Best of · waterfalls
The 15 Most Beautiful Waterfalls in the World
15 places · every one real, mapped, and worth the trip
A waterfall is the simplest of wonders — a river thrown off a cliff — and yet no two feel alike. Some overwhelm with sheer power; others enchant with colour, height, or the improbable places they hide. This is our editors' pick of the most beautiful in the atlas, roughly ordered by the strength of the spectacle rather than any single measurement.
Every one is a real, mapped place with an honest guide to reaching it and the season when the flow is at its best — because a waterfall in the dry months can be a very different sight.
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Angel Falls Tallest on Earth
Canaima National Park, Venezuela
The highest waterfall on the planet, spilling almost a kilometre off the rim of a Venezuelan tepui into cloud and jungle — so tall the water drifts to mist before it lands.
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Iguazú Falls The widest spectacle
Paraná, Brazil / Misiones, Argentina border
A near-three-kilometre chain of hundreds of falls straddling Argentina and Brazil, ending in the throat-of-the-devil chasm — arguably the most overwhelming waterfall experience anywhere.
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Victoria Falls Largest curtain
Zambezi River, Zimbabwe / Zambia border
The Zambezi drops into a mile-wide gorge in a wall of water and spray the locals named 'the smoke that thunders' — biggest at the end of the rains, around March to May.
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Rhine Falls
Near Schaffhausen, Northern Switzerland
The broadest plain waterfall in Europe, where the Rhine fans out and crashes over a 150-metre-wide ledge in Switzerland — you can boat to the rock in the middle of it.
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Kuang Si Falls
Luang Prabang Province, northern Laos
Tiers of impossibly turquoise water stepping down through Laotian forest near Luang Prabang — the mineral-rich pools glow bluest in the drier months.
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Gullfoss
Hvítá river, Southwest Iceland
Iceland's 'golden falls' tumble in two great steps into a rugged canyon on the Hvítá, often lit by rainbows in the spray — a cornerstone of the Golden Circle.
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Dettifoss
Jökulsárgljúfur, Vatnajökull National Park, Northeast Iceland
A brute of a fall in Iceland's north, grey with glacial meltwater and thundering hard enough to feel through the ground — one of the most powerful in Europe.
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Niagara Falls
Ontario, Canada / New York, United States
The famous horseshoe on the US–Canada border isn't the tallest, but the sheer volume — millions of litres a minute — makes it unforgettable, especially by boat at its base.
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Skógafoss
Skógar, South Iceland
A broad, thundering curtain on Iceland's south coast you can walk right up to, with a stairway climbing beside it to the top of the drop.
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Vøringsfossen
Eidfjord, Vestland, Western Norway
One of Norway's most celebrated falls, plunging off the Hardangervidda plateau into the wild Måbødalen, best in early summer as the snowmelt peaks.
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Krimml Waterfalls
High Tauern National Park, Salzburg, Austria
Austria's tallest, a three-tier giant crashing through the Hohe Tauern — a forest trail zigzags up alongside all three drops.
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Nahanni & Virginia Falls
Northwest Territories, Canada
Roughly twice the height of Niagara and deep in Canada's roadless Nahanni wilderness, reached only by float-plane and canoe — a true expedition waterfall.
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Erawan Falls
Kanchanaburi Province, western Thailand
Seven emerald limestone tiers stepping up through a Thai national park, each with a pool you can swim in — a cool, green day out from Kanchanaburi.
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Tinuy-an Falls
Bislig, Surigao del Sur, Mindanao, Philippines
A wide, multi-tier curtain in Mindanao often called the Philippines' 'little Niagara', with mist and morning rainbows over the pools below.
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Ouzoud Falls
Tanaghmeilt, near Azilal, Middle Atlas, Morocco
Morocco's tallest falls step down red-rock tiers in the Atlas foothills, with resident Barbary macaques and rainbows in the afternoon spray.
Flow changes everything at a waterfall — most of these are grandest right after the wet season or peak snowmelt, and quieter (sometimes far quieter) in the dry months. Each guide notes the best window; always check current conditions before a long trip.
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