Big Ben named in world’s top 20 landmarks

The iconic London landmark and arguably the world’s most famous clock, has also been named the eleventh best-rated landmark in Europe and 19^th in the world  in theTravellers’ Choice ^TM awards for Landmarks, announced by the travel planning and booking site, TripAdvisor. 

Big Ben is honoured alongside the likes of Machu Picchu, Angkor Wat and the Taj Mahal and beats Mexico’s Mayan Ruins – Chichen Itza, Dubai’s Burj Khalifa and the Sydney Opera House.

Second place in the UK goes to the UNESCO World Heritage Site and home of the Crown Jewels, the Tower of London, which is also named the 21^st best-rated landmark in Europe.

Credit: TripAdvisor

Once again, London is home to the biggest number of winning landmarks in the UK. This year the capital boasts six of the top 10 in the UK, including all of the top three. Big Ben takes the top spot followed by Tower of London in second and Tower Bridge in third. House of Parliament, Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace come in fifth, seventh and tenth place respectively in the UK. 

Liverpool’s The Cavern Club, the nightclub which famously kicked off The Beatles career along with other world famous British music artists, is the only landmark to be named among the UK’s top ten landmarks for the first time this year. The club joins the list at ninth place. 

The ancient Inca city of Machu Picchu in Peru is this year named as the world’s best rated landmark, rising up from second place last year.

Located at the meeting point between the Peruvian Andes and the Amazon Basin, Machu Picchu stands 2,430 m above sea-level, in the middle of a tropical mountain forest. Built in the fifteenth century, it was abandoned when the Inca Empire was conquered by the Spaniards in the sixteenth century and it was not until 1911 that the archaeological complex was made known to the outside world.

 

Top 10 world landmarks 
 

1.  Machu Picchu, Machu Picchu, Peru  

2.  Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates  

3.  Angkor Wat, Siem Reap, Cambodia – average hotel rate on TripAdvisor: £44

4.   St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City, Italy – average hotel rate on TripAdvisor: £77

5.  Taj Mahal, Agra, India – average hotel rate on TripAdvisor: £24

6.   Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba, Cordoba, Spain – average hotel rate on TripAdvisor: £50

7.  Church of the Savior on Blood, St. Petersburg, Russia – average hotel rate on TripAdvisor: £61 

8.  The Alhambra, Granada, Spain – average hotel rate on TripAdvisor: £51 

9.  Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, Washington, United States – average hotel rate on TripAdvisor: £184

10. Milan Cathedral (Duomo), Milan, Italy – average hotel rate on TripAdvisor: £99 

 

Top 10 UK landmarks

1.   Big Ben, London

2.  Tower of London, London 

3.  Tower Bridge, London

4.  Edinburgh Castle, Edinburgh

5.  Houses of Parliament, London

6.   The Roman Baths, Bath

7.   Westminster Abbey, London

8.  Royal Yacht Britannia, Edinburgh

9.  The Cavern Club, Liverpool

10. Buckingham Palace, London

 

Top 10 Europe landmarks

1.    St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican City, Italy

2.    Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba, Cordoba, Spain

3.    Church of the Savior on Blood, St. Petersburg, Russia

4.    The Alhambra, Granada, Spain

5.    Milan Cathedral (Duomo), Milan, Italy

6.    Hagia Sophia Museum / Church (Ayasofya), Istanbul, Turkey

7.    Grand-Place, Brussels, Belgium

8.    Eiffel Tower, Paris, France

9.    Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris, France

10. Acropolis, Athens, Greece