As well as a high-end hotel on the Amalfi coast, a wildlife lodge in Guyana, and a “bamboo sanctuary” in Indonesia, Time magazine’s slightly pretentious list of the “world’s greatest places” for 2024 includes one destination physicists might actually want to visit.
We’re talking about CERN’s “Science Gateway”, an outreach centre designed by the “master of hi-tech architecture” Renzo Piano, which features a transparent skywalk between two raised tubular buildings.
Time calls the gateway a “family-friendly, admission-free offshoot” of CERN that “bridges the gap between the general public and the people in lab coats”.
The Science Gateway took some three years to build and opened in October 2023. It includes exhibitions, labs, a 900-seat auditorium as well as a shop and a Big Bang café. Aimed at those aged five and above, the centre is expected to welcome half a million visitors each year.
To compile the list, Time selected from nominations made via an application process as well as suggestions from its international network of correspondents and contributors.
Other destinations on the list include Antarctica’s White Desert, Maui Cultural Lands in Hawaii, and Kamba in Republic of the Congo.
So, what are you waiting for? Book that trip to Geneva.
