Paris, France's capital, is a major European city and a global center for art, fashion, gastronomy and culture. Its 19th-century cityscape is crisscrossed by wide boulevards and the River Seine. Beyond such landmarks as the Eiffel Tower and the 12th-century, Gothic Notre-Dame cathedral, the city is known for its cafe culture and designer boutiques along the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré.
Kyoto, once the capital of Japan, is a city on the island of Honshu. It's famous for its numerous classical Buddhist temples, as well as gardens, imperial palaces, Shinto shrines and traditional wooden houses. It’s also known for formal traditions such as kaiseki dining, consisting of multiple courses of precise dishes, and geisha, female entertainers often found in the Gion district.
Tokyo, Japan’s busy capital, mixes the ultramodern and the traditional, from neon-lit skyscrapers to historic temples. The opulent Meiji Shinto Shrine is known for its towering gate and surrounding woods. The Imperial Palace sits amid large public gardens. The city's many museums offer exhibits ranging from classical art (in the Tokyo National Museum) to a reconstructed kabuki theatre. Buzzing Harajuku is renowned for colourful street art and youth fashion, with quirky vintage clothing stores and cosplay shops along Takeshita Street.
Kings Canyon, also known as Watarrka, is a canyon in the Northern Territory of Australia located at the western end of the George Gill Range about 321 kilometres southwest of Alice Springs and about 1,316 kilometres south of Darwin, within the Watarrka National Park. Kings Canyon is named after the creek which periodically flows within, called Kings Creek. Kings Creek was named by Ernest Giles (an explorer) in 1872 after his "kind, old friend", Mr Fielder King. The Mereenie Loop provides for an alternative scenic route fto/rom Alice Springs to Watarrka (Kings Caynon) and Uluru (Ayers Rock) via the Western Macs. The loop is recommended for 4x4 as weather conditions make the road conditions difficult for standard vehicles. Fuel is available at Glen Helen, Hermannsburg, Kings Creek Station, Ayers Rock Resort.
Kata Tjuṯa, also known as The Olgas and officially gazetted as Kata Tjuta / Mount Olga, is a group of large, domed rock formations or bornhardts located about 360 km southwest of Alice Springs, in the southern part of the Northern Territory, central Australia. Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) | Northern Territory, Australia Meaning 'many heads', Kata Tjuta is sacred to the local Aboriginal Anangu people, who have inhabited the area for more than 22,000 years. It forms an important focus of their spiritual life.
Uluru, or Ayers Rock, is a massive sandstone monolith in the heart of the Northern Territory’s arid "Red Centre". The nearest large town is Alice Springs, 450km away. Uluru is sacred to indigenous Australians and is thought to have started forming around 550 million years ago. It’s within Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, which also includes the 36 red-rock domes of the Kata Tjuta (colloquially “The Olgas”) formation.
St. Petersburg is a Russian port city on the Baltic Sea. It was the imperial capital for 2 centuries, having been founded in 1703 by Peter the Great, subject of the city's iconic “Bronze Horseman” statue. It remains Russia's cultural centre, with venues such as the Mariinsky Theatre hosting opera and ballet, and the State Russian Museum showcasing Russian art, from Orthodox icon paintings to Kandinsky works.
At an altitude of 2,850m Quito is huge and sprawls under the eastern slopes of an active Andean stratovolcano called Pichincha (last eruption December 2002). Quito is constructed on the foundations of an ancient Incan City and is a UNESCO world heritage site.
Dahab is a small Egyptian town on the southeast coast of the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt, approximately 80 km northeast of Sharm el-Sheikh. Formerly a Bedouin fishing village, Dahab is now considered to be one of Egypt's most treasured diving destinations.
Luxor is a city on the east bank of the Nile River in southern Egypt. Luxor has frequently been characterized as the "world's greatest open-air museum", as the ruins of the Egyptian temple complexes at Karnak and Luxor stand within the modern city. It's on the site of ancient Thebes, the pharaohs’ capital at the height of their power, during the 16th–11th centuries B.C. Today's city surrounds 2 huge, surviving ancient monuments: graceful Luxor Temple and Karnak Temple, a mile north. The royal tombs of the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens are on the river’s west bank.
