Compare 576 Travel Destinations

Arches sits on 76,000 acres of red Entrada and Navajo Sandstone north of Moab in eastern Utah, holding more than 2,000 documented natural stone arches — the densest concentration on the planet. Delicate Arch (the Utah license-plate arch) is the iconic 3-mile sunset hike, while Landscape Arch on the Devil's Garden Trail spans 306 feet, one of the longest natural arches on Earth. The Windows section delivers four major arches in one short loop. Timed-entry vehicle reservations are required April through October via recreation.gov. Moab is the gateway town and pairs naturally with a Canyonlands NP day trip.

Arequipa is Peru's second-largest city (~1.1 million) sitting at 2,335m (7,660 ft) in a high-desert basin under the perfect cone of El Misti volcano (5,822m). The colonial old town is built almost entirely from sillar — pearly-white volcanic ash blocks quarried from nearby Chachani — earning the nickname La Ciudad Blanca. The standout sight is the Santa Catalina Monastery: a walled 'city within a city' (20,000 m², founded 1579) that operated as a closed convent for almost 400 years and still has 20 Dominican nuns in residence. Arequipa is also the staging post for the two-day descent into the Colca Canyon (3,400m deep, twice the Grand Canyon) to see the morning thermals carry condors out of the gorge.

A 19-mile Dutch Caribbean island 15 miles north of Venezuela — outside the hurricane belt, dry and breezy year-round, and reliably sunny (the local saying is “sun, sand, and sea every day”). Eagle Beach’s photogenic divi-divi trees, Palm Beach’s high-rise resort strip, the otherworldly Arikok National Park (cactus-and-iguana desert covering 18% of the island), the Natural Pool tucked in volcanic rocks, and the colonial Dutch capital of Oranjestad with its pastel architecture. US dollars accepted everywhere; English universally spoken; US Pre-Clearance at the airport.

Blue Ridge Mountain city nicknamed Beer City USA — more craft breweries per capita than any American city. Biltmore Estate (250 rooms, George Vanderbilt, 1895) is the largest private home in America. The River Arts District has 200+ working artist studios in former industrial buildings. Gateway to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (45 minutes) and the Blue Ridge Parkway.

A blue-and-white Atlantic coastal town 45km south of Tangier — the calmest, most artistic corner of the Moroccan north. The Portuguese ramparts still wrap the medina, and every August the Asilah Cultural Moussem repaints the entire old city with murals that stay up all year. Paradise Beach stretches 4km south of town. Spanish is spoken as commonly as French, a hangover from the protectorate years, and seafood is the reason to linger.

America's most famous ski town and the priciest in this set — a 7,000-resident former silver-mining town at 7,908 ft surrounded by four separate mountains under one Aspen Snowmass lift ticket: Aspen Mountain (Ajax) rising from town, Aspen Highlands with the legendary Highland Bowl hike, Buttermilk (Winter X Games home since 2002), and massive Snowmass 12 miles down-valley. The Maroon Bells, twin 14,000-ft peaks reflected in Maroon Lake, are the most photographed mountains in North America (reservation shuttle May-October). Off the slopes, the Aspen Music Festival fills July and August, the Food and Wine Classic takes over mid-June, and the Aspen Ideas Festival convenes thinkers each summer. ASE airport sits 4 miles from downtown.

Kazakhstan's futuristic capital rises from the steppe with bold architecture — the Bayterek Tower, Khan Shatyr mall, and Norman Foster's Palace of Peace. One of the world's youngest capitals, showcasing ambitious 21st-century city building.

Egypt's southernmost city sits at the First Cataract of the Nile, where the river narrows around granite islands and the Sahara meets Nubian sandstone. Once the ancient frontier town of Swenett guarding Pharaonic Egypt's southern border, Aswan today is the launching point for Abu Simbel (280km south), Philae Temple (relocated to Agilkia Island after the High Dam flooded its original home), and felucca cruises around Elephantine Island and Kitchener's Botanical Garden. The Nubian villages on the West Bank — Gharb Soheil and Heisa — preserve the language, music, and indigo-and-ochre architecture of a culture displaced when Lake Nasser drowned 44 villages in the 1960s. Significantly hotter, drier, and quieter than Cairo or Luxor; population ~290K.

The driest non-polar desert on Earth — a high-altitude moonscape of volcanoes, geysers, salt flats, and altiplano lagoons centered on the adobe village of San Pedro de Atacama (2,400m). El Tatio's dawn geysers, Valle de la Luna's sunset, the Salar de Atacama's flamingos, and the Miscanti & Miñiques lakes round out the standard week. ALMA observatory tours and the world's clearest night skies make it a stargazer's pilgrimage. Connects overland to Uyuni.

Athens is the cradle of Western civilization — the Acropolis still dominates the skyline 2,500 years on. Beyond the ancient ruins, a modern city of street art, rooftop bars, and a vibrant food scene has emerged. Plaka's winding streets, the Monastiraki flea market, and sunset views from Lycabettus Hill make it far more than a history lesson.

The capital of the New South — Sherman burned the city in 1864 and the phoenix on the official seal commemorates the rise from ashes. Martin Luther King Jr. was born here, preached at Ebenezer Baptist Church on Auburn Avenue, and is buried at the King Center; the MLK National Historical Park is the essential Civil Rights pilgrimage. Coca-Cola was invented here in 1886 and the brand still anchors downtown alongside the Georgia Aquarium (largest in the Western Hemisphere) and the Civil and Human Rights Center. The 22-mile Beltline trail has connected 45 neighborhoods into a continuous urban park; Ponce City Market and Krog Street Market on the Eastside Trail are the food-scene anchors. ATL is the busiest airport in the world; Atlanta is the cultural and economic capital of the South.

The Atlas Mountains run 2,500 km across northwest Africa, with the High Atlas of Morocco as the trekking heart and Toubkal (4,167m) the highest peak in North Africa. Imlil village, 1.5 hours from Marrakech, is the standard launch pad — a cluster of stone Berber villages strung along walnut groves, where mule trails climb into snow-capped peaks and tagine homestays end most days. Aït Ben Haddou, the UNESCO red-clay ksar 3 hours south on the desert edge, doubled for ancient Egypt and Westeros in Lawrence of Arabia, Gladiator and Game of Thrones, and anchors the southern road circuit out of the range.

New Zealand's largest city is built on 53 volcanic cones with harbors on two sides. The "City of Sails" offers world-class sailing, Polynesian culture, excellent food, and easy access to black sand beaches, wine regions, and native bush.

Austin is Texas with the volume turned up — a tech-money boomtown still nursing its "Keep Austin Weird" soul. Live music spills from honky-tonks on South Congress, smoked brisket lines form by 10 a.m. at Franklin, and Lady Bird Lake threads the downtown skyline with paddleboards and bats. Rainey Street, East Austin, and the Hill Country day-trip loop all reward a car or rideshare.

Ayutthaya is the brick-and-laterite ghost of the second Siamese capital, sacked by the Burmese in 1767 and never rebuilt. The historical park, a UNESCO site since 1991, sits on an island wrapped by three rivers 80 kilometres north of Bangkok, and the three signature ruins — Wat Mahathat with the Buddha head wrapped in fig roots, riverside Wat Chaiwatthanaram glowing at sunset, and royal Wat Phra Si Sanphet — are all rentable-bicycle distance from each other. Trains from Bangkok’s Hua Lamphong take 90 minutes and cost 20 baht in third class. The night market at Bang Ian draws the food crowd; the Khlong Sa Bua boat noodle stalls draw the regulars.

Portugal's mid-Atlantic volcanic archipelago offers crater lakes, whale watching, hot springs, hydrangea-lined roads, and Europe's best-kept secret for nature lovers.

An archaeological zone covering 26 square kilometres on the dry Irrawaddy plain — at its 11th-13th century peak, the kingdom of Pagan built more than 10,000 Buddhist temples, pagodas, and monasteries here, and around 2,200 still stand. UNESCO-listed in 2019 (decades after Angkor and Borogudur) following revised restoration policy. The signature Bagan experience is sunrise from the temple plain as hot-air balloons drift over thousands of brick stupas — flights operate October-April only and book months ahead. Note: following the February 2021 military coup, Myanmar travel involves serious safety, ethical, and practical considerations including travel advisories, banking sanctions (no international cards work), and ongoing civil conflict elsewhere in the country.

Azerbaijan's capital is one of the world's most architecturally jarring cities — a UNESCO medieval Old City (Icherisheher) with the Maiden Tower and Shirvanshahs' Palace sits directly beneath Flame Towers, three stainless-steel skyscrapers lit at night to simulate fire. The Heydar Aliyev Center (Zaha Hadid, 2012) is one of this century's signature buildings. Gobustan's Bronze Age petroglyphs and mud volcanoes are 65 km south. F1 hosts the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on the city's streets every June.

Bali is Indonesia's most famous island — a tropical paradise of terraced rice paddies, ancient Hindu temples, volcanic peaks, and world-class surf breaks. From the spiritual heart of Ubud to the beach clubs of Seminyak and the cliffside temples of Uluwatu, Bali offers something for every type of traveler.

Banff National Park is the Canadian Rockies at their finest — turquoise lakes (Lake Louise, Moraine Lake), towering peaks, glaciers, and abundant wildlife. The charming town of Banff sits right inside the park, and the Icefields Parkway connecting to Jasper is one of the world's most scenic drives. World-class skiing in winter, incredible hiking in summer.

Bangkok is a sensory overload in the best way — ornate temples rise next to gleaming malls, street food sizzles on every corner, and the Chao Phraya River winds through it all. The city rewards both short visits and deep dives, with a mix of must-see landmarks and hidden neighborhoods that feel worlds apart from the tourist trail.

Ecuador's adventure-sports capital sits at 1,820m where the Andean highlands transition to the Amazon basin — perpetual spring climate (15-25°C year-round) beneath the active 5,023m Tungurahua volcano. The Pailón del Diablo waterfall (100m thundering cascade reached via suspension bridges and behind-the-falls rock tunnels), the Casa del Árbol cliff-edge swing famously photographed 'swinging into the void' with Tungurahua as backdrop, the Termas de la Virgen mineral hot springs, and the 60km Ruta de las Cascadas with 60+ waterfalls. Bungee jumping, canyoning, ziplining, white-water rafting, mountain biking — all at one-third the cost of equivalent in the West. Population ~20,000.

The gateway town to Acadia National Park on the northeast shore of Mount Desert Island, three hours by car from Portland. Once a Gilded Age summer colony for Rockefellers, Vanderbilts, and Astors (the 1947 fire destroyed most of the cottages), Bar Harbor today is a compact downtown of brick storefronts, lobster pounds, ice-cream parlours, and the trailhead for nearly every Acadia visitor's first day. Cadillac Mountain summit (1,530 feet, the highest point on the eastern seaboard) is a 20-minute drive away, the carriage roads start a mile south, and Jordan Pond House serves the legendary popovers a 15-minute drive from the town pier.

The easternmost Caribbean island — a Commonwealth nation that became a republic in 2021 and the birthplace of rum (Mount Gay, 1703, is the world's oldest still-running distillery). UNESCO Bridgetown and its Garrison preserve the British military layout of the 17th–19th centuries; the rugged east coast (Bathsheba's mushroom rocks) is for surfers; the calmer Caribbean west (Holetown, Speightstown) for swimmers. Crop Over (July–August) is the largest carnival outside Trinidad. Flying fish is the national dish, served with cou-cou. The dry season runs December–May.