Indian women carrying water from stepwell near Jaipur, Rajasthan, India.Credit: Getty Images
From epic road trips and wine trails to scenes like nothing on Earth, our writers have drilled down to the places that still qualify as their favourite pockets of the world to visit – and breathlessly recommend.
Read on for our definitive list of the world’s greatest states, provinces and regions.
Rajasthan, India
Few easily accessible places on Earth are so “other” to the Western everyday life than the north-western Indian state of Rajasthan, with its dramatic landscapes, atmospheric ancient cities and palaces, its tigers and leopards, and its colourfully clad people. A must.
Southern California Coast, US
Blue heaven … Big Sur, California.Credit: Getty Images
Wayfarers on, people. This is a road trip with attitude. Highway 1 runs more than 1200 kilometres down California’s stunning west coast, past beaches, redwood forests, surf towns and celebrity enclaves. There is no more iconic coast.
Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia
This is the spiritually minded destination to experience Indigenous culture like nowhere else in Australia. It’s wild, remote and unspoiled yet Arnhem Land visitors are still able to choose creature comforts including luxury lodges, wilderness retreats, coastal camps and caravan parks.
Provence, France
Purple patch … Senanque Abbey with blooming lavender field, Provence.Credit: Getty Images
There are some magnificent Provencal cities to explore, but it’s the countryside that charmed Picasso and Van Gogh – all sunflower fields, sweeping vineyards and ancient hilltop towns with fresh produce markets. They combine magnificently to make this France’s most alluring region.
Margaret River, Western Australia
An aerial view of the iconic Busselton Jetty.Credit: Tourism WA/Scott Slawinski
A destination with this many top wineries – Vasse Felix, Leeuwin Estate and Voyager just for starters – can’t be denied. Add to that incredible ancient forest, coastal walks, world-class surf and pristine beaches, and connection to Indigenous culture.
Lake District, England, UK
Hedge rows, bunny rabbits, trees bursting with red apples. Call it the Beatrix Potter effect, but the Lake District still exudes the charm and character of the story books many grew up on. Wordsworthian nature walks along lakes and across moorlands are, well, worthy of your attention, too.
Tuscany, Italy
Fairy tale towns, great cities, quaint wineries … Tuscany has it all.Credit: iStock
Italy continually draws us back for many reasons, and Tuscany remains one of the irresistibly main ones.
Glorious rolling landscapes etched with blockbuster cities, postcard-perfect towns and villages and family-run wineries. The food and wine aren’t bad either, we hear.
Alaska, US
Most experience this wild frontier from a cruise along the Inside Passage. Whichever way you go, Alaska rewards with glaciers, wildlife-filled fjords, the Tongass National Forest (the largest intact temperate rainforest in the world), quirky towns, onion-domed churches, totem poles, Tlingit and Haida cultures, and all manner of outdoor adventures.
The winner: The Kimberley, WA
Red Sand Beach: It’s the red pindan dirt that gives this WA beach its crimson shoreline.Credit: Tourism WA
Red earth and blue waters, rugged, towering cliffs and cascading waterfalls make the Kimberley one of the most visually arresting places in Australia, if not the planet. Still a secret to most of the rest of the world, the local Indigenous peoples’ connection to Country adds a deeper layer to what represents a remarkable, wildly remote experience.
CONTRIBUTORS Kate Armstrong, Keith Austin, Ben Groundwater, Shaney Hudson, Belinda Jackson, Julietta Jameson, Brian Johnston, Ute Junker, Nina Karnikowski, Katrina Lobley, Rob McFarland, Steve McKenna, Catherine Marshall, Justin Meneguzzi, Julie Miller, Sheriden Rhodes, Tim Richards, Craig Tansley, Lee Tulloch, Kerry van der Jagt, Penny Watson and Sue Williams