132 of the best · the world’s cruise lines, ships and seas
Ashore: The Best Things to See from the Pier
Museums, monuments, national parks and viewpoints within reach of the ship, each checked on its own website.
Our 132 favourites, listed A–Z · Updated October 2026
What's onThis week in the world’s cruise lines
Insiders' picks
Three of our favourites from this list, vetted by people who know and love the sea.
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UNESCO World Heritage
Schönbrunn Palace
The Habsburgs’ summer palace in Vienna, a UNESCO World Heritage Site for thirty years.
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Boulders and sea pools
The Baths National Park
The granite boulders, pools and grottoes of Virgin Gorda’s Greater Baths National Park, managed by the BVI National Parks Trust.
The Baths, Virgin Gorda, British Virgin IslandsExplore View on map
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Near Marina Bay
Gardens by the Bay
Singapore’s waterfront gardens: the Flower Dome, the Cloud Forest and the Supertrees.
The full list: Ashore, A–Z
Show 122 of 132 places on a map
Western Mediterranean & the Rivieras 10
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An abbey reached by sea or on foot
Abbazia di San Fruttuoso
An abbey rebuilt in the 10th century as a Benedictine monastery, in a cove of the Portofino promontory, cared for by FAI and reached only on foot or by sea.
Via San Fruttuoso 13, 16032 Camogli GE, ItalyExplore View on map
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Gaudí’s basilica
Basílica de la Sagrada Família
Gaudí’s basilica in the Eixample, still being completed: book a timed ticket on the official site before you sail.
Mallorca 401, 08013 Barcelona, SpainExplore View on map
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Gaudí on Passeig de Gràcia
Casa Batlló
Gaudí’s house of bone-like balconies and a dragon-scale roof on Passeig de Gràcia, with its own official ticket office.
Passeig de Gràcia 43, 08007 Barcelona, SpainExplore View on map
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Round Gothic castle above the port
Castell de Bellver
Palma’s circular Gothic castle in the pine woods above the bay, almost directly above the cruise berths, with a two-storey round courtyard.
Carrer Camilo José Cela s/n, 07014 Palma, Illes Balears, SpainExplore View on map
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From Marina Grande to the Piazzetta
Funicolare di Capri
The funicular railway that lifts you from the harbour of Marina Grande up to the Piazzetta in Capri town.
Marina Grande, 80073 Capri NA, ItalyExplore View on map
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Museum by the old port
Mucem
The Museum of the Civilisations of Europe and the Mediterranean, at the entrance to Marseille’s old port, a short ride from the cruise shuttle’s stop at La Joliette.
13002 Marseille, FranceExplore View on map
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The Roman city under Vesuvius
Pompeii Archaeological Park
The Roman city buried by Vesuvius in AD 79, the classic excursion from Naples, with tickets and opening times on the park’s official site.
80045 Pompei NA, ItalyExplore View on map
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Royal palace by the cathedral
Royal Palace of La Almudaina
The royal palace beside Palma Cathedral, run by Patrimonio Nacional, with Gothic halls and tapestries above the sea wall.
Carrer del Palau Reial s/n, 07001 Palma, Illes Balears, SpainExplore View on map
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The papal collections and the Sistine Chapel
Vatican Museums
The papal collections, ending in the Sistine Chapel: the great prize of a Rome day from Civitavecchia. Book timed tickets on the official site.
Viale Vaticano, 00165 Roma RM, ItalyExplore View on map
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Belle Époque villa and gardens
Villa & Jardins Ephrussi de Rothschild
A Belle Époque villa and its celebrated gardens looking out over the sea on Cap Ferrat, across the bay from Villefranche.
06230 Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, FranceExplore View on map
Greek Islands, Adriatic & Eastern Med 10
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The masterpieces of the Acropolis
Acropolis Museum
The masterpieces of the Acropolis, from the Caryatids to the Parthenon sculptures, in light-filled galleries at the foot of the rock.
15 Dionysiou Areopagitou, Athens, GreeceExplore View on map
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The golden basilica
Basilica di San Marco
The basilica on St Mark’s Square, with its golden mosaics; book a timed visit on the basilica’s own site.
Piazza San Marco, Venezia, ItalyExplore View on map
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Roman palace, UNESCO World Heritage Site
Diocletian’s Palace
The vast Roman palace built for the emperor Diocletian around AD 300, which became the old town of Split; part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
21000 Split, CroatiaExplore View on map
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Palazzo Ducale
Doge’s Palace
The Gothic palace of the doges on St Mark’s Square, one of the civic museums of the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia.
Piazza San Marco, Venezia, ItalyExplore View on map
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Up Mount Srđ
Dubrovnik Cable Car
A cable car from just above the old town to the top of Mount Srđ, with the classic view over Dubrovnik and the islands.
20000 Dubrovnik, CroatiaExplore View on map
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Above Karaköy
Galata Tower
The Genoese tower of 1348 above Karaköy, with a balcony over the old city, the Golden Horn and the Bosphorus: an uphill walk from Galataport.
Bereketzade, Galata Kulesi, Beyoğlu, Istanbul, TürkiyeExplore View on map
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UNESCO World Heritage Site
Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of Kotor
The bay, the walled town and the villages around it, on UNESCO’s World Heritage list: the walls climb the mountain behind the town to the fortress of San Giovanni.
Old Town, 85330 Kotor, MontenegroExplore View on map
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UNESCO World Heritage Site
Old City of Dubrovnik
The walled city of the old republic, with the Stradun, the Rector’s Palace and almost two kilometres of walls, on UNESCO’s World Heritage list.
Stradun, 20000 Dubrovnik, CroatiaExplore View on map
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From the old port to Fira
Santorini Cable Car
The cable car that lifts you from the old port in the caldera to Fira on the clifftop.
Fira, Santorini, GreeceExplore View on map
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UNESCO World Heritage Site
Stari Grad Plain
Fields laid out by Greek settlers in the 4th century BC and still farmed, on UNESCO’s World Heritage list.
Stari Grad, 21460 Hvar, CroatiaExplore View on map
The Caribbean & the Bahamas 10
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Down to the reef
Atlantis Submarines Barbados
Dives in a passenger submarine to the reefs and wrecks off Barbados’ west coast, from The Shallow Draught in Bridgetown.
The Shallow Draught, Bridgetown, St. Michael, BarbadosExplore View on map
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A walk from the cruise port
Fort Fincastle and the Queen’s Staircase
Nassau’s fort on the hill above the town and the 66 limestone steps of the Queen’s Staircase below it, cut between 1793 and 1794 by enslaved people, as the cruise port records; a 15-minute walk from the ships.
Nassau, The BahamasExplore View on map
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Views over the bay
Fort Gustav and Fort Karl
The two old forts above Gustavia, with panoramic views over the bay and the harbour, as Saint Barth Tourism recommends.
Gustavia, Saint-BarthélemyExplore View on map
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UNESCO World Heritage Site
Historic Bridgetown and its Garrison
The old colonial town and the Garrison of Bridgetown, together on UNESCO’s World Heritage list, close to the cruise port.
Bridgetown, St. Michael, BarbadosExplore View on map
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The spaceport next door
Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex
The visitor complex of NASA’s spaceport, with a bus tour behind the gates and launch viewing when the schedule allows; the classic pre-cruise day from Port Canaveral.
Space Commerce Way, Merritt Island, FL 32953, USAExplore View on map
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A family day on the island
Moody Gardens
Galveston’s attraction park on the island, with a hotel and theme parks: a family day before or after a Galveston cruise.
Hope Blvd., Galveston, TX 77554, USAExplore View on map
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A national landmark
Pigeon Island National Landmark
A historic national landmark at the north end of St Lucia, where calm waters and history meet, as the Saint Lucia Tourism Authority describes it.
Gros Islet, Saint LuciaExplore View on map
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Castillo San Felipe del Morro
San Juan National Historic Site
The forts of Old San Juan, among them Castillo San Felipe del Morro, protected by the US National Park Service: a walk from the Old San Juan piers.
San Juan, Puerto RicoExplore View on map
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Volcanic springs
Sulphur Springs
The volcanic springs near Soufrière, with black-water pools at different temperatures, as the Saint Lucia Tourism Authority describes them.
Soufrière, Saint LuciaExplore View on map
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Boulders and sea pools
The Baths National Park
The granite boulders, pools and grottoes of Virgin Gorda’s Greater Baths National Park, managed by the BVI National Parks Trust.
The Baths, Virgin Gorda, British Virgin IslandsExplore View on map
Northern Europe, the Norwegian Fjords & the Arctic 15
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Hanseatic wharf
Bryggen
Bergen’s Hanseatic wharf of wooden merchants’ houses, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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Flåm–Myrdal
Flåm Railway (Flåmsbana)
One of Norway’s great train rides, from the fjord at Flåm up to Myrdal on the mountain plateau.
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Six minutes from the centre
Fløibanen funicular and Mount Fløyen
Bergen’s funicular to Mount Fløyen, for the view over the city, the fjord and the mountains.
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World Heritage fjords
Geirangerfjord and Nærøyfjord
Two of the world’s most celebrated fjords, inscribed together by UNESCO as the West Norwegian Fjords.
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Gjørvahaugen 35
Norwegian Fjord Centre
Geiranger’s World Heritage centre, telling the story of the fjord, its farms and its people.
Gjørvahaugen 35, 6216 Geiranger, NorwayExplore View on map
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Open daily 9am–5pm
Rijksmuseum
The Netherlands’ national museum, home of The Night Watch and The Milkmaid.
Museumstraat 1, Amsterdam, NetherlandsExplore View on map
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Crown jewels
Rosenborg Castle
Christian IV’s Renaissance castle beside the King’s Garden, home of the Danish crown jewels.
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Southampton’s Titanic Story
SeaCity Museum
Southampton’s maritime museum, home of the city’s Titanic story.
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Island fortress
Suomenlinna
Helsinki’s island sea fortress, a UNESCO World Heritage Site a short ferry ride from the city.
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Forskningsparken
Svalbard Museum
The story of Svalbard, from trappers and miners to Arctic science, in Longyearbyen.
Vei 231-1, Forskningsparken, 9170 Longyearbyen, Svalbard, NorwayExplore View on map
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Ishavskatedralen
The Arctic Cathedral
Tromsø’s Ishavskatedralen, the white church across the bridge from the city, with regular concerts.
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Over 600 rooms
The Royal Palace, Stockholm
The baroque palace of the Swedish court, with more than 600 rooms on eleven floors and three museums.
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Since 1843
Tivoli Gardens
Copenhagen’s pleasure garden, welcoming guests since 1843, with rides, concerts and ballet.
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Djurgården
Vasa Museum
The warship that sank on her maiden voyage in 1628, raised and preserved almost whole in Stockholm.
Alaska & the Pacific Northwest 11
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1000 Raptor Way
Alaska Raptor Center
Sitka’s centre for injured eagles, hawks, owls and falcons.
1000 Raptor Way, Sitka, AK 99835, USAExplore View on map
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To 1,800 ft
Goldbelt Tram
Juneau’s tramway from the waterfront through the rainforest to 1,800 feet.
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National Park Service
Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park
Skagway’s historic district, with ranger tours and museums of the 1898 gold rush.
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Tongass National Forest
Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center
The Tongass National Forest’s visitor centre facing the Mendenhall Glacier, outside Juneau.
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Since 1907
Pike Place Market
Seattle’s public market, created by city ordinance in 1907, above the waterfront.
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National Park Service
Sitka National Historical Park
Totem poles along a coastal forest trail and the restored Russian Bishop’s House.
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The Loupe
Space Needle
Seattle’s tower, with floor-to-ceiling glass and the revolving glass floor of The Loupe.
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Open from 10am from 1 Nov 2026
The Butchart Gardens
Victoria’s celebrated gardens, a drive from the Ogden Point cruise terminal.
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Alaska State Parks
Totem Bight State Historical Park
Totem poles and a clan house in the forest north of Ketchikan.
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White Pass Summit Excursion
White Pass & Yukon Route Railway
The gold-rush railway from Skagway’s quay to the White Pass Summit.
Asia & the Gulf 10
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Dubai Culture
Al Fahidi Historical Neighbourhood
Old Dubai’s heritage quarter, with tours run by Dubai Culture.
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CSMVS
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya
Mumbai’s great museum of art and history, near the Gateway of India.
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Near Marina Bay
Gardens by the Bay
Singapore’s waterfront gardens: the Flower Dome, the Cloud Forest and the Supertrees.
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Yokohama
Sankeien Garden
A Japanese landscape garden in Yokohama, with historic buildings among its ponds.
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New web address
Shanghai Museum
China’s great museum of ancient art, at People’s Square and its East branch.
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UNESCO 2015
Singapore Botanic Gardens
Singapore’s first UNESCO World Heritage Site, inscribed in 2015.
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Emerald Buddha
The Grand Palace, Bangkok
The royal palace by the Chao Phraya, with the Temple of the Emerald Buddha.
The Great Rivers 10
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Kalemegdan
Belgrade Fortress (Kalemegdan)
The fortress park above the meeting of the Sava and the Danube.
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Adult €14
Bratislava Castle
The castle that has crowned Bratislava for centuries, 80 metres above the Danube.
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Ticket since 1 July 2026
Cologne Cathedral
The Gothic cathedral beside the Rhine: a ticket is required to visit since 1 July 2026.
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Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities
Karnak
The temple city of Amun at Luxor, with its Great Hypostyle Hall of 134 columns.
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By boat from Aswan
Philae
The temple of Isis, moved to the island of Agilkia during the UNESCO Nubia Campaign.
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UNESCO World Heritage
Schönbrunn Palace
The Habsburgs’ summer palace in Vienna, a UNESCO World Heritage Site for thirty years.
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Guided tours
The Hungarian Parliament
Budapest’s great riverside parliament building, with guided tours.
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Book a time slot
The Louvre
The great museum of Paris, for the night before or after a Seine voyage.
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Over sixty tombs
The Valley of the Kings
The royal burial ground of the New Kingdom, across the Nile from Luxor.
The Galápagos & South America 15
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Sunset ceremony
Casapueblo
The white sculpted house that artist Carlos Páez Vilaró built himself over more than forty years.
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Open daily
Charles Darwin Research Station
The Charles Darwin Foundation’s research station, with an exhibition hall open to visitors every day.
Av. Charles Darwin s/n, Puerto Ayora, Galápagos, EcuadorExplore View on map
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Through Tijuca National Park
Christ the Redeemer by the Corcovado Train
Brazil’s oldest tourist railway, climbing through the Tijuca forest to the statue on the Corcovado.
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World Heritage since 1995
Colonia del Sacramento
The historic quarter of a colonial river town across the Río de la Plata from Buenos Aires.
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Caminito
Fundación PROA
A contemporary art centre on the waterfront at La Boca, by the painted street of Caminito.
Av. Pedro de Mendoza 1929, La Boca, Buenos Aires, ArgentinaExplore View on map
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Know before you land
Galápagos National Park visitor rules
The park’s own rules for every landing: two metres from the wildlife, nothing touched, fed or taken.
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Pablo Neruda
La Sebastiana
Pablo Neruda’s house in Valparaíso, the lookout where he liked to see in the New Year.
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Latin American art
MALBA
The Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires, home of Tarsila do Amaral’s ‘Abaporu’.
Av. Figueroa Alcorta 3415, Buenos Aires, ArgentinaExplore View on map
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Ancient Peru
Museo Larco
Lima’s museum of ancient Peru, in Pueblo Libre, with a café.
Av. Simón Bolívar 1515, Pueblo Libre, Lima, PeruExplore View on map
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Next to Pier Mauá
Museu do Amanhã
The ‘Museum of Tomorrow’ on Praça Mauá, a museum for exploring the present and imagining the future.
Praça Mauá 1, Centro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 20081-240, BrazilExplore View on map
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Where the Amazon begins
Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve
Peru’s great flooded-forest reserve, at whose eastern tip the Marañón and Ucayali join to form the Amazon.
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Brazil’s first cable car
Sugarloaf Cable Car (Bondinho Pão de Açúcar)
The cable car from Praia Vermelha to Morro da Urca and the summit of Sugarloaf, over Guanabara Bay.
Av. Pasteur 520, Urca, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, BrazilExplore View on map
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Manaus’s landmark
Teatro Amazonas
The domed opera house in the centre of Manaus, run by the Amazonas state culture department.
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Guided tours
Teatro Colón
Buenos Aires’s great opera house, with guided tours of the auditorium and the gilded salons.
Cerrito 628, Buenos Aires, ArgentinaExplore View on map
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World Heritage since 2003
Valparaíso historic quarter
The hillside port city that UNESCO calls a testimony to the early age of globalisation.
Antarctica & the Arctic 14
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45 site guidelines
Antarctic Treaty visitor sites
The most visited landing sites each have their own rules, published by the Antarctic Treaty Secretariat.
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End of the World Train
El Tren del Fin del Mundo
A ride over the last kilometres of Ushuaia’s historic prisoners’ railway, into the national park.
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Qilakitsoq mummies
Greenland National Museum
Greenland’s history from the first Arctic cultures to today, in colonial buildings on the old harbour.
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Shackleton’s grave
Grytviken church and cemetery
The whalers’ church and the cemetery where Sir Ernest Shackleton is buried.
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Opened 2011
Harpa
Reykjavík’s glass concert hall on the harbour, a centre of the city’s cultural life.
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Kangia
Ilulissat Icefjord
A fjord packed with icebergs from the ice sheet, reached on foot along a boardwalk from town.
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Kangiata Illorsua
Ilulissat Icefjord Centre
The visitor centre for Greenland’s first UNESCO site, with a roof that is also a viewpoint over the Icefjord.
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Silfra
Þingvellir National Park
A day trip from Reykjavík: rift valley, history and the clear water of Silfra.
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Magellanic penguins
Monumento Natural Los Pingüinos
Magdalena and Marta islands in the Strait of Magellan, 35 km north-east of Punta Arenas.
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In the old prison
Museo Marítimo y del Presidio de Ushuaia
Maritime, prison, Antarctic and marine-art museums in Ushuaia’s most emblematic building.
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Hans Egede’s house
Nuuk Colonial Harbour
Nuuk’s old harbour, with Hans Egede’s house, the oldest house in Greenland, and the waterfront boardwalk.
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The manager’s villa
South Georgia Museum
Whaling, exploration and natural history in the old whaling-station manager’s house.
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68,000 hectares
Tierra del Fuego National Park
Argentina’s southernmost protected area, where the Andes meet the Beagle Channel.
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Neðstikaupstaður
Westfjords Heritage Museum
A museum in the oldest cluster of buildings in Iceland, by the harbour.
The Indian Ocean & Africa 14
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Inscribed 2006
Aapravasi Ghat
The immigration depot on Trou Fanfaron bay where the modern indentured labour diaspora began.
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Caudan Waterfront
Blue Penny Museum
An art and history museum devoted to Mauritius, home to the famous Post Office stamps.
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Inscribed 2004
Cape Floral Region Protected Areas
National parks and reserves at the south-western tip of Africa, one of the world’s great centres of plant life.
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Built 1593–1596
Fort Jesus, Mombasa
A Portuguese fortress of the 1590s guarding Mombasa’s old harbour, now run by the National Museums of Kenya.
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SANBI
Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden
One of the great botanic gardens of the world, on the eastern slopes of Table Mountain.
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Abandoned 1956
Kolmanskop
A diamond-rush town in the Namib, abandoned in 1956 and slowly filling with sand.
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Inscribed 2013
Namib Sand Sea
The only coastal desert in the world with extensive dune fields shaped by fog.
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From the Walvis Bay Waterfront
Pelican Point seal and dolphin cruises
Catamaran trips from the Walvis Bay Waterfront to the seal colony and lighthouse at Pelican Point.
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Inscribed 1999
Robben Island Museum
The island in Table Bay, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, visited by guided tour from Cape Town.
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Inscribed 2000
Stone Town of Zanzibar
A Swahili trading town of coral-stone houses and carved doors, on the UNESCO list since 2000.
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Weather permitting
Table Mountain Aerial Cableway
The cable car to the top of Table Mountain, the view that frames every Cape Town sail-in.
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Daily 9am–5pm
uShaka Marine World
Durban’s aquarium and marine park on the Point waterfront, with Sea World, Wet ’n Wild and the Village Walk.
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Coco de mer
Vallée de Mai Nature Reserve
A palm forest almost unchanged since prehistoric times, home to the coco de mer and its giant seed.
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In the grain silo
Zeitz MOCAA
The world’s largest museum of contemporary art from Africa and its diaspora, in a reimagined grain silo.
Silo District, South Arm Road, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town, 8002, South AfricaExplore View on map
Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific 13
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Auckland Domain
Auckland War Memorial Museum
One of New Zealand’s finest heritage buildings, whose three floors tell the story of the country.
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Thurston Gardens
Fiji Museum
Fiji’s national museum, in Suva’s Thurston Gardens, with archaeological finds dating back 3,700 years.
Thurston Gardens, Cakobau Road, Suva, FijiExplore View on map
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Te Wāhipounamu World Heritage
Fiordland National Park
More than 1.2 million hectares of ice-carved fiords, lakes and mountains, part of Te Wāhipounamu World Heritage Area.
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World Heritage 1981
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park
The world’s great coral reef, reached on day trips from Cairns, managed by the Reef Authority since 1975.
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Sunrise by permit
Haleakalā National Park
Maui’s volcano: stark summit landscapes, subtropical rainforest and sunrise above the clouds.
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World Heritage 1991
Komodo dragons of Komodo National Park
Around 5,700 giant lizards on volcanic islands between Sumbawa and Flores, found nowhere else in the world.
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Te Fare Iamanaha
Musée de Tahiti et des Îles
Te Fare Iamanaha, the museum of Tahiti and its islands, on the history and culture of French Polynesia.
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MAGNT
Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory
Darwin’s museum and gallery, home of the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards.
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NGV International
National Gallery of Victoria
Melbourne’s great gallery: international art at NGV International and Australian art at the Ian Potter Centre.
180 St Kilda Road, Melbourne VIC, AustraliaExplore View on map
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USS Arizona Memorial
Pearl Harbor National Memorial
The National Park Service memorial to the attack of 7 December 1941, with the USS Arizona Memorial.
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World Heritage 2007
Sydney Opera House
Across Circular Quay from the cruise terminal: guided tours, performances and harbour-side dining.
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Kecak at sunset
Uluwatu Temple
A clifftop temple on Bali’s southern tip, where the Kecak fire dance is performed daily against the sunset.
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Birthplace of the nation
Waitangi Treaty Grounds
Where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed in 1840: the Treaty House, two museums and the great ceremonial waka.
