Beach destinations

Bacalar is a 42 km freshwater lagoon in southern Quintana Roo, banded in several shades of blue over a white limestone bed, with cenotes dropping to 90 m within it. Sailing, kayaking and swimming are the activities; there is no beach resort strip. Sunscreen and motorboat use are restricted to protect the microbialite reefs.

The Ifugao people carved these terraces into the Cordillera mountains of northern Luzon and have maintained them with mud walls and stone for around two millennia. The UNESCO listing covers clusters at Batad, Bangaan and Mayoyao rather than the roadside viewpoints at Banaue. Reaching Batad involves a jeepney and a walk, and staying overnight is the usual way to see them in good light.

Białowieża straddles the Polish–Belarusian border and holds the last substantial area of primeval lowland forest in Europe, with dead wood left standing and trees several centuries old. The strict reserve can only be entered with a licensed guide. It is also the stronghold of the European bison, which was brought back from extinction in the wild here.

Gotland lies three hours by ferry from the mainland and holds Visby, a medieval Hanseatic port still enclosed by its 3.4-kilometre wall. Beyond the town, the island is farmland, limestone coast, sheep pasture and raukar sea stacks eroded into columns. Cycling is the usual way to cover it, and the season peaks sharply in July.

Gyeongju was the capital of the Silla kingdom for nearly a millennium, and the evidence is spread across the modern town: grass-covered royal tombs in public parks, an eighth-century observatory, and temple complexes in the surrounding hills. Bulguksa temple and the Seokguram grotto above it are the major UNESCO sites. The town is flat and easy by bicycle.

Hallstatt is a lakeside village pressed between a steep salt mountain and the Hallstätter See, with houses stacked along a narrow shelf of land. Salt has been mined above it for more than 3,000 years, and the mine and its funicular are the main reason to go up. The village is very small and receives large day-trip numbers, so early morning or an overnight stay changes the experience completely.

The backwaters are a 900-kilometre network of canals, lagoons and lakes running parallel to the Arabian Sea coast, lined with villages, rice paddies and coir workshops. Converted rice barges, kettuvallam, are hired with crew for overnight trips from Alleppey and Kumarakom. Smaller canoes reach the narrow channels the barges cannot.

Kinderdijk holds nineteen windmills built around 1740 to drain the polder below sea level, and they remain in their working landscape of dykes and reservoirs. Two mills are open as museums showing how millers lived, and a footpath and cycle route run the length of the canal between them. The waterbus from Rotterdam is the most direct approach.

Saimaa is a maze of interconnected lakes, channels and some 14,000 islands filling much of south-eastern Finland. Cottages, saunas and small boats define the summer here, and kayaking between islands is straightforward for beginners. The lake is the only habitat of the endangered Saimaa ringed seal, of which a few hundred remain.

Lamu is a Swahili town on an island off Kenya's northern coast, inhabited continuously since the twelfth century and built of coral stone with carved wooden doors. There are no cars: transport is by donkey or by dhow between the island villages. Shela beach, a walk or boat ride from the town, runs for twelve kilometres.

Mindo is a cloud forest town in the Chocó Andean corridor, one of the richest birding areas in the world, with hummingbird feeders, cock-of-the-rock leks and around 500 recorded species. Chocolate made from local cacao and tubing on the river fill the non-birding hours. It sits at a comfortable 1,250 m.

Port Antonio sits on the wet eastern end of Jamaica, backed by the Blue Mountains and the Rio Grande valley. Bamboo rafting on the river, the Blue Lagoon and a string of small beaches make up the draw, with far fewer visitors than Negril or Montego Bay. Rain is frequent, which is what keeps the area so green.

Pulau Ubin is a granite island off Singapore's north-east coast, reached by bumboat from Changi Point, where a few hundred residents still live in wooden kampong houses. Bicycles are the way to get around, and the Chek Jawa wetlands at the eastern end expose a mudflat ecosystem at low tide. It is the clearest surviving picture of pre-development Singapore.

The Middle Rhine between Bingen and Koblenz runs for 65 kilometres between terraced vineyards and some forty castles, and is listed by UNESCO for that combination. River ferries, a riverside rail line and the Rheinsteig hiking trail all follow the same corridor, so it can be travelled by boat, train or on foot. Bacharach and Sankt Goar are practical bases.

Sun Moon Lake is Taiwan's largest natural lake, sitting at 748 metres in the central mountains, with a cycle path along part of the shore and boats crossing between piers. Thao indigenous villages, tea plantations and the Wenwu temple ring the water. Mornings often bring mist that clears by mid-morning.

Viñales is a tobacco-growing valley in western Cuba, with limestone mogote hills rising abruptly from red soil fields still worked with oxen. Farm visits explain the cigar process from leaf to rolled product, and horse riding or walking between farms is the usual way to see the valley. Most accommodation is in family casas in the village.

The Yasawas are a chain of volcanic islands running north-west from Viti Levu, with sand beaches, limestone caves and villages where tourism is the main income. A daily catamaran runs the length of the chain, which makes island-hopping between budget lodges and small resorts straightforward. There are no roads or towns on most of the islands.