See do tips

Most people visit Mexico's Isla Cozumel for one of two reasons: to scuba dive, or to kill time with food and drink before their cruise ship takes off again. Every day, up to ten cruise ships – each with several thousand passengers – will dock on the island and unleash a barrage of crowds to its beaches and streets.

Going to a spa in Iceland can feel wonderfully alien. Against a backdrop of barren moonscapes and denuded hills, the waters are so preternaturally blue, so exaggerated and preposterously warm, that a simple dip can feel borderline indecent. Venture from the capital Reykjavik as far as Reyðarfjörður in the extreme east and you’ll also find that the country hides hundreds of out-of-this-world geothermal pools and naturally-heated hot tubs.

We’ve gathered a list of the top sights and activities in this beautiful, historic country.

Britain is without doubt a nation of dog-lovers, and as such it’s a fab way to see the country; you’d be surprised by how easy it is to get chatting to people when you have a hound in tow. As publisher of the UK travel site Cool Places , Martin Dunford has spent some time seeking out the best places to stay, walk, eat and of course drink with dogs. Here are some of his top tips for holidaying with the hound in Britain.

Soya Hokkaido is among the northernmost regions in Japan. It’s an area of staggering natural beauty, with a duo of wildlife-rich islands – Rishiri and Rebun – to explore, as well as Wakkanai, Japan’s northernmost city, and its enticing surrounds. Stupendous 360 vistas are seen from glorious viewpoints and walks in the area, including the famous Soya Hills White Path. Rough Guides brings you the perfect itinerary in Soya Hokkaido, Japan.

We sent Rough Guides editor Rachel Mills to the southernmost tip of the Indian Subcontinent to research Kerala for the upcoming Rough Guide to India. From tea estates in lush green hills to sultry palm-fringed backwaters, plus a host of deserted beaches, she dove beneath the surface and immersed herself in the region’s natural wonders, lavish festivals and heavenly South Indian food.

Travellers on a tour of Argentina often zip through the city of Mendoza, pausing only long enough to down a glass of Malbec at the famed vineyards before rushing to their next bucket-list location. Adventure travellers are missing out: the region – even containing the highest mountain in South America – is one of the best places for outdoor activities in the country.

Where first, Tokyo or Kyoto – it should be an easy choice, right? They’re polar opposites, after all: Tokyo is a land of neon and skyscrapers, the archetypal metropolis; Kyoto is full of kimono-clad geisha, temples and tea ceremonies. So just decide whether you want your first glimpse of Japan to be cutting-edge modernity or high-brow tradition, and your choice is made.

A sprawling capital which is home to almost 13 million people, Manila can be more than a little overwhelming for first-time visitors. But once you find your bearings, you’ll discover a buzzing, vibrant city which has a great bar scene (three of its bars were nominated in 2019’s Asia’s 50 Best Bars awards), some of the region’s best museums and quite possibly one of the warmest welcomes in the world. Here is our guide to Manila.

You can’t expect to fit everything Europe has to offer into one trip and we don’t suggest you try. For those taking a big, extended trip around the continent you could join a few countries together.

Let’s clear one thing up straight away: getting to the San Blas Islands is not easy, wherever you’re coming from. And that’s quite deliberate.

There’s a whole lot more to Panama than its famous canal. Hiking, rafting, surfing and diving are just a few of the excellent adventure activities on offer, and it’s a brilliant destination for birdwatching with over 970 species soaring in its skies. From touring Panama City to sampling inventive cuisine from entrepreneurial chefs, there are countless ways to truly experience Panamanian culture. Here are ten of the best.

The 50th anniversary of Apollo 11’s historic first landing on the Moon on 20th July 1969 brings Alabama into the spotlight – where Huntsville’s NASA Marshall Space Flight Center developed the Saturn V rocket that carried all the Apollo missions. To celebrate, here’s our countdown of the state’s top attractions:

Say Senegal or mention West Africa and misinformed mutterings of ebola start to spread quicker than the virus itself. Sitting on the western shoulder of Africa, Senegal is frequently overlooked by travellers – but for little good reason.

If dusty fossils don’t do it for you, these strange venues offer something a little different. We’ve rounded up ten of the world’s weirdest museums.

The British appetite for all things eccentric — particularly anything with a competitive element — ensures that on any given weekend you can find a bunch of people who lead otherwise sensible lives in a damp field somewhere snorkelling through bog water, racing pigs or chucking around black puddings. Here are the best ones to watch — from a safe and sensible distance of course.

Australia's largest open-air art gallery is so vast that you'll need a car and a map to explore it. Deep in Victoria's farming country, the Silo Art Trail consists of grain silos adorned with epic portraits, spread across a distance of more than 125 miles.

Eternally sun-soaked and sculpted by the elements, Cape Verde – almost 600km off the west coast of Africa – is far more than just a destination for reliable winter warmth. Its islands (Santo Antão, São Vicente, Santa Luzia, São Nicolau, Sal, Boa Vista, Maio, Santiago, Fogo and Brava) seem to go from one environmental extreme to another, offering visitors everything from undulating sand dunes to forest-swathed mountains and everything in between – even an active volcano. Here’s everything you need to know about exploring this utterly unique African archipelago.

For anyone who loves the outdoors, being a mountain guide might seem like the world’s coolest job – in both senses of the word. To find out what it’s really like to make a living at high altitude, Ros Walford travels to Argentina to meet one of the guides of Aconcagua, South America’s highest peak.

From canoeing the lakes of Vietnam to riding an elephant through the jungles of Indonesia, enjoy the journey as much as the destination with our pick of some of the most amazing alternative travel experiences in Southeast Asia.

New York's ski resorts are the envy of the world.The service is reliably slick, the lift queues move quickly and there's huge versatility, from the mellowness of Québec's Most Treblant to the sophistication of Aspen, the rawness of Jackson Hole and the steep slopes of BC's Fernie. But ploughing down perfectly groomed pistes all day long can feel restrictive, and while you'll often find fresh powder in-bounds, there will always be the temptation to go out of bounds into the real wilderness. Here are six of our favourite ways to enjoy the backcountry bliss in Northern America.