Compare 576 Travel Destinations

A UNESCO World Heritage colonial city surrounded by volcanoes, with cobblestone streets, baroque churches, and some of Central America's best coffee and chocolate.

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.

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 "City of a Thousand Windows" — tiered white Ottoman houses stacked up the slopes above the Osum River. UNESCO 2008 and one of Europe's oldest continuously-inhabited cities (2,400+ years). Berat Castle (Kalaja) is a still-inhabited medieval citadel — people live inside the walls. Facing Mangalem (Muslim) and Gorica (Christian) quarters across the 18th-century stone bridge. Onufri icon museum inside the castle; Çobo and Kokomani wineries in Albania's wine capital; Tomor Mountain NP 20 km east. Access: 2.5 hr bus from Tirana. ALL currency (EUR widely accepted); 90-day visa-free for most Western.

Bruges is a medieval fairy tale preserved in amber — winding canals, cobblestone squares, Gothic towers, and some of the best chocolate and beer in the world. The Markt square and Belfry are postcard-perfect, the art museums house Flemish masterpieces, and the whole city is compact enough to explore on foot in a day or two.

Český Krumlov is what tourists imagine when they think 'medieval Bohemian fairytale' — a 13,000-person town of red-tile roofs and pastel-coloured facades wrapped tightly inside an oxbow loop of the Vltava River, with a 7-hectare castle complex (the second-largest in the Czech Republic after Prague Castle) climbing the opposite bank. The historic centre joined UNESCO in 1992; the castle moat famously holds bears instead of water, a quirk inherited from the Renaissance-era lords of Rožmberk. Two-and-a-half hours from Prague by direct bus, Český Krumlov is the country's most-visited town outside the capital — and it earns the visit.

Morocco's famous Blue City nestled in the Rif Mountains — every wall, stairway, and doorway painted in shades of blue. A photogenic haven with mountain hikes, artisan crafts, and a peaceful medina.

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.

Northern Palawan's limestone karsts rise from turquoise Bacuit Bay — Tours A through D island-hop the lagoons, hidden beaches, and coral reefs by bangka outrigger. Nacpan's four-kilometer sand strip, Las Cabanas zipline sunsets, and nightly power cuts in town. Reach it by direct ENI flight or the 6-hour drive from Puerto Princesa.

Morocco's windswept Atlantic coast gem is a laid-back blue-and-white medina town famous for its fortified harbor, fresh seafood grills, windsurfing, and the annual Gnaoua World Music Festival. A perfect counterpoint to Marrakech's intensity, just 3 hours away.

Mount Fuji's onsen escape — a mountain hot-spring resort 90km southwest of Tokyo inside Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park. The iconic shot is Lake Ashi's pirate-ship cruise framed by Hakone Shrine's red torii in the water with Fuji behind on a clear day. Owakudani's volcanic valley sells black eggs cured in sulfur springs. The Hakone Open-Air Museum mixes Picasso with mountain views, and traditional ryokans deliver the kaiseki + onsen night. Hakone Free Pass covers the Tozan switchback train, ropeway, cable car, and ship loop.

The ruined capital of the Vijayanagara Empire (14th-16th century) scattered across a surreal landscape of 500 million-year-old granite boulders in northern Karnataka. UNESCO since 1986. The Virupaksha Temple still functions as an active Hindu shrine; the Vittala Temple's musical pillars and Stone Chariot are the postcard images. The Tungabhadra River divides the bazaar-and-temple side from the Hippie Island (Virupapur Gaddi) backpacker scene. Reached via overnight sleeper bus from Bangalore or Goa.

Vietnam's most charming town — a UNESCO-listed ancient trading port where lantern-lit streets meet world-class tailoring, extraordinary cuisine, and bicycle-friendly riverside life.

Greenland's third-largest town sits 300 km north of the Arctic Circle at the mouth of the UNESCO-listed Ilulissat Icefjord — where Sermeq Kujalleq glacier calves 35 km³ of icebergs per year (more than any glacier outside Antarctica). Home to 4,700 people and roughly 3,500 Greenlandic sled dogs. Midnight sun May–July, polar night November–January, and one of the planet's most reliable Northern Lights viewing windows September through April.

Switzerland's alpine adventure capital sits between Lake Thun and Lake Brienz, with the Jungfrau region rising behind town. Base for Jungfraujoch's Top of Europe railway (3,454m), paragliders launching over Höhematte meadow, Lauterbrunnen's 72 waterfalls (inspiration for Rivendell), and Mürren's car-free clifftop perch. Expect Swiss prices.

Karlovy Vary is the great-grandfather of European spa towns — founded around 1349 by Charles IV (who allegedly discovered the healing thermal springs while hunting deer), peaked in the 19th century when it hosted Beethoven, Goethe, Tsar Peter the Great, and 26,000 annual guests, and still draws spa-goers to its 80+ hot springs and 16 designated drinking fountains. The Mlýnská kolonáda (Mill Colonnade) and the cast-iron Sadová kolonáda anchor the river-valley promenades, and locals carry porcelain sipping cups (lázeňský pohárek) shaped like little teapots between the fountains. The Becherovka herbal liqueur was invented here in 1807 — the unofficial '13th spring' of Karlovy Vary.

A medieval walled town at the head of Europe's southernmost fjord — Adriatic drama with Venetian architecture, fortress hikes with jaw-dropping bay views, and a fraction of Dubrovnik's crowds and prices.

Costa Rica's adventure capital sits at the foot of Arenal — a near-perfect 1,633m volcanic cone, dormant since 2010 but still feeding the area's many hot springs. La Fortuna Waterfall plunges 75m into a swimmable pool; Mistico's hanging bridges thread the rainforest canopy; Río Celeste's impossibly turquoise water sits a day-trip away. Zip-lining, rafting, sloth-spotting, and the famous Jeep-Boat-Jeep crossing to Monteverde all start here. Pura Vida personified.

Ethiopia's "New Jerusalem" — 11 monolithic churches carved DOWN into volcanic rock as single pieces in the 12th-13th century by King Lalibela. Pilgrimage heart of Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, where white-shawled priests and pilgrims still gather daily. Bete Giyorgis (St. George), the cross-shaped final church standing alone in its pit, is the most iconic. Sits at 2,500m in the northern highlands. Genna (Ethiopian Christmas, January 7) and Timkat (Epiphany, January 19) are spectacular but expensive. Tigray war (2020-22) affected access — verify current security.

The best-preserved Swahili town in East Africa — UNESCO-listed since 2001, Lamu Old Town's coral-stone alleyways and 500-year-old carved wooden doorways have no cars, only donkeys and dhow boats. Founded in the 14th century, Lamu has been continuously inhabited since then. Shela Beach is 12 km of pristine Indian Ocean shore backed by massive sand dunes. The Lamu Cultural Festival in November is the island at its most alive.

An 800-year-old UNESCO-listed Naxi town at 2,400 m elevation in northwestern Yunnan — a labyrinth of cobblestone lanes, stone bridges over rushing canals, and traditional wooden courtyard houses with the 5,596 m Jade Dragon Snow Mountain rising directly above. Lijiang is the cultural heart of the Naxi minority who developed Dongba, the only living pictographic writing system in the world. Sunrise over the grey-tile rooftops from Lion Hill before the tour buses arrive is the moment that justifies the trip — the Old Town is undeniably beautiful, though the daytime crush of crowds is real. Pair with Tiger Leaping Gorge, Shuhe, and the new high-speed rail to Shangri-La for a full Yunnan circuit.

Laos's UNESCO-listed former royal capital is a dreamy town at the confluence of the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers. Saffron-robed monks collect alms at dawn, French-colonial cafés line quiet streets, and the Kuang Si waterfalls are a turquoise paradise.

Manuel Antonio packs Costa Rica's most photogenic combination into a tiny coastal sliver: a 1,983-hectare national park where white-sand crescents meet primary rainforest, and squirrel monkeys, sloths, and white-faced capuchins routinely cross the trail in front of you. The park sits at the foot of a steep ridge climbing up from Quepos, and the strip of road between has become Costa Rica's most concentrated tourism corridor — luxury jungle lodges, sea-view restaurants, and zip-line operators stacked along three switchbacked kilometres. Pura vida arrives with monkeys raiding your beach bag.

A tiny village at the edge of Erg Chebbi — Morocco's iconic dune sea, where apricot-coloured sand rises 150m above the pre-Saharan plain. This is the Sahara experience travelers mean when they say Sahara: a camel trek into the dunes at sunset, dinner under the stars at a Berber desert camp, and Gnawa drumming from the village of Khamlia. Budget tents and luxury glamping both exist here. Winter nights freeze; summer days exceed 45°C. Come in autumn or spring.