Aircraft

Pedra Bonita

Rio de Janeiro’s location within steep mountains makes it perfect for the sports of hang and paragliders. Here on Pedra Bonita (“Beautiful Rock”) is one of over 50 launch ramps in Rio where those who are brave enough leap off…

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Tuesday, 2nd May 2006

Antonov An-225 Mriya

Parked at Gostomel Airport we find the only completed Antonov An-225 Mriya, which is the world’s biggest aircraft! (the American “Spruce Goose” has a larger wingspan, but it only ever flew once, and the Mriya is larger in terms of…

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Monday, 1st May 2006

Buckley Air Force Base

Buckley Air Force Base is home to the 460th Space Wing Staff and features loads of these giant radar golf balls, which I guess are used for communicating with their “Defense Support Program” satellites. The base also hosts the Colorado…

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Sunday, 30th April 2006

Bottomless Hot Air Balloon

Floating above the Parc André-Citroën in Paris, France, we find a gigantic tethered hot-air-balloon. If you look closely at the shadow you can see that the “basket” has no bottom! Have the occupants plummeted to their untimely deaths? No, rather…

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Friday, 28th April 2006

Frankfurt Plane Shadows

Until recently only visible in Google Earth, Maps users too can now see this super-cool sequence of aeroplane shadows above Germany’s largest airport, Frankfurt International. The first one is the best I think, but it’s great how the shadow from…

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Tuesday, 25th April 2006

Another Plane in Flight

This is a nice high res shot of a plane over autumnal suburbia in Illinois. I can’t seem to find the shadow of this one on the ground, but is must be pretty high to appear so big. Sarah says:…

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Monday, 24th April 2006

Welcome to Google Sightseeing

Google Sightseeing takes you on tour of the world as seen from satellite, using the free Google Earth program, or Google Maps in your web browser. Our team of authors present weird and wonderful sights as suggested by readers.

Could you be one of our authors? We're looking for more freelance writers - please get in touch for more information.

Best of Google Sightseeing

Sivash: The Rotten Sea

Sivash is the shallow system of lagoons that separates Crimea from mainland Ukraine. Home to large-scale salt deposits, Sivash may just contain the most colourful waters to be found in Google Maps, with ponds of blue, beige and organe readily visible.

Robben Island

Robben Island is a prison island off Capetown, South Africa, best known as the jail where Nelson Mandela was incarcerated…

Revisiting Area 51

Whether it’s space aliens, light-speed travelling spaceships, or just some top-secret government testing, the world’s most famous “secret place” has…

Top Ten Northernmost Items on Google Maps

Here at Google Sightseeing, our obsession with superlatives knows no bounds, whether it be the largest, the smallest, the funniest, or the strangest. Join us as we literally go in another direction with our look at ten items that have the right to be called the northernmost such things on Earth!

Top 5 Worst Traffic Cities in the World

Nobody likes traffic. The frequent starts and stops just to roll another few feet can grind away at anyone’s mind.…

World’s Tallest Lighthouses

For centuries lighthouses have served as navigation aids, helping protect marine traffic from running aground on dangerous coastlines, rocks and…

Recent Comments

  1. Ian Brown: Thanks again markus. I’ve updated the post to say that Cape Hatteras is the tallest traditional...
  2. Ian Brown: Oops. You are correct, markus. Thanks for spotting that. I got caught in the confusion / dispute about...
  3. markus: wouldn’t the second tallest lighthouse in the world – located in the US – be the tallest in...
  4. edmonton website development: This is what I was exactly looking for thanks a lot for this.
  5. Ahmed: Are you kidding? Damascus, Cairo, and even Amman are far worse than half this list.

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