• Canada/Alberta

It is the largest train set in the world, laid out over some of the most spectacular scenery on earth. And for the first time, mere mortals (well, mere mortals with a lot of cash), can play with it.

• Canada/Campbell River

I have seen the bubbling thrash of white water from below. I have flowed silently over elegant mosaics of multi-coloured river stones. I have been startled by the rumble of traffic on bridges. I have heard the rattle of fast water over small pebbles. I have rested in eddies and shunned fishermen.

• Canada/Fort Smith

It seems unreal. A child's fantasy of an African safari. You know the one, a wise local guide spots a herd in the distance and through stealth and skill manages to cut it off at the pass, getting you so close you can smell them.

• Canada/Toronto

Hidden among the endless array of BUY NOW! signs are businesses that seem to really care about the holidays (and their customers). Places that have become seasonal icons. Spirit of Christmas lovers.

• Cuba/Havana

You can never tell what Havana is hiding behind its decomposing Glamour Queen facade. Havana is rotting, it's rusting, it often stinks and it's very much alive.

• Denmark/Faroes

You may think the Brits take football seriously. Well, Faroese footie fans make us look about as devoted to our national sport as my vegetarian grandmother is to Duck a l'Orange

• General/fountains

The biological merits of Rambot aside, fountains are the rare perfect synthesis of art, science and necessity.

• India/Mumbai

We sit in wicker chairs on the expansive green lawns and sip fresh-squeezed sweet lime juice. It would be an oasis of calm if it was not for the incessant fireworks

• Kiribati/Butaritari Island

How do you say 'no' to food?

• Kuwait

A haven of light and life.

• Malta/Valletta

The Knights began construction on their gift to their religion, St. John's Cathedral. The result is one of the world's most fabulous buildings, every inner centimeter covered by carvings and paintings rich in chivalric imagery

• USA/New Orleans

People in Louisiana talk about food the same way an Englishman talks about the weather. Where Brits tell each other apart with regional accents, Louisianians exchange knowing glances based on the colour of your roux or the consistency of your jambalaya.