Lonely Planet has ranked the top 500 unmissable global travel experiences helping to satisfy your wanderlust from the safety of an armchair. visit petra

According to leading global travel authority Lonely Planet’s Ultimate Travel List released today, Petra in Jordan has been named as the number 1 place in the world to experience, outdoors adventure dominate the rankings and a total of 34 of the world’s best travel experiences can be found in the UK, making it home to more of the planet’s must-see places than anywhere else.

Lonely Planet’s Ultimate Travel List is the 2^nd edition of the travel powerhouse’s bestselling coffee table book.  It’s the definitive wish-list of the 500 most thrilling, memorable and interesting travel experiences in the world – ranked in order of brilliance.

“We’ve all got a list of places that we want to see for ourselves: places friends have enthused about, places we’ve read about, dreamed about.  This is our list,” says Lonely Planet.  

“And this second edition contains over 200 new entries,” the publisher boasts, with the highest new entry Ireland’s West Atlantic Way, in at No. 21. According to Lonely Planet the experiences and destinations are “a mix of knock-out new openings, sights that have upped their game, or places more relevant to the way we travel now.”

“We also changed the way we calculated the list,” says Lonely Planet’s VP of Publishing Piers Pickard.  “For this edition we rewarded extra points to sights that are managing tourism sustainably.” visit petra

The Top 10 travel experiences on Lonely Planet’s Ultimate Travel List 2^nd visit petra

1. Petra, Jordan – channel your inner adventurer and explore the enigmatic “lost city”
2. The Galápagos Islands – see the islands that changed the course of science
3. Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Australia – take life lessons from the traditional owners of the world’s most dramatic rock
4. Okavango Delta, Botswana – experience slow travel on the sprawling flooded ecosystem
5. Yellowstone National Park, USA – sniff out geysers and grizzlies in the world’s largest geothermal area
6. Lake Bled, Slovenia – emulate erstwhile pilgrims by journeying to the planet’s most photogenic lake
7. Iguazú Falls, Argentina–Brazil – marvel at the astounding power and furious force of this natural wonder
8. Temples of Angkor, Cambodia – find Hindu heaven at the sprawling monument to devotion
9. Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia – with clouds above and clouds below strike out on the salt of the earth
10. Annapurna Circuit, Nepal – take the classic Nepalese teahouse trek

A showcase of the Top 10 destinations featured on the list can be viewed at lonelyplanet.com/landing/ultimate-travel-list

There’s a decidedly alfresco flavour to Lonely Planet’s list, with almost half of the dream recommendations outdoors or wildlife experiences, reflecting the growing desire from travellers to experience the natural world.

The UK provides a delicious mix of open-air experiences and cultural highlights. Home to England’s deepest lake and highest peak, the beautiful Lake District topped the list of UK experiences ranking at No. 40 and natural attractions including the long-distance Wales Coast Path, which traces the Celtic country’s entire coastline, scored the UK’s highest new entry on the list polling at #82,

While UK cultural attractions such as the British Museum beat some of the world’s most iconic sights including the Eiffel Tower, Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia, and China’s Terracotta Warriors.

The following brilliant UK travel experiences made the list;

How did Lonely Planet rank the 500 best places in the world?

The longlist was compiled from all the highlights found in every Lonely Planet guidebook over the years. Each attraction and sight recommended by Lonely Planet authors was included, before being whittled down to a shortlist. Everyone in the Lonely Planet community was then asked to vote on their 20 top travel experiences.   With hundreds of votes cast, we ended up with a score for each entry and a definitive ranked list of the top 500 places to see around the world.

Where to stay in Petra visit petra

A whole town – Wadi Musa – has grown up to cater for visitors coming to Petra. The town has hotels of all types and budgets, which start right next by the entrance and stretch up into the hills, as well as plenty of places to eat, souvenir shops and travel agencies.

Luxury: The Mövenpick Resort* is just across the street from Petra. It’s a big five-star hotel with over 180 rooms and seven restaurants, bars and cafés on site, as well an outdoor pool and a roof terrace with amazing views where there’s often live music at sunset.

Mid-range: The four-star Petra Guest House, is a close as you can get to Petra, located right next door to the visitor’s centre. It has a mix of rooms and self-contained chalets overlooking the mountains around Wadi Musa, along with a restaurant, terrace and cave bar.

Budget: If you have a car then the hotels a bit further away up on the hillside are good value and come with stunning views. The Rocky Mountain Hotel is a simple, family-run guesthouse with free tea and coffee on the roof terrace and free shuttles to Petra.

How to get to Petra

If you’re staying in the centre of Wadi Musa, Petra is just a short walk away. Or the hotels further out often run a free shuttle to the visitor’s centre a couple of times a day, though it does mean you’re limited to fixed times. Otherwise, there are plenty of taxis outside the visitor’s centre, especially in the afternoons, and you’ll pay about JD5 within Wadi Musa. visit petra

If you are driving to Petra, it’s 236km (around 3 hours) from the Jordanian capital Amman to Petra via the faster Desert Highway or 255km (4.5 hours) via the slower but more scenic King’s Highway. Or from the coastal resort of Aqaba to Petra is a 126km drive (2 hours). There’s a free car park in Petra opposite the bus stop just in front of the Petra Moon hotel.

This bus stop is also where you can catch the JETT buses to Amman and Aqaba if you’re travelling around Jordan by public transport. Or if you are limited on time and looking for a convenient way to get to Petra, there are tour packages including transport and tickets available from Amman and Aqaba in Jordan or Eilat and Tel Aviv in Israel.

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