Compare 576 Travel Destinations

Saudi Arabia's capital is the most rapidly transforming city in the Gulf — a desert plateau metropolis of 14 million whose Vision 2030 reset has brought tourist eVisas (since 2019), women drivers, public concerts, and the city-scale Riyadh Season festival running each October to March. The skyline is dominated by the Kingdom Centre Tower with its 65th-floor Sky Bridge, the National Museum sits in the King Abdulaziz Historical Centre, and Diriyah — the mud-brick UNESCO seat of the original Saudi state — is being restored on the city's western edge. Ninety minutes northwest, the Edge of the World cliffs (Jebel Fihrayn) drop 300 metres into a pink desert. Summer is brutal at 45°C plus; visit November through March.

The Eternal City layers 2,800 years of history into a living, breathing metropolis. Ancient ruins sit alongside Renaissance palaces and bustling trattorias. Rome rewards slow exploration — every alley reveals a hidden piazza, a crumbling fountain, or a neighborhood trattoria serving the best carbonara you've ever had.

Germany's best-preserved medieval walled town — a 11,000-person Bavarian time capsule sitting on a hilltop above the Tauber River, surrounded by an unbroken 2.5 km circuit of 14th-century ramparts you can walk in their entirety. The Plönlein corner (a half-timbered house wedged between two gate towers) is one of Europe's most-photographed viewpoints. The Käthe Wohlfahrt Christmas Museum runs year-round, the Schneeballen pastries are unique to the town, and the Romantic Road threads through. By night, after the day-trip buses leave for Munich and Nuremberg, the town belongs to a few hundred overnight guests and the Nightwatchman tour.

New Zealand's geothermal capital — the Taupo Volcanic Zone's heat manifests in boiling mud pools, shooting geysers, and sulfurous steam rising from the city streets. Pohutu Geyser at Te Puia is the Southern Hemisphere's largest at up to 30 metres. Wai-O-Tapu's Champagne Pool is a vivid orange-rimmed acid lake. The Whakarewarewa Living Village has been continuously inhabited above geothermal ground for centuries.

Europe's largest port and one of the world's great modern architecture cities — bombed flat in 1940 and rebuilt as a laboratory of 20th and 21st-century design. Piet Blom's Cube Houses, MVRDV's Markthal (Europe's largest food market hall), the Erasmus Bridge (nicknamed 'the Swan'), and the SS Rotterdam ocean liner form an architectural tour unlike any other European city.

The official capital of Finnish Lapland, straddling the Arctic Circle line (66°33'N) — home to Santa Claus Village with Santa's official post office, the Arktikum Arctic research museum, and Ranua Wildlife Park with polar bears and lynx 2 hours south. Aalto-designed post-WWII city plan after 1944 razing. Aurora visible September to March, midnight sun in June–July, and a dense menu of reindeer and husky safaris. Accessible from Helsinki by 1hr flight or 8hr overnight VR sleeper train.

The Sacred Valley of the Incas (Valle Sagrado) is the Urubamba River valley running ~60 km between Pisac and Ollantaytambo at 2,800-3,000m elevation — meaningfully lower than Cusco and a far better acclimatization base before Machu Picchu. The Incas grew their best maize here on stepped agricultural terraces still in use today, and three of their most impressive archaeological sites cluster in the valley: the hilltop fortress of Pisac, the perfectly engineered military complex of Ollantaytambo (still a working Inca-era town), and the surreal circular terraces of Moray. Add the bone-white Maras salt evaporation pans descending a hillside and you have a full 2-3 day side trip from Cusco.

The Caribbean's most dramatic island — the UNESCO twin Pitons (volcanic spires rising from the sea) define Saint Lucia as completely as the Eiffel Tower defines Paris. The world's only drive-in volcano near Soufrière, Anse Chastanet's world-class shore diving, Marigot Bay's perfect natural harbor, and Friday night Jump-Up street parties make this the Caribbean's most varied island experience.

Oman's southern Dhofar capital, a tropical anomaly on the Arabian Peninsula where the Khareef monsoon turns 1,000 km of desert green between June and September. While the rest of the Gulf is hitting 45°C, Salalah sits under a cool 25-30°C drizzle, drawing Saudi and Emirati families to its banana plantations, frankincense-scented mountains and Indian-Ocean beaches. The Frankincense Trail UNESCO sites run through the suburbs — Sumhuram on the Khor Rori lagoon, Al Baleed in the city, and the desert outpost of Wubar — and the Hilton and Anantara Al Baleed beach resorts anchor a coastline lined with date palms and old fishing villages.

Salamanca is the golden city — a small UNESCO old town in Castilla y León built almost entirely from Villamayor sandstone that turns honey-orange at sunset. The University of Salamanca (founded 1218) is Spain's oldest and the third-oldest in continuous operation in Europe; the 18th-century Plaza Mayor is regularly cited as Spain's most beautiful square; the carved facade of the old university hides the famous frog-on-a-skull that students must spot to pass exams. Half the population are students, which gives a town of 145,000 the bar density of a city three times its size.

The world's largest salt flat — 10,582 km² of blinding white at 3,656m in southwest Bolivia. In wet season (Dec-Apr) a thin water film turns it into the planet's biggest mirror; dry season reveals hexagonal salt tiles to the horizon. Multi-day 4WD tours typically run 3D/2N from Uyuni to San Pedro de Atacama via the Eduardo Avaroa lagoons, geysers, and flamingo-pink waters. Lithium reserves below are the world's largest.

The 1847 Mormon pioneer capital at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains — a perfect numbered grid radiating from Temple Square (the LDS Church world headquarters and the most-visited tourist site in Utah), 11 ski resorts within an hour's drive (more than any other US city), and the Great Salt Lake stretching to the horizon west of town. Unusually walkable for the western US (free downtown TRAX light rail, flat grid, generous sidewalks), with the famous "Greatest Snow on Earth" at Park City, Snowbird, Alta, and Deer Valley. The Sundance Film Festival (late January), Antelope Island bison herds, and the surreal Bonneville Salt Flats are all day-trip distance.

Salta — full name Salta la Linda, 'Salta the Beautiful' — is the colonial capital of northwest Argentina, sitting at 1,152 m in a green Andean valley with the country's best-preserved 18th-century centre. The pink-and-yellow Cathedral and the Cabildo frame Plaza 9 de Julio; the MAAM museum holds three Inca child mummies discovered frozen on Llullaillaco volcano in 1999; the Tren a las Nubes climbs to 4,220 m on one of the world's highest railways. Salta is the gateway to Cafayate's high-altitude Torrontés vineyards, the Salinas Grandes salt flats, and the multicoloured Quebrada de Humahuaca two hours north.

Brazil's first capital (1549-1763) and the heart of Afro-Brazilian culture. The pastel-painted Pelourinho (UNESCO 1985) is a colonial maze of cobblestones, baroque churches, and gold-leafed Igreja São Francisco. Birthplace of capoeira, candomblé, and samba-reggae — Olodum still drums Tuesdays. Acarajé from street vendors, moqueca from neighborhood spots, and a Carnival that rivals Rio's for the world's largest street party. Beaches strung along the Atlantic coast.

Mozart's birthplace is a Baroque masterpiece nestled against Alpine peaks. The Altstadt (Old Town) is a UNESCO site of domes, spires, and elegant plazas, while the Hohensalzburg Fortress towers above. Sound of Music fans will recognize the surroundings, but Salzburg's real draw is its combination of culture, mountain scenery, and Austrian charm.

The jewel of the Silk Road, Samarkand's Registan Square is one of the most breathtaking architectural ensembles on earth. Turquoise-tiled madrasas, the Shah-i-Zinda necropolis, and Tamerlane's mausoleum transport you to the height of the Timurid Empire.

San Antonio is the seventh-largest US city (1.5M) and the most Mexican-feeling major city in the United States, anchored by the Alamo and a 3-mile pedestrian River Walk that runs 20 feet below street level through downtown. The five Spanish colonial missions (Mission San Jose plus the Alamo and three others) form a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the King William Historic District holds Victorian mansions, and the Pearl District has turned a 19th-century brewery into the city's best food and shopping zone. Tex-Mex was effectively invented here.

Southern California's laid-back beach-and-burrito capital — 70 miles of Pacific coast, 70°F year-round, and an arc from surfy Ocean Beach through La Jolla's sea-lion coves to Coronado's Hotel del Coronado and the Mexican border at Tijuana. Balboa Park packs 17 museums and the world-class San Diego Zoo into 1,200 acres. The Gaslamp Quarter anchors downtown nightlife; North Park and Liberty Station handle the craft-beer + food-hall crowds. The nation's largest naval base shapes the skyline with destroyer silhouettes.

San Francisco is one of America's most beautiful cities — the Golden Gate Bridge, cable cars climbing steep hills, and Victorian painted ladies are just the start. Fisherman's Wharf, Alcatraz, the Mission District's murals, and some of the country's best food (from sourdough to dim sum) make it endlessly explorable. Bring a jacket — the fog is real.

The oldest city under the US flag (founded 1521) wraps two massive 16th-century Spanish forts — Castillo San Felipe del Morro guarding the bay entrance and Castillo San Cristóbal protecting the landward approach — inside seven blocks of cobalt-cobblestone Old San Juan. UNESCO-listed, walkable in a day, and the only Spanish colonial capital you can reach with a US driver’s license. Add the El Yunque rainforest (the only US national rainforest), the bioluminescent bays of Vieques and Fajardo, and the salsa clubs of Santurce — it’s the most culturally distinctive US destination most US travellers haven’t visited.

A UNESCO World Heritage colonial town in central Mexico's Bajío highlands — the neo-Gothic pink-stone Parroquia de San Miguel Arcángel rises above the Jardín plaza like nothing else in Mexico, lit gold at sunset and pink at dawn. Cobblestone streets wind past 18th-century pastel houses, the Fábrica La Aurora art and design centre, the hot springs of Atotonilco, and a 10,000-strong North American expat community that has shaped the town since 1950. Day of the Dead and the Festival of San Miguel Arcángel (with the famous 4am Alborada fireworks) are the two most spectacular festivals in Mexico's calendar — both happen here.

Europe's pintxos capital with the highest density of Michelin stars per capita. La Concha beach is one of the continent's finest, and Basque culture adds a unique flavor to everything.

America's oldest state capital (1610) at 7,200 feet — a high-desert city built in Pueblo adobe style where the Palace of the Governors is the oldest continuously occupied public building in the US. Canyon Road's 80 galleries make this the densest concentration of art in North America. Meow Wolf's immersive art installation is unlike anything else on Earth. "Red or green?" (chile sauce) is the official state question.

Chile's capital sits in a valley framed by the snow-capped Andes. A modern, walkable city with excellent wine bars, the bohemian Barrio Bellavista, world-class seafood, and ski resorts just an hour away. The gateway to Patagonia and the Atacama.