Venice

Italy

Here it is, the Venice of your dreams, wooing, intriguing, disorienting, and exhilarating visitors like no other city on earth. Misty and mystical bridge between East and West, straddling both yet belonging to neither, Venezia is like a faded, once great queen that still manages to enchant and beguile. The never-ending stream of tourism began well over 1,000 years ago, and no wonder: As Henry James said, a visit to Venice becomes a perpetual love affair. THE TOP SIGHTS GALLERIE DELL'ACCADEMIA - Venice's largest museum, the Accademia contains the most extensive collection of Venetian masters in the world, spanning the 13th to the 18th centuries and all the major painters including Titian, Tintoretto, Giorgione, Veronese, Bellini, and Carpaccio. Viewing 15th-century depictions of the city, it's amazing to see how little has changed. WHERE: Campo della Carità, Dorsoduro. Tel 39/041-522-2247. CA' D'ORO AND THE GALLERIA GIORGIO FRANCHETTI - Created by early-20th-century philanthropist Baron Giorgio Franchetti, the Ca' d'Oro comprises two joined palaces (the opulent 15th-century Ca' d'Oro-one of the city's most famous and beautiful canalside palazzi - and the smaller Ca' Duodo) and contains the baron's private collection of paintings, sculpture, and furniture, which he donated to the Italian government during World War I.... read more >>

EUROPE

From the Highland Games of Scotland to the Acropolis in Greece, wine-tasting in Burgundy to walking the Camino de Santiago in Spain, and Count Dracula's Castle in Romania to Santa's Village in Finland.

AFRICA

From the Great Pyramids of Giza to the Imilchil Betrothal Fair in Morocco, safari in Kenya's Masai Mara to climbing Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, and the spectacular Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe and Zambia.

MIDDLE EAST

From the Dead Sea to Jerusalem's Old City, the rose-red city of Petra in Jordan to Krak des Chevaliers in Syria, shopping in Dubai's Gold Souk to one of the world's oldest inhabited cities in Yemen.

ASIA

From Beijing's Forbidden City to Xi'an's Terra-Cotta Warriors, Japan's Sapporo Snow Festival to Calcutta's Marble Palace, Turkey's Whirling Dervishes to the Mekong Delta in Vietnam.

USA & CANADA

From the Las Vegas strip to the French Quarter in New Orleans, Alaska's Inside Passage to Skating the Rideau Canal in Ottawa, and sailing at Cape Cod to whale-watching in Vancouver.

LATIN AMERICA

From the Mayan Ruins in Mexico to Belize's Barrier Reef, the San Blas Archipelago of Panama to Buenos Aires's Tango Bars, and Machu Picchu in Peru to the Penguin Rookeries of Antarctica.

The CARIBBEAN, BAHAMAS & BERMUDA

From Cap Juluca in Anguilla to the Shark Rodeo at Walker's Cay in the Bahamas, Cuba's Jazz Festival to Sailing the Grenadines, and Old San Juan in Puerto Rico to Carnival in Trinidad.

AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND & The PACIFIC ISLANDS

From the Sydney Opera House to Ayers Rock, New Zealand's Tasman Glacier to the Cook Island's Dance Festival, the Sepik River in Papua New Guinea to Tonga's Heilala Festival.