India

Until its independence in 1991, Azerbaijan was ruled by great powers including Persia, Mongolia and Russia. Now, this beautiful, hospitable little country is a Muslim state with a relaxed attitude to women's dress, alcohol and other faiths, and it's become an ...

Travelling overland from Italy to Greece is a lengthy and expensive trip. If time is of the essence, take the ferry from Venice to Patras (World's Most Scenic Ferry Ride), thereby spoiling yourself with a mini-cruise in the bargain. Even a ...

By anybody's reckoning, Bhutan is a most extraordinary country. Tucked away in the folds of the eastern Himalayas, and surrounded by China and India, This remote, mountain kingdom is the last place in the Himalayas where Mahayana Buddhist culture survives intact, ...

Officially, the Golden Pass links Zurich and Geneva, but its real purpose is to offer travellers a means of exploring the heart of Central Switzerland between Lucerne and Montreux without doubling their tracks. Each of the stops (lucerne-Interlaken-Zwesimmen-Montreux) is a gateway ...

This is part of Britain's National Bridle Network, a series of cross-country routes that are being developed for long-distance horse riders. The way-marked 153 km (95 mi). Three Rivers Ride through the glorious Welsh Marches starts at Tidbach near Bromyard in ...

Jan Reurink The world's highest railway line, the 'Roof of the World Express' was opened in 2006. It runs for 1,142 km (710 mi) between Lhasa, the capital of Tibet and Xining in China, crossing the Tibetan Plateau more than 5 ...

In October of each year, hundreds of Swiss Farmers come together at the Roman amphitheatre, Martigny, in Canton Valais on the French border, for the finals of the Combat des Reines ( the battle of Queens) between Switzerland's most ornery cows. ...

When the first of the Homosapien's wandered upon the Earth, the Himalayas bore only a passing resemblance to the mighty fortress that we are aware of today. It may not be because humankind is so old, but the Himalayas, from an ...

Shaped like a well-worn thigh boot, Fraser Island, lying off the Queensland coast, is an island built of sand. There are beaches and dunes of golden sand along its shored, and in places, the 77 miles (124km) long island has cliffs ...

In the Sahara, at least when the sun is high, there are no horizons - only a milky vagueness whose bounds might be either near or far. Driving south though, from the oasis of In Salah towards the centre of the ...

Violas (Pansies) of every hue - from yellow, white and deep purple to blue - lured an English wanderer, Charles Howard-Bury, after he had strolled up through the woodland to the alpine fields of the Heavenly Mountains (Tien Shan Mountains) in ...

A giant white plume of steam and gas rises almost continuously from the crater of Mount Ngauruhoe, a 7516ft (2291m) volcano in the heart of New Zealand's North Island. It is one of a trio of active volcanoes. To the north ...