The ten

Top Ten Modern Wonders

Built in roughly the last hundred and fifty years. Ranked by what they took to build and what they are like to visit.

10 ranked9 countries12 more below

The short answer

The top 10 modern wonders are Sagrada Família, Hoover Dam, Burj Khalifa, then Petronas Towers, Cathedral of Brasília, Neuschwanstein Castle, Millau Viaduct, Lotus Temple, Sydney Opera House, Eiffel Tower. They are ranked by what they do to a person standing in front of them, how reachable they are, and whether people come away glad they went.

Click on the name of each Wonder for more detailed information

1
Sagrada Família
Spain · Europe
The interior light and forest of stone columns make you feel small in a way photos cannot capture.
Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família, or simply Sagrada Família, is a Catholic church under construction in the Eixample district of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Designed by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí, it is the tallest church in the world.
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2
Hoover Dam
United States · North America
Standing on the wall makes the sheer scale of the concrete and the drop feel physically heavy.
The Hoover Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the boundary between the U.S. states of Nevada and Arizona.
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3
Burj Khalifa
United Arab Emirates · Middle East
Standing at its foot you tilt your head back and it still keeps going, and from the top Dubai looks like a model city.
The Burj Khalifa (previously known as Burj Dubai prior to inauguration) is a megatall skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Designed by the SOM architectural firm, it is the world's tallest structure, with a total height of 829.8 m (2,722 ft, or just over half a mile) and a roof height (excluding the antenna, but including a 242.6 m spire) of 828 m (2,717 ft).
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4
Petronas Towers
Malaysia · Asia
At night the twin towers glow silver, and from the skybridge between them you see how high above Kuala Lumpur you are.
The Petronas Towers (Malay: Menara Berkembar Petronas), also known as the Petronas Twin Towers and colloquially the KLCC Twin Towers, are an interlinked pair of 88-storey supertall skyscrapers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, standing at 451.9 m (1,483 ft). From 1998 to 2004, they were the tallest buildings in the world until they were surpassed by the Taipei 101 skyscraper in Taiwan.
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5
Cathedral of Brasília
Brazil · South America
The glass roof creates a bright open space that feels entirely different from traditional dark stone churches.
The Cathedral of Brasília (Portuguese: Catedral Metropolitana de Brasília, "Metropolitan Cathedral of Brasília") is the Roman Catholic cathedral serving Brasília, Brazil, and serves as the seat of the Archdiocese of Brasília. It was designed by Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer and engineered by Brazilian structural engineer Joaquim Cardozo, and was completed and dedicated on May 31, 1970..
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6
Neuschwanstein Castle
Germany · Europe
Seen from the Marienbrücke the castle rises out of the forest on its rock like a painting that turned out to be real.
Neuschwanstein Castle (German: Schloss Neuschwanstein, pronounced [ˈʃlɔs nɔʏˈʃvaːnʃtaɪn]; Southern Bavarian: Schloss Neischwanstoa; lit. 'Newswanstone') is a 19th-century historicist palace on a rugged hill of the foothills of the Alps in the very south of Germany, near the border with Austria.
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7
Millau Viaduct
France · Europe
Driving across the bridge above the clouds is a surreal experience that feels like floating in air.
The Millau Viaduct (French: Viaduc de Millau [vja.dyk də mi.jo]) is a multispan cable-stayed bridge completed in 2004 across the gorge valley of the Tarn near (west of) Millau in the Aveyron department in the Occitanie Region, in Southern France. The design team was led by engineer Michel Virlogeux and English architect Norman Foster.
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8
Lotus Temple
India · Asia
The silence inside the hall is heavy and provides a rare moment of calm in a busy city.
The Lotus Temple is a Baháʼí House of Worship in Delhi, India. It was completed in December 1986.
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9
Sydney Opera House
Australia · Oceania
The ceramic tiles have a tactile texture that makes the building feel organic rather than just concrete.
The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings, and a masterpiece of 20th-century architecture.
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10
Eiffel Tower
France · Europe
The iron lattice structure is surprisingly industrial and raw when you stand directly underneath the center.
The Eiffel Tower ( EYE-fəl; French: Tour Eiffel [tuʁ ɛfɛl] ) is a 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 from 1887 to 1889.
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What people wish they had broughtFor the Modern Wonders

Walking shoesQueues here are measured in hours, not minutes.See it on Amazon →

Power bankTimed entry, tickets and photographs all run on the phone.See it on Amazon →

Anti theft backpackCrowds are the point of these places, and the risk.See it on Amazon →

Wide angle lensThese are too large to fit in an ordinary photograph.See it on Amazon →

These search Amazon. If you buy through one we may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. It changes nothing about which places are on this site or what is said about them.

Questions people ask

What is the number one of the modern wonders?

Sagrada Família in Spain. The interior light and forest of stone columns make you feel small in a way photos cannot capture.

How many modern wonders are there on this list?

Ten are ranked, and 12 more are listed below them. They sit across 9 countries.

How were these modern wonders ranked?

On three things together: how much each one does to a person standing in front of it, whether an ordinary person can realistically get there, and whether people come away glad they went. Not on how famous they are.

When is the best time to visit the modern wonders?

Each one has its own months, shown against it in the list. The same place is not the same place in July and January, so the month matters as much as the choice.