New wonders of the Wolrd
Move over Machu Picchu, take a hike Taj Mahal — here comes the walkway held by giant hands and a jellyfish roundabout far beneath the North Atlantic waves
THE Taj Mahal, the Acropolis, Angkor Wat, Machu Picchu . . . the list of the world’s wonders has not changed much over the decades. But now we are dreaming extra hard of the next great journey, is it time to think again? The world’s great sights will always retain their allure. But the new millennium has seen fresh wonders appearing on our travel itineraries.
And they are millennial sites in another sense, too: they have been created for the smartphone generation who have never had to wait for holiday photographs to be developed.
The Old Wonders gained their status the hard way, surviving hundreds or even thousands of years, earning their place as sites of cultural, religious or artistic value. In contrast, the New Wonders are designed to make an instant impact, offering the ‘wow factor’ and ‘awesomeness’ in spades.
Of course, there will be doubters aplenty. When it was being built, many locals could not stand the Sydney Opera House.
Yet 40 years after its 1973 opening, the consultancy Deloitte estimated its ‘cultural and iconic’ value to Australia at £2.5 billion.
There were similar grumbles about the London Eye before its opening in 2000. Now there are Eye-replicas across the globe (Dubai’s being the latest).
So yes, some healthy scepticism may
come in handy, but the New Wonders could be around for a while. Here’s our pick.
PALM OF GIANTS
VIETNAM’S Golden Bridge, opened in 2018, is designed as though a giant’s hands (made of fibre-glass and mesh wire) are gently supporting the 490ft path for pedestrians, which overlooks the coastal resort of Da Nang. In its short time open — with few visitors since March 2020, of course — more than 20,000 posts have appeared on Instagram at #goldenbridgevietnam. STAR QUALITY: The principal architect, Vu Viet Anh, says he wanted ‘to invoke the sensation of walking along a thread stretching through the hands of God’. Lordy! HOW TO SEE IT: Ten-day ‘Golden Hands’ trip from £2,314 pp including international flights, transfers and a one-day private tour of Ba Na Hills, home to the Golden Hands Bridge (InsideAsiaTours.com).
TOWERS OF GREEN
COMPLETED seven years ago, Bosco Verticale (or ‘Vertical Forest’) in Milan comprises of two residential tower blocks designed with balconies that jut out allowing trees and other vegetation to grow — forming towers of green. Milan’s opera house and cathedral have a new rival for visitors’ attention that offers an intriguing glimpse into the future of cities. Vegetation is the new cladding. STAR QUALITY: More than 900 trees are planted on the facades of the two buildings, the tallest of which rises 364 ft. HOW TO SEE IT: A two-night getaway to Milan from £266pp including flights and B&B at 43 Station Hotel, within walking distance of Bosco Verticale (hubentravel.com).
SCI-FI SINGAPORE
GARDENS by the Bay in Singapore is an urban park, opened in 2012, and its highlight is a series of 18 extraordinary ‘supertrees’ with vegetation spouting out of the tall thistle-like structures — the tallest is 164ft.
They were designed by the Bathbased architects Grant Associates, which won a competition to complete the project. Its Instagram page #gardensbythebay has had more than a million posts. STAR QUALITY: Take a stroll on the skywalk between the two tallest ‘supertrees’ — and go in the evening at 7.45pm to enjoy the light and music show. HOW TO SEE IT: HeathrowSingapore flights from £531 return ( singaporeair.com ). See gardensbythebay.com.sg.
DRAMATIC IN DUBAI
THE UAE’s commercial capital is arguably the most outrageous city of the 21st century. Futuristic touches were wired in from the beginning: hotels shaped like sails, islands like palm trees, the world’s tallest building and, since 2018, the Dubai Frame: a giant picture frame looking on to historic Dubai on one side and the new city on the other. STAR QUALITY: The 164ft-long bridge at the top has sensors so that the floor becomes clear when you walk across it; absolutely terrifying for vertigo sufferers as you’re 492ft up. HOW TO SEE IT: Three nights at Ramada by Wyndham Jumeirah from £380pp including flights (teletextholidays.co.uk). More info: visitdubai.com.
MEXICAN MARVEL
THE Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry — who created the wonderful Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao in Spain, opened in 1997 — was also involved with the creation of Museo Soumaya in Mexico City, an extraordinary cufflink/fishnet stocking of a building that invited its first museum-goers in 2011. STAR QUALITY: More than 66,000 works of art from Mexican and European masters are to be found in the museum. HOW TO SEE IT: Abercrombie & Kent has a two-night ‘Mexico City through the ages’ tour from £1,055, visiting the main cultural attractions (abercrombiekent. co.uk). BA (ba.com) London to Mexico City from £559 return. More info at museosoumaya.org.
INDIA’S GOLDEN GLOBE
THE Matrimandir is at the heart of Auroville, a community founded in the late 1960s committed to peace and harmony near the city of Puducherry in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It’s dedicated to The Mother, a Frenchwoman who cofounded the ashram that would become the self-proclaimed ‘city of the future’. STAR QUALITY: In the middle is a meditation chamber below what is said to be the world’s largest glass globe. HOW TO SEE IT: BA has return flights to Chennai, the closest international airport, from £426pp via Skyscanner (skyscanner.net); guest house information at auroville.org.
BALINESE SWINGS
THE ‘Jungle Swings’ on the island of Bali in Indonesia are far from a traditional ‘attraction’. The ten swings dotted around the island are designed to bring out your inner Tarzan: one has ‘wings’, another swings through a giant heart, and another sways high above the jungle. STAR QUALITY: One of the swings is tied between palm trees above a waterfall. HOW TO SEE IT: The InterContinental Bali offers six nights in a Premium Duplex Suite, including flights with Emirates,
from £2,256 for two people (bali.intercontinental.com/ indonesia-offer). See balicheapest tours.com.
OUTBACK DREAM
WALK out over a plunging ravine deep in the Australian Outback at the Kalbarri Skywalk, which opened last year. A six-hour drive from Perth, the Kalbarri National Park is a wilderness of ancient red rock. Kangaroos forage on riverbanks far below. STAR QUALITY: The two viewing platforms stretch out 82ft,
more than 328ft above the valley floor. HOW TO SEE IT: Return flights to Perth from about £1,300 (skyscanner.net). See parks. dpaw.wa.gov.au
ROUNDABOUT ALERT
EXTRAORDINARY as it may sound, the latest attraction in the Faroe islands is a Jellyfish Roundabout. It opened last year at the junction of two tunnels linking islands. Local artist Tróndur Patursson’s illuminated rock and steel sculptures are bathed in blue and green light and shaped like a giant jellyfish. STAR QUALITY: Figures linking hands in one section designed as though enjoying a traditional Faroese ‘ring dance’. HOW TO SEE IT: Return flights via Copenhagen from Heathrow from about £235 (flysas.com).
DIVE INTO MIAMI
THE seven miles of art installations at the soon-to-open Underwater Sculpture Park off Miami Beach has a unique selling point: you can only experience it in scuba gear or with a snorkel. The first section opens later this year.
STAR QUALITY: The project provides art and also promotes biodiversity.
HOW TO SEE IT: The Setai, Miami Beach is offering packages with British Airways Holidays from £1,750 pp including flights (ba.com).