Here are the Top 10 famous sights in the world. These man made monuments and landmarks are so famous for their location or special architecture and of course, are famous attractions that would be great to visit with your family.
We choose the following landmarks because they are located on six of the seven continents on our planet: Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and South America, and Oceania / Australia. These world famous sights attract millions of visitors every year and are major tourist attractions.
1 – Eiffel Tower in France
This three-story metal tower is located in the center of Paris. It was built for the 1889 Universal Exhibition (Universal Expo) to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution.
The 324-meter-high Eiffel Tower was built by Auguste Eiffel and a team of engineers. If you want to take the stairs to the second floor viewing platform, there are 704 steps to climb, but luckily there are lifts in each leg to the second floor too.
The tower has been visited by more than 250 million people since its opening, and in 2016, more than 7 million visitors were welcomed on the top platform of the tower!
2 – Great Wall of China
The Great Wall is one of the Seven Wonders of the World. It runs in sections over a very long distance across China.
The wall is also known as the “Long Wall”, as it is over 21,196 km long. It is built with bricks, stones and tiles, both earth and wood. The wall was completed in 1644, but construction took over 2,000 years.
More than 20,000 watchtowers line the wall, as it was built to protect the land from invasion by nomads and enemies and to make it easier to collect duties for goods transported along the Silk Road.
Today, the wall is the most popular tourist attraction in China with over 10 million visitors every year. Contrary to popular belief, the Great Wall cannot be seen from the moon!
3 – Kremlin in Russia
The Grand Kremlin Palace is part of the Kremlin complex and is located next to Red Square and St. Basil’s Cathedral in the Russian capital, Moscow.
The Kremlin is a fortress with surrounding walls, built along the Moskva River. The name “Kremlin” means “fortress in a city”. The Kremlin, more than 500 years old, encompasses the wall with its 20 towers and four churches and five palaces within the walls.
The Kremlin was once the residence of the Tsars. Today the Russian president resides here. Vasily the Blessed Cathedral, commonly referred to as St. Basil’s Cathedral, is easily identified by its nine brightly colored onion-shaped domes.
4 – Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy
The Leaning Tower of Pisa is one of the major tourist attractions of Italy. The free-standing bell tower of Pisa Cathedral was built in nearly two hundred years and was completed in 1399.
The tower’s original height was 60 meters / 196 ft, but since it is sloping, the lowest side is now less than 56 meters / 184 ft. The construction already caused many problems because the soil was soft, sandy and unstable. Already during construction, the builders tried to balance the leaning side with more columns on the other side, but the tower was still tilted – like many other buildings in the area.
In 2000, the tower was strengthened by laying stronger soil under the tower. You can walk up the 251 stairs to the viewing platform at the top of the tower, which is a great experience. And of course take a picture of you from the lawns next to the tower to ‘hold’ the tower.
5 – Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt
The Great Pyramid of Giza at Cairo is one of the Seven Wonders of the World and the only one of these Ancient Wonders of the World that still exists today. The pyramids are made of stone and bricks and are located near Cairo, the capital of Egypt.
The Egyptian pyramids were built at a time when there was only manual labor and no machine lifting equipment available. The pyramids were built to house the bodies of the Pharaoh who ruled ancient Egypt. In addition to the pyramids of Giza, there is the Sphinx, the famous monument of a lion’s body with a pharaoh’s head.
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