Mountain ranges come in all shapes, sizes, altitudes and climates, and while heavyweights like the Alps, Rockies, Andes and Himalayas are world-renowned for their showstopping beauty, a much smaller collection of summits in northern Spain has just been crowned the planet’s most beautiful place.
It’s called the Picos de Europa (or ‘Peaks of Europe’), and it sits around 20km from the coast, forming part of the Cantabrian Mountains. The range straddles Asturias, Cantabria, and Castile and León, with the highest peak, Torre de Cerredo, towering to 2,650 metres high.
The mountain range has just topped ’s list of most beautiful places in the world.
‘[Picos de Europa is] a marvel of geography, sure, but it also makes for scenes of extraordinary beauty. The mountains rise steeply out of the sea, meaning views contain not just plunging gorges and perilous peaks but gleaming strips of beach and the stormy Cantabrian Sea.’ writes ’s UK news and features editor Ed Cunningham. ‘Within the national park are countless more scenes of beauty: the strikingly lonely Naranjo de Bulnes, age-old mountain villages Sotres and Cain, the shimmering glacial Lakes of Covadonga and the namesake in-cliff shrine and pilgrimage site that teeters over a waterfall.’
Heading to the Picos’ mountains? Ed recommends embracing the popularity of the 23-kilometre Ruta del Cares: traversing past peaks and waterfalls, this canyon route is worth every ounce of the hype.
Elsewhere on our brand-new top 10 are The Library at Morgan Library and Museum in NYC, Portugal’s wonderful Douro Valley, and the Old Town of Bologna. Scroll on for the full top 10.
The 10 most beautiful places in the world, according to
- Picos de Europa, Spain
- Komodo National Park, Indonesia
- The Library at Morgan Library and Museum, New York City
- Douro Valley, Portugal
- Big Sur, USA
- Ullswater, England
- Old Town, Bologna, Italy
- Capo Testa, Sardinia
- Victoria Falls, Africa
- Punakha Valley, Bhutan
🏞️ Read ’s full collection of the world’s 51 most beautiful places for 2026.
Did you see that Europe has a brand-new nature park with 150km of hiking trails – and it’s one hour from a major capital?
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