Our Top 10 Most Spectacular Waterfalls

Waterfalls always hold a special fascination as you watch millions of gallons of water crash over some rocky precipice. We've scoured the globe to find 10 of the most spectacular which you could see as part of an individual tailor-made itinerary.

1. Victoria Falls, Near Livingstone, Zambia

'It had never been seen before by European eyes. Scenes so lovely must have been gazed upon by angels in their flight'. Such were the words of the great missionary and explorer David Livingstone, in describing his impressions of the Victoria Falls. Known to the locals as 'the smoke that thunders', it is one of the true natural wonders of the world.

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2. Iguazú Falls, Puerto Iguazú, Argentina

The border between Brazil and Argentina is home to one of the world’s greatest natural phenomena, the Iguazú Falls. In the midst of a subtropical nature reserve, the earth seems to open up and 275 separate falls crash over a horseshoe-shaped precipice, nearly 5 km (3 miles) wide and 90 m (295 ft) high.

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3. Angel Falls, Gran Sabana, Venezuela

Inspiration for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous ‘The Lost World’, the great flat-topped mountains of the Gran Sabana are home to Angel Falls, the world's highest waterfall. The falls are named after the American pilot Jimmy Angel, who crash-landed here when looking for gold in the 1930s.

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4. Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada

One of the natural wonders of the world, Niagara Falls never fails to impress by the sheer scale and volume of thundering water. The famous Horseshoe Falls are divided from the American Falls by tiny Goat Island, and the whole sight is a dizzying spectacle of nature at its most powerful.

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5. Kaieteur Falls, Near Georgetown, Guyana

First see by Europeans in 1870, there are no other falls in the world with the magnitude of the sheer drop existing at Kaieteur. One of the world's natural wonders, it spews 30,000 gallons of water per second over a sandstone conglomerate tableland into a deep gorge — a drop of 250 m (822 ft) or 5 times the height of Niagara Falls.

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6. Huka Falls, Taupo, New Zealand

Although far from the widest or tallest the Huka Falls on the Waikato River, near Taupo in New Zealand, is still an impressive sight — especially from the small footbridge which crosses the raging torrent below. Another viewing option is up-close from the famous ‘Huka Jet’ boat.

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7. Khone Phapeng, Champaska Province, Laos

Khone Phapeng — the largest waterfall in Southeast Asia, also known as the 'Niagara of the east', though somewhat smaller than its namesake.

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8. Murchison Falls, Murchison Falls National Park, Uganda

Located in western Uganda, Murchison Falls is where the wide and placid Nile is suddenly forced through a narrow cleft in the Rift Valley escarpment producing a torrent of white water.

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9. Pagsanjan Waterfall, Near Manila, Philippines

Not the biggest but certainly in one of the most beautiful settings. It's one of the few in our list which you can get very close to: some people have enjoyed being taken out on a bamboo raft in order to get right behind the falls.

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10. Virginia Falls, Nahanni National Park, Canada

The Nahanni National Park in Canada's Northwest Territories is so remote that there are no roads in. Consequently, sightseeing is generally by float-plane. At Virginia Falls you can walk along the top of the falls to a perfect photo location, or follow the trail to the bottom of the falls to experience the force of this natural wonder.

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