The New 7 Wonders of the World
There are few lists of places that you just had to visit as iconic as the original list of the 7 Wonders of the World. These were monuments so famous, that they were often included in poems extolling their beauty. Unfortunately, out of the original list of 7 Wonders, only the Great Pyramid of Egypt is still standing.
That means it is impossible to visit the original 7 Wonders of the World in 2024. However, it is very possible to visit the New 7 Wonders, listed below!

Looking for the original 7 Wonders?
Check out “A Worldschooler’s Guide to re-discovering the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World”
What is New7?

You may remember a vote to choose the New World Wonders happening back in the early 2000s. It was organized by an organization called New7 as part of a campaign to create what New7 calls “Global Memory.”
Essentially, the people behind New7 wanted to encourage everyone in the world to come together to celebrate humanity’s accomplishments through a vote that everyone could take part in!
The vote for the New 7 Wonders
The first round of voting took place in the year 2000 and was essentially just asking everyone around the world to nominate the sites that they thought could be true successors to the original 7 Wonders.
There were 176 sites nominated, and the 77 most voted-for locations were then given to a panel of experts for further voting. Out of those 77, the experts chose 21 to be finalists.
The list was again offered to the world as a whole for final voting, and the list of New7 Wonders was finally announced on July, 7th, 2007. (07/07/07)
What other lists has New7 made?
Since their first list of wonders was announced, New7 has gone on to create lists of the New7 Natural Wonders and, more recently, the New7 Wonders Cities of the World.
Currently, New7 is in the nominating stage for a list of the 7 Symbols of Peace, which will be announced in 2024.
What are the New 7 Wonders of the World in 2024?
Nevertheless, the list of the New 7 Wonders remains the most popular of New7’s lists!
After hundreds of nominations and thousands of votes, these locations are the ones that were chosen as the New 7 Wonders of the World.
Chichen-Itza

When my family began worldschooling full-time, Chichen-Itza was one of our very first stops.
Chichen-Itza is the ruins of a Mayan city located in the jungles of the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico. Despite being located a few hours inland, the ruins are surprisingly easy to visit, since major roadways have been built for access. Out of all 7 Wonders, Chichen-Itza is probably the easiest to visit from the United States.
The most famous of the ruins in Chichen-Itza is a pyramidal temple called El Castillo (the Castle). It is architecturally impressive, with stepped sides that work as a solar calendar. Each year, on the two solstices, the shadows from the stepped sides of the pyramid create the shape of the Mayan serpent god, Kulkulkan, as a way of showing the Mayan people’s connection to the earth.
Other ruins in Chichen-Itza include burial sites for Mayan warriors and priests, smaller temples, a huge Mayan ball-game court, and an observatory where Mayan priests would observe the night sky.
Due to the importance of the archeological site, visitors cannot climb the pyramids, though there are other archeological sites in the area where that is still possible.
Machu Pichu

Machu Pichu is a set of Incan ruins located in the Andes mountains of Peru. I haven’t had the chance to bring my kids there yet, though I visited the site during my college years.
No one knows for sure why Machu Pichu was built, though many experts believe it to either be a royal citadel or a religious site. It dates back to the height of the Incan Empire and was likely built in the 1400s. However, archeologists believe that it was abandoned around 100 years after its construction, possibly due to a smallpox epidemic.
The Machu Pichu ruins are among the highest-altitude ruins in that area, but they are not the only ones. If you visit the area, be sure to check out other Incan ruins like those at Ollantaytambo, and try some traditional Peruvian foods in Cuzco!
Taj Mahal

You could be forgiven for thinking that the Taj Mahal of India was a palace that princes and princesses could call home. However, its ornate architecture serves an entirely different purpose. The Taj Mahal is a mausoleum.
Located in Agra, India, the Taj Mahal was commissioned in 1631 by Shah Jahan following the death of his wife. It took until 1648 to complete the central mausoleum, and a further 5 years to complete the surrounding gardens and outbuildings.
The Taj Mahal’s ornate architecture is considered to be some of the finest of the Indo-Islamic period and is among the most easily identifiable buildings in the world.
Great Wall of China

The Great Wall is far and away the longest man-made structure in the world and runs an astounding 13,170 miles across the breadth of northern China! It isn’t exactly a single, solitary structure though.
The Great Wall of China is actually composed of several smaller sections of walls that were built over a span of hundreds of years. These sections of wall were used mostly as a defensive barrier between China and the nomadic tribes to the north, but they also worked well for controlling immigration and trade across the border.
Today, the Great Wall remains a huge draw for tourists, with over 10 million people visiting it each year! Though, at the moment most of those people are visiting from inside China since their borders have yet to reopen.
Christ the Redeemer

Christ the Redeemer, or Cristo Redentor, is a larger-than-life statue of Jesus located on the peak of Corcovado mountain looking over Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It isn’t the largest statue of Jesus in the world, but it is one of the most famous.
Christ the Redeemer was completed in 1931 and was intended to be a symbol that would help with perceived godlessness in Brazilian society. Since that time, Rio has embraced the statue as one of the city’s most famous monuments.
This is another wonder that I have not personally visited, though I did get the chance to visit Cristo de la Concordia in Cochabamba, Bolivia, which is taller than Christ the Redeemer. Currently, the tallest statue of Christ in the world is a statue called Christ the Protector, located in another Brazilian town, Rio Grande do Sul.
Petra

Petra was the seat of power for the Nabataean Empire as early as the 300s BCE and remained a powerful city for centuries after. Much of the city was carved directly into the cliffsides in the Wadi Musa of Jordan, which has helped it to weather the intervening years relatively well. Though earthquakes, drought, and changing trade routes eventually caused the abandonment of Petra as a city, many of the area’s most beautiful facades have endured until today.
One of the most famous of those facades, known as Treasury, has featured prominently in movies such as Indiana Jones and Transformers. This has boosted public awareness of the ruins, but these beautiful facades are only a small portion of the city as a whole.
The Colosseum

The Roman Colosseum was completed way back in the year 80 CE but remains the largest amphitheater ever built even today. At its peak, it is estimated that it could seat 50,000+ people, and it was used for everything from plays and reenactments to executions and gladiatorial battles. It was even flooded and used for mock naval battles on occasion!
There aren’t very many structures on the scale of the Colosseum to compare it to. There were several smaller amphitheaters constructed throughout the Roman Empire, such as the Amphitheater of Capua where the revolt of Spartacus began. These smaller theaters were used in much the same way as the Colosseum itself, but none were quite as large or important.
Today, the Colosseum remains one of the top touristic destinations in Rome, with more than 6 million annual visitors, pre-pandemic.

See the New7 Wonders with these Amazing Tours
If I’m looking for a tour that checks all the boxes, guaranteeing the best possible experience, I’m looking for a tour done through G Adventures.

G Adventures does tours all over the world and partners with some of the biggest names in exploration, including the Jane Goodall Institute and National Geographic. They have tons of amazing, high-quality tours with a focus on both having a great experience and supporting local economies.
Check out their World Wonders Tours!
Of course, if you’re not in the market for a longer tour it’s also pretty easy to make a day trip of it. For shorter tours, I suggest checking out Get Your Guide.
Get Your Guide offers a variety of tours with local guides who know the locations well and can get you an excellent experience without breaking the bank. They aren’t usually all-inclusive like G adventures, but they do have an impressive selection of tours to choose from so you can get exactly what you want, and nothing else.
The New7 Wonders list is only one of the lists of amazing places to visit, but considering how awesome the places it includes are, it’s easily one of the best. Whether you are looking for your next vacation destination or just hoping to learn more about our amazing world, learning about our new 7 wonders is a great place to start.