To catch Girona’s most photogenic spot, head for Pujada Sant Domènec to see the arch of the Baroque Agullana Mansion, one of the most popular images of the city.

Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Garden is the sky-lit atrium at Bellagio with vibrant and fantastical scenes composed of plants, flowers and trees. The airy central conservatory was inspired by the Art Nouveau conservatories of Paris. Each season, a 120-person team of professionals creates displays with more than 10,000 flowers, which are regularly switched out to maintain freshness. You never know what to expect: giant flower sculptures celebrating the New Year, koi ponds and pagodas, enormous jade medallions and animatronic figurines, whimsical architectural elements and fantastical scenes.

This Spanish fortress, with cannons trained on the sea to deter pirates and invaders, is more than striking medieval architecture. It is also the “Shrine of Freedom,” to Filipinos tortured and killed here during the Spanish and Japanese eras. It is now a park with a resident theatre company for traditional and modern plays.

If snorkelling and/or scuba diving sounds like your idea of fun, Cartagena is the place to indulge. Waters of the Caribbean washing over this part of the coast hold abundant marine life, including multiple varieties of tropical fish and corals, and the several underwater shipwreck sites make for exciting diving. The archipelagos of Rosario and San Bernardo are both excellent for either.