Wonders of the world

• 1 2012 - a bumper year for the Northern Lights
  The aurora borealis: named for Aurora, the Roman goddess of the dawn, and Boreas, the Greek god of the north wind, the bringer of winter, even the name of this atmospheric phenomenon conjures magical...

• 2 Masada, Herod's desert fortress
  In the middle of the first century AD, after the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, son of Emperor Vespasian, a group of Jewish zealots found refuge from the Roman troops in the desert fortress built...

• 3 Celebrating an icy centenary
  2011 has been a big year for Norway: not only does it mark a hundred years since Roald Amundsen reached the South Pole, but it is also the 150th anniversary of the birth of another famous polar explorer,...

• 4 Floating over a sea of sand in Namibia
  Some of the dunes of Sossusvlei in the south of Namibia rise to a staggering height of 300 metres – as tall as a 60-storey skyscraper. The desert – which experts reckon is the the oldest on...

• 5 Flying south for winter
  Usually a Monarch butterfly lives for just four or five short weeks. But by some miracle of nature, the last generation of the summer may survive for as long as seven months, allowing them to fly south...

• 6 And the word is 'wonderful'!
  On-line, by phone and by text messages, thousands of people around the world have been involved in voting in this initiative launched by the New7Wonders Foundation. Chosen from a short list of twenty-eight,...

• 7 Autumn colours in Kyoto
  Recently the readers of U.S. magazine Conde Nast Traveler name Kyoto the best Asian city, ahead of Bangkok and Hong Kong in a survey whose result pays tribute to the time-honoured cultural wealth of the...

• 8 Europe's spectacular natural heritage
  Dramatic mountains – the vast Durmitor massif in the eponymous national park in northwestern Montenegro, the volcanic mass of Mount Teide, and the dramatic Dolomites in the Italian Alps where green...

• 9 Beijing's Forbidden City: the kingdom of 'The Last Emperor'
  The great Forbidden City of China lived up to its name for five and a half centuries. Originally the imperial residence where no one could enter or leave without the emperor's permission, from 1420 it...

• 10 Costa Rica: a rainbow in shades of green
  That fact that 25% of Costa Rica is classified as a protected area – a proportion no other country can boast – says a lot about the country's wealth of flora and fauna and the generosity of...

• 11 The natural wonders of the world
  The idea of listing the wonders of the world is hardly a new thing. The historian Herodotus compiled his own list way back in the fifth century BC, and from then on many have been unable to resist the...

• 12 Oman: a country of contrasts
  A country of contrasts, the oil-rich Sultanate straddles between the sea and the desert, between ancient history and the ultra-modern. The Portuguese took and occupied Muscat – now the capital –...

• 13 Hawaii: islands and marvels
  Leave your work clothes behind. Just pack a bag with bikinis, sandals and pareos, and head west. Way out west. Hawaii may be the 50th American state, but the archipelago is actually the northernmost island...

• 14 The natural splendour of Namibia
  Take a break from the hustle and bustle, step away from the rat race, and travel back in time to the oldest desert in the world, which stretches the length of Namibia's coastline. The unspoiled country...

• 15 The world's best sunsets
  Serengeti, Tanzania People who have had the good fortune to visit the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania say that until you've seen the sun set over the great orange plains you haven't lived. The image...

• 16 Plitvice, a watery paradise in Croatia
  In recent years, Croatia has changed from a relative unknown to one of the trendiest destinations in Europe. To a great extent this is due to the country's rocky littoral, which, washed by the Adriatic,...

• 17 Yellowstone, the world's original national park
  Known and loved by many through the exploits of the cartoon character Yogi Bear, the wealth and range of Yellowstone's natural heritage is worthy of more serious consideration and puts it in high on the...

• 18 The tulip fields of Holland
  Each year, from March to May, the Dutch countryside becomes a sea of tulips, hyacinths and all manner of other flowers. Mere photos can only give a hint of the pure explosion of colour and scent all around....

• 19 Verdi's 'Aida' echoes around the Judean desert
  The majestic beauty and historical significance of the rocky outcrop of Masada combine to make this great symbol of Jewish heroism a unique place. The site itself, an Israeli National Park and a UNESCO...

• 20 Take a Polar anniversary cruise
  This year marks the centenary of the first successful expedition to the South Pole, led by the Norwegian Roald Amundsen, aboard the Fram; coincidentally, it's also the 150th anniversary of the birth...