Where are some of the most iconic places to photograph around the world? With so many wonderful locations, it can be hard to choose where to travel to next. To make things a bit easier we have selected the top destinations that photographers flock to the most. So, what are you waiting for? Grab your camera, and book that flight!
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Machu Picchu, Peru
Machu Picchu is a 15th-century Inca citadel, located in the Eastern Cordillera of southern Peru, on a 2,430-meter (7,970 ft) mountain ridge. It is located in the Machu Picchu District within Urubamba Province above the Sacred Valley, which is 80 kilometers (50 mi) northwest of Cuzco. The Urubamba River flows past it, cutting through the Cordillera and creating a canyon with a tropical mountain climate.
It’s renowned for its sophisticated dry-stone walls that fuse huge blocks without the use of mortar, intriguing buildings that play on astronomical alignments and panoramic views.
Photo Tip: Don’t forget to bring your wide angle lenses to capture this magnificent landscape.
Pyramids of Giza, Egypt
The Great Pyramid of Giza is the oldest and largest of the pyramids in the Giza pyramid complex bordering present-day Giza in Greater Cairo, Egypt. It is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and the only one to remain largely intact.
Photo Tip: Desert lighting can be extreme. Remember to bring a circular polarizer.
Antarctica
Antarctica, the southernmost continent and site of the South Pole, is a virtually uninhabited, ice-covered landmass. Most cruises to the continent visit the Antarctic Peninsula, which stretches toward South America. It’s known for the Lemaire Channel and Paradise Harbor, striking, iceberg-flanked passageways, and Port Lockroy, a former British research station turned museum. The peninsula’s isolated terrain also shelters rich wildlife, including many penguins.
Photo Tip: Protect your gear. Your camera equipment will be exposed to a variety of challenging conditions. Consider bringing a camera rain cover.
Easter Island
Easter Island, a Chilean territory, is a remote volcanic island in Polynesia. Its native name is Rapa Nui. It’s famed for archaeological sites, including nearly 900 monumental statues called moai, created by inhabitants during the 13th–16th centuries. The moai are carved human figures with oversize heads, often resting on massive stone pedestals called ahus. Ahu Tongariki has the largest group of upright moai.
Photo Tip: Sunset is the best time for a silhouette photos. For capturing the details in the statues arrive for the early morning light.
Stonehenge, England
Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, two miles west of Amesbury. It consists of an outer ring of vertical sarsen standing stones, each around 13 feet high, seven feet wide, and weighing around 25 tons, topped by connecting horizontal lintel stones.
Photo Tip: The best time for photography at Stonehenge is sunrise and sunset.
Travel Photography Gear for the Most Iconic Places to Photograph
Taj Mahal, India
An immense mausoleum of white marble, built in Agra between 1631 and 1648 by order of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite wife, the Taj Mahal is the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world’s heritage.
Photo Tip: Make use of the water ponds and canals to play with reflections.
Eiffel Tower – Paris, France
The Eiffel Tower is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower.
Photo tip: Photograph the Eiffel Tower from several points around the city for unique perspectives.
Big Ben – London, England
Big Ben is the nickname for the Great Bell of the striking clock at the north end of the Palace of Westminster; the name is frequently extended to also refer to the clock and the clock tower.
The tower was designed by Augustus Pugin in a neo-Gothic style. When completed in 1859, its clock was the largest and most accurate four-faced striking and chiming clock in the world. The tower stands 316 feet (96 m) tall, and the climb from ground level to the belfry is 334 steps. Its base is square, measuring 40 feet (12 m) on each side. Dials of the clock are 22.5 feet (6.9 m) in diameter. All four nations of the UK are represented on the tower in shields featuring a rose for England, thistle for Scotland, shamrock for Northern Ireland, and leek for Wales.
Photo Tip: Some of the views of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament can be found from Westminster Bridge, Parliament Square, and across the Thames on the Albert Embankment.
Venice, Italy
Venice, the capital of northern Italy’s Veneto region, is built on more than 100 small islands in a lagoon in the Adriatic Sea. It has no roads, just canals – including the Grand Canal thoroughfare – lined with Renaissance and Gothic palaces. The central square, Piazza San Marco, contains St. Mark’s Basilica, which is tiled with Byzantine mosaics, and the Campanile bell tower offering views of the city’s red roofs.
Photo Tip: A wide angle lens is a necessity for capturing Venice’s narrow canals, bridges, and gondolas.
The Pantheon, Rome
The Pantheon is a former Roman temple and since the year 609 a Catholic church, in Rome, Italy, on the site of an earlier temple commissioned by Marcus Agrippa during the reign of Augustus. It was rebuilt by the emperor Hadrian and probably dedicated c. 126 AD.
Photo Tip: One of the best times to photograph the Pantheon is the blue hour. The building will be lit up, and you’ll have gorgeous blue skies behind the illumination of the Pantheon.
New York City USA
New York City comprises 5 boroughs sitting where the Hudson River meets the Atlantic Ocean. At its core is Manhattan, a densely populated borough that’s among the world’s major commercial, financial and cultural centers. Its iconic sites include skyscrapers such as the Empire State Building and sprawling Central Park. Broadway theater is staged in neon-lit Times Square.
Photo Tip: New York City is one of the best places to shoot Street Photography.
Red Square, Saint Basil’s Cathedral, Moscow Russia
The Cathedral of Vasily the Blessed, commonly known as Saint Basil’s Cathedral, is an Orthodox church in Red Square of Moscow, and is one of the most popular cultural symbols of Russia. The Cathedral of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos on the Moat (St. Basil’s Cathedral) is one of the most significant monuments of ancient Russian architecture of the 16th century. The cathedral was erected in 1555-1561. at the behest of Tsar Ivan the Terrible in honor of the conquest of the Kazan kingdom.
Photo Tip: Shoot during the Blue Hour or Golden Hour.
Salar de Uyuni Salt Flats, Bolivia
And, last but not least of our most iconic places to photograph is, Salar de Uyuni Salt Flats is the world’s largest salt flat, or playa, at over 10,000 square kilometres (3,900 sq mi) in area. It is in the Daniel Campos Province in Potosà in southwest Bolivia, near the crest of the Andes at an elevation of 3,656 meters (11,995 ft) above sea level.
The Salar was formed as a result of transformations between several prehistoric lakes. It is covered by a few meters of salt crust, which has an extraordinary flatness with the average elevation variations within one meter over the entire area of the Salar.
Though wildlife is rare in this unique ecosystem, it harbors many pink flamingos.
Photo Tip: How To Capture Stunning Reflections In Your Photos
We hope this article inspires you to travel and visit the most iconic places to photograph round the world.
Which one of those 13 iconic places around the world are you ready to photograph?
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