George Town
The most photographed building in George Town, this magnificent 38-room, 220-window mansion was built in the 1880s and rescued from ruin in the 1990s…
Must-see attractions in Asia
The Bund & People's Square
Symbolic of concession-era Shanghai, the Bund was the city’s Wall Street, a place of feverish trading and fortunes made and lost. Originally a towpath for…
Kolkata (Calcutta)
The incredible Victoria Memorial is a vast, beautifully proportioned festival of white marble: think US Capitol meets Taj Mahal. Had it been built for a…
Swayambhunath
The Swayambhunath Stupa is one of the crowning glories of Kathmandu Valley architecture. This perfectly proportioned monument rises through a whitewashed…
Khajuraho
The large Lakshmana Temple took 20 years to build and was completed in about AD 954 during the reign of Dhanga, according to an inscription in its mandapa…
High Island Reservoir East Dam
Sai Kung Peninsula
Handsome architecture, the South China Sea, and 140-million-year-old volcanic rocks make this one of Hong Kong's most breathtaking places. High Island…
Anuradhapura
Dating back to the 1st century BC, this colossal dagoba was the ceremonial focus of the 5000-strong Abhayagiri Monastery. Originally over 100m high, it…
Delhi
Visiting the marble shrine of Muslim Sufi saint Nizam-ud-din Auliya is Delhi's most mystical, magical experience. The dargah is hidden away in a tangle of…
Kolkata (Calcutta)
Despite being an awkward journey by public transport, Kolkata’s lovely 109-hectare Botanical Gardens makes for a great place to escape from the city’s…
The Gobi
A pleasant 2km path leads from the parking area to this gorge filled with blue ice, one of the park's can't-miss sights. You can hike, bike or hire a…
![[UNVERIFIED CONTENT] One of the highlights of Chandigarh is the Rock Garden designed by local artist Nek Chand.](https://lp-cms-production.imgix.net/2019-06/GettyImages-181001607_master.jpg?auto=format&fit=crop&ar=1:1&q=75&w=1200)
Chandigarh
Chandigarh's Rock Garden is unique: it's the surreal fantasy of the much-missed Nek Chand (1924–2015), a local transport official who, starting in 1957,…
Sen Monorom
The 3000-sq-km Keo Seima (formerly called Seima Protected Forest) hosts the country’s greatest treasure trove of mammalian wildlife. Besides unprecedented…
Sukhothai
The Sukhothai Historical Park ruins are one of Thailand’s most impressive World Heritage sites. The park includes the remains of 21 historical sites and…
Jaipur
Jaipur’s most-distinctive landmark, the Hawa Mahal is an extraordinary pink-painted, delicately honeycombed hive that rises a dizzying five storeys. It…
Zhangjiajie National Forest Park
Zhangjiajie
Among China’s crop of surreal landscapes, Zhangjiajie has got to be a contender for one of the most impressive. A forest of spectacularly weathered spires…
Western Bhutan
Kyichu Lhakhang is one of Bhutan's oldest and most beautiful temples. The main chapel has roots as far back as the 7th century, with additional buildings…
Delhi
If you only have time to visit one of Delhi's ancient ruins, make it this. The first monuments here were erected by the sultans of Mehrauli, and…
Holland Village, Dempsey Hill & the Botanic Gardens
Singapore's 74-hectare botanic wonderland is a Unesco World Heritage Site and one of the city's most arresting attractions. Established in 1860, it's a…
Thimphu
This traditional Bhutanese temple perched like a fortress on a ridge above central Thimphu hums with pilgrim activity. It was established in the 12th…
Bangladesh
Built in 1459 (the same year Khan Jahan Ali died), the famous Shait Gumbad Mosque is the largest and most magnificent traditional mosque in the country…
Maharashtra
Ajanta’s caves line a steep face of a horseshoe-shaped gorge bordering the Waghore River. Five of the caves are chaityas (assembly or prayer halls) while…
Jaipur
Adjacent to the City Palace is Jantar Mantar, an observatory begun by Jai Singh II in 1728 that resembles a collection of bizarre giant sculptures. Built…
Itaewon & Yongsan-gu
Amid the celebrity-owned apartments on the leafy southern slope of Namsan is Korea's premier art gallery. Beautifully designed and laid-out, it balances…
Mumbai (Bombay)
Mumbai’s most famous landmark, this stunning hotel is a fairy-tale blend of Islamic and Renaissance styles, and India’s second-most-photographed monument…
El Nido
For an easy day trip out of El Nido, head north by tricycle or motorbike to this incredible, golden-hued, 3km-long beach. Development has arrived in…
Delhi
Shh, whisper it quietly: this place is better than the Red Fort. Delhi's 'Old Fort' isn't as magnificent in size and grandeur, but it's far more pleasant…
Lhasa
The 1300-year-old Jokhang Temple is the spiritual heart of Tibet: the continuous waves of awestruck pilgrims prostrating themselves outside are a…
Kyrgyzstan
Remote even by Kyrgyzstan standards, magnificent Köl-Suu lake stretches over 10km through a sheer mountain gorge that reaches nearly to the Chinese border…
Rajshahi & Rangpur
This gem of a museum is tucked away in an unassuming building on a quiet street, but can easily take up half a day of your time. Founded in 1910 with the…
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…
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…
Kowloon
Prepare to be whisked through millennia of Hong Kong history at this extraordinary museum, starting with prehistory (don't linger, the best is yet to come…
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…
