The world’s top 500 places to visit have been announced in the second edition of Lonely Planet’s Ultimate Travel List. Released in the US on October 6 for $24.99, the book ranks 500 locations around the world in order of how brilliant they are.
Petra in Jordan was named number one on the new list. The 2,000-year-old city is best known for its 39-meter-high Treasury, which was made in the wall of a narrow canyon. In 1989 it was used to film parts of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
In the first edition of the Ultimate Travel List, which was published in 2015, the Temples of Angkor in Cambodia took the top spot, but they are in eighth position this time.
The new book chose the Galápagos Islands in the Pacific Ocean as the second-best place to visit, 17 places higher than they were in the first edition. The islands are known for their wildlife, which helped Charles Darwin develop his theory of evolution.
Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park in Australia came third and the Okavango Delta in Botswana was fourth.
With 34 locations, the UK had the most places on the list. The Lake District, which is in Cumbria in northwest England, was the highest ranked UK location in 40th position. Over 15 million people visit the area every year.
The US had 29 locations on the list. Nine of these were national parks, including fifth-place Yellowstone National Park.
