News

GALAPAGOS ISLANDS This is the closest any of us will get to time travel; the planet as it was eons ego, untrammelled by humans. Because no large land predators exist on this remote, volcanic archipelago, the Galapagos, uniquely, remain a place devoid of fear where ancient lizards sun lazily, sea lions doze and Charles Darwin's finches evolve almost before your eyes. Paul Koring

ANGKOR WAT Angkor, Cambodia's tourist treasure, is like a child's play world for grownups, a surreal jungle setting and rugged man-made landscape to explore at your leisure. Angkor Wat is the most famous of the hundreds of ornate Khmer temples built here from the eighth to the 13th centuries. Today, a few of the crumbling structures here are gripped by the giant roots of trees that appear to be swallowing them in slow motion.

Clint McLean

THE GRAND CANYON No matter how many photos you've seen, nothing can really prepare you. It is not pretty. It is a giant, screaming gash — revealing the world's veins and sinews. It makes the planet feel both alien and more real than ever. Standing at the rim of the Grand Canyon will change the way you see the Earth.

Shaughnessy Bishop-Stall

PETRA, JORDAN One of the most dramatic approaches to a treasured site anywhere is found in this city carved out of red rocks. After walking through a narrow, dark gorge called the Siq, you emerge to see the sun-bathed Treasury, a classical temple façade cut into the face of a cliff by the Nabateans more than 2,000 years ago.

Patrick Dineen

VARANASI, INDIA Observing the morning rituals of Hindus bathing on the banks of the sacred Ganges while bodies burn on nearby funeral pyres somehow captures the contradictions and spiritual heart of India.

Norman Howe

ANTARCTICA The last wild frontier. The snowy continent is a wonderland for a rich array of sea life, penguins and stark landscapes. The white of the snow and the blue of the ice are so vibrant that they stay in your mind forever.

Bruce Poon Tip

VENICE, ITALY A horror in the summer, but enchanting in the dead of winter when the Adriatic mists envelop the city, giving it a spooky, haunted feel. The artistic highlight in a city of masterpieces is Tintoretto's Scuola di San Rocco.

Eric Reguly

THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA Mao Zedong once said, "You're not a real man if you haven't climbed the Great Wall." It can be challenging, but worth it. Hike up and down ancient Ming stones on your own or go with a guide to a place with views of Inner Mongolia. Spectacular.

George Butterfield

ISTANBUL, TURKEY The grand old lady of the Ottoman Empire oozes atmosphere and character as rich as her former name of Constantinople. A browse through her 500-year-old Grand Bazaar, 1,500-year-old Hagia Sophia and the Sultan's harem at Topkapi Palace is a stroll in the shadows of history.

Jason Schoonover

MACHU PICCHU This ancient Incan city perched on an impossibly jagged mountain range inspires the feeling of being transported to another world. Ceremonial temples and altars speak of a spiritual civilization. The Inca empire collapsed with the arrival of the Spanish in the middle of the 15th century and Machu Picchu lay forgotten until its rediscovery in 1911.

Colin Angus