Albania offers travelers a surprising and diverse experience shaped by centuries of influence. Visitors can explore the ancient city of Butrint, a UNESCO World Heritage Site with Greek, Roman, Byzantine, and Venetian ruins set against a lagoon. In Berat and Gjirokastër stone houses stack along steep hillsides, giving visitors the sense of walking through a living museum. These towns offer an authentic window into daily Albanian life.

Yala National Park sprawls across Sri Lanka’s southeast, where dry plains meet lagoons and the Indian Ocean’s shoreline. It is one of the country’s oldest protected areas, first set aside as a wildlife reserve in 1900 and later declared a national park in 1938, and today invites travelers to see life thrive in a wide range of landscapes, from scrubland to sandy beaches.

Asmara, the capital of Eritrea, is a city where time seems to have paused in the mid-20th century. Known for its remarkably preserved Italian modernist architecture, the city has earned recognition as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Kota Kinabalu, the capital of Sabah on the island of Borneo, is a vibrant city where modern life meets wild landscapes. Overlooking the South China Sea and backed by lush rainforests and mountains, it serves as both a cultural hub and a gateway to Borneo’s extraordinary biodiversity.

The Cabot Trail loops around northern Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, tracing cliffs, highlands, and forests for roughly 298 km. Named for the explorer John Cabot, the region’s deeper story belongs to the Mi’kmaq people, whose presence predates European settlement.