5 landmarks everyone should visit in their lifetime (1)

With so many interesting things to see and places to visit in the world, how does one decide where to go first?

This is one of the questions many a travel lover often find themselves struggling to answer.

Indeed, with 196 countries in the world, each with its own unique offerings, this can be an uphill task, but lucky for the 21st century traveler, sites like TripAdvisor exist to simplify this overwhelming decision.

Based on an aggregation of (quantity and quality)reviews on TripAdvisor, the website released a list of some of the world’s most impressive landmarks which represent human ingenuity.

Interestingly enough, a good number of the landmarks were structures belonging to religious institutions.

So, the next time you're going on a trip, consider visiting these 5 landmarks.

1. Machu Picchu (Machu Picchu, Peru): This 15th-century Incan citadel was considered a long-lost city that was abandoned during the Spanish Conquest, but Machu Picchu gained attention and became a tourist destination after 1912, when an American explorer led an excavation to the site. It is considered to be one of the new 7 wonders of the world.

2. Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Center (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates): This marvel took over 10 years to build and is comprised of 82 pure white domes.

3. Angkor Wat (Siem Reap, Cambodia): This was the center of the Khmer Empire, which ruled from the 9th to 15th centuries.

4. St. Peter's Basilica (Vatican City, Italy): Unarguably the most visited Catholic church in the world, the papal basilica is the cornerstone of the Catholic empire. It is also where the pope conducts mass.

5. Taj Mahal (Agra, India): This temple of lovewas built by Shah Jahan, the 5th Mughal Emperor of India in 1631, and was built in the memory of his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal, a Persian princess who died giving birth to their 14th child, Gauhara Begum.