Worth the early alarm — the spots that pay you back the moment the light arrives.
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Goreme
Göreme sits at the heart of Cappadocia, a region of soft volcanic rock eroded into cones, pillars and valleys. The town is built into and among the formations, with cave dwellings, rock-cut churches and a celebrated dawn balloon flight over the landscape.
The surrounding terrain, shaped by ancient eruptions and erosion, is dotted with the tapering rock pillars known as fairy chimneys, many hollowed out into homes, hotels and churches. The nearby Göreme Open-Air Museum preserves a cluster of rock-cut Byzantine churches with frescoed interiors carved into the cliffs.
Explore Goreme →02 / 05
Kintamani
Kintamani, in Bali's northeastern highlands, overlooks the vast caldera of Mount Batur, an active volcano rising above a crescent crater lake. The cool, elevated region is known for sweeping volcanic views and sunrise treks.
The Kintamani region sits on the rim of an ancient caldera, with the active cone of Mount Batur, at around 1,717 meters, rising from the caldera floor beside the dark expanse of Lake Batur, the largest lake on Bali. The whole landscape is part of a UNESCO Global Geopark. Viewpoints and restaurants along the rim look out across the volcano and lake, and the cooler air at altitude contrasts with the lowland heat.
Explore Kintamani →03 / 05
Lake Pukaki
Lake Pukaki is a glacier-fed lake in the Mackenzie Basin whose intense turquoise color comes from finely ground rock flour suspended in its meltwater. At its head rises Aoraki / Mount Cook, the highest mountain in New Zealand.
The lake's vivid milky-blue is the result of glacial flour — rock ground to powder by glaciers and carried down in meltwater, which scatters light to produce the striking color. Fed by the Tasman and other glaciers, Lake Pukaki points directly at Aoraki / Mount Cook, which at 3,724 meters is the country's tallest peak, making the lake's northern shore one of the most photographed viewpoints in New Zealand.
Explore Lake Pukaki →04 / 05
Milford Sound
Milford Sound, in Fiordland National Park, is a glacier-carved fiord where sheer cliffs rise more than a kilometer straight from dark water. Among the wettest inhabited places on Earth, its frequent rain feeds hundreds of temporary waterfalls that pour from the cliffs.
Despite its name, Milford Sound is technically a fiord, gouged by glaciers and flooded by the sea. Mitre Peak, rising 1,692 meters almost directly from the water, is its defining landmark and one of the most photographed mountains in the country. The fiord lies within Te Wahipounamu, a UNESCO World Heritage area, and is reached by a single road from Te Anau that itself passes alpine valleys, the Mirror Lakes and the Homer Tunnel.
Explore Milford Sound →05 / 05
Hoi An
A preserved trading port glowing with silk lanterns along a riverside old town.
Hoi An was a major Southeast Asian trading port between the 15th and 19th centuries, and its remarkably intact old town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The architecture blends Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese and European influences in a compact, vehicle-free riverside core of wooden shophouses, assembly halls and a famous covered bridge. Much of it is painted a distinctive weathered yellow.
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