Compare 576 Travel Destinations

Mui Ne is a dust-orange fishing village strung along a single coastal road four hours east of Ho Chi Minh City, where the South China Sea hits steady cross-shore wind almost every afternoon. That wind made it the kitesurfing capital of Southeast Asia, with November-to-April peak season packing the bay with kites and beach hostels charging by the lesson. Inland, the landscape goes surreal fast. Red sand dunes glow at sunrise, white sand dunes look like a slice of the Sahara dropped near the sea, and the Suoi Tien fairy stream cuts a shin-deep ribbon of warm water through orange canyon walls. Fish-sauce factories line the back lanes and explain the smell drifting through town at low tide.

India's financial capital and Bollywood headquarters is a city of dreams built on seven islands — colonial architecture along Marine Drive, street food paradise, and relentless energy.

Bavaria's capital — Oktoberfest, beer gardens, twin-towered Frauenkirche, and the starting line for the German Alps. Marienplatz's Glockenspiel rings at 11am, surfers ride a standing wave on the Eisbach in Englischer Garten, and Salzburg is 90 minutes east by train. BMW, Nymphenburg, Dachau Memorial, and 400 Bavarian breweries round out longer visits.

Oman's elegant capital between mountains and sea — the stunning Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, historic Muttrah Souk, pristine wadis, and genuine Arabian hospitality in one of the Middle East's safest cities.

Myrtle Beach is the resort capital of the 60-mile Grand Strand on the South Carolina coast and the most popular family beach vacation in the South. The 200-foot SkyWheel and the Boardwalk anchor the city center, Broadway at the Beach is the entertainment district with shops and restaurants, and the area holds more than 90 golf courses plus 50-plus miniature golf courses (a self-claimed mini-golf capital of the world). Direct flights into MYR from 30+ US cities, peak season runs April through September, and the food-and-mini-golf scene is unapologetically aimed at families and golf groups, not foodies.

Karnataka's heritage capital, a 3-hour drive south of Bangalore on the Deccan Plateau, organized around the Indo-Saracenic Mysore Palace - the Wodeyar royal residence rebuilt in 1912 and lit by 100,000 incandescent bulbs every Sunday evening and on every public holiday. Beyond the palace gates, Mysore is the country's silk, sandalwood, and agarbathi (incense) capital, with Devaraja Market piling jasmine garlands and turmeric pyramids in the centre of the old town. Chamundi Hill and its 12th-century temple watches the city from a 1,000-step staircase to the south, and the city's slower pace and cleaner air make it the standard cultural counterweight to Bangalore's tech sprawl.

Nairobi is the only capital city in the world with a national park inside its borders — where lions roam against a backdrop of skyscrapers. The city is the gateway to Kenya's incredible safari circuit (Masai Mara, Amboseli, Tsavo), but also has its own draw: the Giraffe Centre, Karen Blixen Museum, and a rapidly growing food and art scene.

The birthplace of pizza is a chaotic, passionate, beautiful city with the best street food in Italy. Vesuvius looms overhead, Pompeii is a day trip away, and the historic center is a UNESCO-listed labyrinth of churches, underground tunnels, and vibrant markets.

Japan's first permanent capital, where friendly deer roam freely among UNESCO temples. Todai-ji houses the world's largest bronze Buddha. A perfect day trip from Osaka or Kyoto.

Music City is equal parts bachelorette-pedal-tavern chaos on Broadway and deeply serious songwriter culture at the Bluebird Cafe and Station Inn. Hot chicken sweats at Hattie B's and Prince's, the Ryman Auditorium still hosts acoustic sets under its stained glass, and East Nashville and 12South have eclipsed downtown as the city's creative heart.

The pastel-pink colonial capital of the Bahamas on New Providence Island — the 102-step Queen’s Staircase carved by enslaved labour in the 1790s, the British colonial Government House, the Pirates of Nassau Museum tracing the city’s 18th-century pirate-republic era, and the massive Atlantis Resort across the bridge on Paradise Island. Cruise-ship central (over 4 million arrivals/year), with US Pre-Clearance at the airport meaning you skip US Customs on your return flight. Pair it with a day trip to Exuma’s swimming pigs to elevate the trip.

The most culturally distinct city in America — where Creole and Cajun cooking, jazz, second-line parades, and a French-Spanish colonial heart create something you genuinely can't find anywhere else. The French Quarter's wrought-iron balconies, Frenchmen Street's nightly brass bands, and beignets at 3am at Café du Monde.

New York City needs no introduction — it's the cultural and financial capital of the world. Five boroughs, each with dozens of distinct neighborhoods, offering everything from Michelin-starred restaurants to $1 pizza slices. The subway runs 24/7, the energy is relentless, and there's genuinely something new to discover on every visit.

Newport, Rhode Island, is a 25,000-person harbor city on Aquidneck Island that doubled as the Gilded Age summer capital for the Vanderbilts, Astors, and Belmonts in the late 1800s. The Preservation Society of Newport County runs guided tours of seven mansions including The Breakers (Cornelius Vanderbilt II's 70-room summer cottage), Marble House, Rosecliff, and The Elms. The 3.5-mile Cliff Walk threads the cliffside behind the mansions, the International Tennis Hall of Fame is set in the Newport Casino, and the Newport Folk and Jazz Festivals fill July and August. Bowen's Wharf and Thames Street hold the harbor restaurants and chowder bars.

Vietnam's premier beach resort stretches 6 km along the South China Sea — a crescent bay backed by mountains, the ancient Po Nagar Cham towers on a headland (2nd–17th century), and an island-hopping scene off Hon Mun Marine Protected Area with excellent snorkeling. The mud baths at Thap Ba and I-Resort are a Vietnamese spa tradition. Alexandre Yersin — the Swiss-French scientist who isolated the plague bacillus — lived and died in Nha Trang; his house and laboratory are now a museum.

French Riviera capital on the Bay of Angels — Promenade des Anglais along pebble beaches, Vieux Nice's socca and salade niçoise shops, Cours Saleya flower market, and Matisse and Chagall museums the artists themselves stocked. Monaco is 25 minutes away for €1.70. UNESCO winter resort town since 2021.

Hokkaido's premier ski region, two hours by road from Sapporo's New Chitose airport. Four interconnected resorts — Grand Hirafu, Hanazono, Niseko Village, Annupuri — share a single all-mountain pass on the slopes of Mount Niseko Annupuri, with the conical Mount Yotei staring across the valley like a small Mount Fuji. The 15+ metres of dry, light powder per season is the most reliable in the world, which is why an Australian and Singaporean expat scene has set up a year-round base. December through March is ski; July and August add hiking, rafting, and onsen-and-green-season pricing.

The cradle of Islam in Oman and the country's capital under the imamate from 1624, sitting in a date-palm oasis 1.5 hours inland from Muscat at the foot of the Hajar mountains. The town is dominated by Nizwa Fort, the giant 1668 round tower built to defend the falaj-irrigated oasis, and by its Friday goat market where Bedouin traders parade live animals around a circular auction floor while silversmiths hammer khanjar daggers in the adjoining souq. Half an hour up the switchbacks lies Jebel Akhdar, the green mountain whose terraced villages distil rosewater each April and May from the Damascene roses that bloom on the cliff edges.

Greenland's capital and largest city — population just over 20,000, more than a third of the territory — perches on a rocky peninsula at the mouth of one of the largest fjord systems on Earth, with Sermitsiaq mountain (1,210 m) rising directly across the bay. Founded by Hans Egede in 1728 as Godthåb ("Good Hope"), Nuuk holds the National Museum of Greenland, the country's best fjord boat tours, the Katuaq Cultural Centre, and a surprisingly Scandinavian-mild climate. Midnight sun late May to late July; long mild winters with regular aurora through April.

Mexico's culinary capital and a UNESCO World Heritage city. Famous for mole, mezcal, indigenous markets, Day of the Dead celebrations, and nearby Monte Albán ruins.

A small UNESCO town on the eastern shore of Lake Ohrid — at 3+ million years one of the oldest lakes on earth, deep enough (288m) and clear enough that you can read the church bells underwater near shore. The hillside Old Town spreads from the lake harbour up to Tsar Samuel's 10th-century fortress through cobbled lanes lined with 30+ medieval Byzantine churches. The Church of St. John at Kaneo, perched on a clifftop above turquoise water, is the icon image of North Macedonia. Add the lake-edge St. Naum monastery boat trip, the underwater Bay of Bones archaeological site, and the highest concentration of Byzantine fresco art in the Balkans — at a third of Croatian-coast prices.

Orlando is the theme-park capital of the world — Walt Disney World's four parks (Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom) cover 25,000 acres southwest of the city, while Universal Orlando (three parks including the new Epic Universe opening 2025) sits closer in. Beyond the parks, downtown Orlando wraps around Lake Eola with its swan boats and weekly farmers' market, ICON Park's 400-foot wheel anchors International Drive, and the Kennedy Space Center is an hour east. The metro is enormous (2.7M), the airport is one of the busiest in the US, and theme-park strategy (FastPass, park-hopper, off-season vs holiday weeks) is its own discipline.

Osaka is Japan's kitchen — a city that lives to eat. Dotonbori's neon-lit food street, takoyaki (octopus balls) stalls, and the finest street food culture in Japan define this boisterous, working-class city. The Osakans are famously friendly and funny, the castle is impressive, and Universal Studios Japan is a massive draw for families.

Norway's capital sprawls around the Oslofjord — harbor saunas, an opera house you can walk up, Vigeland's 200 stone and bronze sculptures, and the new Munch Museum. Eye-watering prices but Nordic lifestyle at its most refined. The Bergen Railway (one of the world's most scenic) departs from here for the fjords.