Once you’ve travelled around Poland, you realise this: Warsaw is different. Rather than being centred on an old market square, the capital is spread across a broad area with diverse architecture: restored Gothic, communist concrete, modern glass and steel. This jumble is a sign of the city’s tumultuous past.
It’s not just the ancient architecture that wows tourists. Běijīng is also home to some of the world’s most innovative modern buildings. You will be intrigued by Běijīng’s ability to reinvent itself. Spending time here is to be on a permanent journey of discovery, where eye-popping buildings appear seemingly overnight, historic hútòng are transformed into hip hang-outs, and new venues open all the time. But some things never change in Běijīng and that is equally enticing. The food is always outstanding and the parks and temples remain oases of peace. Above all, you will love being surrounded by the tangible evidence of China’s amazing, dramatic history, whether it’s the Forbidden City or the Great Wall.
The Seychelles – just the name conjures up images of golden sandy beaches, palm trees, turquoise waters, sunset cocktails and five-star beachside resorts. The islands are a luxurious enclave for honeymooners, celebrities and billionaires. Undeniably, the beaches are the big attraction, and what beaches: exquisite ribbons of pearlescent sand lapped by topaz waters and backed by lush hills and big glacis boulders. And hardly a soul in sight. Choosing your favourite beach is like trying to pick a flavour of ice cream – they’re all so good! Hot favourites include world-famous Anse Source d’Argent, secluded Anse Marron, sexy Anse Takamaka and picture-postcard perfect Anse Lazio.
Fusing haughty elegance with down-to-earth grit and one beautifully colonnaded medieval grid, Bologna is a city of two intriguing halves. One side is a hard-working, hi-tech city located in the super-rich Po valley where suave opera-goers waltz out of regal theatres and into some of the nation’s finest restaurants. The other is a Bolshie, politically edgy city that hosts the world’s oldest university and is famous for its graffiti-embellished piazzas filled with mildly inebriated students swapping Gothic fashion tips.
Conakry doesn’t try to please its guests, and yet, slowly, many are eventually won over by its charms. There aren’t many sights in this dusty mess of crumbling buildings, pollution, rubbish and traffic jams, but there is plenty of buzz. From the pungent fishing port of Boulbinet and the street kitchens of Coronthie to the containers-turned-shops of Taouyah, this city goes about its business noisily and with ingenuity, proud and unruffled by the visitor’s gaze.
