#1 - GRAND CANYON - USA

The Grand Canyon is a steep, 1-mile-deep, and

up to 18-mile-wide gash in the fabric of the
world, an immense gorge carved by the
Colorado River over the last 5,000 years. Its
sheer size is breathtaking and although you can
see only a small portion of it even from the best
vantage point, its geology and its age fire the
imagination. The layers of colorful rock show the
passage of time and some of the rocks at the
bottom are 1,8 billion years old.
 #2 - MORAINE LAKE - CANADA

Located in the remote Valley of the Ten Peaks in

the Canadian Rockies, Moraine Lake is an
emerald beauty, a small, cold glacier-fed jewel
surrounded by towering mountains, immense
waterfalls, and ancient rock piles, so beautiful it
takes breath away. As the glaciers melt, the
water in the lake rises and changes its color.
 #3 - AMALFI COAST - ITALY
The Amalfi Coast is an extravagantly beautiful
stretch of rugged coast in Campania, Italy, at the
edge of the Sorrentine Peninsula. For about 50
kilometers, the coast looks like something a
romantic artist might have conjured – sheer
cliffs plunging into the azure sea, tiny golden
beaches hidden in secluded coves, pastel sun-
washed villages hugging the steep slopes of
Mount Ravello, and fragrant orange groves
competing for attention with ancient vineyards.
 #4 - APENZELL - SWITZERLAND
Apenzell is the most traditional of all the Swiss
regions, a rural world where time has stopped,
where culture and tradition are celebrated, and
where the charming landscape of rolling green
hills full of plump cows is guarded by the 8,200-
foot Mount Säntis. The village of Apenzell is the
Switzerland of our imagination and in the
fairytales of our childhood, with its lavishly
carved chalets, carriages drawn by horses in full
feathered headdresses, a busy village square
where all the village business is conducted, richly
painted emblems and panels on all of Appenzell’s
buildings, and gnomes competing for space with
flower boxes dripping with vivid red geraniums.
 #5 - BLUE LAGOON - ICELAND
The Blue Lagoon is a rare geothermal spa in
Iceland located between Reykjavik and Keflavik
International Airport in the heart of a lava field
on the Reykjanes Peninsula. Even for Iceland,
which is famous for its strange and curious
landscapes, the Blue Lagoon, with its milky-
white quiet waters, is a bizarre sight. The lagoon
is man-made and fed by water from the
Svartsengi, a nearby geothermal power plant.
 #6 - BORA BORA - FRENCH POLYNESIA
Far, far away in the vast South Pacific lies a
dreamlike island with a dormant volcano at its
heart, covered by thick jungle, surrounded by an
emerald necklace of tiny sand-fringed islands
that form a turquoise lagoon hiding rich coral
reefs and thousands of colorful fish. As you spot
this magical place while landing in a small plane
from nearby Tahiti, you become aware that you
are reaching one of the most beautiful islands in
the world, where luxury resorts compete with
lavish nature to fulfill your every wish. .
 #7 - FIORDLAND NATIONAL PARK - NEW
ZEALAND
According to Maori legends, the 14 fjords that
form Fiordland National Park were created by a
giant stonemason named Tu Te Rakiwhanoa,
who cut out the deep valleys with his enormous
adzes, which is as good an explanation as any for
one of the most spectacular corners of the world,
occupying over 1.2 million hectares at the
southwestern end of the South Island of New
Zealand.
 #8 - OIA, SANTORINI - GREECE
Located on top of a cliff with a spectacular view
of the Palea volcano, Nea Kameni, and the island
of Thirassia, Oia is the most popular and
arguably the most beautiful of all the
picturesque villages of the beautiful Greek island
of Santorini. Only about 11 km from Fira, on the
north of the island, Oia will charm you with its
traditional stone houses lining the narrow
streets, breathtaking blue-domed churches, and
sunbaked verandas.
 #9 - SALAR DE UYUNI - BOLIVIA
Salar de Uyuni, located high up in the Andes in
southwest Bolivia at an altitude of 11,995 feet, is
the largest salt flat in the world, covering over
4,086 square miles. It was once a prehistoric lake
that dried up, leaving behind 11,000 square
kilometers of otherworldly desert-like landscape
made up of sparkling bright white salt, bizarre
rock formations, and strange cacti-covered
islands. The best spot to observe this surreal
landscape is central Incahuasi Island.
 #10 - BRAN CASTLE
In 1212, Teutonic Knights built the wooden
castle of Dietrichstein as a fortified position in
the Burzenland at the entrance to a mountain
pass through which traders had travelled for
more than a millennium, but in 1242 it was
destroyed by the Mongols. The first documented
mentioning of Bran Castle is the act issued by
Louis I of Hungary on 19 November 1377, giving
the Saxons of Kronstadt (Brașov) the privilege to
build the stone castle on their own expense and
labor force; the settlement of Bran began to
develop nearby.
#10 - BRAN CASTLE

In 1438–1442, the castle was used in defense

against the Ottoman Empire and later became a
customs post on the mountain pass between
Transylvania and Wallachia. It is believed the
castle was briefly held by Mircea the Elder of
Wallachia (r. 1386–1395, 1397–1418) during
whose period the customs point was established.
 #11 - CURTEA DE ARGEȘ CATHEDRAL
Legends of Curtea de Argeș have inspired many
Romanian poets, among them the celebrated Vasile
Alecsandri. One traditional legend describes how
Neagoe Basarab, while a hostage in Constantinople,
designed a splendid mosque for the sultan,
returning to build the cathedral out of the surplus
materials.
Manole legend A legend tells of Radu Negru
employing a Meşterul Manole or Manoli as
architect. With Manole being unable to finish the
walls, the prince threatened him and his assistants
with death. At last Manole suggested that they
should follow the ancient custom of placing a living
woman into the foundations; and that she who first
appeared on the following morning should be the
victim.
 #11 - CURTEA DE ARGEȘ CATHEDRAL
The other masons warned their families, and Manole
was forced to sacrifice his own wife. Thus the
cathedral was built.
When Manole and his masons told the prince that
they could always build an even greater building,
Radu Negru had them stranded on the roof so that
they could not build something to match it. They
fashioned wooden wings and tried to fly off the roof,
but, one by one, they all fell to the ground. A spring of
clear water, named after Manole, is said to mark the
spot where he fell.
This motif is widespread in South-East Europe, most
notably also in Russia, like the blinding of the Masons
of Saint Basil's Cathedral by Ivan the Terrible.