Slow, photo-led guides to the places we keep going back to. Mountains, coasts, old towns and the trails, reefs and tables between them.
Each guide covers what we care about: hikes and nature, scuba, good food, wildlife, nightlife and wine, wherever a place genuinely delivers them, plus the practical notes that make a trip work.
The Book of Kells and Kilmainham, the Howth cliff path and Glendalough by the eleven o'clock bus, a swim at the Forty Foot, the deer of Phoenix Park, the best tables and the Bib Gourmands, the pubs nothing has touched, trad sessions and the whiskey mile.
The Tower and the South Bank, Richmond's deer and the Seven Sisters cliffs, Borough Market, the six three-star tables and thirty-two Bib Gourmands, historic pubs, the clubs, English sparkling wine and this year's fares.
The fortress and the Marginal, Saturday mufete and Sunday kizomba on the Ilha, the red cliffs of Miradouro da Lua, giraffes in Kissama, the long left at Cabo Ledo and the new airport explained.
Mindelo's morna bars and Carnival, the lagoon at Baía das Gatas, Monte Verde in the cloud, the wind at São Pedro, cachupa for breakfast, grogue from across the channel and the ferry to Santo Antão.
Positano, Amalfi and Ravello by ferry and bus, the Path of the Gods, the 2026 plate rule on the cliff road, Cetara's anchovy essence, Campania's one three-star table and the wine of Furore.
Rainforest to white coves, three monkeys and two sloths, the park's online-only tickets and Tuesday closure, Nauyaca's falls, Isla Damas by kayak and humpbacks off Uvita.
Pompeii and Herculaneum under the 2026 rules, the Vesuvius crater, Spaccanapoli and the catacombs, the pizzerias on the world list, Baia's sunken villas and the islands.
Lava-stone baroque, the shouting fish market, Etna's craters with a guide and its 2026 rules, the Cyclops' rocks, arancini and granita for breakfast, and the vineyards on the volcano.
Five cliff villages by train, boat and path: the booked Via dell'Amore, the vineyard trail through Volastra, the ridge route, anchovies and pesto, and Sciacchetrà from heroic vines.
Lake city at the foot of the Annapurnas. Boats at dawn, paragliders by noon, and the best trailheads in the Himalaya.
Swahili coast: Fort Jesus and Old Town, coral reefs and a wreck, whale sharks, colobus forests and the best biryani in East Africa.
Tigray's highland capital: cliff churches reached by rope, Yohannes IV's palace, the Danakil's sulphur springs and lava lake, tihlo and honey wine.
The richest reefs on earth, dived from a homestay on Kri: Cape Kri, Blue Magic, mantas at Arborek, birds of paradise at dawn and the Piaynemo view.
Hikes to the summits, tasting menus and botecos, samba at Pedra do Sal, toucans in the Tijuca, diving at Arraial do Cabo and Brazilian bubbles.
Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau, the ridge walk from Schynige Platte to First, ibex on the ledges, fondue in a Stübli and a serious table under the north face.
The Ribeira and the Gaia lodges, the best tables and the francesinha, the Douro by train, the Paiva walkways and the bars of Galerias de Paris.
Fushimi Inari at dawn, Kurama to Kibune on foot, three-star kaiseki and Bib Gourmand ramen, macaques above Arashiyama and the sake bars of Kiyamachi.
Wild orangutans in the Gunung Leuser forest, jungle camps and tubing home down the Bohorok, Thomas leaf monkeys at breakfast and the elephants of Tangkahan.
A night on Acatenango watching Fuego erupt, roofless baroque churches, pepián and the valley's coffee, Lake Atitlán and the Chichicastenango market.
Humpbacks under the arch, bull sharks on the Cabo Pulmo reef, whale sharks off La Paz, canyon pools in the sierra, fish tacos and farm tables, Baja wine.
Cavern dives in the cenotes, drift walls off Cozumel, winter bull sharks, Tulum and Chichén Itzá, cochinita and the best tables on the coast, Calle 12 until four.
The Perito Moreno glacier calving in front of you, Laguna de los Tres at dawn, the Huemul circuit, condors and guanacos, lamb on the cross and Malbec.
Ben Lomond and Roys Peak, Milford Sound by road and under water, kea in the car park, Central Otago Pinot Noir, the country's best restaurant and a burger queue.
Rangitoto and Waiheke by ferry, black sand at Piha, the Poor Knights under water, gannets and whales, the best tables in the country and Ponsonby after dark.
Recoleta, San Telmo and La Boca, the Teatro Colón, eight of Latin America's 50 Best, Malbec by the glass, the milongas and the Tigre delta.
A mosque and a cathedral in one white kremlin, Bauman Street and the Old Tatar Quarter, Sviyazhsk and Bolgar on the Volga, the Blue Lakes, echpochmak and chak-chak.
Reinebringen and Ryten, red rorbuer and white beaches, cold-water diving at Ballstad, sea eagles and puffins, skrei and stockfish, the midnight sun and the aurora.
Twelve Maya villages by lancha, Volcán San Pedro and the Indian Nose sunrise, the cliff path between Santa Cruz and San Marcos, weavers, quetzals and pepián.
Tikal at dawn with the howlers, sunset on Yaxhá's lagoon, the five-day walk to El Mirador, swims in Lake Petén Itzá and sunset beers on a flooded pavement.
The Teatro Nacional and the gold, Poás and Irazú before lunch, coffee farms, quetzals at Dota, sloths at the rescue centres and Barrio Escalante after dark.
The Louvre and Notre-Dame in 2026, Montmartre and the Marais, nine three-star tables and the bouillons, Europe's best cocktail bars, wine bars and a day in Champagne.
Colosseum, Vatican and Pantheon with this year's rules, the Appian Way by bike, the four pastas and the trattorias, enoteche, aperitivo and the Castelli Romani.
Senso-ji to Shibuya, Mount Takao and Fuji, Izu's kelp forests and Ogasawara's whales, twelve three-star tables and ¥400 soba, Golden Gai, sake bars and Koshu wine.
From a two-hour stroll to the Peace Pagoda to the ten-day walk to Annapurna Base Camp, ranked by effort.
Dhows, carved doors and donkey lanes on the oldest Swahili island, plus Watamu and Kilifi.
A deeper guide to the amphitheatre of peaks above Pokhara, for those planning the full trek.
“The mountains don't come to you. You walk up, slowly, and one morning they are simply there, filling the sky.”From the Pokhara guide
A dry brown island with one great town on it. Our guide walks Mindelo from Praça Nova to the fish market, finds the bars where morna is sung every night, dates the 2027 Carnival and the August festival on the beach at Baía das Gatas, climbs Monte Verde before the cloud, explains the wind at São Pedro and the wrecks in the bay, eats cachupa for breakfast and ends with a glass of Fogo wine before the ferry to Santo Antão.
A city best taken on foot with a train ticket for the edges. Our guide queues for nothing, walks the South Bank at dusk and the Heath in the morning, watches the stags rut in Richmond Park, takes the train to the Seven Sisters and a vineyard on the chalk, names the six three-star tables and the Bib Gourmands worth the bus ride, finds the pubs that have poured since 1667, and sets out the fares, the entry permit and the 2027 dates.
A capital that almost nobody visited until the visa was dropped. Our guide climbs to the Portuguese fortress above the glass towers, walks the Marginal at sunset, eats mufete on the Ilha and stays for the kizomba, drives south to the slavery museum and the red cliffs of Miradouro da Lua, finds giraffes in a park restocked by airlift, surfs the long left at Cabo Ledo and explains the new airport, the money and how to move around safely.