Look at these places and you will see beauty that fills the eye and warms the heart. It is not only inappropriate to just pick a few places from the huge expanse of the world but also humanly impossible.

They say that ‘beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder,’ and there are perhaps other places that have touched your heart. For this reason, we do not claim that these places we are bringing to you are the best, but they are certainly among the most beautiful places of the world.

The Grand Canyon, United States

A steep gorge by the Colorado River, Arizona in United States, this has the most enjoyable scenery. It is 277 miles in length, 4 to 18 miles in width and about a mile in depth. Scientists are of the opinion that the canyon has been created by the Colorado River over a six million year period.

Native Americans built settlements in the caves within the canyon before the emigration of Europeans. It was also considered to be a site of pilgrimage by the Pueblo people. The first recorded visit to the Grand Canyon by the Europeans was in 1869. Although, it is not the deepest canyon in the world, it is known for its extremely huge size and beautifully intricate landscape. The Grand Canyon National Park is said to be one of the first National Parks in the United States and attracts more than five million visitors a year. Weather conditions in the Grand Canyon vary a great deal between seasons as well as elevation. While winter snow is experienced by the higher elevated forested rims, the inner gorge has a desert temperature because of the low elevation.

The Great Barrier Reef, Australia

One of the natural wonders of the world, the Great Barrier Reef off the east coast of Australia is the world’s largest coral reef. It has the distinction of being placed in the World Heritage as well as the National Heritage lists.

With more than 600 islands and coral cays, the reef covers more than 300,000 sq. km. Corals make up the several reefs and cays and are responsible for a huge variety of sea life in the reef; including green turtles, several varieties of whales and dolphins, dugong, about 4000 types of mollusk, 1500 different species of fish as well as a beautiful colored bird life with 200 species. The Great Reef Marine Park is a huge tourist attraction with more than a couple of million tourists visiting the area each year. Sporting includes activities such as reef sailing, scuba diving and snorkeling amongst several others.

Cape Town, South Africa

Aptly called “heaven on earth,” this beautiful town at the tip of the African continent, with small roads surrounded by huge mountains, makes a person feel small; showing how marvelous and dominating nature can actually be.

The Cape Dutch style buildings depict the architectural heritage of the place. Beauty abounds in the black clouds that seem to pay homage to Table Mountain at all times. Cape Point, Signal Hill, Chapman’s Peak Drive, Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, Robben Island, Rhodes Memorial and the beaches are some of the famous tourist attractions. Located on the shore of Table Bay, Cape Town is famous for its natural floral kingdom as well as its harbor. This town is one of the most popular tourist attractions of South Africa, with its wine tasting day trips, whale watching and dolphin watching.

Taj Mahal, India

The Taj Mahal in India is one of the wonders of the world and is one of the most beautiful mausoleums constructed by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite queen, Mumtaz Mahal. Located in Agra, white marble is used in the creation of this symbol of love and is considered to be the pinnacle of the famous Mughal architecture.

Story goes that the emperor was grief stricken when he lost his beloved third wife, Mumtaz Mahal. It took several thousands of craftsmen, artisans and about twenty years to construct it. The masons, stonecutters, carvers, inlayers, calligraphers, painters and others were brought from the entire empire as well as from Iran and Central Asia. Semi-precious stones were used for inlay ornamentation. It later became the mausoleum of Shah Jahan too. This is a huge tourist attraction with one to two million tourists visiting it every year.

Canadian Rockies, Canada

The majestic Canadian Rockies are the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky mountains. They are a visitor’s wonderland and the playground for western Canada. They are older than the American Rockies and are formed from over thrusting.

The Canadian Rockies house five national parks, out of which four of them along with other provincial parks form a combination of a single UNESCO World Heritage Site that consists of beautiful mountain landscapes, lakes, canyons, waterfalls, glaciers, peaks, limestone caves as well as fossils. Mount Robson is the highest peak of the Canadian Rockies and climbing it is considered a challenge. These beautiful mountains are a haven for hikers and walkers alike.

Machu Picchu, Peru

Machu Picchu in Peru, which means ‘Old Peak,” is one of the most enigmatic ancient sites in the world. According to legend, Machu Picchu was a long time ago considered to be a sacred place. The credit for the creation of the extraordinary city goes to the Inca people who have erected many stone structures and turned the place into an art form.

Two thousand feet above the Urubamba river, these ruins consist of baths, temples, palaces and about 150 houses, all very well preserved. These gray granite structures, some of which weigh more than 50 tons are so perfectly sculpted that they are nothing less than architectural genius. They were rediscovered by a Yale archaeologist in 1911. The ethereal beauty, the workmanship and history of the place attracts millions of tourists each year.

The Pyramids, Egypt

The Egyptian pyramids are massive monuments with a square base and four triangular sides rising up to a point. There was a lot of curiosity associated with the pyramids as to their formation, whether it was natural.

However, the Egyptians started constructing them after 2700 B.C. and were built as tombs for the Pharaohs. The most well-known and the largest pyramids of Egypt are the Pyramids at Giza which are said to be the largest ever built, and the Great Pyramid at Giza took 23 years to complete for about a work force of 30,000. About 118 pyramids have been identified and are very popular with people from all over the world.

Petra, Jordan

Described by the UNESCO as “one of the most precious cultural properties of man’s cultural heritage, Petra is an archeological site on the slope of Mount Hor. It is one of the new wonders of the world and is famous for its rock cut architecture.

This site was kept hidden till 1812 when it was discovered by a Swiss explorer. It was said to have been prepared by God for the Jewish people. Petra once flourished under the Roman empire but a rapid decline began with the Arabian trade being taken elsewhere. Then an earthquake caused a lot of destruction. Tourists throng the place to get a glimpse of the ruins of this beautiful city.

Great Wall of China, China

One of the seven wonders of the world, the Great Wall of China is a man-made structure that was constructed over two thousand years ago and took about 100 years to complete. The vastness of this project brings to light the immense capabilities of man.

The constructions started in the 5th Century B.C. It is actually many walls put together and stretches over 4,000 miles and was constructed to protect the Chinese Empire from the Xiongnu people in the north. The wall was initially built of stone, grass, earth and wood, but bricks were used once the production started. It is believed that about 2-3 million Chinese died as part of this project.

The Iguazu Waterfalls, Argentina-Brazil Border

Heralded as the most beautiful waterfalls in the world, the Iguazu Waterfalls are a true wonder of nature. They are located at the border of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. While the Argentinean side allows visitors to walk right around the water or explore the National Park; the Brazilian side is known for its panoramic views and splendor.

First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, upon seeing these falls is claimed to have exclaimed “poor Niagara.” The area of the falls provides ample opportunities for rock climbing as well as water sports. Iguazu has the distinction of having the greatest annual flow when compared to any other falls in the world.

With all these and many more beautiful places that exist in our world, we are lost for choice and the only way to decide on the places to visit is to follow the heart. While some may love the tranquility of water, others may bury themselves deep in the architectural miracles or the serenity of a small town.

Amazon Rainforest – Amazon Basin, South America

Amazon rainforest is the thickest rainforest that spans over a billion acres and encompasses areas in Brazil (60%), Peru (13%), Venezuela, Columbia, Ecuador, Guyana, Bolivia, French Guiana and Suriname. The concentration of wildlife is very high and new species or subspecies of existing species continues to be discovered almost all the time. The majestic beauty and timelessness of this awe-inspiring tropical rainforest is indescribable in words and should be experienced.

Sognafjord (Sogne Fjord) – Norway

The second longest fjord (an inset of the sea between steep slopes) in the world and the largest in Norway, the magnificence of this has to be experienced for the magnitude to be understood. Reaching to more than 1,300 meters below sea level and above 2,000 meters above sea level, the sparkling water, the beautiful cliff faces and the picturesque villages make this a must visit place for nature lovers.

The Himalayas – Asia

This spectacle of awesome dimensions …the 3000 kilometer long towering mountain range with tiers of rock, ranges upon ranges, sky scraping peaks and canyons, is the planet’s highest mountain system and includes the world’s highest peaks; Mount Everest and K2. It stretches through Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Nepal and Pakistan. This is where earth meets the sky!

Yosemite Valley – California

The incomparable beauty of nature changing colors with seasons and the sigh of breeze in the pines can only be experienced at Yosemite Valley (Pronounced Yo-seh-mit-tea). Yosemite Valley is part of Yosemite National Park in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. This alpine valley offers incredible natural beauty and is just one mile in width and eight miles long with vertical granite walls rising above 2000 feet on either side. Nine ethereal waterfalls cascade into the valley. Wilderness hiking trails are as long as 800 miles.

The Niagara Falls – Ontario, Canada and New York, United States

Massive and beautiful waterfalls on the Niagara River, they are also famous for being a source of hydroelectric power. These falls are divided into three drops; Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian side and American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls on the American side. These falls are said to have been formed at the end of the last ice age. These waterfalls may not be the highest but are certainly wide and the most powerful in North America.

Mount Kilimanjaro – Africa

Ernest Hemingway described this mountain as, “as wide as all the world, great, high and unbelievably white,” in his book, “The Snows of Kilimanjaro.”

The roof of Africa as it is called is the world’s tallest free-standing mountain and a dormant stratovolcano. The Kibo Summit at the top of the mountain is one among the few peaks of Africa that still have glaciers.

Mamanuca Islands – Fiji

They are 20 islands in total. These beautiful islands of Mamanuca are varied; while some are small and can be walked around in a few minutes, others may take days to explore. For those who love nature and water bodies, these islands are a paradise with miles and miles of lilley snow white sand and beautiful turquoise blue beaches.

Sahara Sunset – Sahara Desert

While the Sahara Desert is a wonderful place to see for the wide expanse of sand dunes, the sunset there is sure to take your breath away. A night spent camping on the sand dunes of this three-million year old desert, watching the sky change colors at dusk, is a dream come true for any nature lover.

Natural Springs and Limestone Cliffs of Pamukkale – Turkey

The Turkish people call it the eighth wonder of the world and people who visit the place do not argue. Pamukkale is one of nature’s wonders, with hot pools and white cliffs. The water flowing down the cliffs has turned the place into an exotic white cotton color with stalactites and basins. This elaborate calcium formation is the largest of its kind, spreading miles and miles. The pristine surroundings are not only emotionally but physically cathartic. The water is believed to be therapeutic, curing various maladies. In spite of being filled with tourists, it still retains the old world charm and peace that we long for.

Halong Bay (Vinh Ha Long) – Vietnam

The descending dragon bay is Vietnam’s most beautiful natural attraction with thousands of isles and limestone karsts of different sizes and shapes. Legend goes that when Chinese invaders attacked Vietnam, God sent jewel and jade spitting dragons and these jewels turned into islets and islands that linked together to form a wall. Some of the islands are fishermen’s floating villages.

Ayers Rock/ Uluru – Australia

This sacred place of the Aborigines, Uluru, as it is now called is the world’s largest monolith. This is the weathered peak of a mountain range that is buried and rises about 430 meters from the desert. It appears to take on various hues depending on the weather and the distance. Visitors who take mementoes of sand or pieces of rock apparently report bad luck and the belief is that returning them restores normalcy.

Blue Grotto Cave – Italy

German writer, August Kopisch was the first to write about the beauty of the Blue Grotto cave on the coast of the Island of Capri. The blue reflection is caused by sunlight that passes through a cavity underwater and shines through the seawater. The natural cave formations and the crystal blue water take you into a different world.

Victoria Waterfalls – Southern Africa

These falls were named after queen Victoria, by a Scottish Explorer, David Livingstone. Locally, they are called “Mosi-Oa-Tunya,” meaning “smoke that thunders.” They are enormous and most unusual in form. Their width of 1.7 km and height of 108 meters makes them the largest sheet of falling water in the world; although, they are not the widest or the largest. The breathtaking sight of these spectacular waterfalls has to be seen from the air to view its glory.

Antarctica

Antarctica occupies 10% of the land on earth and it is one and half times as big as China. Because of the thin air and high altitude along with the ice and snow on the surface of the solar reflection, this has become the coldest places in the world. The surface is covered with tremendous amounts of iceberg. For animal and bird lovers, there is plenty of action in the form of penguins, sea birds, swallows, skua and fur sea lions (a type of seal). The drop-dead beauty of Antarctica cannot be explained enough.

Bora Bora Island – French Polynesia

The name Bora Bora evokes images of a mythic paradise. This pearl of the pacific is one of the group of Leeward Islands and is the northernmost. The beauty of the lagoon is unparalleled. It has the distinction of being one of the rare places where manta rays (largest of the rays “species”) can be observed throughout the year. Another specialty is houses built over water. This place is a paradise for nature lovers and divers.
Lake Baikal – Southern Siberia, Russia

Lake Baikal – Southern Siberia, Russia

This 25-million year old, 1,637 meters deep lake is the deepest, oldest and also the largest freshwater lake (by volume) in the world and contains much more water than all the great lakes in North America put together. The lake plays host to more than a thousand plant species and animal species. Mountains surround the lake on all sides and with 22 islands on the lake; it offers a most exotic visual treat and thrilling experience.

Rio de Janeiro – Brazil

Meaning River of January, the city of Rio is situated between the Serra da Bocaina mountains and the sea. It is filled with natural beauty characterized by marked contrasts; spectacular mountains, sparkling sea and lush forests, which form a landscape picture of rare beauty. The two beautiful and the most famous vantage points are mountains Pão de Acúcar (Sugarloaf) and Corcovado, atop which there is a large statue of Christ the redeemer, which is world famous. The tropical rain forest is all around the place and covers hillsides beautifully. The dramatic setting framed by miles and miles of dazzling beaches and jungle vegetation is unparalleled. Don’t forget the “caipirinha!”

Canals – Venice

“If this place sinks, the world will be poorer!” The beauty of Venice has been described in several ways. The canals in Venice are world famous and are the most beautiful. It is built on 118 islands connected by bridges and formed by 150 canals. This city with water streets is the only European city where no motorcars are used and all the transportation is on the canals, with the use of water taxis, waterbuses and the most romantic gondolas.

Angel Falls – Venezuela

Angel Falls is a staggeringly beautiful place. Located in the middle of dense rainforests, the sound of the water falling down can be heard from a kilometer. The stream of water is very powerful at the top but with the length of the drop being very huge, most of the water turns into mist before reaching the ground.

Santorini (Thira) Island – Greece

The unparalleled beauty of this famous Greek Island is attributed to God having created it when he was most happy. This island is part of the Cyclades Islands in the South Aegean Sea. It is known as the best place in the world for watching the sunset. The volcanic rim overlooking the sea filled caldera, the breathtaking sunsets and the deep blue are spectacular.

French Alps – France

The French alps offer an outstanding scenery, with the elegantly soaring alpine mountains, lakes and river valleys. They spread from Geneva in the north to the Mediterranean in the south and from Annecy in the west to the Swiss and Italian borders in the east. They also include Europe’s highest mountain, Mont Blanc. They are known to offer the most stunning and beautiful sceneries in the world.

Dorset Coast – England

Also called the Jurassic Coast, it is England’s first natural World Heritage site because of the outstanding geology and great beauty. It is one of southern England’s maritime counties. It reveals a beautiful story of the earth’s formation over millions of years, through some of the amazing rock formations and fossils. The bays, cliffs, variety of the finest sandy beaches in the British Isles and forever changing landscape make it a spectacular place.

Bali – Indonesia

Bali is one of the many islands of Indonesia but has an identity of its own, owing to its beauty. The island is about 150 km wide. The highest point is Mount Agung, which is an active volcano that exploded in 1963. It is also known as the “Goddess Island.” Why people consider Bali as beautiful is because of the beauty of nature combined with the culture, arts and music that add to that beauty.

Greenland – Northern North America

It is the biggest island on earth. The island stretches 1,050 km in width and about 95% of it is covered in ice. The unspoiled, glorious landscape will simply take your breath away, unlike anything we can ever dream of. The magnificence of the icebergs, fjords, glaciers and vegetation captivates the visitor’s imagination and heart.

Milford Sound – South Island, New Zealand

Rudyard Kipling described Milford Sound as the eighth wonder of the world. It is located in the exotic Fiordland region of New Zealand. It is surrounded by two peaks; The Elephant and the Lion Mountain. The awesome closeness of the sea, mountains and the beautiful rain forests gives it an indescribable beauty, along with the penguins, seals and dolphins there.

Namaqualand – South Africa

Namaqualand in the Northern Cape Region of South Africa, between the Orange River and the wild coast witnesses a natural flower phenomenon that is regarded as a natural wonder of the world. While this area is dry and arid for most of the year; with the coming of spring in August and September, it transforms into a vast expanse of wild flowers of every color. This extraordinary beauty attracts people from all over the world during the spring.

Glencoe – Scotland

The magical quality of Glencoe astonishes visitors that are unprepared for the breathtaking serenity of this pass. With the history and drama it unfolds, it is certainly Europe’s scenic wonders. Scotland’s hills are rock covered with moss – with waterfalls looking like silver lines sliding down the hillside.

The Meteors – Greece

Meteors are monasteries built on rock pillars. The Meteora houses six monasteries and is the largest complexes of Orthodox monasteries in Kalambaka in Greece. It is only second to Mount Athos. They were built on natural sandstone rock pillars in the plain of Thessaly. The pinnacles are said to have been formed about 60 million years ago. They offer beauty of a different kind!

Crater Lake – Oregon, United States

This caldera lake is blue at times and hidden by clouds at other; but this nature’s design is always magical and enchanting. It is the deepest lake in the United States and the second deepest in North America. Discovered in 1853, this lake located in South Central Oregon, is awe inspiring and famous for its 20-mile circle of cliffs and indescribable deep blue color.

Hudson River Valley – New York

“Nature has been very lavish here in the gifts of her beauty,” wrote the 19th century landscape painter, Frederic Edwin Church, who discovered this place first. The Hudson River Valley, with the beautiful Hudson river and ancient mountains is a treat for the eye.

The world is a beautiful place with endless beauty. When you look back, what would you remember?

High rise buildings? Manmade fountains? or nature’s beauty?

What would you remember? 

We live in a world blessed with sights that are beautiful beyond words. Every human being dreams of and possesses a desire to visit those places in their lifetime. Living in modern cities with high-rise buildings, we tend to miss out on what mother-nature has to offer and some of the man-made structures par excellence.

Look at these places and you will see beauty that fills the eye and warms the heart. It is not only inappropriate to just pick a few places from the huge expanse of the world but also humanly impossible.

They say that ‘beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder,’ and there are perhaps other places that have touched your heart. For this reason, we do not claim that these places we are bringing to you are the best, but they are certainly among the most beautiful places of the world.

The Grand Canyon, United States

A steep gorge by the Colorado River, Arizona in United States, this has the most enjoyable scenery. It is 277 miles in length, 4 to 18 miles in width and about a mile in depth. Scientists are of the opinion that the canyon has been created by the Colorado River over a six million year period.

Native Americans built settlements in the caves within the canyon before the emigration of Europeans. It was also considered to be a site of pilgrimage by the Pueblo people. The first recorded visit to the Grand Canyon by the Europeans was in 1869. Although, it is not the deepest canyon in the world, it is known for its extremely huge size and beautifully intricate landscape. The Grand Canyon National Park is said to be one of the first National Parks in the United States and attracts more than five million visitors a year. Weather conditions in the Grand Canyon vary a great deal between seasons as well as elevation. While winter snow is experienced by the higher elevated forested rims, the inner gorge has a desert temperature because of the low elevation.

The Great Barrier Reef, Australia

One of the natural wonders of the world, the Great Barrier Reef off the east coast of Australia is the world’s largest coral reef. It has the distinction of being placed in the World Heritage as well as the National Heritage lists.

With more than 600 islands and coral cays, the reef covers more than 300,000 sq. km. Corals make up the several reefs and cays and are responsible for a huge variety of sea life in the reef; including green turtles, several varieties of whales and dolphins, dugong, about 4000 types of mollusk, 1500 different species of fish as well as a beautiful colored bird life with 200 species. The Great Reef Marine Park is a huge tourist attraction with more than a couple of million tourists visiting the area each year. Sporting includes activities such as reef sailing, scuba diving and snorkeling amongst several others.

Cape Town, South Africa

Aptly called “heaven on earth,” this beautiful town at the tip of the African continent, with small roads surrounded by huge mountains, makes a person feel small; showing how marvelous and dominating nature can actually be.

The Cape Dutch style buildings depict the architectural heritage of the place. Beauty abounds in the black clouds that seem to pay homage to Table Mountain at all times. Cape Point, Signal Hill, Chapman’s Peak Drive, Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, Robben Island, Rhodes Memorial and the beaches are some of the famous tourist attractions. Located on the shore of Table Bay, Cape Town is famous for its natural floral kingdom as well as its harbor. This town is one of the most popular tourist attractions of South Africa, with its wine tasting day trips, whale watching and dolphin watching.

Taj Mahal, India

The Taj Mahal in India is one of the wonders of the world and is one of the most beautiful mausoleums constructed by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite queen, Mumtaz Mahal. Located in Agra, white marble is used in the creation of this symbol of love and is considered to be the pinnacle of the famous Mughal architecture.

Story goes that the emperor was grief stricken when he lost his beloved third wife, Mumtaz Mahal. It took several thousands of craftsmen, artisans and about twenty years to construct it. The masons, stonecutters, carvers, inlayers, calligraphers, painters and others were brought from the entire empire as well as from Iran and Central Asia. Semi-precious stones were used for inlay ornamentation. It later became the mausoleum of Shah Jahan too. This is a huge tourist attraction with one to two million tourists visiting it every year.

Canadian Rockies, Canada

The majestic Canadian Rockies are the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky mountains. They are a visitor’s wonderland and the playground for western Canada. They are older than the American Rockies and are formed from over thrusting.

The Canadian Rockies house five national parks, out of which four of them along with other provincial parks form a combination of a single UNESCO World Heritage Site that consists of beautiful mountain landscapes, lakes, canyons, waterfalls, glaciers, peaks, limestone caves as well as fossils. Mount Robson is the highest peak of the Canadian Rockies and climbing it is considered a challenge. These beautiful mountains are a haven for hikers and walkers alike.

Machu Picchu, Peru

Machu Picchu in Peru, which means ‘Old Peak,” is one of the most enigmatic ancient sites in the world. According to legend, Machu Picchu was a long time ago considered to be a sacred place. The credit for the creation of the extraordinary city goes to the Inca people who have erected many stone structures and turned the place into an art form.

Two thousand feet above the Urubamba river, these ruins consist of baths, temples, palaces and about 150 houses, all very well preserved. These gray granite structures, some of which weigh more than 50 tons are so perfectly sculpted that they are nothing less than architectural genius. They were rediscovered by a Yale archaeologist in 1911. The ethereal beauty, the workmanship and history of the place attracts millions of tourists each year.

The Pyramids, Egypt

The Egyptian pyramids are massive monuments with a square base and four triangular sides rising up to a point. There was a lot of curiosity associated with the pyramids as to their formation, whether it was natural.

However, the Egyptians started constructing them after 2700 B.C. and were built as tombs for the Pharaohs. The most well-known and the largest pyramids of Egypt are the Pyramids at Giza which are said to be the largest ever built, and the Great Pyramid at Giza took 23 years to complete for about a work force of 30,000. About 118 pyramids have been identified and are very popular with people from all over the world.

Petra, Jordan

Described by the UNESCO as “one of the most precious cultural properties of man’s cultural heritage, Petra is an archeological site on the slope of Mount Hor. It is one of the new wonders of the world and is famous for its rock cut architecture.

This site was kept hidden till 1812 when it was discovered by a Swiss explorer. It was said to have been prepared by God for the Jewish people. Petra once flourished under the Roman empire but a rapid decline began with the Arabian trade being taken elsewhere. Then an earthquake caused a lot of destruction. Tourists throng the place to get a glimpse of the ruins of this beautiful city.

Great Wall of China, China

One of the seven wonders of the world, the Great Wall of China is a man-made structure that was constructed over two thousand years ago and took about 100 years to complete. The vastness of this project brings to light the immense capabilities of man.

The constructions started in the 5th Century B.C. It is actually many walls put together and stretches over 4,000 miles and was constructed to protect the Chinese Empire from the Xiongnu people in the north. The wall was initially built of stone, grass, earth and wood, but bricks were used once the production started. It is believed that about 2-3 million Chinese died as part of this project.

The Iguazu Waterfalls, Argentina-Brazil Border

Heralded as the most beautiful waterfalls in the world, the Iguazu Waterfalls are a true wonder of nature. They are located at the border of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. While the Argentinean side allows visitors to walk right around the water or explore the National Park; the Brazilian side is known for its panoramic views and splendor.

First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, upon seeing these falls is claimed to have exclaimed “poor Niagara.” The area of the falls provides ample opportunities for rock climbing as well as water sports. Iguazu has the distinction of having the greatest annual flow when compared to any other falls in the world.

With all these and many more beautiful places that exist in our world, we are lost for choice and the only way to decide on the places to visit is to follow the heart. While some may love the tranquility of water, others may bury themselves deep in the architectural miracles or the serenity of a small town.

Amazon Rainforest – Amazon Basin, South America

Amazon rainforest is the thickest rainforest that spans over a billion acres and encompasses areas in Brazil (60%), Peru (13%), Venezuela, Columbia, Ecuador, Guyana, Bolivia, French Guiana and Suriname. The concentration of wildlife is very high and new species or subspecies of existing species continues to be discovered almost all the time. The majestic beauty and timelessness of this awe-inspiring tropical rainforest is indescribable in words and should be experienced.

Sognafjord (Sogne Fjord) – Norway

The second longest fjord (an inset of the sea between steep slopes) in the world and the largest in Norway, the magnificence of this has to be experienced for the magnitude to be understood. Reaching to more than 1,300 meters below sea level and above 2,000 meters above sea level, the sparkling water, the beautiful cliff faces and the picturesque villages make this a must visit place for nature lovers.

The Himalayas – Asia

This spectacle of awesome dimensions …the 3000 kilometer long towering mountain range with tiers of rock, ranges upon ranges, sky scraping peaks and canyons, is the planet’s highest mountain system and includes the world’s highest peaks; Mount Everest and K2. It stretches through Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Nepal and Pakistan. This is where earth meets the sky!

Yosemite Valley – California

The incomparable beauty of nature changing colors with seasons and the sigh of breeze in the pines can only be experienced at Yosemite Valley (Pronounced Yo-seh-mit-tea). Yosemite Valley is part of Yosemite National Park in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. This alpine valley offers incredible natural beauty and is just one mile in width and eight miles long with vertical granite walls rising above 2000 feet on either side. Nine ethereal waterfalls cascade into the valley. Wilderness hiking trails are as long as 800 miles.

The Niagara Falls – Ontario, Canada and New York, United States

Massive and beautiful waterfalls on the Niagara River, they are also famous for being a source of hydroelectric power. These falls are divided into three drops; Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian side and American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls on the American side. These falls are said to have been formed at the end of the last ice age. These waterfalls may not be the highest but are certainly wide and the most powerful in North America.

Mount Kilimanjaro – Africa

Ernest Hemingway described this mountain as, “as wide as all the world, great, high and unbelievably white,” in his book, “The Snows of Kilimanjaro.”

The roof of Africa as it is called is the world’s tallest free-standing mountain and a dormant stratovolcano. The Kibo Summit at the top of the mountain is one among the few peaks of Africa that still have glaciers.

Mamanuca Islands – Fiji

They are 20 islands in total. These beautiful islands of Mamanuca are varied; while some are small and can be walked around in a few minutes, others may take days to explore. For those who love nature and water bodies, these islands are a paradise with miles and miles of lilley snow white sand and beautiful turquoise blue beaches.

Sahara Sunset – Sahara Desert

While the Sahara Desert is a wonderful place to see for the wide expanse of sand dunes, the sunset there is sure to take your breath away. A night spent camping on the sand dunes of this three-million year old desert, watching the sky change colors at dusk, is a dream come true for any nature lover.

Natural Springs and Limestone Cliffs of Pamukkale – Turkey

The Turkish people call it the eighth wonder of the world and people who visit the place do not argue. Pamukkale is one of nature’s wonders, with hot pools and white cliffs. The water flowing down the cliffs has turned the place into an exotic white cotton color with stalactites and basins. This elaborate calcium formation is the largest of its kind, spreading miles and miles. The pristine surroundings are not only emotionally but physically cathartic. The water is believed to be therapeutic, curing various maladies. In spite of being filled with tourists, it still retains the old world charm and peace that we long for.

Halong Bay (Vinh Ha Long) – Vietnam

The descending dragon bay is Vietnam’s most beautiful natural attraction with thousands of isles and limestone karsts of different sizes and shapes. Legend goes that when Chinese invaders attacked Vietnam, God sent jewel and jade spitting dragons and these jewels turned into islets and islands that linked together to form a wall. Some of the islands are fishermen’s floating villages.

Ayers Rock/ Uluru – Australia

This sacred place of the Aborigines, Uluru, as it is now called is the world’s largest monolith. This is the weathered peak of a mountain range that is buried and rises about 430 meters from the desert. It appears to take on various hues depending on the weather and the distance. Visitors who take mementoes of sand or pieces of rock apparently report bad luck and the belief is that returning them restores normalcy.

Blue Grotto Cave – Italy

German writer, August Kopisch was the first to write about the beauty of the Blue Grotto cave on the coast of the Island of Capri. The blue reflection is caused by sunlight that passes through a cavity underwater and shines through the seawater. The natural cave formations and the crystal blue water take you into a different world.

Victoria Waterfalls – Southern Africa

These falls were named after queen Victoria, by a Scottish Explorer, David Livingstone. Locally, they are called “Mosi-Oa-Tunya,” meaning “smoke that thunders.” They are enormous and most unusual in form. Their width of 1.7 km and height of 108 meters makes them the largest sheet of falling water in the world; although, they are not the widest or the largest. The breathtaking sight of these spectacular waterfalls has to be seen from the air to view its glory.

Antarctica

Antarctica occupies 10% of the land on earth and it is one and half times as big as China. Because of the thin air and high altitude along with the ice and snow on the surface of the solar reflection, this has become the coldest places in the world. The surface is covered with tremendous amounts of iceberg. For animal and bird lovers, there is plenty of action in the form of penguins, sea birds, swallows, skua and fur sea lions (a type of seal). The drop-dead beauty of Antarctica cannot be explained enough.

Bora Bora Island – French Polynesia

The name Bora Bora evokes images of a mythic paradise. This pearl of the pacific is one of the group of Leeward Islands and is the northernmost. The beauty of the lagoon is unparalleled. It has the distinction of being one of the rare places where manta rays (largest of the rays “species”) can be observed throughout the year. Another specialty is houses built over water. This place is a paradise for nature lovers and divers.
Lake Baikal – Southern Siberia, Russia

Lake Baikal – Southern Siberia, Russia

This 25-million year old, 1,637 meters deep lake is the deepest, oldest and also the largest freshwater lake (by volume) in the world and contains much more water than all the great lakes in North America put together. The lake plays host to more than a thousand plant species and animal species. Mountains surround the lake on all sides and with 22 islands on the lake; it offers a most exotic visual treat and thrilling experience.

Rio de Janeiro – Brazil

Meaning River of January, the city of Rio is situated between the Serra da Bocaina mountains and the sea. It is filled with natural beauty characterized by marked contrasts; spectacular mountains, sparkling sea and lush forests, which form a landscape picture of rare beauty. The two beautiful and the most famous vantage points are mountains Pão de Acúcar (Sugarloaf) and Corcovado, atop which there is a large statue of Christ the redeemer, which is world famous. The tropical rain forest is all around the place and covers hillsides beautifully. The dramatic setting framed by miles and miles of dazzling beaches and jungle vegetation is unparalleled. Don’t forget the “caipirinha!”

Canals – Venice

“If this place sinks, the world will be poorer!” The beauty of Venice has been described in several ways. The canals in Venice are world famous and are the most beautiful. It is built on 118 islands connected by bridges and formed by 150 canals. This city with water streets is the only European city where no motorcars are used and all the transportation is on the canals, with the use of water taxis, waterbuses and the most romantic gondolas.

Angel Falls – Venezuela

Angel Falls is a staggeringly beautiful place. Located in the middle of dense rainforests, the sound of the water falling down can be heard from a kilometer. The stream of water is very powerful at the top but with the length of the drop being very huge, most of the water turns into mist before reaching the ground.

Santorini (Thira) Island – Greece

The unparalleled beauty of this famous Greek Island is attributed to God having created it when he was most happy. This island is part of the Cyclades Islands in the South Aegean Sea. It is known as the best place in the world for watching the sunset. The volcanic rim overlooking the sea filled caldera, the breathtaking sunsets and the deep blue are spectacular.

French Alps – France

The French alps offer an outstanding scenery, with the elegantly soaring alpine mountains, lakes and river valleys. They spread from Geneva in the north to the Mediterranean in the south and from Annecy in the west to the Swiss and Italian borders in the east. They also include Europe’s highest mountain, Mont Blanc. They are known to offer the most stunning and beautiful sceneries in the world.

Dorset Coast – England

Also called the Jurassic Coast, it is England’s first natural World Heritage site because of the outstanding geology and great beauty. It is one of southern England’s maritime counties. It reveals a beautiful story of the earth’s formation over millions of years, through some of the amazing rock formations and fossils. The bays, cliffs, variety of the finest sandy beaches in the British Isles and forever changing landscape make it a spectacular place.

Bali – Indonesia

Bali is one of the many islands of Indonesia but has an identity of its own, owing to its beauty. The island is about 150 km wide. The highest point is Mount Agung, which is an active volcano that exploded in 1963. It is also known as the “Goddess Island.” Why people consider Bali as beautiful is because of the beauty of nature combined with the culture, arts and music that add to that beauty.

Greenland – Northern North America

It is the biggest island on earth. The island stretches 1,050 km in width and about 95% of it is covered in ice. The unspoiled, glorious landscape will simply take your breath away, unlike anything we can ever dream of. The magnificence of the icebergs, fjords, glaciers and vegetation captivates the visitor’s imagination and heart.

Milford Sound – South Island, New Zealand

Rudyard Kipling described Milford Sound as the eighth wonder of the world. It is located in the exotic Fiordland region of New Zealand. It is surrounded by two peaks; The Elephant and the Lion Mountain. The awesome closeness of the sea, mountains and the beautiful rain forests gives it an indescribable beauty, along with the penguins, seals and dolphins there.

Namaqualand – South Africa

Namaqualand in the Northern Cape Region of South Africa, between the Orange River and the wild coast witnesses a natural flower phenomenon that is regarded as a natural wonder of the world. While this area is dry and arid for most of the year; with the coming of spring in August and September, it transforms into a vast expanse of wild flowers of every color. This extraordinary beauty attracts people from all over the world during the spring.

Glencoe – Scotland

The magical quality of Glencoe astonishes visitors that are unprepared for the breathtaking serenity of this pass. With the history and drama it unfolds, it is certainly Europe’s scenic wonders. Scotland’s hills are rock covered with moss – with waterfalls looking like silver lines sliding down the hillside.

The Meteors – Greece

Meteors are monasteries built on rock pillars. The Meteora houses six monasteries and is the largest complexes of Orthodox monasteries in Kalambaka in Greece. It is only second to Mount Athos. They were built on natural sandstone rock pillars in the plain of Thessaly. The pinnacles are said to have been formed about 60 million years ago. They offer beauty of a different kind!

Crater Lake – Oregon, United States

This caldera lake is blue at times and hidden by clouds at other; but this nature’s design is always magical and enchanting. It is the deepest lake in the United States and the second deepest in North America. Discovered in 1853, this lake located in South Central Oregon, is awe inspiring and famous for its 20-mile circle of cliffs and indescribable deep blue color.

Hudson River Valley – New York

“Nature has been very lavish here in the gifts of her beauty,” wrote the 19th century landscape painter, Frederic Edwin Church, who discovered this place first. The Hudson River Valley, with the beautiful Hudson river and ancient mountains is a treat for the eye.

The world is a beautiful place with endless beauty. When you look back, what would you remember?

High rise buildings? Manmade fountains? or nature’s beauty?

What would you remember?

Millau Bridge, Tarn Valley

Millau Bridge: Towering 1,125ft above the Tarn Valley in southern France, driving along the Millau Bridge, the largest cable-stayed vehicular bridge in the world, is said to feel like flying. This Foster + Partners marvel is slightly taller than the Eiffel Tower, took three years to build and opened to the public in 2004. While it may provide picturesque views of the valley below, once the mist descends it is not a route for the faint hearted! The Millau Bridge has a total length of 8,071ft with the longest single span at 1,122ft and a maximum clearance below of 886ft; in short the bridge is massively impressive both on paper and in real life. The deck is lofted on 7 pylons and weighs 36,000 tonnes. A series of 7 masts, each 292ft tall and weighing 700 tonnes, are attached to the corresponding pylons.

Fehmarn Belt Bridge, Baltic Sea

Fehmarn Belt Bridge: When completed in 2018 the Fehmarn Belt Bridge will stretch 11.8 miles and connect the German island of Fehmarn with the Danish island of Lolland at an estimated cost of $2.2 billion. Initial plans show the bridge will be constructed with 3 cable-stayed spans each approximately 2,375ft long and supported by four 918ft tall pillars giving 213ft of vertical clearance beneath. The proposed bridge has been controversial with opposition from businesses and conservationists who fear it may damage local wildlife.

Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Gateshead

Gateshead Millennium Bridge: The award winning $44 million Gateshead Millennium Bridge is the first and only tilting bridge in the world. Hydraulic rams at each end of the bridge allow it to tilt so small ships may pass through, and it is this innovative technology which won its designers the prestigious Stirling Prize for architecture in 2002. Thanks to the 19,000 tonnes of concrete poured into 98ft deep foundations and enough steel to build 64 double decker buses, the bridge can withstand a collision with a 4,000 tonne ship moving at 4 knots.

Bering Straits Bridge, Bering Straits

Bering Straits Bridge: The proposed Bering Straits bridge will hopefully act as a transcontinental link by land, connecting Asia, Africa and Europe with North and South America. Possible locations for the bridge have been suggested, with Cape Dezhnev, Chukotka, and Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska looking the most likely sources. Some suggestions have called for a series of three bridges spanning over 50 miles in total, although the tough Arctic conditions which make the area so notorious will almost definitely hinder construction and maintenance.

Erasmusbrug, Rotterdam

Erasmusbrug: Nicknamed ‘The Swan’ due to the shape of the pylon supporting it, the Erasmusbrug was completed in 1996 and acts as a link between the north and south of the city of Rotterdam. To allow ships to pass, the southern span boasts a 292ft long bascule bridge, the largest and heaviest if its kind in Europe. Popular for its aesthetic appeal, the bridge featured in the 2005 film ‘Who Am I?’ in which Red Bull Air Race planes flew underneath! Construction of the 2,650ft long, 6,800 tonne Erasmusbrug cost $110 million and was completed in 1996. Soon after opening to road traffic it was discovered that the bridge would sway under high wind and had to be retrofitted with dampeners.

Kintaikyo, Iwakuni

Kintaikyo: Possibly one of the most unlucky bridges in the world, Kintaikyo was reconstructed in the town of Iwakuni in 1673 after every other attempt to cross the Nishiki River via bridge had been foiled by seasonal flooding. Remarkably, the five wooden arches remained intact right up to 1950 when a typhoon finally destroyed them. However, intent on not being beaten, the bridge was again reconstructed three years later and is still crossable today!

Ponte Vecchio, Florence

Ponte Vecchio: The Ponte Vecchio in Florence is one of the most famous tourist spots in Italy, and is thought to be the oldest wholly-stone built, segmental arch bridge in Europe, although there are many partial segments which date further back. It was originally built of wood until destroyed by floods in 1333, and twelve years later it was rebuilt using stone. Famous for its lining of shops, the bridge has housed everybody from Medieval merchants and butchers to souvenir stalls and art dealers.

Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco

Golden Gate Bridge: Completed in 1937 as the then longest suspension bridge in the world at a total length of 8,921ft, the Golden Gate Bridge is perhaps the most famous bridge in the world. Situated in San Francisco, the bridge was an enormous construction achievement at the time. It broke safety records as ‘only’ eleven construction workers were killed during construction, 19 others saved by the innovative safety net placed beneath. Photographed by thousands of tourists each year, the distinctive red paint coat is actually officially ‘international orange’, and was originally chosen to enhance visibility during the foggy conditions that are synonymous with the Bay area. The Golden Gate Bridge was brought in $1.3 million under budget at a cost of $27 million, carries 100,000 vehicles on an average day and requires 38 full-time painters for maintenance. 26 people are known to have survived the 4 second, 220ft fall at 75 mph into the strait below.

Tower Bridge, London

Tower Bridge: Completed in 1894 and designed by Horace Jones and Wolfe Barry, Tower Bridge (so named after the two, striking, 141ft high towers) is one of the most famous landmarks in London. The 800ft long bridge has a 28ft clearance when closed but raises in the centre to a maximum clearance of 140ft that allows ships to pass down the Thames. Back in the days when goods were moved by sea instead of air the bridge was raised around 50 times daily. Tower Bridge took 432 workers 8 years to build. During that time they sank 70,000 tonnes of concrete into 2 huge piers, lowered 2 counterbalanced bascules into place each weighing 1,000 tonnes and then clad the whole bridge in Portland stone and Cornish granite to disguise the 11,000 tonnes of steel beneath.

Oresund Bridge, Oresund Strait

Oresund Bridge [PDF]: At over 25,000ft long in total and 669ft tall the cable-stayed Oresund was opened in 2000 to connect Denmark and Sweden. The entire bridge weighs in at 82,000 tonnes, has one of the longest cable-stayed spans in the world at 1,608ft and carries 60,000 travellers by car, bus and train per day. Driving from Denmark you first pass through the man made island of Peberholm, disappearing into 13,287ft of undersea tunnel which takes you onto the Oresund Bridge proper before completing the journey into Sweden. Crossing the Oresund Bridge doesn’t come cheap (~$53, single, car) even though there are steep discounts for frequent travellers, which isn’t surprising considering it cost $3.8 billion.

Tsing Ma Bridge, Hong Kong

Tsing Ma Bridge: The gravity-anchored Tsing Ma Bridge in Hong Kong is the 6th largest suspension bridge in the world, and carries more rail traffic than any other bridge on earth. Construction of the Tsing Ma Bridge cost $900 million and opened in 1997 after 5 years of constant work. It has a main span of 4,518ft and is named after the two islands it connects – Tsing Yi and Ma Wan. Interestingly, 49,000 tonnes of structural steel were used in the construction of the deck while each 675 foot tall tower used 65,000 tonnes of concrete. The bridge has become a tourist attraction and is renowned for looking particularly spectacular when lit up at night. You can check it out on their live webcam.

Sydney Harbour Bridge, Sydney

Sydney Harbour Bridge, Sydney: Having celebrated its 75th birthday in 2007, the Sydney Harbour Bridge remains the widest long-span bridge in the world at a total length of 3,770ft, carrying rail, pedestrian and vehicular traffic across the harbour. Nicknamed ‘the coat hanger’ due to its arched shape, the bridge is often photographed with the nearby opera house, the pair acting as one of the most iconic images for the city and Australia itself. The longest span measures 1,650ft with the highest point on the arch 429ft above sea level. 800 homes in the area had to be demolished to make way for the bridge, which took 1,400 workers 8 years to build at a cost of about $12 million. Surprisingly (because it wasn’t massively expensive), the bridge was finally paid off in 1998!

Hong Kong – Zhuhai – Macao Bridge, SE Asia

Hong Kong – Zhuhai – Macao Bridge: The Hong Kong – Zhuhai – Macao Bridge is still at proposal stage, but if it does get a green light the 18 mile dual 3-lane carriageway bridge will reduce road travel times between Hong Kong and Macau from 4.5 hours currently to 40 minutes. It will include the construction of 2 man-made islands connected by an undersea tunnel to facilitate the safe passage of shipping.

Bosphorus Bridge, Istanbul

Bosphorus Bridge: Although it may not be the longest or largest bridge in the world, the Bosphorus Bridge in Turkey is renowned because it separates two continents, namely Europe and Asia. The Bosphorus Bridge was completed in 1973 with a main span of 3,523ft and clearance of 210ft. In 2005, American tennis star Venus Williams played a five-minute tennis match on the bridge with Turkish player Ipek Senoglu, the first tennis match ever to be played across two continents.

San Diego-Coronado Bridge, San Diego

San Diego-Coronado Bridge: Construction of the vehicle-only San Diego-Coronado Bridge finished in 1969 at a cost of $47.6 million, featuring a 90 degree curve during it’s 11,288ft length. It was built at a maximum height of 200ft to allow vessels to travel underneath; in fact it is tall enough to allow an empty aircraft carrier to pass. It has the unfortunate title of the third most popular suicide bridge in the USA with more than 200 recorded suicides between 1972 and 2000, behind the Golden Gate in San Francisco and the Aurora bridge in Seattle. It costs $1 nothing to use the bridge, which raised $8 million in revenue per annum when the (now defunct) toll booths were in operation. Oddly enough, a man who survived the 200 foot drop into San Diego Bay after he jumped holding a captured Belgian Malinois police dog (that was presumably chasing him) is now being held in lieu of $1 million bail and pleading not guilty to harming the animal!

Akashi-Kaikyo, Kobe-Naruto

Akashi-Kaikyo: The Akashi-Kaikyo bridge in Japan is the daddy of all suspension bridges, over 1,200ft longer than the 2nd place Great Belt Bridge in Denmark. Originally built to replace the dangerous Kobe-Iwaya ferry in 1998 which had suffered at the hands of numerous storms, the bridge crosses the Akashi Strait and cost around $4.5 billion to build. The statistics on this build are staggering; it took 2 million workers 10 years to build the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge. During that time they poured 1.4 million cubic meters of concrete, assembled 181,000 of structural steel, built 350,000 tonne anchor blocks at either end of the bridge and hooked up enough steel cable to circle the world 7 times!

Hangzhou Bay Bridge, Zhejiang

The Hangzhou Bay Bridge: When opened in 2007 at 22.4 miles long, the Hangzhou Bay Bridge linked the provinces of Shanghai and Ningbo is the second longest bridge in the world and has a $1.4 billion price label to match. The bridge won’t be open to the public until late 2008 and was the centre of huge controversy with many locals questioning the need to build a bridge of this type, as well as whether it was simply being constructed to rival the Lupu, a competing bridge in Shanghai. There are 2 main spans in the bridge, a 1,470 foot long northern span and a shorter 1,040 southern span. When it comes to length the Hangzhou Bay Bridge is second only to Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in Louisiana.

Magdeburg Water Bridge, Magdeburg

Magdeburg Water Bridge: One of the most distinctively designed bridge on the list, the Magdeburg Water Bridge is exactly what its name suggests; a bridge made over water. It was built to connect the Elbe-Havel Canal and the Mittellandkanal, allowing cargo to travel between Berlin and the ports along the River Rhine without a tedious 7.5 mile detour. It does in fact actually cross the River Elbe! It took 6 years, $733 million, 68,000 cubic meters of concrete and 24,000 tonnes of structural steel to construct the 3,010ft long bridge

There are probably hundreds of majestic and magnificent trees in the world – of these, some are particularly special:

10. Lone Cypress in Monterey

(Image credit: bdinphoenix )

(Image credit: mikemac29 )

Buffeted by the cold Pacific Ocean wind, the scraggly Lone Cypress [wiki] (Cupressus macrocarpa) in Pebble Beach, Monterey Peninsula, California, isn’t a particularly large tree. It makes up for its small size, however, with its iconic status as a stunningly beautiful tree in splendid isolation, framed by an even more beautiful background of the Pacific Ocean.

9. Circus Trees

As a hobby, bean farmer Axel Erlandson [wiki] shaped trees – he pruned, bent, and grafted trees into fantastic shapes and called them “Circus Trees.” For example, to make this “Basket Tree” arborsculpture, Erlandson planted six sycamore trees in a circle and then grafted them together to form the diamond patterns.

Basket Tree (Image credit: jpeepz )

The two-legged tree (Image credit: Vladi22, Wikipedia)

Ladder tree (Image credit: Arborsmith)

Axel Erlandson underneath one of his arborsculpture (Image credit: Wilma Erlandson, Cabinet Magazine)

Erlandson was very secretive and refused to reveal his methods on how to grow the Circus Trees (he even carried out his graftings behind screens to protect against spies!) and carried the secrets to his grave.

The trees were later bought by millionaire Michael Bonfante, who transplanted them to his amusement park Bonfante Gardens in Gilroy in 1985.

8. Giant Sequoias: General Sherman

(Image credit: Humpalumpa )

Giant Sequoias [wiki] (Sequoiadendron giganteum), which only grow in Sierra Nevada, California, are the world’s biggest trees (in terms of volume). The biggest is General Sherman [wiki] in the Sequoia National Park – one behemoth of a tree at 275 feet (83.8 m), over 52,500 cubic feet of volume (1,486 m³), and over 6000 tons in weight.

General Sherman is approximately 2,200 years old – and each year, the tree adds enough wood to make a regular 60-foot tall tree. It’s no wonder that naturalist John Muir said “The Big Tree is Nature’s forest masterpiece, and so far as I know, the greatest of living things.”

For over a century there was a fierce competition for the title of the largest tree: besides General Sherman, there is General Grant [wiki] at King’s Canyon National Park, which actually has a
larger circumference (107.5 feet / 32.77 m vs. Sherman’s 102.6 feet / 31.27 m).

In 1921, a team of surveyors carefully measured the two
giants – with their data, and according to the complex American Forestry Association system of judging a tree, General Grant should have been award the title of largest tree – however, to simplify the matter, it was later determined that in this case, volume, not point system, should be the determining factor.

7. Coast Redwood: Hyperion and Drive-Thru Trees

There is another sequoia species (not to be confused with Giant Sequoia) that is quite remarkable: the Coast Redwood [wiki] (Sequoia sempervirens), the tallest trees in the world.

The reigning champion is a tree called Hyperion in the Redwood National Park, identified by researcher Chris Atkins and amateur naturalist Michael Taylor in 2006. Measuring over 379 feet (155.6 115 m) tall, Hyperion beat out the previous record holder Stratosphere Giant [wiki] in the Humboldt Redwoods State Park (at 370 feet / 112.8 m).

The scientists aren’t talking about the exact location of Hyperion: the terrain is difficult, and they don’t want a rush of visitors to come and trample the tree’s root system.

[Image: The Stratosphere Giant - still an impressive specimen, previously the world's tallest tree until dethroned by Hyperion in 2006.]

That’s not all that’s amazing about the Coast Redwood: there are four giant California redwoods big enough that you can drive your car through them!

The most famous of the drive-through trees is the Chandelier Tree [wiki] in Leggett, California. It’s a 315 foot tall redwood tree, with a 6 foot wide by 9 foot tall hole cut through its base in the 1930s.

Chandelier Tree. (Image credit: hlh-abg )

6. Chapel-Oak of Allouville-Bellefosse

Chapel-Oak of Allouville-Bellefosse (Image credit: Old trees in Netherlands & Europe)

(Image credit: dm1795 )

(Image credit: Luc Doudet)

The Chêne-Chapelle (Chapel-Oak) of Allouville-Bellefosse is the most famous tree in France – actually, it’s more than just a tree: it’s a building and a religious monument all in one.

In 1669, l’Abbe du Detroit and du Cerceau decided to build a chapel in (at that time) a 500 years old or so oak (Quercus robur) tree made hollow by a lightning bolt. The priests built a small altar to the Virgin Mary. Later on, a second chapel and a staircase were added.

Now, parts of the tree are dead, the crown keeps becoming smaller and smaller every year, and parts of the tree’s bark, which fell off due to old age, are covered by protective oak shingles. Poles and cables support the aging tree, which in fact, may not live much longer. As a symbol, however, it seems that the Chapel-Oak of Allouville-Bellefosse may live on forever.

5. Quaking Aspen: Pando (The Trembling Giant)

Quaking Aspen (Image: Wikipedia)

Aspen grove (Image credit: scottks1 )

Quaking Aspen in winter (Image credit: darkmatter )

Pando [wiki] or the Trembling Giant in Utah is actually a colony of a single Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides) tree. All of the trees (technically, “stems”) in this colony are genetically identical (meaning, they’re exact clones of one another). In fact, they are all a part of a single living organism with an enormous underground root system.

Pando, which is Latin for “I Spread,” is composed of about 47,000 stems spread throughout 107 acres of land. It estimated to weigh 6,600 tons, making it the heaviest known organism. Although the average age of the individual stems are 130 years, the entire organism is estimated to be about 80,000 years old!

4. Montezuma Cypress: The Tule Tree

The Tule Tree Towers over a church next to it (Image credit: jubilohaku )

Full width of the Tule Tree (Image credit: Gengiskanhg, Wikipedia)

Close-up of the tree’s gnarled trunk. Local legends say that you can make out animals like jaguars and elephants in the trunk, giving the tree the nickname of “the Tree of Life” (Image credit: jvcluis )

El Árbol del Tule [wiki] (“The Tule Tree”) is an especially large Montezuma cypress (Taxodium mucronatum) near the city of Oaxaca, Mexico. This tree has the largest trunk girth at 190 feet (58 m) and trunk diameter at 37 feet (11.3 m). The Tule tree is so thick that people say you don’t hug this tree, it hugs you instead!

For a while, detractors argued that it was actually three trees masquerading as one – however, careful DNA analysis confirmed that it is indeed one magnificent tree.

In 1994, the tree (and Mexican pride) were in jeopardy: the leaves were sickly yellow and there were dead branches everywhere- the tree appeared to be dying. When tree “doctors” were called in, they diagnosed the problem as dying of thirst. The prescription? Give it water. Sure enough, the tree soon recovered after a careful watering program was followed.

3. Banyan Tree: Sri Maha Bodhi Tree

The Banyan tree is named after “banians” or Hindu traders who carry out their business under the tree. Even if you have never heard of a Banyan tree (it was the tree used by Robinson Crusoe for his treehouse), you’d still recognize it. The shape of the giant tree is unmistakable: it has a majestic canopy with aerial roots running from the branches to the ground.

Banyan tree (Image credit: Diorama Sky )

Closer view of the Banyan aerial root structure (Image credit: BillyCrafton )

If you were thinking that the Banyan tree looks like the trees whose roots snake through the ruins of the Ta Prohm temple like tentacles of the jungle (Lara Croft, anyone?) at Ankor, Cambodia , you’d be right!

Banyan tree (or is it silk-cotton tree?) in the ruins of Ta Prohm, Ankor, Cambodia
(Image Credit: Casual Chin )

One of the most famous species of Banyan, called the Sacred Fig [wiki] or Bo tree, is the Sri Maha Bodhi [wiki] tree in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. It is said that the tree was grown from a cutting from the original tree under which Buddha became enlightened in the 6th century BC.

Planted in 288 BC, it is the oldest living human-planted tree in the world, with a definitive planting date!

(Image credit: Images of Ceylon)

(Image credit: Wikipedia)

2. Bristlecone Pine: Methuselah and Prometheus, the Oldest Trees in the World.

Methuselah Grove (Image Credit: NOVA Online)

Bristlecone pine grove in which Prometheus grew (Image credit: James R. Bouldin, Wikipedia)

The oldest living tree in the world is a White Mountains, California, bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva) named Methuselah [wiki], after the Biblical figure who lived to 969 years old. The Methuselah tree, found at 11,000 feet above sea level, is 4,838 years old – it is not only the oldest tree but also the oldest living non-clonal organism in the world.

Before Methuselah was identified as the world’s oldest tree by Edmund Schulman in 1957, people thought that the Giant Sequoias were the world’s oldest trees at about 2,000 years old. Schulman used a borer to obtain a core sample to count the growth rings of various bristlecone pines, and found over a dozen trees over 4,000 years old.

The story of Prometheus [wiki] is even more interesting: in 1964, Donald R. Currey [wiki], then a graduate student, was taking core samples from a tree named Prometheus. His boring tool broke inside the tree, so he asked for permission from the US Forest Service to cut it down and examine the full cross section of the wood. Surprisingly the Forest Service agreed! When they examined the tree, Prometheus turned out to be about 5,000 years old, which would have made it the world’s oldest tree when the scientist unwittingly killed it!

Stump of the Prometheus Tree. (Image Credit: James R. Bouldin, Wikipedia)

Today, to protect the trees from the inquisitive traveler, the authorities are keeping their location secret (indeed, there are no photos identifying Methuselah for fear of vandalism).

1. Baobab

The amazing baobab [wiki] (Adansonia) or monkey bread tree can grow up to nearly 100 feet (30 m) tall and 35 feet (11 m) wide. Their defining characteristic: their swollen trunk are actually water storage – the baobab tree can store as much as 31,700 gallon (120,000 l) of water to endure harsh drought conditions.

Baobab trees are native to Madagascar (it’s the country’s national tree!), mainland Africa, and Australia. A cluster of “the grandest of all” baobab trees (Adansonia grandidieri) can be found in the Baobab Avenue, near Morondava, in Madagascar:

(Image credit: Fox-Talbot, Wikipedia)

(Image credit: plizzba )

(Image credit: Daniel Montesino )

In Ifaty, southwestern Madagascar, other baobabs take the form of bottles, skulls, and even teapots:

Teapot baobab (Image credit: Gilles Croissant)

The baobab trees in Africa are amazing as well:

Baobab in Tanzania (Image credit: telethon )

Baobab near Bulawayo, Zimbabwe (Image credit: ironmanix )

There are many practical uses of baobab trees, like for a toilet:

A toilet built inside a baobab tree in the Kayila Lodge, Zambia
(Image credit: Steve Makin )

… and even for a prison:

A “Prison Baob” tree in Western Australia (Image credit: yewenyi )

Bonus: Tree That Owns Itself

Son of the Tree That Owns Itself (Image Credit: Bloodofox, Wikipedia)

Legend has it that the Tree That Owns Itself [wiki], a white oak in Athens, Georgia was given ownership of itself and the surrounding land by Dr. William Henry Jackson in 1820! The original tree had died long ago, but a new tree (Son of The Tree That Owns Itself) was planted at the same location from one of its acorns.

Bonus 2: The Lonely Tree of Ténéré

The Tree of Ténéré in the 1970s, before a truck crashed into it (Image credit: Peter Krohn)

The Tree of Ténéré or L’Abre du Ténéré was the world’s most isolated tree – the solitary acacia, which grew in the Sahara desert in Niger, Africa, was the only tree within more than 250 miles (400 km) around.

The tree was the last surviving member of a group of acacias that grew when the desert wasn’t as dry. When scientists dug a hole near the tree, they found its roots went down as deep as 120 feet (36 m) below to the water table!

Apparently, being the only tree in that part of the wide-open desert (remember: there wasn’t another tree for 250 miles around), wasn’t enough to stop a drunk Libyan truck driver from driving his truck into it, knocking it down and killing it!

Now, a metal sculpture was placed in its spot to commemorate the Lonely Tree of Ténéré:

(Image credit: Nomad’s Land, main website)

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50 Chess Strategies to gain the upper hand over your opponentPosted by ChessTeacher on March 28, 2009 – 9:55 pm      

Filed under Chess Tutorials
Tagged as 50 chess tactics, chess strategies, Chess Strategy, chess strategy tips, chess tips

Here we are discussing some basic strategies that can give you advantage, however microscopic it may be. Of course there is always exception to the rules, but exceptions occur much less frequently than the normal situations, don’t they? These strategies are described from White’s point of view, so what is good for White is bad for Black and vice versa.

Pawn structures

1. Pawns are strong when they are in a chain; try to avoid splitting them into isolated groups.
2. Isolated or hanging pawns tend to be a liability, try to avoid at least till the end game.
3. Pawn chain shapes that look like /\ (an inverted V) from your side tend to be stronger than those that look like a \/.
4. Doubled pawns are weak, try to avoid getting them.
5. If you can maintain center pawns, you get more options to organize attacks.
6. Your own pawn chains may block free movement of your pieces, mainly the bishops if stuck behind the chain. Avoid this disadvantage.
7. Pawns cannot move backwards. Sometimes the opponent will deliberately lure you to advance your pawns to create weaknesses in your pawn structure. So think carefully before pushing them forward.
8. Pawns in front of your castled king are there to guard the king. Try to avoid breaking up their line unless you have planned to launch a king-side attack with those.
9. Check the possibility of getting a passed pawn and then defending it. A passed pawn becomes a thorn in the opponent’s flesh and even when it fails to become a queen, it can gain you significant material advantage through opponent’s efforts to neutralize it.
10. Passed pawns in rook’s file are weaker than passed pawns in other files in the end game as it is easier for the opponent’s king to block the pawn in rook file.

Knights

1. Knights play well in complex and locked positions. Assess their value and plan their movement accordingly.
2. A knight posted on d6 and e6 squares can be a nuisance to your opponent. Try to get them there (with adequate support of course).
3. Knights play well in the center part of the boards. Try to avoid keeping them at the sides (a- and h-files) unless your tactical plan calls for such positioning.
4. Knight fork can be a very potent weapon. Creating such possibility can upset the plans of your opponent.
5. Knights have a relatively poor play in the end game when the board is fairly open but with a number of opponent’s pawns ready to advance.
6. In the end game, a knight may be helpless in preventing your opponent’s pawns if those are on two sides of the board.

Bishops

1. Bishops, if not developed early, may get bogged by your own pawns blocking the diagonals. Be aware of this.
2. Bishops play well if there are many open diagonals and a bishop pair in such situations can give you a great advantage.
3. For above reasons, bishops are more helpful in the end game.
4. If your bishop can control the long diagonal towards your opponent’s castled position, it can give you considerable leverage in your attack on the king.
5. If you have only a single bishop in the end game, half the squares on the board are inaccessible to it. But with a few linked pawns of your own, a bishop can be a great help to support your pawn march and delay your opponent’s pawn advance (if you can position it in time).
6. In the end game, a bishop can be better than a knight if the pawns are at two sides of the board.
7. In general, bishop pair is more advantageous than the knight pair during the end game.

Rooks

1. Rooks, like bishops, plays better if there are some open files.
2. Try to take control of open files with your rooks. Two rooks in same open file provide a lot of opportunities for attack.
3. Rook positioned in the 7th or 8th row becomes a headache for the opponent. Two rooks on that row can often provide mating attack or gain of material.
4. Two rooks with lots of maneuvering space can often stand up to the opponent’s queen, particularly when minor powers and pawns are absent in the end game. You will find many games in chess archives where one player has given up the queen in exchange for two rooks.
5. In endings with where you have King, Rook and Pawn against King and Rook, your rook should be behind the pawn and your king should be next to the pawn to get a win.

Queen

1. Even though it is the strongest piece, it needs a rook or some minor pieces for its most effective use.
2. Avoid taking the queen too far out during the openings as it is likely to get ‘harassed’ by opponent’s minor pieces to cause you a loss of tempo.

King

1. Always a liability, is it? It becomes more so, if it is at its original position. Aim to castle at the earliest opportunity.
2. Both kings castled on the same side normally do not get an immediate early attack. You have to maneuver through the Queen’s side. But castled on the opposite sides allow both players to launch direct attack through pawn advances.
3. Kings come into their own in the end game with major pieces removed from the board. Try to keep king near your pawn group for their advance. Be aware of the ‘Square” and ‘opposition’.
4. In the endings with King and Pawn vs. King, make the king lead the pawn, not the other way.
5. Make yourself familiar with the standard strategies for handling different types of endings with pawns, minor pieces, rooks etc. Learn to identify situations that may give win or only a draw.

Positional

1. Initial pawn movements facilitate the development of your minor pieces. Do not get distracted from this objective.
2. In the opening phase, avoid moving the same piece twice (unless forced to do so and learn to avoid those kinds of positions). It loses you tempo.
3. You gain tempo when you can achieve two objects in one move. For example, a pawn move may attack some piece while opening a line for your own pieces. Look for such opportunities.
4. Try to seize control of the center (d4, d5, e4, e5 squares) as this will give you more play and better attacks. Of course, some opening strategy, particularly for black), may deliberately surrender some control in the center to gain more play in the flanks to neutralize opponents advantage.
5. Don’t be greedy! Sometimes you may find an easy pawn to pick up but it may be a trap (‘poisoned pawn’). Accepting it will often allow the opponent to launch a powerful attack and often the best way to neutralize is to return that material instead of trying to hold on to it.
6. Do not launch a premature attack. Develop your pieces such that they coordinate well with one another and then plan your attack. Unless you do this, you may find your attack to lose steam and that may put you at a disadvantage.
7. A locked center (your and opponent’s pawns facing each other without being able to capture any) restricts movement of pieces in the center and thus facilitates flank attack without fear of counter-play at the center. Keep this possibility in mind.
8. Check which of the opponent’s pieces is controlling the play. Try to capture it at the earliest.
9. Exchanging your inactive piece with a similar but active piece of the opponent gives you an advantage. Try to avoid such exchange if the reverse is true.
10. When in trouble, remember that attack is often the best form of defense. Look for such possibility.
11. Since coordination of pieces gives advantage, try to cut off communication between opponent’s pieces e.g. by advancing a supported pawn in the opponent’s line of communication.
12. Be aware of pins and how to create one. Properly handled, they can yield significant advantage.
13. When cornered in the end game, look for opportunities to get into a position allowing stalemate and draw. Sometimes, a piece sacrifice may offer you this opportunity in an otherwise desperate situation. When you have an upper hand, guard against the opponent taking this route to draw the game.
14. Whatever openings you normally adopt, learn the ideas behind the moves and the targets to be achieved. Without this focus, you will only create weaknesses for yourself.
15. In general, King’s pawn openings lead to more open games and direct attacks on the king. Queen’s pawn openings create somewhat closed positions that need more maneuvering and positional play to launch indirect attacks.

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anoymous says:

September 13, 2009 at 9:10 am

another alternative is to get your bishop/knight at the side then pawn deftence and flank or let your opponent control center then whack him from the sides. of course, its risky as your opponent may have flank coverage/ pawn support…

chess king says:

December 8, 2009 at 11:00 pm

i love chess but our club needs some help

Richard Clive says:

December 9, 2009 at 7:51 pm

In general, King’s pawn openings lead to more open games and direct attacks on the king. Queen’s pawn openings create somewhat closed positions that need more maneuvering and positional play to launch indirect attacks. ( I love your chess strategies and I guess the very last point is a very valid one, I always go for french defense with black pieces.

Hon3045 says:

December 9, 2009 at 7:51 pm

These are the best chess strategies i have come across make a list for a chess tactics as well.

ghandi says:

January 11, 2010 at 8:31 pm

chess is reat we play it where I live

wolf blood says:

January 23, 2010 at 11:52 am

To Chess King: This website is good for the biggest beginners. However it doesnt explain an end game or middle game. I would give them a few good chess puzzles, Have them play each other and then have the most experienced player be an observer watch the game and take notation. That way you can sit with the people that played the game and perhaps they can learn the mistakes they made. As for reading material it is up to the player entirely.

Jeremy Sarber says:

February 4, 2010 at 6:00 pm

Quite possibly the best concise look at chess strategy I have ever read. Well done.

blarabas says:

February 25, 2010 at 11:14 am

hey there..

thanks a lot for this site.. i’m teaching some friends in chess, and i’v never seen such a good summary for all pieces on just one site.. gooooood job!!

Sadoo says:

March 25, 2010 at 6:41 am

Wow… very good

chess master says:

April 6, 2010 at 10:45 pm

in the pawn section it said

Pawns in front of your castled king are there to guard the king. Try to avoid breaking up their line unless you have planned to launch a king-side attack with those.

I suggest to move the side pawn 1 step up because if the opponet’s rook or queen check you your king has an escape route from checkmate

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