Paris, France
The storming of the Bastille was the start of the French Revolution and a huge turning point in the history of democracy. The Bastille was a terrifying figure in French history—a political prison jampacked with dissident writers and disease-riddled vermin. Though it was largely inactive when the commoners took over, the symbolic victory spurred the revolutionaries onward. The ideas that spread in the wake of the revolution led to monarchies across Europe being replaced with republics, more or less creating the political landscape we know today. And you can stand in the spot where it all started.
(image via davehamster, CC)
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania
The Battle of Gettysburg was a crucial turning point in the Civil War. The gruesome battle saw casualties of over 46,000 Americans. It routed General Lee's attempts to invade the North, and it inspired a presidential speech in memoriam that resonates to this day. Standing on a Civil War battlefield is a sobering experience but one that Americans should have. You'd be hard-pressed to find a more powerful one than this.
(image via pablosanchez, CC)
Normandy, France
This French beach was the site of the invasion that turned the tide of World War II. After months of deception about the time and place of the attack, the United States, the U.K., Canada, and the Free French Forces launched a massive assault on occupied France with help from at least eight other countries. The beach is tranquil today, and it's surreal to see such serenity in a place that saw such carnage. The fate of the whole world once hinged on this one location. There's something incredibly powerful in that.
London, England
Okay, yes. It's a reconstruction, but "reconstruction" was always part of the Globe, anyway. It was built with wood recycled from another theater, and it burned down after 14 years when a cannon used in Henry VIII misfired. It was rebuilt and then torn down about 30 years later by the Puritans. The newest version was built in 1997, as close to the original as possible. Seeing Shakespeare performed with the verve and vitality of people who know what they're doing is always a treat, but the standing-room-only floor and reconstructed surroundings really make it come alive. And while you might not be sitting exactly where Shakespeare's plays debuted, you're pretty darn close.
(image via davidstanleytravel, CC)
Various Locations in Central Asia
The Silk Road was one of the most important trade routes in history. It was also the foundation for diplomacy and cross-cultural understanding in the 13th century. Art, religion, food, and technology traveled with merchants along these paths. You can still see the watchtowers and customs checkpoints along the routes, and while one vacation couldn't show you the whole route, you can still see cities like Istanbul, Turkey (then known as Constantinople); Varanasi, India; and Xi'an, China.
Vienna, Austria
This one's for music history fans. Vienna has such a deep, rich history with Classical and Romantic music that it's ingrained in the tourist experience here. Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, Schubert, Mahler, Brahms, Schoenberg, Webern, Berg, and many more called Vienna home. You can scarcely walk two steps without bumping into a cafe where Mozart debuted a sonata or musicians in powdered wigs fought each other to sell tickets in the park. Those concerts are fantastic, by the way—many of the orchestras use period dress and instruments. It's a little strange to see classical music turned into a tourist commodity, but it's a great experience.
Temple Mount, Jerusalem
Three of the world's major religions hold this place sacred. Said to be the spot where Abraham was ready to sacrifice his son, this was also the site of the First and Second Israelite Temples and is one of the most hotly contended pieces of land on the planet. Regardless of any religious background a person may or may not have, this spot is deeply rooted to the history of one of the world's oldest civilizations and is important to several more.
(image via youngshanahan, CC)
Rome, Italy
Vestiges of Ancient Rome are everywhere in Europe—even some of the roads built by the empire have survived to the present day. There's hardly a larger, more impressive, or better-preserved example of the Roman Empire than the Colosseum. The old building is situated bizarrely in the middle of modern-day Rome. The site of countless gladiatorial fights, plays, executions, and staged naval battles, the Colosseum is also, to this day, the largest amphitheatre ever built.
(image via kosalabandara, CC)
Williamsburg, Virginia
Williamsburg is a bounty of colonial history. Nearby is the remains of Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in the country. An enormous draw is Colonial Williamsburg, a huge living-history museum whose surviving colonial buildings have been restored to the way they appeared in the 18th century. The region is full of reenactors, and the incredible Governor's Palace, where Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson lived, was rebuilt to the old specifications back in the 1930s. This is America before it was America.
Boston, Massachusetts
The Freedom Trail runs 2.5 miles through Boston and takes you through 16 sites, each important to American history. From the site of the Boston Massacre to the Paul Revere House to the USS Consitution, the early days of the country are laid out by reenactors who are happy to answer your questions as you walk the same ground the country's Founding Fathers did.
