Berat, set along the Osum River in central Albania, is a city shaped by centuries of continuity and coexistence. Known as the City of a Thousand Windows, its white Ottoman-era houses climb the hillside toward a hilltop fortress, creating a striking and harmonious skyline.
Nangma Valley, tucked deep within the Karakoram Range of northern Pakistan, is a place where towering granite spires rise dramatically above alpine meadows and clear streams. Located near the small town of Hushé in Gilgit-Baltistan, the valley is often described as a natural amphitheater of peaks. Climbers and trekkers from around the world are drawn to its vertical walls, but the valley’s quiet trails and sweeping views also offer an extraordinary experience .
Catania, nestled on the eastern coast of Sicily, is a city shaped by fire and stone. Built from the black lava of Mount Etna, it’s a landscape filled with energy and contrasts from its Baroque palaces to its open air fish markets. At the heart of the city stands the Piazza del Duomo, where the iconic Fontana dell’Elefante, which is carved from volcanic rock, greets every visitor who passes by.
The United Arab Emirates rolls history and invention into a seamless experience. In Abu Dhabi, the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque stands out with its reflective pools, marble columns inlaid with floral patterns, and the world’s largest hand-knotted carpet beneath domes that glow by night. On Saadiyat Island, the Louvre Abu Dhabi shelters art that spans civilizations, all beneath a dome designed to scatter sunlight like palm fronds.
The Lemaire Channel is a spectacular sight with enormous sheer cliffs falling straight into the sea. It's a narrow channel flanked by the Antarctic Peninsula on one side and Booth Island on the other. So photogenic is the channel that it's nicknamed 'Kodak Gap', and it's only once you're well within it that a way through is visible. Unfortunately, ice can sometimes obscure the path and ships need to retreat and sail around Booth Island. At the northern end of Lemaire Channel are a pair of tall, rounded and often snow-capped peaks known as Una's Tits that are also popular with holiday snappers. The channel was first navigated by Belgian explorer de Gerlache during his 1898 expedition aboard Belgica, and, curiously, named it after the Belgian explorer Charles Lemaire, who explored parts of the Congo.