The Bay of Islands sits near the top of the world. Photo / Lara Kay Photography
The Bay of Islands sits near the top of the world. Photo / Lara Kay Photography
The Bay of Islands sits 130th on Lonely Planet's list of the 500 Best Places in the World and is the only Northland location in the travel bible's newest "top spot" publication, Ultimate Travelist.
Sitting much higher in the ranks is Fiordland National Park (number 17), which outranks Uluru (number33) in the top 500 "most thrilling, memorable and interesting places in the world " ranked in order of brilliance".
Abel Tasman National Park (35), Franz Josef and Fox Glacier (81) and Lake Wanaka (94) also make it into the top 100, and, further down, are Stewart Island (number 125), Bay of Islands, Whakarewarewa (276), Waitomo Caves (280) and Te Papa Tongarewa (285).
The Ultimate Travelist was compiled from all the highlights found in every Lonely Planet guidebook over the years, whittled down to 500, and ranked after the guidebook's publishers, contributors and some readers voted for their top 20.
The top 10 best destinations were: Temples of Angkor, Cambodia; Great Barrier Reef, Australia; Machu Picchu, Peru; Great Wall of China; Taj Mahal, India; Grand Canyon National Park, USA; Colosseum, Italy; Iguaz Falls, Brazil - Argentina; Alhambra, Spain; Aya Sofya, Istanbul, Turkey.
