40 of the Most Beautiful College Campuses in the World

At Flager College, you can study where some get to vacation (literally). This coastal campus is located in St. Augustine, Florida, the oldest city in the United States.

Modeled after the grand collegiate universities of Oxford and Cambridge, Trinity College was founded in 1592 and is one of the seven ancient universities of Britain and Ireland. The college features 25 different schools, so it makes sense that The Library of Trinity College holds more than 6.2 million printed volumes of manuscripts, maps and music.

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This university looks more like a palace fit for Irish royalty than a school for young 20-somethings. The Lanyon Building is noted as one of the most recognizable landmarks at Queen's University; however, the campus houses more than 250 buildings that resemble this gorgeous Gothic and Medieval style.

Do colleges get better with age? It seems like that's the case with Princeton. The prestigious Ivy League university was founded in 1746 and is the fourth oldest higher-education institution in the U.S. The main campus sits on approximately 500 acres and incorporates a variety of architectural styles, ranging from High Victorian Gothic to Romanesque Revival.

Founded in 1134, the school is the oldest university in Spain and the third oldest university in the world. The historic town is located west of Spain, between Castilla and León. Although modern renovations have occurred since, the majority of structures still mirror the 2,000-year-old style of Salmantica.

Andrew Dickson White of Syracuse and Ezra Cornell of Ithaca met in the New York State Senate in January 1864 and established Cornell a year later — now that's what we call networking. The main campus covers 745 acres overlooking the town of Itaca and Cayuga Lake. If city life is more your style, don't fret — they have a campus in NYC and even a medical campus in Education City, Qatar.

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Dartmouth College's 269-acre campus is located in the heart of Hanover, in the Upper Valley of the Connecticut River. Although there are ongoing construction projects, the majority of the area is designed with the conservative Georgian style in mind. We recommend visiting this school in autumn, because a college campus might just be the best place to study fall foliage!

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You can't go wrong with a city known for 300 days of sunshine. Commonly referred to as CU, the home of the Buffalos has a very distinct architectural style known as Tuscan Vernacular Revival. Take a hike up the iconic Flatiron mountains at neighboring Chautauqua Park and, from above, the school resembles a small Italian town with red-tiled roofs and Indiana limestone trim.

Royal Roads University is more than just a pretty castle, but the Hatley Park National Historic Site is pretty incredible. The rest of campus does not disappoint, with 642 acres of vibrant greenery and spectacular views of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the exotic Japanese Garden.

Who doesn't love the ocean breeze blowing through your hair during a casual commute to class? If you go or went to the University of San Diego, you can say you went to school in paradise. Boasting unique white and baby blue architecture, the university features spectacular Pacific Ocean views as well as the San Diego Harbor, the Coronado Islands and La Jolla.

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Have your picnic basket ready, because the view of the Florentine Bell Tower — surrounded by a spring-fed lake and lush emerald foliage — cannot be missed. The 750-acre campus features an Asian garden, 13 miles of paved trails for hiking and biking, and an 18-hole golf course ... so you'll have plenty of things to distract you from studying.

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Study where some of the greatest scholars (including Charles Darwin, Sir Isaac Newton and Stephen Hawking) were educated. The prestigious university has also won 90 Nobel Prizes, the most of any institution in the world. When you don't have your nose buried in books, enjoy one of the nine museums and collections that are open to the public year-round.

If a quaint, rural vibe is high on your list, check out Kenyon College, a noteworthy liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio. The 480-acre nature preserve is a standout hallmark of this intimate university — as well as Old Kenyon Hall, which is believed to be one of the oldest Gothic Revival buildings in America.

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It's no secret that Harvard houses some incredible minds, and it's only fitting that it has the largest academic library in the world, with an estimated 400 million manuscript items and 10 million photographs. It also has an impressive campus: The main campus is in the heart of charming Cambridge and features Victorian-meets-Gothic architecture.

Immerse yourself in ancient Scottish history at University Edinburgh, the sixth oldest university in the English-speaking world. At the end of the 19th century the first custom-built university building, the Old College, was developed. It then quickly flourished to 37.

Established in 1991, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology is one of the newer universities to top our list. It's situated on the northern part of Clear Water Bay Peninsula in the Sai Kung District and has a small 120-acre campus overlooking a breathtaking harbour south of Sai Kung.

Notre Dame University boasts an impressive 143 buildings on 1,250 acres just south of the Indiana Toll Road. The university's most distinguishable feature is the Golden dome atop the main building (the original burned down in 1879). The gold dome inspired the metallic helmets of the fighting Irish football team,which plays in the famous Notre Dame Stadium in front of more than 80,000 people on Game Day.

We're not exactly sure when the University of Oxford was founded; however, there is evidence that it dates back to 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world. It was recently ranked first in the world by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings. As you can imagine, this university's trophy shelf is pretty crowded.

It's safe to say that Pepperdine wouldn't be the worst place to go to school. Study with sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean at this private university, nestled in the foothills of the Santa Monica mountains. The salty ocean air and sandy seashore enhance the majestic views. If the beach isn't your scene, cruise less than an hour to downtown Los Angeles for an urban change of pace.

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Mountains vs. beaches? Have the best of both worlds at University of British Columbia, where you have views of the North Shore mountains while having several beaches at your finger tips. Oh, and did we mention that campus is a quick 25-minute drive from downtown Vancouver? We don't think four years would be long enough here.

The main campus, known as Upper Campus, is located on the Western Cape of South Africa in the valley below Devil's Peak. Not only is the public research university gorgeous, it is the highest-ranked African university in the QS World University Rankings.

The University of Chicago sits on a sweeping 217-acre campus that is seven miles south of downtown Chicago. Its first buildings were the Main Quadrangles, created by Chicago-based architect Henry Ives Cobb. By 1955, the original Gothic style campus gave way to more modern styles. Numerous sites at the university have been marked as National Historic Landmarks and some are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

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Go to school with the best wizards in the world. We're kidding, but the University of Glasgow does have a resemblance to Hogwarts, no? Once a school primarily for the elite, this university became a pioneer in higher education in the 19th century to the growing middle class.

First located near Honolulu's Thomas Square, the University of Hawaii at Manoa was relocated in 1912 to Manoa Valley. One of the most stunning features of this breathtaking campus is the East-West Center Japanese garden that adjoins Imin Center and Jefferson Hall. Don't miss the white sand beaches within walking distance from campus.

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New Zealand is already hard to beat with its epic beaches, mountains and loads of extreme sports. Add an impressive 100,000 acres of gorgeous pastoral land and the winding Leith River, and we're packing our bags to attend next semester at University of Otago.

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Thomas Jefferson built this campus, and designed it around a beautiful rotunda with a great lawn leading up to it. Mountains can be viewed in the distance. The university was named a UNESCO world heritage site in 1987, an honor given to the most culturally significant landmarks in the world.

Stanford's campus has a dramatic entrance and gorgeous Spanish red tile roofs that make it a school to see. The campus’s Memorial Church has a striking mosaic facade, making it a landmark that shouldn't be missed.

This gem of a school is Australia's first university. The school is inevitably known for its impressive heritage and unbelievable neo-gothic buildings that are spread across the inner-city suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington. Did we mention that the university has educated six prime ministers and 24 justices of the High Court of Australia?

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1. Founded in 1701, it wasn't until 1716 that the university moved to New Haven, approximately 90 minutes outside of New York. The campus incorporates a traditional mix of Collegiate Gothic architecture and Georgian style, including the oldest building on campus, Connecticut Hall.

Located in Williamsburg, the College of William & Mary was founded in 1693 by Britain's King William III and Queen Mary II, making it the second-oldest college in the U.S., after Harvard University. The college boasts the Wren Building (opened in 1700), several historic buildings, and the Sunken Garden, a grassy knoll and popular gathering place that stretches through the college's Old Campus.

The university is mostly based in Brisbane, with the main site bordered by the Brisbane River. The 1930s sandstone Cloister sits in the center of the school, and that includes the Great Court. The campus also has large swathes of lawns and three lakes, creating plenty of spaces for students to sit and reflect.

Villanova is the only Augustinian Catholic university in the country, and it boasts several beautiful pieces of architecture, including the St. Thomas of Villanova Church, which was completed in 1887. The campus has about 1,500 trees and was once designated as an arboretum.

The school has a great mix of old and new after architects like Frank Gehry put their stamp on the campus. The school's Main Street leads to the very modern-looking Steger Student Life Center and the Tangeman University Center, which are sights to see.

Established in 1290, this is a school with some serious history. University of Coimbra is one of the oldest continuously operating universities in the world, and has the architecture to back it up. In 2013, UNESCO named the school to its World Heritage list.

The college was founded in 1770 and chartered in 1785, making it the oldest college in South Carolina. The school's classic Cistern was constructed in 1857 as a reservoir to provide water for fighting fires in the days before the city installed a water system and has served as a backdrop for movies like The Patriot, The Notebook and Dear John.

Tsinghua was founded in 1925 on the former site of the Qing Dynasty's royal gardens. The campus is packed with ponds topped with floating lotus blossoms, and has several traditional Chinese buildings.

The school's Suzzallo Library at has 35-foot-high stained-glass windows that give it a distinctly gothic feel. The school's Drumheller Fountain also offers views of the imposing yet majestic Mount Rainier.