Bucket list: The 10 places in the world that photos can't do justice, you need to see in real life

The other problem is the weather – it is almost always hot, sticky and overcast in Tikal, which makes the perfect blue sky image unlikely.

The Arabian Desert

That desert trip from Dubai or Abu Dhabi can provide some marvellous, vast horizons of seductive rolling sand dunes. But it's very difficult to capture the scale, and the camera has a tendency to flatten the differences in elevation due to the dunes looking so similar. Light is the key to getting halfway respectable shots – the first and last hour of daylight will provide more, much-needed shadow. And honing in rather than trying to capture it all is usually a better bet.

See also: Bleak, spectacular and deadly

Cape Point, South Africa

By all means take a picture of the endless ocean unfolding before you, but it's just going to look like interchangeable sea. What's important is behind you, not what's in front – and it's a similar case for almost all places with an end-of-the-earth feel. The sensation of being on the last bit of land usually dwarfs the visual impact of either said land or the sea ahead of it.

See also: The hidden gems of South Africa's 'Mother City'

The Leaning Tower of Pisa, Italy

It's very hard to get a good shot of the famous leaning tower, largely due to hordes of people in the way trying to get photos of themselves with it. But even if you can miraculously get everyone to clear off, chances are that the picture won't do the place justice. And that's because the cathedral itself is way, way more impressive than the tower, but everyone crops it out.

Dead Horse Point, Utah

The view from the top of Dead Horse Point is special. Canyons lie below it, breaking across the horizon in splintering waves. There's so much detail to take in with the landscape unfurling in deep chasms, and it's this detail the camera struggles to convey. Sure, you'll get a pretty superb shot from up there, but it'll come across as broad brush rather than a panorama of intricacies.

Ubirr, Kakadu National Park

The views from the top of Ubirr out over a vast flood plain make for cracking photographs. But the pics of the rock art galleries in the caves and under the overhangs on the way are not so simple. This is partly because images have been layered on top of each other over time, partly because time has faded the images and partly because the colours used are similar to the rock itself. They're hardly the works of a Rembrandt or Van Gogh either – just simple, story-telling symbols that are significant for their historical importance rather than artistic merit. So, generally, a bit of Photoshop work is going to be needed to make the main images stand out.

See: 20 reasons to visit Kakadu

Waitomo Caves, New Zealand

Whether on a boat or floating through on a rubber tube, the Waitomo Caves are at their most magical when it's dark. That's when the glowworms spring into life, lighting up the cave roof like a twinkling, starry sky. Trying to capture that is futile. Firstly, going for the camera will ruin the moment. Secondly, it's unlikely to come out as anything more than a load of indistinct white dots unless you're properly geared up with top equipment.

See also: Ten things you can only do in New Zealand

Perito Moreno Glacier, Argentina

It's a five-kilometre wide, 60-kilometre long and 70-metre high wall of ice that comes to an abrupt halt in a lake. But it's so immense that it's hard to convey in one shot without making it look far less significant than it is. It's also missing the sound. The cracking noises as the ice shifts are a large part of what makes it so intimidating.

See: Perito Moreno, the spectacular ice wall you need to see for yourself

See also: The top 17 countries to visit in 2017