Four decades after it began as a penniless backpacker’s bible to traveling on the cheap, Lonely Planet is publishing what it says is the definitive guide to the world’s top tourism attractions.
The publisher has assembled a crack team of travel authors and experts to compile its “Ultimate Travel” list, ranking “mega-sights and hidden gems in a definitive wish list of the 500 best places to visit on earth.”
“Ultimate Travel: The 500 Best Places on the Planet…Ranked,” is being launched in August in some countries as “Ultimate Travelist,” but will not be available in the U.S. until October.
While many are best-of list regulars, culled from UNESCO’s World Heritage roster or, indeed, Lonely Planet’s own country-by-country highlights, there are a few surprises.
And so the top 20 list finds Tasmania’s Museum of Modern and Old Art and Fez’s Medina rubbing shoulders with travel titans such as the Grand Canyon and the Taj Mahal.
‘Most compelling places’
In pole position is the temple complex at Angkor in Cambodia — which LP says “won by a landslide” — followed by Australia’s Great Barrier Reef and Peru’s Machu Picchu.
Others to make the top 20 include Rome’s Colosseum, Istanbul’s Aya Sofya mosque and Australia’s coastal Twelve Apostles rock formations.
“This book has been years in the making and brings together the most compelling places in the world according to our team,” Lonely Planet’s Editorial Director Tom Hall says.
“Every traveler has a list of places they simply have to see. Of course, what makes a place special is different for everyone, but this is our definitive list and one we hope will inspire many other travel wish lists.”
Billed as the “only bucket list you’ll ever need,” the attractions have been gathered into a lavish tome, complete with write-ups, photos and gold foil print.
Looks good, but anyone hoping to hit all 500 is probably best advised leaving it on the coffee table rather than hauling it around in their backpack.