What? She would miss the Hagia Sophia? Stonehenge? The Dome of the Rock? For better or worse these places have shaped our societies. Seeing them and understanding their place in our history is part of trying to understand humanity.

I am not at all religious, but love visiting religious places in other countries.One place in India left a deep impact on me.

There are churches with amazing architecture. Some religious sites have historical significance and that makes them interesting. I don't have to like something to find it interesting.

I have visited some in the past like Notre dame and the Vatican. They in themselves are great works of art and superb craftsmanship. I worked construction for 40+ years wish we would take the time to build with such pride today.

All these religious buildings and sites were built by people, not any higher power. I appreciate the genius of the architects, the paintings and scupltures of the artists, the labour of the workers, or the choice of site, from the Pyramids of Egypt to the Sistine Chapel in Rome to the Parthenon in Greece to Uluru in Australia. I admit to still having a problem with mosques, but I'm working on it. So generally, enjoy the humanity which made these sites possible.

I dislike Christian places of worship intensely. Crucifixion depictions and all the rest of it, the whole symbolism and imagery of the Bronze Age death cult just offends me. So when I travel I have no interest in this. One exception might be Gaudi's cathedral in Barcelona, if I ever get there, because of the architecture of the place. But I do have a favourite Buddhist temple in Thailand I always visit when I visit the city of Chiang Mai, which I do when I can. I used to live nearby, years ago, and I always think of it as my favourite temple. It's not the religion, it's just the place, the age and beauty of it, and it brings back memories. Always an exception, even for the most fervent non religious person.

I see it the way you do: history. Whether or not I agree with the belief, I can't refute it's impact on humanity and thus it's historical value.

If you want to change things up, read history on conflict and visit battle sites. I read Bernard Cornwells books the "Sharpe's" series before going to Spain to study Spanish. That reading gave me a bunch of sites that I wanted to visit to 'see' what I'd read in the books, which were not religious sites (trust me, there were religious sites of historical significance at each of the cities I visited but...). In fact, visiting Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz and seeing those WALLs... well, lets just say that I knew the definition of "citadel" before I saw what a CITADEL looks like... NOW I KNOW what a citadel really is and trust me... it is truly awe inspiring to consider people actually assaulted those walls, with ladders, and sometimes won the day!

There is a similar city in Germany (Rothmond, I think) which is touted as the only remaining walled city (then I saw Ciudad Rodrigo, it is still walled). However, this one may not have fallen, ever... in any case, it's a fun place to visit. Has a justice museum which is fascinating and, the architecture and walls are amazing.

In Rothmund (not sure the spelling) there is also a cathedral and in reading the history presented there I learned that marriages were performed with the bride, groom, and family/guests on one side of a wall, the clergy on the other! No one was allowed to read the good book at that time and it dawned on me that they were keeping the people down by not allowing them to KNOW the scriptures that ruled their lives (sounds like the middle east today, no) and it put translating the bible into common tongues (rather than Latin) and publishing it widely into a different context. Which put further context into seeing a statue of a scholar from Salamanca who did the same. He was ordered to translate the bible into one language (my brain wants this to be Latin but that doesn't make sense) and NOT into Spanish... he decided that the people had the right to read the book so translated as ordered in the first part, then into Spanish in opposition to the second part.

So, yeah, I go to churches and cathedrals when visiting historical sites. Not ALL of the history in these places is religious centric, or maybe I should say the ramifications are MORE than just the beliefs and, in most of the cases I see, are damning of the clergy (if not the faith).

Depends on the artwork and beauty of the place. I love to visit Thai Buddhist temples because of their scenic locations and beautiful architecture, statues.
The pic is my daughter and I visiting the 99-ft golden reclining Buddha statue at Ko Yo Island, near Songkhla, Thailand

As Livinlife said, there is historical and often architectural value in historical religious sites. Whether we like it or not, religion has (sadly) greatly influenced the world and is a part of history.

It is history and architecture. Love it

I want to experience the entire culture of a place, the history, the feel. That includes the religion. There's a giant Muslim celebration I'd love to experience one day