This article is written by Shifra Menezes , a student and a travel writer based in Mumbai

Here’s a look at the top 25 destinations around the world that includes cultural capitals, architectural havens, beach paradises and some unconventional picks as well.

1. Cape Town, South Africa

The mere mention of most destinations in Africa immediately conjures up images of lion safaris and yellow wilderness as far as the eye can see. While these are enough to keep the intrepid traveller quite happy and offer the experience of a lifetime, there is more to Africa than just that and Cape Town is where it’s all at.

From cultural and historical attractions to wildlife and adventure sports, Cape Town has something for everyone.

A handful of the popular tourist attractions in Cape Town:

The Victoria & Alfred Waterfront a popular haunt for dining and shopping, offering up a wide variety of cuisine and wares.
The Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden with its tranquil surrounds and exotic plants, is the ideal picnic spot for nature-lovers and trekkers alike.
The beaches in and around Cape Town are famous for their soft white sand and crystal-clear waters. Some of the popular ones are Blouberg, Dolphin Beach and Boulder.
If you’re an animal lover with a penchant for big cats, drop in at the Drakenstein Lion Park, dedicated to rehabilitating the beautiful animals in their natural surrounds.
For history buffs, a boat ride to Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 18 years, is a must-visit.

2. Sydney, Australia

Often mistaken as the capital city, Sydney is the country’s largest city and arguably its cultural capital.

The unmistakable waterfront of the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge is just one of the many tourist attractions in the city.

Your visit to the harbour city should include:

Bondi Beach, one of the most famous in the world for its massive swells (for the surfers out there), is a great place to start. If you’re looking for a lazy day at the beach however, there are plenty to choose from such as Coogee, Manly and Balmoral among many, many others.
Nature enthusiasts won’t be disappointed with a visit to Taronga Zoo, Oceanworld and the Royal Botanical Gardens.
For those more culturally inclined, there’s the Sydney Festival (free indoor and outdoor performances), the Big Day Out (a travelling rock festival) and a number of film festivals.
Check out breathtaking views from the AMP Tower observatory, the highest structure in Sydney, and the Powerhouse Museum of science, technology and design.

3. Machu Picchu, Peru

Tucked away in the Amazon forests, perched atop an Andean plateau, this ancient city is an architectural marvel. Often referred to as the ‘Lost city of the Incas’, it has been recognised as a World Heritage Site and one of the New 7 Wonders of the World.

Built around 1450, at the height of the Inca empire, the entire city has been constructed using polished dry stone and has survived the centuries remarkably well.

One of the three primary constructions within the city is the Intihuatana, a pillar built using stones that point to the sun. At noon on March 21 and September 21, the sun is almost directly above the pillar, and casts no shadow. It is believed that the Incas used this as a clock or calendar based on the sun’s path.

So for the traveller who enjoys a little history lesson along the way, Machu Picchu does just that.

4. Paris, France

Nothing says romance quite like Paris. But there is a lot more to this beautiful city than just the Eiffel Tower and romantic walks along the Siene.

The French capital offers a host of attractions including The Louvre, which is home to some of the world’s most valuable paintings and sculptures.

Food lovers can relish the French cuisine in the many bistros and cafes that dot the streets and culture vultures can take in the rich history and architecture on offer.

Some popular tourist spots include:

The Notre Dame cathedral, the Napoleonic Arc de Triomphe, Champs Elysees and the Pantheon church (the final resting place of Voltaire, Victor Hugo and Marie Curie) are some of the most recognised landmarks, as is the Eiffel Tower.
The Montmartre and Montparnasse areas, known for their artistic history is worth a visit for music halls and cafes.
Known as the world’s fashion capital, drop in at the Avenue Montaigne and Faubourg Saint-Honore for a peek of the highest of high fashion. And if splashing out on designer labels isn’t your thing, don’t fret. Paris has a lot more shopping than just designer labels. Les Halles and the Champs Elysees have plenty to choose from.
The picturesque Tuileries and Luxembourg Gardens are lovely for a stroll of picnic. A great way to unwind after a busy day of sightseeing.

5. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Movies and music have had a long-standing love affair with this beautiful city, and deservedly so. The spirit of Rio makes it a must-visit.

Another draw is the fact that the resort city will play host to the 2014 FIFA World Cup final and the 2016 Olympic Games and you can bet it’ll be an explosion of colour and dance two elements that simply capture what the city is all about.

So when you fly down, make sure your travel itinerary includes:

The Copacabana and Ipanema beaches have been immortalised in song and well deserve a drop-by thanks to their many dining spots, pubs and discos.
The Corcovado mountains with the statue of Christ the Redeemer are a major tourist draw being one of the New 7 Wonders of the World, and atop the peak, offer breath-taking views of the Brazilian landscape.
The annual Carnival (during February and March) is an experience like no other. Massive parades along the streets with opulent floats and tens of thousands of revellers simply have to be seen to be believed.

6. New York City, USA

The city has been written about and sung about, movies have been shot around its iconic landmarks and its unmistakable skyline and yet it loses nothing in terms of sheer fascination for the millions of visitors and tourists who throng its streets every year.

So if you too plan to drop by the Big Apple, make sure to visit:

Manhattan for its fantastic skyline and a glimpse of the Empire State Building, Rockerfeller Centre and Times Square.
Ellis Island for the Statue of Liberty, and while you’re at it the Staten Island Ferry.
Madison and Fifth avenue for the shopping.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Broadway for some cultural stimulation

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Hidden deep in a jungle overrun by parrots, cicadas and banyan trees is a magical 12th-century temple.

I know nowhere more secretive, more lost-in-the-forest, or more mysteriously, darkly lovely than the Khmer temple complex of Ta Prohm, a few miles’ hike into the jungle from Angkor Wat.

Angkor itself is one of the great ruins of the world; but surrounded as it is now by grass and parkland and a moated lake, it feels magnificently grand, like a Cambodian Blenheim or a Khmer Castle Howard; and by necessity, given its fame, it is attended by ticket offices and little cabins selling postcards and guidebooks and fizzy drinks. Ta Prohm, by contrast, is hidden deep in the jungle, and is still wildly, magnificently, hopelessly overgrown – a Sleeping Beauty of a temple complex, tangled in a thick lattice of aerial roots and creepers.

I visited with my family last autumn during the kids’ half-term, and we stayed in the King of Cambodia’s old guest house there, now the understatedly stylish Amansara Hotel. Things got off to a good start when we were met at Siem Reap airfield by King Sihanouk’s old pre-war Mercedes limousine which Amansara had sent to meet us. So unusually gentle, peaceful and friendly were the Cambodians we met – the smiling schoolchildren and the beautiful village women on their way to market – that my children simply refused to believe the stories I tried to tell them of the old days of the Khmer Rouge and the Killing Fields. Only when we visited the Siem Reap crocodile farm did they really begin to understand the horrors that this country so recently underwent. The Khmer Rouge had used the farm as an execution ground, throwing their bound prisoners to the crocs, and the old ones – evil looking things – still retain their taste for human flesh. When my small children crossed the bridge over the pens from which captives were once thrown, they were greeted by a ricochet of hopefully snapping jaws.

Ta Prohm was a world away from these dark associations. To get there we trekked through thick monsoon-green jungle for an hour, as the children saw huge centipedes, squawking parrots, cicadas as loud as car alarms, hooting geckos and, best of all, a green poisonous snake hunting a lizard, one of the highlights of the trip for them. But it was the temple which made the biggest impact on me.

It was late evening by the time we finally got there, and the sun was setting. Suddenly, out of the trees, a mountain of masonry rose in successive ranges from the jungle – a great tumbling scree of plinths and capitals, octagonal pillars and lotus jambs. Trees spiralled out of the barrel vaults of the shingled temple roofs like the flying buttresses of a Gothic cathedral; branches knotted over Sanskrit inscriptions, before curving around the bas reliefs of lions and elephants, gods and goldlings, sprites and tree spirits.

Snake-like tendrils of pepper vines fingered their way through window frames and up door jambs. Cracked lintels covered in mosses and bright lichens were supported by the roots of 1, 000-year-old banyan trees, which wrapped their way over broken arcades, coiling in spirals like the tail of some slumbering guardian dragon. Roots like fused spiders’ webs gripped fallen finials and crumbling friezes of bare-breasted dancing girls in girdles and anklets, spear-holding warriors in war chariots, and long-haired, cross-legged meditating sages. As the shadows lengthened, we wandered through terraces and overgrown galleries, narrow corridors and dark staircases, courtyard after courtyard, the sculptures gradually losing their definition, crumbling into shadows of dusk.

Darkness fell, and it was by the light of a torch that we saw the eeriest sight of all: the 40ft-high face of the temple’s 12th-century founder, Jayavarman VII, impressed into the monsoon-stained ashlar of one of the temple spires. He looked out into the night, with his full lips and firm chin, broad nose and prominent forehead, his eyes closed in meditation, expression impassive but powerful, pensive and philosophical, both monk and ruler, enlightened incarnation and megalomaniac monarch. The fireflies danced around us, the nightbirds screeched from the ruins, and the frogs croaked. A long walk back lay ahead; but we all knew we would never, ever forget this place.

William Dalrymple

October 2007

http://www.guardian.co.uk/theobserver/2007/oct/14/features.magazine47

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