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Many great engineering achievements of the past, from Gothic cathedrals to the Great Wall, the Golden Gate Bridge to the Eiffel Tower, feature prominently on the tourist map.
But if you want to bring your travels up to date, then what about the world’s more recent yet often overlooked engineering wonders?
They offer a refreshing change from palaces and temples, and they aren’t only marvels of science but eye-popping sights too. And there are more on the way.
In August 2025, the Italian government announced it was proceeding with the construction of a bridge between Sicily and mainland Italy. At 3300 metres it will become – by a long margin – the world’s longest suspension bridge, and it will surely be a sight worth seeing.
It’s sad but true that many road and rail projects don’t always offer much of a scenic experience, such as the Channel Tunnel between Britain and France, the Gotthard Base Tunnel that burrows under the Swiss Alps, and several of the world’s longest viaducts in China.
Others don’t cater to tourists, which makes them hard to admire. The MOSE barrier system in the Venetian Lagoon, designed to keep the sea at bay, has neither official viewpoints nor a museum to trumpet the remarkable achievement. The barriers can be seen only when they are raised out of the water during storm surges.
Still, there are many other extraordinary engineering wonders that we ought to add to our usual sightseeing list of landscapes, museums and monuments. Here are some of the best and most easily accessible.
Oresund Bridge, Denmark/Sweden
The design A 7.8-kilometre cable-stayed bridge, four-kilometre tunnel, artificial island and other infrastructure, opened in 2000. It carries road traffic and trains across the Oresund Strait between Copenhagen and Malmo.
See it The drive across takes about 20 minutes with a toll station and customs check, the first half (if you start in Sweden) is on the bridge before it dips onto Pepparholmen Island and enters the tunnel. A train runs beneath the road but gives you a restricted outlook thanks to steel trusses.
Explore it The best views on the Danish side are from Amager Standpark and Dragor south-east of Copenhagen, where you’ll also see a wind turbine farm in the strait. On the Swedish side, head to Oresund Bridge Viewpoint, from which you can walk up to the bridge. More fun is Ribersborgs Kallbadhus close to Malmo city centre, which has saunas, cold sea baths and superb (if more distant) bridge views.
While you’re there Historical and cultural Copenhagen needs little introduction. Malmo is a thrusting contemporary city of revamped waterfronts and stylish shopping, and it is a delight to cycle around. The Disgusting Food Museum will hilariously challenge your taste buds and nose. See visitskane.com
Qinghai-Tibet Railway, China
The design This 1956-kilometre railway line between Xining and Lhasa opened in 2006. Some 960 kilometres is above 4000 metres in altitude. The highest point is 5072 metres, making this the world’s highest railway line.
See it The whole journey takes 21 hours in six-bunk or posher four-bunk cabins. Oxygen is piped into the compartments to combat the high altitude. From the train’s windows, you have a continuous panorama of mountains, lakes, pale glacial rivers, grassland and barren plateaux. You might well spot the occasional yak herd.
Explore it Vast Qinghai Lake and the Kunlun Mountains are the first of the outsized scenery. Next day, beneath a glacier, you reach Tanggula, the world’s highest train station at 5068 metres. Several stations along the way have sightseeing platforms for a quick leg stretch. As the train reaches its destination, Potala Palace appears on a hillside.
While you’re there Lhasa is filled with Tibetan Buddhist monasteries and temples, of which the most striking is the always pilgrim-busy Jokhang Temple, which has a revered Buddha image. The Potala Palace, former seat of the dalai lamas, is huge and ornately decorated. See chinatibettrain.com
Millau Viaduct, France
The design The world’s tallest cable-stayed road viaduct at 343 metres, supported by seven pylons. The bridge, 2460 metres long and opened in 2004, spans the Tarn Valley north of Montpellier in southern France.
See it By car, stop at the rest area at the viaduct’s northern end, which has explanatory signboards and a viewpoint. Off the motorway and below is an information centre inside an old farmhouse with models of the viaduct and a short film on its design and construction. You can do a restricted-area guided tour in English to learn about the viaduct’s structure and get close-up below its main deck and inside a cathedral-like pylon.
Explore it You get brilliant views of this amazing structure – to which star architect Norman Foster added sleek design – both from surrounding country roads and walking tracks in Grands Causses nature park. Beautiful riverside village Peyre has lovely views towards the viaduct in the background.
While you’re there The rugged landscapes hereabouts hide other pretty villages and ruined castles, and they are great for hiking, rock climbing and caving. The caves are where Roquefort cheese is matured: you can visit producers and do tastings around Roquefort-sur-Soulzon. See tourisme-aveyron.com
Delta Works, Netherlands
The design Thirteen massive sections of storm-surge barriers, dams, dikes and sluice gates constructed from the 1954 onwards, that together form the world’s largest flood-protection system.
See it The most impressive sight is the nine-kilometre-long Eastern Scheldt storm surge barrier. Its gates usually remain open. You get a great general view from Neeltje Jans island and you can see it up close – and inside – at Deltapark Neeltje Jans, which has exhibitions on the engineering marvel. The newest Maeslant storm surge barrier, with its floating pontoons, is also worth seeing. It has weekend guided tours.
Explore it Somewhat bizarrely, Neeltje Jans has an Aquasplash water park to entertain the kids when engineering palls, though getting flooded by water from overhead buckets seems inappropriate. A 214-kilometre Expedition Route cycleway tours the Delta Works in Zeeland. The lakes and meadows of De Shotsman and the historic town of Veere are its most scenic sections.
While you’re there Check out the Netherlands’ oldest city, Dordrecht, and nearby De Biesbosch National Park, as well as Middelburg, which has glorious architecture from the Dutch golden age. Kinderdijk’s World Heritage windmills are the 1740s version of water management. See holland.com
Itaipu Dam, Brazil/Paraguay
The design A colossal hydroelectric dam on the Parana River, completed in 1984 and expanded in 2007, which supplies almost all of Paraguay’s electricity and nearly 10 per cent of Brazil’s.
See it You can visit the dam only on tours, which cover the history and the facts behind the dam’s construction; count on 2.5 hours. You start with a short film at the visitor centre and you are then bussed around, but alight at two outlooks over the dam, which stretches 7.2 kilometres. The dam’s sheer size is astonishing, and so is the sight of water gushing over spillways.
Explore it It’s worth paying more for the comprehensive tour that takes you inside the dam’s working areas, such as a turbine shaft and a generator gallery, so large that workers resort to bicycles to get around. A viewing gallery gazes into the central command room, which looks like the lair of a James Bond villain.
While you’re there Iguazu Falls is the world’s largest waterfall system and is another stupendous sight. Most tourists stay in Puerto Iguazu in Argentina, but Brazilian town Foz do Iguacu is cheaper, has more varied tourist attractions and presents wider panoramas of the falls. See turismoitaipu.com.br
Burj Khalifa, UAE
The design Since 2009, it’s the world’s tallest building and the tallest structure, soaring 829.8 metres over Dubai. It also claims the world’s most floors (163), the longest elevators (504 metres) and the highest restaurant (442 metres).
See it A two-minute, ear-popping lift ride takes you to At the Top observation deck, which isn’t at the top but on level 148. You can continue to levels 124 and 125, where you’ll be at 456 metres. Both give you 360-degree views and access to unnerving and windy outdoor platforms. Look through clever telescopes and see the view as it was in the past in this ever-mushrooming city.
Explore it You could spend all day and night in this tower, which has an Armani Hotel, a lounge for drinks and a modern French restaurant, Atmosphere. Stay on for Dubai Fountain, a dancing water display over Lake Burj at the tower’s foot (currently suspended for renovations).
While you’re there Colossal Dubai Mall is down below. Glitzy suburb Jumeirah is nearby: it has a great beach, a palm-shaded promenade and Wild Wadi water park. Souk Madinat Jumeirah has shopping and many restaurants with views overlooking Burj Al-Arab, another iconic Dubai building. See burjkhalifa.ae
CERN, Switzerland
The design The European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva is a joint project of 24 nations. It is the world’s largest particle physics laboratory, most famous for its 27-kilometre-long underground Large Hadron Collider.
See it While you can’t access the collider and its complex machinery, you’ll be transported there virtually via impressive scenography in the exhibition area, with CERN guides on hand to answer your gnarly questions about quantum mechanics. Interactive, hands-on exhibits explore the Big Bang and the mysteries of minute particles.
Explore it CERN researchers give regular science shows in the theatre, and workshops in labs, on subjects such as electromagnetism, particle detection and the origins of the universe – but in entertaining ways. You can learn how to move elephants using only air, play quantum tennis or football and you can design your own star. Artworks inspired by the universe are also on display.
While you’re there CERN is in the undistinguished suburb Meyrin behind the airport, so head into town. The History of Science Museums sits in lovely Parc Mon-Repos, from which flower-draped, Alp-gazing promenades lead into central Geneva, with its agreeable old town and its soaring Jet d’Eau fountain. See visit.cern
Panama Canal, Panama
The design This 82-kilometre canal, with an artificial lake and a series of locks that connect the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, was opened in 1914 and expanded in 2016.
See it Miraflores Visitor Centre near Panama City is the most popular viewing point, from which you can watch ships passing through the locks. An IMAX theatre shows a 3D movie narrated by Morgan Freeman on the canal’s history. At the opposite, Caribbean end of the canal, Agua Clara Visitor Centre has more observation decks and a one-kilometre path along the canal.
Explore it There are several more sites, including the Panama Canal Interactive Centre, which covers its history and construction, the 1914 administration building, which has superb frescoes around its cupola and the Interoceanic Canal Museum. Head out along Amador Causeway for fine views of the canal and the many ships waiting to enter it.
While you’re there Panama City has the oldest Spanish-era town in the mainland Americas but it also has plenty of contemporary chic too, symbolised by its Frank Gehry-designed Biodiversity Museum. Soberania National Park, just outside the city, has abundant bird life, and you can cruise up the Chagres River. See visitcanaldepanama.com
BMW Group plant, Germany
The design BMW’s main factory, beside its corporate headquarters in Munich, houses an advanced automated assembly system that produces 900 cars a week. It will manufacture only fully electric vehicles by 2027.
See it A tour will take you through each section of the factory from the press, body and engine shops to the hall where everything is assembled into gleaming motorcars – currently the BMW 4 Series Coupe. The tour takes two hours, and you’ll walk three kilometres, an indication of the size of this uber-modern, sparkling-clean facility.
Explore it Two more attractions are at the same site. The free BMW World, in a very alluring spiral glass building, showcases the latest car models and has a lifestyle store, while the more interesting and superbly presented BMW Museum focuses on the brand’s history and displays iconic vintage cars, racing cars and motorbikes.
While you’re there BMW is beside Olympia Park, created for the 1972 Olympics. Munich’s other suburban attraction is Nymphenburg Palace, a baroque masterpiece embedded in manicured gardens. Central Munich has a full complement of churches, a town hall, beer gardens and many top-class museums. See bmw-welt.com
Boeing Everett production facility, the US
The design The world’s largest factory and the biggest-volume building since 1996 (started in 1967, and expanded several times) sits outside Seattle, where Boeing 777s are assembled.
See it Take the 80-minute tour inside the 777 factory, where you’ll see the bodies of giant aircraft being assembled by vast automated machines and toiling humans. Then watch from the Sky Deck as the finished product and test planes take off.
Explore it The Future of Flight visitor area includes the interactive Engineering Zone and Aerospace Adventure exhibits, which cover aircraft innovation, design and maintenance. You can sit in a cockpit and get eye to eye with giant engines. Wisk Zone provides wacky examples of proposed future aircraft. Another section is dedicated to the iconic Boeing 747; yet another has a full-scale model of the Destiny Module that carries payloads to the International Space Station.
While you’re there Seattle has many fine museums dedicated to art, history and pop music, but don’t miss the excellent Museum of Flight and its historic aircraft, some of which you can walk through. Get fresh air afterwards in Seattle’s half-dozen world-class gardens: top pick, the Japanese Garden. See boeing.com
Five of Australia’s grandest designs
Snowy Hydro, NSW
This 70-year-old hydroelectric scheme – now being vastly expanded – comprises 16 dams, nine power stations and 225 kilometres of tunnels and aqueducts. You can most easily see parts of it near Lake Eucumbene and Lake Jindabyne. The Snowy Hydro Discovery Centre in Cooma covers its operation and the latest construction projects and it offers a virtual flight over the dams and lakes. See snowyhydro.com.au
Kalgoorlie Super Pit, WA
The lookout over this gargantuan open-cut mine, one of the world’s largest, gives you an impression of its vast size, with huge trucks looking like Tonka toys below. The hole is large enough to swallow Uluru. The lookout sometimes remains open during blasting for added excitement. You can also take guided tours of the goldmine workings. See superpit.com.au
Sydney Metro, NSW
The first line of this work in progress, 51.5 kilometres between Tallawong and Sydenham via the city centre, opened a year ago and has seen 67 million commuters ride the rails. Two more lines will open, one linking Sydney’s new airport. The ride is efficient but unexciting, since most of the line is underground. See sydneymetro.info
Adelaide-Darwin Railway, SA/NT
This almost 3000-kilometre railway, a century in the making, traverses some of Australia’s most hostile terrain across outback, desert, dry riverbeds and swampland. Though the line was designed for freight, passengers can journey on The Ghan over three days and two nights, with stops at Maria or Manguri, Alice Springs and Katherine. See journeybeyondrail.com.au
Ord River Irrigation Scheme, WA
This vast hydroelectric project near Kununurra in the Kimberley, begun in the 1970s, created Lake Argyle, which is 18 times the size of Sydney Harbour and dotted with islands, as well as new wetlands that are now a significant habitat for migrating birds. Drive around Weber Plains farmland, criss-crossed with irrigation channels, where tropical fruit and cotton, sugarcane and sandalwood flourish. See australiasnorthwest.com
