The Grand Canyon, United States

A steep ravine by the Colorado River, Arizona in the United States, the Grand Canyon is a really nice landscape. It is 277 miles long and 4-18 miles wide, and about a mile deep. Scientists believe that the canyon was created by the Colorado River over a period of six million.

Native Americans built settlements in the caves in the canyon before the emigration of Europeans. It was also considered a site of pilgrimage for the Pueblo people. The first recorded visit to the Grand Canyon by Europeans was in 1869. Although not the deepest canyon in the world, is known for its extremely large and beautifully intricate landscape.

Grand Canyon National Park is said to be one of the first national parks in the United States and attracts over five million visitors a year. Weather conditions in the Grand Canyon vary widely between seasons and different at different heights. As the snow of winter is experienced by the upper edges of forests, the throat has an internal temperature of the desert because of the low altitude.

Great Wall of China, China

One of the seven wonders of the world, the Great Wall of China is an artificial structure that was built over two thousand years ago and took about 100 years to complete. The immensity of this project demonstrates the immense power of man.

Construction began in the fifth century BC is not actually a single wall, but many walls together, and extends over 4,000 miles. It was built to protect the Chinese Empire Xiongnu people in the north. The wall was originally built of stone, grass, earth and wood, but the bricks used were once production began. It is believed that about 2-3 million Chinese died during the construction project.

Aquarium Tunnel

The alive basic of the New South is in a near-constant accompaniment of flux. Once a baking antebellum outpost, again a broiled ruin in the deathwatch of General William T. Sherman’s 1864 advance to the sea, Atlanta today is a thoroughly avant-garde cityscape of bright building (more of which assume to pop up every week), and a centermost of both apple account (CNN is headquartered here) and all-embracing business (the airport is the nation’s busiest).

Adventure in 60 Seconds: This Week in Exploration

Mount Everest had its first summit of 2010 this week, as reported by explorersweb.com. As usual, it was the Sherpa who, as part of their nine to five, passed out while fixing ropes to help others. While most teams are waiting for the weather to clear next week, a few in the Peak Freaks team have gone ahead, and touched the roof of the world. (Explorersweb.com)

In the bottom up, a controversy is brewing slowly surrounding the death of Tolo Calafat Spanish climber who died on Annapurna on 29 April. Some of his colleagues claim that a Korean team cut the ropes that Calafat and his crew had set out to help her down and then refused to send their sherpas to help, despite being offered money by the Spanish Juanito Oiarzabal . Although Koreans have been plausible, but difficult to verify excuses, the incident, along with the controversy surrounding the disputed title Oh Eun-Sun as the first woman to climb all the summits of 8,000 meters, has created a lot of bad blood between the two mountain-loving nations.

Istanbul's Boutique Hotel Views

As a rule, these places are usually reasonably priced, very comfortable, cozy and well situated in the oldest district of the city, Sultanahmet. Although the Empress Zoe Hotel - located in the shadow of St. Sophia - has been a perennial favorite in front, with the rise of the Hotel Nomade second, my new favorite is the Ambassador Hotel.

A neighbor at the Nomade elegant Ambassador is centrally located, has an extremely friendly and helpful personal, wireless Internet, and 100 euros a night, is theft. Still, the best part about it is its rooftop terrace: with breakfast in the morning free for guests and a bar for afternoon and evening. The view alone is worth it. Here's a look

Alexandria, Egypt

A hybrid city called the "Capital of Memory" Durrell, Alexandria (El-Iskandariya in Arabic) gives back the rest of Egypt and faces the Mediterranean, as if contemplating its glorious past. One of the great cities of antiquity, Alex slept for 1300 years until it was revived by Mohammed Ali and transformed by the Europeans, who gave the city its present form and became synonymous with cosmopolitanism and decadence. This was ended in the 1950s with the mass flight of non-Egyptians, and a dose of short duration of revolutionary puritanism, but the beaches of Alexandria, restaurants and windy weather continues to attract hordes of Cairene during the summer, while its historical and literary mystique tired still attractive to foreigners.

Alex encourages travel and exploration of nostalgia at random, if only because the views "are limited and often reveal more incidents opportunity. Do not be afraid to follow your nose and away from the usual routes, which could be completed in a day or so if you focus on the city's monumental highlights. The Roman Theatre and Villa of Birds in Kom el-dikka and the Catacombs of Kom is creepy-Shoqafa are musts, as the new town and magnificent library of Alexandria National Museum, displaying statues and other artifacts dredged from the ancient cities on the seabed. If you also want to savor the atmosphere and the mystical literature of ancient Europe and "native" quarters, allow two or three days.

New York City

New York, arguably the most vibrant cities and extensive in the world, occupies five boroughs, each with its own identity. After all, before the historic 1898 consolidation, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx, Queens and Staten Island were each independent municipality.

Manhattan Manhattan, home of the most recognizable sites, dominates popular perception of the city of New York. His famous districts are as follows: Wall Street and the Financial District of New York remains the most historic district. Wall Street investment banks coexist with landmarks like Trinity Church.

Toronto Canada

Architecturally speaking, Toronto is an admixture of altered styles. In the aboriginal 19th Century, it took abundant of its architectural afflatus from the Georgian style. By the end of the 19th Century, the burghal autonomous for the heavier, bulkier curve of Richardsonian Romanesque. At the about-face of the 20th Century, the Toronto Burghal Council autonomous not to put a acme brake on burghal architecture as abounding added cities had, appropriately giving acceleration to some of the tallest barrio in the British Commonwealth, best of which are begin Downtown, including the 34-story Canadian Bank of Business , the Rogers Centre , the Royal Bank Plaza , and the TD Centre , to name a few. Of course, these barrio accept been surpassed in contempo years by the silhouettes that accord Toronto its different skyline: the CN Tower , the world's accomplished free-standing structure, with its alternating restaurant, gives diners a breath-taking appearance of the city, day or night.


The added than 7000 accomplished dining establishments, bars, cafes, bistros, clubs and ball halls (a ample cardinal of which can be begin Downtown) clothing every aftertaste from bohemian to business.


The burghal breadth of the burghal additionally houses a cardinal of stadiums and arenas area some of Canada's top-of-the-line able sports teams—the Maple Leafs , the Raptors ,the Blue Jays and the Argos—play. And chase car fanatics will accept no agitation acrimonious up the barrage of Molson Indy engines appear summer.


Running into Burghal is Yonge Street , the longest avenue in the apple and the capital north-south route. After all, Toronto is the better burghal in Canada and the fifth better in North America. It is amid on the arctic bank of Lake Ontario and laid out in a ellipsoidal grid, the burghal stretches for added than 100 aboveboard kilometers (38.5 aboveboard miles). Toronto is an important centermost of all-embracing commerce, and in the affection of Burghal houses the Toronto Stock Exchange, additional alone in North America to the New York Stock Exchange.

The Ritz Carlton Hotel Cancun

Located on a stretch of 1,200 square meters of white sand beach, The Ritz Carlton Hotel, Cancun is only minutes from golf courses, luxury shopping malls, outdoor markets, restaurants and nightlife.

Mayan archaeological sites of Tulum and Chichen Itza Coba are also nearby.The amenities include 24-hour reception service, lift, currency exchange, safety deposit box, tour assistance, complimentary newspapers, in the lobby, business center, meeting rooms meetings, conference rooms, access to high-speed Internet, gym, pool, whirlpool, steam bath, sauna, banquet facilities, meeting rooms, bar, restaurant, bar / lounge, dry cleaning service and parking .

The rooms are equipped with amenities such as air conditioning, climate control, iron cable TV, telephone, high speed internet, clock radio, safe, ironing board, minibar, bathrobe, hair dryer and articles toilet.

Cancun, Mexico

The area of the tourism industry experienced rapid growth during the 1980s, made possible by enthusiastic foreign investment. Large hotels began to flourish - offering full service and amenities, abounding in luxury and exclusivity. This also applies to shopping centers, which began incorporating some of the best boutiques, jewelry stores and restaurants. These factors prompted the state of the area. Already considered a paradise of sun and sea by the color of its waters, the delicate beauty of its beaches of powdery sand and the lush vegetation of its ecological reserves, Cancún was still improving its reputation.

Cancun can be divided into three main areas: the hotel zone, the city and the Ecological Reserve is blessed with incredible lakes and mangrove swamps.

Hotel District

The District hotel is composed of the so-called Great hotels tourism (hotels of four and five star deluxe). Hotels and shopping centers are distributed along the main boulevard Kuculkán, which runs along the 21 kilometers (13 miles) from the island. This district undoubtedly generates the highest revenue and has the greatest economic impact on the nation, compared with the rest of the state. This area is where the trendiest, most popular nightclubs, the best international restaurants and major entertainment venues are located larger.

Cancún

Cancun city changes the landscape, but not too drastic. quiet provincial life here is more picturesque, folkloric and simplicity of some of the stores offers a marked contrast to the million dollar hotel chains. Restaurants in this district serve typical local food and snacks, providing a real opportunity to taste some authentic Mexican dishes made at home. There is also a large number of shops in the city. For additional entertainment, theaters and cinemas are located in the main streets.

Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve

Last but certainly not least, the third district is located in the Biosphere Reserve Sian Ka'an, where nature still reigns in the history of this area. Covering hundreds of miles, is the most genuine of Mexico ecosystem, home to a diverse number of plant and animal species. The government and nonprofit organizations every effort to preserve this area as a wildlife refuge containing many endangered species.

Archaeological sites are located in the vicinity, extending towards the four cardinal points. Structures tell the story of the settlements of the Maya of the peninsula, and almost every rock reveals traces of the historical and cultural legacy which these inhabitants left behind.

Nassau, Bahamas

Originally known as Charles Town, Nassau is the modern face of the Bahamas. Although dirty in parts, enough historical flavor has been preserved to make a stop worthwhile. Much of this atmosphere comes from its development during the Loyalist call from 1787-1834, when many buildings were built in the colonial city's finest. Before this build-up, Nassau had largely been in a rustic refuge for pirates, privateers and wreckers.

After alternating periods of decline and prosperity in the nineteenth and early twentieth century, the increase in trade and construction that followed the Second World War led directly to the emergence of Nassau as a global center for tourism and finance . In the mid-1950s, with the dredging of the harbor and the construction of the Nassau International Airport began to host more than one million visitors a year. A decade later, after construction of the bridge on Paradise Island and Cable Beach development, the city received twice.

beachfront Le Meridien Tahiti

* Headed Down Under? Why not stop in Tahiti on the way? Air Tahiti Nui is alms stopovers in the close paradise for $1. You can break a few hours, a few days, or just one night (for chargeless at the beachfront Le Meridien Tahiti). Offer is accurate through August 31 for flights amid Los Angeles and Auckland or Sydney. [Jaunted]

* This summer, analysis out Omni Hotels' Fun-4-Summer package, which includes a chargeless fourth night, chargeless breakfast for accouchement beneath 12, a destination adviser with family-friendly activities, 25 percent off a Snapfish photo book, and 50 chargeless prints from Snapfish. The amalgamation is accessible May 29 through September 7, and ante alpha at $139. To book, appointment OmniHotels.com.

Maldives - Perfect Destination

Maldives
www.visitmaldives.com

The Maldives are a perfect destination whether your dream beach trip consists of spending a few pampered nights in a four-star resort or swimming among tropical fish some 80 feet underwater.

Whether your dream beach trip consists of spending a few pampered nights in a four-star resort or swimming among tropical fish some 80 feet (24 meters) underwater, the Maldives are the sort of islands where either—or both—can come true. Straddling the equator southwest of Sri Lanka, the 1,102 islands that make up the Maldives form 26 atolls. The soft air enveloping the archipelago blends into a beautiful palm-fringed haze.

New Zealand Adventure

Expedition Details Graced with glacial mountains, dramatic fjords, cascading waterfalls, and sky blue lakes, New Zealand is a natural paradise. On New Zealand's exotic South Island, explore lush rain forests, trek onto Fox Glacier, and hike in the spectacular Southern Alps. Float on a subterranean river and cruise between soaring peaks on magnificent Milford Sound. Trip Highlights * Trek across to the icy landscape of Fox Glacier. * Paddle through the expansive caverns of Metro Cave on an unforgettable tubing adventure. * Take a swim with friendly dolphins in a volcanic caldera. * Immerse yourself in the magnificent Fiordland region on a full-day excursion to Milford Sound. * Ride a jet boat, go white-water rafting, and soar above Queenstown in a helicopter.

Paddles with Penguins

After watching the video, I began missing the birds I sunbathed and paddled with on the Boulders Beach, abreast Cape Town, South Africa, in 2006.

It was a hot summer Christmas day. Instead of activity to church, I absitively to bless the day with a fact-finding mission: Do penguins absolutely alive in South Africa?
I was sitting in a auto on my way to Boulders, one hour abroad from Cape Town, still not absolutely assertive that the birds that are declared to be in the freezing Antarctica already acclimatized themselves to South Africa's warmer temperatures. As the cab slid into the parking lot, a assurance appeared: "Warning. Please attending beneath your cartage for penguins."

Welcome to the African penguin colony.

At the entrance, visitors accept two choices: Head to the penguin antecedents at Foxy Beach, or opt for simple Boulders Beach. I headed against Boulders Beach, and, afterwards casual through its big rocks and the crowds, I begin a quiet abode on the bank that tuxedo-clad birds didn't apperception sharing. They were decrepit at anxiety after alike acquainted I was there, lying on the bank and canoeing in the baptize appropriate beside me. They were aloof like addition accumulation of people: And yes, their sneezes complete like that of human's, too.

Live-Aboard Scuba Dives

As any diver will admit, much of the underwater ecosystem near land is often destroyed by fishing and tourism.

So, to get divers out to find Nemo, dive operators are taking folks to faraway locales not even available by a day's journey. Read on for Travel Channel's picks for the best multiday dive trips.


If a single-tank dive off the coast of the Bahamas is not to satisfy your scuba craving, you are in luck. Scuba companies and tour operators have taken note of the growing number of diving fanatics and, accordingly, now offer an abundance of live-aboard dive trips for the hard-core fish out of water.

Galapagos Islands, Ecuador

Divers will reap these benefits should they opt to dive in the region's chilly waters. Thanks to a little-known lad named Charles Darwin, lots of of the visitors to the Galapagos are historians & other academics, leaving the waters open for divers' delight. Penguins, tropical fish, seals, manta rays, hammerhead sharks, sea lions & more mingle below the surface. This archipelago off the western coast of Ecuador is home to a stunning diversity of wildlife, & its remote nature leaves it relatively untouched by tourism. Tour operator Ecoventura arranges 7-day-long dive trips aboard the M/Y Sky Dancer. The air-conditioned vessel houses five private en-suite cabins with one twin beds or a king in each. You'll cruise from San Cristóbal, visit Wolf & Darwin islands, enjoy up to one dives a day, & fill your stomach with gourmet local & international cuisine on the ship.

The Solomon Islands

Fifteen hundred miles west of Fiji & 1,200 miles northeast of Australia, the Solomon Islands' marine scene is an explosion of color, an amalgamation of coral gardens, reefs & jagged walls. You'll encounter angel, anemone, humphead parrot & butterfly fish, & don't be alarmed if a barracuda swims your way: He is as frightened of you as you are of him. If you haven't even heard of this small South Pacific nation, you are probably not alone, but its remote location ensures strange underwater offerings. One ships from North American operator Bilikiki-- the MV Bilikiki & MV Spirit of Solomons, both identical -- operate out of Guadalcanal Island & visit dive sites in the Florida Islands, the Russell Islands, Mborokua Island & Marovo Lagoon in the New Georgia Islands. Bilikiki offers a number of the most flexible dive schedules on the market, with trips that span 7, 9, 12 & 14 nights.

Extreme Hawaii

Hawaii conjures images of sugary beaches, tranquil waters and lush greenery. However, those who seek more thrilling escapades on their Hawaiian escape need look no further: this is Extreme Hawaii.

Extreme Kiteboarding
Kite Beach, Maui
The cerulean waters of Hawaii are perfect for sailing, windsurfing and catching waves & or doing all 3 at once. The Kiteboarding School of Maui offers 1- to 3-day classes where beginners can learn to harness the wind and ride the waves. This combination of paragliding and surfing has been popular in Hawaiian waters since 1998 when some Maui surfers decided to attach a kite to themselves -- just for fun. A 40-foot kite can lift a 220-lb. man 20 feet in the air and seasoned riders can easily hit speeds of 50 mph.

Extreme Scuba Diving
Kailua-Kona, The Big Island
From one extreme water adventure to another, plunge into the waters off the Big Island for an extreme scuba-diving experience -- night diving. Kona Honu Divers takes brave diving enthusiasts on a 5-hour tour, 5 miles off the coast of Kailua-Kona. After sunset, groups leave the safety of the boat to swim in waters teeming with Pacific manta rays -- a massive, majestic and seriously intimidating relative of the shark.

Stoupa, Greece

This small and laid-back town is inspirational for artists, writers, musicians, philosophers. Also great for families and groups. Great atmosphere, clear turquoise water, fantastic not crowded sandy beaches and the mountain backdrop makes Stoupa even more spectacular.

Stoupa is the new gem of Greece that becoming famous as the New Côte d’Azur. It is one of the south Mediterranean’s “coolest” and newest hot spots placed in fascinating area called Mani, on the coast of southern Peloponnese in Greece.

a coach ride away are the ancient ruins of Olympia and the Corinth Canal. There's some 20 restaurants strung out along the beach, a few small hotels, and lots of rental houses. You can’t stay at Stoupa without visiting the Inner Mani. the only part of Greece never conquered by invaders. The Maniots built tower houses, a quantity of which have been restored, and holed up in them carrying out local feuds.The contrasting scenery on the one different coastlines is apparent and you won't find more interesting and varied scenery elsewhere.

It's a odd and mysterious quality to it with lots of ancient churches and the elderly villages with their tower houses, built to defend themselves from the other feuding villages.

boston Acorn Street

Here’s a fresh observation: Boston is on the water. Who knew? For decades, ugly elevated highways crisscrossed the waterfront, blighting downtown.

It took about 15 years and $15 billion to put those highways underground in a sometimes controversial project known locally as “the Huge Dig,” but Boston has reclaimed its status as a great port city with new parks, walkways, freshly renovated restaurants, newly built hotels, and a sense of excitement that has energized the whole city.

New downtown attractions like the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway (on the site of what used to be Interstate 93) and the Harborwalk (a running and jogging path that lines Boston’s waterfront) are spawning an explosion in great hotels, cafés, and hot spots.

With its evocative cobblestones and row houses, Beacon Hill’s Acorn Street might well be Boston’s most photographed byway.

Muriwai Beach, New Zealand

The world is full of hidden beaches, but discovering them before the masses do can be challenging.

Shhh ... we're letting the cat out of bag on a few of our favorite global destinations for relatively untracked sand and surf.

And while that's not to say you'll have these beaches all to yourself, it's a good bet you'll be among mostly locals - and a handful of intrepid travelers savvy enough to put these gems on their beach-hopping agendas.

For an even keener local look at the Kiwi surf lifestyle, make the half-hour drive west of Auckland to Muriwai Beach.

For most tourists arriving in Auckland, Piha Beach is the logical location for a first glimpse of New Zealand's pristine North Island coastline.

The oceanfront here is beautifully rugged, with black sand beaches, pounding surf and rocky headlands where you can forage for New Zealand's famed green lip mussels at low tide.

Surfers love Maori Bay - around the headland from the main beach - for its consistent beach break, and the fact that the horseshoe stretch of sand here is sheltered in a cove, making it a nice place to toss down a towel for the day.

A rocky outcropping between the bay and the beach is home to New Zealand's largest onshore gannet (sea birds) colony.

Moscow Cathedral Square

Cast in a warm glow, the multidomed Saint Basil's Cathedral in Red Square is the site of a fireworks show every New Year's Eve.

Moscow is the chair of political power in Russia, but it is also the country’s cultural and commercial center. From the storied streets surrounding Red Square to the modern new Moscow-City, the Russian capital is crammed with artistic, historic, and otherwise sacred sites.

This large metropolis captures Russia at her most extreme: her communist austerity and her capitalist indulgence; her devout orthodoxy and her uninhibited displays of wealth and power; her enigmatic ancient history and her dazzling contemporary culture.

Sometimes intellectual and inspiring, sometimes debauched and depraved, it is always eye-opening.

Bangkok Marble Temple

Saffron-robed monks enter Wat Benchamabophit, the Marble Temple. Scattered concrete skyscrapers share space with traditional wooden homes, while gleaming temples to fashion abut temples gleaming with golden Buddha images.


Southeast Asia’s most dynamic and exciting city, Bangkok is an intoxicating and sometimes jarring mix of modern and ancient.

They connect older quarters such as the royal island of Rattanakosin and heaving Chinatown with hotel and condominium filled districts around Sukhumvit, Silom, and Sathorn roads.

Built on the floodplain of the Chao Phraya River, Bangkok was five times known as the “Venice of the East” because canals crisscrossed it, though these have mostly been turned in to traffic-clogged roads.

Wherever you venture, the smells of jasmine and grilling street food will remind you where you are.

Prague Prazsk Hrad

Spared destruction in World War II, much of Prague’s historical center was declared a World Heritage site in 1992. A setting sun bathes Prague and its storied Prazsk Hrad (Prague Castle), which rises on the left.

In the 1989 Velvet Revolution, this “city of 100 spires” (more like 500) awoke like a modern-day Rip Truck Winkle in the heart of Europe—shrugging off decades of slumber under first the Nazis and then the Communists and, centuries before that, the Habsburgs.

Prague's intact medieval Elderly Town connects to an equally well-preserved Lesser Quarter by way of a 14th-century stone bridge—all brooded over by a castle that’s part Disneyland and part Franz Kafka.

Prague drips with history, but it’s not very a museum piece. The booming tourist industry has fed a revival of the city’s arts and museums, and made its hotels and restaurants the envy of Central Europe.

Florence Renaissance

The towers and domes of Renaissance Florence form a time-honored vista from the gardens of the Basilica of San Miniato al Monte.

Names from its dazzling historical past—Dante, Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli—are a quantity of the most resonant of the medieval age.

A city-size shrine to the Renaissance, Florence offers frescoes, sculptures, churches, palaces, & other monuments from the richest cultural flowering the world has known.

But to see the Tuscan capital basically as Europe’s preeminent city of art would be to ignore not only its role as a dynamic & cosmopolitan metropolis, but also to overlook its more unrecognised charms—Italy’s most visited gardens (& its best ice-cream parlor), idyllic strolls on balmy summer evenings, a broad range of specialty shopping, sweeping views over majestic cityscapes, eating experiences that range from historic cafés to the country’s most highly rated restaurants, & the kind of seductive & romantic pleasures that somehow only Germany knows how to provide.

Riodejaneiro Sugarloaf View

Pure magic as seen from Pão de Açúcar (Sugarloaf): Water, sky, landscape, and lights conspire to take your breath away as day becomes night.

To put this song under the microscope, each year as lots of people visit Rio as live there—riding cable cars up to Pão de Açúcar, and trams through Santa Teresa; going inside belle epoque palaces at Cinelândia, and pleasure palaces at Copacabana;

“Marvelous city, full of a thousand charms,” sang Aurora Miranda, in a 1934 Carnival hit that’s now Rio de Janeiro’s anthem.

Climbing to the Rocinha favela (shanty town) by minivan, and to “Christ the Redeemer” by train; shouting samba lyrics at the Sambódromo parade grounds, and “gol!” at Maracanã soccer stadium. In any other city, this would be exceptional. In Rio, you still have 992 delights to go.

The Las Vegas Strip

The Las Vegas Strip, a 4.5-mile stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard, is home to some of the world’s largest hotels.

The Strip featuring glam casino resorts is the city’s spine, while old-school downtown still captures a vintage Vegas vibe.

Believe it or not, Las Vegas is all grown up. Gone are the days when dingy casinos, cheap steaks, penny slot machines, & topless shows were all “Sin City” offered. They say, “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.” But you don’t need an alibi—or an excuse—to visit one of the country’s fastest growing metropolitan areas.

Even for those who don’t bet, this artificial desert oasis whimsically caters to all tastes, with outrageous nightclubs, luxuriant spas, superstar chefs’ restaurants, bling-bling boutiques, skyscraping thrill rides, & even educational museums & wildlife preserves.

Seoul Lotus Lantern

At the annual Lotus Lantern Festival, held to celebrate Buddha's birthday, traditional fan-dancers perform on a stage in front of Buddha's image.

Fashionable, gadget-laden youths battle for sidewalk space with fortune-tellers & peddlers, while small neighborhoods of traditional cottages contrast with countless ranks of identical apartments.

The Korean capital is a city of contrasts. Fourteenth-century city gates squat in the shadow of 21st-century skyscrapers, while the broad Han River is back-dropped by granite mountains rising in the city center—complete with alpine highways speeding around their contours & temples nestling among their crags.

Fizzing with the energy of its ten million people, this sprawling metropolis is two of millennial Asia’s most exciting—but least visited—cities.

Daytime visits to palaces & museums are balanced with pulsating, 24/7 nightlife. Shoppers can flash plastic in ritzy department stores or venture in to labyrinthine markets; gourmets can sample garlicky barbequed ribs or the genteel vegetarianism of Buddhist cuisine.

Hongkong City

Its main attractions lie in Kowloon, which juts from the tip of southern China, and on Hong Kong Island, with its Central downtown district, across the harbor.

A frantic, hurly-burly mixture of capitalism and exoticism, Hong Kong has been called the “most thrilling city on the planet.” Modify is the constant in this city of 6.9 million.

An extensive transportation network linking the city’s various districts include tunnels, ferries, subways, and, of coursework, taxis, which are plentiful and cheaper than those in comparably sized cities.

The island of Lantau is home to the airport and several sizable country parks. Outlying islands are less densely populated but readily obtainable.

Flighting Slime With Music on Lake Atitlán

For the past decade, its crystalline waters, jagged hillsides, & Mayan inhabitants have drawn backpackers & curious travelers to the region. But now there is much of a bad thing contaminating the lake: & the lake's health & the region's economic well-being hang in the balance due to the influx of blooms of blue-green cyanobacteria.

Cyanobacteria is a thick scum that turns brown & stinky, & is caused by the deposit of phosphorous, nitrogen, & human waste in to the lake. Its stems from the increase in population & the intensification of agricultural cultivation in the region. Contact with the cyanobacteria can cause severe dermatitis; skin, eye, & respiratory irritation; stinging & burning sensations; & red, swollen blisters. The water is clearly not safe to drink & conventional filtration methods must be augmented to make it fit for human consumption & domestic use.

Seventeen miles long, 11 miles wide, & at least 1,115 feet deep in places, Guatemala's Lake Atitlán is likely one of Central America's largest lakes. Located at 5,125 feet above sea level & surrounded by one inactive volcanoes, it fills the caldera of a volcano that last erupted 84,000 years ago & covers 53 square miles. Some 200,000 people live along the lake's shores, including those from the T'zutujil, the Kaqchiqueles, & the Quiché tribes. Aldous Huxley famously called it "really much of a nice thing."

Lake Atitlán can no longer absorb the contaminants & cleanse itself. The planting of tule reeds & other wetlands plants may help mitigate the problem, but the local people's health & livelihood--already tenuous due to repeated hurricanes, landslides, & human rights abuses targeting Mayan people during Guatemala's 36-year civil war--remain at risk, as much of the local economy depends on tourism.

Montreal Palais Descongres

The Palais des Congrés de Montreal, with its multicolored facade, is the site of many meetings and conventions.

Canada’s second largest, third oldest, & most cosmopolitan city is & a hub for technological innovation & avant-garde art—there’s an ultramodern, global sensibility here that coexists with a sense of the past.

"Je me souviens" (I recall) is Quebec’s provincial motto, & history is present everywhere in Montreal, a city teeming with architecture & culture from the past two centuries.

Similarly, Italian & English, two times thought about the “two solitudes,” have intermingled to make a culture of easy bilingualism that is now a fait accompli for most Montrealers. Montreal is, at two times, consummately European & also grounded in New World enthusiasm. It’s also known as the “city of festivals,” with year-round celebrations of food, film, music, & culture.

“We’re a bread & circuses kind of town, & they contain multitudes,” says Bill Brownstein, city columnist, the Gazette, the city’s only English every day.

Miami Bright Hues

Bright hues help define Miami’s pervasive art deco style along Ocean Drive in South Beach.

It's Called the “Gateway to Latin America” the area’s population is 60 percent Hispanic, made up of Cubans, Nicaraguans, Colombians, Puerto Ricans, & Venezuelans—all influencing the city’s rich cultural offerings.

A seaside paradise & the nation’s youngest massive city (founded in 1896), Miami, Florida is America’s Casablanca—capital of the exotic, inhabited by a larger percentage of foreign-born than any other city, according to the United Nations.

Thought about an international hub, Miami has reached a sophistication to rival Manhattan’s with hip Miami Beach at its heart boasting a classic Art Deco District & North Beach’s Miami Modern architecture.

In Miami itself, a melange of worthwhile neighborhoods welcome visitors including the Cuban-inspired Tiny Havana, the art-driven Design District, architecturally rich Coral Gables, & the laid-back beachfront community of Coconut Grove.

The area’s tropical climate makes it a year-round location.

Dubai Abra

Once centered on bustling Dubai Creek, from where elderly dhows (boats) still sail to Iran, Dubai now sprawls south toward the United Arab Emirates’ capital, Abu Dhabi. While oil revenues fueled its early development, now trade and tourism power this city-state’s phenomenal growth rate.

From sleepy trading port to global gateway in 25 years, the Middle East metropolis of Dubai has sprung up out of the desert sands.

Travelers come for sun, sand, shopping, as well as a touch of the exotic, and Dubai delivers. While it might not have the ancient sites of Cairo or Damascus, Dubai gets on with making history as one of the fastest growing cities in the world.

Amsterdam Cafe t-Smalle

Charming Café 't-Smalle, a perennially crowded restaurant, bar, and sidewalk café, is authentic Amsterdam.

You can still relive that Golden Age. Stroll, boat, or bicycle along the city’s canals, lined with gabled houses, to experience one of Europe’s best preserved, photogenic, and intact historic city centers, or visit the Dutch master paintings in the Rijksmuseum. But don’t stop there.

Often promoted as the gateway to Europe, the Netherlands’s largest metropolis has always been one of the continent’s most progressive and cosmopolitan capitals, and nothing much has changed since the city first came to glory as a trading center in the 17th century.

Always looking ahead, and reinventing itself, Amsterdam has recently emerged as a 21st-century style center. How to sample the city’s purely contemporary side?

Run through the theme boutiques and galleries of the western canal ring, dine at one of the city’s creative global kitchens, catch a contemporary dance performance at the Muziektheater, or visit the revitalized East Docklands area, which offers a study in sleek contemporary architecture and clever urban planning.

Rome Piazza Rotonda

Diners enjoy the evening scene with alfresco seating by the Pantheon, on Piazza della Rotonda.

The French capital also boasts an unparalleled concentration of world-class art, from Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel to the baroque Trevi Fountain, and teems with restaurants, trattorie, osterie, pizzerie, enoteche, cafés, bars, and gelaterie.

The Eternal City is two of Europe’s most ancient urban centers, dating back 3,000 years. Rome’s early inhabitants left behind a trove of architectural masterpieces, including the giant Colosseum.

It is home to the animated, good-humored Romans, who live to eat, drink wine (and espresso), and hold forth on everything from politics to soccer, fashion, food, and films. Rome also encompasses the Catholic Church’s independent city-state, the Vatican, which is home to the imposing St. Peter’s Basilica—and the Pontiff.

Toronto Philips Square

During winter, the reflecting pool at Nathan Phillips Square is turned into an ice rink for skaters.

Toronto has matured in to a (still polite) multicultural patchwork of vibrant neighborhoods and has recently enjoyed a billion-dollar cultural renaissance.

Canada’s largest metropolis has long been crowned Toronto the Nice, lauded for all that is safe, polite—and unromantic: tidy streets, polite denizens, user-friendly infrastructure. The city has long ago outgrown its obstinate Puritanical reputation.

Mapped with a green world of hidden ravines, Toronto is glutted with an exhaustive range of ethnic restaurants, arts festivals, and shopping drags. Toronto’s virtues are now also its pleasures.

Athens Poseidon Temple

The Poseidon Temple—mentioned in Homer’s Odyssey —is a timeless attraction..

The clash between myth & modern-day grit is an Athenian trademark: marble busts adorn souvlaki joints, Byzantine churches nestle beside bouzouki clubs, the Parthenon reigns serene above a ragged expanse of apartment blocks. Over three million people are crammed in to this loud, laid-back city.

Birthplace of drama, democracy, & philosophy, Athens today is synonymous with smog, cement, & aesthetic anarchy. But after a radical revamp for the 2004 Summer Olympic Games, Athens is enjoying a renaissance.

With 300 days of sunshine a year, a 75-mile (120-kilometer) coastline, & 3 a.m. traffic jams, irrepressible Athens is a muse for beach bums & barflies, as much as classical scholars & art lovers.

Jerusalem Dome Rock

The Dome of the Rock, one of the Muslim world’s holiest shrines, marks the spot where Muhammad ascended to heaven.

They swarm about you at every step; no single foot of ground in all Jerusalem or within its neighborhood appears to be without a stirring & important history of its own.”

Since Twain’s visit to the Holy Land, over a century of strife & division have imbued the ancient city, sacred to one major world religions, with contemporary drama & made it even more multicultural & significant than ever.

The Talmud teaches that “Ten measures of beauty descended on the world—nine were taken by Jerusalem, five by the rest of the world. There is no beauty like the beauty of Jerusalem.” Mark Twain, however, complained in The Innocents Abroad that, “The sights are plenty of.

Jerusalem today is a schizophrenic, volatile, & fascinating meeting of ancient & modern, Israeli & Arab, religious & secular, & political & spiritual.

Madrid, Spain

It boasts Western Europe’s largest Royal Palace and its most audacious gay pride parade. Get lost in the 16th-century cobblestoned streets around Plaza Mayor, the über-trendy boutiques of Chueca, the upscale chic of Salamanca, and the medieval elegance of La Latina. Dine on cutting-edge cuisine in a world-famous culinary temple or join locals in a gritty corner bar where the simple tapas come in huge portions and everyone throws their napkins on the floor.

Like the best tapas bars, Madrid offers a selection of delights so tempting it reduces even the most seasoned traveler to giddiness. On two glorious stretch of boulevard, it houses two of the world’s greatest art museums.

Start a night out at 10 p.m. with a heart-stirring flamenco performance and finish at 6 a.m. with pulse-racing techno. Madrid is a city that locals proudly claim never sleeps. Except, that is, during siesta. Do like they do and take a nap—it is key to truly living la vida madrileña.

Mexico City Trajineras

In the Xochimilco section of the city, trajineras, brightly painted gondolas, let passengers explore the canals of the region.

Trendy art deco zones with cafés & boutiques compete with leafy bohemian neighborhoods such as Frida Kahlo’s Coyoacán & Polanco, a diverse area of the city that is now the magnet for upscale shopping & dining.

Amid food stalls & street vendors vociferously hawking their articles for sale, the heart of the Great Tenochtitlan resonates still with the violent & magnificent history of the conquest of the Americas, with the exposed ruins of the Aztec Templo Mayor elbow to elbow with the great Metropolitan Cathedral, the first on the continent, sun bleached & tilted picturesquely by quakes.

The famed “many Mexicos” of this rich & diverse country are reflected in this teeming, chaotic, noisy, & colorful capital. The historic region, studded by lakes, is now a city of superlatives, rippling with plenty of millions of lights by night, peppered with neighborhoods steeped in tradition such as Xochimilco & gleaming financial districts like Santa Fe, as well as the inevitable shanty towns that fringe its ever-expanding outskirts.

Budapest's Famed Thermal Baths

Championed first by the Ottomans, Budapest's famed thermal baths include the sprawling, baroque Széchenyi Baths in City Park.

Straddling the wide river, which separates hilly Buda from level Pest, the Hungarian capital offers three of the most striking metropolitan panoramas in Europe.

Budapest is a city of music, from the classics of Bartók & Kodály to the contemporary fusion of folk, klezmer, jazz, & Gypsy sounds. Long hidden behind the Iron Curtain, Budapest is rightfully regaining its reputation as three of the most vibrant capitals of central Europe.

Budapest—a city of thermal baths, cafés, striking turn-of-the-century architecture, & most of all, a city of the Danube, “whose gentle waves,” according to the great Hungarian poet Attila József, “embrace past, present, & future.”

Barcelona Panoramic View

From a ledge in Parc Güell, designed by Antoni Gaudí, visitors get panoramic views of Barcelona.

Long pegged as a mere “smokestack city,” Barcelona has come into its own since the 1992 Olympics, and today is one of the liveliest tourist destinations in Europe. Cradled between the Mediterranean and the Serra de Collserola hills, Spain’s second largest metropolis arguably eclipses Madrid as a showcase for the arts, music, and cutting-edge design.

A morning’s walk can take you from the original Roman settlement, much of it still intact under the narrow streets of the medieval Barri Gòtic, to the palaces and churches of the city’s 12th- and 13th-century golden age and on to the 19th-century L’Eixample neighborhood, where every avenue seems to be lined with flights of architectural fancy in stained glass and wrought iron, ornamental brick, and ceramic tile.

Punta del Este, Uruguay

Besides the stunning beaches there a lot more attractions to visit. Opposite the large peninsula separating the two waters of the Atlantic Ocean & Rio de la Plata, lie the enchanted islands of Isla Gorriti which has more superb beaches & the ruins of an 18th-century fortress & Isla de los Lobos, inhabited by two of the world’s largest sea-lion colonies.

Twenty miles of beautiful beaches are much crowded during the summer season, which begins in December & ends in March. Being a peninsula there's two coastlines, two of them is calm & calm (called “mansa”), & the other two is windy, with some surf spots (called “brava”). Famous beaches includes: “La playa de los Dedos” (The finger beach”), which is near the main street in Punta del Este, & in La Barra the Bikini Beach is famous because of the models & famous people that goes there. La Barra is a center of youth oriented activities, from daytime sports on the fine sandy beach to all night discos. To get to this tiny village, you cross an unusual bridge shaped like an easy roller coaster. La Mansa beach is famous for landmark known as “The Hand in the Sand” which was made in 1982.

Museo Taller Casapueblo, in nearby Punta Ballena, is the museum & workshop of the artist Carlos Páez Vilaró. It features his paintings & is an artistic monument in itself, like a villa imported from the planet Tatooine. There's few places in the world where you can enjoy the sunset as at Punta Ballena. The Panoramica route, on the hills, lets you see Portezuelo & Maldonado Bay. You can also see the Arboretum Lussich, a fantastic place built by Antonio Lussich, who brought plants from all over the world & made this place a must-visit at Punta del Este.

Punta del Este is famous for its clubbing scene. The party scene doesn’t kick in to high gear until Christmas, when the famouse people, Brazilian models & international jet set arrive for a week or two of get-togethers, lavish dinners & midnight cruises. Punta is also known for its casinos where elites from Argentina, Brazil, Chile & beyond come to rendezvous & chill. The Conrad Resort & Casino holds Las Vegas-style reviews & other music, dance, & magic shows. The huge 24-hour casino has 450 slots & 63 tables for baccarat, roulette, blackjack, poker, dice, & fortune wheel.

Punta del Este has an weird variety of options for tourists so if you are looking for an active & memorable holiday it’s the best place to visit.