Compare 576 Travel Destinations

Colmar is the Alsace capital of half-timbered fairy-tale architecture — a town that survived both World Wars almost entirely intact, with the Petite Venise canal district, the Maison Pfister (1537, said to have inspired Howl's Moving Castle), and the Unterlinden Museum's Isenheim Altarpiece (Grünewald, 1515 — one of the great works of Northern Renaissance painting). It anchors the Alsace Wine Route (170 km of Riesling and Gewürztraminer producers between Strasbourg and Mulhouse), throws one of the four or five best Christmas markets in Europe across six themed plazas in December, and sits exactly on the German border zone — German and French street signs share equal billing in the old town.

Germany's fourth-largest city wraps around a 157-metre Gothic cathedral that took 632 years to finish and now anchors a UNESCO-listed Altstadt. Cross the Hohenzollernbrücke past its 500,000 love locks, drink Kölsch from skinny 200ml glasses in Brauhauses where moustachioed Köbes waiters keep refilling until you cap the glass with a beer mat, and time your visit for Karneval in February when the Rhineland's defining party shuts the city for a week. Roman Cologne, medieval Cologne, post-war reconstruction Cologne — all packed into 1,800 walkable years.

Colombo is Sri Lanka's bustling commercial capital — a mix of colonial heritage, Buddhist temples, and a rapidly modernizing skyline. The Pettah bazaar is sensory overload, Galle Face Green offers sunset strolls along the Indian Ocean, and the food scene blends Sri Lankan curry with international influences. The gateway to the rest of the island.

A sun-bleached pilgrimage town on the Bolivian shore of Lake Titicaca, three and a half hours by road from La Paz across the Tiquina ferry crossing. The whitewashed Moorish-style Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Copacabana houses the Dark Virgin, Bolivia's patron saint, and on weekends drivers line up the length of Avenida 6 de Agosto to have new vehicles blessed with flower garlands and beer. The harbour launches small wooden boats for the two-hour crossing to Isla del Sol, the Inca creation-myth island where Manco Cápac and Mama Ocllo emerged. Trout pulled fresh from Titicaca arrives whole and grilled at lakefront comedores, and the Yunguyo border crossing puts Peru's Puno just three hours further on.

Copenhagen is Scandinavian cool distilled — colorful Nyhavn waterfront, world-leading restaurants (Noma, Geranium), cutting-edge design, and a cycling culture that puts everywhere else to shame. The city pioneered hygge and it shows: cozy cafes, canal-side hangouts, and a relaxed vibe despite being a serious foodie destination.

Córdoba was the largest city in Europe in the 10th century — a 500,000-person caliphate capital with paved streets, public lighting, and the largest library west of Baghdad. The Mezquita-Catedral is the surviving wonder: 856 red-and-white horseshoe arches in a forest under a cathedral nave that the Christians dropped into the centre after 1236. The Judería (Jewish Quarter) keeps one of three pre-expulsion synagogues left in Spain; the Roman bridge crosses the Guadalquivir under the Calahorra Tower; the Patios festival in early May opens private flower-stuffed courtyards across the old city. Twenty kilometres west, Medina Azahara — the lost caliphal palace-city — is a UNESCO archaeological site since 2018.

Ireland's second city sits on an island in the River Lee, with the covered English Market (open since 1788) at its centre and the steep Victorian streets of Shandon climbing the hill above. Cork is the gateway to the south-west — Blarney Castle (and its kissable stone) is 8 km north, the deep-water Titanic departure port of Cobh is 25 minutes by commuter rail, and the Wild Atlantic Way begins on the Beara and Mizen peninsulas an hour west. Murphy's and Beamish stouts are brewed here; Jameson's original distillery is 25 km east in Midleton.

The northern tip of Palawan and the world capital of recreational wreck diving — twelve Imperial Japanese Navy vessels sunk by US carrier planes on 24 September 1944 lie between 10 and 40 metres in Coron Bay, accessible to anyone with an open-water certification. Above the waterline, the Tagbanwa-owned island of Coron itself walls in jade-water lagoons fringed by 200-metre limestone karsts: Kayangan Lake (often called the cleanest lake in the Philippines), Twin Lagoon's swim-through opening, the 38-metre fresh-and-saltwater pool of Barracuda Lake. Reach: a 1-hour AirSwift, Cebgo or Philippines AirAsia flight from Manila MNL into Busuanga (USU).

England's largest Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (790 sq miles) — a region of honey-coloured Jurassic limestone villages, ancient wool-trade churches, and rolling green countryside spread across Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Worcestershire, Wiltshire, and Warwickshire. The villages built their wealth on Cotswold Lion sheep wool from the 12th-18th centuries and the prosperity built the elaborate stone houses and 'wool churches' you see today. Bibury's Arlington Row appears inside every UK passport; Bourton-on-the-Water is the 'Venice of the Cotswolds' with the River Windrush flowing through the village green; Castle Combe is regularly named Britain's prettiest village; and the 102-mile Cotswold Way long-distance trail threads from Chipping Campden to Bath. Add Daylesford organic farm shops, Highgrove (King Charles III's home), and the antique capitals of Stow and Tetbury — and you have the most concentrated rural England in the country.

A flat 478 sq km Caribbean island east of Playa del Carmen, reached in 35 minutes by passenger ferry. The reason to come is underwater: Cozumel sits on the Mesoamerican Reef, the second-largest barrier reef system in the world, with Palancar, Santa Rosa Wall and Punta Sur drift dives consistently ranked among the planet's best. San Miguel is the only real town, a low-rise grid built around a cruise terminal that sees regular Carnival and Royal Caribbean stops. Inland, Chankanaab Park combines a Mayan ruin with snorkelling lagoons; the rest of the island is mostly mangroves, beach clubs and one perimeter road.

Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the United States at 1,949 feet, formed when 12,000-foot Mount Mazama collapsed roughly 7,700 years ago and the caldera filled with snowmelt. The water has no inlets or outlets and produces a near-impossible indigo blue that has stopped photographers for a century. The 33-mile Rim Drive circles the caldera (closed November to May for snow), Wizard Island rises from the western shore as a perfect cinder cone, and Cleetwood Cove Trail is the only legal route to the water — a 700-foot descent and a tougher climb back. The park sits 4 hours from Portland or 1.5 hours from Medford (MFR), peaks July-September, and is a designated International Dark Sky Park.

Greece's largest island is a world unto itself — the Palace of Knossos preserves the earliest advanced civilization in Europe (Minoan, 2700–1450 BCE); the Heraklion Archaeological Museum holds the finest Minoan collection on earth; the Samaria Gorge is a 16 km hike through Europe's longest canyon. In the west: Chania's Venetian harbor, Elafonissi's pink-sand beach, Balos Lagoon. A car is essential — the island rewards those who leave the package-resort coast.

The City of Eternal Spring, 90 minutes south of Mexico City over the mountains, where 1,500 metres of elevation and a mild year-round climate have drawn capital weekenders since the Aztec emperors. Hernan Cortes built his 1526 Palace here on the ruins of an Aztec tribute centre, making it the oldest standing civic building in the Americas. The Borda Garden, laid out by a French silver baron in the 1780s, was Maximilian and Carlota's summer retreat in the 1860s. The Robert Brady Museum, in a former convent, holds the American expat's idiosyncratic collection of Frida Kahlo, Tamayo, and African and Asian art across 14 themed rooms.

A 444 km² Dutch Caribbean island just off the coast of Venezuela — the largest of the ABC islands (Aruba-Bonaire-Curaçao), defined by the pastel Dutch colonial Handelskade row of UNESCO Willemstad and the Queen Emma Pontoon Bridge that swings open 30+ times per day to let cargo ships pass. Outside the hurricane belt, with 35+ beaches packed into a 60 km long coastline, the world's only authentic Blue Curaçao distillery, the second-oldest synagogue in the Americas, and Christoffel National Park's desert moonscape. Far less developed than Aruba but more architecturally distinctive; Dutch tilt with universal English.

Cusco is the ancient capital of the Inca Empire and the gateway to Machu Picchu. Colonial churches built on Inca foundations, the vibrant San Pedro market, and the Sacred Valley are all within reach. At 3,400m elevation, take it slow your first day. The city rewards those who explore beyond the main plaza — every street tells a story.

Vietnam's Central Highlands hill station sits at 1,500m — cool and misty, French colonial villas, an Eiffel-designed railway station, the Crazy House, and the Valley of Love. Easy Rider motorbike tours of the Central Highlands start here. Coffee and flower capital, and the 3-hour spiral up from the coast is worth it for the climate shift.

Vietnam's third-largest city sits on a 30-kilometre crescent of the South China Sea between the Hai Van Pass and the Marble Mountains — the country's fastest-growing urban centre, with the viral Golden Bridge held aloft by giant stone hands at Ba Na Hills, the 666-metre Dragon Bridge that breathes fire and water on weekend nights, and the My Khe (China Beach) resort strip. The five Marble Mountains south of the city hide Buddhist cave temples; the Son Tra peninsula north hosts the 67-metre Lady Buddha statue. Easy day trips to Hoi An (30 km south) and Hue (100 km north via the famous Hai Van Pass coastal route) make Da Nang the natural base for central Vietnam.

Senegal's vibrant Atlantic capital pulses with Wolof culture, colorful markets, world-class music venues, fresh seafood, and the spirit of Teranga (hospitality) that defines West Africa.

Dallas anchors the 8.1M-person DFW metroplex. Downtown Dallas holds the 68-acre Arts District (the largest contiguous arts district in the US), the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza covering the JFK assassination from the actual sniper window, and Deep Ellum's live music. Forty miles west in Fort Worth, the Stockyards stage a twice-daily cattle drive, the Kimbell Art Museum (Renzo Piano) holds Caravaggios and Michelangelos, and Sundance Square is the most walkable downtown in Texas. The Cowboys play in Arlington at AT&T Stadium between the two cities.

Tanzania's bustling port city and commercial capital is a gateway to Zanzibar, the Serengeti, and Kilimanjaro. A vibrant mix of Swahili culture, Indian Ocean seafood, busy markets, and a growing arts scene along the Coco Beach waterfront.

Delft is a small canal town wedged between Rotterdam and The Hague, and it punches well above its size: this is Vermeer's birthplace, the home of Royal Delft pottery (still hand-painting blue-and-white ceramics in the same factory since 1653), and the resting place of William the Silent in the Nieuwe Kerk on the Markt. The leaning tower of the Oude Kerk shelters Vermeer's grave. The whole historic core is walkable in an afternoon, but the cafes around Beestenmarkt make you want to stay longer. Twenty-five minutes by train from Amsterdam-Zuid.

India's sprawling capital blends Mughal grandeur with modern chaos — from the Red Fort and Jama Masjid to the bustling lanes of Old Delhi and the leafy avenues of New Delhi designed by Lutyens.

Home to Denali (20,310 ft / 6,190m), tallest peak in North America — visible from only ~30% of visits due to cloud cover (the "30 Percent Club"). A 92-mile Park Road is the sole access, with private vehicles restricted past Mile 15 and park camper + tour buses handling visitors. Important: the 2021 Pretty Rocks landslide has closed the road beyond Mile 43, so Eielson + Wonder Lake remain inaccessible in 2026. Wildlife Big 5: grizzly, caribou, moose, wolves, Dall sheep. Anchorage (ANC) 4hr south, Fairbanks (FAI) 2hr north; Alaska Railroad Denali Star stops in the park. Aurora visible from late August.

Denver sits exactly one mile up — altitude real enough to floor first-time visitors. It's the Rockies' gateway city: craft beer everywhere, legal cannabis since 2014, a restored 1881 Union Station that's now one of the country's best urban train halls, and Red Rocks Amphitheatre 15 minutes west. Breckenridge, Vail, and Rocky Mountain NP are an hour or two into the mountains.