World Executives Digest | Get Your Camera Ready: These Are the Most Beautiful Places in the World | The earth is a great big beautiful place. The largest of the inner planets in the Solar System, and the only one with active plate tectonics, our blue marble certainly has the most varied and remarkable terrain. Mars may have Olympus Mons and Mariner Valley, and Venus may have the Maxwell Montes, but none can hold a candle to the blue seas and green hills of earth.
So what are the most beautiful places in the world? Well, that depends on who you ask. Everyone has their favorite place, and it might be something no more spectacular than a quiet footpath in a shadowy glade.
Nine of the Most Beautiful Places in the World
These days, everyone carries a powerful camera and photo editing software right in the palm of their hands. There’s also a bewildering number of sites for posting all the wonderful photos we take.
And with all that posting going on, we’ve all had to learn how to access and manage clipboard history on Mac and other computers. But that’s okay—it’s what we like to do, and there are so many beautiful places in the world to photograph and talk about.
Unfortunately, you’re probably not going to get to visit them anytime soon in these days of global pandemic. So let’s really rub it in, and take a look at some of the best places to travel in the world.
1. Yellowstone National Park (Wyoming, USA)
Yes, this is certainly one of the most photogenic places in the world.
Yellowstone National Park is set within the collapsed caldera of a supervolcano that erupted over half a million years ago. And it’s grandeur and scenic beauty is second to none.
There are geothermal features, like hot springs, geysers, mud pots, and sulfurous clouds of corruption. There is wildlife like you wouldn’t believe—grizzly bears, wolves, herds of bison, and unruly tourists. There are immense lakes, lovely forests, and picturesque mountain vistas.
And, someday, the whole place will probably erupt in a cataclysmic event like nothing the earth has seen since the advent of human civilization. What’s not to love?
2. Salar de Uyuni (Bolivia)
You want to see one of the prettiest places in the world?
Go to the Salar de Uyuni salt flats in Bolivia after an infrequent rainstorm. Boasting an area of over 10,000 square kilometers, they happen to be the world’s largest salt flats.
And when it does rain, a shallow layer of water forms, creating the world’s largest natural mirror.
3. Great Sand Dunes National Park & Preserve (Colorado, USA)
Nestled against the soaring 14,000-foot peaks of the Sangre de Cristo range, the Great Sand Dunes in Colorado’s San Luis Valley are a wonder to behold.
These dunes are the tallest in North America, and are the result of relic sediments from an ancient lakebed, which were blown against the lofty eastern mountains by southwesterly winds.
The views of the dunes are stunning. Oh, and it’s said that, on nights when the moon is full, web-footed horses appear among the dunes, to lure the unwary to a fate unknown…
4. Delphi (Greece)
Nestled upon the slopes of Mount Parnassus, and overlooking the spectacular valley of Phocis, Delphi is renowned for its history and its beauty.
Once home to the Sanctuary of Apollo and Oracle of Delphi, it was here that the god of music and medicine delivered his history-shaping prophecies. Come for the history and the scenic splendor of the place…but don’t expect to receive any oracles these days.
5. Torres del Paine National Park (Chile)
Yes, this has got to be one of the most beautiful places in the world.
Located in far-famed Patagonia, at the tip of South America, this is a place of towering, ice-sculpted mountains, emerald mountain lakes, and azure glaciers older than the last ice age.
And don’t forget the eponymous “towers” (torres) themselves, looming in quiet contemplation over the majestic Valley of Silence.
6. Valles Caldera National Preserve (New Mexico, USA)
Nestled amid the Jemez Mountains of northern New Mexico, this is yet another remnant of a vast supervolcano from the earth’s dim prehistory.
The Valles Caldera consists of a number of large, meadowy valles (valleys) in what was once the heart of a colossal volcanic eruption. The views from the caldera rim are spectacular, and look out for the great herds of elk—which look like nothing more than ants amid the immensity of the caldera.
7. Venice (Italy)
Sure, this may be an obvious one. But everyone knows Venice for a reason.
Venice is said to have been founded by Roman refugees from nearby Aquileia, fleeing the depredations of Attila the Hun in the Fifth Century. Despite a period of early Byzantine suzerainty, following Justinian’s reconquest of Italy, Venice remained an independent state throughout the strife-torn Dark Ages.
It rose to become a powerful commercial republic, and the legacy of its days of wealth and power remain in its beautiful architecture and incomparable artwork.
8. Machu Picchu (Peru)
Does Machu Picchu, famous redoubt of the Sapa Inca and wonder of the world, really need any introduction?
Machu Picchu is a World Heritage Site, and is situated among some of the most spectacular scenery this planet has to offer.
9. Rainbow Mountain (Vinicunca) (Peru)
This remarkable, candy-colored mountain (Montaña de Siete Colores, or “Mountain of the Seven Colors”) is located at an elevation of 17,000 feet, in the Andes Mountains of Peru.
As a result of strange and fortuitous geological and mineralogical phenomena, Rainbow Mountain was left with vivid stripes of colors. If you’re looking for one of the most beautiful places in the world, then you’ll certainly find it at Vinicunca in Peru.
Enjoy the Views
Of course, these are only a few of the most beautiful places in the world. In fact, this list hasn’t even scratched the surface.
But it’s fun to think about beautiful, exotic destinations in these days of lockdowns and rampant stir-craziness. So find your most beautiful place in the world, wherever it is, and start snapping pictures.
And while you’re here, please check out the rest of our site for more travel ideas.
