ABERDEEN -- Scotland's third-largest city (pop. 187,000) is characterized by buildings of beautiful white granite. Set beside the North Sea, Aberdeen is both a university town and the capital of the Scottish oil boom. It is also one of Scotland's largest seaside resorts (though its appeal is confined to those who like their water well-chilled).

St Lucia is a riverside suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, located about seven kilometres southwest of the city centre on a peninsula surrounded on several sides by the Brisbane River. The suburb combines established residential streets, riverfront spaces, leafy vegetation, local shops, and the large campus of The University of Queensland. The university occupies much of the eastern part of St Lucia, while residential neighbourhoods extend across the western and central areas.

Situated on the coast of Tuscany near the Tyrrhenian Sea, Livorno, Italy, is a popular stop on Mediterranean cruises and an important commercial and industrial port. It was founded on a former auxiliary Pisan port between the late 16th and early 17th centuries on the orders of the Grand Duke Cosimo I, who made it Tuscany's main outlet to the sea.

Homer, Alaska, sits at the end of the Kenai Peninsula and is often called the “end of the road,” where dramatic landscapes meet a vibrant small-town spirit. Overlooking Kachemak Bay, the town is framed by snowcapped mountains, glaciers, and a striking spit of land that juts four miles into the sea.

The capital and largest city in Arizona, Phoenix, also known as the "Valley of the Sun", offers warm weather for the winter months, excellent golf and tennis resorts, access to Oak Creek Canyon, Grand Canyon and the desert.