Why Go? The world’s ‘New 7 Wonders’

A month ago, the online voting results for the world’s ‘New 7 Wonders’ were announced. Although the winners were not too surprising – the Great Wall of China, the ancient city of Petra in Jordan, the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, Machu Picchu in Peru, the Maya ruins of Chichen Itza in Mexico, the Colosseum in Rome and India’s Taj Mahal – the contest succeeded in getting the attention of millions of voters around the world.

Why Go: Most of the so-called new seven wonders are old classics that everyone who loves to travel will want to try and visit sometime in their lives. (Personally, I can live without seeing a gigantic, man-made statue sitting on a hilltop in Brazil, but that’s just me.) So, I’ve put together my own list of some brief travel tips for visiting each of the sites.

Have a favorite wonder that didn’t make the list? Nominate it in the Comments section below.

Tips: Great Wall of China – There are many different spots outside of Beijing where you can visit the wall, which is at least 1,500 miles long, so choose carefully. I enjoyed Simitai, which was more rural and had fewer crowds, but is much harder to reach.

Petra, Jordan – Don’t rush your visit. Try to at least stay overnight, so you can get amazing photographs of how the stones of this ancient city change colors in the light at different times of day.

Christ the Redeemer statue, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – You should exercise extreme caution when traveling around the city, especially on public transport. Consider hiring an official taxi to take you to the site instead. Once you get there, you won’t have to climb 220 steps to reach the top. Now there’s a motorized staircase and an elevator with panoramic views.

Machu Picchu, Peru – There are two main routes to reach the ruins, either by taking the train to the town of Aguas Calientes and then a bus up the mountain or by hiking the well-trampled Inca Trail with a guide. Either way, you’ll arrive at the ruins around the same time, so there is no escaping the crowds here.

Chichen Itza, Mexico – Instead of taking a tourist bus from Cancun in the morning, go to the town of Valladolid the night before so you can get to the Mayan ruins before the heat of mid-day. Most of the tourists arrive around 11 a.m. or noon, so you’ll have some time to explore it relatively peacefully, too.

The Colosseum, Rome – Don’t go during summer. It’s just too hot to walk around Roman ruins then. You don’t need to rent the audio guide that’s available, because so many tour groups visit the site each day, you can just eavesdrop on their guides for free. Watch out for professional pickpockets outside.

Taj Mahal, India – Avoid the monsoon season (at least July through September) and scorching temperatures from April until June. Winter months are a cooler time to visit the Indian subcontinent.

Caveat: There are many other “Wonders of the World” lists, from the original to the modern. Who’s got the authority to say which is the best?

Critique: Not everyone was excited about the ‘New 7 Wonders’ contest, from residents of Easter Island to the British, who didn’t cast enough votes for Stonehenge. I’m not a checklist traveler, although obviously a lot of people are (just look at the popularity of the book 1000 Places to See Before You Die, now a TV show on the Discovery Channel). When it comes to the wonders of world, the most impressive that I’ve been to is Cambodia’s Angkor Wat – and yes, I did vote for it in the N7W contest.

Contact: New 7 Wonders

Related Los Angeles Times links:
By popular vote, the world’s ‘New 7 Wonders’ named
Final countdown to the new seven wonders of the world
The Eight Wonders of Kansas

– Sara Benson, L.A. Times Travel Deal Detective

Sara Benson wrote about Machu Picchu for Lonely Planet’s Peru guidebook. She has visited Machu Picchu several times, most recently in February 2007, and other sites on the ‘New 7 Wonders’ list.

[Photo credit: Paolo Aguiliar / EPA]

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 8, 2007 at 12:17 pm by Sara Benson and is filed under Asia, Cancun, Europe, Global, Mexico, News, Tips & Advice, Pacific & Australia, South America. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.