Itineraries

A loop from Tirana through Ottoman old towns to the Riviera coastline and back, best with a rental car.

Sarajevo's layered history followed by Mostar and the Herzegovina countryside, reachable by bus or car.

Ancient Athens, the Peloponnese's castles and coastline, and the monasteries of Meteora — no islands required.

Two of the Adriatic's most dramatic, least crowded coastlines combined into one cross-border road trip.

Three capitals, three countries, entirely by train — no rental car needed at any point.

Three medieval old towns connected by an easy bus corridor — a low-crowd alternative to Western Europe.

Transylvanian Saxon towns and Carpathian mountain roads, built around a rental car.

Croatia's coastline and Plitvice Lakes combined with a day trip into Bosnia's Mostar for contrast and value.

A full loop of Route 1 — waterfalls, glacier lagoons and the north's volcanic landscapes, entirely by rental car.

Lakes, mountains and car-free Zermatt, connected entirely by Switzerland's scenic rail network.

Tokyo's density, Kyoto's temples, and Hiroshima's history, connected entirely by Shinkansen bullet train.

Bangkok's temples and street food, Chiang Mai's mountains, and the Andaman coast's islands, by domestic flight.

Marrakech's souks, a Sahara desert camp, and the imperial cities and blue-washed Chefchaouen, by private driver.

Lima's food scene, the Sacred Valley's ruins, and Machu Picchu by train — with acclimatisation days built in.

The Pyramids of Giza, temples of Luxor, and a Nile cruise south to Aswan — Egypt's essential ancient-history route.

Istanbul's mosques and bazaars, a Cappadocia balloon sunrise, and Pamukkale's white terraces, by flight and coach.

Three small, easy-to-love countries linked entirely by train — canals, medieval squares, and a compact capital.

Three Nordic capitals plus a fjord-town detour to Bergen — design, waterfronts, and Norway's most scenic train ride.

Portugal's coastal cities and Spain's Andalusian south, linked by train and one short flight.

Three of Southeast Asia's classic backpacker highlights — Angkor Wat, Vietnam's coast, and Ha Long Bay — by short flights.

Kenya's Maasai Mara into Tanzania's Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater, finished with beach time on Zanzibar.

Italy's classic first-timer route — ancient Rome, Renaissance Florence, a Bologna food stop and canal-side Venice, all by high-speed train.

From Paris's grand boulevards through Lyon's food scene to the Mediterranean glamour of Nice and Marseille, all by TGV.

Oslo bookended by one of the world's most scenic train rides and a fjord cruise into Sognefjord, finishing in Bergen.

Hanoi's Old Quarter, an overnight cruise through Ha Long Bay, lantern-lit Hoi An and the fast pace of Ho Chi Minh City, end to end by domestic flight.

London's icons bookended by a day trip to Roman Bath and a rail hop to medieval York.

Madrid's museums into Andalusia's Moorish palaces, a Costa del Sol stop in Málaga, then Gaudí's Barcelona to finish.

Berlin's Cold War history through baroque Dresden and Bavarian Munich to romantic Heidelberg and the Cologne Cathedral.

India's classic first-timer route — Delhi's Mughal monuments, the Taj Mahal at dawn in Agra, and Jaipur's pink-hued forts.

Sydney's harbour, Melbourne's laneway culture, and the Great Barrier Reef out of Cairns, connected by domestic flights.

Ubud's rice terraces and temples, then the surf beaches and cliff-top sunsets of Uluwatu and Seminyak.

The rebuilt capital, medieval Kraków and Auschwitz-Birkenau, gnome-covered Wrocław, and the Baltic port of Gdańsk.

Prague's fairy-tale old town, the storybook riverside village of Český Krumlov, and student-city Brno to finish.

Lisbon's hills and trams, the fairy-tale palaces of Sintra, port-wine Porto, and Algarve beaches to close.

Mexico City's museums and street food, Oaxaca's markets and mezcal, then Mayan ruins and Caribbean beaches on the Riviera Maya.

Amman's old citadel, the rose-red city of Petra, a night in the Wadi Rum desert, and the Red Sea coast to finish.

The Great Wall and Forbidden City in Beijing, the Terracotta Army in Xi'an, Guilin's karst rivers, and Shanghai's skyline to finish.

Seoul's palaces and K-culture energy, Busan's beaches and fish markets, and volcanic Jeju Island to close.

Cape Town's Table Mountain and Winelands, then a flight north for a safari in Kruger National Park.

Buenos Aires' tango and steakhouses, Mendoza's wine country beneath the Andes, and lake-and-mountain Bariloche in Patagonia.

San José's short stopover, Guanacaste's national parks and hot springs, and surf time on Tamarindo's Pacific beaches.

Dubai's skyscrapers, desert and souks, with a day trip to Abu Dhabi's Grand Mosque and Louvre.

Colombo's brief city stop, Kandy's hill-country temples and tea estates, and Galle's Dutch colonial fort on the south coast.

Auckland's harbour, Rotorua's geothermal and Māori culture, and Queenstown's mountains and adventure sports in the South Island.

Santiago's mountain-ringed skyline, colourful Valparaíso on the coast, then a flight north to the otherworldly Atacama Desert.

Dublin's pub culture, Galway's bohemian west coast, the Ring of Kerry from Killarney, and Cork's food scene to finish.

Jerusalem's Old City, floating in the Dead Sea, and the beach-and-nightlife energy of Tel Aviv, with a Haifa detour.

Bogotá's altitude and street art, Medellín's spring-like climate and cable cars, and Cartagena's colourful colonial old town on the Caribbean coast.

Rio's beaches and Christ the Redeemer, the thundering Iguazu Falls, and Salvador's Afro-Brazilian old town on the northeast coast.

Sofia's Roman ruins in the metro station, Plovdiv's ancient theatre, and Veliko Tarnovo's fortress built into a river canyon.

Amsterdam's canal ring, laid-back Utrecht, and Rotterdam's bold modern architecture with a Hague day trip.

Copenhagen's design and cycling culture, Aarhus's arts scene, and Hans Christian Andersen's hometown of Odense.

Vienna's imperial palaces, Salzburg's Mozart heritage, the postcard lake town of Hallstatt, and alpine Innsbruck to finish.

Bratislava's compact old town, hiking beneath the jagged High Tatras peaks, and the colourful Baroque centre of Košice.

Nicosia's divided old town, beach time in Larnaca and Limassol, and Paphos's mosaics and mythology on the west coast.

Valletta's fortress walls and Baroque churches, the silent walled city of Mdina, and a ferry day trip to Gozo's slower pace.

Edinburgh's old town, a scenic drive to the Highlands, Loch Ness and the Isle of Skye, finishing in Glasgow.

Stockholm's island-spread old town, a day trip to Uppsala's university and cathedral, then west by train to Gothenburg's canals and archipelago.

Toronto's skyline and a Niagara Falls day trip, then east by train to Montreal's bilingual charm and the cobblestone streets of Old Quebec.

A classic Southwest road trip: LA's beaches, the Las Vegas Strip, the Grand Canyon's South Rim, then up the coast to San Francisco.

Manila's colonial old town, Bohol's Chocolate Hills and tarsiers, then island-hopping among El Nido's limestone lagoons in Palawan.

Helsinki's design-forward capital, then a flight north to Lapland for the Arctic Circle, huskies and the northern lights.

Cardiff's castle and waterfront, then north to Snowdonia's mountains and Conwy's medieval walled town.

A classic self-drive loop: Sossusvlei's towering red dunes, the coastal town of Swakopmund, and wildlife-watching in Etosha National Park.

Kathmandu's temples, a lodge-to-lodge trek to Poon Hill's Himalayan sunrise views, and a jungle safari in Chitwan.

Singapore's futuristic gardens and hawker food, then north overland through Malacca's colonial old town to Kuala Lumpur and George Town's street art and heritage.