No less than 16 destinations, relatively easily accessible for South Africans, feature on Lonely Planet’s Top 500 Ultimate Bucket List, with another four further north in East Africa.
Among the destinations in South Africa are the iconic Table Mountain and the adjacent 12 Apostles, which are listed as separate items on the list. There’s also Robben Island, the Kruger National Park, Blyde River Canyon, and the spectacular Drakensburg Amphitheatre.
In neighbouring countries, the list features the vast Etosha National Park, Kolmanskop ghost town, desolate Skeleton Coast and the massive dunes of Sossusvlei in Namibia.
Destinations in Zimbabwe are Victoria Falls and the Great Zimbabwe ruins, while it’s neighbour to the north features the Lower Zambezi National Park in Zambia. Lake Malawi, Mozambique Island and Botswana’s Okavango Delta complete the list for Southern Africa.
Bucket List destinations in East Africa are Mount Kilimanjaro, Masai Mara National Reserve, Mount Kenya and Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park
Below is the complete Lonely Planet Top 500 Ultimate Bucket List, in alphabetical order:
12 Apostles
798 Art District
Abel Tasman National Park
Abu Simbel
Acropolis
Actun Tunichil Muknal Cave
Aiguille du Midi
Aït Benhaddou
Alcatraz
Aletsch Glacier
Alhambra
Altun Ha
Amber Fort
Amboseli National Park
Anakena Beach
Ancient Persepolis
Angel Falls
Anne Frank Huis
Anse Vata
Ao Phang-Nga
Arashiyama’s Bamboo Grove
Archipiélago de San Blas
Art Institute of Chicago
Asa Wright Nature Centre
Athabasca Glacier
Auschwitz-Birkenau
Avebury Stone Circle
Aya Sofya
Ayuthaya
Baalbek
Bacuit Archipelago
Bagan
Bairro of Ribeira
Bamburgh Castle
Bardo National Museum
Bay Islands
Bay of Fundy
Bay of Islands
Bay of Kotor
Bazaruto Archipelago
Beit She’an
Ben Nevis
Berlin Wall
Białowieża Forest
Big Sur
Bioluminescent Bays
Black Forest
Blue Hole
Blue Lagoon
Blue Mosque
Blue Mountains National Park
Blue Ridge Parkway
Blyde River Canyon
Bodhnath Stupa
Bora Bora
Borgarfjörður Eystri & Seyðisfjörður
Borobudur
Bosque Nuboso Monteverde
Brandenburg Gate
Brecon Beacons
British Museum
Brú na Bóinne
Brussels’ Grand Place
Bryggen
Bucovina Monasteries
Budapest’s Thermal Baths
Bund
Burgess Shale
Burj Khalifa
Butrint
Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
Caernarfon Castle
Calakmul
Camp Nou
Cañón del Colca
Canterbury Cathedral
Cape Cod National Seashore
Capital Castles
Cappadocia
Capri
Caracol
Carcassonne Walled City
Carpathian National Nature Park
Cartagena Old Town
Carthage
Casino de Monte Carlo
Cathedral, Santiago de Compostela
Cementerio de la Recoleta
Central Kalahari Game Reserve
Cerro Fitz Roy
Changdeokgung Palace
Charles Bridge
Château de Chenonceau
Chateau De Versailles
Chatuchak Weekend Market
Chernobyl
Chichén Itzá
Chitwan National Park
Chobe National Park
Choquequirao
Church of Sveti Jovan Bigorksi
Church of the Holy Sepulchre
Church on the Spilled Blood
Cimetière Du Père Lachaise
Cinque Terre
Cliffs of Moher
Cologne Cathedral
Colosseum
Confucius Temple
Copán
Copper Canyon
Cradle Mountain
Cristo Redentor
Cu Chi Tunnels
Daibutsu (Great Buddha) of Nara
Danube Delta
Dashashwamedh Ghat
Davit Gareja
D-Day Beaches
Dead Sea
Death Valley National Park
Diocletian’s Palace
Djemaa El-Fna
Djenné Mosque
Dome of the Rock
Drakensburg Amphitheatre
Dubrovnik Old City Walls
Duomo Santa Maria di Fiore
Durbar Square
Eden Project
Edinburgh Castle
Egyptian Museum
Eiffel Tower
Eiger
Eisriesenwelt
El-Jem
Empire State Building
Ephesus
Erdene Zuu Khiid
Erg Chebbi Dunes
Etosha National Park
Everest Base Camp
Everglades National Park
Fatehpur Sikri
Fez medina
Fingal’s Cave
Fiordland National Park
Flanders Fields
Forbidden City
Foteviken Viking
Franz Josef & Fox Glacier
Galapagos Islands
Galle Fort
Gallipoli Cemeteries
Gamla Stan
Gardens by the Bay
Geirangerfjord
Geysir
Ghana’s Slave Forts
Giant’s Causeway
Gion District
Glaciar Perito Moreno
Glacier Skywalk
Glen Coe
Glover’s Reef
Golden Gate Bridge
Golden Temple
Gorges du Verdon
Graceland
Grand Buddha, Lèshān
Grand Canyon National Park
Grand Palace
Great Barrier Reef
Great Wall of China
Great Zimbabwe
Griffith Observatory
Gros Piton
Grossglockner Road
Grotte De Lascaux
Grouse Mountain
Gullfoss
Gunung Leuser National Park
Habana Vieja
Hadrian’s wall
Haida Gwaii
Hal Saflieni Hypogeum
Halong Bay
Hanoi Old Quarter
Hermitage
Heydar Aliyev Cultural Centre
Hill of Crosses
Himeji Castle
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park
Historic Centre of San Gimignano
Hoi An Old Town
Horton Plains & World’s End
Icehotel
Ifugao (Banaue)Rice Terraces
Iguazú Falls
Ilulissat Kangerlua
Independence National Historic Park
Inle Lake
Iona
Ipanema beach
İshak Paşa Palace
iSimangaliso Wetland Park
Isla de Ometepe
Isla del Sol
Isla Mujeres
Island of Gorée
Isle of Skye
Itsukushima-Jinja gate
Jaisalmer
Jellyfish Lake
Jesuit missions of Trinidad and Jesus
Jokhang Temple
Jökulsárlón
Jungfraujoch
Kakadu National Park
Kalemegdan
Kalon Minaret
Karlštejn Castle
Karnak
Kashgar’s Grand Bazaar
Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum
Khao Sok National Park
Khongoryn Els
Kigali Memorial Centre
Kilimanjaro
Kilwa Kisiwani
Kinderdijk Windmills
Kinkaku-ji
Kizhi Pogost
Ko Phi-Phi
Ko Tao
Kolmanskop
Komodo National Park
Kōya-san
Kruger National Park
Kyevo-Pecherska Lavra
L’Anse aux Meadows
La Boca district
La Citadelle la Ferrière
Lago de Atitlán
Lahore Fort
Lake Baikal
Lake Bled
Lake District National Park
Lake Geneva
Lake Malawi
Lake Manasarovar
Lake Wanaka
Lalibela
Lavena Coastal Walk
Leaning Tower of Pisa
Lincoln Memorial
Lisbon’s Alfama
Loch Lomond
Lóngjĭ Rice Terraces
Louisana Museum of Modern Art
Louvre
Lower Zambezi National Park
Luxor Temple
Machu Picchu
Majorelle Garden
Makhtesh Ramon
Malbork Castle
Malecón
Mansudae Grand Monument
Masai Mara National Reserve
Matmata
Matterhorn
Meenakshi Amman Temple
Meeting of the Waters
Melk Abbey
Memento Park
Meteora
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Mezquita
Milan’s Duomo
Mo’orea
Mògāo Caves
Monet’s Garden
Mont Blanc
Mont St-Michel
Monument Valley
Moraine Lake
Mosteiro Dos Jerónimos
Mozambique Island
Mt Ararat
Mt Etna
Mt Fuji
Mt Kailash
Mt Kenya
Mt Kinabalu
Mt McKinley
Mt Roraima
Mt Rushmore
Mt Sinai
Murchison Falls
Musée Océanographique de Monaco
Museo Del Oro
Museo del Prado
Museo Guggenheim
Museu Picasso
Museum of Old and New Art
MuseumsQuartier
Mutrah Souq
N Seoul Tower
Naoshima
Naqsh-e Jahan
National Mall
National Museum of Anthropology
National Palace Museum
National September 11 Museum & Memorial
Natural History Museum
Nazca Lines
Ngorongoro Crater
Niagara Falls
Ningaloo Marine Park
Nizwa Fort
North Korea’s DMZ
Notre Dame
Nyungwe Forest National Park
Okavango Delta
Old Delhi
Old Dhaka
Old Québec City
Old Town Square
Orheiul Vechi
Oslo Opera House
Ostrog Monastery
Pafos Archaeological Site
Palenque
Pamukkale
Panama Canal
Pantanal
Pantheon
Pão de Açúcar
Parc National d’Andringitra
Parque Nacional Corcovado
Parque Nacional Cotopaxi
Parque Nacional de los Picos de Europa
Parque Nacional Dos Lençóis Maranhenses
Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio
Parque Nacional Nahuel Huapi
Parque Nacional Tortuguero
Pelourinho
Petra
Petronas Towers
Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park
Phu Quoc Island
Piazza del Campo
Piazza San Marco
Plaza Mayor
Plitvice Lakes National Park
Pol-e Khaju
Polonnaruwa
Pompeii
Pont du Gard
Port Arthur
Portmeirion
Postojna Cave
Potala Palace
Prague Castle
Prinsengracht Canal
Pulau Sipadan
Pulpit Rock
Punakha Dzong
Pyramids of Giza
Pyramids of Teotihuacán
Rainbow Reef
Ras al-Jinz
Real Alcázar
Red Square
Redwood National Park
Reed islands
Registan
Reichstag
Rhodes Old Town
Rijksmuseum
Rila Monastery
Robben Island
Rock of Cashel
Rock-Hewn Churches of Tigray
Rocky Mountain National Park
Roman Baths
Ross Ice Shelf
Royal Mile
Ruta de las Flores
Rynek Główny
Sagrada Familia
Salar de Uyuni
Salzwelten
Sanduny Baths
Santorini
Schilthorn
Schloss Neuschwanstein
Sea of Galilee
Sedlec Ossuary
Segovia’s Acueducto
Selous Game Reserve
Serengeti National Park
Shackleton’s Hut
Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
Shibuya Crossing
Shwedagon Paya
Si Phan Don
Sigiriya Rock
Silfra
Singapore Zoo
Sintra
Skara Brae
Skeleton Coast
Snæfellsnes
Snowdonia
Socotra Island
Sossusvlei
South Luangwa National Park
Spiš Castle
St Davids Cathedral
St Fagans National History Museum
St Paul’s Cathedral
St Peter’s Basilica
Standing Stones of Callanish
Stari Most
Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island
Stewart Island
Stingray City
Stirling Castle
Stonehenge
Summer Palace
Swayambhunath
Sydney Opera House
Table Mountain
Taipei 101
Taj Mahal
Tajik National Park
Tallinn Old Town
Tate Modern
Tayrona National Park
Tbilisi Old Town
Te Papa Tongarewa
Teatre-Museu Dalí
Temple of the Tooth
Temples of Angkor
Temppeliaukio Kirkko
Terracotta Warriors
The Mighty Volcano
The Peak
Thiksey Monastery
Tian Tan Buddha
Tiger Leaping Gorge
Tikal
Times Square
Timgad ruins
Tintern Abbey
Titanic Belfast
To Sua Ocean Trench
Topkapi Palace
Torres del Paine
Tōshō-gū Shrine
Tower of London
Trakai Castle
Trinity College
Tsarskoe Selo
Tsukiji Market
Tulum
Tuol Sleng and the Killing Fields
Uffizi
Uluru
Underwater Sculpture Park
Valle de la Luna
Valle de Viñales
Valley of the Kings
Van Gogh Museum
Vasamuseet
Vatican Museums
Vatnajökull National Park
Victoria Falls
Vigelandsparken
Virupaksha Temple
Volcán Arenal
Volcanoes National Park
Wadi Rum
Waitomo Caves
Walt Disney World
Wat Pho
Wat Phou
Wawel Castle
Whakarewarewa
Wieliczka Salt Mine
Wolf’s Lair
Xochimilco
Yakushima
Yellowstone National Park
York Minster
Yosemite National Park
Zócalo
Zwinger