Food destinations

Boquete sits at about 1,200 metres in a green valley below Volcán Barú, which at 3,474 metres is high enough to see both oceans from the summit on a clear morning. Geisha coffee grown here sells for record prices, and farm tours explain why. Cloud forest trails such as the Quetzal Trail run out of the valley.

Bangkok

15,000 stalls across 27 sections. Weekends only, go early before the heat builds.

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.

The Picos are a limestone massif rising to 2,600 m just 20 km from the Atlantic, with deep gorges, cable-car access to high terrain and a strong tradition of blue cheese and cider. The Cares Gorge walk is the signature route, cut into the cliff between Poncebos and Caín. Weather changes fast and cloud can close the Fuente Dé cable car.

Tasmania is a mountainous island south of the mainland where around twenty percent of the land is protected as World Heritage wilderness. Cradle Mountain, the Overland Track and Freycinet's Wineglass Bay carry the walking; Hobart carries the food, the convict history at Port Arthur and the Mona museum. Distances are short but roads are slow.

Rome

Cobbled left-bank quarter that comes alive after dark, packed with trattorias and wine bars. The neighbourhood on the west bank of the Tiber is known for cobbled lanes, ivy-covered houses and trattorias. Its centrepiece, the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere, is famous for its 12th-century mosaics.

Tokyo

Rows of stalls selling tamagoyaki, uni and knife-sharp tuna cuts. Go before 10am.