Wikivoyage:Discover/2020

December 2020

 * Ruka has a large cross-country skiing track network (tracks pictured).
 * Golfing is an enormously popular outdoor sport in Auburn among both visitors and those associated with the university.
 * Beer has a history spanning back to the very oldest agricultural civilizations.
 * Jhansi was built around Jhansi Fort (pictured), and once the city fit inside the fort's walls.
 * Dishes of the Spanish cuisine tend to be light and not overly spicy.
 * Chellah ouside Rabat was founded by Carthaginians, conquered by Romans and later passed under Arab rule, then abandoned and settled by unbelievable numbers of birds.
 * The U-Tower (pictured), a high-rise former brewery building, has been a Dortmund landmark since 1927.
 * Wounded soldiers of the Baekje Dynasty are said to have been healed after taking a bath in the springs today forming Yuseong Spa in Daejeon.
 * The Spruce Grove Grain Elevator is now a museum and the last remaining wooden grain elevator on the CN Rail line west of Edmonton.
 * The front facade (pictured) and retable behind the altar of Notre Dame de Lourdes in Libreville have a hand-painted airy white and blue tapestry.
 * The American Windmill Museum in Lubbock offers a unique experience into the history of wind power from the Old West to today.
 * Omarama has a world famous gliding centre, where scenic glider flights into the Southern Alps are available.
 * Alexander the Great's conquests (map pictured) covered a wide area from Greece to India.
 * São Luís's Historical Center is a testimony to the city's past wealth as the home of the cotton aristocrats.
 * Streymoy is the largest of the Faroe Islands.
 * There are places off-limits due to mines (warning sign pictured) in many parts of the world, including some where the conflict ended decades ago.
 * Not just fish is sold at Novi Sad's fish market, which offers a true Serbian market experience.
 * The four plazas Plaza Guadalajara, Plaza de Armas, Plaza de la Liberación and Rotonda de los Jaliscienses Ilustres in Guadalajara form a cross of plazas with the cathedral in the center.
 * Established in the 13th century, the current buildings (pictured) of Wijlre's old watermill date from 1776, and some holiday apartments have been created in them.
 * There are five tones in Mandarin that must be followed for proper pronunciation.
 * The statue of Manas, Kyrgyzstan's legendary hero/leader of yore, in Osh depicts Manas with a snow leopard.
 * Founded as a gold rush town in 1895, the handful of original buildings (town hall pictured) still standing are all that remain from Menzies' previous grandeur.
 * Klerksdorp Konsentrasiekamp Monument was built to honor those who succumbed in the Klerksdorp concentration camps during the Second Boer War.
 * The Imperial City of Hue is a great sprawling complex of temples, pavilions, moats, walls, gates, shops, museums and galleries, featuring art and costumes from various periods of Vietnamese history.
 * Johor Zoo (entrance pictured) was built by Sultan Ibrahim in 1928 as a private menagerie of the royal family and opened to the public in 1962.
 * The cable car of Grenoble is the easiest way to see the town from above, and the trip in the plastic bubbles is impressive.
 * Though the Maasai Mara National Reserve has good numbers of wildlife all year around, it is more lively during the annual great wildebeest migration.
 * Encompassing 301 acres, Colonial Williamsburg's Historic Area re-creates (pictured) 18th-century Williamsburg as it appeared preceding and during the American Revolution.
 * Near Visakhapatnam there are three hills dedicated to three different faiths.
 * If Maradi isn't Niger's New York, it certainly is Niger's Houston.
 * From the summit of Mauao, there are fantastic views of the beach-side suburb named after it (Mt Maunganui or The Mount), Tauranga, and the entire Tauranga harbour area and coastlines (pictured).

November 2020

 * There are two types of highway in Spain: autopistas, or motorways, and autovías, which are more akin to expressways.
 * Around 1900, Irkutsk was nicknamed the "Paris of Siberia" due to its wide streets and ornate, continental architecture, but travellers today will find little resemblance with Paris.
 * Forte São João de Bertioga (pictured) in Bertioga is the oldest fortress of Brazil.
 * Trastevere in Rome has a high population of expatriates and American college students as there are two American universities in the area.
 * Buckhead, once known as Buckhead Village, is becoming a true district of Atlanta with massive construction projects.
 * The Naval Cathedral (pictured) in Kronstadt has had a very tumultuous history, and served as a cinema hall in Soviet times.
 * Grenada is known as the "Spice Isle" because it is a major source of nutmeg, cloves, ginger, cinnamon, vanilla and cocoa.
 * Ujugami Shrine (pictured) in Uji is said to be the oldest Shinto shrine in Japan and was built to console the soul of Prince Uji no Wakiiratsuko, who committed suicide in the Uji River.
 * The Swedish Empire was at its greatest extent in the 17th and early 18th centuries.
 * Every day at midday a trumpeter dressed in historic costume walks up 120 stairs and plays a tune from the top of the Fire Tower in Grodno.
 * The cliff walk (pictured) in Newport (Rhode Island) offers some of the most beautiful views in New England, and wildlife can be seen everywhere throughout the walk.
 * The SATS General Botha site is considered one of the more interesting wreck dives of False Bay, and the depth appeals to the more adventurous divers.
 * Founded in 1515, Cumaná is said to be the oldest city continuously inhabited by Europeans in South America.
 * Famous local souvenirs from Phonsavan and the surrounding area include natural dyes (dyeing pictured) and textiles decorated with patterns unique to each ethnic group, mulberry paper parasols, spoons made from war scrap and Hmong embroidery.
 * Fårö has worldwide fame through Swedish film director Ingmar Bergman, who shot many of his films on the islands, including two documentaries, and now rests in the island church's cemetery.
 * One of the strangest natural phenomena along the Kenyan Rift Valley is the "anti-gravity hill" about 60 km southeast of Nairobi.
 * Saint Nikolaus Orthodox Church in Eger has a wall of icons (pictured) rich in carvings and gold plating and considered one of the most beautiful in Hungary.
 * Earthquakes are often followed by smaller quakes called aftershocks that can occur minutes, hours or even days or months after the original quake.
 * Urfa has many excellent old buildings and plenty of connections with the Old Testament and Islamic traditions.
 * Measuring 240 m long on either side, the Zócalo (pictured) in Mexico City is one of the largest squares in the world.
 * The verb system is perhaps the most complicated feature in modern Bulgarian, especially compared to other Slavic languages.
 * Outside the Summerlee Museum of Scottish Industrial Life in Coatbridge there's a replica of the world's first iron-hulled vessel.
 * Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (aerial view pictured) was designed in the 1960s to allow for people to park next to their gate and make a short walk to their plane, a design that's somewhat inefficient today.
 * Rising high coral limestone is everywhere in Kenting National Forest Recreation Area.
 * Commenced in 1793, Elizabeth Farm in Parramatta contains part of the oldest surviving European building in Australia.
 * In San José (Costa Rica) you can visit museums dedicated to pre-Columbian gold and jade artworks (pictured).
 * Galway Cathedral was built 1958-1965 on the site of an old prison.
 * Phu Phra Bat Historical Park in Nong Khai dates back more than 3,000 years and contains large and mysterious rock formations.
 * Acropolis (pictured) in Athens features many iconic buildings of the Greek Classical age, among them the Parthenon, the Erectheion, and the Temple of Athena Nike.
 * The Israel Museum and the Shrine of the Book in Jerusalem features entire replicas of both a 17th-century Italian synagogue and an Indian synagogue.

October 2020

 * Berlin Brandenburg Airport had a famously messy construction period making Berlin the laughingstock of Germany
 * Once housing the largest book collection in Asia, after a 1981 arson attack Jaffna library (pictured) was restored and reopened but now houses a much smaller collection.
 * Touted as the "Museum of The Americas", the Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa has one of the world's largest collections of Western and Native American art.
 * Kagoshima is known throughout Japan for its sweet potato shochu.
 * Swimming in Piscina Municipal de Montjuïc (pictured), you can enjoy spectacular views over Barcelona.
 * The National Railway Museum in Adelaide is Australia's largest railway museum.
 * In Moldova, the Romanian language is sometimes referred to as Moldovan.
 * The iconic HSBC Rain Vortex (pictured) at Singapore Changi Airport is the world's highest fountain, and at night it becomes the stage for a light and sound show.
 * Rimini's Frederico Fellini Museum covers everything related to the great film director's life and career.
 * The Wonderboom, also known as Tree of Wonder or Miracle Tree outside Pretoria is a huge fig tree over 1000 years old and with an unusual growth pattern.
 * Cajamarquilla (pictured) in Eastern Lima is considered to be the second largest adobe city in Peru.
 * The vast majority of Western Sahara is administered by Morocco.
 * Savannah is famous for having one of the largest historic districts in the United States.
 * Sümela Monastery (pictured) is a spectacular rock-hewn monastery perched dramatically on the narrow ledge of a steep cliff in the forests south of Trabzon.
 * Many of the Japanese scenes in Kill Bill were shot in the Beijing Film Studios: Hattori Hanzo's sushi bar, his sword room, and the House of Blue Leaves.
 * El Salvador is the smallest and most densely populated country in Central America.
 * In Maribor you can see the oldest vine in the world (pictured).
 * The area around Tadoussac is well known for its whale watching opportunities on the St. Lawrence River.
 * At the German Salt Museum in Lüneburg's old salt works, visitors can make their own salt in small pans, reminiscent of the way it was once done.
 * The ice terrain at the North Pole (pictured) tends to be rather flat, though some interesting formations of snow and ice can be found.
 * Jerez de la Frontera enjoys over 3,200 hours of sunshine a year.
 * Built in 1654, the Nidhe Israel Synagogue in Bridgetown is one of the oldest in the Americas.
 * Urumqi's Grand Bazaar (pictured) is a great place not only for regional specialty items, but also has many goods from nearby countries.
 * The Ocean Star Offshore Drilling Rig and Museum in Galveston is housed in a retired oil platform.
 * Wascana Centre, built around the shores of the man-made Wascana Lake in Regina, is one of North America's largest urban parks.
 * In the Greek cuisine, salads and vegetables (choriatiki salad pictured) play an even bigger role than in other Mediterranean cuisines.
 * Many landmark events in the history of Colombian and South American independence took place in the La Candelaria district of Bogotá.
 * The "Shawshank Tree", a white oak in Mansfield, Ohio became a major tourist attraction following the filming of Shawshank Redemption.
 * The Golden Roof (pictured) in Innsbruck was built over the balcony where the Austrian emperor and empress sat enjoying festivals, tournaments and other events on the square below.
 * There is a large population of koalas on the Raymond Island, and this would have to be one of the easiest places in Australia to spot them.
 * Thai has a complicated set of vowels and diphthongs that distinguishes between vowel length (short and long) and vowel position (front and back).

September 2020

 * Shenzhen is internationally best known as the epicentre of electronics (electronics market pictured) as it is home to countless circuit board manufacturers, assembly houses, retailers, and supporting businesses.
 * The Basilica of Saint-Pierre-aux-Nonnains in Metz was built in 380 AD as a Roman bath.
 * Le marché des valeurs in Kinshasa is a good place to buy Congolese art.
 * Jim Jim Falls (pictured) has graced many calendars, books and television programs and is a must see for all visitors to Kakadu National Park.
 * Parnaioca Beach on Ilha Grande has seen the dark past of the island: jail prisoners, slaves, pirates and lepers in the Lazareto Hospital.
 * Trakai Castle is a reconstructed residence of Lithuanian 14th-century dukes, the most famous castle in the country, and a symbol of medieval Lithuania itself.
 * Prosciutto di Parma (pictured), cured ham, is one of the foods that made Parma famous.
 * At the historical Hugh Mercer Apothecary in Fredericksburg, Virginia guides are dressed in period attire and take you through the building explaining 18th-century medicine and local history.
 * Salalah has a gun souq, a small informal open-air market for vendors selling all types of weapons, from antique rifles to traditional knives and daggers.
 * The original purpose of Hawa Mahal (pictured) in Jaipur was to allow royal ladies to observe everyday life in the street below without being seen.
 * The Pollard wing of the Princeton and District Museum houses one of the most extensive mineral and fossil collections in British Columbia.
 * The Bartholdi Museum in Colmar is dedicated to the sculptor of the Statue of Liberty, who was native to the city.
 * Kano's indigo dyes (dye pits pictured) were once used to make garments for Nigerian royalty and they are said to also be usable as medicine.
 * In many countries there are rules about who is allowed to charter or skipper a boat of a certain size.
 * Changsha Bamboo Slips Museum has bamboo growing out of one side of the building.
 * Leiden is one of the Netherlands' few true student towns (old Academy Building pictured).
 * Caves connect us to our distant past because prehistoric remains and artefacts have been preserved in them, that outside would have been lost.
 * Although São Paulo is commonly associated with gray, concrete, and lack of green space, the Atlantic rainforest still covers large portions of the city.
 * Like many of the mainland gardens, Shikinaen (pictured) in Naha was built by Okinawa's royal family as a detached residence and to entertain guests.
 * Perm stretches 25 km along the Kama River.
 * A former Belgian merchant marine training ship, the three-masted schooner Zeilschip Mercator is now a floating maritime museum in Ostend.
 * Some geologists believe Kata Tjuta (pictured) once may have been a monolith far surpassing Uluru in size, but that it eroded to several separate bulks of rock.
 * Kuta has long been a popular stop on the classic Banana Pancake Trail backpacking route in South East Asia.
 * The National Steinbeck Center in Salinas has exhibitions about author John Steinbeck, his work, and life on the California Coast.
 * The tusks (pictured) of Moi Avenue in Mombasa, were built in 1956 to welcome Princess Margaret, who was visiting.
 * Woodstock (Ontario) is known as the Dairy Capital of Canada and promotes itself as "The Friendly City".
 * English-speakers tend to find most everything about written Hungarian tough going, including a number of unusual sounds and agglutinative grammar.
 * Mysore Palace (pictured) features intricately carved rosewood doors and ceilings some with inlaid ivory work, marble figurines, collections of caskets and paintings of the members of the former royal family.
 * Since the 1960s Kourou has been best known for the Guiana Space Centre.
 * Best described as an "outpost", the only meaningful sight in Stung Treng is watching the sun set and rise over the landscape.

August 2020

 * The small 14th-century Boyana church (pictured) in Sofia contains some very well preserved murals and is with its garden on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
 * In Cologne you can visit a chocolate museum.
 * In addition to borders between proper countries, there may be borders or control points inside what could be regarded as one country.
 * Calcium carbonate (also known as travertine) and limestone gives Pamukkale its whiteness and created the pools (pictured).
 * In the Amoskeag Fishways Learning and Visitors Center in Manchester, New Hampshire you can explore the Merrimack River in many ways.
 * Naypyidaw was a rather secretive construction project by the ruling military junta in the early 2000s.
 * The Old Sears Tower (pictured) in Chicago's Far West Side was once the largest commercial building in the world.
 * Annan boasts a WWI munition production heritage, for instance the Devil's Porridge was invented here.
 * Concepción has three museums that each represent a different era of Paraguay's history.
 * You will not be allowed to enter the Seif Palace (pictured) in Kuwait City, however it is still interesting to walk by and see the vast gardens of the palace.
 * Bonaire has world-class shore diving, much of it easy, and is thus well-suited for beginners, or for experienced divers who want relaxing independent diving.
 * The Machines de l'Ile in Nantes is a fantastic exhibition of mechanical animals including the Great Elephant on which you can take a ride.
 * Climbing Dunn's River Falls (pictured) in Ocho Rios in a human chain is one of Jamaica's most famous attractions.
 * Despite being local Yurihonjo specialties, kiritanko rice cakes and hatahata fish are only served at a few restaurants around town, though they can be purchased at many gift shops.
 * Daugavpils is more endowed with bodies of water than other cities of Latvia; there are 15 lakes, 8 rivers and numerous brooks its territory.
 * Before the widespread adoption of air travel, trans-oceanic crossings by necessity relied on ships which plied the high seas (Cunard line poster pictured).
 * Graced by red rock mesas, Grand Junction is a vital part of Colorado's Wine Country.
 * The brewery museum in Saint-Denis is dedicated to Reunion's omnipresent Bière Dodo.
 * As a relatively new city, Murmansk has few real sights apart from the giant "Alyosha" statue (pictured).
 * Soekarno-Hatta International Airport has its own 18-hole golf course.
 * Gijón lives facing the sea, which is ever present in its geography and activities.
 * Bamberg (pictured) is said to have been built on seven hills and thus it sometimes calls itself the "Franconian Rome".
 * Like ecotourism, agritourism focuses on travel that is low-impact and empowering to local communities, both socially and economically.
 * The town hall of Santiago de Cuba is where Castro announced victory in 1959.
 * Riding Transperth buses (pictured) is free in central Perth.
 * A marked difference exists between the spoken and written forms of Sinhala.
 * Nasoteket in Lund is a collection of cast noses from several different famous Swedes.
 * The historical Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum (pictured) in Weston, West Virginia, is the second largest hand cut sandstone building in the world.
 * The English name of the Easter Island commemorates its European discovery by a Dutch exploration vessel on Easter Sunday in 1722.
 * Once called the "Garden City of India" and the "Pensioner's Paradise", these epithets don't apply to the modern Bangalore.
 * Dún Aonghasa (pictured) on Inis Mór is a prehistoric fortress dating back to 1000 BC, perched on the edge of a 100-m cliff plunging straight into the Atlantic Ocean.

July 2020

 * In Monrovia there are hundreds of "cook shops" serving Liberian fare.
 * The area between the sea and the mountains at Qinhuangdao is called the "First Pass under Heaven", being the place where the Ming dynasty Great Wall began.
 * Papeete (waterfront pictured) is not a tropical paradise but a typical government center and industrial port with small doses of French and Polynesian charm.
 * Rochdale is the birthplace of the co-operative movement, and the building where it all started is now a museum.
 * Daegu's 83 Tower Luminarie which uses 8.3 million LED bulbs, shows one of the largest light shows in South Korea.
 * More than four-fifths of the historical Route 66 (sign pictured) in the USA remain drivable (though not always well-marked) as a collection of state highways and local roads.
 * Palazzo Regio in Cagliari was the residence of the royal representatives during the 14th century.
 * The rough seas along the southern coastline of Yorke Peninsula have caused many a shipwrecks, which is why this area has a number of lighthouses.
 * Bir is a small mountain town in northern Himachal Pradesh with a large, well-established Tibetan community (monks in the Tibetan community pictured).
 * Moyobamba is known as the City of Orchids.
 * Wood Buffalo National Park is home to the world's largest beaver dam.
 * The capital and administrative centre of Greenland, Nuuk (pictured) has about 15000 inhabitants which is a quarter of the island's population.
 * For about twenty days in May 1945 what claimed to be the last government of Nazi Germany sat in Flensburg.
 * Lemnos has about a hundred beaches which are scattered all over the island.
 * The Gateway Mall (pictured) in Salt Lake City was built as part of the city's heavy development in the lead-up to the 2002 Winter Olympics.
 * The National Museum of Antigua and Barbuda is housed in the Old Court House of Saint John's.
 * Les Almadies in Dakar is the westernmost tip of the African continent.
 * Alivaria Brewery (pictured), the oldest in Minsk and the largest in Belarus, can be visited with a tour which also includes beer tasting.
 * Built as a guard tower, Tour des Sorciers (Witches' tower) in Sion was later used for questioning of alleged witches under torture, where it got its name from.
 * The Winnipeg Art Gallery is Western Canada's oldest gallery, and features Manitoban, Canadian, and international artists and a large collection of Inuit Art.
 * Plaza Independencia (pictured), the central main square of the city is the best starting point to explore downtown Mendoza.
 * Carolina Beach isn't just an ordinary beach town—it's also one of the few places you can see rare Venus flytraps in the wild.
 * Space travel has such a long history that most major countries on earth have played a part in it, now displayed in local museums.
 * Taichung's Pao Jiue Temple features a golden "Big Budda" (pictured).
 * The Æbelholt Kloster museum in Hillerød has exhibitions about the medical history of the Augustinian order, including a garden with medical herbs, and some 300 skeletons on display.
 * Brazilian roads can vary drastically from city to city, and even inside them, in terms of quality.
 * The Artur Rubinstein's Lodz Philharmonic (concert hall pictured) is the second oldest philharmonic in Poland.
 * The Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill outside Harrodsburg is America's largest restored Shaker community, with 34 restored buildings and 3,000 acres of preserved farmland.
 * Zimbabwe has 16 official languages.
 * Bogor Botanical Gardens (pictured) were founded in 1811 as a private garden of Sir Stamford Raffles, later Singapore's founder.
 * Now a city of over 700,000 inhabitants and a popular Caribbean tourist destination, Cancún didn't exist before the 1970s.

June 2020

 * The island of Själö near Nagu Kyrkbacken, once housed a leper colony, then a mental hospital, now a research institute and welcomes visitors.
 * Spanning Ocean Road and overlooking the town beach, the Narragansett Towers (pictured) are all that remain of the Narragansett Pier Casino.
 * If Tokyo is Japan's capital, one might call Osaka its anti-capital.
 * Local delicacies in Halifax include Halifax donair, hodge podge, blueberry grunt and deep fried pepperoni.
 * In Sighișoara you can visit the house (pictured) where Vlad Țepeș "The Impaler" (a.k.a. "Dracula") was born.
 * During the summer khareef (monsoon) and annual Salalah Festival, visitors flock to the Salalah region to escape the blazing hot temperatures elsewhere on the Arabian peninsula.
 * The home town of the record-setting motorcyclist Burt Munro, there are many motoring museums in Invercargill.
 * Lac Municipal (pictured) is the only real body of water in Yaoundé and another place to get away from the noise of the city.
 * Bad Nauheim is a spa town in Hesse whose main claim to fame is that Elvis Presley lived there during his military service.
 * There are lots of Art Nouveau buildings in Nancy.
 * The Portuguese Empire (former colony Macau pictured) was, or is, one of the longest-lived colonial empires.
 * Once a hunting ground for the Nepali royalty, Parsa Wildlife Reserve outside Birgunj is now a protected area and national park.
 * Parque de las Iguanas in Guayaquil is home to hundreds of tame iguanas.
 * From the observation deck of the Puijo tower in Kuopio you have a stunning view over the neighbouring lakelands (pictured).
 * Wolf Creek ski area near Pagosa Springs has the most snow in Colorado at an average of 465 inches annually.
 * The National Museum of Natural History in Luanda does an impeccable job of displaying the large amount of diverse organisms that inhabit and once inhabited present-day Angola.
 * The first high-speed rail service was Japan's Shinkansen (Shinkansen 0 series train pictured), beginning service in 1964.
 * The cellars of Kaunas City Hall houses the city's ceramics museum.
 * Waves hitting the shores of Strahan, Tasmania may have travelled all the way from Patagonia in South America.
 * Culinary specialties on Heligoland include lobster, crab's claws (Knieper, pictured), plaice, prawns, herring and other varieties of local seafood.
 * By older locals, in Portuguese, the city of Recife is often referred to with an article, as "The Reef".
 * Long-term travellers can get reverse culture shock when they finally return home.
 * Though often derided as having no history, the fast-paced tech hub of Shenzhen has several well-preserved traditional villages (pictured).
 * The Russian half of the Saimaa Canal is leased by Finland similarly to the former U.S. lease of the Panama Canal Zone.
 * The slogan of Boring, Oregon is "The most exciting place to live."
 * The malecon in San Carlos can be seen in about 10 minutes, but you can definitely enjoy a lazy afternoon in sunny weather there and the sunsets (pictured) are a sight to behold.
 * An overland journey from Buenos Aires to Machu Picchu crosses staggering mountains and stark deserts.
 * A landscape of stunning cliffs, red mountains, and caves, Danxiashan is still little-known to international tourists.
 * The thing to buy in Mae Salong is the excellent local oolong tea (drying tea leaves pictured), grown on plantations all around.
 * Founded in 1635 as a garrison during the Spanish period, Fort Pilar in Zamboanga serves as a present day open-air shrine.
 * Prague is a city of bridges, cathedrals, gold-tipped towers and church domes, that has been mirrored in the surface of the swan-filled Vltava River for more than ten centuries.

May 2020

 * The tiny island of Xiaoputuo (pictured) is just big enough to hold the Buddhist temple perched upon it.
 * Bossier City, along with Shreveport, is a regional home of gaming in the Ark-La-Tex region.
 * Whakatane is one of the sunniest towns in New Zealand.
 * The fountain at Piazza di Spagna (pictured) in Rome celebrates the boat which once ending up in the square when the river Tiber flooded.
 * Bhaktapur Durbar Square was the seat of Nepal's royalty before 1769.
 * The Sultan's Armed Forces Museum in Muscat is housed in a building built in 1845 as a royal summer home.
 * The well preserved exterior of Bodiam Castle (pictured) outside Robertsbridge has been used in many famous films, including Monty Python's Search for the Holy Grail.
 * Senhime Shrine in Himeji is the only shrine in Japan associated with a castle.
 * Tupelo is a city in Northeast Mississippi that is known best for being the birthplace of Elvis Presley.
 * Potosí (pictured), at around 4,000 metres above sea level, is one of the world's highest large cities.
 * Llotja de la Seda (the silk exchange) in Valencia is considered to be one of the most significant secular Gothic buildings in Europe.
 * The Fisheries and Maritime museum in Esbjerg presents the North Sea coast both from a natural and economical point of view.
 * Cape Coast Castle (pictured) is one of several UNESCO World Heritage slave forts along the southern coast of Ghana.
 * The Canadian Pacific and Canadian National Railways intersect in Portage la Prairie, making it a good place for railway aficionados to view trains.
 * As the Roman Empire originated in Italy and held onto this territory for the longest time, most remnants are found there and across the Mediterranean basin.
 * Bodaiji Temple on Mount Osore is built around a number of volcanic cauldrons (pictured) bubbling in all sorts of unnatural shades from canary yellow to blood red.
 * Only 400 tourists are permitted to visit Lord Howe Island at any one time.
 * McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas is one of the few airports in the world to have slot machines in it.
 * The Old Government Buildings (pictured) in Wellington is the largest wooden building in the Southern Hemisphere and the second-largest in the world.
 * India has more cattle than any other country in the world, and milk and its derivative products are used in a range of Indian savory dishes, drinks and desserts.
 * El Centro is the largest American city to lie entirely below sea level.
 * The crypt of Vilnius Cathedral (pictured) shows a cross section of Vilnius through the ages, well worth seeing.
 * A planned city, Chandigarh was built as a city of "Sun, Space and Verdure", to fulfill the basic functions of working, living, and care of body and spirit.
 * Ven is best known as the site of the Renaissance-era astronomical observatory built by Tycho Brahe.
 * It's easy to get distracted by New York's Times Square (pictured); even in this city of giant skyscrapers and famed landmarks, the night glow of the Theater District overwhelms everything around it.
 * While Kuala Lumpur is more of a concrete jungle compared to other parts of the country, it is still easy enough to delve into nature.
 * The Bottle House in Ganja was built of 48,000 bottles and in honor of World War II soldiers who did not return home.
 * The Ghana Armed Forces Museum (pictured) in Kumasi predominantly features information and artifacts related to the British-Asante War.
 * The highlight exhibit of the Museum of Buryatia History in Ulan Ude is a rare illustrated book from the 17th century on Tibetan medicine.
 * In St. Louis you can visit the World Chess Halls of Fame.

April 2020

 * Cuc Phuong National Park (view in the park pictured) is Vietnam's largest national park and one of the most important biodiversity sites in the country.
 * It may be called "Australian rules" football, but the city that rules the game is Melbourne.
 * Altitude sickness is a great danger for high-altitude mountaineering, and moderate danger for mountain sports and when flying in to a high-altitude city.
 * A specialty of Chorley is the Chorley Cake (pictured), a thin sweet cake, made with currants in shortcrust pastry.
 * The Asturian Railway Museum in Gijón displays rolling stock mostly from Asturias' industrial heyday of coal mining and steel production.
 * A culinary specialty of Durban is bunny chow, a quarter loaf of bread hollowed out and filled with a curry of your choice.
 * The Nan Tien Temple in Wollongong (pictured) is the biggest Buddhist temple in the Southern Hemisphere.
 * In Kurashiki you can visit a jeans museum and a school uniform museum.
 * Polson is at the south end of Flathead Lake, the U.S.'s largest natural freshwater lake west of the Mississippi.
 * Outside Baku you can see the famous oil pump fields (pictured) from the opening scene of the James Bond picture The World is Not Enough.
 * Naarden is a small town surrounded by large 17th-century fortifications, among the best preserved in Europe.
 * The Royal Regalia Museum in Bandar Seri Begawan displays the royal accessories utilised during the coronation, and some reproductions, as well as gifts received by the Sultan.
 * McMurdo Station (pictured) is by far the most populous Antarctic station in summer and something of a transportation hub for members of the scientific community on the southern continent.
 * Aarhus town hall is considered one of the highlights of Danish architecture.
 * At the Revolution Memorial in Timisoara you can lear about the short seven days during which Romania overthrew its communist government in 1989.
 * Yangshuo is popular for its incredible karst scenery (pictured), beautiful mountains, rivers, caves, and temples as well as its laid back cafes and bars.
 * The climate of Salt Lake City is extremely seasonal.
 * While booking flights well in advance is a good idea, it does not guarantee you the cheapest fares.
 * Toulouse Capitale (pictured) is a magnificent red-brick building in Neoclassical style, lording it over the pedestrianised main square Place du Capitole.
 * Maliguda railway tunnel north of Koraput is the highest broad gauge tunnel in India.
 * Once used by foreign vessels to navigate the Senegal River the Gandiol lighthouse continues to be maintained for the local fishermen and lighthouse lovers.
 * In Havana the Malecón (pictured) is where the locals come to party on the weekends.
 * Württembergisches Landesmuseum in Stuttgart is a direct descendant of a collection of local antiquities formed in 1862 by King Wilhelm I of Württemberg.
 * Makassarese cuisine is based on seafood and highly prized throughout the region.
 * Forte dos Reis Magos (pictured) in Natal was perhaps the most important of Brazil's defense barriers during the colonial period.
 * The numbers 1 to 4 have three gender forms in Icelandic, depending upon whether the number is attached to a masculine, feminine, or neuter word.
 * The didjeridu originated in Arnhem Land, and the area is also world-renowned for its distinctive Aboriginal art.
 * The Trans-Siberian Railway (map pictured) is the backbone of the Russian rail network and the connection between the Asian and European railway networks.
 * Founded by Thomas Jefferson, the University of Virginia in Charlottesville is together with his residence listed as a world heritage site.
 * The 12th-century Chiesa dei Catalani is one of the few old buildings in Messina that survived the earthquake in 1908.

March 2020

 * The Edison-Soo Hydro-electric Power House in (pictured) Sault Sainte Marie (Michigan) is the world's longest canal-powered electric plant.
 * For 58 years, Mannheim served as a royal residence, and gave Schiller, Lessing, Goethe and Mozart a home for some time.
 * Dundee used to be a grubby, rough industrial town famous for its three J's of jute, jam and journalism.
 * Described as "the truest fusion of dream and reality", every inch of the surface of the Lingaraja temple (pictured) in Bhubaneswar is covered with elaborate carvings.
 * The gold and black enamel work by Toledo artisans is known throughout Spain.
 * Badagry outside Lagos was founded as a slave port and was also known as the "Point of No Return".
 * The Ashgabat flagpole (pictured) was upon completion to tallest freestanding flagpole in the world, and at a height of 133 metres (436 feet) still one of the tallest.
 * Nowadays a park, the Howard Watson Trail in Sarnia is a former railway line that passes through a combination of urban and rural areas.
 * Guo Zhuang garden in Hangzhou is one of the garden masterpieces of Jiangnan (the lower region of the Yangtze River) thanks to its incomparable surroundings and the smartly managed garden space.
 * The Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (pictured) in Hobart features an exciting permanent exhibition of Antarctic natural history.
 * Sint-Truiden is in the centre of Belgium's fruit producing region, Haspengouw (French: Hesbaye), and is renowned for its pears, apples (Jonagold), and sweet cherries.
 * The sheltered waters of Glacier Bay ebb and flow with the region’s huge tides, which can change as much as 25 feet during a six-hour period.
 * The Big Mosque of Chennai (pictured) is a magnificent grey granite structure, built without steel and wood.
 * Every April the Koryo Mountain Azalea Festival is celebrated in Incheon, and many people climb the mountain to see the azaleas bloom.
 * Tórshavn was founded in the 10th century and named after Thor, the god of thunder and lightning in Norse mythology.
 * The largest and one of the oldest churches in Bratislava, St. Martin's Cathedral (pictured) was the coronation-church of several Hungarian kings.
 * Jerash was never buried by a volcano, nevertheless it's sometimes misleadingly referred to as the "Pompeii of the Middle East".
 * Idaho Falls features the Museum of Idaho, dedicated to the state's history and receives many famous traveling exhibits.
 * Casablanca is one of the two Moroccan cities with a tram network (Casablancan tram pictured).
 * Greeks consider Thessaloniki a gourmet city - this refers to the excellent local specialities and cheap-and-cheerful ouzo taverns rather than to haute cuisine or a range of foreign restaurants.
 * The Nauryz celebrations in Shymkent in late March are the among the largest in Kazakhstan.
 * The national dish of Guyana is pepperpot (pictured), a slow cooked stew of pork (or other meats), red peppers (capsicum), cinnamon and casareep.
 * On the Ogasawara Islands, often dubbed as the "Galapagos of the Orient", animals and plants have undergone unique evolutionary processes since these islands have never been connected with a continent.
 * Fethiye is probably the only city in the world where you'll find sarcophaguses in the streets.
 * As you walk around St George's Cathedral (pictured) in Addis Ababa, you will notice people praying beside the walls, but it is unlikely that you will find an entrance.
 * Founded before 1378, Einbecker Brauhaus is one of the oldest still operating breweries in the world.
 * Isle Royale is a wilderness preserve first, a sanctuary for those seeking to experience it second, and a travel destination third.
 * The Tháp Đôi Cham Towers (pictured) outside Quy Nhon are the most accessible Cham towers in Vietnam.
 * Montepulciano has gained notability from being used as a location for the Twilight films.
 * Serbian uses both Latin and Cyrillic alphabets, the only Slavic language to do so.
 * The historic El Camino Real (mission bell marker pictured) links the 21 Spanish missions of California.

February 2020

 * The ice-rimmed trees along Songhua River in Jilin are considered one of the four major natural wonders of China.
 * Dolores Hidalgo was the starting point of the fight for Mexican independence from the Spanish Empire, and the town has several related museums and monuments.
 * Walking around Cathedrale Notre Dame (pictured) in Le Havre you'll see a striking contrast between the 15th century cathedral and the buildings constructed in the 1950s and 1960s around it.
 * Even if you never get to go to space yourself, there are quite a few space-related places on Earth.
 * Few cities of the world have a history as rich as that of Alexandria; few cities have witnessed so many historic events and legends.
 * The former Eckerö mail and customs house (pictured) was hugely oversize for the village, as it was built as a symbol of the Russian Empire at the main mail route to Sweden.
 * Hiring a motorhome and travelling around New Zealand is a popular and relaxing way of seeing the country.
 * The market in Kisumu is second largest open air market in Kenya, and one of the oldest.
 * Placentia (pictured) was the French capital of Newfoundland in the early 17th century.
 * California doesn't have a very well-defined cuisine of its own, but rather a remarkably diverse food scene defined by its large population of immigrants of varied ethnic backgrounds.
 * Spa in Belgium is known as the "original" spa, i.e. a place where tourists came in to enjoy the health and wellness benefits of water and hot springs in particular.
 * Rajabhakti Park in Hua Hin was built to honor past Thai kings (statues pictured) from the Sukhothai period to the current Royal House of Chakri.
 * The Pioneer Settlement in Swan Hill gives a twee look back at white Australias roots, complete with 1850s cottages, horse-drawn carriages and river cruises.
 * The Horseless Carriage museum in Fenelon Falls is a museum specializing in pre-1914 transportation and early mechanical technology.
 * Dishes made with potatoes (draniki pictured), called "the second bread", are common in Belarus.
 * Pokhara is Nepal's top yoga destination and there are over a dozen yoga retreats.
 * The Vine City area of Atlanta holds the U.S.'s largest concentration of African-American colleges dating back to the post-Civil War era.
 * From as early as the 16th century, the windmills (pictured) are one of the most recognized landmarks of Mykonos.
 * Keszthely has a Balaton Museum presenting the development of the lake, its flora and fauna and the historical relics of its surroundings.
 * Royal Oak is home to Detroit Zoo, recognized as one of the top zoos in the U.S.
 * Founded in 1730, San Antonio de Areco is proud of its gaucho tradition (gaucho and horse pictured), and visitors can explore the surrounding villages and ranches.
 * To do scuba diving you don't need to be a strong swimmer or super-fit, but you do need to feel comfortable in the water.
 * For a nice view of Dodoma and surroundings, head to Lion Rock (also called Simba Hill) north of the city.


 * The Hands of Harmony monument (pictured) in Homigot outside Pohang are at the easternmost point of South Korea, and a popular place to shoot pictures of the sun rising through the fingers of the hand.
 * The name of Helmsdale derives from Norse Hjalmundal, meaning the "Dale of the Helmet".
 * Yeoor Hills in Thane has the highest density of leopards in India.
 * The vast Parque Grande José Antonio Labordeta in Zaragoza has impressive features, arrangements and a monumental fountain staircase (pictured).
 * The temple complex of Wilcahuaín outside Huaraz is virtually undamaged, providing a unique opportunity to see a complete pre-Columbian building in Peru.
 * In Simi Valley you can visit the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum.

January 2020

 * In the Greek cuisine salads (horiatiki salata pictured) and vegetables play an even bigger role than in other Mediterranean cuisines.
 * Muzium Padi in Alor Setar is a museum that teaches all you need to know about paddy and rice.
 * McCaig's Tower in Oban was supposed to become a replica of Colosseum in Rome, but only the circular shell was eventually completed.
 * Turkish coffee (pictured), served in tiny cups, is strong and tasty, and very different from the so-called Turkish coffees sold abroad.
 * Guan-Yue Temple in Quanzhou has a huge ritual furnace for burning joss paper, becoming very busy around the holidays such Yuanxiao, when people line up to burn their offerings.
 * Quezon City has no single place considered the city center; it is a multipolar city, with central business districts and commercial centers scattered at different points.
 * Sibiu (downtown pictured) has Romania's largest German community, and due to initiatives by the local government, the Germanic feel of the area has been maintained.
 * Besides pronunciation differences, there are also significant lexical differences between European and Brazilian Portuguese.
 * Almost everything about Mashhad relates to its role as the holiest city in Iran, even its name – literally: "burial place of the martyr".
 * At the Museum of Former Changchun Film Studio Site (pictured) you can learn about the history of the Chinese movie industry.
 * Edmonton is the birthplace of two major Canadian restaurant chains: Boston Pizza and Earl's.
 * Le Jardin des Plantes in Montpellier is France's oldest botanical garden.
 * Paarl has a monument (pictured) and a museum to the Afrikaans language.
 * Suquamish means "place of clear salt water" in the Native Lushootseed language, and has been the primary home of the Suquamish people since ancient times.
 * Manama has a busy nightlife by Gulf standards and is a getaway for Arabs and expats residing in Arab countries where alcohol is banned.
 * Asado, Argentine barbecue (pictured), is maybe the most famous dish of the Argentine cuisine.
 * Situated nearly at the center of the north Pacific Ocean, Hawaii marks the northeast corner of Polynesia.
 * A neo-Norman Victorian fantasy castle from the 19th century, Penrhyn Castle in Bangor contains a collection of "Norman" style furniture and old masters' paintings.
 * Embodying several centuries of history, Catedral de Santa Ana (pictured) can be seen from almost any point in the city center of Las Palmas.
 * Mizoram is a kaleidoscopic "pleasure trove" for the discerning visitor, with its wide array of festivals and dances, handicrafts, flora and fauna, breathtaking natural beauty, and temperate climate.
 * Phra Kahn in Lopburi is site of a small shrine, the remains of a Khmer prang (tall tower-like spire, usually richly carved), a few stalls and lots of monkeys.
 * The Palacio Estévez (pictured) in Montevideo was the office building of Uruguayan presidents until 1985. Today it is a museum of the Uruguayan presidency.
 * Böttcherstrasse in Bremen is an incredible Jugendstil (Art Nouveau) street that runs from the main square towards the river.
 * Barbecue is the mainstay of many Texan's diet and some Texans will frown at you if you call it B-B-Q.
 * Liechtenstein is together with Uzbekistan, doubly landlocked; one of only two countries to be landlocked by landlocked countries (location map pictured).
 * Sano is famous for Sano Premium Outlet, Sano ramen-noodles and Sano Yakuyoke Daishi which exorcises people in unlucky and critical ages.
 * Oljeön ("the Oil Island") outside Fagersta is the world's oldest preserved oil refinery.
 * The Erebuni Museum of History (pictured) in Yerevan stands at the foot of the Arin Berd hill, on top of which the Urartian Fortress Erebouni has stood since 782 BCE.
 * The annual motorcycle Australian Grand Prix is held at the 1950s purpose-built Motor Racing Circuit at Phillip Island, and draws a massive contingent of motor sport fans every year.
 * Greetings in Swahili are very important and long and drawn out.
 * Maresias beach (pictured) outside São Sebastião is part of the international surf circuit and regarded as "the Ipanema of São Paulo".