Scroll down to find out which destinations should definitely be included on your bucket list for your next vacation.
Chicago is the best North American destination for architecture lovers
Image credits:Buildworld
Canada has four cities among the continent’s top ten. Québec City is significantly higher-rated than the others and offers an intriguing counterpoint to the continent’s number one: Chicago. Some of Québec City’s buildings date back to the 1600s, and their French and British flavors are distinctly more romantic than Chicago’s modernist, industrial feel. Most uniquely for this part of the world, the three miles of rampart wall surrounding the west part of the city’s Upper Town are over 400 years old and were embellished with the neo-medieval Saint‑Louis Gate in the 19th century.
Ecuador’s capital is the South American capital of architecture
Philippine and Indian cities offer sure-fire architectural tours
India is the best-represented country in Asia, with three Indian cities making the Asian top ten. Three-quarters of the architectural attractions in Bengaluru, the capital of the country’s southern Karnataka state, are rated 4.5 or 5 stars. Most unusual of all is the Gavi Gangadhareshwara Temple, a “rock-cut architectural marvel” with an Indiana Jones-style twist: “Every year on the day of Makara Sankranti, the evening sunlight spreads over the intricate monolithic sculptures and illuminates the Shiva linga inside,” reports Culture Trip.
Europe: Manchester and Lucerne offer contrasting architectural wonders
Iași in Romania is the top-rated city in Europe and the world (see Romanian and Northern English Cities above). But a brace of northern English cities takes second and third place.
Both Manchester and Liverpool have undergone massive redevelopment over the past few decades — for better and worse. Manchester has become known for its blend of industrial history and corporate modernism, with imaginative warehouse refurbs brushing shoulders with the likes of 2006’s Beetham Tower — formerly the tallest building in the UK outside of London. The neo-Gothic John Rylands Library may offer your best shot at inspiration, offering both scale and fine detail, inside and out.
Lucerne in Switzerland offers a less urban take on the built environment. Sat on the edge of idyllic Lake Lucerne and emerging from an early medieval monastery, this small city retains its historic feel today. Lucerne is best known, architecturally, for its baroque churches, medieval ramparts, and the Early Renaissance-style Ritterscher Palace.
Romanian and Northern English cities are the world’s best architectural bets
The world’s most sure-fire hit destination for architecture lovers is Iași, the “cultural capital” of Romania, where more than nine out of ten buildings are top-rated. Iași’s postcard piece is the 365-room neo-gothic Palace of Culture, completed nearly a century ago. Despite the palace’s epic scale, its true wonders are found in the details.
Lest we forget that architecture is as much about light and space as bricks and mortar, Iași’s Botanic Garden Anastasie Fatu is rated 4.5 and boasts a pagoda and greenhouses among its carefully cultivated landscape — a dreamy place to find inspiration for your garden.
Six of the top ten cities for architecture are in Europe, with the other four are found in Southeast Asia, North and South America, and the Middle East. All in all, the UK seems a good bet, with second-placed Manchester and fourth-placed Liverpool just a 40-minute train ride from each other in England’s northwest. York, to their east, is also within easy traveling distance from these cities and qualifies for the world’s top 20 architectural destinations, with 73.68% of its attractions rated 4.5 stars or more.
5Kviews5Kviews
You May Like55 Life-Changing Trips And Destinations Around The World That Are Worth The HypeŽydrūnė Trukanavičiūtė51 Safest Places To Travel Right NowLarysa Perih40 Unspoken Rules Of Air Travel That Every Passenger Should Know Before BoardingRugile Baltrunaite
Žydrūnė Trukanavičiūtė
Larysa Perih
Rugile Baltrunaite
Travel
