Credits | Meridian Dispatch

You Can Ski in Kyrgyzstan, and You'll Have the Whole Mountain to Yourself

Kyrgyzstan · Karakol

Hero, Near Karakol, at the eastern end of Issyk-Kul, where the road runs up into the Terskey Ala-TooJesse Blackburn · Pexels
The forest above Karakol. The ski base sits about seven kilometres up this valley.Collab Media · Pexels
Snow on the pines above the townCollab Media · Pexels
The Tian Shan in winter, west of the lake at Ak-TalaaJose Aragones · Pexels
A Moskvitch loaded for the road at Ak-Talaa. Winter does not stop the driving here.Oziel Gómez · Pexels
Yurts standing through a Kyrgyz winterOlympe Volva · Pexels
Horses wintering out. In Karakol they change hands on a Sunday morning.Hristo Fidanov · Pexels
First light in the Kyrgyz-Ata valley, in the south of the countrySergey Guk · Pexels

Swim Out From Champagne Beach and the Sea Starts Bubbling

Dominica · Pointe Michel

Hero, Barrel sponge, sea fans and a butterflyfish on a Caribbean reefAndrew DeGarde · Pexels
Shallow reef a few metres under the surface. Champagne's vents come up in about five metres of water.Francesco Ungaro · Pexels
Brain coral. Stony corals of this kind are what the disease that reached Dominica in 2021 attacks.Francesco Ungaro · Pexels
Roseau. The buses south leave from the stands by the Old Market on the Bayfront, and the cruise ships tie up a few streets away.Hiwa Ali · Pexels
Dominica's leeward coast: the road, a bay of fishing boats, and the volcano's wall behind them.Hiwa Ali · Pexels

Rovinj Won Croatia's First Michelin Star, and It Is Still a Fishing Town

Croatia · Rovinj

Hero, Rovinj built to the water's edge, on what was an island until the channel behind it was filled inRachel Claire · Pexels
Grilled squid with lemon. The high end here is built on what the everyday Adriatic kitchen already does well.Vladimir Srajber · Pexels
Mackerel on the slab, the Adriatic's everyday catchNadine Ginzel · Pexels
A working wooden boat off the old town. The batanas themselves are smaller, flat-bottomed and rowed.Helena Jankovičová Kováčová · Pexels
Rovinj from the air, the old town filling what was an island until the eighteenth centuryMikhail Nilov · Pexels
Saint Euphemia and its campanile, raised from 1654 on the model of the one at St Mark'sRamon Karolan · Pexels
The harbour below the old town, where the excursion boats and the working boats tie up togetherDenisa Lesniaková · Pexels
The limestone under the walls. Balota has no sand and no shade, and the water goes deep at once.Carel Voorhorst · Pexels

Dominica's Boiling Lake Is Eight Hours On Foot and Not Always Boiling

Dominica · Laudat

Hero, Water falling through the interior of Dominica, the island the walk to the Boiling Lake crossesMackenzie Cruz · Unsplash
Morne Trois Pitons National Park in cloud. The forecast is close to irrelevant on this side of the island.Daniel Gaffey · Unsplash
Hot spring pools at Titou Gorge, at the foot of the walk. The white is calcium left by years of mineral water running over the rock.Joseph Corl · Unsplash
The coast road. Nothing on Dominica is far in kilometres and everything is slow in minutes.Hiwa Ali · Pexels
Roseau. The Roseau valley behind it holds the trailhead and most of the guesthouses that book guides.Hiwa Ali · Pexels
The coast below the interior. Dominica's beaches are mostly volcanic sand, which is one reason the island sells its mountains instead.Arlin Raf · Pexels

The Transylvanian Village That Gets Two Sunrises

Romania · Rimetea

Hero, Rimetea from the air, the village and its strip fields filling the valley floorMira Romanescu · Pexels
Whitewash, green shutters, moulded plaster over the windows. Every front on the street is a variation on this one.Lucian Lungu · Pexels
The rock the village sits under, seen from the roofs below it.Madalina Brandasiu · Pexels
Piatra Secuiului over the fields. Six hundred metres of climb in about three kilometres of walking.Lajos Kristóf Kántor · Pexels
What is left of the Thoroczkay castle above Colțești, on its rock at the top of the village.GirlvsGlobe86 · Pexels

On Heimaey the Puffins Land at Your Feet

Iceland · Vestmannaeyjar

Hero, two Atlantic puffins on the grass at Vestmannaeyjar, where the archipelago holds the largest gathering of the species on earthMSK · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Adults come in from the sea with the catch held crossways in the bill, a dozen or more sandeels at a time, and carry it straight into the burrow.Lonneke Meijer · Pexels
The road out to Stórhöfði, the southern headland. It is about six to seven kilometres from the town, and it climbs at the end.Bjarne Henning Kvaal · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
The hide at Stórhöfði. Useful when the wind is up, though the slope outside it, walked quietly, puts most people closer to the birds.Thomas Quine · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
Puffins on the cliff at the southern end of Heimaey. The burrows are dug into the turf on the slopes, not into bare rock.Villy Fink Isaksen · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Adults are ashore from about the middle of May and begin leaving in the second half of August.Jonatan Pie r3dmax · Wikimedia Commons, CC0
Heimaey. The fledglings come down among the houses, several kilometres short of the water they were aiming for.Thomas Quine · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0

The Merry Cemetery of Săpânța: What the Crosses Actually Say

Romania · Săpânța

Hero, the painted oak crosses behind the church at Săpânța, in MaramureșDimiTalen · Wikimedia Commons, CC0
Aici mă odihnesc, the lettering begins, Ileană Pop mă numesc. Here I rest, Ileana Pop is my name. The panel above the verse carries the trade or the scene the village remembered the person by.DimiTalen · Wikimedia Commons, CC0
The workshop at the Pătraș memorial house, where the crosses were and are made. Three painted boards stand against the wall and a fourth is still bare.Chainwit. · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
More than eight hundred and fifty crosses stand behind the church, and the yard is still in use. A death in the village in the past year gets the same treatment as one in 1950.Andrei Stroe · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Săpânța-Peri, founded in 1997, its wooden church raised between 1998 and 2003. Entry is free with a donation, and the spire carries five kilometres, across the Tisza into Ukraine.Nicu Farcaș · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Poienile Izei. The devil with the fiddle is for the man who slept through the sermon, and the caption above him is in the old Cyrillic script.Țetcu Mircea Rareș · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 ro
On the same wall, two devils plough the man who moved a boundary stone. The punishments are matched to the faults a farming village could actually commit.Țetcu Mircea Rareș · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 ro
A carved gate at Valea Stejarului, in front of the older wooden church. Oak, cut in relief, by the same trade that makes the grave crosses.Mircea Rareș Țetcu · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.5

Salina Turda Is a Medieval Salt Mine With a Funfair in It

Romania · Turda

Hero, the floor of the Rudolf chamber at Salina Turda, with the amphitheatre and the rides on itJulia Volk · Pexels
Looking down a worked-out chamber, walkways on both walls and the lift tower in the middle. The lighting is new. The shape is what the cutting left.Christopher Politano · Pexels
Winding gear left in place, the shaft walls furred white around it.Superchilum · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Timber set into the salt and crusted over by it. The rock puts itself back on everything left down here.David Stanley · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
The salt itself, banded and folded, with the modern lighting hung against it for scale.Julia Volk · Pexels
The amphitheatre, built into the floor of the mine. Concerts and matches have been played down here.Superchilum · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Over 10,000 Bears and Three Ways to See One

Romania · Zărnești

Hero, a brown bear in beech forest in the Romanian Carpathians at the end of autumnFerencz Istvan · Pexels
The Piatra Craiului. The ridge runs about twenty five kilometres and the forest beneath it carries the densest population of large carnivores in the country.Alex Cristea · Pexels
A young bear in the forests of Curtea de Argeș, on the southern side of the rangeMaxime Max · Pexels
Cubs stay with the mother for about two years, which is why a female with young is the animal to be furthest fromLeon Aschemann · Pexels
Măgura, on the shoulder above Zărnești. Villages like this sit inside the carnivores’ range rather than beside it.Anastasia Haritonov · Pexels
Beech forest above the town in late autumn, when bears are feeding hard before the den and the hide season is closingFerencz Istvan · Pexels

Budva's Old Town Is Younger Than Many of Its Visitors

Montenegro · Budva

Hero, Budva's walled quarter on its promontory, with the modern town behind itMikhail Nilov · Pexels
The old town from the beach beneath its walls, out of season. The foreground is the substrate most of this coast is actually made ofEnder Vatan · Pexels
The resort strip on the Budva riviera. Hotels to the waterline, sunbeds in ranks, and the town climbing the slope behind themMikhail Nilov · Pexels
A lane inside the walls. A souvenir shop, a pharmacy, and the even reconstructed flagging that gives the quarter awayAlexander Nadrilyanski · Pexels
The citadel on the seaward tip. Ramparts, a restaurant and a rare-book library, on shorter hours out of seasonF1lter 88 · Pexels

Walk East Out of Horseshoe Bay

Bermuda · Southampton

Hero, the dune paths and inshore reefs of the south shoreBrandon Morrison · Pexels
The south shore is a run of small bays separated by rock. What divides one cove from the next is old windblown sand, cemented hard and then cut back by the sea.Brandon Morrison · Pexels
Open water between the coves. Where the rock does not close across the entrance the swell arrives unbroken, which is the difference between this and Jobson's a few hundred metres along.Andrea Powell · Pexels
The pink is easiest to see at the waterline, where the wash sorts the heavier grains. The rock at the edge of the sand carries straight on offshore.Andrea Powell · Pexels
An eroded headland and its detached stacks. These are cut from the old dune rock and are not the boilers, which are a different structure altogether and sit further out.Brandon Morrison · Pexels
A man-of-war stranded at the top of the beach, on sand visibly flecked with the pink and red grains the article is about. The sting stays live after the animal dies.Colin Hassell · Pexels

The Bird Bermuda Ate, and Spent Seventy Years Getting Back

Bermuda · St. David's

Hero, the shallows and the reef platform, BermudaBrandon Morrison · Pexels
A cahow over open water. The species feeds far out in the Atlantic and comes ashore only in the dark, to burrows it returns to year after year.steve b · Wikimedia Commons, CC0
Rock in the shallows off Bermuda. The last cahows in the world were nesting in natural crevices on low islets like these in Castle Harbour, which is both why they survived and why they were in trouble.Brandon Morrison · Pexels
A longtail over the south shore. It is the better known bird and, on a nesting islet, the direct competitor: it wants the same burrow and takes it by force.kansasphoto · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Bermuda cedar. Scale insects arriving in the 1940s killed the great majority of the island's cedars, so replanting Nonsuch meant rebuilding a forest as well as a bird colony.Turini · Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
The boardwalk at Cooper's Island Nature Reserve, on the eastern tip of St David's. This is the reserve the public can walk, and it is a short distance across the water from the one they cannot.Tomwsulcer · Wikimedia Commons, CC0

St George's Rent Is One Peppercorn, Delivered by Carriage

Bermuda · St. George's

Hero, the harbour and the town, St George'sSeán Pòl Ó Creachmhaoil · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Water Street. The lanes were laid out for handcarts and never widened, which is half of why UNESCO inscribed the town and its fortifications together in 2000.Davidley · Wikimedia Commons, CC0
Bridge House, on Bridge Street. The stepped white roof is not decoration: each step slows the rain enough for the gutters to catch it and send it to a tank under the building.P. Hughes · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
St Peter's, reached up steps from the main street. Before the tower was built the church had no belfry and hung its bell from a cedar behind the building, which stood until Hurricane Fabian took it down in 2003.JoeyBagODonuts · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
The working waterfront on St George's Harbour. The town behind it is listed; this edge of it is not, and it is where the boats and the freight still come in.Flickr user reivax · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
Tobacco Bay, fifteen to twenty minutes uphill and over from the town. The stacks break the swell before it reaches the sand, though it faces north and a northerly puts the sea straight back into it.Captain-tucker · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Fort St Catherine, on the point where the Sea Venture survivors came ashore. Building started in 1612 and almost everything standing is Victorian, the fort having been pulled about and rebuilt for two and a half centuries.MARELBU · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
The Unfinished Church. The walls and the arcade went up; the roof never did. The ochre stonework on the columns and arches is modern consolidation.P. Hughes · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Five Minutes at Forty Metres in Belize's Great Blue Hole

Belize · Lighthouse Reef Atoll

Hero, the Great Blue Hole from the air, Lighthouse Reef AtollThe TerraMar Project · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Half Moon Caye, Lighthouse Reef. The atoll's lagoon holds the hole, and the caye is where the day boats stop for lunchdronepicr · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
A Caribbean reef shark, Carcharhinus perezii, photographed off San Pedro in December 2025. Ten or more sometimes shadow the descent; other groups meet nothing at allDiego Delso · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Reef diving, location unstated. The two shallower dives that follow the Blue Hole are where most divers say the value of the day sitsChristian Vergara · Pexels
Corals silhouetted against the surface at Goff's Caye, on the Belize Barrier Reef near Belize City. A snorkeller and a few jacks read as dark shapes against the lightjayhem from Antibes, France · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
Caye Caulker, one of the two usual departure points for the day trip, where pickups start around half past four in the morningJames Willamor · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
Traditional sailing skiffs on the Belize City waterfront, photographed in 2001. The liveaboards are far larger vessels and load further along the shore at the Fort George dock; the day trips run from the cayesanoldent · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
Mangroves at Boca Chica, south Ambergris Caye. Mangrove protection was one of the two changes that took the reef off the World Heritage in Danger list in 2018Anatmavada · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Half of Vatnajökull Is Always Shut

Iceland · Vatnajökull National Park

Hero, the ice cap and its meltwater, VatnajökullHub JACQU · Pexels
An outlet glacier front above its moraine. The two walkers at the right edge, one in orange and one in red, are the scale.Lorenzo Castagnone · Unsplash
Inside a natural ice cave. The sediment streaking the walls is ash from past eruptions; the fixed rope on stanchions at the lower right is the mark of a permitted, guided route.Han-Chieh Lee · Pexels
Svartifoss and its hexagonal colonnade, half an hour's climb up from the visitor centre. The railed platform at the foot of the falls, where the two figures are standing, is where the queue for the angle forms. The footbridge lower down the stream is on the way in.Andrew St Lawrence · Unsplash
A glacial valley in Skaftafell, the icefall running into a debris-blackened tongue and a meltwater lake. The marked path ends further from ice like this every year.Marek Piwnicki · Pexels
Jökulsárlón under broken cloud, with the ice cap behind it. The lagoon covered about 8 square kilometres in 1975 and close to 30 now.Ákos Helgert · Pexels
Diamond Beach, on the seaward side of Route 1. Note how close the surf is running to the ice, and how far up the sand it has already come.Bingqi Huang · Unsplash
The volcanic interior, moss and black tephra. The F-roads that cross ground like this open around midsummer and shut again in September.Alex Talmon · Unsplash

Skellig Michael: 180 Seats a Day, Weather Permitting

Ireland · Skellig Michael

Hero, Skellig Michael from the sea, 11.5 km off the Iveragh peninsulaKarl MPhotography · Pexels
A boat under Little Skellig, with the mainland behind. The crossing is 11.5 km and takes 40 minutes to an hour each wayKarl MPhotography · Pexels
The stair to the monastery. Little Skellig sits out in the water beyondLiliane Buntinx · Pexels
Corbelled drystone: each course laid slightly inward and sloped outward, no mortar anywhereKatzegoesireland · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Little Skellig, the gannet colony, seen from a boat. Landing here is not permittedStinglehammer · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
A puffin taking nesting material into its burrow on Skellig MichaelSascha Wenninger · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
The enclosure from the air: cells, oratories and garden terraces on the drystone shelf that holds them to the rockRidiculopathy · Wikimedia Commons, CC0
Atlantic swell breaking against the cliffs of the Kerry coastMichael Fischer · Pexels
Sunset over Waterville Beach, on the Ring of Kerry south of PortmageePhil Evenden · Pexels

A Chief Gave Tongariro Away to Stop It Being Sold

New Zealand · Tongariro National Park

Hero, Red Crater, the 1,886 m high point of the Tongariro Alpine CrossingGeoff McKay from Palmerston North, New Zealand · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Ngauruhoe in the foreground with Ruapehu beyond, seen from the summit of Tongariro. The 1887 deed covered all three.Eusebius · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
Ngauruhoe seen across the flat floor of Central Crater. The red rim and dark columnar cliff below it are Red Crater, with steam venting from the thermal ground to the left, and the walkers on the track give the scale.Du Hugin Skulblaka · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
The Rangipo Desert, Te Onetapu, on the eastern side of the park, with Ngauruhoe under cloud behind it. The pylons on the skyline carry the national grid along the Desert Road.Krzysztof Golik · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
The Mangatepopo valley on the first hour of the crossing, between the car park and Soda Springs, photographed before the fires. This is the ground that burned in November 2025.Porcinno Rondus · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
The Emerald Lakes, Nga Rotopounamu, from the Red Crater descent. The colour comes from minerals leaching out of the thermal field alongside them.Du Hugin Skulblaka · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Blue Lake, Te Wai-whakaata-o-te-Rangihiroa, Rangihiroa's mirror. The lake is tapu.ogwen · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Table Mountain: More Plants Than Kruger, on One Per Cent of the Ground

South Africa · Cape Town

Hero, the flat table in silhouette across Table Bay at sunset, Devil's Peak left and Lion's Head rightD_Van_Rensburg · Pixabay
A double-collared sunbird at an erica. Africa has no hummingbirds, so the pollinators here perch to feed rather than hover, and Erica is the mountain's richest genus at 118 taxaMagda Ehlers · Pexels
The south-easter pushes moist air up the Peninsula mountains until it condenses, and the cloud builds along the crest and swallows the tops. Over the front table the same process lays the flat sheet Capetonians call the tableclothDale Mohagan · Pexels
The upper station on the cliff edge, the double cable, and a car on the span above horizontally bedded Peninsula sandstoneTravel with Lenses · Pexels
The Twelve Apostles, the ridge running south from the main table, above the granite boulders of the Atlantic shore. The name promises a count the mountain does not deliverMimi · Pexels
Tree pincushions on the garden's upper slopes, the mountain's buttresses in cloud behind them. The garden runs straight into the park, and Skeleton Gorge starts inside itop23 · Pexels
The Cape of Good Hope headland and its beach, seen from the built viewpoint path at Cape Point. The two are different headlands, and this is one of the gated sections where the conservation fee is chargedDorota Semla · Pexels

Krakow: The Altarpiece Opens at 11.50

Poland · Krakow

Hero, Krakow's Main Market Square from above, with St Mary's Basilica and its two unequal towersTomasz Tomal · Unsplash
St Mary's Basilica on the Main Market Square. The altarpiece is inside, behind wings that are shut for most of the morningTravel Photographer · Pexels
The Sukiennice, gutted by fire in 1555 and rebuilt in the Renaissance manner. The arcades are a nineteenth-century additionPiotr Kalinowski · Pexels
Floriańska at night, looking towards St Florian's Gate. The street empties earlier than the square doesFarhan Al-Gifari · Pexels
Wawel Cathedral, where Polish kings were crowned and buried long after the court had moved to WarsawWojciech Wyszkowski · Pexels
Street art on ul. Jozefa in Kazimierz, which is a bar district by night as much as a memorial oneMarcin Manka · Pexels
The Vistula, with Kazimierz on the far bank. The ghetto sites are the other way, in Podgorze, ten minutes over the Bernatek footbridge, which is out of shotMaxim Gorodnev · Pexels
One of the chapels hewn from rock salt at Wieliczka, on the standard Tourist Routedimitrisvetsikas1969 · Pixabay

Bruges: The Paintings Never Left the Rooms They Were Made For

Belgium · Bruges

Hero, the Rozenhoedkaai quay under the tower of the Church of Our Lady, on an ordinary summer afternoonRyan Thomas · Pexels
Museum Sint-Janshospitaal on the water: the ward block, the hospital church at the end of it, and the glazed lean-to over the canalLies · Pexels
The Burg: the Gothic city hall in the middle, the gilded front of the old civil registry to the left of it, and the square used as a squareBráulio jardim · Pexels
One floor up, inside the same building: the Gothic Hall, its timber vault and its walls repainted in the nineteenth century with the city's own historyMichael D Beckwith · Pexels
Guild-house fronts on the Markt, with the Jan Breydel and Pieter de Coninck monument alongsideAbdus Samad Mahkri · Pexels
The Belfry: 366 steps to a carillon of 47 bells, and no liftLudovic Delot · Pexels
Jan van Eyckplein in the northern half of the centre, ten minutes from the MarktLuc AVE · Pexels
A lane in the historic centre at midday, minutes from the Markt and effectively emptyMatteo Angeloni · Pexels
Ten Wijngaerde in early spring: founded in 1245, UNESCO-listed in 1998, and Benedictine since 1927Luc AVE · Pexels
The Huidenvettersplein jetty, and how full the boats run: the circuit leaves when the seats are goneMagda Ehlers · Pexels
A chocolate shopfront between the Markt and the Beguinage, on the run of streets where most of the shops are resellers and a good number are franchise brancheswai sing · Pexels

Jeju's Divers Are Down to 2,371, and Most Are Over Seventy

South Korea · Jeju

Hero, Hallasan National Park, the Yeongsil side, cloud on the uplandsBasile Morin · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Divers working offshore. Each orange float is one diver's marker and her catch bag.Jeju Olle Foundation · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Columnar basalt on the Seogwipo coast.Alfredo Marco Pradil · Pexels
Black field walls and tangerines, the two things the rock allowed.Little forest 작은 숲 · Pexels
The walkable kilometre of Manjanggul, photographed before the 2026 refit.Olga Lipunova · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Baengnokdam from the rim, the crater drawn down to two shallow pools, photographed in August 2003.AndiW · Wikimedia Commons, public domain
Seongsan Ilchulbong from the west, its sea-cliff face turned to the water.현우 조 · Pexels

Ayutthaya: Which Temples to Ride, and in What Order

Thailand · Ayutthaya

Hero, brick ruins in the Ayutthaya historical park at the end of the dry seasonJennifer · Pexels
The tall ribbed corn-cob on the right is a prang, the Khmer-derived form of the early city. Patches of white stucco are still holding on the brick of both towersJutaporn Pornin · Pexels
The three royal chedis of Wat Phra Si Sanphet, reliquaries of three kings, rebuilt by the Fine Arts Department in 1956 over their fifteenth-century coresAlberto Capparelli · Pexels
The head in the tree roots at Wat Mahathat: struck from its body, left in the rubble, and lifted as the tree grew around itGu Bra · Pexels
Bare brick core where a moulded stucco skin once carried the paint and the gold leaficon0 com · Pexels
The 37 metre reclining Buddha at Wat Lokayasutharam, brick and stucco rather than bronze, lying where its wihan once stood and robed by the neighbourhoodVicente Zanatta · Pexels
Wat Chaiwatthanaram on the west bank, its plan a model of the Buddhist cosmos. A conservation scaffold stands against one of the towers behindwww.EPiC VIDEO.es🎥 · Pexels

Banaue: Which Rice Terraces Are Actually the UNESCO Ones

Philippines · Banaue

Hero, the terraces above Banaue town, a National Cultural Treasure and the ones most visitors photographMax Mishin · Pexels
Batad, one of the five inscribed clusters, with its paddies part water-filled and part planted. The roofs are a mix of thatch and tin.Max Mishin · Pexels
Stone (tuping) walling at Batad, in the growing season. Every metre of this face was set by hand and has to be re-set when it slumps.Johnkevinreglos · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Bangaan, an inscribed cluster in the municipality of Banaue. Ifugao stilt buildings are raised on posts, with rice kept in the attic under the pyramid of thatch.Dan Lundberg · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
Hapao, in Hungduan, another of the inscribed clusters, with the road running along the far side of the valley and a jeepney on it. That road is what makes Hapao a day trip rather than a trek.Marek Ślusarczyk · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
Transplanting at Batad, between two heavy stone faces. February is the month this happens, and the terraces are brown and part bare around it.Philip Nalangan · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
The green season. April and May are the most recommended window for walking, with young rice and the driest ground.John Renzo Aledia · Pexels
The same ground with the paddies flooded, cloud sitting on the ridges. The reflective terraces and the green ones are different months.Darwin Frivaldo · Pexels

Lovćen: The Serpentine, the 461 Steps and the Tomb at the Top

Montenegro · Lovćen

Hero, the path to the mausoleum on Jezerski VrhVadim Braydov · Pexels
The Lovćen massif from the mausoleum's peak. Štirovnik, the true summit at 1,749 m, carries a telecommunications mast and a military installation and is closed to visitorsMiomir Magdevski · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
The caryatids, in Montenegrin traditional dress, carry the lintel over the door of the mausoleumNorbert Utz · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Twenty-eight tonnes of Jablanica granite, cut from a single block, under a gold vaultQasinka · Wikimedia Commons, CC0

How to Do Lake Skadar

Montenegro · Virpazar

Hero, a boat heading out from Virpazar with the Albanian mountains behindMeridian Dispatch
Grmožur, an Ottoman fortification of 1843 that became a prison islandIlya Bogin · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Fresco work inside Kom monastery, the plaster cracked and pittedUnknown author · Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Coots on the open water in September, the weed bed running unbroken behind themMeridian Dispatch
Seen from under the awning of one boat, another crossing the shallows off VirpazarMeridian Dispatch
Virpazar on a June morning, the car park full and the kayaks racked under the bridgeAlexkom000 · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0

Sveti Stefan: The Island Behind the Photograph Has Reopened

Montenegro · Sveti Stefan

Hero, the island and the isthmus that ties it to the coast road south of BudvaDiego Delso · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
A fifteenth-century village of twelve brotherhoods, converted whole into one hotel in 1960Krzysztof Żwirski · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
The hotel beach north of the causeway, where residents breached the fence in 2021 and the resort closedJaakko Luttinen · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Villa Miločer, built for Queen Marija Karađorđević, at the head of King's Beach. Photographed in 2008, before the Aman lease reshaped the beach in front of itPear Blossom · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Pržno, at the north end of the walk, where the July march set out fromСергей Наруков · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0

Tara Canyon Is Two Trips, and They Are Two Hours Apart

Montenegro · Đurđevića Tara

Hero, the five arches of the Đurđevića Tara bridge, carrying the M-6 across the canyonAd Meskens · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
The bridge on 6 December 1943, nineteen months after the wartime demolition and still a gap in the roadUnknown author · Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
A folding kayak portaged past a rapid on the Tara, 1932Ottomar Krupski · Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
Rafting the lower Tara, which runs from Šćepan Polje and not from the bridgeJasmine Halki · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
The Tara from the rim, about 1,300 metres deep by UNESCO's figure and still undammedAlexkom000 · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0

Durmitor National Park: Come After the Snow Goes

Montenegro · Žabljak

Hero, Black Lake from above, its two basins in the forest below the plateauMercy from Wikimedia Commons · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
The plateau on 29 May 2012. The ring is normally a May to October road, and the high sections can still be walled in while the coast is in summerohnedich from Moscow, Russia · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
Žabljak, at 1,456 metres. A functional base with everything a walker needs, and not a destinationMercy from Wikimedia Commons · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Meded, 2,287 metres, above Black Lake. The lake's surface sits at 1,416 metresWiki surfer bcr · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
Bobotov Kuk, 2,523 metres, the high point of the massif but not of MontenegroGoran.Smith2 · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
The Sedlo pass at 1,907 metres, with Stožina, where the trails for Bobotov Kuk and Sedlena Greda beginIngo Mehling · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Ostrog Monastery: Paint Straight Onto the Rock

Montenegro · Ostrog

Hero, the white front of the upper monastery set into the limestone face of Ostroška gredaMax Grakov · Pexels
The upper monastery in late light, rebuilt between 1923 and 1926 and fitted into a recess in the face rather than standing clear of itDjordje Stakić · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
The lower monastery, where the footpath up begins and the pilgrim dormitories areGavinevans · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
The painted front of the lower church, saints set between the archesDiego Delso · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
The approach, cut along the face and single file where it passes through the rockDiego Delso · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
The monastery read against the full height of the cliff it is built intoNikola Kojević · Pexels

Homepage

The rotating hero

Ha Long Bay, VietnamDale Mohagan · Pexels
Machu Picchu, the hero printMeridian Dispatch
Lake Bled, the share imageJohnny Africa

Uluru: The Number That Closed the Climb

Australia · Uluru

Hero, Uluru from the desert at the end of the dayJonas Schallenberg · Pexels
The colour runs its whole course in about twenty minutes, then flattens to greyRobyn Lodge · Pexels
Close to, the flank is pocked with caves and honeycombed hollowsEden Curtis · Pexels
Greener at the foot than anywhere else on the circuit after rain, and where what shade there is collectsPetra Nesti · Pexels
Kata Tjuta, 36 domes 50 km west, and the better walking of the twoGu Bra · Pexels
Spinifex on red sand, the ground cover across most of the park and no shade at allMark Direen · Pexels

Angel Falls: The Waterfall So Tall the Water Turns to Mist

Venezuela · Canaima

Hero, the falls on the wall of Auyantepui, seen from the camp across the valleySinfinitu · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
The 807 metre drop, coming apart into spray well before it reaches the bottomStratokumulus · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0
Auyantepui, the tabletop the falls come off, above the loop of the CaroniLuis Ovalles · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
The rim near the falls, where the summit's drainage simply runs out of mountainJorge Paparoni · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
The Canaima lagoon, where the Hacha falls come in, and the roadless settlement that serves as the trailheadStig Nygaard · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
Salto El Hacha, the falls at the lagoon, and the rainbow that comes with the sprayZaireTuris · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
A curiara on the lagoon; the run to the falls is five to six hours of this each wayJEISSY TROMPIZ · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
The park is Pemon country, and every trip to the falls runs through Pemon families and boatsSinfinitu · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
Churuatas on the Gran Sabana, the open country east of the tepuisWilfredor · Wikimedia Commons, CC0

Banff Was Invented to Create Demand. It Worked.

Canada · Banff

Hero, a turquoise glacial lake below a scree slope and dark sprucebryan pascual · Pexels
Banff Avenue, a resort high street with the Rockies on both sides of itClaudia Solano · Pexels
Lake Louise, with the Victoria Glacier at its head, the view the railway built a hotel to sellRanjeet Kumar Singh · Pexels
Moraine Lake and the Ten Peaks, now reachable only by bus, bike or your own legsAlberta Studios · Pexels
The Icefields Parkway, 230 km of it, and the part of the park nobody has to bookNathen · Pexels
Peyto Lake from the Bow Summit viewpoint, straight off the ParkwayNunzio Guerrera · Pexels
Larch season, roughly mid-September to early October, and the busiest fortnight on these trailsJoshua Woroniecki · Pexels
Elk in the Bow Valley; the rule is 30 metres, and it is not negotiable in the autumn rutJack Borno · Pexels
Lake Louise at break-up, the shoulder weeks when nobody is queuing for a shuttleSam D · Pexels

Cartagena: The Heat, the Hustle and the Boats Worth Boarding

Colombia · Cartagena

Hero, a colonial street in the walled cityMaria Paula Medina · Pexels
The walled centre from above, the most extensive colonial fortifications in South AmericaK · Pexels
Inside the walls, the balconied houses of the old merchant cityCarlos Anchila · Pexels
Getsemaní, the old working quarter just outside the wallsFer Izaguirre · Pexels
San Felipe de Barajas on the San Lazaro hill, the fort the 1741 night assault broke onK · Pexels
The Torre del Reloj gate and the dock plaza, where the hustle concentrates; the bay and Bocagrande behindK · Pexels
A fruit cart in the walled city; the costumed palenqueras elsewhere expect a tip for the photographWoody Willis · Pexels

Prague at Seven in the Morning

Czech Republic · Prague

Hero, the red roofs and spires of the Old Town from aboveAdina Lavinia Moldovan · Pexels
The Astronomical Clock, installed in 1410 and still keeping a medieval model of the skyEfrem Efre · Pexels
Charles Bridge before eight, which is the only hour it looks like thismehmet aramaz · Pexels
St Vitus from the Third Courtyard, a building six hundred years in the makingyusuf coşkun · Pexels
Karmelitská in Malá Strana: two streets from the bridge and already a working roadHelena Jankovičová Kováčová · Pexels
Old Town Square and the Týn church, framed above the crowd that fills it by mid-morningGotta Be Worth It · Pexels
The posted multi-language menu is the tell. Walk one street back from thisMargo Evardson · Pexels
The Vltava and its bridges below LetnáJarod Barton · Pexels
Letná, one of the parks the city goes to when the centre is fullAlec Doualetas · Pexels

Grand Canyon: The Rock Is Ancient, the Canyon Is New

United States · Grand Canyon

Hero, the layered terraces of the South Rim at first lightAmbient Vista · Pexels
The Colorado in the shallow upper canyon, running cold and green rather than warm and redLaszlo Magyar · Pexels
The view from the South Rim overlooks, where close to forty rock layers can be counted from a railingPHILIPPE SERRAND · Pexels
Cloud filling the canyon below the rim, the compensation for arriving in bad weatherPexels User · Pexels
Mary Colter's Desert View Watchtower, 1932, built to look centuries older than it isAiram Dato-on · Pexels
The Bright Angel Trail, where the hard half of the walk is the second halfElizabeth Olson · Pexels
Mules still supply the inner canyon, and still have right of way on the trailDaniel Erlandson · Pexels
Below the North Rim, higher and wetter than the south side, and reopened in reduced form in May 2026Alex Moliski · Pexels
The river from water level, where trips spend days between walls the viewpoints only look down atDavid Murphy · Pexels

Everest Base Camp: The Two Rest Days That Decide the Trek

Nepal · Khumbu

Hero, the peaks above the moraine on the way into the upper KhumbuRohit Tandon · Unsplash
The Khumbu Icefall above Base Camp, where the glacier breaks over a cliff. Trekkers stop at its footSebastian Pena Lambarri · Unsplash
Ama Dablam, the peak the trail spends four days walking towardsBen Lowe · Unsplash
Tengboche, twice destroyed and twice rebuilt inside a centuryClinton Weaver · Pexels
Namche Bazaar at 3,440 m, the acclimatisation stop and the last real town on the trailKalle Kortelainen · Unsplash
One of the trail's suspension bridges, the structure the walk is really built onGeetangey · Unsplash
Everything above the roadhead arrives on a yak or on somebody's back, which is why prices climb with altitudeThe Nepal Trekking Company · Pexels
Prayer flags on the high ground of the upper KhumbuArjay Neyra · Pexels
Lukla, the airstrip that starts and ends the trek, and the least reliable part of itaaerux studio · Pexels

Angkor: Fifty Million Cubic Metres, Dug by Hand

Cambodia · Siem Reap

Hero, the five towers of Angkor Wat at first lightpen_ash · Pixabay
A causeway guardian at Angkor Thom, one of the rows of gods and demons hauling the nagaAdamHillTravel · Pixabay
The Bayon, where 54 towers carry four faces eachfalco · Pixabay
Angkor Wat's galleries, kilometres of carved narrative in low reliefSerg Alesenko · Pexels
Ta Prohm, where the trees were left standing by a conservator's decisionkolibri5 · Pixabay
Preah Khan, less tidied than its famous neighbour, and quieter for itkolibri5 · Pixabay
The outlying temples, where collapse has been left as collapseanniiikaa · Pixabay
A monk in the colonnade, the continuity the lost-city story erasedChrisKat · Pixabay

Havana: What Is Left Standing in the Colonial Capital of Cuba

Cuba · Havana

Hero, a 1950s American sedan against a painted wall in Havanahenry perks · Unsplash
El Capitolio, completed 1929 and reopened after restoration in 2019. Its dome follows the Panthéon, not Washington.Einar H. Reynis · Unsplash
Plaza Vieja, restored to its 18th-century arcades and, with arrivals down 58 per cent year on year, often close to empty.AXP Photography · Pexels
One street off the restored blocks. Roughly a third of Havana's building stock is officially rated poor or critical.Elisa Giaccaglia · Pexels
The Malecon at dusk, a single walker on the wall. It was begun in 1901 to stop the sea reaching the houses.Dennis Schmidt · Unsplash
The Hotel Nacional, 1930. The tunnels dug into its grounds during the missile crisis are open to visitors.Yuting Gao · Pexels
El Morro at the harbour mouth. The cannon ceremony fires at La Cabaña alongside it, nightly at 21:00.Edu Perez · Pexels
Plaza de la Catedral in full daylight, one of its arcaded palaces now given over to restaurant tables.Mony Misheal · Unsplash

Deadvlei, Namibia: The Forest That Died Six Centuries Ago and Never Fell Down

Namibia · Deadvlei

Hero, a camel thorn skeleton on the white pan at Deadvlei, with the dune wall behindkatja · Pixabay
Deadvlei's camel thorns are not petrified. Sun has darkened the outside; underneath it is still timber.nike159 · Pixabay
One tree, one dune wall. The frame everybody comes for, shot here well after the light has gone flat.Martine Mars · Pexels
The pan floor is clay left by old Tsauchab floods, and pale enough to throw the sun back upward as well as down.Barni1 · Pixabay
Climbers on a Sossusvlei dune ridge. For Big Daddy, take the path from the car park, not the one starting on the pan floor.João Aguiar · Pexels
The pans sit inside the Namib Sand Sea, inscribed by UNESCO in 2013 as Namibia's second World Heritage Site.Jessie Crettenden · Pexels

The Galapagos Islands Where Fear Never Evolved

Ecuador · Galapagos Islands

Hero, a blue-footed booby and its chick on volcanic rock, Galapagospen_ash · Pixabay
A sea lion asleep on the sand, a lava lizard on the rock at its shoulder. Neither moves for the camera.pen_ash · Pixabay
Marine iguanas holding the lava rock, warming up between feeds offshore.kellimcmarie · Pixabay
Galapagos giant tortoises. The trait that nearly finished them, months of survival without food or water, was exactly the trait that made them cargo.Diego F. Parra · Pexels
Bartolome at dusk, Pinnacle Rock offshore. The archipelago's drama is geological before it is scenic.Lloyd Douglas · Pexels
Bare lava running to the shoreline. Shade is scarce on the inhabited islands too, which is why the day starts early in the Galapagos.Lloyd Douglas · Pexels

Easter Island: The Statues That Walked

Chile · Rapa Nui

Hero, the fifteen moai of Ahu Tongariki in silhouette at last lightLuisValiente · Pixabay
Rano Raraku, the quarry that produced almost every moai on the island and kept about four hundred of them.blaxxtock · Pixabay
The quarry moai are their own subgroup: eyes never hollowed, no topknots, and never pulled down in the island's conflicts.Miguel Cuenca · Pexels
Tongariki: fifteen figures, one red scoria pukao, and the heaviest moai ever raised on a platform at 86 tonnes.Lilithy · Pixabay
Seen from the side, a row of moai reads as one carved ridge. Low light is what pulls that detail out of grey tuff; by mid morning the faces flatten.LuisValiente · Pixabay
The walking study found the same signature across the corpus, a wide D-shaped base and a forward lean, both of them buried here in the debris the quarry moai stand in.SoniaJane · Pixabay
Sunset behind the ahu at Tahai, on the edge of Hanga Roa. It is walkable from town and is the island's consensus sunset site.Víctor Ika · Pexels

Budapest's Thermal Baths: Which One to Book Now That Gellert Is Shut

Hungary · Budapest

Hero, the neo-Baroque courtyard and open-air pools of the Szechenyi bathDomenico Adornato · Pexels
Budapest from above at dusk, the Danube beyond the rooftops. The banks of the Danube, the Buda Castle Quarter and Andrassy Avenue were inscribed together as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.Bence Szemerey · Pexels
The Parliament from the water. Tours sell out weeks ahead, so book before arriving rather than on the day.HoremWeb · Wikimedia Commons
Szechenyi under snow. Winter is the better-regarded soak, outdoor water up to 38 degrees with cold air on the face.Marcelo Gonzalez · Pexels
Inside the main building at Szechenyi. The outdoor pools carry the photographs, the indoor rooms carry the architecture.Marc Ryckaert (MJJR) · Wikimedia Commons

Victoria Falls from the Zimbabwe Side: Which Month, Which Bank, Which View

Zimbabwe · Victoria Falls

Hero, the Zambezi drops into its basalt slot on the Zimbabwe borderBabijaPhoto JB · Pexels
The gorge is a narrow slot in the plateau, and the viewpoints look straight across it. In the lean months much of the face carries no water at all.Ana Kenk · Pexels
As the river drops the single curtain breaks into separate strands and the rock between them comes out.Benjamin Olivier Schaeuffele · Pexels
The 1905 arch over the Batoka Gorge, carrying road, rail and a walkway 128 metres above the river.Boris Ulzibat · Pexels
Rainbows form down at river level wherever sun meets spray, with the bridge above them.Kabwe Kabwe · Pexels
Upstream the river is placid, and the spray column is the only clue to what is ahead.Kabwe Kabwe · Pexels

Hallstatt, Austria: The Salt Village Under the Postcard

Austria · Hallstatt

Hero, Hallstatt on its shelf between the lake and the mountainLeonhard Niederwimmer · Pixabay
The passenger ferry from Hallstatt Bahnhof, which is how most arrivals reach the village.Julius Silver · Pixabay
The charnel house at St Michael's, where the painted names are still legible on the bone.Ahmet Yüksek · Pexels
The Marktplatz, which is most of the flat public ground the village has.Husam Wafaei · Pexels
The boathouses on the waterfront, built out over the lake because there was nowhere on land to put them.rainhard2 · Pixabay
October on the slope, seen from above, when the beeches turn and the light comes in low.Leonhard Niederwimmer · Pixabay
The Gosausee, half an hour west, which is where the Dachstein massif is visible end to end.Leonhard Niederwimmer · Pixabay

Alta Badia and the Pink Hours: Walking Hut to Hut Through the Dolomites

Italy · Alta Badia

Hero, dolomite towers under a rose sunset skyFrancesco Sommacal · Pexels
Alta Badia sits under walls that go grey by mid-morning and hold colour only at the two edges of the day.Roberto Baciga · Pexels
The Sella is a plateau with the sides knocked off, walls all the way round and level ground on top.urtimud.89 · Pexels
Reef rock stood on end: the Odle ridges north of Alta Badia show what the uplift did to a lagoon floor.azem kovaci · Pexels
Rifugio Lavaredo, in the Tre Cime group east of Alta Badia. Terraces fill through the day-visitor hours, then thin out to the walkers who booked a bed.Zak Mogel · Pexels
Below the cliffs the walking softens into pasture, pine and shelved meadow.Luca Luperto · Pexels
The larches turn in October, after the summer lifts stop and most of the huts have already shut for the year.Oskar Gross · Pexels

Meteora, Greece: How to Visit the Monasteries Built on Rock Towers

Greece · Meteora

Hero, a monastery on its tower above the wooded valley, ThessalyVish Pix · Pexels
The summit compounds read as small until the eye finds the plain behind them.Vish Pix · Pexels
Holy Trinity, the Bond monastery, stands on its own tower with nothing to soften it.Anestiev · Pixabay
The walled zigzag of cut steps is the entire modern approach, and it is steeper than it photographs.vanillasky · Pixabay
Red roofs on a broad summit, with a second house on the far tower and a shaded shelter on the path below.MemoryCatcher · Pixabay
The best colour arrives after the sun has gone, which means walking back to the car park in the dark.Zana Lookman · Pexels
Both base towns sit directly beneath the rock wall, with the monasteries on the skyline above the roofs.RichardMc · Pixabay
Rousanou from across the valley, with the coach park on the road below it. The bridge in is short; the katholikon inside is small enough to jam.johnNaturePhotos · Pixabay

Mont-Saint-Michel: How to See the Abbey When the Sea Comes Back

France · Mont-Saint-Michel

Hero, the mount from across the bay at dusk, a stone channel running out toward the waterPaul_Henri · Pixabay
The Feichtinger footbridge, opened in 2014, replaced a solid causeway that had been trapping sediment since 1879.Dylanleagh · Pixabay
The church sits on the summit of the granite, roughly eighty metres above the bay.Ridoe · Pixabay
The walls seen from the flats. The rampart walk is free, and thins out long before the Grande Rue does.WolfBlur · Pixabay
Above the shops the village is all slate and stairs, with the flats opening out below.ArminEP · Pixabay
Salt marsh lamb from these fields is the local speciality worth ordering.SlimMars 13 · Pexels
Guided crossings run three to four kilometres over the flats, barefoot, wading tidal rivers on the way.venezande · Pixabay
After the last shuttle the mount belongs to whoever booked a bed nearby.Annabel_P · Pixabay
The Pointe du Grouin du Sud, across the bay, gives the long silhouette view.PHILIPPE SERRAND · Pexels

Socotra, the Island of Dragon's Blood Trees and Why Getting There Is the Hard Part

Yemen · Socotra

Hero, a dragon's blood tree on the open ground of SocotraRod Waddington · Wikimedia Commons
Dixam canyon, where the dragon's blood trees line a gorge that drops away toward the valley floor.Gerry & Bonni · Wikimedia Commons
Detwah, on the western end near Qalansiyah, where the sand runs out to bare rock headlands and open water.Gerry & Bonni · Wikimedia Commons
Arher, on the north coast, where white sand runs down through scrub to the sea and a freshwater stream reaches the beach.Gerry & Bonni · Wikimedia Commons
Livestock beside a dragon's blood tree on the plateau. Grazing animals are the reason the forests are not regenerating.R.J. Sterk · Pexels
Hoq cave, a limestone chamber of columns and flowstone above the north-east coast. Deeper in, ancient mariners left inscriptions in Brahmi, Greek and Aramaic.Valerian Guillot · Wikimedia Commons
Qalansiyah, the fishing village where the boats that run west to Shuab beach are launched.Gerry & Bonni · Wikimedia Commons
Hadibo, the island's only town and its single point of resupply, shower and signal.Gerry & Bonni · Wikimedia Commons

Hegra, the Nabataean City Whose Tombs Were Signed by Their Owners

Saudi Arabia · Hegra

Hero, a tomb front cut into the striated sandstone at Hegra, a lone visitor at its doorJens Aber · Unsplash
Visitors crossing open sand at Hegra, which is a scatter of separate outcrops rather than one site you can walk end to endKHAWAJA UMER FAROOQ · Unsplash
Two facades sharing one outcrop at Hegra. Under flat midday light the carving loses most of its relief, which is the argument for a late slotKHAWAJA UMER FAROOQ · Unsplash
The wider AlUla valley, the part of the trip visitors drive themselvesMahdi Foysal · Pexels
Jabal AlFil, the Elephant Rock, a short drive from Hegra and busiest in the last hour of lightRadosław Botev · Wikimedia Commons
AlUla Old Town from above, a compacted maze of mudbrick under long-running restorationDatingscout · Unsplash

Wadi Rum: How to Sleep in the Desert Hollywood Hires When It Needs Mars

Jordan · Wadi Rum

Hero, the sandstone massifs of Wadi Rum above the open sand floorAXP Photography · Pexels
The massifs begin where the sand ends, with no foothills in between. The walker in the gap gives the scale.Ilze Reira · Pexels
Nearly all touring here happens from the bed of a pickup, not on foot.abdullah çadırcı · Pexels
Iron oxide gives the sand its colour, and stains pale clothing permanently.AXP Photography · Pexels
The low rock bridges can be walked up unroped, which is why they congest by mid morning in spring.Arda Kaykısız · Pexels
The dome camps are the glamping end of the market, air-conditioned and linked by boardwalks. What they are selling is the window, so the sky above them has to be dark.AXP Photography · Pexels
Camel legs work as a short transfer between camp and a nearby site. An hour is usually enough.Arda Kaykısız · Pexels
The traditional camps are still a row of striped tents tucked against a cliff, sited for shelter rather than for the view.Ilze Reira · Pexels

Mount Fuji: How to Climb Japan's Sacred Volcano, and When to Actually See It

Japan · Mount Fuji

Hero, the cone mirrored in still water at first light, the view that only reliably exists in winterCasia Charlie · Pexels
Chureito Pagoda at Arakurayama Sengen Park, reached by 398 steps and best attempted before seven in the morningGuohua Song · Pexels
Shiraito Falls, a 150-metre fan of spring-fed threads and a UNESCO component site in its own rightMavluda Tashbaeva · Pexels
a torii framing the cone, the visual grammar the Fuji-ko pilgrims left behindAndrea De Santis · Pexels
above the cloud line the mountain is rust-brown scoria and loose rock, roped at the edges, nothing like the postcard it appears in from belowDonald Tong · Pexels
dawn light on the cone, the hour when the mountain is most reliably out from behind cloudRuby F · Pexels
the crater notch from the air in deep snow, the months when the mountain looks like this are the months the trails are shutTirachard Kumtanom · Pexels

Sigiriya, the Rock Citadel a King Built Out of Fear

Sri Lanka · Sigiriya

Hero, Sigiriya rising from the dry-zone plain at first lightStephanie Perera · Pexels
The view back across the plain from Pidurangala, the neighbouring rockAndreas Schnabl · Pexels
The western water gardens, where the fifth-century hydraulics still workSamiru Sandeepa · Pexels
Brick and stone steps down to one of the garden pools at the base of the rockSamiru Sandeepa · Pexels
The lion's paws, all that survives of the gateway that named the rockАндрей Марченко · Pexels
Metal walkways pinned to the cliff carry the route past the galleryMaciej Cisowski · Pexels
Toque macaques work the summit terraces and will take an unzipped bag apartDamian Lopez · Pexels

Zhangjiajie: How to Read the Sandstone Pillars China Sold to Hollywood

China · Zhangjiajie

Hero, quartz-sandstone pillars rising through mist in the Wulingyuan Scenic Area, HunanVined · Pixabay
Hard sandstone over softer siltstone: the columns shear away in flat planes, which is why the edges look cut rather than worn.David Tran · Pexels
Low ground beneath the pillars, where the valley trails run. Most tour groups only ever see this country from above.Vined · Pixabay
Partial mist is the condition worth waiting for. A full whiteout erases the same view entirely.103924 · Pixabay
Tongtian Avenue, the Heaven-Linking road, folds 99 hairpins into about eleven kilometres on its way to roughly 1,300 metres.JC Terry · Pexels
The Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon Glass Bridge in Cili, about 430 metres long and 300 metres above the gorge floor, opened in 2016. A separate site on a separate ticket.yoyolang · Pixabay

Ha Long Bay: Which Bay to Sail, How Many Nights, and When to Go

Vietnam · Ha Long Bay

Hero, limestone islands and moored boats in Ha Long BayDale Mohagan · Pexels
Most of the bay is only reachable by boat, which is why the fleet, and the congestion, exists at all.Jeffry Surianto · Pexels
Overnight boats moored off the central route on a grey winter morning, before the day fleet arrives from Tuan Chau.Frank van Dijk · Pexels
Tide-dependent arches lead into enclosed lagoons. Some are only passable at low water.Quang Nguyen Vinh · Pexels
Bai Tu Long, northeast of the main route. Fewer overnight permits are issued here, and it shows.Ama Journey · Pexels
Kayaks launch from the anchored mother ship, usually for an hour or so in the afternoon.Rachel Claire · Pexels
Around 1,600 people still live on the water in four floating villages.Federico P · Pexels
Winter mornings are cool and often fogbound. Beautiful, and not the clear jade of the brochures.Chino Chow · Pexels

The Great Wall Without the Crowds

China · Jinshanling

Hero, the wall climbing toward a watchtowerMehmet Yasin Kabaklı · Pexels
Stamped brickwork, the mark of the unit that made itMadzery Ma · Pexels
The restored middle stretch, where the steps still run trueMarkus Winkler · Pexels
East of the restored middle, the wall is left to come downshuping zhao · Pexels
October, when the ridges turn and the photographers arriveLUIZ ANCIÃES · Pexels
First light on the ridge, the hour the section is built forEclipse Chasers · Pexels
Simatai, the only stretch of wall lit after darkEclipse Chasers · Pexels
Gubei Water Town, the built-from-scratch base below Simataimingche lee · Pexels

Bagan: A Plain of 2,000 Temples, Watched from a Balloon

Myanmar · Bagan

Hero, balloons over the temple plain at dawnHongbin · Unsplash
The plain of spires at first lightSébastien Goldberg · Unsplash
A balloon overhead at dawnLesly Juarez · Unsplash
Ananda TempleSnowscat · Unsplash
DhammayangyiMinn Koko · Unsplash
A cyclist on a sandy track past a templeWin Khant Maung · Pexels
A carved Buddha inside a templeManh Tuan Nguyen · Unsplash
A temple silhouetted at sunsetGu Bra · Pexels
Mount Popa, the volcanic-plug monasteryTony Wu · Pexels

The Biggest Caves on Earth

Vietnam · Phong Nha

Hero, the karst country around Phong NhaFlorian Delée · Unsplash
Boats on the Son river below the karstpen_ash · Pixabay
The river boat into Phong Nha Cave[Tycho] talk , http://shansov.net · Wikimedia Commons
Paradise CaveKishan Rahul Jose · Pexels
The camp inside Hang EnAndrew Svk · Unsplash
Cave formations1045373 · Pixabay

Copper Canyon, Mexico: Bigger Than the Grand Canyon, by Rail

Mexico · Copper Canyon

Hero, the cliffs of the Barrancas del CobreLeslie del Moral · Pexels
The rim at DivisaderoAlex Moliski · Pexels
The platform at CreelFoto Eule · Wikimedia Commons
The cable car over the gorgeCirilo Valentin · Pexels
Raramuri countryUriel Venegas · Pexels
El FuerteHam Chitnupong · Pexels

Oman: The Gulf You Can Drive Yourself

Oman · Muscat & the interior

Hero, a wadi of pools and palmsRuchit Darji · Pexels
The pools of Wadi ShabFRANCK LEMOZY · Pexels
The Bimmah sinkholeM Shah · Pexels
The Wahiba dunes at duskNoah C · Pexels
Nizwa Fortalbinfo · Wikimedia Commons
The Nizwa goat marketAndries Oudshoorn · Wikimedia Commons
Misfat al AbriyeenFabian Lozano · Pexels
Jebel ShamsRuchit Darji · Pexels
The Sultan Qaboos Grand MosqueMike Tyurin · Pexels
The terraces of Jebel AkhdarEslam Mohammed Abdelmaksoud · Pexels
A green turtle at Ras al JinzKanenori · Pixabay

The Other Argentina

Argentina · Salta & Jujuy

Hero, the Hill of Seven Colours, PurmamarcaBernard Gagnon · Wikimedia Commons
The Serrania de HornocalLucas Leonel Suárez · Pexels
Salinas GrandesAgustin Devani · Pexels
The Quebrada de las Conchassilkesauer · Pixabay
The vineyards of Cafayatevisiondailleurs1 · Pixabay
Colonial Salta, the Plaza 9 de Juliolittletroll · Wikimedia Commons
A village of the QuebradaHector Perez · Pexels
Los CardonesBachelot Pierre J-P · Wikimedia Commons
The Cuesta de LipanAldys Cattania · Pexels
An Andean marketD R · Pexels
The Pucara de TilcaraNiels Elgaard Larsen · Wikimedia Commons

The Okavango Delta: A River That Floods the Desert

Botswana · Okavango Delta

Hero, the delta from the airLionMountain · Pixabay
A poler at the stern of a mokoroDoctorJoeE · Wikimedia Commons
Elephants at the floodkatja · Pixabay
A leopard on the islandsPixabay · Pexels
Hippos in a channelLionMountain · Pixabay
The painted wolfDerek Keats · Pexels
The bush-plane fly-inKrzysztof Jaworski-Fotografia · Pexels
Red lechweZenith · Pexels
Water liliesNguyen Ngoc Tien · Pexels
A camp at sundownMatheus Bertelli · Pexels

Kawah Ijen: The Blue Fire, and the Men Who Carry the Volcano Out

Indonesia · Kawah Ijen

Hero, the Ijen crater lake at dawnLucas Tran · Pexels
The trail up, still in the darkArtHouse Studio · Pexels
The blue flame at the ventsTomáš Malík · Pexels
Hikers in the sulphur gasjovanel · Pixabay
The descent into the craterSHVETS production · Pexels
A sulphur miner and his loadMaxime Levrel · Pexels
The sulphur ventsJonathan Chan · Unsplash
The acid crater lakeVlada · Unsplash
The caldera rim at sunriseRonald Pang · Pexels
Working the ventsMario La Pergola · Unsplash

The Blue Cities of the Silk Road

Uzbekistan · Samarkand, Bukhara & Khiva

Hero, the Registan at SamarkandRüveyda Akkaya · Pexels
The Registan, once the light softensAXP Photography · Pexels
Shah-i-Zinda tileworkAXP Photography · Pexels
The Gur-e-Amir domeYaşar Başkurt · Pexels
The Kalyan minaret, BukharaAXP Photography · Pexels
Bukhara's trading domesAXP Photography · Pexels
PlovEugene K · Pexels
Textiles in the bazaarAlsyed Alsadny · Pexels
The Bolo Hauz mosque, BukharaLoggaWiggler · Pixabay
The walls of Khiva at duskLoggaWiggler · Pixabay
The Kalta Minor, KhivaLoggaWiggler · Pixabay
The Juma mosque columns, KhivaDan Lundberg · Wikimedia Commons

Hampi: A Ruined Megacity in a Field of Boulders

India · Hampi

Hero, the boulder landscape at sunsetSibi Mathew · Pexels
The Virupaksha gopuramCR7 Rameshh · Pexels
The stone chariot at VittalaRama Warrier · Wikimedia Commons
The Lotus MahalAbhinandan J. Patil · Pexels
The elephant stablesPause the Moment · Pexels
A coracle on the TungabhadraPranet · Wikimedia Commons
Among the bouldersVyacheslav Argenberg · Wikimedia Commons
The valley from Matanga HillNandhu Kumar · Pexels
Riverside temple pavilionsSreeraj Kayaralam · Pexels

The Rock-Hewn Churches of Lalibela, Ethiopia

Ethiopia · Lalibela

Hero, Bete Giyorgis from aboveLudo Van den Nouweland · Pexels
Bete Giyorgis, the Church of St Georgemulugeta wolde · Unsplash
A worshipper at the rock wallLudo Van den Nouweland · Pexels
Pilgrims in the trenchesdMz · Pixabay
A priest with a processional crossMesfin Tesfaye · Unsplash
The Ethiopian highlandsErik Hathaway · Unsplash

How to Time the Great Migration in the Serengeti

Tanzania · Serengeti

Hero, wildebeest on the Serengeti plainsDoina Gavrilov · Unsplash
A game drive in the SerengetiAshim D’Silva · Unsplash
A Mara River crossingDirk Pothen · Pexels
Wildebeest and zebra on the plainsJos van Ouwerkerk · Pexels
Calving season at NdutuPhilippe Alamazani · Pexels
A lion on the plainsMike Holford · Unsplash
A dawn balloon over the SerengetiTanzania Wild Sky · Unsplash

Visiting Petra: A Guide Beyond the Treasury

Jordan · Petra

Hero, the Treasury at PetraBrian Kairuz · Unsplash
The Siq, the gorge into PetraKonstantinos Kaskanis · Unsplash
The Treasury, Al-KhaznehDamir Kalić · Unsplash
The Monastery, Ad-DeirSylvain Gllm · Unsplash
The Royal TombsDamir Kalić · Unsplash
Petra by NightMichael Starkie · Unsplash
The landscape around PetraSara Darcaj · Unsplash

How to Cruise the Nile

Egypt · Luxor to Aswan

Hero, a felucca on the NileGijs Jakobs · Unsplash
Karnak Temple, LuxorAhmed Elnokrashy · Unsplash
The Valley of the KingsDmitrii Zhodzishskii · Unsplash
The Temple of Horus at EdfuDEZALB · Pixabay
A felucca under sailJean Pierre Cabáni · Unsplash
The Temple of Philae, AswanMartijn Vonk · Unsplash
Abu SimbelDmitrii Zhodzishskii · Unsplash

The Luxury Sleeper Trains Worth Boarding

Worldwide · anchored at Alice Springs

Hero, the outback of central AustraliaChristian Bass · Unsplash
The Red Centre, the Ghan's routeSimon Maisch · Unsplash
The Alps, on the Orient-Express routeRicardo Gomez Angel · Unsplash
The South African veld, Rovos Rail countryJuanita Geldenhuys · Unsplash
The Peruvian altiplano, the Andean Explorer's routeGustavo Leighton · Unsplash
A luxury sleeper cabinDeccan Odyssey · Unsplash
The Scottish Highlands, the Royal Scotsman's routematthew Feeney · Unsplash

Romania's Castles: Which Are Worth It, and Why to Skip Bran

Romania · Brasov

Hero, Bran Castle from aboveElisa Photography · Unsplash
Bran, the famous oneShubham Singh · Unsplash
Peles, the royal palaceAdrian Mag · Unsplash
Corvin, the gothic sleepermary1826 · Pixabay
Sighisoara, the medieval citadelTheo Lonic · Unsplash
The Transfagarasan mountain roadYevhen Sukhenko · Pexels
Poenari, the real Vlad fortressL.Kenzel · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

How to Get Into Wimbledon

United Kingdom · London

Hero, Centre Court from outsideBarney Goodman · Unsplash
Centre Courtdavidkenny91 · Pixabay
A grass court in the groundsAlex Lian · Unsplash
Henman HillBarney Goodman · Unsplash
The packed grounds from aboveeleni koureas · Unsplash
Strawberries and creamAnastasia Zhenina · Unsplash
Wimbledon VillageGeorg Eiermann · Unsplash
Kew Gardenshoch3fotografie · Unsplash
Hampton Court PalaceKT Likes Coffee · Unsplash

Lake Victoria: The Source of the Nile at Jinja and the Ssese Islands

Uganda · Jinja

Hero, a fisherman on the lake at duskPublicDomainPictures · Pixabay
The source of the White Nile at JinjaChristopher Liberty · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Whitewater below the sourceEjawantah Bentala · Pexels
The Ssese Islandsalexandre saraiva carniato · Pexels
Fishing boats on the lakeEdouard MIHIGO · Pexels
Lake Victoria at duskAlex Levis · Pexels
The lakeshore at EntebbeMuwanguzi Isaac · Pexels

El Mirador: The Five-Day Jungle Trek to a Lost Maya City in Guatemala

Guatemala · Carmelita

Hero, La Danta above the canopyDennis G. Jarvis · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
The mule train from CarmelitaDavid Correa Franco · Pexels
The Peten forest on the trekDiego Girón · Pexels
El Tigre, half under the treesDennis G. Jarvis · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
A jungle camp on the trailVitali Adutskevich · Pexels
Dawn from the top of La DantaRonyrocael · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
La Danta from the airKonjiki1 · Wikimedia Commons, CC0

Patagonia National Park, Chile: The Tompkins Rewilding of Valle Chacabuco

Chile · Valle Chacabuco

Hero, guanacos on the Patagonian steppeJan Zakelj · Pexels
A guanaco on the grasslandRaindom · Pixabay
A high lagoon under the peaksGonzalo Lastra · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
An Andean condorMiguel Cuenca · Pexels
The Carretera AustralDiego Gonzalez · Pexels
A sheep flock, the valley's ranching pastRaul Corrado · Pexels
Flamingos on a lagoonEma Reynares · Pexels
A puma, the park's most elusive residentLucas Pezeta · Pexels

Uruguay's Wild Rocha Coast

Uruguay · Cabo Polonio

Hero, the wild coast at Punta del DiabloRaw Photografic Chuy · Pexels
The lighthouse at Jose IgnacioSergio Arteaga · Unsplash
The circular Laguna Garzon bridgeJimmy Baikovicius · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
The rocky surf coast at La PedreraDiego Gonzalez · Pexels
The dunes above Cabo PolonioDiego Gonzalez · Pexels
The Cabo Polonio lighthouse at duskPedro Slinger · Pexels
The night sky over the coastFuka jaz · Pexels
The sea lion colony under the lighthouseNico Marín · Pexels
Fishing boats at Punta del DiabloMariana Zorrilla · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
The star fort of Santa Teresaalleksana · Pexels

The Last Palace of Muslim Spain

Spain · Granada

Hero, the Alhambra at sunsetEnrique · Pexels
The Court of the LionsIgor Passchier · Pexels
The Court of the MyrtlesYou Know What Blog · Pexels
A muqarnas honeycomb domeJosé Manuel · Pexels
Carved stucco and zellij tileZekai Zhu · Pexels
The Generalife gardensSebastiaan Been · Pexels

The Church That Became a Mosque, Twice

Turkey · Istanbul

Hero, Hagia Sophia over SultanahmetGezgin Foto · Pexels
The great dome from withinMehmet Turgut Kirkgoz · Pexels
The gold calligraphy roundelsMehmet Turgut Kirkgoz · Pexels
The Deesis mosaicsivildikkatsizlik · Pexels
The upper galleryMehmet Turgut Kirkgoz · Pexels
The exterior and minaretsMathias Reding · Pexels

Amsterdam Happens in the Brown Cafes

Netherlands · Amsterdam

Hero, a canal at duskDavid Rama · Pexels
A brown cafe interiorAlexandra Kollstrem · Pexels
The leaning gable housesVlada Karpovich · Pexels
A canal and its bridgesMert Oraklı · Pexels
Bikes on a canal bridgeDoğukan Akbaş · Pexels
A bridge lit at nightAndrew Hawkes · Pexels

Five Villages, Fifty-One Tunnels

Italy · Cinque Terre

Hero, Manarola at sunsetStevan Aksentijevic · Pexels
The harbour at VernazzaDomenico Adornato · Pexels
A train at a cliff stationKateryna Tartachna · Pexels
The Blue Trail above the seaGotta Be Worth It · Pexels
Corniglia on its headlandMichal Lizuch · Pexels
The terraced vineyardsGotta Be Worth It · Pexels

The Best Way to See Venice Is a Bar Crawl

Italy · Venice

Hero, a gondola on the Grand CanalValmir Zanellato · Pexels
A quiet Venetian canalHelena Jankovičová Kováčová · Pexels
A gondola on a back canalVladimir Srajber · Pexels
The Rialto BridgeValentin Ivantsov · Pexels
A bacaro, lined with wineKaren F · Pexels
Piazza San Marco at first lightMaurizio Fecchio · Pexels

The Paris Between the Monuments

France · Paris

Hero, the Eiffel Tower at duskRaul Albright · Pexels
The Mona Lisa and the crowdGrzegorz Lewandowski · Pexels
The Champ de Mars lawn in the eveningBaptiste Guillier · Pexels
Croissants at a bakeryFernanda da Silva Lopes · Pexels
The Marche aux Fleurs by Notre-DameMargo White · Pexels
A corner cafe in ParisDaria Agafonova · Pexels

The Road Runs Out at Å: Driving Lofoten's E10

Norway · Lofoten Islands

Hero, red cabins under the peak at HamnøySindre Fjerdingby Korsviken · Pexels
The village of Reine under the peaksop23 · Pexels
The road and bridge at HamnøyMaksim Romashkin · Pexels
Cloud low over the Lofoten wallStein Egil Liland · Pexels
Cod drying on the racksBarnabas Davoti · Pexels
The northern lights over the fjordStein Egil Liland · Pexels

You're Standing on the Rim of a Volcano

Greece · Santorini

Hero, Oia falling to the seaPham Ngoc Anh · Pexels
The caldera cliffs and the drowned craterDiego F. Parra · Pexels
A blue-domed church above the calderaAXP Photography · Pexels
Nea Kameni, the volcano in the middleKelly · Pexels
The sun going down over OiaAXP Photography · Pexels

You Hear It Before You See It

Brazil · Foz do Iguacu

Hero, the falls across the green gorgeDiego Rezende · Pexels
The Devil's ThroatCsaba Marosi · Pexels
The catwalk out into the sprayManoel Paulo · Pexels
A boat below the cataractsTommy Picone · Pexels
A rainbow across the gorgeCadu Mello · Pexels
A coati on the trailMarina Zvada · Pexels

Where to Start on the Bay of Kotor

Montenegro · Kotor

Hero, the bay and Kotor at its footKate Holovacheva · Pexels
Inside the walls: a few hectares of Venetian lanes, crossable in ten minutes and confusing for twentyDrago Rapovac · Pexels
The fortifications run up the mountain to San Giovanni, roughly 260 metres above the waterRoman Odintsov · Pexels
Perast, a single street of sea captains' palazzos with no cars in it, half an hour up the bay from KotorEvgeny Matveev · Unsplash
Our Lady of the Rocks, raised from the seabed on stones dropped by returning sailors and on sunken hullsBoris Hamer · Pexels
The inner bay from above, late in the day, after the ships have sailedDean Milenkovic · Unsplash

The City Runs Right Up to the Pyramids

Egypt · Giza

Hero, the pyramids over the city of GizaFrancesco Albanese · Pexels
A figure at the base, for scaleJorge Segovia · Unsplash
The three pyramids from the sandHossam Ashoor · Pexels
The wonder at the end of a streetKai Muro · Unsplash
The Great Sphinx and KhafreDiego F. Parra · Pexels
Camels at dusk on the plateauMehdi El marouazi · Unsplash

You Can Walk on the Sky: Salar de Uyuni

Bolivia · Uyuni

Hero, a figure on the mirror at sunsetWillian Justen de Vasconcellos · Pexels
Walking on the reflected skyPeter Conlan · Unsplash
The dry-season salt hexagonsJean Paul Montanaro · Pexels
The cacti of Incahuasi islandLetian Zhang · Unsplash
The Uyuni train cemeteryLoïc Alejandro · Pexels
The Milky Way over the flatAlexander Rondón · Pexels

Getting to Machu Picchu on Your Own

Peru · Aguas Calientes

Hero, Machu Picchu at dawnMeridian Dispatch
Cusco, where it startsMarcelo Mora · Pexels
The PeruRail train through the gorgeTommy Picone · Pexels
The main street of Aguas CalientesMeridian Dispatch
The bus stop, before dawnMeridian Dispatch
The citadel, entered on Circuit 2Meridian Dispatch
A llama on the lawnMeridian Dispatch

The Castle That Was Never Real

Germany · Schwangau

Hero, the castle above the autumn forestBurak Özkan · Pexels
The castle in its setting, above the plainGildo Cancelli · Pexels
Hohenschwangau and the Alpsee, below the castleMauricio Borja · Pexels
A boat on the Alpsee lakeMichael M · Unsplash
The castle at duskMarkus · Pexels
A tower in the mountain mistJohn Hank · Pexels

Plitvice: The Waterfalls Grow a Centimetre a Year

Croatia · Plitvice Lakes

Hero, the boardwalk through the cascadesBranimir Klaric · Pexels
The turquoise lakes from aboveRyan Klaus · Pexels
The travertine cascadesAdonyi Gábor · Pexels
The boardwalk over the waterObryan Poyser · Pexels
The clarity of the lakebedAdonyi Gábor · Pexels
The lower falls, where the scale changesDamir K. · Pexels

The Country Carved from Rock: Cappadocia

Turkey · Göreme

Hero, the balloons over the valley at dawnDijital Butik · Pexels
Fairy chimneys with homes cut into themMehmet Turgut Kırkgöz · Pexels
A cave room, the balloons already upBurcufilms · Pexels
The valley gone to ember at sunsetFrom Salih · Pexels
The field of balloons before dawnHalil Can · Pexels
The burner, and the ground leaving youTuğba Kobal Yılmaz · Pexels

The Cotton Castle: Barefoot on Pamukkale's White Terraces

Turkey · Pamukkale

Hero, the terraces at sunsetabdullah davulcu · Pexels
The travertine in the late sunElvin Muradzade · Pexels
The cypress on the white plateauOleksandra Zhyvytsia · Pexels
The springs at first lightEhtiram Mammadov · Pexels
The Roman theatre of Hierapolis at duskMehdi Gizli · Pexels
The cotton castle from the airEmre Koşak · Pexels
Balloons over Pamukkale at dawnRuslan Konev · Pexels

The Saints That Used to Be Kings

Peru · Cusco

Hero, the Plaza de Armas on Corpus ChristiMeridian Dispatch
The plaza filling, seen from the rooftopsMeridian Dispatch
The crowd and dancers below the cathedralMeridian Dispatch
La Compañía over the crowd, masked dancers belowMeridian Dispatch
San Jerónimo on his andaMeridian Dispatch
Chiri uchu at the stallsMeridian Dispatch

Choquequirao: 1,500 Metres Down, 1,800 Back Up

Peru · Choquequirao

Hero, the Apurimac canyon on the trek inGustavo Palomino · Pexels
Cusco, where the trip beginsMarcelo Mora · Pexels
Trekkers on the high trailJose Luis QE · Pexels
A pack mule on the trailJulia Volk · Pexels
Camp under the stars on the way inRenzo Tirado · Pexels
Choquequirao itself, the white-stone llama terracesJose Galarza · Pexels

What Georgia Keeps in the Ground

Georgia · Tbilisi

Hero, the old town and Narikala Fortress at golden hourArtHouse Studio · Pexels
An old-town house, carved balconies and laundryDimitri Simonishvili · Pexels
Qvevri, the clay vessels Georgian wine ferments inMarina Leonova · Pexels
The Orbeliani bathhouse and a brick bath dome, Abanotubanilevan simonshvili · Pexels
A supra, the Georgian feastGalina Lasaeva · Pexels

The Sagrada Família Is Now the Tallest Church on Earth

Spain · Barcelona

Hero, the facade and spires from belowMehmet Turgut Kırkgöz · Pexels
The nave, columns branching into the canopyTom D'Arby · Pexels
The east windows, cold blue and greenGianluca Pugliese · Pexels
The baldachin over the altarRafal Cho · Pexels
The west windows, warm red and amberPhil Evenden · Pexels

Rafting the Futaleufú

Chile · Patagonia

Hero, the turquoise river through pampas grassMeridian Dispatch
Terminator, a Class V rapidWarren Williams · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
The ferry south toward ChaiténMeridian Dispatch
Peuma Lodge, above the valleyMeridian Dispatch
The river through its gorgeIgnacio Mendía · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
The wood-fired hot tub at duskMeridian Dispatch
The river and valleyMeridian Dispatch

Bled, the Faded Fairytale

Slovenia · Lake Bled

Hero, the view down from the castleMeridian Dispatch
The room's balcony, over the water to the castleMeridian Dispatch
The town behind the lakeMeridian Dispatch
The pletna boats on a grey morningMeridian Dispatch
Bled Castle on its cliffMeridian Dispatch
The Bled cream cake, kremšnitaAtai Anarbek

The Skeleton Coast

Namibia · Skeleton Coast

A hull going to pieces below the dunesJoshua Kettle · Unsplash
The Benguela fog over the dunesJoshua Kettle · Unsplash
Hero, the Cape fur seal colony at Cape CrossSeiji · Unsplash
Where the dune sea pours into the AtlanticJoshua Kettle · Unsplash
One vehicle on the fog-bound beachNicolas Cortois · Unsplash
The long road back, into nothingAndrew Svk · Unsplash
The gravel road east into DamaralandAmar Hussain · Unsplash

The Desert That Floods

Brazil · Lençóis Maranhenses

Hero, aerial over the dune fieldLucas Lagrimante · Unsplash
São Luís, the tiled colonial portJLPizzol · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Down the Preguiças by open boatDione Film · Unsplash
The last of it on foot, over the sandLuiza Carvalho · Unsplash
A lagoon the colour of bottle glassgabriel xu · Unsplash
A figure at the water's edgeRoi Dimor · Unsplash
An hour before dark, the field turns to goldTatiana Zanon · Unsplash
The dunes meeting the coast near AtinsLéo Castro · Unsplash
The bedsheet folds, to the horizonMarcus Dall Col · Unsplash
A deep-blue lagoonPatrícia Cassol Pereira · Unsplash

Brasília: Where Brazil Bent the Right Angle

Brazil · Brasília, São Paulo and Inhotim

Hero, the National Congress and its domesJoão Pavese · Pexels
The Niterói Contemporary Art MuseumEstevão Teixeira · Unsplash
The Cathedral of BrasíliaJoão Pavese · Pexels
The Itamaraty Palace and its reflecting poolfranciscodomingosipe · Pixabay
Copan's rippling brise-soleilCaio Arbulu · Unsplash
MASP, Lina Bo Bardi's lifted boxOdinei Ramone · Unsplash
A pavilion across the lake at InhotimDaniel Neves Cotta · Pexels

Amalfi: The Coast Is Held Up by Lemon Trees

Italy · Amalfi Coast

Hero, Positano at duskSebastian Leonhardt · Unsplash
Positano, met from the waterTom Podmore · Unsplash
The Duomo di Sant'Andrea, AmalfiEdoardo Colombo · Pexels
Atrani, the republic's quieter twinSalvatore Monetti · Pexels
Lemons on a chestnut pergolaMagda Ehlers · Pexels
A lemon harvest above the coastMihaela Puscas · Unsplash
Ravello, above the seaOwen Roth · Unsplash
The coast from above the waterRenzo Torres · Pexels

Mongolia: The Largest Empire in History Left Nothing Standing

Mongolia

Hero, a ger on the North Tamir valley steppeDal Tamiraa · Pexels
Erdene Zuu monastery, KharkhorinArtHouse Studio · Pexels
A lone ger on the Orkhon, at duskArtHouse Studio · Pexels
A rider on the open grassArtHouse Studio · Pexels
Stupas on the steppe, below the sacred groundBYB BYB · Pexels
The road west into the AltaiJulia Volk · Pexels
Kazakh eagle hunters, Bayan-ÖlgiiJulia Volk · Pexels

Getting Lost in Fez

Morocco

Hero, the medina rooftops under the hillsMeridian Dispatch
The medina lanesMeridian Dispatch
The souk, freight by donkeyMeridian Dispatch
A winter vegetable marketMeridian Dispatch
The Nejjarine wood museumMeridian Dispatch
A carpet shopMeridian Dispatch
The Chouara tanneryMeridian Dispatch
A studded doorMeridian Dispatch

Lisbon on Foot

Portugal

Hero, the rooftops of Alfama at duskBenjamin Pazdernik · Unsplash
The 28 tram in the BaixaAayush Gupta · Unsplash
The Bica funicularClaudio Schwarz · Unsplash
Pink Street, Cais do SodréSara Darcaj · Unsplash
Pastéis de nata, fresh from the ovenDiogo Nunes · Unsplash
The tower at Belém, at sunsetEdoardo Bortoli · Unsplash

Fjords from the Water

Norway

Hero, the GeirangerfjordMeridian Dispatch
Bryggen, over the Bergen waterfrontMeridian Dispatch
The Nærøyfjord, at its narrowestMeridian Dispatch
The fjord walls out of the waterMarius Schmidt · Pexels
At water level, on the AurlandsfjordBenjamin Davies · Unsplash
The Geirangerfjord, from the road aboveMeridian Dispatch

The Bernese Oberland, Floor to Summit

Switzerland · Lauterbrunnen

Hero, the Staubbach falling clear of the cliff, LauterbrunnenLeo Visions · Unsplash
The valley floor, toward StechelbergMichael Lämmli · Unsplash
The cog railway, below the EigerPiotr Guzik · Unsplash
The Aletsch, from the JungfraujochErol Ahmed · Unsplash

Ireland: The Country Brief

Ireland · country page

Masthead, the Cliffs of Moher above the AtlanticAdrien Olichon · Pexels
Culture, Saint Kevin's church and the round tower at GlendaloughDirk De Vlaminck · Pexels
Nature, a lake in the Killarney hillsOleksandr Kobuta · Pexels
Coast, marram grass on a dune ridge above an Atlantic strandRaul Ling · Pexels
Adventure, the MacGillycuddy's Reeks under storm lightOleksandr Kobuta · Pexels
Luxury, Lismore Castle above its woodland in WaterfordLiudmyla Shalimova · Pexels

Switzerland: The Country Brief

Switzerland · country page

Masthead, the Matterhorn seen down the length of ZermattJean-Paul Wettstein · Pexels
Nature, Oeschinensee under the BlüemlisalpMorison bis · Pexels
Adventure, the Aletsch glacier from the ridgeallPhoto Bangkok · Pexels
Culture, the Kapellbrücke and the water tower at LucerneAdrien Olichon · Pexels
Luxury, St. Moritz above its own lakeJean-Paul Wettstein · Pexels

Iceland: The Country Brief

Iceland · country page

Masthead, an empty road above a lake shore under heavy cloudKamil Gr · Pexels
Nature, Skógafoss from aboveWillian Justen de Vasconcellos · Pexels
Coast, Reynisfjara and the Reynisdrangar stacksAlex Sever · Pexels
Culture, Hallgrímskirkja under a streaked skystein egil liland · Pexels
Adventure, a crevassed glacier tongueMaksim Romashkin · Pexels
Luxury, a lodge under an ice capX1ntao ZHOU · Pexels

Brazil: The Country Brief

Brazil · country page

Masthead, Rio de Janeiro from the air, the Sugarloaf over BotafogoKamila Rodrigues · Pexels
Coast, Baía do Sancho on Fernando de Noronha from the cliffPaulo gustavo Modesto · Pexels
Luxury, the Copacabana Palace facade at nightaqui, sem flash ! · Pexels
Nature and Adventure, Iguaçu from the Brazilian side and the boat run under the falls: credited under the Iguaçu dispatchsee above
Culture, the Cathedral of Brasília: credited under the Brasília dispatchsee above

Chile: The Country Brief

Chile · country page

Masthead, the three towers above the lake from the Base Torres lookout, Torres del PaineAlejandro Mallea · Pexels
Nature, the Valle de la Luna from the air, AtacamaMiguel Cuenca · Pexels
Culture, the fifteen moai of Ahu Tongariki, Rapa NuiMiguel Cuenca · Pexels
Adventure, Villarrica erupting at night above PucónMau Torres V · Pexels
Coast, Algarrobo pier from the air, the central coastMatias Caimanque · Pexels
Luxury, Tierra Patagonia on the steppe outside Torres del PaineDiego Marín · Unsplash

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Meridian Dispatch

Lake Bled, the heroJohnny Africa
Ladakh, in the Indian HimalayaAshish Kumar Senapati
Salar de Uyuni, BoliviaMatheus Oliveira · Unsplash