11 Places You Need To See Before You Die

The world is an extremely big place. To say there is “a lot to see” is an understatement of epic proportions. As the girls of the KoldCast TV travel series Galavanting make clear, there is adventure to be had in every nook and cranny of this great big globe. Whether you like to go on a scheduled tour, prefer to travel with a copy of Let’s Go in your pocket, or strive to do nothing at the nearest café for quality people watching, there is so much in this world to soak in that there is no way you can fit it all into one lifetime. To help you prioritize your travels, we’ve complied a handy little list of eleven places you need to see before you die… no rush.

1. Fallingwater – Stewart Township, Pennsylvania



Also known as the Edgar J. Kaufmann Sr. Residence, Fallingwater is a house designed by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1934. Located 50 miles Southeast of Pittsburgh in rural Pennsylvania, the house was built partially over a waterfall and is thought by many to be the greatest all-time work of American Architecture. Though it’s arguably not as “impressive” as some of the other places on the list, Fallingwater is an unparalleled, cohesive melding of nature and architecture that too few have had the opportunity to see.

2. Palenque, Mexico



Located near the Usumacinta River in the Mexican state of Chipas, Palenque was a Mayan city-state that flourished in the seventh century CE. The site offers a unique look into what is believed to be the only pre-Columbian American culture to have developed a written language – not to mention advanced art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems. Not often mentioned in the same breath as other ruins of the ancient world, Palenque is a sadly overlooked look into a world frighteningly different from our own, while still so very far ahead of its time.

3. The Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia



The Marquesas Islands group is among the most remote in the world, lying about 850 miles northeast of Tahiti and about 3000 from the west coast of Mexico. Sporting a population of just under 9,000, in this place it is nature that takes center-stage. Remaining mostly untouched by the steely hand of the modern world, it is not only difficult, but near impossible to match the beauty and simplicity of what is essentially the littlest, most hidden away nook in the history of little, hidden away nooks.

4. The Pyramids of Giza – El Giza, Egypt



When you think of ancient Egypt, you think of the pyramids – it’s a simple as that. Constructed somewhere around 2550 B.C., which in turn makes them the oldest of the seven wonders of the ancient world – not to mention the only ones remaining largely intact – the pyramids are a visual link to a time so long ago that they hardly seem of the same world. Though arguably the most “obvious” addition to the list, you can’t deny the power, or the overflow of history one feels when witnessing these mammoth structures of the ancient world firsthand.

5. Serengeti – Africa



If nature and animals are your thing, you really can’t top the Serengeti. Hosting the largest and longest overland migration in the world – a semi-annual occurrence – the Serengeti migration is considered one of the ten natural wonders of the world. Approximately 70 large mammal and some 500 avifauna species can be found living among the forests, swamps, grasslands, kopjes, and woodlands. Here you’ll find the good, the bad, and the honest, unrefined truths of nature at its most raw.

6. Incan Ruins – Machu Picchu, Peru



Situated on a mountain ridge above the Urubamba Valley in Peru, and constructed around 1450 A.D. at the height of the Incan Empire, the ruins were abandoned after only one hundred years as a belated result of the Spanish conquest. Beyond the impressive, obvious historical significance of the place, there are few areas on the planet Earth more visually breathtaking than Machu Picchu. This is nature, and history, and beauty all in one – the sort of place that bleeds perspective.

7. The Great Wall of China



Built between 220 and 206 B.C., and stretching over 5,500 miles from Shanhaiguan in the east to Lop Nur in the west, there is simply no denying the impressiveness of this ancient structure. So impressive is the Great Wall that some of the space faring few have claimed they were able to see it from orbit. Of all the mind-boggling structures of the ancient world, this may be the most mind-boggling of all, and as the old saying goes, you really must “see it, to believe it.”

8. Galapagos Islands, Ecuador



As much of the inspiration for Charles Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection, the Galapagos Islands are world-renowned for their unique and fearless wildlife. The islands are essentially historians, and because of this there are strict controls on tourist access in an effort to protect their unrivaled natural beauty. While getting in is difficult, it’s worth the trouble. The Galapagos are a truly unique look into a world almost entirely untouched by the hand of man in a world in which such a thing is unheard of.

9. Taj Mahal – Agra, India



Considered by most to be the absolute finest example of Mughal architecture, the Taj Mahal is one of the most universally admired masterpieces of the world’s heritage. Construction began around 1623, and was completed in 1653. One of the great architectural achievements, the Taj Mahal is a vision not as it is, but rather as it should be – harmonious, graceful and pure. Inspired by love and shaped to perfection, the Taj Mahal immortalizes the splendor of an era long since passed.

10. Pompeii, Italy



Destroyed and completely buried during the long, catastrophic eruption of Mount Vesuvius that last two days in 17 A.D., the frozen-in-time city of Pompeii is a living tragedy. Though buried for nearly two thousand years, casts of the bodies of those who perished in the disaster remain in tact to this very day, awful reminders of the honest, undeniable, incredibly harsh power of nature and the true fragility of the human race.

11. The Louvre – Paris, France



Essentially the world’s largest, most famous, and most visited public museum, the Louvre houses nearly 35,000 objects from prehistory to the 19th century throughout over 653,000 square feet. From ancient Egyptian antiquities, to Assyrian, Greek and Roman sculpture, to the Mona Lisa, to sketches scribbled by the hand of Michelangelo himself, this place is quite literally a doorway to the history of mankind. Often troubled, often amazing, and sometimes-beautiful there are few places in the world that collect and retell the stories of mankind in this manner.

Via: koldcast.tv