Jeju-do
This majestic 182m-high, extinct tuff volcano, shaped like a giant punchbowl, is one of Jeju-do's most impressive sights and a Unesco World Heritage site…
Must-see attractions in Asia
Raja Ampat Islands
These small, uninhabited and incredibly picturesque islands, 30km beyond Waigeo, feature heavily in Raja Ampat promotional material. It’s mainly…
Khajuraho
The 30.5m-long Kandariya-Mahadev, built between 1025 and 1050, is the largest Western Group temple and represents the high point of Chandela architecture…
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus
Mumbai (Bombay)
Imposing, exuberant and overflowing with people, this monumental train station is the city’s most extravagant Gothic building and an aphorism of colonial…
Luang Prabang
Luang Prabang's best-known monastery is centred on a 1560 sǐm (ordination hall). Its roofs sweep low to the ground and there's a stunning 'tree of life'…
Thimphu
Thimphu's best museum is part of the Royal Textile Academy. It features a stunning display of ancient and modern textiles, and explores the rich…
Hakone
Occupying a verdant swath of Hakone hillside is this unmissable art safari, leading visitors past a rich array of 19th- and 20th-century sculptures and…
Sichuan
One of the oldest, most important and certainly most visibly impressive monastery complexes in Kham, the remote Dzongsar Monastery sits on a sharp ridge…
El Nido
This incredibly beautiful, jungle-backed, stretch of golden sand toward the northern tip of mainland Palawan is the centre of El Nido's surfing community…
Nagasaki
On 9 August 1945, the world's second nuclear weapon detonated over Nagasaki, and this sombre place recounts the city's destruction and loss of life…
The Gobi
In 1853 Danzan Ravjaa told the local people that he would die in three years but that they could forever come to this place and speak to his spirit…
Uttarakhand
Kedarnath is in the most dramatic location of the char dham temples, located at the base of 6970m peaks and 22km from the nearest road. The puja offered…
The Gobi
The so-called Flaming Cliffs are a Gobi highlight and an important palaeontology site first excavated by Roy Chapman Andrews in 1922. Even if you are not…
The Gobi
Yolyn Am was originally established to conserve the region's bird life, but it’s now more famous for its dramatic rocky cliffs and narrow, heavily shaded…
Nagasaki National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims
Nagasaki
Adjacent to the Atomic Bomb Museum and completed in 2003, this minimalist memorial by Kuryū Akira is a profoundly moving place. It's best approached by…
Myanmar (Burma)
This lovely 1834 teak monastery is Inwa’s most memorable individual attraction. It's supported on 267 teak posts, the largest 60ft high and 9ft in…
Shikoku
Away from the crowds and tour buses, the spectacular Oku Iya Ni-jū Kazura-bashi are two secluded vine bridges hanging side by side high over the river…
The Gobi
Gurvan Saikhan National Park (20,000 sq km) offers a wealth of sand dunes, canyons, dinosaur fossils and mountainous terrain. Desert wildlife includes…
Polonnaruwa
A short stroll north of the Royal Palace ruins, the area known as the Quadrangle is literally that – a compact group of ruins in a raised-up area bounded…
The Gobi
A 400m-long jigsaw of white-sand cliffs, striped pastel shades of purple, orange and red. That's the scene awaiting you at Tsagaan Suvarga, a sight…
Mysuru (Mysore)
The second-most-visited sight in India (after the Taj Mahal), this palace is among the very grandest of India’s royal buildings and was the seat of the…
Delhi
This magnificent 14th-century ruined fort, half reclaimed by jungle and gradually being encroached on by villages, was Delhi's third incarnation, built by…
Punjab (India)
Of all the ruined forts in Punjab, Bathinda’s Govindgarh is the mightiest and most impressive. It’s also the oldest, dating way back to the 7th century,…
Maharashtra
One of the best places to see tigers in India, the seldom-visited Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve, 150km south of Nagpur, is now much more accessible thanks…
Delhi
The Qutab Minar that gives the complex its name is an unmissable, soaring Afghan-style victory tower and minaret, erected by sultan Qutb-ud-din in 1193 to…
Kansai
Ise-jingū's inner shrine is dedicated to the sun goddess, Amaterasu-Ōmikami, considered the ancestral goddess of the imperial family and guardian deity of…
Arunachal Pradesh
The magical Tawang Gompa, founded in 1681 in what was then a Monpa royal palace, overlooks the town from its ridgetop site. Reputedly the world’s second…
Hampi
Hampi's most exquisite structure, the 16th-century Vittala Temple stands amid boulders 2.5km from Hampi Bazaar. Work possibly started on the temple during…
Kaohsiung
A true hidden gem, this private museum has a small but exceptional collection of sculpture and antiques by mid-19th- to 20th-century Japanese artists who…
Harbin
The signature venue for Harbin's winter-long Ice & Snow Festival is the main reason that both domestic and international travellers chase the cold weather…
Valley of Flowers National Park
Uttarakhand
The bugyals (high-altitude meadows) of tall wildflowers in the Unesco World Heritage–listed Valley of Flowers are a glorious sight on a sunny day,…
Maharashtra
The saga of the hammer and chisel comes full circle at the Unesco World Heritage-listed Ellora cave temples, located 30km from Aurangabad. The pinnacle of…
Central Sulawesi
Seemingly scattered haphazardly around the hills near Lore Lindu National Park are some 400 ancient stone megaliths of unknown origin that might be over…
Gyeongsangnam-do
The visual imagery of this temple is a feast for the eyes and, like any exquisite dinner, should be savoured with deliberation. Stone walls supporting…
Northeast States
The vast, low-walled fort at the heart of Imphal was, with a few interruptions, the political and religious heart of Manipur for many centuries until…
Northern Laos
Joining a truly fascinating 18-point tour is the only way to see Vieng Xai's seven most important war-shelter cave complexes, set in beautiful gardens…
Kanazawa & the Hokuriku Coast
One of Japan's National Treasures, the temple of the second generation of feudal lord Maeda Toshinaga's family is rightly famous for its manicured lawns,…
Havelock Island (Swaraj Dweep)
One of India’s (and indeed Asia's) most fabulous and famous stretches of sand: a beautiful bleach-blonde curve of powdery sugar fronted by perfectly…
Andaman Islands
Like lovely tropical counterweights, the twin islands of Smith and Ross are connected by a slender, dazzlingly white sandbar, and are up there with the…
Gyeongsangnam-do
Jagged ridges, 400m-high peaks, ropes, ladders and awe-inspiring views await travellers looking for a challenging hike. Most travellers disembark the…
