Newport, a historic city on the River Usk in southeast Wales, blends its industrial heritage with a growing reputation for culture and green spaces.

Palenque, nestled in the lush jungles of Chiapas, Mexico, offers an enthralling glimpse into the grandeur of the ancient Maya civilization. The city is renowned for its well-preserved ruins, which include the majestic Temple of the Inscriptions, where the tomb of the ruler Pakal the Great was discovered in 1952.

Erg Chebbi is a large field of wind-shaped sand dunes in southeastern Morocco, near the village of Merzouga in the Drâa-Tafilalet region. It forms one of Morocco’s best-known Sahara landscapes, rising abruptly from the surrounding rocky desert. The dunes stretch for roughly 28 kilometres from north to south, with some of the highest crests reaching about 150 metres. Their deep orange and golden tones change noticeably with the position of the sun.

Walvis Bay, set along Namibia’s Atlantic coast, is a vibrant port town where desert and ocean converge in striking contrast. Once under German and later South African administration, the bay has long been valued for its deep natural harbor, which remains central to Namibia’s fishing and shipping industries today.

Chugach National Forest covers a vast area of south-central Alaska, stretching from the Kenai Peninsula across Prince William Sound and into the Copper River region. It is one of the largest national forests in the United States and contains a varied landscape of mountains, glaciers, coastal fjords, rivers, wetlands, and dense spruce and hemlock forests.