These 10 Places Were Almost Considered To Be Part Of 7 Wonders Of The World

In 2007 the New7Wonders campaign named the Great Wall of China, Petra, Christ the Redeemer, Machu Picchu, Chichén Itzá, the Colosseum and the Taj Mahal as the new seven wonders of the world. Twenty-one sites reached the final round, which means fourteen places came close and missed out. Ten of them are among the most rewarding trips on the planet: the Acropolis, Angkor, the Alhambra, Hagia Sophia, Stonehenge, the Statue of Liberty, the Sydney Opera House, Kiyomizu-dera, Neuschwanstein Castle and the moai of Easter Island.

This guide is part of our wider guide to the most famous landmarks around the world.

This guide covers each of those ten near-wonders the way a traveller needs them: where the site sits, how to get there, when to go, what the visit involves on the ground and the catch that the postcards leave out. If one of them is already on your list, our pages on Greece, Cambodia, Japan and Chile help with the wider trip.

How this list was put together: We took the 21 official New7Wonders finalists announced in 2007, removed the seven winners and the honorary Great Pyramid of Giza, and kept the ten finalists that work best as a single trip for an international visitor. Ticketing, opening arrangements and transport details were checked in October 2026. Entry fees change often, so we describe how tickets work and leave the exact price to the official site of each monument.

Between them, the ten sites below span five continents.

Age, country and booking rules for each near-wonder

The ten near-wonders range from Stonehenge, begun around 3000 BC, to the Sydney Opera House, finished in 1973. The Alhambra needs booking weeks ahead and Statue of Liberty crown tickets months ahead, while an Angkor pass can be bought on arrival. Use the table to compare age, country and how far ahead you need to book, then jump to the full entry for each site.

All ten were among the 21 finalists, chosen in 2006 by a panel from 77 nominations, and the winners were read out at the Estádio da Luz in Lisbon on 7 July 2007. The organisers said more than 100 million votes came in by internet and phone, a figure that has never been independently checked. The ranking says more about national voting campaigns than about the sites, so use the table for planning. It does not rank the sites.

The 10 places that almost made the 7 wonders of the world

Acropolis of Athens, Greece

The oldest classical site on this list, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987 and an easy city break, the Acropolis is the limestone hill that rises above central Athens, crowned by the Parthenon. Pericles ordered the great building programme in the 5th century BC after the Persian wars, and the Parthenon itself went up between 447 and 432 BC, designed by Ictinus and Callicrates with sculpture overseen by Phidias. It is the building that later architects copied for banks, parliaments and museums across the world.

On the summit you walk through the Propylaia gateway, past the small Temple of Athena Nike, to the Parthenon and the Erechtheion with its porch of six caryatids. The caryatids on the hill are copies; five originals stand in the Acropolis Museum at the foot of the rock, which opened in 2009 and has a glass top floor laid out to match the Parthenon frieze. Plan two to three hours for the hill and at least two for the museum.

The honest caveat is heat and crowds. The summit is exposed white marble with almost no shade, and cruise groups arrive in mid morning. Greece now sells entry in timed slots, so book online and pick the first slot of the day or the last two hours before closing. Wear shoes with grip, because the marble steps are polished smooth by millions of feet.

• Location: Central Athens, Akropoli metro (line 2)
• Best time: April to early June, September to October
• Time needed: Half a day with the museum
• Tickets: Timed online slots; check the official Greek culture ministry site

First-time visitors to Europe get the most from it. If you also want the Ancient Agora and Roman Agora, buy the combined archaeological ticket.

Angkor, Cambodia

Angkor, the biggest site on this list and on the UNESCO list since 1992, needs several days. It was the capital of the Khmer Empire, and its ruins spread across roughly 400 square kilometres of forest and rice fields just north of Siem Reap. Angkor Wat, built in the early 12th century under King Suryavarman II and first dedicated to Vishnu, is the largest religious monument in the world. Its five lotus-bud towers appear on the Cambodian flag.

One day is not enough. Angkor Wat deserves a morning of its own, with its long bas-relief galleries showing the Churning of the Ocean of Milk. Angkor Thom, the walled city built by Jayavarman VII in the late 12th century, holds the Bayon with more than two hundred carved stone faces. Ta Prohm has been left partly to the jungle, with silk-cotton and strangler fig roots splitting its walls. Further out, Banteay Srei has the finest pink sandstone carving of the whole park.

Most visitors hire a tuk-tuk driver for the day, and cycling is easy on the flat roads between the main temples. Passes come in one-day, three-day and seven-day versions and carry your photo, so buy one at the official ticket centre and keep it with you, as staff check it at each temple. The catch: sunrise at Angkor Wat draws thousands of people to the same reflecting pool, and the upper tier of Angkor Wat has a dress code (shoulders and knees covered) and closes on certain Buddhist holy days.

• Location: 6 km north of Siem Reap town
• Best time: November to February, dry and cooler
• Getting there: Siem Reap Angkor International Airport, then about an hour by road
• Time needed: Three days for the main circuits

This is one for travellers with time. See Angkor Wat in the afternoon when the west-facing facade is lit and the sunrise crowd has gone.

Alhambra, Granada, Spain

Europe's finest Islamic palace, listed by UNESCO in 1984 and one to book early, the Alhambra is a fortified palace city on the Sabika hill above Granada, built mostly by the Nasrid dynasty in the 13th and 14th centuries. It was the last Muslim court in Western Europe until Granada surrendered to Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492. The Nasrid Palaces inside are the highlight: carved plaster walls, cedar ceilings, glazed tiles and Arabic poetry cut into the stone.

The visit covers four parts. The Alcazaba is the old military fortress with towers looking over the city. The Nasrid Palaces include the Comares Palace with its Court of the Myrtles and the Palace of the Lions, whose courtyard fountain rests on twelve marble lions. The Palace of Charles V is a Renaissance block added in the 16th century. The Generalife, the summer palace and gardens, sits on the slope above with long water channels and clipped hedges.

The catch is the ticketing. Daily numbers are capped, the general ticket often sells out weeks ahead in spring and autumn, and the Nasrid Palaces are entered only in the half-hour slot printed on your ticket. Arrive at least 30 minutes early because the walk from the main entrance to the palaces takes time. Bring the same passport or ID used for booking, as staff match names at the gate.

• Location: Sabika hill, Granada, Andalusia
• Best time: March to May, October to November
• Time needed: Three to four hours
• Tickets: Official Alhambra ticket site only; avoid resellers

Architecture lovers should also walk up to the Mirador de San Nicolás in the Albaicín at sunset for the classic view of the palace against the Sierra Nevada.

Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Türkiye

Hagia Sophia, now an active mosque under the most famous dome in the world, was completed in AD 537 for the Byzantine emperor Justinian, designed by Anthemius of Tralles and Isidore of Miletus. For nearly a thousand years it was the largest cathedral in the world. After the Ottoman conquest in 1453 it became a mosque, Atatürk turned it into a museum in the 1930s, and in 2020 it became a mosque again. That long history is visible on the walls: Christian mosaics sit beside huge calligraphic roundels naming God, Muhammad and the first caliphs.

The dome measures about 31 metres across and rests on a ring of forty windows that make it look weightless. Look for the mosaic of the Virgin and Child in the apse, the Deesis mosaic in the upper gallery and the marble door between the galleries. The building stands in Sultanahmet, a short walk from the Blue Mosque, the Basilica Cistern and Topkapı Palace, so most visitors combine them in one long day.

The visit has changed. Since January 2024, foreign visitors pay an entry fee (as of October 2026) and follow a separate route that leads to the upper galleries, while the ground floor is kept for worshippers. Entry closes around each of the five daily prayers and for longer at Friday midday prayer. Women cover their hair, everyone covers shoulders and knees, and shoes come off on the prayer floor. Arrive at opening time; the queue builds fast by mid morning.

• Location: Sultanahmet, Istanbul; T1 tram to Sultanahmet
• Best time: April to May, September to October
• Time needed: One to two hours
• Dress code: Head covering for women, shoulders and knees covered

History and architecture fans will want a calm visit, so check the day's prayer times before you go and plan your visit in the gap after the morning prayer.

Stonehenge, Wiltshire, United Kingdom

The oldest site on the list, inscribed by UNESCO in 1986 and famous for its solstice gatherings, Stonehenge is a prehistoric stone circle on Salisbury Plain, about 140 km south-west of London. Building started around 3000 BC with a circular ditch and bank, and the big stones were raised in stages over the next thousand years. The large sarsens average around 25 tonnes and came from about 25 km to the north. The smaller bluestones were brought from the Preseli Hills in west Wales, more than 200 km away, and research published in 2024 traced the central Altar Stone to north-east Scotland.

Nobody knows its exact purpose. The circle lines up with the sunrise at the summer solstice and the sunset at the winter solstice, and it was used for burials. English Heritage runs the site. The visitor centre has a good exhibition and reconstructed Neolithic houses, and a shuttle bus covers the 2.5 km to the stones, or you can walk across the fields in about 30 minutes.

The caveat that surprises people: on a normal ticket you walk a path around the circle and cannot touch the stones or step inside. Inner-circle access is sold separately for small groups outside normal hours, and on the summer solstice English Heritage opens the site for free managed access. The plain is exposed and windy, so bring a layer even in July.

• Location: Near Amesbury, Wiltshire
• Getting there: Train London Waterloo to Salisbury, then the Stonehenge tour bus
• Time needed: Two to three hours
• Tickets: Timed tickets via English Heritage; cheaper online

As a day trip from London it works well; pair it with Salisbury Cathedral, which holds one of four surviving originals of Magna Carta.

Statue of Liberty, New York, United States

Reached only by harbour ferry, and still the youngest-feeling icon here despite dating from 1886, the Statue of Liberty was a gift from the people of France and was dedicated on Liberty Island in New York Harbor on 28 October 1886. Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi designed the copper figure and Gustave Eiffel engineered the iron frame inside it. From the ground to the tip of the torch it stands about 93 metres. For millions of immigrants sailing past to Ellis Island, it was the first sight of America.

The only way onto the island is the official ferry, Statue City Cruises, from Battery Park in Lower Manhattan or Liberty State Park in New Jersey. Every ferry ticket includes Ellis Island, whose National Museum of Immigration is worth at least as much time as the statue. The Statue of Liberty Museum on the island holds the original torch, replaced in 1986.

There are three ticket levels: grounds only, pedestal access and crown access. Crown tickets are limited and often sell out months ahead; the climb from the pedestal means 162 narrow spiral steps in a tight space that gets hot in summer. Expect airport-style security before boarding. Only buy from the official ferry operator, because street sellers in Battery Park sell harbour cruises that do not land on the island.

• Location: Liberty Island, New York Harbor
• Getting there: Ferry from Battery Park or Liberty State Park
• Time needed: Four to five hours with Ellis Island
• Best time: Weekday mornings, April to June and September to October

Families and first-time New York visitors should take the earliest ferry; queues for security can pass an hour by late morning in summer.

Sydney Opera House, Australia

The only modern building among the finalists, and still a working venue for live shows, the Sydney Opera House stands on Bennelong Point in Sydney Harbour. Danish architect Jørn Utzon won the design competition in 1957, left the project in 1966 after rows over cost and design, and never saw it finished. Queen Elizabeth II opened it on 20 October 1973. It became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007, during Utzon's lifetime, and he had received the Pritzker Prize in 2003.

The white shells are covered with more than a million glazed tiles made in Sweden, which is why the roof looks cream in sunlight and pale gold at dusk. The building holds several venues, from the Concert Hall to the small Utzon Room, the only interior designed by Utzon himself. Guided tours run daily and last about an hour, with backstage tours early in the morning for those who want to see the workings.

The best way inside is a performance. Opera, ballet, symphony, comedy and contemporary music all play here, and some seats are affordable if you book early. The catch is that the famous view is from outside, so walk the harbour path from Circular Quay to the Royal Botanic Garden and Mrs Macquarie's Chair for the photograph with the Harbour Bridge behind.

• Location: Bennelong Point, Circular Quay
• Getting there: Train, ferry or bus to Circular Quay, then a 5-minute walk
• Time needed: One hour tour, or an evening show
• Best time: September to November and March to May

Culture lovers who want one more angle can catch the Manly ferry from Circular Quay at sunset for a cheap water-level view of the building.

Kiyomizu-dera, Kyoto, Japan

For seasonal views nothing here beats Kiyomizu-dera, a Buddhist temple on the slopes of Mount Otowa in eastern Kyoto. It was founded in 778, and most of the present buildings date from a rebuilding in 1633 ordered by the shogun Tokugawa Iemitsu. Its name means "pure water temple", after the Otowa waterfall that runs below the main hall. It is part of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto World Heritage Site, inscribed in 1994.

The famous wooden stage juts out from the main hall about 13 metres above the slope, held up by a lattice of tall zelkova pillars joined without a single nail. From it you look over a sea of maple and cherry trees to the city beyond. Below, visitors queue to drink from one of the three streams of the Otowa waterfall, each linked to a different blessing. The red three-storey pagoda near the entrance is one of the tallest in Japan.

The approach is half the fun: the steep lanes of Kiyomizu-zaka, Sannenzaka and Ninenzaka are lined with old wooden shops selling pottery, sweets and pickles. That is also the catch. By 10 am the lanes and the stage are packed, especially in cherry blossom season in early April and leaf season in late November. The temple opens at 6 am, and a dawn visit is calm. Special evening illuminations run in spring, summer and autumn.

• Location: Higashiyama, eastern Kyoto
• Getting there: City bus to Gojo-zaka or Kiyomizu-michi, then a 10-minute uphill walk
• Time needed: One to two hours, plus the lanes
• Best time: Early April and mid to late November

Photographers should walk on to Kodai-ji and Yasaka Shrine through the old streets of Higashiyama after your visit. See our Kyoto guide for more.

Neuschwanstein Castle, Bavaria, Germany

The fairy-tale castle of the list, built from 1869 to 1886, Neuschwanstein is the castle that King Ludwig II of Bavaria began in 1869 on a crag above the Pöllat gorge, near the village of Hohenschwangau and the town of Füssen. Ludwig modelled it on the romantic idea of a medieval knight's castle, with rooms painted with scenes from Wagner's operas. He lived in it for only a few months. He died in June 1886, before it was finished, and the castle opened to paying visitors just weeks later.

Today it is one of the most visited castles in Europe and the model for the castle in Disney's Sleeping Beauty. In 2025 it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List together with Ludwig's other palaces at Linderhof, Herrenchiemsee and Schachen. Inside you see the throne hall, which never received its throne, the singers' hall and the king's bedroom with its heavy carved woodwork.

Interior visits are by guided tour only, about 30 minutes long, at a fixed time printed on the ticket. Tickets are sold online and at the ticket centre in Hohenschwangau, and summer slots go weeks ahead. From the ticket centre it is a 30 to 40 minute uphill walk, or a shuttle bus and horse carriages cover part of the way. For the postcard view, walk to the Marienbrücke, the iron footbridge over the gorge; it closes in winter when ice makes it unsafe.

• Location: Hohenschwangau, near Füssen
• Getting there: Train Munich to Füssen (about 2 hours), then a local bus
• Time needed: Half a day, a full day with Hohenschwangau Castle
• Best time: May to June, September to early October

It suits families and romantic trips alike. No photos are allowed inside, so give your time to the views from the Marienbrücke and the castle courtyard.

Moai of Easter Island (Rapa Nui), Chile

The most remote finalist, a UNESCO site since 1995 where a guide is required, is home to the moai, the stone figures carved by the Rapa Nui people on Easter Island, a volcanic island in the South Pacific about 3,500 km west of mainland Chile. Most were carved between roughly 1250 and 1500 from volcanic tuff at the Rano Raraku quarry and moved across the island to stand on stone platforms called ahu, facing inland to watch over the villages. Close to 900 are known.

Rano Raraku is the most extraordinary place on the island: hundreds of moai stand half buried on the slopes of the crater, and others lie unfinished in the rock where carving stopped. Ahu Tongariki on the east coast has fifteen moai in a row, toppled by a tsunami in 1960 and restored in the 1990s, and it is the sunrise spot. Anakena beach has white coral sand and moai with red stone topknots. The Orongo ceremonial village on the Rano Kau crater tells the story of the birdman cult.

Rapa Nui National Park requires a personal park ticket, bought in advance through the official park website (as of October 2026), and Rano Raraku and Orongo allow only one entry each on that ticket. Visitors must be accompanied by a licensed local guide at the main sites, and touching the moai is forbidden. Flights from Santiago take about five hours, and seats are limited, so book early. Fuel, food and accommodation cost more than on the mainland because almost everything arrives by sea or air.

• Location: Rapa Nui, Valparaíso Region, Chile
• Getting there: Flights from Santiago to Mataveri Airport, Hanga Roa
• Time needed: Four to five days
• Best time: January to March, with the Tapati festival in February

This is a once-in-a-lifetime trip, so book your guide for Rano Raraku in the late afternoon, when the light on the half-buried heads is warm and the coach groups have left.

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Why these 10 finalists lost the 7 wonders vote

The winners are covered in our guide to the new 7 wonders of the world, and the ancient list has its own page on the oldest wonders still standing. The more interesting question here is why these ten fell short. The vote ran by phone and internet, and paid extra votes were allowed, so the result rewarded countries that mobilised large populations behind one site. Brazil, Peru, Mexico, India and Jordan all ran national campaigns.

Europe split its own vote. Greece, Spain, Germany, the United Kingdom and France each had a finalist, and none of them could rally a continent behind a single monument. The Acropolis was one of the strongest names on the shortlist and still finished outside the top seven. Cambodia and Chile, with small populations, had little chance against Brazil or India however strong Angkor and the moai were on merit.

Age worked against the youngest entries. The Sydney Opera House and the Statue of Liberty were admired as engineering, but voters leaned towards ancient sites. Read the list as ten places that lost an internet vote, which says nothing about how they feel when you stand in front of them.

The other finalists: the Kremlin, Timbuktu and the Eiffel Tower

Three finalists are not given full entries above. The Kremlin and Red Square in Moscow were shortlisted as a single entry, including St Basil's Cathedral with its painted onion domes. Travel to Russia is complicated for many nationalities at present, with sanctions affecting flights and card payments, so check your own government's travel advice first.

Timbuktu in Mali was the great centre of Islamic scholarship in West Africa, known for its mud-brick mosques of Djinguereber, Sankore and Sidi Yahia and its manuscripts. Most foreign governments currently advise against all travel to the region because of conflict, so it remains a place to read about. The Eiffel Tower in Paris, finished in 1889 for the World's Fair, was the third. It now stands 330 metres to the tip of its antennas, and the top public deck is at 276 metres. It is easy to visit, with lifts and stairs to the second floor and lifts to the summit, and tickets bought online save the long ground-level queue.

How to plan a trip around the near-wonders

Groupings make the list easier. Athens, Istanbul and Granada sit within a few hours' flight of each other, and a two-week trip can cover the Acropolis, Hagia Sophia and the Alhambra with time for the cities around them. Stonehenge and Neuschwanstein pair with London and Munich, which are well connected by budget flights. Kyoto and Siem Reap work in a single Asian trip with a connection through Bangkok, Singapore or Seoul.

The far-flung pair need their own trips. The Sydney Opera House fits into any Australia itinerary, and Easter Island is a long detour from Santiago that rewards at least four nights. The Statue of Liberty is the simplest: one ferry ride from Lower Manhattan.

Entry rules depend on your passport. Greece, Spain and Germany are in the Schengen area, the United Kingdom runs its own Electronic Travel Authorisation scheme, the United States uses ESTA for visa-waiver nationals and visas for others, Australia issues an electronic visa or ETA before travel, and Cambodia and Türkiye offer e-visas to many nationalities. Check each country's official immigration portal before booking. Our visa pages and flight search help with the practical side.

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Entry fees and best season for each near-wonder

Costs differ more than most travellers expect, from a few dollars at a Kyoto temple to a multi-day pass at Angkor. Prices below are standard adult rates for international visitors where they could be confirmed as of October 2026; where a site's price changes by date or ticket type, the table says so and leaves out figures that may not apply to your visit. Always buy from the official ticket office or website, since resellers add a mark-up.

For a multi-site trip, the cheapest sequence usually follows the seasons: Angkor and Kyoto in late autumn, the Mediterranean trio of Athens, Istanbul and Granada in spring or early autumn, and Easter Island and Sydney during the southern hemisphere summer.

Tips for visiting the near-wonders of the world

Arrive at opening time at any of these sites: every one is calmer in the first hour, before tour coaches and cruise groups arrive from about 10 am. Buy tickets for the Alhambra, Neuschwanstein, Stonehenge and the Statue of Liberty from official sellers, and dress modestly for Hagia Sophia and Kiyomizu-dera.

• Arrive at opening time. Every site on this list is calmer in the first hour. Tour coaches and cruise groups arrive from about 10 am, and midday heat is hardest at the Acropolis and Angkor.
• Book on official sites. The Alhambra, Neuschwanstein, Stonehenge and the Statue of Liberty all have official ticket sellers. Resellers add fees, and some sell tickets that do not include the parts you came for.
• Pack for religious sites. Hagia Sophia, Kiyomizu-dera and the upper tier of Angkor Wat expect covered shoulders and knees. A light scarf solves most dress codes.
• Watch the calendar. Japanese public holidays, Easter week in Spain and Greece, and summer school holidays in Europe fill every slot. Mid-week visits in shoulder season are easiest.
• Wear proper shoes. Marble at the Acropolis, steep lanes in Kyoto, gravel at Stonehenge and uneven temple stairs at Angkor all punish thin sandals.
• Use local guides. Angkor and Easter Island make far more sense with a licensed guide, and at Rapa Nui the main sites require one.

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