The Temples of Angkor, the Great Barrier Reef and Machu Picchu have been named as the top-three global must-see spots, according to exploration experts.

In Lonely Planet's Ultimate Travel list, the next three places were taken up by the Great Wall of China, the Taj Mahal and the Grand Canyon National Park, with a range of other Unesco World Heritage Sites following closely behind.

In all, a team of travel experts and authors drew up a list of 500 of the world's best places to visit, with the Cambodian temple taking the top spot because it's the 'perfect harmony of creative ambition and spiritual devotion'.

In 1993, UNESCO launched a major campaign to restore and protect Angkor as a cultural treasure. 

Of the top places, 34 came from the UK and Northern Ireland, including the Lake District, Snowdonia in Wales and Edinburgh Castle.

The British Museum, founded in 1753, featured in the top 20 behind Tikal in Guatemala and was named 'the greatest treasure house of Europe.'

The free attraction includes around eight million artefacts that date back millions of years and was visited by over six million people last year.

To celebrate the release of Lonely Planet's Ultimate Travel List, three of the world's finest sand sculptors will recreate five sights from around the world on Peter's Hill in central London this week.

(dailymail.co.uk)