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25 dossiers, each re-checked by an editor and dated. Pick a continent, or let the finder pick for you.

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Europe

All of Europe
Gabled canal houses reflected in the still water of the Reguliersgracht at dawn, with a row of arched brick bridges receding into soft mist

Netherlands

Amsterdam

Gabled canal houses, world-class museums and a city that moves at the speed of a bicycle bell.

Best Apr–MayFrom $120/day

The Acropolis and the Parthenon at golden hour seen from Filopappou Hill, with the city's white apartment blocks spreading towards Mount Lycabettus

Greece

Athens

The Parthenon above the rooftops, souvlaki for under €5 and dinners that start after nine.

Best Apr–May, OctFrom $70/day

Barcelona from the Bunkers del Carmel in late-afternoon light, the Eixample grid running down to the sea with the Sagrada Família's towers rising in the middle

Spain

Barcelona

Gaudí on the skyline, the Mediterranean at the end of the street, and dinner that starts at ten.

Best MayFrom $85/day

Icebergs drifting on Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon at sunrise, with the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier behind

Iceland

Iceland

A country where the weather sets the itinerary, and the reward for patience is a sky that moves.

Best Jun–AugFrom $120/day

The Süleymaniye Mosque and the domes of the historic peninsula above the Golden Horn at dusk, with a commuter ferry crossing in the foreground

Türkiye

Istanbul

A commuter ferry to Asia, a sixth-century dome before lunch, and tea in a tulip glass wherever you stop.

Best Apr–May, Sep–OctFrom $55/day

Alfama's terracotta rooftops and white church domes stepping down to the Tagus at blue hour, seen from the Miradouro das Portas do Sol

Portugal

Lisbon

Steep cobbled lanes, river light on tiled walls, and a counter espresso that still costs about a euro.

Best May, SepFrom $80/day

The Thames at blue hour seen from Waterloo Bridge, with the lit dome of St Paul's Cathedral and the City's towers on the north bank

United Kingdom

London

Free national museums, two thousand years of layered streets and a Tube map you'll stop needing by day three.

Best May–Jun, SepFrom $120/day

The Seine at sunrise from the Pont des Arts, with the stone arches of the Pont Neuf and the tree-lined tip of the Île de la Cité in soft mist

France

Paris

One river, twenty arrondissements and a city that rewards the walker far more than the queue.

Best May–Jun, SepFrom $110/day

Porto's stacked riverside houses and the cathedral on its hill across the Douro at golden hour, seen from the Jardim do Morro beside the Dom Luís I Bridge

Portugal

Porto

Granite lanes tumbling to the Douro, port lodges across the water, and a sandwich you eat with a knife and fork.

Best Jun, SepFrom $70/day

Charles Bridge and Prague Castle above the misty Vltava river at sunrise

Czechia

Prague

Gothic towers, river light and tank Pilsner at pub prices, once you learn to sidestep the Old Town traps.

Best May, SepFrom $60/day

The Roman Forum at sunrise seen from the Capitoline Hill, with columns and temple ruins below and the Colosseum in the distance

Italy

Rome

Two thousand years of ruins on the walk to dinner, and a city that will not be hurried.

Best Apr–MayFrom $90/day

Asia

All of Asia
Terraced rice fields in the Sidemen valley at sunrise, with mist lying in the valley and the cone of Mount Agung rising behind

Indonesia, island

Bali

Offerings on every doorstep, surf below the cliffs, and an island that runs on its own Hindu calendar.

Best May–Jun, SepFrom $40/day

Wat Arun's central spire lit at blue hour across the Chao Phraya River, with a long-tail boat crossing the water in front of it

Thailand

Bangkok

Temples at dawn, noodles at midnight, and a river that still carries the city between them.

Best Nov–DecFrom $35/day

Hoan Kiem Lake at dawn, with the red Huc Bridge arching over still water to Ngoc Son Temple and early walkers on the shore

Vietnam

Hanoi

A thousand-year-old capital that still eats breakfast on the pavement.

Best Oct–NovFrom $30/day

The five-storey Yasaka Pagoda rising above the wet stone slope of Yasaka-dori in Higashiyama at blue hour, wooden townhouses with lit windows below

Japan

Kyoto

A thousand years of capital kept in wood, moss and gravel, and at its best before 8am.

Best Apr, NovFrom $65/day

Marina Bay at blue hour, with the Marina Bay Sands towers and the lotus-shaped ArtScience Museum reflected in calm water

Singapore

Singapore

A city of rules, rainforest and hawker stalls, where dinner is cheap and the beer is not.

Best Feb–MarFrom $80/day

The Tokyo skyline at winter dusk seen from a Shinjuku tower, with the snow-capped cone of Mount Fuji silhouetted on the western horizon

Japan

Tokyo

Fourteen million people, trains that leave on time, and dinner at a counter older than your grandparents.

Best Apr, NovFrom $70/day

North America

All of North America
Arenal Volcano's cone rising above rainforest and Lake Arenal in clear early-morning light, with low cloud drifting over the lower slopes

Costa Rica

Costa Rica

Two coasts, a spine of volcanoes, and wildlife that turns up before breakfast.

Best Jan–MarFrom $60/day

The fluted green sea cliffs of Kauai's Na Pali Coast rising from the Pacific in late-afternoon light, with a small sailing boat below them for scale

United States, island

Kauai

Sea cliffs with no road, a red canyon in the clouds, and an island that closes its beaches when the ocean says so.

Best May–JunFrom $130/day

The Palacio de Bellas Artes at blue hour, its white marble facade and tiled dome floodlit above the trees of the Alameda Central and streaks of traffic

Mexico

Mexico City

Aztec stone, five-peso metro rides and tacos al pastor at 2,240 metres.

Best Mar, NovFrom $45/day

Lower Manhattan's skyline at dusk seen from Brooklyn Bridge Park, with the Brooklyn Bridge on the right and office lights coming on across the East River

United States

New York City

Learn it on foot and underground: every block changes the mood, and the subway runs all night.

Best May, Sep–OctFrom $140/day

The stone facade and twin bell towers of the Templo de Santo Domingo de Guzmán in Oaxaca City at golden hour, with agave plants in the atrium garden and mountains behind

Mexico

Oaxaca

Mole, mezcal and Zapotec stone in a highland valley that still keeps its market days.

Best NovFrom $35/day

South America

All of South America
Cusco's Plaza de Armas at blue hour, with the floodlit cathedral and La Compañía church below terracotta rooftops and dark Andean ridges

Peru

Cusco

Inca stone under Spanish balconies at 3,400 metres, with Machu Picchu a train ride down the valley.

Best May, SepFrom $40/day

Africa

All of Africa
Table Mountain across Table Bay at golden hour, with a thin cloud spilling over its flat summit and waves breaking on the beach at Bloubergstrand

South Africa

Cape Town

A flat-topped mountain in the middle of town, a cold Atlantic at its feet, and a city still reckoning with its own map.

Best Feb–MarFrom $50/day

Smoke rising from food stalls on Jemaa el-Fna at dusk, with the Koutoubia Mosque's minaret against a violet sky

Morocco

Marrakech

Riad courtyards, a square that becomes an open-air kitchen at dusk, and Atlas snow above the rooftops in winter.

Best Apr, OctFrom $40/day