Pacific Coast
This 360-mile route along the dramatic Washington State coastline features the longest natural beach in the United States, the best place to storm watch and rain forests with record-sized trees. It’s one of the most stunningly beautiful drives in the nation, and unlike anything else in the world. Stretching nearly the North-South length of Washington along US 101, this byway includes plenty of opportunities for solitude or adventure any time of the year. Time to sail along on one of the most beautiful drives in the continental United States.

The Georgia Republic is fast becoming a popular tourist hub. Offering vast mountain ranges with superb walking, skiing and snowboarding opportunities, a magnificent sub-tropical coastline with a temperate climate, immense architectural and archaeological sights and a modern capital displaying contemporary Georgian culture, there is plenty for the visitor to see and do. Located on the strip of land between the Black and Caspian seas known as the Caucasus, Georgia has been continuously inhabited since the Stone Age. The busiest trade route of the ancient world, the Silk Road, ran through Georgia, bringing many different cultures through its borders and enriching its economy. Because of its transcontinental location the country has been invaded and occupied throughout the centuries by various forces such as the Persians, Romans, Arab Caliphs and Mongols. This is best seen in the country's impressive archaeological ruins, some dating back to the 5th century BC and in its impressive fortresses and churches.

South Africa has been billed as 'a world in one country', and any visitor who has experienced its delights, from the jumble of Johannesburg, the northern city built on gold mines, to the sophistication of Cape Town in the south, to the sunny laid back beaches of Durban in the east, is bound to agree. Throughout the second half of the 20th century South Africa was regarded by most of the world as a pariah state where the ruling white minority passed a range of draconian laws to subdue and enslave the black majority. All this changed in 1994 with the release from prison of world-renowned freedom fighter and icon of the oppressed, Nelson Mandela. A new age of democracy was ushered in, and South Africa was suddenly revealed to the world in her beautiful true colours: a rainbow nation with a kaleidoscope of cultures and a host of attractions to enthral and entrance visitors.

A former Royal Naval Dockyard (between 1814 and 1951), turned holiday resort, King's Wharf is a favourite port of call for cruise liners visiting Bermuda. The old Georgian maritime fort has been re-invented into a playground for the thousands of cruise passengers who come ashore to enjoy themselves, do some sightseeing, head off for nearby beaches or world-class golf courses, or take any of a number of shore excursions on offer. The old buildings of the dockyard, constructed by convicts from prison ships and once known as the 'Gibraltar of the West', have been cleverly adapted to suit the new resort role. The old Keep is now a fascinating Maritime Museum and headquarters for dolphin excursions, and what was once the Royal Navy administrative headquarters has become the Clocktower Mall shopping centre. A lively pub now occupies the old cooperage, where barrels were made, along with an art centre, craft market and cinema. In the buildings where strategic repair work was once carried out there are now a pottery studio and glassworks enterprises in operation, and the victualling yard has become the Visitor Information Centre. The original purpose of the dockyard was as a base for the Royal Navy to launch a raid on Washington DC, but now it is itself invaded every day by hundreds of American citizens, and others from around the world, who come for fun in the sun.

Golden Sands (Zlatni Piasaci) is one of the biggest holiday resort complexes along the northern coastline, famous for its healing hot-water mineral springs as well as its beautiful two-mile (4km) stretch of fine sandy beach, making it a popular holiday destination. The resort is 11 miles (18km) north of Varna, and sits at the foot of the forested hills of the Zlatni Piasaci National Park, which is one of the oldest in the country and features a variety of interesting flora and fauna. Golden Sands offers the whole family ideal holiday conditions with plenty of entertainment, sporting activities, warm and clean water, year round luxury hotels and villas, restaurants, bars and spa treatments, making it one of the more desirable vacation destinations on the Black Sea Coast.

Once a small fishing village in the south-eastern corner of Cyprus, Ayia Napa is now a hotspot for holidaymakers looking for a lively vacation - over 250,000 clubbers swarm into this party capital each summer and the phenomenal atmosphere in its scores of bars and nightclubs is nothing short of explosive. Located in the centre of the market garden area of the island, Ayia Napa also boasts a string of superb golden sandy beaches and vestiges of its cultural heritage - there is a Venetian decorated monastery fronted by a 600-year-old Sycamore tree, and a quaint harbour filled with colourful fishing vessels. Just a few miles from Ayia Napa, the resort of Protaras is more restrained and is much more suited to family holidays. Both resorts have excellent beaches, the most famous being Fig Tree Bay. Other popular beaches include Nissi Beach and Nissi Bay, two miles (3km) west of Ayia Napa; Cape Greco to the east, where the challenge is to leap from the rocks into the sea; and Konnos Bay, just past Cape Greco, where there is a beach café and speedboats for hire.

One hundred and ten miles (177km) southeast of Havana is the popular diving and snorkelling paradise of Cayo Largo. The island offers 16 miles (26km) of white sand and crystal sea, where it is possible to swim and dive among grottos and sandy valleys full of crustaceans, sponges, coral and fish of every hue, shape and size. There are other numerous smaller cays accessible from the beach, each with their own natural treasures such as Cayo Iguanas, an isolated spot inhabited by iguanas. It is possible to rent motorcycles, bicycles, horses and watersports equipment to make the most of a visit to Cayo Largo, which can be reached by yacht, or by daily air connection from Havana.

Situated on one of the loveliest bays on the coast, backed by the evergreen vegetation of the Sierra foothills, Acapulco offers anything and everything to the holiday visitors, but this is not the place to seek a peaceful escape from it all. It is the Queen of Mexican beach resorts, the loudest and most famous in the country with non-stop energy, high-rise hotels, a glittering nightlife, white beaches and an enormous range of holiday activities. The main attraction in Acapulco is the string of beaches that sweep around the bay, each offering a different atmosphere and ample opportunities for water sports, with calm waters, sun bathing and seafront dining of international quality. The downside of Acapulco city is the shabby, polluted and overcrowded old town area, but it is easy enough to ignore this side of Acapulco with plenty to keep visitors happy along the glitzy holiday resort strip, with its shopping plazas, restaurants and beaches. A famous Acapulco institution since the 1930s are the Quebrada cliff divers, who pitch themselves gracefully from a height of 148ft (45m) into the seemingly shallow water of a narrow chasm in the ocean below after praying at the small rock shrine for safety.

The glitterati of ancient Rome chose Sorrento, with its breathtaking views from the cliff tops over the Bay of Naples, as the place to build their sumptuous summer villas, and today the pretty town remains southern Italy's favourite holiday destination, for both local and foreign visitors. The rugged coastline does not offer beaches (except a few rocky strands privately owned by the larger hotels) but Sorrento is perfectly placed for visiting the most popular tourist attractions in the area, including Pompeii, the summit of Mount Vesuvius, the picturesque towns of the Amalfi Drive, and the delightful Isle of Capri with its blue grotto, just a few miles offshore. The bustling city of Naples is also just an hour's train ride away on the narrow-gauge Circumvesuviana line. The town itself is crammed with hotels and apartments, all tastefully blended into the traditional red-roofed architecture stepped down the hillsides amid fragrant citrus groves. The streets tend to be a choked nightmare of chaotic traffic, particularly during the height of the season. The most quaint spot is the little fishing harbour of Marina Grande, set in an inlet where you might find a vacant rock to sunbathe on while soaking up the atmosphere.

North Korea is the world's most bizarre tourist destination and for that reason uniquely worth visiting for the curious tourist looking to experience a regime founded on a cult of personality and delusional fear of outsiders. It is ironic that the country's full title is the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPKR) because this is easily the least democratic place on earth. It is the purest example of a totalitarian regime in that the state controls virtually every aspect of life. In turn, that state is controlled by one man alone, the diminutive, reclusive and exceptionally odd Kim Jung Ill. He commands an army that numbers over 6 million, and his nation is the most militaristic on earth with over 25 percent of GDP spent annually on the armed forces.