Bucket list? Zzzz. But this list of 25 spots -- from caves to critters to Cuba -- crackles with energy

By Mary Forgione

Aug. 28, 2015 8:15 AM PT

You won't find India's Taj Mahal or San Francisco's Alcatraz on Smithsonian magazine's list of 25 top new places to travel in its September issue. It approaches destinations as a place to learn and experience rather than just snap a photo.

Smithsonian calls it a life list -- more about living than kicking the bucket. And it's geared toward the 21st century traveler. Four U.S. destinations make the list, and five sites don't even exist yet.

Check out Smithsonian's "21st Century Life List: 25 Great New Places to See" by Jamie Malanowski.

Here are the 25 that made the cut.

1. Hang Son Doong cave, Vietnam

Hang Son Doong cave in Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park in Vietnam.

(Doug Knuth / Wikimedia Commons)

The cave, believed to be the largest in the world, has been open to tourists for the past two years. Its entrance was only discovered in 1991, was then lost and then rediscovered. A river runs through this massive cave whose chambers can be as much as 450 wide and 600 feet deep. It's about five miles long, so go with a guide.

2. CERN Laboratory, Switzerland

The ATLAS calorimeter as it was being installed at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. In 2015 the world's largest particle accelerator turns back on with double the amount of energy. Credit: CERN

A calorimeter being installed at the large hadron collider at CERN. (CERN)

Its big claim to fame is being the place where experiments led to the discovery of the Higgs bosun or God particle. And if you don't get particle physics, brush up before you go. The center, known by its acronym for Conseil Europeen pour la Recherche Nucleaire (European Organization for Nuclear Research), only occasionally schedules open days for the public to visit. It's located in Meyrin, north of Geneva.

3. Spaceport America, New Mexico

Guests stand outside the new Spaceport America hangar Monday, Oct. 17, 2011 in Upham, N.M. British billionaire Richard Branson dedicated the newly completed terminal Monday where his Virgin Galactic is slated to begin his commercial space tourism venture from the remote patch of desert in Sierra County. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Opening of Spaceport America in 2011. (Matt York / Associated Press)

If you want to take a $250,000 commercial flight into outer space, this is probably where you'll take off and land -- with a little bit of weightlessness on your return. Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic space travel venture chugs on in Mojave, Calif., despite the setback of a fatal pilot crash last year. Spaceport offers daily tours at the site about 55 miles north of Las Cruces.

4. Mountain gorilla treks, East Africa

TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY PETER MARTELL A photo taken on August 1, 2015 shows a young mountain gorilla in the jungle at Bukima in Virunga National Park, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Surrounding misty forests in green hills of the vast park -- stretching for 7,800 square kilometres (3,010 square miles) -- are home to a quarter of the world's critically endangered mountain gorillas. In 2011, over 3,000 visitors came to Virunga, but violence forced the park shut the next year, and only fully reopening in late 2014. The tourists are vital: the income they bring funds the park's survival. AFP PHOTO / PETER MARTELLPETER MARTELL/AFP/Getty Images ** OUTS - ELSENT, FPG - OUTS * NM, PH, VA if sourced by CT, LA or MoD **

(Peter Martell/AFP/Getty Images)

Travelers see the big animals close up on these treks in Congo and Rwanda. It's the close contact that makes this experience list-worthy. Smithsonian offers this tip on how to act when you see one: "Speak quietly; stay at least 20 feet from the animals; if one charges, crouch down slowly, avoid eye contact and wait for the animal to pass. In other words, act as if you were taking your tween daughter to a One Direction concert." Cost is about $400 a day in Congo and $750 in Rwanda, the magazine reports.

5. ALMA telescope, northern Chile

Part of the antenna cluster at Atacama Compact Array.

(European Southern Observatory)

It's the clearest view of the night sky you'll ever get. That's because this array of telescopes sits above the Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on the planet. Formally called the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array, the telescope sits at 16,570 feet above sea level. Parts of the site are open to tourists -- and don't forget to stand still at night and just look up.

The rest of the best ...

6. Mendenhall Ice Caves, Alaska

Ice caves at Mendenhall Glacier in Alaska.

(Gillfoto / Wikimedia Commons)

The ice caves exist under the Mendenhall Glacier (which is melting) in Tongass National Park.

7. Ferrari World, Abu Dhabi

(Aziz J. Hayat / Wikimedia Commons)

The theme park boasts the world's fastest roller coaster -- 0 to 60 mph in 2 seconds and a top speed of 149 mph in five seconds.

8. Cayman Trench, Caribbean Sea

You can dip 2,000 feet below the sea aboard a submarine operated by the Roatan Institute of Deepsea Exploration.

9. Museum of Islamic Art, Qatar

I.M. Pei designed this museum with textiles, manuscripts, ceramics, jewelry and more in Doha.

10. NOMA restaurant

A dish from the restaurant Noma in Copenhagen ~"White asparagus with poached egg yolk and sauce of woodruff

White asparagus with poached egg yolk and sauce of woodruff. (CycloneBill/Wikimedia Commons )

Quite simply the world's best restaurant, located in a warehouse in Copenhagen. Chef Rene Redzepi forages and creates extraordinary dishes -- in the kitchen and on the plate.

11. Havana

HAVANA, CUBA -- FRIDAY, APRIL 24, 2015: The dome of El Capitolio, the National Capitol Building, right, punctuates the skyline in Havana, Cuba, on April 24, 2015. Prior to the Cuban Revolution of 1959, the Cuban Congress was housed in the building. The Cuban government is restoring the building for use once again as the home of Cuba's National Assembly. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times )

"Go, baby, for the love of God go!" the Smithsonian list says. Go for the time capsule aspect of visiting Havana before it all vanishes.

12. Leicester, England

(FILES) A file picture taken on February 4, 2013 shows Leicester Cathedral in the city of Leicester in central England. Britain's High Court ordered on May 23, 2014 that king Richard III should be buried in a cathedral in Leicester, the city where his remains were found under a car park two years ago. Descendants of the infamous ruler, who died in battle in 1485, had fought for his remains to be buried in York Minster, in the northern city that gave its name to Richard's royal house. But the court ruled that there was no reason that Richard, who was immortalised as one of Shakespeare's greatest villains, should not be buried in Leicester, eastern England. AFP PHOTO / ANDREW COWIEANDREW COWIE/AFP/Getty Images ** OUTS - ELSENT, FPG - OUTS * NM, PH, VA if sourced by CT, LA or MoD **

(Andrew Cowie / AFP/Getty Images )

This is all about Richard the III, killed in 1485 and whose body was recently discovered. See the Leicester Cathedral, above, where his bones were reinterred last March, below, the Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Center and the King Richard III Visitor Center.

epa04674975 King Richard's coffin is carried through the city towards Leicester Cathedral in Leicester, central England, 22 March 2015. The City of Leicester is preparing for the reburial of King Richard III who died in Bosworth in 1485. Richard will be re-interred at Leicester Cathedral 26 March. EPA/ANDY RAIN ** Usable by LA, CT and MoD ONLY **

(Andy Rain / EPA )

13. Haifa, Israel

(EdoM / Wikimedia Commons )

Visit the Baha'i shrine in Haifa, above.

14. Ross Island, Antarctica

(Eddy Hartenstein / Los Angeles Times)

Spend New Year's Eve (and day, of course) in Antarctica, where you'll find folks celebrating the Icestock music festival.

(Eddy Hartenstein / Los Angeles Times)

15. Throbbing Temple, New Delhi

(Vaibhav Shukla / Wikimedia Commons )

Swaminarayan Akshardham Temple is the largest Hindu temple in the world.

16. John Muir Way, Scotland

FALKIRK, SCOTLAND - JULY 08: The Kelpies sculptures are officially opened by Princess Anne, Princess Royal and a flotilla of boats on July 8, 2015 in Falkirk, Scotland. Sculptor Andy Scott also attended the opening, along with Duke, a Clydesdale horse which was one of the models for the 30m works, which have received more than one million visitors since they were completed in April 2014. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images) ** OUTS - ELSENT, FPG - OUTS * NM, PH, VA if sourced by CT, LA or MoD **

The newly opened Kelpies sculptures in Falkirk, Scotland, are a stop on the John Muir Way. (Jeff J. Mitchell / Getty Images)

The 145-mile John Muir Way, named for the Sierra Club founder and naturalist, runs from his hometown of Dunbar to Helensburgh.

17. Karakum Desert, Darvaza, Turkmenistan

(David Stanley / Wikimedia Commons )

The Karakum Desert, above, also holds the natural-gas cavern called the Door to Hell, below.

(Flydime / Wikimedia Commons)

18. Tianmen Mountain, Hunan Province, China

Take the 700-foot sky walk in Zhangjiajie National Forest Park.

19. Ecuador by rail

epa04900788 General view from Quito, Ecuador, of Cotopaxi volcano, on 27 August 2015 which continues expeling ash that affects the nearby towns. EPA/JOSE JACOME ** Usable by LA, CT and MoD ONLY **

(Jose Jacome / EPA)

Take the rail line from Quito in the Andes, above, to Guayaquil on the Pacific coast.

20. Ellis Island Hospital, New York City

Images that are part of the exhibit "Unframed - Ellis Island" by artist JR are incorporated into a dilapidated window inside the contagious diseases ward of the Ellis Island hospital complex, Thursday, Sept. 25, 2014, in New York. The complex, which will be opened to the public for the first time ever on Oct. 1, 2014, stopped operating in 1954. In its day, the complex was the largest U.S. Public Health Service institution. Sick and pregnant immigrants were treated and cured before they were allowed to enter the country _ or were sent back to their native land. The facility included wards for contagious diseases, mental health and obstetrics. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez) ** Usable by LA and DC Only **

Period photographs of patients and the hospital. (Julio Cortez / Associated Press)

21. SkyRise Tower, Miami

This will be tower shaped like a money clip slated to open in 2018.

22. Louvre Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Rendering of the Louvre Abu Dhabi. According to the press release, it says, "The Louvre Abu Dhabi will be one of the premier cultural institutions located in the heart of the Saadiyat Cultural District that are unprecedented in scale and scope. These feature Zayed National Museum, which will open in 2016, and Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, which opens in 2017 - both also designed by world-renowned Pritzker-prize winning architects. All this adds to the appeal of Saadiyat which exudes an exclusive lifestyle through the island's high-end residential, leisure, cultural and tourism facilities."

(Saadiyat)

The long-awaited Saadiyat Island museum may open as soon as December, according to Smithsonian.

23. Garden footbridge, London

The footbridge that will measure 1,200 feet is expected to open in 2018.

24. Kingdom Tower, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

The tower scheduled to open in 2018 aims to claim the world's tallest building (3,034 feet).

25. Giza Plateau, Grand Egyptian Museum, Egypt

The museum will house 100,000 artifacts when it opens in 2018.

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