Historic pride and natural beauty - Williamsburg seems to have the best of both as millions of travelers visit the city every year for its timeless attractions and verdant landscapes. Colonial buildings, museums, hotels and taverns are favorites of locals and vacationers alike, with Revolutionary reenactments and interpretations spanning the hillsides and battlefields. Take to the waters with Old World schooners, sailing with the Virginian breezes that were once navigated by legendary figures like George Washington and John Smith.

Moscow is a city of contrasts where the bohemian and the glamorous merge in an idiosyncratic fusion – do not be surprised to find a golden-domed 16th-century church next to an ultra-modern glass skyscraper or a Soviet blockhouse. Here, salty fish eggs (caviar) are washed down with bubbly champagne, and worn-out commuters travel by the elaborately decorated, elegant metro, one of the city's main attractions.

Rhodes, the pearl of the Mediterranean region, is a cosmopolitan island that combines unique natural beauty and archaeological wealth with stunning beaches and intensive nightlife. This is a place for everyone: simultaneously youthful and family friendly, romantic and modern.

In 1831, Charles Darwin sailed to South America aboard the H.M.S. Beagle. On the return voyage across the Pacific, the vessel stopped on a small group of islands far off the Ecuadorian coast, changing the course of human scientific endeavour and self-understanding forever. Fascinated by the unique wildlife on the islands, Darwin collected biological specimens and studied them over the next 30 years. His findings led to the formulation of the scientific theory of evolution by natural selection. This small group of islands and their one-of-a-kind wildlife are to thank for one of humanity's most remarkable discoveries. And today, almost 200 years later, they remain a source of endless fascination and a favourite travel destination for scientists, nature and wildlife enthusiasts, scuba divers, and anyone interested in the wonders of the natural world.