Australia has three of the top 20 spots on a new list of the world’s most treasured travel destinations. Surprisingly the Great Barrier Reef only takes second place, so where on earth is number one? In pole-position sits the Cambodian Temples of Angkor, earning its top spot because it’s the ‘perfect harmony of creative ambition and spiritual devotion’.

The Lonely Planet have published their Ultimate Travel list, a distilled itinerary of the most stunning places on earth. The travel guide used a team of experts and authors to draw up a list of 500 of the world’s best places to visit. In pole-position sits the Cambodian Temples of Angkor, earning its top spot because it’s the ‘perfect harmony of creative ambition and spiritual devotion’.

Coming in behind the Great Barrier reef, which won a very respectable second place, and Machu Picchu and the Great Wall of China which came in third and fourth places.

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. The museum was named ‘the greatest treasure house of Europe’ and is a free attraction which 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.

So here are The Lonely Planet’s Top Twenty Destinations featuring three of Australia’s highlights (the rest of the world has to share the remaining 17 places)