50 places to see before you die

"I am not sure whether I should even admit to some of these choices as I don't really want them trampled over by hordes of tourists looking for something which was perhaps intensely personal and probably wouldn't move others at all" – so begins Bill Polley of Carrickfergus, who overcomes his reservations to join the rush of Independent readers to nominate five places that others should see before they die.

Two weeks ago, the BBC's Holiday programme revealed the results of its survey, which placed the Grand Canyon, the Great Barrier Reef and Walt Disney World in the first three places.

Readers of The Independent are particularly well–travelled, and well–read, so we anticipated a very different agenda – but we were amazed by the scale of your response.

We made no restrictions in nominations, and welcomed a sweeping range of suggestions: some as vast as the Himalayas and the Sahara, others as specific as the dining room of the Manoir de Sornat at Bourbon Lancy in Burgundy. But as Ann Miller notes, "One can't really compare a city like Venice, Rome or Paris to a place of natural beauty like a great waterfall or the Grand Canyon, or to a site of spiritual and archaeological interest like Machu Picchu, or the Pyramids." The great majority of votes crystallised into one of five categories: country, city, island, natural phenomenon and work of man.

Country

Italy emerges as most favoured nation, but only just – England and Spain were narrowly beaten into joint second place. (If Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland had not been counted as separate nations, the UK would be clear winner.) Within England, Yorkshire was prominent, with Marie Paterson commending "Runswick Bay, North Yorkshire, where white houses tumble down the steep cliffs to the sea". Yet Roger Perry says the best thing about England is leaving it; he recommends, "The caf} at the back of a SeaFrance ferry, watching Dover recede".

The three top nations amassed almost as many votes as the rest put together, with a wide gulf between them and the United States in fourth place. France, which numerically is Britain's favourite overseas destination, was squeezed into fifth place.

Scotland scored well ahead of Wales and Northern Ireland to take sixth place. The world's most populous country, China, was helped into seventh place by the inclusion of Hong Kong and Macau. Australia (which, I suppose, could have qualified for one of the top islands) nipped ahead of Canada as leading Commonwealth country. The Incas trailed in at 10, with Peru propping up the table.

Several high–profile countries, including Greece, Egypt, India, Thailand and Mexico, missed the cut. Plucky Luxembourg received not a single vote, even though some residents from the country took part.

Top 10 countries

1 Italy 
2 = England 
2 = Spain 
4 United States 
5 France 
6 Scotland 
7 China 
8 Australia 
9 Canada 
10 Peru

Cities

Europe took seven of the 10 places, including the first four. No surprise there, given the popularity of city breaks to the Continent – but the order was at odds with the top–sellers of tour operators.

Ten years ago, only two airlines flew from the UK to Venice – both from London, and only a couple of times a day. This winter, you can fly from 10 British airports to this magical city, for lower fares than a decade ago. It is now possible to fly the entire population of Crawley – which matches the number of people who live in Venice – to La Serenissima every month using scheduled flights from Britain (though Ryanair passengers, inevitably, end up some distance away). Until that unlikely event happens, Venice is top of your list; it was favourite European city for Holiday viewers, but in 18th place overall.

The no–frills effect also boosted Prague, now accessible from all over Britain for fares as low as £50, which coincidentally would buy around 100 litres of good beer in the Czech capital. Third–placed Granada was a shock, because this Andalucian city perched in the mountains is a pig to reach from Britain. Neither is Florence, fourth, easy to get to.

New York City represents the Americas, while Beijing is a surprise at seven – beating Hong Kong, which fails to make the top 10. Barcelona, London and Sydney complete the line–up, at the expense of obvious candidates such as Amsterdam and Dublin. "London's glories," writes Nigel Purry, "are scattered over a large area, but many are best seen on the boat trip from Westminster to Greenwich."

Top 10 cities

1 Venice 
2 Prague 
3 Granada 
4 Florence 
5 New York City 
6 Paris 
7 Beijing 
8 Barcelona 
9 London 
10 Sydney

Islands

Fidel Castro will be heartened to know that Cuba was so far ahead that it was almost out of sight of the following nine; the only other Caribbean island in the top 10 was Barbados, in last place. The Galapagos (yes, archipelagos were allowed) narrowly beat Bali, for which there was a large vote of solidarity. The South Island of New Zealand occupies the same respectable place – fourth – as it did in the BBC Holiday survey.

Santorini is your favourite Greek island, though Crete keeps it company at eight.

Considering Easter Island is so difficult and expensive to reach, its appearance at seven was impressve; and Madagascar, at nine, emerged ahead of Mallorca, Cyprus, Crete, Jamaica and Sri Lanka, which all failed to make it to the top 10. Many Scottish isles were nominated, but none achieved enough votes to win a place, despite Marie Paterson championing Iona's "white sands, turquoise sea and quality of light".

Top 10 islands

1 Cuba 
2 Galapagos 
3 Bali 
4 South Island, New Zealand 
5 Santorini 
6 Easter Island 
7 Gran Canaria 
8 Rhodes 
9 Madagascar 
10 Barbados

Natural Phenomena

What is it about waterfalls? Two southern–hemisphere cataracts splash into the top two places, well ahead of Niagara. Despite the political turmoil in Zimbabwe, the Victoria Falls – where the Zambezi plunges hundreds of feet, separating the country from Zambia – were clearly ahead. Iguacu, at the point where Argentina and Brazil converge (along with Paraguay) is a worthy second.

Scotland's appearance in third place is helped by our broad inclusion of everything from specific mountains to the broad heading "Highlands". Rotorua, the steamiest and smelliest place on New Zealand's North Island, spouts its way into fourth position.

Ireland is curiously absent from much of the voting, but the amazing landscapes of the Burren in County Clare make the top half of the table, nudging the Cornish coast into sixth place.

Arizona's Grand Canyon, which was voted top by BBC Holiday viewers, does not even make your top 10. Instead, there is a canyon (Bryce) in the neighbouring state of Utah and a valley (Monument) in Arizona: "awesome Indian country, inspiration and oozing with history – forget the films see the real thing," says Glenn Showler.

The canyon and valley are separated, at least in this survey, by Japan's holiest mountain, Fuji. And Central America's sole appearance in the travel league is the magical Lake Atitlan in Guatemala.

Top 10 natural phenomena

1 Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe/Zambia 
2 Iguacu Falls, Brazil/Argentina 
3 Highlands, Scotland 
4 Rotorua, New Zealand 
5 The Burren, Ireland 
6 Coast of Cornwall 
7 Bryce Canyon, Utah 
8 Mount Fuji, Japan 
9 Monument Valley, Arizona 
10 Lake Atitlan, Guatemala

Works of man

Cappadocia, in 10th place, shows what man can do with strange landscapes; Denzil Watson describes the region of Turkey as "a lunar landscape of tufa cones riddled with ancient rock–cut churches". Chartres Cathedral, in ninth place, shows what man can do with stained glass. And the Kremlin, eighth, shows what man can do by plundering the peasantry of a poor country and building a grand collection of palaces at the core of the capital.

Now that Cambodia is open for tourism business, and relatively safe, enough of you have been deep into the jungle to visit the temple complexes of Angkor Wat to vote it in at seven.

What I would not have predicted about the top six is the order. Counting up: Versailles, the Alhambra in Granada, the Taj Mahal, the Great Wall of China, and Machu Picchu. Given the grave decline that Jordan's tourism has seen in the past few years, it is heartening to see the great Nabatean city of Petra as your favourite work of man.

In my column a fortnight ago, I erroneously compared Petra to Rotherham, saying that they were alike because "no one wants to go to either much at the moment". Not only did Petra's supporters contradict this by voting the rose red city to top place; it also earned this rebuke from one reader: "My flatmate is from Rotherham and sends her best regards. No, wait a minute – that wasn't quite what she said."

Top 10 works of Man

1 Petra, Jordan 
2 Machu Picchu, Peru 
3 Great Wall of China 
4 Taj Mahal, India 
5 The Alhambra, Granada 
6 Chateau of Versailles, Paris 
7 Angkor Wat, Cambodia 
8 Kremlin, Moscow 
9 Chartres Cathedral, France 
10 Cappadocia, Turkey