The Top 8 Most Anticipated Landmarks to Visit, Inspired by LEGO® Sets

Many of us love to travel, and seeing the world’s most magnificent architectural wonders is on a lot of bucket lists - but with these iconic landmarks scattered all over the globe, it’s often tough to find the right time to visit them all.

Whether you’re a travel bug or know someone who is, it’s possible to book a visit to all the landmarks at once and manage a staycation: these eight great LEGO® Architecture sets bring the sights to you! And by checking out the real-world landmarks in virtual reality, it’s almost as good as a quick trip to the other side of the planet.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates - Burj Khalifa

Out of all landmarks analysed, the best-known skyscraper in Dubai – the Burj Khalifa - gained the most popularity over the course of the past two years. The average monthly search volume for this well-known tourist hotspot in 2019 was 1,220,000, which increased to 1,830,000 in 2021, meaning it gained popularity by 610,000 extra searches a month. Additionally, this landmark takes the crown for social presence, being tagged 5,186,939 times on Instagram.

The real-world structure towers over Dubai at 828 metres in height, and with a total of 160 floors. The observation deck also offers a great view over the city.

For those who don’t like heights, however, or who want to stand tall over a miniature version of the building, the LEGO® Burj Khalifa stands at 15 in. (39 cm) high, while the LEGO Dubai model is a little shorter, at 12 in. (33cm) - both great gifts for a world traveller!

Agra, India - Taj Mahal

27°10'30.0"N 78°02'31.7"E

One of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World, this beautiful building is considered the most important monument in the country. In the 17th century, Emperor Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal for his favourite wife. The mausoleum was built in 1632 out of white marble by order of Emperor Shah Jahan of the Mughal Empire. The building houses the tomb of the emperor's wife Mumtaz Mahal and the tomb of Emperor Shah Jahan.

The Taj Mahal in India only gets more popular, with the second-biggest increase in average monthly search volume since 2019, rising from 1,500,000 to 1,830,000 in 2021. It’s also incredibly popular on social networks, tagged over 1.7 million (1,727,288) times on Instagram.

The monument looks great where it is, but it would also look fantastic on display in your home: the LEGO set version is made up of over 2000 pieces and is great fun for adult builders looking for a challenge.

New York City, United States - Statue of Liberty

40.6892° N, 74.0445° W

Originally a gift from France to America, the statue was developed by the sculptor Bartholdi in collaboration with Gustave Eiffel, the Eiffel Tower designer. The United States received the statue on their 100th American Independence Day in 1886.

More than 3 million people visit the Statue of Liberty in New York every year, and it saw an increase in average monthly search volume of 150,000 from 2019 to 2021, from 673,000 a month to 823,000. On top of this, Instagram has seen a stunning 2,077,248 uses of the #statueofliberty hashtag.

If you don’t fancy a trip on the ferry to Liberty Island, you can bring the monument to your home with the 1685-piece Statue of Liberty set for ages 16 and up. Add it to other monuments on display to create your own LEGO world!

San Francisco, United States - Golden Gate Bridge

37.8199° N, 122.4783° W

The Golden Gate Bridge is probably the most filmed and photographed bridge in the world, as well as the most famous. In 1937, the residents of San Francisco were allowed to start crossing their cable-stayed bridge, which is 1.7 miles long and painted in a striking red-orange colour, officially called International Orange. The characteristic colour came to increase visibility, as it can get quite foggy in the San Francisco Bay. About 100,000 cars cross the bridge every day.

No bridge has collapsed as often in movies as the Golden Gate Bridge. And probably no bridge saw as much of a rise in popularity as this one either. There’s been an increase of 82,000 more searches per month on average for the landmark, growing from 368,000 in 2019 to 450,000 in 2021.

You can recreate the majesty of the bridge in miniature with the San Francisco LEGO set for ages 12 and up - a great gift for a young architect. Featuring the bridge itself (though don’t try crossing it on foot) as well as a number of other recognisable landmarks from the city, there’s plenty to make you feel like you’ve done a quick tour.

Rome, Italy - Colosseum

41°53'24.5"N 12°29'32.3"E

The Colosseum of Rome was built in the first century AD, and it took eight years to build. The opening games lasted 100 days, featuring all manner of spectacles and drawing citizens from miles around! The structure itself, made out of concrete and stone, spans 189 by 156 metres, and up to 50,000 spectators could fit inside. The Colosseum has unfortunately been badly damaged by a number of natural disasters, and despite many renovations, the building is still under threat of decay. That doesn't, however, stop the thousands of tourists who visit the Colosseum every day to enjoy its historic splendour.

This landmark, which is arguably one of the most famous ones in Italy, has stayed popular over the years with an average of 550,000 web searches per month between 2019 and 2021. It does, however, have a staggering 1,770,959 uses of the #colosseum hashtag on Instagram.

The LEGO brick equivalent of the monument is no less impressive: at a staggering 9036 pieces, it’s the largest brickset of these LEGO landmarks, and is bound to offer even experienced builders hours of satisfying construction fun.

Paris, France - Eiffel Tower

48°51'28.7"N 2°17'40.5"E

The world-famous Eiffel Tower in Paris is a monument that appeals to the imagination. The building was built in 1889 as the entrance to the World's Fair that same year. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower. Initially criticized by some of France's leading artists and intellectuals for designing it as not in keeping with the style of the time, it is now a global cultural icon for France and one of the most recognisable structures in the world.

The roof of the tower is 300 metres high, while the antenna raises it a further 24 metres. The Eiffel Tower is visited by 7 million people every year, making it the most visited paid monument in the world. Until 1930, it was the tallest building in the world, until the Chrysler Building in New York was completed.

This landmark surprisingly also saw no increase or decrease in popularity between 2019 and 2021, and remained at an average of 1,000,000 searches per month with the most hashtags used in this list: 6,664,177.

If you’re passionate about Paris, you can build the whole city with the LEGO Architecture brick set. Suitable for ages 12 and up, it naturally features the Eiffel Tower itself as well as other familiar landmarks like the Arc de Triomphe and the Louvre.

London, United Kingdom - Tower Bridge

51°30'21.1"N 0°04'30.5"W

At the end of the 19th century, the need for an additional bridge over the Thames became clear in the English capital, because London Bridge alone was not sufficient. Therefore, a new bridge was built, which grew to become London’s most famous one. It was built between 1886 and 1894, with its two towers being the most typical properties.

The bridge is 244 metres long and in the centre the bridge can be opened for water traffic. When closed, the distance between the water and the bridge is 8.6 metres, but when it is open, ships with a height of 42.5 metres can pass underneath without the bridge opening. The two bridge sections can be turned up to an angle of 86 degrees in just one minute, so that the ships can pass. Today, the bridge is opened and closed electrically, but in the past there was a hydraulic system: the original steam engines are now a tourist attraction.

Tower Bridge also kept steady in online popularity the last 2 years; the average monthly search volume stayed the same at 301,000 per month on top of which #towerbridge has been used 2,462,049 times on Instagram.

Add Tower Bridge and other London attractions to your own world displays with the LEGO London set. Immediately recognisable with Big Ben, the bridge itself, and the London Eye, as well as a few other familiar locations, it’s a great gift for anyone who’s a fan of the UK capital.

New York City, United States - Empire State Building

40.7484° N, 73.9857° W

Once the tallest building in the world, construction of the Empire State Building began in 1930 on St Patrick's Day and was completed just 410 days later in 1931. The building was designed by William F Lamb of architectural firm Shreve, Lamb and Harmon. It was named one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers and is known worldwide as an icon of New York City.

It's also an incredibly popular landmark for social media users, with 2,948,555 uses of the #empirestatebuilding hashtag on Instagram alone.

While still on the large side at 1767 bricks and 21 in. (55cm) tall, the LEGO Architecture Empire State Building set is a much more manageable size - and is sure to be a highlight of any landmark display!