Natural features
Albanian Riviera and Ksamil
Ksamil, Vlorë
A stretch of coast in southern Albania with turquoise water, white pebble beaches and villages backed by mountains.
Natural features
Natural features
Tassili n'Ajjer
Djanet
A Sahara plateau of sandstone forests and arches with thousands of prehistoric rock paintings, a UNESCO site, explored on guided treks from Djanet.
Natural features
National Park of American Samoa
Eastern
A US national park of rainforest, coral reefs and white beaches on Tutuila, Ofu and Ta'ū.
Natural features
Kalandula Falls, Angola
Malanje
One of the largest waterfalls in Africa by volume, 105 m high and 400 m wide, on the Lucala River.
Natural features
Shoal Bay East, Anguilla
East End
A long white-sand beach with clear water and reefs for snorkelling, often rated one of the best in the Caribbean.
Natural features
Iguazú Falls (Argentine side)
Puerto Iguazú, Misiones
The Argentine side has about 80% of the falls, with walkways over and under them.
Natural features
Península Valdés
Chubut
A peninsula on the Patagonian coast, a UNESCO site, where southern right whales come to breed from June to December, sea lions and elephant seals bre…
Natural features
Perito Moreno Glacier
Santa Cruz
A huge glacier, 5 km wide and 60 m high, in Los Glaciares National Park, which advances across Lake Argentino and calves icebergs with a roar.
Natural features
Bariloche and the Lake District
San Carlos de Bariloche, Río Negro
A town on Lake Nahuel Huapi in the Andes, famous for chocolate and alpine scenery.
Natural features
Quebrada de Humahuaca
Tumbaya, Jujuy
A valley in the far north-west, a UNESCO site, with colourful mountains such as the Cerro de los Siete Colores at Purmamarca and the Hornocal (14 col…
Natural features
Lake Sevan
Sevan, Gegharkunik
One of the largest high-altitude lakes in the world, at 1,900 m, called the 'jewel of Armenia'.
Natural features
Eagle Beach and Arikok, Aruba
Noord
Eagle Beach is a wide white beach with the famous windswept fofoti trees.
Natural features
Blue Lake, Mount Gambier
Mount Gambier, South Australia
A volcanic crater lake on the edge of Mount Gambier that turns a brilliant cobalt blue from about November to March, then fades to a steely grey for …
Natural features
Blue Mountains and the Three Sisters
Katoomba, New South Wales
A plateau of eucalyptus forest, sandstone cliffs and valleys west of Sydney, a UNESCO site, named for the blue haze of eucalyptus oil.
Natural features
Broken River platypus, Eungella National Park
Queensland
Eungella ('land of cloud') is a high plateau of misty subtropical rainforest west of Mackay, and Broken River is one of the best places in Australia …
Natural features
Cape Hillsborough wallabies at sunrise
Bucasia, Queensland
In Cape Hillsborough National Park, north of Mackay, wallabies and kangaroos come down to the beach at dawn to feed on seed pods and mangrove leaves …
Natural features
Cradle Mountain and Dove Lake
Kentish, Tasmania
The jagged peaks of Cradle Mountain rising above Dove Lake are Tasmania's most famous view, in the Cradle Mountain–Lake St Clair National Park, part …
Natural features
Daintree Rainforest and Cape Tribulation
Wujal Wujal, Queensland
The oldest tropical rainforest in the world, part of the Wet Tropics UNESCO site, where the rainforest meets the reef at Cape Tribulation.
Natural features
Eisriesenwelt Ice Cave
Werfen, Salzburg
The world's largest ice cave, running 42 km into the Tennengebirge mountains above Werfen, with its first kilometre filled with spectacular ice forma…
Natural features
Krimml Waterfalls
Krimml, Salzburg
Austria's highest waterfalls, plunging 380 m in three stages in the Hohe Tauern National Park.
Natural features
Yanar Dag (Burning Mountain)
Absheron
A hillside near Baku where natural gas seeping from the ground has been burning continuously for decades, a wall of flame 10 m long, most impressive …
Natural features
Sundarbans Mangrove Forest
Khulna
The largest mangrove forest in the world, across the Ganges delta into India, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and home of the Bengal tiger, spotted deer…
Natural features
Cox's Bazar
Cox's Bazar
One of the longest natural sea beaches in the world, about 120 km of sand along the Bay of Bengal.
Natural features
Sreemangal tea gardens
Moulvibazar
The 'tea capital' of Bangladesh, a hilly region of green tea estates in Sylhet Division.
Natural features
Harrison's Cave, Barbados
Saint Thomas
A crystallised limestone cave explored by electric tram past stalactites, streams and pools.
Natural features
Braslav Lakes
Braslaw, Vitebsk
A national park of more than 30 glacial lakes linked by channels in north-western Belarus, among forested hills.
Natural features
Caves of Han-sur-Lesse
Rochefort, Namur
One of Europe's most impressive cave systems, carved by the Lesse river in the Belgian Ardennes.
Natural features
Caye Caulker
Belize
A small, laid-back car-free island off the coast of Belize, with the motto 'Go Slow'.
Natural features
Placencia
Placencia, Stann Creek
A village at the tip of a long sandy peninsula in southern Belize, with beaches, snorkelling trips to the cayes, and whale shark season in spring at …
Natural features
Crystal Caves, Bermuda
Hamilton
Limestone caves with clear underground pools crossed by floating pontoon walkways, beneath delicate stalactites, discovered in 1907 by two boys looki…
Natural features
Horseshoe Bay Beach, Bermuda
Southampton
Bermuda's most famous beach, a curve of pink sand, coloured by crushed red shells, with turquoise water and rocky coves.
Natural features
Dochula Pass
Thimphu
A mountain pass at 3,100 m on the road from Thimphu to Punakha, with 108 white memorial chortens and, on clear days, a panoramic view of the snow-cap…
Natural features
Phobjikha Valley
Wangdue Phodrang
A wide glacial valley in central Bhutan, where rare black-necked cranes arrive from Tibet each winter (late October to February).
Natural features
Eduardo Avaroa Reserve lagoons
Potosí
High-altitude desert in the far south-west, with the red Laguna Colorada full of flamingos, the Laguna Verde beneath the Licancabur volcano, geysers …
Natural features
Salar de Uyuni
Potosí
The largest salt flat in the world, over 10,000 km² of white hexagonal crust; in the rainy season a thin layer of water turns it into a vast mirror.
Natural features
Madidi National Park
Rurrenabaque, Beni
One of the most biodiverse protected areas in the world, from Andean peaks to Amazon rainforest.
Natural features
Kravica Waterfall
Ljubuški, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
A wide semicircle of waterfalls, about 25 m high, on the Trebižat River, pouring into a green pool surrounded by trees.
Natural features
Sutjeska National Park
Foča, Republika Srpska
Bosnia's oldest national park, with Perućica, one of the last primeval forests in Europe, and Maglić, the country's highest mountain (2,386 m).
Natural features
Chobe National Park
Chobe
A park with one of the largest elephant populations in Africa.
Natural features
Okavango Delta
North-West
A vast inland delta where the Okavango River spreads into the Kalahari, a UNESCO site, with channels, lagoons and islands full of elephants, hippos, …
Natural features
Moremi Game Reserve
North-West
The protected heart of the Okavango Delta, with excellent wildlife, including wild dogs, leopards and lions, in mopane woodland and floodplains.
Natural features
Anavilhanas Archipelago, Rio Negro
Amazonas
One of the largest river archipelagos in the world, with around 400 forested islands in the dark waters of the Rio Negro, protected as a national park.
Natural features
Baía do Sancho, Fernando de Noronha
Fernando de Noronha, Pernambuco
Often voted the most beautiful beach in the world: a cove of golden sand at the foot of green cliffs, with clear turquoise water full of fish, turtle…
Natural features
Baía dos Porcos and the Atalaia natural pool, Noronha
Fernando de Noronha, Pernambuco
Baía dos Porcos is a tiny cove next to Sancho, with rock pools and views of the Dois Irmãos ('two brothers') rock peaks rising from the sea, one of t…
Natural features
Iguaçu Falls (Brazilian side)
Foz do Iguaçu, Paraná
One of the world's great waterfalls, about 275 drops along nearly 3 km on the Brazil-Argentina border, a UNESCO site.
Natural features
Lençóis Maranhenses
Santo Amaro do Maranhão, Maranhão
A vast expanse of white sand dunes dotted with turquoise and green lagoons that fill with rainwater, best from June to September.
Natural features
Meeting of the Waters, Manaus
Manaus, Amazonas
Just outside Manaus, the dark, warm Rio Negro meets the cooler, sandy-coloured Rio Solimões, and the two rivers run side by side without mixing for a…
Natural features
The Baths, Virgin Gorda
A beach of giant granite boulders forming grottoes and tidal pools, with a trail climbing through them by ladders and ropes to Devil's Bay.
Natural features
Ulu Temburong National Park, Brunei
Temburong
Pristine Bornean rainforest in Brunei's Temburong district, reached by longboat up the river.
Natural features
Belogradchik Rocks
Belogradchik, Vidin
Strange red sandstone pillars and towers up to 200 m high in north-western Bulgaria, shaped by wind and water into figures with names like the Madonn…
Natural features
Kampot and Kep
Kampot
Kampot is a relaxed riverside town of French colonial buildings, near pepper farms that grow the famous Kampot pepper.
Natural features
Koh Rong Samloem
Sihanoukville
A quiet island off Sihanoukville with white sand beaches such as Saracen Bay, clear water and jungle, with simple bungalows.
Natural features
Kribi and the Lobé Falls, Cameroon
Kribi, South
Waterfalls that tumble straight into the sea at Kribi's beaches, a rare sight.
Natural features
Bay of Fundy and Hopewell Rocks
Sackville, New Brunswick
The Bay of Fundy has the highest tides in the world, up to 16 m.
Natural features
Churchill polar bears
Manitoba
A small town on Hudson Bay, the 'polar bear capital of the world', where bears gather each October and November waiting for the sea to freeze.
Natural features
Moraine Lake and Lake Louise, Banff
Banff, Alberta
Two glacier-fed lakes of brilliant turquoise in Banff National Park, Canada's oldest national park.
Natural features
Niagara Falls (Canadian side)
Niagara Falls, Ontario
The Canadian side has the best view of all three falls, especially the Horseshoe Falls, with water thundering 57 m over a curved edge.
Natural features
Pacific Rim and Tofino, Vancouver Island
Tofino, British Columbia
Wild Pacific beaches, old-growth rainforest and surf on the west coast of Vancouver Island.
Natural features
Stanley Park, Vancouver
West End, British Columbia
A park of 400 hectares of rainforest on a peninsula next to downtown Vancouver, with the 10 km Seawall path for walking and cycling, beaches, totem p…
Natural features
Sal and Boa Vista beaches, Cape Verde
Santa Maria, Sal
Flat, sandy islands with long beaches, great for kitesurfing.
Natural features
Atacama Desert and San Pedro
Antofagasta
The driest non-polar desert in the world.
Natural features
Cochamó Valley
Cochamó, Los Lagos
Often called the Yosemite of South America: a valley of temperate rainforest, rivers and huge granite domes in northern Patagonia.
Natural features
Marble Caves, General Carrera Lake
Aisén del General Carlos Ibañez del Campo
Caves and columns of marble carved by the waves of a glacial lake, reflecting the turquoise water in swirling patterns.
Natural features
Elqui Valley
Vicuña, Coquimbo
A green valley of vineyards making pisco, beneath dry mountains, with some of the clearest skies in the world.
Natural features
Classical Gardens of Suzhou
Suzhou, Jiangsu
Suzhou's classical gardens, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, are miniature landscapes of ponds, rocks, pavilions and windows framing views.
Natural features
Jiuzhaigou Valley
Jiuzhaigou, Sichuan
A valley in the mountains of northern Sichuan with lakes of astonishing blue and green, waterfalls and Tibetan villages, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Natural features
Li River Cruise and Yangshuo
Yangshuo, Guangxi
A river winding between hundreds of tall limestone karst peaks, the landscape on China's 20-yuan note.
Natural features
West Lake, Hangzhou
Hangzhou, Zhejiang
A famous lake surrounded by hills, pagodas, temples and gardens, celebrated by poets for centuries, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Natural features
Zhangjiajie National Forest Park
Yongding, Hunan
Thousands of towering sandstone pillars rising from forested valleys, often wrapped in mist, which inspired the floating mountains in the film Avatar.
Natural features
Zhangye Danxia Landform
Zhangye, Gansu
Hills striped in bands of red, orange, yellow and green, the 'rainbow mountains', formed by layers of sandstone and minerals over millions of years.
Natural features
Christmas Island red crab migration
Each year, around October to December, tens of millions of red crabs march from the forest to the sea to spawn, covering roads and beaches.
Natural features
Cossies Beach, Cocos Keeling Islands
A white-sand beach on uninhabited Direction Island, often named Australia's best beach, with 'the Rip' snorkelling channel.
Natural features
Tayrona National Park
Santa Marta, Magdalena
Beaches and jungle where the Sierra Nevada mountains meet the Caribbean, with boulder-strewn coves such as Cabo San Juan.
Natural features
Caño Cristales
Meta
The 'river of five colours', where aquatic plants turn the riverbed red, yellow, green and blue, roughly from June to November.
Natural features
El Peñol and Guatapé
Guatapé, Antioquia
A giant granite monolith rising 200 m above a lake district; climb its 740 steps for a view over islands and inlets.
Natural features
Volcán de Lodo, Arboletes
Arboletes, Antioquia
A mud volcano just outside the beach town of Arboletes on Colombia's Caribbean coast, with a large pool of warm, thick grey mud.
Natural features
Aitutaki lagoon, Cook Islands
A triangular lagoon of brilliant turquoise with tiny islands such as One Foot Island, where you can get your passport stamped.
Natural features
Arenal Volcano and La Fortuna
La Fortuna, Alajuela
A perfect cone-shaped volcano in northern Costa Rica, now resting.
Natural features
Corcovado National Park
Osa, Puntarenas
One of the most biologically intense places on earth, on the remote Osa Peninsula, with tapirs, all four Costa Rican monkey species, scarlet macaws a…
Natural features
Manuel Antonio National Park
Puntarenas
A small, popular park on the Pacific coast where rainforest meets white-sand beaches.
Natural features
Monteverde Cloud Forest
Montes de Oro, Puntarenas
A cloud forest reserve on the continental divide, misty and full of mosses, orchids and wildlife, including the resplendent quetzal.
Natural features
Tortuguero National Park
Limón
A park of canals and rainforest on the Caribbean coast, reached only by boat or plane, where green turtles nest on the beach from July to October.
Natural features
Krka National Park
Grad Šibenik, Šibenik-Knin
A national park along the Krka River, with a series of beautiful waterfalls and cascades.
Natural features
Plitvice Lakes National Park
Plitvička Jezera, Lika-Senj
Sixteen terraced lakes, joined by waterfalls and cascades, in a forested valley in central Croatia.
Natural features
Zlatni Rat Beach, Bol
Bol, Split-Dalmatia
A famous beach of fine pebbles on the island of Brač, sticking out into the sea in a long point whose tip shifts with the wind and currents.
Natural features
Viñales Valley
Viñales, Pinar del Río
A green valley of tobacco farms and limestone hills (mogotes), a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Natural features
Bay of Pigs and Playa Girón
Matanzas
The site of the failed US-backed invasion of 1961, with a museum at Playa Girón.
Natural features
Varadero Beach
Varadero, Matanzas
A 20 km strip of white sand on a narrow peninsula, Cuba's main beach resort, lined with all-inclusive hotels.
Natural features
Blue Lagoon, Akamas Peninsula
Pégeia, Paphos (Pafos)
A sheltered bay of turquoise water on the wild Akamas Peninsula in north-west Cyprus, reached by boat from Latchi or by 4x4 along a rough track.
Natural features
Cape Greco and the Sea Caves
Ayia Napa, Famagusta (Mağusa)
A national park on the south-east tip of Cyprus, with limestone cliffs, sea caves, natural arches, and crystal-clear water for swimming, snorkelling …
Natural features
Pravčická brána, Bohemian Switzerland
Mikulášovice, Děčín
The largest natural sandstone arch in Europe, 26 m wide and 16 m high, in the Bohemian Switzerland National Park, a landscape of rock towers, gorges …
Natural features
Møns Klint
Stege, Zealand
White chalk cliffs rising up to 128 m above the Baltic Sea on the island of Møn, a UNESCO biosphere reserve.
Natural features
Skagen and Grenen
Skagen, North Denmark
At Grenen, the northernmost tip of Denmark, the Skagerrak and the Kattegat seas meet, and you can stand with a foot in each, watching the waves clash.
Natural features
Lac Assal, Djibouti
Tadjourah
A crater lake 155 m below sea level, the lowest point in Africa, saltier than the Dead Sea, ringed by white salt.
Natural features
Samaná Peninsula and whale watching
Sánchez, Samaná
From January to March, thousands of humpback whales gather in Samaná Bay to mate and give birth.
Natural features
Saona Island
Boca de Yuma, La Altagracia
An island in the Cotubanamá National Park off the south-east coast, with palm-lined white beaches and a shallow 'natural pool' with starfish.
Natural features
Galápagos Islands
Puerto Ayora, Galápagos
Volcanic islands 1,000 km off the coast where the unique wildlife inspired Darwin's theory of evolution: giant tortoises, marine iguanas, blue-footed…
Natural features
Cotopaxi National Park
Machachi, Pichincha
A snow-capped active volcano, 5,897 m, with wild horses and páramo grassland.
Natural features
Yasuní and the Ecuadorian Amazon
Orellana
One of the most biodiverse places on earth, in Ecuador's Amazon, visited from lodges reached by boat from Coca, often run by indigenous communities.
Natural features
Siwa Oasis
Siwa Oasis, Matrouh
A remote oasis near the Libyan border, with palm groves, salt lakes, hot springs, the mud-brick ruins of Shali fortress, and the Temple of the Oracle…
Natural features
White Desert
New Valley
Chalk formations sculpted by the wind into mushrooms and other shapes, gleaming white in the Western Desert.
Natural features
El Tunco beach
La Libertad
A laid-back surf village on El Salvador's Pacific coast, named after a rock shaped like a pig (tunco) on the beach.
Natural features
Lahemaa National Park
Haljala vald, Haljala
Estonia's oldest and largest national park, on the coast east of Tallinn, with forests, bogs, boulder-strewn beaches and fishing villages.
Natural features
Soomaa National Park
Viljandi
'Land of bogs', a wilderness of raised bogs, flooded meadows and forests, famous for its 'fifth season' in spring, when rivers flood the land and you…
Natural features
Mlilwane Wildlife Sanctuary, Eswatini
Lobamba, Hhohho
A sanctuary in the Ezulwini Valley where you can walk, cycle or ride horses among zebras and antelope.
Natural features
Hlane Royal National Park, Eswatini
Vuvulane, Lubombo
Eswatini's largest protected area, with lions, elephants and white rhinos, and guided walks.
Natural features
Bale Mountains
Oromia
The Sanetti Plateau, the largest area of high Afro-alpine land in Africa, is the best place to see the rare Ethiopian wolf.
Natural features
Danakil Depression
Afar
One of the hottest places on earth, below sea level, with the yellow and green sulphur springs of Dallol, salt flats where camel caravans carry slabs…
Natural features
Volunteer Point penguins, Falklands
The largest king penguin colony in the Falklands, on a white-sand beach, with gentoo and Magellanic penguins too.
Natural features
Gásadalur and Múlafossur, Vágar
Vágar
A tiny village on the island of Vágar, beside the Múlafossur waterfall, which drops off a cliff straight into the ocean, with mountains and the islan…
Natural features
Mykines puffin island
Vágar
The westernmost of the Faroe Islands, home to thousands of puffins and other seabirds in summer.
Natural features
Gjógv
Eiði, Eysturoy
A village of colourful houses on the northern tip of the island of Eysturoy, named after a deep sea-filled gorge that forms a natural harbour, with s…
Natural features
Yasawa and Mamanuca Islands, Fiji
Ba
Chains of volcanic islands west of Viti Levu, with white beaches, coral reefs and resorts from backpacker to luxury.
Natural features
Taveuni and the Bouma waterfalls, Fiji
Cakaudrove
Fiji's 'Garden Island', with rainforest, the Tavoro waterfalls in Bouma National Heritage Park, and the Rainbow Reef, famous for soft coral diving.
Natural features
Sigatoka Sand Dunes and the Coral Coast, Fiji
Sigatoka, Nadroga-Navosa
Fiji's first national park, huge sand dunes at the mouth of the Sigatoka River, where ancient pottery and burials have been found.
Natural features
Koli National Park
Lieksa, North Karelia
A hill rising above Lake Pielinen in eastern Finland, with a view over forest and islands that inspired Sibelius and Finland's national romantic pain…
Natural features
Aiguille du Midi, Chamonix
Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, Haute-Savoie
A cable car from Chamonix climbs to the Aiguille du Midi, a granite peak at 3,842 m, in about 20 minutes, with one of the most spectacular views in t…
Natural features
Baie de Somme
Le Crotoy, Somme
A huge tidal bay of sandflats and salt marshes, one of the most beautiful in the world, home to France's largest colony of seals.
Natural features
Cirque de Navacelles
Ganges, Hérault
A spectacular canyon in the limestone plateaus of the Causses, where the River Vis once looped around a meander, leaving a hill in the middle of a va…
Natural features
Dune du Pilat
La Teste-de-Buch, Gironde
Europe's tallest sand dune, about 100 m high and nearly 3 km long, between the Atlantic Ocean and a pine forest at the entrance to the Arcachon Bay.
Natural features
Étretat cliffs
Étretat, Seine-Maritime
Dramatic white chalk cliffs on the Normandy coast, with natural arches and a needle of rock standing in the sea, painted by Monet and Courbet.
Natural features
Gorges du Tarn
Ispagnac, Lozère
A deep canyon carved by the River Tarn between the limestone plateaus of the Causses, with villages of stone such as Sainte-Énimie and La Malène alon…
Natural features
Bora Bora lagoon
Leeward Islands
An island with the volcanic peak of Mount Otemanu rising above a turquoise lagoon ringed by small islands (motu) with overwater bungalows.
Natural features
Moorea
Windward Islands
A lush island 30 minutes by ferry from Tahiti, with jagged peaks, Cook's Bay and Ōpūnohu Bay, and the Belvedere lookout.
Natural features
Loango National Park, Gabon
Ogooué-Maritime
Where forest meets beaches, and elephants, buffalo and hippos walk on the sand, with humpback whales offshore from July to September and gorillas in …
Natural features
Bastei Bridge, Saxon Switzerland
Lohmen, Saxony
A stone bridge built in 1851 linking towering sandstone pillars 194 m above the River Elbe, in Saxon Switzerland National Park.
Natural features
Königssee and St Bartholomä
Schönau am Königssee, Bavaria
A long, emerald-green lake surrounded by steep mountains in Berchtesgaden National Park, often called Germany's most beautiful.
Natural features
Königsstuhl chalk cliffs, Rügen
Saßnitz, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Brilliant white chalk cliffs rising 118 m above the Baltic Sea, edged with ancient beech forest, in Jasmund National Park on the island of Rügen.
Natural features
Zugspitze
Grainau, Bavaria
Germany's highest mountain, at 2,962 m, on the border with Austria above Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
Natural features
Mainau Island, Lake Constance
Konstanz, Baden-Württemberg
The 'flower island' on Lake Constance (Bodensee), a garden island with a baroque palace, an arboretum, a butterfly house, an Italian rose garden and …
Natural features
Triberg Waterfalls, Black Forest
Triberg, Baden-Württemberg
Some of Germany's highest waterfalls, cascading 163 m in seven steps through the fir forest of the Black Forest.
Natural features
Kakum National Park canopy walk
Foso, Central
A rainforest park with a canopy walkway of seven rope bridges up to 40 m above the forest floor.
Natural features
Mole National Park
Savannah
Ghana's largest wildlife park, in the northern savanna, where you can walk with armed rangers close to elephants that come to drink at waterholes bel…
Natural features
Upper Rock Nature Reserve, Gibraltar
The top of the Rock of Gibraltar, a nature reserve home to the Barbary macaques, Europe's only wild monkeys.
Natural features
Europa Point, Gibraltar
The southernmost tip of Gibraltar, where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic, with a red-and-white lighthouse and a view across the Strait to Africa…
Natural features
St Michael's Cave, Gibraltar
A huge limestone cave high on the Rock of Gibraltar, with a great hall of stalactites and stalagmites lit by changing coloured lights.
Natural features
Balos Lagoon, Crete
Kíssamos, Crete
A shallow turquoise lagoon of white and pink sand between the Gramvousa peninsula and a rocky cape, at the far north-west tip of Crete.
Natural features
Oia, Santorini
Oía, South Aegean
A village of white houses and blue-domed churches clinging to the rim of Santorini's caldera, a flooded volcanic crater, with famous sunsets over the…
Natural features
Antiparos Cave
Antíparos, South Aegean
A deep cave on the small island of Antiparos, a 10-minute ferry ride from Paros, with impressive stalactites and stalagmites.
Natural features
Kolymbithres Beach, Paros
Páros, South Aegean
A beach of small sandy coves separated by smooth granite rocks, worn by wind and sea into strange, rounded shapes.
Natural features
Navagio Beach (Shipwreck Beach), Zakynthos
Zakynthos, Ionian Islands
A white-sand cove enclosed by towering limestone cliffs on the north-west coast of Zakynthos, with the rusting wreck of a smuggling ship, the Panagio…
Natural features
Ilulissat Icefjord, Greenland
Ilulissat, Avannaata
A fjord choked with giant icebergs calved from Sermeq Kujalleq, one of the fastest glaciers in the world, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Natural features
Disko Bay whale watching
Qeqertarsuaq, Qeqertalik
Humpback, minke and fin whales feed in Disko Bay in summer among icebergs.
Natural features
Grand Anse Beach and underwater sculptures, Grenada
Saint George's, Saint George
A 3 km beach near St George's. Offshore, the Molinere Underwater Sculpture Park has life-size statues on the seabed, seen by snorkelling or diving.
Natural features
Tumon Bay and Two Lovers Point, Guam
Tamuning
A cliff above Tumon Bay with views over the Pacific, linked to a Chamorro legend.
Natural features
Lake Atitlán
Panajachel, Sololá
A deep volcanic lake surrounded by three volcanoes and Maya villages, each with its own character: Panajachel is the hub, San Pedro is backpacker-fri…
Natural features
Semuc Champey
Lanquín, Alta Verapaz
A natural limestone bridge over the Cahabón River, topped by a series of stepped turquoise pools in the jungle.
Natural features
Sark
Sark
A tiny island with no cars, only tractors, bicycles and horse-drawn carts, with high cliffs, coves and wildflowers.
Natural features
Herm Island
Saint Sampson, St Sampson
A small car-free island 20 minutes by boat from Guernsey, with white sand beaches, including Shell Beach, made of millions of tiny shells, cliffs, an…
Natural features
Kaieteur Falls, Guyana
Potaro-Siparuni
One of the world's most powerful waterfalls, where the Potaro River plunges 226 m in a single drop into a gorge in the rainforest, about four times t…
Natural features
Iwokrama Rainforest, Guyana
Potaro-Siparuni
A protected rainforest with a canopy walkway, river lodges and a good chance of seeing jaguars, giant otters and harpy eagles.
Natural features
Pico Bonito National Park
La Ceiba, Atlántida
A rainforest park rising steeply behind La Ceiba, with waterfalls, toucans and the Cangrejal River, one of the best whitewater rafting rivers in Cent…
Natural features
Victoria Peak, Hong Kong
Central and Western
The highest point of Hong Kong Island, with the classic view over the skyscrapers of Central, Victoria Harbour and Kowloon.
Natural features
Baradla Cave, Aggtelek
Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén
A cave system stretching 25 km under the Hungarian-Slovak border, part of the Caves of Aggtelek Karst and Slovak Karst UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Natural features
Hortobágy National Park
Hortobágy, Hajdú-Bihar County
The largest natural grassland in Europe, the 'puszta', a UNESCO World Heritage Site in eastern Hungary, where herdsmen still keep grey cattle, racka …
Natural features
Tihany and Lake Balaton
Tihany, Veszprém County
Lake Balaton is the largest lake in central Europe, Hungary's summer playground, with warm shallow water on the south shore and vineyards and volcani…
Natural features
Geysir and Strokkur
Bláskógabyggð
The geothermal area of Haukadalur, where the original Geysir, which gave its name to all geysers, now rarely erupts.
Natural features
Gullfoss
Bláskógabyggð
Iceland's most famous waterfall, the 'golden falls', where the Hvítá river plunges 32 m in two stages into a deep canyon.
Natural features
Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon
Hornafjörður
A lagoon at the foot of the Breiðamerkurjökull glacier filled with icebergs that break off and drift slowly towards the sea, with seals swimming amon…
Natural features
Lake Mývatn and Námafjall
Laugar, Þingeyjarsveit
A volcanic lake in north Iceland surrounded by craters, lava formations and geothermal areas.
Natural features
Reynisfjara Black Sand Beach
Mýrdalshreppur
A black volcanic sand beach near Vík, with towering basalt columns forming a cave and the Reynisdrangar sea stacks offshore, said to be trolls turned…
Natural features
Seljalandsfoss and Skógafoss
Rangárþing eystra
Two of Iceland's most beautiful waterfalls on the south coast.
Natural features
Kaziranga National Park
Bokakhat, Assam
Home to two-thirds of the world's great one-horned rhinoceroses, in grasslands and wetlands by the Brahmaputra River in Assam, a UNESCO World Heritag…
Natural features
Leh and Pangong Lake, Ladakh
Ladakh
Ladakh is a high-altitude desert in the Himalayas with Tibetan Buddhist culture.
Natural features
Ranthambore National Park
Rajasthan
One of the best places in the world to see wild tigers, a former royal hunting ground with dry forest, lakes and the ruins of a 10th-century fort.
Natural features
Tiger Hill sunrise, Darjeeling
Darjeeling, West Bengal
A hilltop 11 km from Darjeeling, at 2,590 m, famous for the view at sunrise as the first light turns the snowy summit of Kangchenjunga, the world's t…
Natural features
Tsomgo (Changu) Lake, Sikkim
Gangtok, Sikkim
A glacial lake at 3,753 m on the road from Gangtok towards the Nathu La pass on the Tibet border.
Natural features
Goa beaches and Old Goa
North Goa, Goa
Goa, a Portuguese colony until 1961, combines palm-fringed beaches with whitewashed churches.
Natural features
Komodo National Park
Komodo, Nusa Tenggara Timur
Islands in eastern Indonesia, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, home of the Komodo dragon, the world's largest lizard, seen on ranger-led walks on Komodo…
Natural features
Mount Bromo
Jawa Timur
An active volcano in East Java rising from a vast sea of sand inside an ancient caldera, with Mount Semeru smoking behind.
Natural features
Raja Ampat
Papua Barat Daya
An archipelago of 1,500 islands off West Papua with the richest marine life on earth, around 75% of all known coral species.
Natural features
Tanjung Puting orangutans, Borneo
Kalimantan Tengah
A national park in Indonesian Borneo where you travel up the river on a klotok houseboat for 2 or 3 days, sleeping on deck, to feeding stations such …
Natural features
Ubud and the Tegallalang Rice Terraces, Bali
Gianyar, Bali
Ubud is Bali's cultural heart, with temples, art markets, yoga retreats, and traditional dance performances in the evenings.
Natural features
Gili Islands
Tanjung, Nusa Tenggara Barat
Three small car-free islands off Lombok, with white beaches, clear water and turtles.
Natural features
Cliffs of Moher
Clare
Ireland's most famous natural sight: sheer cliffs rising up to 214 m out of the Atlantic, running for 14 km along the County Clare coast.
Natural features
Killarney National Park
Killarney, Kerry
Ireland's first national park, with lakes, woods and mountains next to the town of Killarney.
Natural features
Mizen Head Signal Station
Cork
Ireland's most south-westerly point, where a footbridge crosses a deep chasm to the old signal station on a rocky island, with the Atlantic crashing …
Natural features
Ring of Kerry and Skellig Michael
Cahersiveen, Kerry
The Ring of Kerry is a 179 km scenic route around the Iveragh peninsula, past mountains, lakes, beaches and villages.
Natural features
Lough Hyne
Skibbereen, Cork
A saltwater lake near Skibbereen, joined to the sea by a narrow tidal channel called the Rapids, where the water rushes in and out with the tides.
Natural features
Calf of Man
Rushen
A small island bird sanctuary off the south-west tip of the Isle of Man, with puffins, Manx shearwaters and seals.
Natural features
Dead Sea
‘En Boqeq, Southern
The lowest point on land, about 430 m below sea level, a lake so salty you float effortlessly.
Natural features
Alpe di Siusi and Seceda, Dolomites
Siusi, South Tyrol
The Alpe di Siusi (Seiser Alm) is Europe's largest high alpine meadow, a rolling plateau of pastures, wooden huts and wildflowers below the jagged pe…
Natural features
Amalfi Coast and Positano
Positano, Salerno
A spectacular stretch of coast south of Naples, where pastel villages cling to cliffs above the sea, linked by a dramatic winding road.
Natural features
Capri and the Blue Grotto
Capri, Naples
A glamorous island in the Bay of Naples, with dramatic cliffs, the Faraglioni rock stacks and the hilltop villages of Capri and Anacapri.
Natural features
Lake Como and Bellagio
Bellagio, Como
A long, Y-shaped lake surrounded by mountains, lined with elegant villas and gardens.
Natural features
Mount Etna
Nicolosi, Catania
Europe's highest and most active volcano, about 3,300 m, dominating eastern Sicily.
Natural features
San Vito Lo Capo
San Vito Lo Capo, Trapani
A fishing village on the north-west tip of Sicily with one of Italy's most beautiful beaches: about 3 km of soft white sand and Caribbean-like water,…
Natural features
Seven Mile Beach and Rick's Café, Negril
Negril, Westmoreland
A long beach of white sand on Jamaica's west tip.
Natural features
Mount Fuji and the Fuji Five Lakes
Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi
Japan's highest and most sacred mountain, a near-perfect volcanic cone 3,776 m high, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Natural features
Arashiyama Bamboo Grove
Kyoto, Kyōto
A path through towering green bamboo in western Kyoto, which creaks and rustles in the wind.
Natural features
Hakone
Hakone, Kanagawa
A hot-spring resort in the mountains near Mount Fuji, ideal for staying in a ryokan (traditional inn) and bathing in an onsen.
Natural features
Jigokudani Snow Monkey Park
Yamanouchi, Nagano
A valley in the mountains of Nagano where wild Japanese macaques bathe in a hot spring to keep warm, especially in winter, when snow covers their fur.
Natural features
Kenroku-en Garden, Kanazawa
Kanazawa, Ishikawa
One of Japan's three great gardens, created by the lords of Kanazawa over two centuries, with ponds, streams, tea houses and a two-legged stone lante…
Natural features
Shiretoko National Park
Hokkaidō
A remote peninsula on the north-east tip of Hokkaido, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with brown bears, deer and sea eagles.
Natural features
Corbière Lighthouse, Jersey
Vingtaine de la Moye, St Brelade
A white lighthouse on a rocky islet at the south-west tip of Jersey, reached by a causeway at low tide, one of the most photographed views on the isl…
Natural features
Wadi Rum
Aqaba
A desert valley of red sand and towering sandstone mountains, where Lawrence of Arabia passed and films such as The Martian were shot, a UNESCO World…
Natural features
Jordanian Dead Sea and Wadi Mujib
Dhībān, Madaba
The Jordanian shore of the Dead Sea has resort beaches and public beaches for floating.
Natural features
Charyn Canyon
Almaty
A canyon 154 km long carved by the Charyn River, with red rock formations; the Valley of Castles section has a walk of about 3 km down to the river b…
Natural features
Big Almaty Lake and Medeu
Almaty, Almaty City
A turquoise glacial lake at 2,500 m in the Tian Shan mountains above Almaty, surrounded by peaks.
Natural features
Amboseli National Park
Kajiado
A park famous for large herds of elephants walking across the plains with snow-capped Mount Kilimanjaro behind, in Tanzania.
Natural features
Great Migration, Maasai Mara
Narok
Every year about 1.5 million wildebeest, with hundreds of thousands of zebra and gazelle, follow the rains in a huge clockwise circuit between Tanzan…
Natural features
Diani Beach
Ukunda, Kwale
A long white-sand beach south of Mombasa, with palm trees and coral reefs.
Natural features
Lake Nakuru National Park
Nakuru
A Rift Valley lake park with black and white rhinos, Rothschild's giraffes, lions and, at times, flamingos.
Natural features
Nairobi National Park and Giraffe Centre
Nairobi, Nairobi City
A national park on the edge of Nairobi, where lions, rhinos and giraffes roam with the city skyline behind.
Natural features
Samburu National Reserve
Samburu
A dry reserve along the Ewaso Ng'iro river in northern Kenya, home to the 'Samburu Special Five': Grevy's zebra, reticulated giraffe, gerenuk, Somali…
Natural features
Rugova Canyon
Pejë, Peja
A deep limestone canyon 25 km long in the Accursed Mountains, west of Peja, with cliffs up to 1,000 m.
Natural features
Song-Kul Lake
Naryn
A high alpine lake at 3,000 m surrounded by summer pastures where nomadic herders bring their horses, sheep and yaks from June to September.
Natural features
Issyk-Kul Lake
Karakol, Issyk-Kul
One of the largest mountain lakes in the world, which never freezes, ringed by the snowy Tian Shan.
Natural features
Kuang Si Falls
Luang Prabang
A multi-tiered waterfall in the forest with turquoise limestone pools for swimming, near Luang Prabang.
Natural features
Si Phan Don (4,000 Islands)
Muang Không, Champasak
Where the Mekong spreads into a maze of islands near the Cambodian border.
Natural features
Gauja National Park and Sigulda
Sigulda
A national park along the Gauja River valley, with sandstone cliffs, caves and forests, called the 'Switzerland of Latvia'.
Natural features
Jūrmala Beach
Jūrmala
A long resort town on a 33 km sandy beach along the Gulf of Riga, lined with pine forest and wooden villas from the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Natural features
Jeita Grotto
Jounieh, Mount Lebanon
Two connected limestone caves: the upper one is walked on a path through spectacular formations, including one of the world's largest stalactites; th…
Natural features
Qadisha Valley and the Cedars
Bsharri, North
A deep valley with rock-cut monasteries of early Christian hermits, and the Cedars of God, an ancient grove of Lebanon cedars, the national symbol, a…
Natural features
Maletsunyane Falls, Lesotho
Maseru
A 192 m waterfall plunging into a gorge near Semonkong, one of the highest single-drop falls in southern Africa.
Natural features
Curonian Spit
Neringa
A narrow 98 km sand spit between the Baltic Sea and the Curonian Lagoon, shared with Russia, with huge shifting sand dunes, pine forests and fishing …
Natural features
Andasibe-Mantadia lemurs
Toamasina
A rainforest park east of Antananarivo where you hear the wailing call of the indri, the largest lemur.
Natural features
Avenue of the Baobabs
Toliara
A dirt road lined with towering Grandidier's baobab trees, up to 800 years old, near Morondava on the west coast.
Natural features
Tsingy de Bemaraha
Mahajanga
A stone forest of jagged limestone pinnacles, a UNESCO site, explored with guides using via ferrata cables, ladders and rope bridges.
Natural features
Nosy Be
Antsiranana
A tropical island off the north-west coast, with beaches, ylang-ylang plantations, and boat trips to Nosy Tanikely marine reserve and Nosy Komba's le…
Natural features
Ranomafana National Park
Fianarantsoa
A mountainous rainforest where the golden bamboo lemur was discovered in 1986, with waterfalls and hot springs.
Natural features
Lake Malawi National Park, Cape Maclear
Monkey Bay, Mangochi
The southern end of Lake Malawi, a UNESCO site for its hundreds of colourful cichlid fish.
Natural features
Liwonde National Park
Machinga District, Southern
A park along the Shire River with elephants, hippos, crocodiles and reintroduced lions and cheetahs, seen on boat safaris.
Natural features
Chikale Beach, Nkhata Bay
Nkhata Bay
A sandy beach in a small cove on Lake Malawi, a short walk from the town of Nkhata Bay, about two-thirds of the way up the lake.
Natural features
Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre
Taman Rajawali, Sabah
A centre in Sabah where orphaned orangutans are raised and returned to the forest.
Natural features
Cameron Highlands
Tanah Rata, Pahang
A cool hill station in the mountains of Pahang, with tea plantations rolling over the hills, strawberry farms and jungle trails.
Natural features
Pantai Cenang, Langkawi
Pantai Cenang, Kedah
Langkawi's most popular beach, a long stretch of white sand on the south-west coast with calm water for swimming and watersports, and beautiful sunse…
Natural features
Perhentian Islands
Kuala Besut, Terengganu
Two islands off the north-east coast of the Malay Peninsula with white beaches, clear water and coral reefs, for snorkelling with turtles and reef sh…
Natural features
Blue Lagoon, Comino
Għajnsielem
A shallow, intensely turquoise bay of white sand between the small island of Comino and the islet of Cominotto, one of the most beautiful swimming sp…
Natural features
Dingli Cliffs
Dingli
Sheer cliffs on Malta's south-west coast rising about 250 m above the sea, the highest point of the island, with views to the islet of Filfla.
Natural features
Le Morne Brabant, Mauritius
Black River
A mountain rising above a turquoise lagoon on the south-west tip of Mauritius, a UNESCO site as a refuge of escaped slaves.
Natural features
Chamarel and Black River Gorges, Mauritius
Black River
The Seven Coloured Earths are dunes of red, brown and purple sand, near the Chamarel waterfall.
Natural features
Île aux Cerfs, Mauritius
Grande Rivière Sud Est, Flacq
A small island in a lagoon off the east coast, with white beaches and water sports, reached by boat from Trou d'Eau Douce.
Natural features
Pamplemousses Botanical Garden, Mauritius
Pamplemousses
One of the oldest botanical gardens in the southern hemisphere, with giant Victoria water lilies, palms and giant tortoises.
Natural features
Baja California whale watching
Baja California Sur
Grey whales migrate to the lagoons of Baja California to give birth from January to April.
Natural features
Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve
Ocampo, Michoacán de Ocampo
Each winter, millions of monarch butterflies migrate up to 4,000 km from Canada and the USA to fir forests in Michoacán, covering the trees in orange…
Natural features
Punta Cometa, Mazunte
Santa María Tonameca, Oaxaca
A rocky headland at the western end of Mazunte beach, on the Oaxaca coast, and the southernmost point of Oaxaca.
Natural features
La Ventanilla lagoon, Oaxaca
Santa María Tonameca, Oaxaca
A community-run ecotourism project a few kilometres from Mazunte, where local guides paddle you in canoes through a mangrove lagoon to see crocodiles…
Natural features
Isla La Roqueta, Acapulco
Acapulco de Juárez, Guerrero
A small, wooded island just off Acapulco's peninsula, with a calm, clear beach for swimming and snorkelling, a lighthouse walk and seafood restaurants.
Natural features
Puerto Vallarta
Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco
A Pacific resort with a seafront Malecón promenade lined with sculptures, a cobbled old town, and beaches backed by jungle mountains.
Natural features
Exotic Garden, Monaco
Jardin Exotique
A garden of cacti and succulents from around the world, built on a cliff above Monaco with spectacular views over the principality and the coast.
Natural features
Gobi Desert and Khongoryn Els
Ömnögovi
The Gobi isn't all sand, but Khongoryn Els are huge 'singing dunes', up to 300 m high and 100 km long, which hum when the sand slides.
Natural features
Gorkhi-Terelj National Park
Ulaanbaatar
A national park of granite rocks, forests and grassy valleys about 70 km from Ulaanbaatar, the easiest place to taste the Mongolian countryside.
Natural features
Khövsgöl Lake
Khövsgöl
A vast, clear freshwater lake in the far north of Mongolia, near the Russian border, surrounded by mountains and larch forest, called the 'Blue Pearl'.
Natural features
Bay of Kotor
Kotor
A winding bay surrounded by steep limestone mountains, often called Europe's southernmost fjord.
Natural features
Durmitor National Park and Black Lake
Žabljak
A mountain national park with 23 peaks over 2,200 m and glacial lakes, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Natural features
Lake Skadar National Park
Bar
The largest lake in the Balkans, shared with Albania, with islands topped by monasteries and fortresses, water lilies and reed beds, and a rich birdl…
Natural features
Sveti Stefan
Budva
A tiny fortified island village, linked to the mainland by a narrow causeway, turned into an exclusive hotel.
Natural features
Jardin Majorelle, Marrakech
Marrakesh, Marrakech
A garden of cacti, palms, bamboo and lily ponds created by the French painter Jacques Majorelle from the 1920s, around his studio painted in an inten…
Natural features
Todra Gorge
Tinghir Province, Drâa-Tafilalet
A narrow canyon with walls up to 300 m high in the eastern High Atlas, popular for walks and rock climbing.
Natural features
Bazaruto Archipelago
Inhambane
Islands of white dunes and turquoise water off Vilanculos, a marine park with dugongs, manta rays and coral reefs.
Natural features
Inle Lake
Shan
A shallow lake in the Shan hills where Intha fishermen row with one leg, with stilt villages, floating gardens, and markets that rotate between villa…
Natural features
Etosha National Park
Kunene
A vast salt pan surrounded by grassland and waterholes, where elephants, lions, rhinos, giraffes and zebras gather in the dry season.
Natural features
Sossusvlei and Deadvlei
Hardap
Some of the highest sand dunes in the world, red-orange in the Namib Desert, a UNESCO site.
Natural features
Skeleton Coast
Erongo
A foggy desert coast with shipwrecks and whale bones on the beaches.
Natural features
Chitwan National Park
Bharatpur, Bagmati
A national park in Nepal's lowland jungle, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, home to one-horned rhinoceroses, Bengal tigers, sloth bears, gharial crocodi…
Natural features
Phewa Lake, Pokhara
Gandaki
Pokhara's Phewa Lake reflects the snowy peaks of the Annapurna range, including the fishtail summit of Machapuchare, on clear mornings.
Natural features
Keukenhof Gardens
Lisse, South Holland
The world's most famous flower garden, where around 7 million tulips, daffodils and hyacinths bloom in 32 hectares of parkland every spring.
Natural features
Isle of Pines, New Caledonia
South Province
An island of white beaches lined with tall Cook pines, and the natural swimming pool of Oro Bay.
Natural features
Cape Reinga (Te Rerenga Wairua)
Northland
The northern tip of the North Island, where the Tasman Sea meets the Pacific Ocean in a line of clashing waves off the point.
Natural features
Cathedral Cove (Mautohe)
Whitianga, Waikato
A huge natural rock arch joining two white-sand beaches on the Coromandel Peninsula, in the Te Whanganui-A-Hei Marine Reserve, with a tall rock pinna…
Natural features
Christchurch Botanic Gardens
Christchurch, Canterbury
Founded in 1863 and set in a loop of the Avon River, beside Hagley Park, these are some of the finest gardens in New Zealand.
Natural features
Doubtful Sound
Southland
A remote, quiet fiord in Fiordland, three times longer than Milford Sound, reached by boat across Lake Manapōuri and a bus over Wilmot Pass.
Natural features
Hokitika Gorge
Hokitika, West Coast
A granite gorge where the Hokitika River runs a startling milky turquoise, coloured by fine 'glacial flour' ground from the mountains.
Natural features
Hot Water Beach, Coromandel
Whitianga, Waikato
At this beach on the east coast of the Coromandel, hot water from underground springs bubbles up through the sand.
Natural features
Ometepe Island
Rivas
An island in Lake Nicaragua formed by two volcanoes, Concepción and Maderas, joined by a narrow strip.
Natural features
Corn Islands
Corn Island, South Caribbean Coast
Two small islands in the Caribbean off Nicaragua's coast.
Natural features
Limu Pools and sea tracks, Niue
Namukulu
Niue is one of the world's largest raised coral islands, with sea tracks leading to caves, chasms such as Togo and Matapa, and the Limu Pools for sno…
Natural features
Matka Canyon
Saraj
A deep canyon on the Treska River just outside Skopje, with medieval monasteries clinging to the cliffs.
Natural features
Geirangerfjord
Stranda, Møre og Romsdal
One of the world's most famous fjords, a narrow arm of the sea between cliffs up to 1,400 m high, with waterfalls such as the Seven Sisters and the S…
Natural features
Lofoten Islands
Moskenes, Nordland
A chain of islands above the Arctic Circle with jagged mountains rising straight out of the sea, white beaches, and fishing villages of red wooden ca…
Natural features
North Cape (Nordkapp)
Nordkapp, Finnmark
A 307 m cliff on the island of Magerøya, often called the northernmost point of Europe (the true tip is the nearby Knivskjellodden, a long walk away).
Natural features
Ras al Jinz turtle reserve
Ash Sharqiyah South
A beach on Oman's easternmost point where endangered green turtles come ashore every night to lay their eggs.
Natural features
Hunza Valley
Karimabad, Gilgit-Baltistan
A green valley high in the Karakoram, surrounded by peaks over 7,000 m, including Rakaposhi and Ultar.
Natural features
Rock Islands and Jellyfish Lake, Palau
Koror
Hundreds of mushroom-shaped limestone islands in a turquoise lagoon, a UNESCO site.
Natural features
Milky Way lagoon, Palau
Koror
A shallow lagoon with white limestone mud on the bottom, which visitors smear on their skin.
Natural features
San Blas Islands (Guna Yala)
Tubualá, Guna
An archipelago of about 365 small palm-covered islands on the Caribbean coast, governed by the indigenous Guna people.
Natural features
Bocas del Toro
Isla Bastimentos, Bocas del Toro
An archipelago in the Caribbean near Costa Rica, with a laid-back town on stilts, beaches such as Starfish Beach, and snorkelling, surfing and dolphi…
Natural features
Colca Canyon
Arequipa
One of the deepest canyons in the world, with Andean condors soaring on the morning thermals at the Cruz del Cóndor viewpoint, and terraced villages.
Natural features
Lake Titicaca and the Uros Islands
Puno
The highest navigable lake in the world, at 3,812 m, shared with Bolivia.
Natural features
Coron, Palawan
Coron, Palawan
An island famous for Kayangan Lake, a clear lake surrounded by limestone cliffs, Twin Lagoon and the wrecks of Japanese ships sunk in 1944, which are…
Natural features
El Nido and the Bacuit Archipelago
El Nido, Palawan
Limestone islands rising from turquoise water at the northern tip of Palawan, with lagoons, beaches and coves.
Natural features
Puerto Princesa Underground River
Puerto Princesa, Palawan
A river that flows 8 km underground through a limestone cave into the sea, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Natural features
White Island, Camiguin
Yumbing, Camiguin
A horseshoe-shaped sandbar of pure white sand off the north coast of Camiguin, with nothing on it at all, and views back to the island's volcanoes.
Natural features
Chocolate Hills, Bohol
Bohol
More than 1,200 rounded grassy hills, which turn brown in the dry season like chocolate drops.
Natural features
Katibawasan Falls, Camiguin
Mambajao, Camiguin
A slender waterfall that drops about 70 m into a cool, deep pool surrounded by ferns, orchids and forest, on the slopes of Mount Timpoong.
Natural features
Białowieża Forest
Hajnówka, Podlaskie
The last remaining part of the primeval lowland forest that once covered Europe, shared with Belarus, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Natural features
Benagil Cave, Algarve
Lagoa, Faro
A huge sea cave on the Algarve coast with a round hole in its roof that lets a shaft of sunlight onto a hidden beach.
Natural features
Douro Valley
Alijó, Vila Real
The oldest demarcated wine region in the world, where port wine comes from, with vineyards terraced into the steep slopes of the Douro River valley, …
Natural features
Ponta da Piedade, Lagos
Lagos, Faro
A headland of golden limestone cliffs, sea stacks, arches and grottoes near Lagos in the western Algarve, with a lighthouse on top.
Natural features
Praia do Norte big waves, Nazaré
Nazaré, Leiria
Nazaré's North Beach is famous for the biggest surfable waves in the world, created by an undersea canyon that funnels the Atlantic swell.
Natural features
Sete Cidades, São Miguel, Azores
Ponta Delgada, Açores
Twin lakes, one green and one blue, filling a huge volcanic crater on the island of São Miguel in the Azores.
Natural features
El Yunque National Forest
Río Grande
The only tropical rainforest in the US National Forest System, with waterfalls, the Yokahú observation tower and the coquí frogs singing at night.
Natural features
Flamenco Beach, Culebra
Culebra
A horseshoe of white sand and turquoise water on the small island of Culebra, often rated one of the best beaches in the world, with old rusting tank…
Natural features
Khor Al Adaid (Inland Sea), Qatar
Al Wakrah
A UNESCO-recognised natural reserve where the sea reaches deep into the desert among huge sand dunes, on the border with Saudi Arabia.
Natural features
Cilaos, Réunion
Saint-Pierre
A mountain village in a cirque, reached by a road with 400 bends.
Natural features
Danube Delta
Sulina, Tulcea
Europe's largest and best-preserved river delta, where the Danube splits into channels, lakes and reed beds before reaching the Black Sea.
Natural features
Lake Baikal at Listvyanka
Listvyanka, Irkutsk
Lake Baikal in Siberia is the oldest and deepest lake in the world, more than 1,600 m deep, and holds about a fifth of all the fresh unfrozen water o…
Natural features
Lake Kivu
Gisenyi, Western
A lake in the Rift Valley with beaches and islands.
Natural features
The Pitons, Saint Lucia
Soufrière
Two volcanic spires rising from the sea near Soufrière, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Natural features
Tobago Cays, Grenadines
Grenadines
Five uninhabited islands in a marine park protected by a reef, where you snorkel with green turtles in turquoise water.
Natural features
Shell Beach, Saint Barthélemy
Gustavia, Saint-Barthélemy
A small beach of shells near Gustavia, the chic harbour town of this French island, known for luxury yachts and boutiques.
Natural features
To Sua Ocean Trench, Samoa
Falefa, Atua
A deep swimming hole in lush gardens on Upolu's south coast, reached by a long wooden ladder, connected to the sea by lava tubes.
Natural features
Savai'i blowholes and lava fields, Samoa
Palauli
Samoa's large, traditional island, with the Alofaaga Blowholes where locals throw coconuts into the spray, the lava fields of Saleaula with a church …
Natural features
Pico Cão Grande, São Tomé
São João dos Angolares, Caué
A needle of volcanic rock rising 300 m above the rainforest of southern São Tomé.
Natural features
Príncipe Island
Santo António, Príncipe
A small volcanic island, a UNESCO biosphere reserve, with rainforest, the Banana Beach, turtles, and dramatic rock spires.
Natural features
Sine-Saloum Delta
Sokone, Fatick
A delta of mangroves, islands and lagoons, a UNESCO site, explored by pirogue (canoe), with birds, shell islands and fishing villages.
Natural features
Lac Rose (Lake Retba)
Dakar
A lake that turns pink in the dry season due to algae and salt, where workers harvest salt by hand.
Natural features
Đavolja Varoš (Devil's Town)
Kuršumlija, Toplica
More than 200 earth pyramids, 2 to 15 m high, each topped with a stone 'cap', formed by erosion on a hillside in southern Serbia.
Natural features
Tara National Park and the Drina
Bajina Bašta, Zlatibor
A national park of forested mountains along the Drina River on the border with Bosnia.
Natural features
Uvac Gorge
Nova Varoš, Zlatibor
A river that winds in tight meanders through a deep limestone canyon in south-western Serbia, a nature reserve famous for its large colony of griffon…
Natural features
Anse Source d'Argent, La Digue
La Digue
One of the most photographed beaches in the world, with pink granite boulders, white sand and a shallow turquoise lagoon.
Natural features
Vallée de Mai, Praslin
Baie Sainte Anne
A palm forest, a UNESCO site, home to the coco de mer palm with the largest seed in the plant kingdom, and the rare black parrot.
Natural features
Aldabra and Curieuse tortoises
Baie Sainte Anne
Curieuse Island, near Praslin, has hundreds of giant Aldabra tortoises roaming free, mangrove boardwalks and good snorkelling.
Natural features
Tiwai Island, Sierra Leone
Potoru, Southern
A rainforest island in the Moa River, a wildlife sanctuary with 11 primate species and pygmy hippos, run by local communities.
Natural features
Singapore Botanic Gardens
Singapore, Central Singapore
A 160-year-old tropical garden, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with rainforest, lakes and the National Orchid Garden, the world's largest display of o…
Natural features
Lake Bled
Bled
A glacial lake beneath the Julian Alps, with a tiny island and a baroque church in the middle, reached by traditional wooden pletna boats; ring the '…
Natural features
Lake Bohinj and Savica Waterfall
Bohinjska Bistrica, Bohinj
Slovenia's largest lake, in the Triglav National Park, quieter and wilder than Bled, surrounded by mountains.
Natural features
Postojna Cave and Predjama Castle
Postojna
One of the largest show caves in the world, where an electric train runs 3.7 km into spectacular halls of stalactites, followed by a guided walk.
Natural features
Škocjan Caves
Divača
A UNESCO-listed cave system where the Reka River disappears underground into one of the largest known underground canyons in the world, 146 m deep.
Natural features
Velika Planina
Kamnik
A high plateau at 1,600 m in the Kamnik-Savinja Alps, with one of the last herdsmen's settlements in Europe, where shepherds still live in summer in …
Natural features
Marovo Lagoon, Solomon Islands
Western
One of the largest saltwater lagoons in the world, with rainforest islands, villages known for wood carving, and superb diving.
Natural features
Blyde River Canyon and the Panorama Route
Mpumalanga
One of the largest canyons in the world, green and forested.
Natural features
Cape Point and Boulders Beach penguins
Western Cape
The dramatic cliffs of Cape Point, in Table Mountain National Park, with a lighthouse and the Cape of Good Hope nearby.
Natural features
Hermanus whale watching
Hermanus, Western Cape
From June to November, southern right whales come close to shore in Walker Bay, making Hermanus one of the world's best places for land-based whale w…
Natural features
Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden
Newlands, Western Cape
One of the world's great botanic gardens, on the slopes of Table Mountain, devoted to South Africa's native plants, including proteas.
Natural features
Kruger National Park
Mpumalanga
One of Africa's largest game reserves, about 20,000 km², with the Big Five and more.
Natural features
Table Mountain, Cape Town
Cape Town, Western Cape
The flat-topped mountain above Cape Town, 1,085 m, one of the New7Wonders of Nature.
Natural features
Jeju Island and Hallasan
Jeju
A volcanic island off the south coast, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with Hallasan, South Korea's highest mountain (1,947 m), lava tubes such as the …
Natural features
La Concha Beach, San Sebastián
Donostia-San Sebastián, Gipuzkoa
A perfect shell-shaped bay of golden sand in the heart of San Sebastián (Donostia), often called the best city beach in Europe, with the little islan…
Natural features
Lakes of Covadonga, Picos de Europa
Cangas de Onís, Asturias
Two glacial lakes, Enol and Ercina, high in the western Picos de Europa, surrounded by mountain pastures where cows graze.
Natural features
Montserrat Monastery
Monistrol de Montserrat, Barcelona
A Benedictine monastery perched on a mountain of strange, saw-toothed rock pinnacles, about an hour from Barcelona.
Natural features
Teide National Park, Tenerife
La Guancha, Santa Cruz de Tenerife
Spain's highest mountain, the volcano Mount Teide, 3,715 m, rises from a vast crater of lava fields and colourful rocks in the middle of Tenerife.
Natural features
Timanfaya National Park, Lanzarote
Tinajo, Las Palmas
A landscape of volcanoes and lava fields created by huge eruptions between 1730 and 1736, with craters in shades of red, orange and black.
Natural features
Retiro Park, Madrid
Madrid
Madrid's favourite park, once the gardens of a royal palace, and part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site with the Paseo del Prado.
Natural features
Yala National Park
Moneragala, Uva
Sri Lanka's most famous wildlife park, with one of the highest densities of leopards in the world, as well as elephants, sloth bears, crocodiles and …
Natural features
Central Suriname Nature Reserve
Sipaliwini
A huge rainforest reserve, a UNESCO site, with Raleigh Falls and the Voltzberg granite dome to climb for views over the forest.
Natural features
Longyearbyen and Svalbard
Longyearbyen is the main settlement of Svalbard, an Arctic archipelago halfway between mainland Norway and the North Pole, with glaciers, mountains a…
Natural features
Abisko National Park
Norrbotten
A national park in Swedish Lapland, 200 km north of the Arctic Circle, famous as one of the best places in the world to see the northern lights, than…
Natural features
Stockholm Archipelago
Vaxholm, Stockholm
Around 30,000 islands, islets and rocks stretch from Stockholm out into the Baltic, with red cottages, pine woods and smooth granite rocks.
Natural features
Gothenburg and its Archipelago
Gothenburg, Västra Götaland
Sweden's second city, with canals, a lively food scene, and Liseberg, Scandinavia's largest amusement park, especially magical at its Christmas market.
Natural features
High Coast (Höga Kusten)
Köpmanholmen, Västernorrland
A coast of steep hills, fjord-like bays and islands on the Gulf of Bothnia, which has risen 286 m since the last Ice Age, the highest land uplift in …
Natural features
Tylösand Beach
Halmstad, Halland
One of Sweden's best-known beaches: about 2 km of fine white sand on the west coast, backed by pine forest and dunes.
Natural features
Aletsch Glacier
Fiesch, Valais
The largest glacier in the Alps, a river of ice 20 km long, sweeping down from the Jungfrau region, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Natural features
Jungfraujoch, Top of Europe
Lauterbrunnen, Bern
The highest railway station in Europe at 3,454 m, reached by a cog railway that tunnels through the Eiger.
Natural features
Lauterbrunnen Valley
Lauterbrunnen, Bern
A deep glacial valley with sheer rock walls and 72 waterfalls, including the Staubbach Falls, which drop 300 m right beside the village.
Natural features
Matterhorn and Gornergrat, Zermatt
Zermatt, Valais
The Matterhorn, 4,478 m, is the most famous mountain in the Alps, rising alone above the car-free village of Zermatt.
Natural features
Rhine Falls
Neuhausen, Schaffhausen
Europe's most powerful waterfall, where the Rhine thunders 23 m over a rocky ledge 150 m wide, near Schaffhausen in northern Switzerland.
Natural features
Taroko Gorge
Hualien
A deep marble gorge carved by the Liwu River in eastern Taiwan, with sheer cliffs, temples and trails.
Natural features
Sun Moon Lake
Nantou
Taiwan's largest lake, in the mountains of central Taiwan, surrounded by forested hills, temples and pagodas.
Natural features
Yehliu Geopark
Wanli District, New Taipei
A cape on Taiwan's north coast where wind and waves have carved the sandstone into strange shapes, including mushroom rocks, candle rocks and honeyco…
Natural features
Kenting National Park
Hengchun, Pingtung
Taiwan's southern tip, with tropical beaches, coral reefs, rugged coastline and the white Eluanbi Lighthouse.
Natural features
Iskanderkul Lake
Sughd
A turquoise mountain lake in the Fann Mountains, said to be named after Alexander the Great, with a waterfall nearby.
Natural features
Ngorongoro Crater
Ngorongoro, Arusha
The world's largest intact volcanic caldera, 600 m deep and 20 km wide, a UNESCO site, home to about 25,000 animals including black rhinos, lions and…
Natural features
Serengeti National Park
Mara
Endless plains with more than a million wildebeest and zebras on the Great Migration, and one of the highest densities of lions in Africa, a UNESCO s…
Natural features
Gombe Stream chimpanzees
Kigoma
A small forest park on Lake Tanganyika where Jane Goodall began her chimpanzee research in 1960.
Natural features
Jambiani Beach, Zanzibar
Nganane, Zanzibar South
A long stretch of white sand and turquoise water on the south-east coast of Zanzibar, beside a relaxed fishing village.
Natural features
Nungwi and Kendwa, Zanzibar
Nungwi, Zanzibar North
Zanzibar's northern beaches, where the tides change little, with white sand and turquoise water good for swimming all day.
Natural features
Ruaha and Nyerere (Selous)
Iringa
Southern Tanzania's wild parks: Ruaha has huge elephant herds, lions and baobabs, and Nyerere National Park (formerly Selous) offers boat safaris on …
Natural features
Khao Sok National Park
Phanom, Surat Thani
One of the oldest rainforests in the world, with limestone peaks rising from Cheow Lan Lake, where you can stay in floating bamboo bungalows.
Natural features
Phi Phi Islands and Maya Bay
Krabi
Limestone islands with turquoise water in the Andaman Sea.
Natural features
Railay Beach, Krabi
Ban Ao Nang, Krabi
A peninsula cut off by limestone cliffs, reached only by longtail boat from Ao Nang or Krabi town, with beautiful beaches, Phra Nang Cave Beach with …
Natural features
Erawan Falls, Kanchanaburi
Sai Yok, Kanchanaburi
A seven-tiered waterfall with turquoise pools in a forest national park, where you can swim with small fish nibbling your feet.
Natural features
Khao Takiab, Hua Hin
Hua Hin, Prachuap Khiri Khan
A small headland and bay about 7 km south of central Hua Hin, quieter and prettier than the main town beach, with palm trees, thatched beach bars and…
Natural features
Ko Lipe and the Tarutao islands
Koh Lipe, Satun
A small island in the far south of the Andaman Sea, near Malaysia, with white beaches, clear water and coral reefs, in the Tarutao National Marine Pa…
Natural features
Exuma Cays and the swimming pigs
Black Point
A chain of 365 cays with astonishingly clear turquoise water.
Natural features
Pink Sands Beach, Harbour Island
Dunmore Town, Harbour Island
A 5 km beach of pale pink sand on Harbour Island, off Eleuthera, with calm water behind a reef.
Natural features
Atauro Island, Timor-Leste
Atauro Island, Dili
An island north of Dili with some of the most biodiverse reefs in the world for snorkelling and diving.
Natural features
Asa Wright Nature Centre, Trinidad
Paradise, Tunapuna-Piarco
A former cocoa estate in the rainforest of the Northern Range, one of the best birdwatching places in the Caribbean, with hummingbirds, toucans and o…
Natural features
Djerba
Houmt Souk, Medenine
An island with beaches, whitewashed villages, the El Ghriba synagogue, one of the oldest in Africa, and Djerbahood, a village covered in street art.
Natural features
Cappadocia hot-air balloons and fairy chimneys
Nevşehir
A landscape of rock pinnacles ('fairy chimneys'), valleys and cave dwellings in central Turkey, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Natural features
Ölüdeniz Blue Lagoon and Babadağ paragliding
Fethiye, Muğla
Ölüdeniz is one of Turkey's most famous beaches: a long curve of shingle beach and a sheltered lagoon of turquoise water, backed by pine-covered moun…
Natural features
Pamukkale Travertines and Hierapolis
Pamukkale, Denizli
Pamukkale ('cotton castle') is a hillside covered in dazzling white terraces of travertine, formed by calcium-rich hot springs flowing down the slope…
Natural features
Darvaza Gas Crater (Door to Hell)
Ahal
A burning crater in the Karakum Desert, about 70 m across, set alight by Soviet geologists in 1971 to burn off gas, and still burning.
Natural features
Grace Bay Beach, Turks and Caicos
Providenciales
A long beach of soft white sand on Providenciales with clear calm water, protected by a barrier reef.
Natural features
Funafuti Conservation Area, Tuvalu
Funafuti
Tiny islets and reefs in the lagoon of Funafuti, with seabirds and turtles, reached by boat.
Natural features
Murchison Falls National Park
Buliisa
Where the Nile forces itself through a 7 m gap and plunges 43 m.
Natural features
Queen Elizabeth National Park
Rubirizi
A savanna park with tree-climbing lions in Ishasha, and boat trips along the Kazinga Channel with huge numbers of hippos, buffalo and birds.
Natural features
Al Ain Oasis
Al Ain City, Abu Dhabi
A UNESCO-listed oasis with 147,000 date palms watered by the ancient falaj irrigation system.
Natural features
Barafundle Bay and Stackpole
Hundleton, Pembrokeshire
A secluded bay of golden sand and clear water, backed by dunes and pine trees, reached only on foot.
Natural features
Blakeney Point seals
Wells-next-the-Sea, Norfolk
A long shingle spit on the north Norfolk coast, home to England's largest colony of grey seals; around 4,000 pups are born here each winter.
Natural features
Bodnant Garden
Llansantffraid Glan Conwy, Conwy
One of the great gardens of Britain, above the Conwy valley with views to the mountains of Snowdonia (Eryri).
Natural features
Farne Islands
Seahouses, Northumberland
A group of rocky islands off the Northumberland coast, home to around 200,000 seabirds in summer, including tens of thousands of puffins, and a large…
Natural features
Giant's Causeway
Bushmills, Causeway Coast and Glens
Around 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, mostly hexagonal, stepping down into the sea on the north coast of Northern Ireland, created by volcanic a…
Natural features
Glencoe
Fort William, Highland
Scotland's most famous glen, a dramatic valley in the Highlands surrounded by steep mountains such as Buachaille Etive Mòr and the Three Sisters.
Natural features
Antelope Canyon
LeChee, Arizona
A narrow slot canyon in the Navajo Nation near Page, Arizona, with smooth, wave-like sandstone walls lit by shafts of sunlight.
Natural features
Arches National Park
Moab, Utah
More than 2,000 natural stone arches in red rock desert near Moab, Utah.
Natural features
Bryce Canyon National Park
Utah
A series of natural amphitheatres filled with thousands of orange and white rock spires called hoodoos.
Natural features
Central Park, New York
Manhattan, New York
A park of 341 hectares in the middle of Manhattan, designed in the 1850s, with lakes, meadows, woodland and landmarks such as Bethesda Terrace and Fo…
Natural features
Denali National Park, Alaska
Alaska
A vast wilderness around Denali, the highest mountain in North America at 6,190 m.
Natural features
Everglades National Park
Florida
The largest subtropical wilderness in the USA, a vast 'river of grass' of sawgrass marshes, mangroves and cypress swamps, home to alligators, manatee…
Natural features
Cabo Polonio
Cabo Polonio, Rocha
A remote fishing village with no roads or mains electricity, reached by 4x4 trucks across the dunes, with a lighthouse and a large sea lion colony.
Natural features
Punta del Este
Punta del Este, Maldonado
A glamorous beach resort with 'La Mano', a giant hand sculpture emerging from the sand, and Casapueblo, an artist's whitewashed house on the cliffs a…
Natural features
Trunk Bay, St John
Saint John
A beach in the Virgin Islands National Park, which covers two-thirds of St John, with an underwater snorkelling trail with signs on the seabed.
Natural features
Mount Yasur volcano, Vanuatu
Isangel, Tafea
One of the most accessible active volcanoes in the world, on Tanna Island, where you stand on the crater rim at dusk and watch lava bombs explode.
Natural features
Champagne Beach and the Blue Holes, Espiritu Santo
Port-Olry, Sanma
A white-sand beach with clear water on Espiritu Santo, and freshwater blue holes for swimming.
Natural features
Vatican Gardens
Formal gardens, woods and fountains covering about half of Vatican City, behind St Peter's, with grottoes, statues and views of the dome.
Natural features
Angel Falls, Venezuela
Bolívar
The world's highest uninterrupted waterfall, 979 m, falling from a table mountain (tepui) in Canaima National Park, a UNESCO site, reached by small p…
Natural features
Los Roques, Venezuela
Federal Dependencies
An archipelago of coral islands and lagoons in the Caribbean, a national park with white beaches, snorkelling and bonefishing.
Natural features
Ha Long Bay
Hạ Long, Quảng Ninh
Nearly 2,000 limestone islands and pillars rise from the emerald water of the Gulf of Tonkin, making one of the most spectacular seascapes in the wor…
Natural features
Ninh Bình and Tràng An
Huyện Hoa Lư, Ninh Bình
A landscape of limestone peaks rising from rice fields and rivers, called 'Ha Long Bay on land', a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Natural features
Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park
Huyện Quảng Trạch, Quảng Trị
A karst national park with some of the world's largest caves, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Natural features
Phú Quốc
Dương Đông, An Giang
Vietnam's largest island, in the Gulf of Thailand, with white-sand beaches such as Sao Beach, a national park, pepper farms and fish-sauce factories.
Natural features
Pù Luông Nature Reserve
Bá Thước, Thanh Hóa
A green, peaceful valley of rice terraces, bamboo forests and Thai and Muong villages of stilt houses, about 4 hours south-west of Hanoi.
Natural features
Datanla Falls, Đà Lạt
Ðà Lạt, Lâm Đồng
A series of waterfalls in the pine forest just outside Đà Lạt.
Natural features
Lower Zambezi National Park
Lusaka
Canoe safaris, boat trips and walks along the Zambezi, opposite Mana Pools, with elephants, hippos and buffalo.
Natural features
Kafue National Park
Southern
One of the largest parks in Africa, with the Busanga Plains, a flooded grassland with lechwe and lions, and leopards in the woodlands.
Natural features
Mana Pools
Mashonaland West
A remote park on the Zambezi, a UNESCO site, famous for walking safaris, canoe trips, and elephants standing on their hind legs to reach the trees.
Natural features
Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe side)
Victoria Falls, Matabeleland North
The Zambezi drops 108 m over a 1.7 km wide edge, the 'Smoke that Thunders', a UNESCO site.
Natural features
Hwange National Park
Matabeleland North
Zimbabwe's largest park, with huge elephant herds at pumped waterholes in the dry season, and lions, wild dogs and sable antelope.
Natural features
Matobo National Park
Matabeleland South
Granite hills of balancing rocks with San paintings and a rhino sanctuary, where you can track white rhinos on foot.