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Unforgettable Places to See Before You Die
We only get one life so we owe it to ourselves to see as much of this beautiful world as possible. For many of us, lying on a beach for two weeks each year is just not enough any more. We want to see ancient monuments, extraordinary scenery, endangered wildlife, foreign cultures, architecture and art - places that give us the chance to grow and expand our horizons. Unforgettable Places to See Before You Die will help you search out some of these essential destinations and experiences.
International travel writer and photographer Steve Davey has drawn on his years of experience in selecting forty of his favourite places. Some, such as the Taj Mahal and the Alhambra, are relatively well-known, but most, such as the incredible temple of Angkor Wat in Cambodia and the amazing sand dunes of Dead Vlei in the Namib desert, are very much off the beaten track. Some, such as Venice or New York, involve relatively comfortable journeys, whilst others present more of a challenge - crossing the wilderness to see the rock-hewn churches at Lalibela in Ethiopia, for example, or trekking for nine days at altitude to see the stunning Himalayan scenery around Makalu in Nepal.
Although there are plenty of tips for travellers, this is not a travel guide, and is certainly not definitive, but it will introduce you to a host of spectacular locations, all of which can be visited in a holiday of two weeks or less. Beautifully illustrated throughout with specially commissioned photographs, this is a book that will inspire you to think beyond the walls of your room and take time out to visit some of the world's truly unforgettable places.
International travel writer and photographer Steve Davey has drawn on his years of experience in selecting forty of his favourite places. Some, such as the Taj Mahal and the Alhambra, are relatively well-known, but most, such as the incredible temple of Angkor Wat in Cambodia and the amazing sand dunes of Dead Vlei in the Namib desert, are very much off the beaten track. Some, such as Venice or New York, involve relatively comfortable journeys, whilst others present more of a challenge - crossing the wilderness to see the rock-hewn churches at Lalibela in Ethiopia, for example, or trekking for nine days at altitude to see the stunning Himalayan scenery around Makalu in Nepal.
Although there are plenty of tips for travellers, this is not a travel guide, and is certainly not definitive, but it will introduce you to a host of spectacular locations, all of which can be visited in a holiday of two weeks or less. Beautifully illustrated throughout with specially commissioned photographs, this is a book that will inspire you to think beyond the walls of your room and take time out to visit some of the world's truly unforgettable places.
256 pages, Paperback
First published March 18, 2004
8 people are currently reading
843 people want to read
About the author
Steve Davey
21 books2 followersSteve Davey is a photographer and writer, whose work has appeared all over the world. He is the author of Footprint Travel Photography - the leading guide to travelling with a camera.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
December 12, 2015
This book is bad for you if you suffer from wanderlust! It is a very exciting book to read and kick starts all manner of trip planning. Honestly I want to visit just about everywhere in the book but now top of my list are St. Petersburg, Havana, the Grand Canyon, the Alhambra in Granada, Aitutaki in the Cook Islands, Karnak Temple in Egypt, Rio de Janeiro, New York, Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania, Santorini, Makalu in the Himalayas and Machu Picchu. So a whole lot of dreaming going on! There is so much more in here too. And the photography is beautiful.
December 17, 2018
This book isn’t one I would use for my travel planning. I didn’t find it too inspiring with the photos that made me jump up and say, “Oh, I want to go there!” And it didn’t give any ideas for what I would do once I did go to particular places. After awhile, you get a sense of complete desolation or isolation from the photos. The author isn’t enamored or interested in other people. Even photos or NYC or India lack photos of people.
December 3, 2018
Interesting travel and photo book but I didn't understand the order in which the book was organized, if any, and maps would have been very helpful. Beautiful photographs, many of which were strangely devoid of people, and blessedly short text for most of each site. Now in 2018, much of the flight and hotel info is likely out of date but this is still a good book to start of list of things to-do.
November 18, 2025
Steve Davey gets tetchy when he is not permitted to photograph rock paintings and other sacred sites at Uluru in Central Australia. Doing so would be offensive to the local First Nation people, so he has to content himself by including several similar views of the whole rock at a distance taken at different times of the day.
On the one hand he acknowledges ‘Balancing the needs of Anangu [local traditional owners] and the tourists shows the difficulty of resolving the differences between a culture that pretty much values and reveres everything with a culture that seems to revere almost nothing.’ (p196). But he must have been having a bad day as he cannot let it go and continues by saying the commercial photography provisions ‘effectively rule out photographing almost half the site,’ (p196).
As a non-indigenous Australian who has enjoyed walking around Uluru (as of October 2019, walking on Uluru is not permitted) and Kata Tjuta (formerly ‘The Olgas’), and marvelling at the beauty and spirituality of both places, I have little sympathy for foreigners put out because they can’t take a picture. We should remember Sean O’Connell’s words to Walter Mitty. Sean explains that he sometimes refrains from taking a photo (in this case a reclusive snow leopard), keeping the experience just for himself.
Having got all that off my chest, this is, nevertheless, a remarkably balanced selection of 40 places round the planet worth seeing in person. Forty is a small number, it would be easy to choose 140. Thirty-four countries are included with several having a couple of entries - China, Brazil and Australia, while India (the Taj Mahal, Varanasi and the Jaisalmer Fort) and the USA (the Grand Canyon, Manhattan and College Fjord, in Alaska) have three each. While debate might rage over what has not been included, there’s a nice mix of the familiar (say Venice, Machu Picchu) and the out of the way (Taman Negara rainforest in Malaysia, Lake Titicaca), urban (Rio, Dubrovnik) and wildly scenic, the most striking of the latter being a lake pan in Namibia, the Dead Vlei, where it appears not to have rained forever, and, by way of contrast, College Fjord in Alaska, fed by sixteen glaciers.
The photographs, taken by Davey and associate Mark Schlossman, over a short span of time, are fresh and immediate, often capturing the flavour of the place: animal life on the Galapagos Islands; classic American automobiles in Havana; skyscrapers in Manhattan and daily life in Jaisalmer Fort in Rajasthan, India.
Particularly arresting is the Islamic architecture of the Alhambra in Granada, Spain and Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on the old Silk Road.
On the one hand he acknowledges ‘Balancing the needs of Anangu [local traditional owners] and the tourists shows the difficulty of resolving the differences between a culture that pretty much values and reveres everything with a culture that seems to revere almost nothing.’ (p196). But he must have been having a bad day as he cannot let it go and continues by saying the commercial photography provisions ‘effectively rule out photographing almost half the site,’ (p196).
As a non-indigenous Australian who has enjoyed walking around Uluru (as of October 2019, walking on Uluru is not permitted) and Kata Tjuta (formerly ‘The Olgas’), and marvelling at the beauty and spirituality of both places, I have little sympathy for foreigners put out because they can’t take a picture. We should remember Sean O’Connell’s words to Walter Mitty. Sean explains that he sometimes refrains from taking a photo (in this case a reclusive snow leopard), keeping the experience just for himself.
Having got all that off my chest, this is, nevertheless, a remarkably balanced selection of 40 places round the planet worth seeing in person. Forty is a small number, it would be easy to choose 140. Thirty-four countries are included with several having a couple of entries - China, Brazil and Australia, while India (the Taj Mahal, Varanasi and the Jaisalmer Fort) and the USA (the Grand Canyon, Manhattan and College Fjord, in Alaska) have three each. While debate might rage over what has not been included, there’s a nice mix of the familiar (say Venice, Machu Picchu) and the out of the way (Taman Negara rainforest in Malaysia, Lake Titicaca), urban (Rio, Dubrovnik) and wildly scenic, the most striking of the latter being a lake pan in Namibia, the Dead Vlei, where it appears not to have rained forever, and, by way of contrast, College Fjord in Alaska, fed by sixteen glaciers.
The photographs, taken by Davey and associate Mark Schlossman, over a short span of time, are fresh and immediate, often capturing the flavour of the place: animal life on the Galapagos Islands; classic American automobiles in Havana; skyscrapers in Manhattan and daily life in Jaisalmer Fort in Rajasthan, India.
Particularly arresting is the Islamic architecture of the Alhambra in Granada, Spain and Samarkand, Uzbekistan, on the old Silk Road.
July 11, 2018
A short description of forty places to visit that are supposedly "unforgettable". The photos are beautiful and I love that they added a PostScript on how to get there and where to stay.
May 1, 2019
The book gives a brief history and the reasons why the places are unforgettable to provide an overall insight. It is worth a read if you like to travel and connect with the world.
October 24, 2020
A nice picture book with some basic descriptions. A little disappointing really :(
November 18, 2020
pretty pictures!
March 23, 2021
Nice “photo album”. Unfortunately with very basic info about places without personal stories and adventures.
February 16, 2022
This book is more satisfying than similar collections because of the greater depth and the individual collection with some quite unusual choices.
February 22, 2022
Loved!
April 28, 2024
NO mention of Niagara Falls??? Beesh, please.
July 20, 2025
kütüpchallenge #3
ders çalışmamak için kütüpte random gezerken bulup aldım ve tek oturuşta bitirdim
😭😭😭ben de gitmek istiyorum bu yerlereee
ders çalışmamak için kütüpte random gezerken bulup aldım ve tek oturuşta bitirdim
😭😭😭ben de gitmek istiyorum bu yerlereee
December 28, 2016
Both inspiring and depressing.
November 18, 2011
I like this book because it has a potentially doable list of really incredible places to visit. I've seen so many lists of "must see" places that drive me crazy because it is so many that it'd be impossible to see them all in your lifetime unless your job IS traveling to these places. 55 places is still a lot, but maybe I could do it before I die. I'd like to try! This book is also cool because it has practical directions on how to get to these places (for example, to Cuba for Americans, or to see the Ngorongoro crater in Africa). It also explains why they pick these places, also, they got realistic "current" photos of each place before publishing the book.
March 25, 2022
This book is a collection of different places around the world, such as the Bund in Shanghai, Machu Pichu in Peru, etc. to visit.
Each place is described briefly with highlights, is accompanied by pictures - that unfortunately do not necessarily follow the description of the place, and provides information on how to get to that place - but many are already out of date.
Almost all the descriptions of the places include "visit this place at sunrise or early in the morning to avoid the tourist crowd and to have great views of the area".
The pictures provided are clear and tasteful.
Each place is described briefly with highlights, is accompanied by pictures - that unfortunately do not necessarily follow the description of the place, and provides information on how to get to that place - but many are already out of date.
Almost all the descriptions of the places include "visit this place at sunrise or early in the morning to avoid the tourist crowd and to have great views of the area".
The pictures provided are clear and tasteful.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read
May 26, 2012Skimmed through to see the pictures, these places have been covered in many of the travel guides I own so no need to read info again. But it did remind me that I should try to make a trip out to Giverny next month, It's a 4,5 hour drive from my home and I feel I should just take a random day off work and go for it.
June 17, 2007
I have travelled extensively in the U.S., but my international voyages have begun and ended in Canada. After reading this, I want to pack my bags and become a world traveller!
The format is like a coffee table book, and offers fantastic photos as well as advice for visiting each place.
The format is like a coffee table book, and offers fantastic photos as well as advice for visiting each place.
December 26, 2014
Life is short, and shared experiences are one of the things that can make life special.
So, reading a few books like this to plan some future trips is well worth the corresponding tiny investment of time.
Steve Davy's offering is a super-easy read and filled with colorful photos.
So, reading a few books like this to plan some future trips is well worth the corresponding tiny investment of time.
Steve Davy's offering is a super-easy read and filled with colorful photos.
December 7, 2007
B While the photos are lovely, the text is quite crap, and it brings it down. Still, most of the photos are inspiring.
January 4, 2008
this is w great book given to me by fiance for places we NEED TOO SEE! Its a on-going book!
February 6, 2009
Beautiful book with wonderful pictures of great places - it is nice to dream of visiting them. Most were well known but a few were more obscure.
reference
May 11, 2012[2007.07]
Read
March 13, 2011beautiful: A beutiful book, which allows you to tick off the places you'd never normally venture too. I loved it.
November 21, 2011
Great book very nicely put together great advice and pictures really enjoyed it
March 9, 2014
A simple easy way to travel some astounding places in the world...
July 14, 2014
A great reference to checklist where to travel next. Out of 40 places recommended, I have done only 7, so much more to go!
April 16, 2015
What a beautiful world we're in. North America is a good place to start.
May 13, 2016
easy to read, not overloaded with info just enough to peak your interest. wasn't wowed by the selection of places to see but have me more than a few ideas for places I'd like to visit.
September 17, 2016
A nice travel book detailing 40 places in the world that you should visit. It includes a short history and description of each site along with some travel tips and lots of nice pictures.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews