Credits | Meridian Dispatch

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

Vatnajökull National Park: What Is Actually Open, and When

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 dark bands in the roof are 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, about an hour and a half 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
A walker at the edge of the ice, which is as close as anyone gets unguided. Stepping onto a tongue inside the park means a licensed operator and crampons issued at the meeting point.Nicola Abraham · Unsplash
Jökulsárlón under broken cloud, with the ice cap behind it. The lagoon covered about 8 square kilometres in 1975 and covers roughly 25 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 the Skelligs. The crossing is 11.5 km and takes 45 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

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 City Bankruptcy Preserved, and What Repays a Ticket

Belgium · Bruges

Hero, the Rozenhoedkaai quay under the tower of the Church of Our Lady, on an ordinary summer afternoonRyan Thomas · Pexels
The Belfry, 83 metres and 366 steps, with a 47-bell carillon at the top of themLudovic Delot · Pexels
Gabled guild-house fronts on the Markt, Le Panier d'Or among them, with the Jan Breydel and Pieter de Coninck monument alongsideAbdus Samad Mahkri · Pexels
A canal frontage in the centre: a glazed veranda built out over the water, and a willow doing the restAlisa Savickaja · Pexels
A lane in the historic centre at midday, minutes from the Markt and effectively emptyMatteo Angeloni · Pexels
The Huidenvettersplein jetty, and how full the boats run: the circuit leaves when the seats are goneMagda Ehlers · Pexels
A chocolate shopfront in the centre, and a branch of the franchise Le Comptoir de Mathilde: a reseller, like most of the shops between the Markt and the Beguinagewai sing · Pexels
Ten Wijngaerde in early spring: founded in 1245, UNESCO-listed in 1998, and Benedictine since 1927Luc AVE · Pexels
The Minnewater, the lake of love, at the southern edge of the centre3345557 · Pixabay

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: 343 Kilograms of Gold, and a Field of Brick

Thailand · Ayutthaya

Hero, brick ruins in the Ayutthaya historical park at the end of the dry seasonJennifer · Pexels
Two Khmer-form prangs, the earlier of the two tower shapes that date almost every ruin on the island, with patches of white stucco still holding on the brickJutaporn Pornin · Pexels
The three royal chedis of Wat Phra Si Sanphet, reliquaries of three kings, restored by the Fine Arts Department in 1956Alberto Capparelli · Pexels
The Buddha 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, lying where its wihan once stoodVicente Zanatta · Pexels
Wat Chaiwatthanaram, built in 1630 under King Prasat Thong 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: The Rice Terraces Held Up by Unpaid Labour

Philippines · Banaue

Hero, the terraces above Banaue town, a National Cultural Treasure and the ones most visitors photographCEphoto, Uwe Aranas · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
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
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.CEphoto, Uwe Aranas · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Bangaan, an inscribed cluster in the municipality of Banaue. Ifugao houses are raised on posts, with the sleeping floor above and the rice stored in the attic under the pyramid of thatch.Dan Lundberg · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
Transplanting at Batad, between two heavy stone faces. The walls either side of this paddy are the five-man-day unit.Philip Nalangan · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Batad in the green season, morning cloud on the ridge. April and May are the most recommended window for walking.Johnkevinreglos · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
Hapao, in Hungduan, at the flooded stage, with the river below. The reflective paddies and the green ones are different months.Marek Ślusarczyk (Tupungato) Photo portfolio · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0

Cetinje: The Embassies Became Faculties

Montenegro · Cetinje

Hero, King Nikola's palace, the one building in town most visitors go insideMilica Buha · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
The Russian legation in Cetinje, photographed in the early 1900s. It is identified locally as the building now holding the Faculty of Fine ArtsUnknown · Wikimedia Commons, public domain
Cetinje Monastery. Entry is free, photography inside is not allowed, and it is a working metropolitan seat, so shoulders and knees should be coveredGertjan R. · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Biljarda, Njegoš's residence of 1838, with one of its corner towers and the wall enclosing the yardSteve Moses · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
The Vlaška crkva, the oldest church in Cetinje. Its churchyard railing is reported to have been made from Ottoman rifle barrels taken in the wars of the nineteenth centuryMarcin Konsek · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

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

Lake Skadar: A Lake Fed From Underneath

Montenegro · Virpazar

Hero, the lake at dawn in August, marsh flats exposed at low waterFrDr · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
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
Open water off Virpazar in June, with a flowering lily bed behind. Only the flat-bottomed čun gets inside beds like that oneRaymond Zoller · Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
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

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 A

Norway · Lofoten Islands

Hero, red cabins under the peak at HamnoySindre Fjerdingby Korsviken · Pexels
The village of Reine under the peaksop23 · Pexels
The road and bridge at HamnoyMaksim 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

It Looks Like Norway. It's the Mediterranean

Montenegro · Kotor

Hero, the bay and Kotor at its footKate Holovacheva · Pexels
A square inside Kotor old townDrago Rapovac · Pexels
The walls climbing to San GiovanniRoman Odintsov · Pexels
The waterfront at PerastEvgeny Matveev · Unsplash
Our Lady of the RocksBoris Hamer · Pexels
Sunset over the bayDean 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

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