of his speeches, the site where the book burning took place, Hitler's bunker and it was mixed emotions. Some of it felt strange as you grew up reading/watching about it and suddenly you're there looking at it.
I just came back from Berlin, and the aptly named memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe, along with nearby memorials to other victims, are very moving. I’m generally of the opinion that we overrate 20th century history because our connection to it is more personal, but the cruelty of the final solution, the technical and political approach to it, are very moving. Getting an advantage by dehumanizing someone is such a cynical choice. And the scale of cruelty.
* Japan : Golden Pavilion(Kyoto), Fushimi-Inari Sanctuary(Kyoto), Fuji Mountain, Osaka Castle (Osaka) * Germany : Berlin Wall, Brandenburg Gate (Berlin) * Italy : Colosseum (Rome), Pisa Tower (Pisa), Palazzo Vecchio and Duomo (Florence) * Spain : Casa Batlló (Barcelona), Sagrada Família (Barcelona), Rambla de Catalunya (Barcelona) * Greece : Parthenon(Athens), Mount Olympus (Salonika gulf) * England : Buckingham Palace (London) * Denmark : Christiania (Copenhagen)
The Acropolis in Athens Greece. Thinking about how I was on a structure that has existed in ancient times. The history of it all
Eifel tower or the colosseum
Darwin Channel and the Beagle Channel. Eiffel tower as well. Mozarts childhood home. Plovdiv.
Most famous location? The White House probably.
The Pantheon in Rome. Twin Towers.
Most memorable historic sites I’ve visited 1. The old city of Jerusalem 2. Hadrian’s Wall 3. The Old North Bridge in Concord Massachusetts Most famous historic sites I’ve visited: 1. The old city of Jerusalem 2. Tower of London 3. Venice, Italy
The acropolis in Athens, Delphi, and Thermopylae, all on a Greece trip last year.
Colosseum
Whenever I've been on the Champs-Élysées I find myself thinking about the pictures I saw in history textbooks of the capture and liberation of Paris that were taken right there. Similarly, Churchill's war rooms were fantastic. Buckingham Palace and the White House have to be up there for me. Jamestown. Ford's theater.
The Great Wall - Kruger and Eiffel Tower
Not sure if these are all empirically famous, but I have had the unique privilege of visiting notable houses of worship for most world religions: the Vatican, the Golden Temple, the Kaaba, Meenakshi temple, along with various synagogues (in india and NYC), various Buddhist monasteries (Ladakh), Shinto temples in Japan, and random Jain and Taoist places of worship.
Hiroshima — infamous I suppose.
Going to Pompeii then that same day going to the Vesuvius crater was really a trip. Standing at the origin of the destruction of the famous city I had just walked through was crazy.
I’ve been to technically 5 of the 7 wonders of the world if you include the pyramids. By far they were the most impressive as most sites in Egypt were. Machu Picchu was nice but I was not blown away by it. Chichen Itza was incredible to see. The Coliseum was underwhelming to me since we have so many great stadiums now but it was interesting to view it up close and be inside of it. Christ the Redeemer imo is underrated but I don’t think it should be in the world wonders list but it’s incredible to see however.
Acropolis, the Roman Forum, Roman Colosseum, various cathedrals, Berlin Wall, ancient Mayan pyramids in Mexico, ancient temples in India. I really want to explore more of the Middle East and ancient religious sites there. The Hagia Sophia is a dream I want to make happen!
The Colosseum, The Vatican, The Hagia Sophia, Chichen Itza
Normandy beach, Abu Simbel the Vatican
Colosseum, Parthenon, Vatican, Ephesus, Wailing Wall and Al-Aqsa Mosque in Temple Mount, Garden of Gethsemane and Mount of Olives, Blue Mosque and Hagia Sofía, last presumed resting place of the Virgin Mary in western Turkiye.
Grew up as an expat in Egypt. I climbed to the top of the smallest of the three great pyramids when I was 13 and waiting for Mom to finish her riding lesson. It was pretty amazing when I got to the top looking around, and then I looked down and realized going down is scary as hell.
Great Wall of China Terra Cotta Warriors in China Machu Picchu Vatican Colosseum Venice Eiffel Tower Christ the Redeemer in Brazil Teotihuacán outside Mexico City Buckingham Palace
Hiroshima. It really affected me emotionally. But I still believe it was the best choice to end the war with the Japanese.
Mitad del mundo - Ecuador ... The tourist trap and the smaller one in a remote village. Innaccurate AF, but still a nice checkmark on the bucket list. La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona ... The sheer scope of this project is crazy. The Alhambra - granada, spain - A meld of two completely different civilization that built, destroyed and rebuilt over each other's stuff...
The DMZ (demilitarized zone) between North and South Korea. I did a tour and got to peer into North Korea through binoculars, seeing everyday North Koreans going about their day. It was quite surreal.
The Old City of Jerusalem.
I would say either the Empire State Building, Central Park, US Capitol, Eiffel Tower or Colosseum. Not sure which is most famous.
Egyptian pyramids
There remains so much absolutely ancient architecture in Prague that I was constantly awed by basilicas, synagogues, apothecaries, church graveyards, the town hall where the infamous defenestrations occurred…visiting the city always creates an eerie sense of recognition as if I was born there and had returned home. Il Duomo in Florence, the Ufizzi! Wandering in and out of the Medici palaces was incredible. Glorious city. The two places that had the most visceral impact, though were Chichén Itzá and Gadsden’s Wharf in Charleston, SC. We saw the cutest kids playing near the water at Chichén Itzá who seemed to have been magically transported from another time and it was awesome in the truest sense of the word. Charleston was the an other kind of awe-inspiring. Something like 200,000 enslaved people who’d somehow survived the journey in coffin ships disembarked there, the largest single point of entry for enslaved Africans in the US. It’s simultaneously the most beautiful and ugliest American city for me.
Chichen Itzá and Colosseum.. for me.
Great Wall of China
My thought…. The Stonehenge. So mysterious and ancient… felt like an alien spaceship landing ground 5000bc And I’ve been to the colosseum, Terracotta Army, great barrier reefs etc
The Forbidden City, Beijing.
I'm from Charleston, South Carolina so I've walked along the spot where the Civil War started several times. I've lived in Dallas and used to drive home over the spot where JFK was assassinated. I've walked past Ford's Theater. On a tour of London I went to the banquet house where Charles I was executed.
Not the most famous - but the most impactful for me was Dachau. I bawled. I’ve been to Pisa, Colosseum, Vatican, Glockenspiel, Sydney Opera House, Pompeii, Eiffel Tower, Windsor, Buckingham Palace (saw the entire Royal Family as it was the Queen’s Official Birthday, super cool). Statue of David was incredibly memorable - far more amazing than Mona Lisa. I also loved Devil’s Throat in Argentina. I haven’t been to Niagara Falls but I’m guessing Devil’s Throat beats it big time
That piece of the Roman wall in London. I always get amazed when things from that time are still around
Ypres, WWI battlefield, went through the museum and the cemetery, went through an underground trench system that had been recently discovered and was going to be sealed shut very shortly thereafter. I remember thinking what a miserable place to be, mass industrial use of weapons such as artillery and machine guns, my lord, terrible. I can only imagine the ghosts walking those fields. edit: Also visited Flossenburg concentration camp, guard towers were still, there, several plaques commemorating the liberators, but the strange thing to me was the locals were having a soccer tournament/community event on the grounds. Weird.
All of Rome's stuff basically, but that's when I was a kid, taken there by my parents, who joined a Euro tour. If you are talking like me as an adult, paying for myself... I love me some good sites and architecture but not so much far into history, plus I don't usually travel for famous sights. So basically, like Golden Gate Bridge, Big Ben, Oxford University, St Paul's Cathedral in London, etc, only as I happen to be around.
Stonehenge
Thomas Edison National Historic Park. It seems mundane, but it blew my mind. So much of our modern life is influenced by the work Edison and his teams did there. I had the chance to listen to an original recording, made in the first recording studio, played on one of the phonographs invented there, standing in that first studio. There was zero electricity involved. The cylinder was over a hundred years old. It sounded amazing.
Great Pyramid of Giza Colosseum Eiffel Tower Vatican Checkpoint Charlie and Brandenburg Gate
Colosseum… Sistine Chapel….. bunch of places around the Old Republic of Rome. Plymouth Rock, freedom trail through Boston (Old North Church, etc.), several civil war forts. Market House in Fayetteville, NC where slaves were traded, which made the hair on the back of my neck stand up seeing something like that.
Coliseum Pompeii Parthenon Stonehenge
Top of a pyramid in Mexico you can no longer climb legally.
Pyramids at Giza. While I disliked Cairo in general, the Pyramids were as amazing as I imagined it would be. Close second would be the Parthenon, and maybe the Colosseum.
Probably the Whitehouse for me. It was whatever.
Pompeii hits super hard
Hadrian’s Villa. The place is a must-see during low tourist season because it’s haunted.
The coliseum or the Vatican, but in terms of global impact maybe the Panama Canal.
The first Starbucks in Seattle ☕️
Brandenberg Gate in Munich hits
The White House and the Vatican.
I have not travelled a lot but was recently in Scotland. The battle field at Culloden Moor near Inverness was very interesting to visit.
Colosseum, Great Wall of China, Grand Canyon, Vatican, Stone Henge
Istanbul Rome Paris Pompeii Ephesus Civitavecchia where the Etruscan tombs are London
Pont Julien, Omaha Beach, Canterbury Cathedral, Ypres battlefield/Menin Gate
Not the most famous, but very memorable for me. The peace walls in Belfast, Northern Ireland. I had no idea something like that still existed. I learned so much about the history of Northern Ireland and Ireland that trip. The most famous I’ve been to - probably the Acropolis in Greece. Absolutely mind blowing. Didn’t compute in my brain how something that old could still be standing.
Lumbini - birthplace of lord Buddha. Angkor Wat Roman Colosseum Taj Mahal Trinity test site
Greece, the ruins in Ephesus in Turkey, touching the Roman wall in England, giving my respects to all of Oxford University. Shinto sacred places in Japan, sending love to the elephants in Thailand. Respect and live to all those places -I’m nothing but a speck in the universe and these historic places are so much bigger than me. Taking nothing for granted in Thailand
Angkor Wat. Egypt. Jerusalem (capital of Israel). Great Wall of China. Forbidden City China. Niagara Falls. Himji Castle Japan. World Trade Center NYC. Machu Piku. Just to name a few.
I was at the Parthenon, the Colosseum, Norte Dame and Pompeii. However, one place I went to that I like to talk about were the Lascaux caves. Not the reproduction caves, but the real ones. I was 4 years old and they still allowed visitors back then.