Japan's first capital: the Great Buddha of Todai-ji and 1,200 bowing deer in the park around it.
The birthplace of bibimbap and a hanok village of 800 traditional houses to stay in.
The Peace Park and the hypocentre, plus Dejima, the island where Japan traded with the world for 200 years.
The Great Buddha sitting in the open air, Zen temples and a surf beach, an hour from Tokyo.
The black 'Crow Castle', the oldest surviving keep in Japan, at the gateway to the Northern Alps.
The White Temple, the Blue Temple and the Golden Triangle where Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet.
The gilded Toshogu shrine of the Tokugawa shoguns in a cedar forest, with the Kegon waterfall above.
Rice terraces and Hmong villages in the mountains near the Chinese border, under Fansipan.
Korea's oldest Chinatown, the Songdo smart city and the island beaches by the airport.
The Hahoe folk village, its mask dance and the Confucian academies of the Joseon aristocracy.
The Seomun night market, a medicine-herb street and the Haeinsa temple with its 80,000 printing blocks nearby.
Okinawa's capital: Shuri castle of the Ryukyu kings, Kokusai-dori and a food and drink culture of its own.
Hot springs, a ropeway over sulphur vents and Mount Fuji across Lake Ashi, ninety minutes from Tokyo.
Hokkaido's southern port: the night view from Mount Hakodate, red-brick warehouses and the morning fish market.
A Venetian fortress, a minaret-studded old town and a long beach on the north coast of Crete.
The capital of Wallonia under one of the largest citadels in Europe, where the Sambre meets the Meuse.
The Gothic town hall, the oldest Catholic university in the world and the headquarters of Stella Artois.
The fiery city of the Meuse: Montagne de Bueren's 374 steps, the Sunday Batte market and Liege waffles.
The carillon capital, St Rumbold's unfinished tower and the Kazerne Dossin Holocaust museum.
Monumental, tightly-controlled capital.
The world's largest car-free old city.
Thirty-six guild streets of scooters, street kitchens and colonial shophouses around Hoan Kiem Lake.
Medieval canals and the Ghent Altarpiece.
The "museum without walls": grassy royal burial mounds, the Cheomseongdae observatory and Silla-dynasty treasures across the town.
The Arctic capital - aurora overhead, cathedral on the water, sun gone until January.
Visit Basel, Switzerland's cultural capital on the Rhine. Explore the Kunstmuseum (the oldest public art collection in the world, with works from Holbein to Picasso), wander the medieval Old Town (with the red sandstone Mรผnster cathedral and the lively Marktplatz), and visit the Fondation Beyeler (a stunning museum in Riehen housing modern masterpieces by Monet, Warhol, and Rothko).
Visit Chamonix, a famous mountain resort town in the French Alps, known for skiing, hiking, and views of Mont Blanc.
Visit El Chalten, a small town in Argentina known as the trekking capital of South America, located near Mount Fitz Roy in Patagonia.
Visit Glencoe, a historic and dramatic valley in the Scottish Highlands. See the Three Sisters of Glencoe (three steep ridges formed by ancient volcanic activity), explore the Glencoe Visitor Centre (with exhibits on geology, wildlife, and the 1692 Massacre of Glencoe), hike the Lost Valley trail (a hidden glacial valley where Clan MacDonald hid cattle), and drive through the scenic A82 road with views of Buachaille Etive Mor mountain.
The "Florence of the South" โ honey-coloured Baroque churches carved from soft Lecce stone
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