Paris is known as The City of Lights and absolutely deserves this name. But it is much more than just the City of Lights. Paris, the capital of France, is one of the best travel destinations. It has everything a traveller could possibly wish for.

A stay in Paris should at least include a visit to the Louvre, one of the most impressive and well known museums in the world; a climb of the Eiffel tower; and a climb to the top of Notre Dame Cathedral.

You should also climb the steps to the Sacré Coeur in Montmartre, stroll around the Place du Tertre in front of it, visit the saucy Pigalle district, walk around the Latin quarter - St. Germain, Boulevard St. Michel - and feel the atmosphere of the street performers outside the Centre Pompidou.

In the neighborhood of Paris you can visit Fontainebleau, Versailles with its magnificent palace of Louis XIV, Vaux-le-Vicomte and the inspiration for Versailles Disneyland Paris. All of these make perfect daytrips.

Paris is full of surprises; just have a good breakfast with coffee and croissants, take a walk, and discover some of them for yourself.

Paris represents a city of romance, for others, the French capital is a sparkling mix of writers and artists. The city's people are stylish and flirtatious, its architecture seductive, its restaurants and nightlife devoted to the pursuit of pleasure and its streets are scattered with dreams. On all levels – historical, architectural, and cultural – this is a fascinating city... 

More than Ottoman minarets and beguiling bazaars, Turkey's cultural capital is also fashionable and progressive. Spanning both Asia and Europe and divided by the Bosphorus, Istanbul is a beguiling mix of ancient and modern, of conservative and secular. The hulking Byzantine Hagia Sophia and opulent Topkapi Palace dominate the old city Sultanahmet, but over in Karaköy, in a converted warehouse, the Istanbul Museum of Modern Art embraces the future.

Along Galata Bridge, fishermen looking for dinner dip their rods into the waters of the Golden Horn. Walk past them to buzzing, bazaar-filled Eminönü where locals stock up on fresh pistachios and crumbly sheep's cheese from the aromatic Spice Market. The sunset call to prayer from pencil-slim minarets brings welcome serenity, especially from mosques clustering the busy Old City, crammed with elegant Ottoman and Byzantine landmarks. Families crowd onto passenger boats at weekends to cruise the Bosphorus, Istanbul's real gem, past pastel-colored wooden summer houses.

In cultured Istanbul, you're never far away from an arts, film or music festival. It may be opera in the cavernous Atatürk Cultural Centre in Taksim Square or summertime jazz in Cemil Topuzlu open-air theater in leafy Harbiye. Beyoglu is where Istanbul's revelers head to sip cocktails at fashionable rooftop bars or join friends at outdoor cafés with a tulip-shaped glass of tea. At funky Babylon club, catch the latest Balkan fusion band, or join football-mad fans on the terraces to cheer on Besiktas.

Busy Beyoglu has the best choices of mayhanes (traditional eating houses) and contemporary cuisine. On packed Nevizade street, waiters allure you into bustling restaurants, where platters of meze (garlicky dips and tangy salads) start off a typical Turkish dinner of grilled fish or skewered lamb, as fasil (gypsy) musicians play at your table. Locals have a real taste for international dishes, from sushi at Vogue in Besiktas to a bohemian brunch of eggs benedict at the waterfront House Café in village-like Ortaköy.

Amsterdam is one of the greatest small cities in the world. From its canals to world-famous museums and historical sights, Amsterdam is one of the most romantic and beautiful cities in Europe.

Amsterdam is also a city of tolerance and diversity. It has all the advantages of a big city: culture, nightlife, international restaurants, good transport - but is quiet, and largely thanks to its canals, has a little road traffic. In Amsterdam your destination is never far away, but get a bike for most authentic experience.

Museums are the main tourist attraction in Amsterdam. Everyone knows the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum and Stedelijk Museum, but there is much more. Amsterdam has over fifty museums which attract millions of visitors each year.

Coffeeshops in Holland are allowed to sell small amounts of cannabis and are strictly regulated and taxed. Furthermore, coffeeshops must not sell to anyone under 18 and they must not sell more than 5g to any customer. Hard drugs are strictly prohibited.

No other city comes close. It may no longer be caput mundi (capital of the world), but Rome is an epic, bubbling-over metropolis harbouring lost empires. One visit and you’ll be hooked. Rome has a glorious monumentality that it wears without reverence. Its architectural heirlooms are buzzed around by car and Vespa as if they were no more than traffic islands.

The city bombards you with images: elderly ladies with dyed hair chatting in Trastevere; priests with cigars strolling the Imperial Forums; traffic jams around the Colosseum; plateloads of pasta in Piazza Navona; sinuous trees beside the Villa Borghese; barrages of pastel-coloured scooters revving up at traffic lights as if preparing for a race.

People in Rome encapsulate the spirit of the city. Pass a central café and the tables outside are animated with people, downing fast shots of espresso and sporting big black sunglasses. They are neither posing nor hung over. Nuns flutter through the streets, on the trip of a lifetime or secondment from the Philippines, bustling across the road before treating themselves to an ice cream. Churches fill during Mass, and the priests, dressed in purple, cream or red silk (right down to their socks), read the rites to a hushed congregation (mostly from out of town).

Here the national preoccupation with the aesthetic fuses with incredible urban scenery to make Rome a city where you feel cool just strolling through the streets, catching the sunlight on your face outside a café, or eating a long lunch. It’s a place that almost encourages you to take things easy. Don’t feel like going to a museum? What’s the need when it’s all outside on the streets?

London is a very big city. In fact, it's one of Europe's largest capitals, stretching for more than thirty miles on either side of the River Thames, and with a population of just under eight million. Ethnically and linguistically, it's also Europe's most diverse metropolis, offering cultural and culinary delights from right across the globe. Londoners tend to cope with all this by compartmentalizing the city, identifying with the neighbourhoods in which they work or live, and just making occasional forays "into town" or "up West", to the West End, London's shopping and entertainment heartland.

With no single predominant focus of interest, the city can seem bewilderingly amorphous to newcomers. The key to enjoying London is not to try and do everything in a single visit – concentrate on one or two areas and you'll get a lot more out of the place. London has always been an enthralling city, and the capital's traditional sights – Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, St Paul's Cathedral and the Tower of London– continue to draw in millions of tourists every year. Things change fast, though, and the regular emergence of new attractions ensures that there's plenty to do even for those who've visited before. In the last decade, virtually all of London's world-class museums, galleries and institutions have been reinvented, from the Royal Opera House to the British Museum. And with Tate Modern and the London Eye, the city can now boast the world's largest modern art gallery and Ferris wheel, as well as the Millennium Bridge, the first new Thames-crossing for over a hundred years.

Monuments from the capital's glorious past are everywhere, from medieval banqueting halls and the great churches of Christopher Wren to the eclectic Victorian architecture of the triumphalist British Empire. There's also much enjoyment to be had from the city's quiet Georgian squares, the narrow alleyways of the City of London, the riverside walks, and the assorted quirks of what is still identifiably a collection of villages. And London is offset by surprisingly large expanses of greenery, with several public parks right in the centre as well as wilder spaces on the outskirts.

Set on a plain rising gently from the sea to a range of wooded hills, Barcelona is Spain's most cosmopolitan city and one of the Mediterranean's busiest ports. Restaurants, bars and clubs are always packed, as is the seaside in summer. You might get the impression it's dedicated exclusively to hedonism, but it's a hard-working, dynamic place hoping to place itself in the vanguard of 21st-century Europe with a heavy concentration of hi-tech and biomedical business.

It regards its long past with pride. From Roman town it passed to medieval trade juggernaut, and its old centre constitutes one of the greatest concentrations of Gothic architecture in Europe. Beyond this core are some of the world's more bizarre buildings: surreal spectacles capped by Antoni Gaudí's Sagrada Família church.

Barcelona has been breaking ground in art, architecture and style since the late 19th century. From the marvels of Modernisme to the modern wonders of today, from Picasso to the likes of Susana Solano, the racing heart of Barcelona has barely skipped a beat. The city's avant-garde chefs whip up a storm that has even the French reaching for superlatives.

Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia, a region with its own language, character and history – many Catalans think of their home as a separate country. The city itself could keep you occupied for weeks but just outside it are sandy beaches, Sitges and the Montserrat mountain range - so be sure to make time for a few day trips during your stay.

As the largest city in China and an economic, commercial and financial center, Shanghai is vital to China's future. No other city in China is more vibrant and fascinating or has such a unique colonial past.

Shanghai is always a fun to tour. The commerce river of Shanghai, the Huangpu River, a tributary of the Yangtze River, is lined up with a gallery of different architectures, known as the Bund, beckoning to curious visitors and smart locals alike. Although erected during different periods in varying styles such as Gothic, Romanesque or Baroque, those fifty-two buildings stand together in perfect harmony. When night falls, the two most famous - Bank of China Building and the Peace Hotel - are bathed in lavender lighting, and are the most telling witness to the past century of the Bund. Mansions, garden estates, clubs and cathedrals built by Westerners a century ago are scattered throughout the city. There is even a synagogue, built during the days of an unprecedented Jewish immigration to China.

Traditional treasures, though not so many as in Beijing, turns up on a walk through the chaotic old city: a teahouse, active temples, ancient pagodas and  quintessential southern-Chinese classic gardens such as the Yuyuan Garden. Across the Huangpu River from the original settlement of Puxi is Shanghai's future, the Pudong New Area. Its modern and ever-expanding skyline includes the emblematic Orient Pearl Tower, the highest observation decks in Asia, the soaring modern art-deco Jin Mao Tower and the 101-floor World Financial Centre featuring the Park Hyatt hotel, the tallest hotel in the world.

Easily China's richest city and the leading trendsetter in fashion, design and the arts, Shanghai is the best city in China for dining and shopping. Locals in Shanghai, considered frank, efficient, and progressive, are creating China's most outward-looking, and modern metropolis, replete with legions of futuristic skyscrapers, glitzy restaurants, bars, hotels, brand awareness and shopping savvy, competing with rival Asia cities such as Hong Kong, and Singapore.

In Dubai, just about everything is meant to be the biggest and the best. And it's no joke: Here you'll find the world's tallest building, the largest man-made islands, the richest horse race, the biggest shopping festival, and soon the most extensive entertainment complex, the most massive mall, and the biggest hotel.

People who live here will tell you that Dubai is always changing -- that's an understatement. Dubai is growing so fast that it hardly seems recognizable from one year to the next. The city's only competition these days seems to be with itself. Who can keep up? Construction cranes everywhere work relentlessly to continue raising a modern metropolis out of the desert sand.

Once completed, the Palm Island Deira will be twice the size as the Palm Jumeirah. Mall of Arabia will eclipse Mall of the Emirates, which is already the biggest shopping center outside North America. The 25-story Ski Dubai will soon be dwarfed in size by the Snowdome being built in Dubailand, which itself will house the largest collection of theme parks on the planet. Asia-Asia will take over as the world's largest hotel.

Each project is bigger, bolder, and significantly more expensive. The skyline is being filled with more architecturally daring high-rises. The land is being carved with new canals and marinas. The sea is being gifted with new artificial islands. In other words, nothing is constant. If Dubai has a core identity, it lies in its dynamic entrepreneurial spirit and not in its layout. Tomorrow there will undoubtedly be even more audacious plans to turn fantasy into reality.

Brussels' vibrant, cosmopolitan atmosphere and multicultural beat make it much more than simply the administrative hub of Europe. For all its world-class restaurants, architecture, and art, though, the city keeps a relatively low profile, so you'll have the breathing room to relish its landmarks, cobbled streets, and beautiful parks.

Brussels started life as a village towards the end of the 10th century. Over the next eight centuries, it grew as a center for trading and crafts, and was alternatingly ruled by everyone from local counts of Leuven, the Burgundians Philip the Good and Charles V, to the Spanish and later Austrians. Despite its history of occupation, after 1815 the city resisted Dutch attempts to absorb it, and 1830 saw the uprising that finally gained Belgium its independence.
At the end of the 19th century, Brussels was one of the liveliest cities in Europe, known for its splendid cafés and graceful Art Nouveau architecture. That gaiety, however, was stamped out by German occupation during the First and Second World Wars. Still, the city made a comeback little more than a decade later, its reemergence on the international scene heralded by the World's Fair and the Universal Exposition of 1958. It became the European Economic Community's headquarters that same year, a precursor to its hosting of the EU's administrative and political arms.

As a by-product of Europe's increasing integration, international business has invaded the city in a big way since the 1960s. The result: city blocks of steel-and-glass office buildings set only a few steps from cobbled-street neighborhoods featuring hallmarks of the city's eventful past. Over the centuries, Brussels has been shaped by the different cultures of the foreign powers that have ruled it. It has learned the art of accommodating them and, in the process, prepared itself for its role as the political capital of Europe. In 1989 the Brussels region became autonomous, on a par with Flanders and Wallonia.

The city is technically bilingual, though French is the dominant language. Now, diversity is the capital's greatest strength; one-third of the city's million-strong population are non-Belgians, and you're as likely to hear Arabic or Swedish spoken on the streets as French or Flemish.

“ All theme parks, shopping and sunshine, Florida’s flying the stars and bars for American escapes.”

Disney World. Universal Orlando® Resort. The Kennedy Space Centre. America’s Sunshine State is one big theme park. Rollercoasters, waterparks and giant cartoon mice come as standard in these parts. But pierce the tourist bubble and pine forests, everglades and big gators are waiting to be snapped up.

And there’s a sophisticated side to Florida, as well. Take Orlando, for instance. About 20 miles from Disney’s golden gates, Orlando’s Downtown district is Florida’s answer to New York City. It’s got a Park Avenue. Its own version of China Town – Little Saigon. And a night scene that’s straight from Manhattan.

Then there’s the shopping. From its world-famous discount outlets to the glitzy Mall at Millenia, Florida’s a shop-‘til-you-drop paradise.

Factor in great beaches and a super-sized dining scene and it’s easy to see why this is the holiday playground of the USA. When all’s said and done, though, the theme parks are Florida’s big crowd-pullers. Walt Disney started it all with the world’s biggest theme park, but it wasn't long before several other super-parks mushroomed-up alongside - with the likes of Universal Orlando® Resort, SeaWorld® Orlando and Busch Gardens® Tampa Bay helping to put Florida at the top of the world's adventure park charts. These days, it’s all about the kamikaze slides and white-knuckle rides.

Enjoy.

Antalya is a city where three out of four seasons are spring and the other is summer, where you can ski on a magnificent mountain in the morning and swim in the deep blue waters of the Mediterranean in the afternoon.

Today the city of Antalya is a cultural and tourism hub with much on offer to satisfy the discerning visitor. The region attracts nearly half of the tourists coming to Turkey and the hotels are new and of high standards. The tourism areas east and west of Antalya feature different concepts, there are the two beaches of Antalya itself, Lara and Konyaaltı, the Kundu area is popular for the Theme Hotels and Belek with its 11 golf courses has become an important golf destination of the Mediterranean. While Alanya is well-known for its nightlife and choice of entertainment facilities, Kemer, a small resort west of Antalya, makes its visitors fall in love with its magnificent surroundings and beautiful landscape.

Antalya keeps up with the innovations and developments in the tourism sector while preserving its cultural heritage and the charming Anatolian way of life. Everything relating to history, nature, culture, tradition, shopping and dining exists in this region – combined with the cordial hospitality of the Turkish people.

Thailand's capital city is a fantastic place to visit. It is the travel hub for the whole Southeast Asian region.

Most people come back and forth if they visit the different regions of Thailand, for example Chiang mai, Koh Samui or Phuket or Trang. Its bad reputation for long traffic jams and pollution is no longer justified.

At the end of 2000, the new BTS Sky Train went into service and new roads have been built. To get around there is also now the MRT metro (underground railway), which serves a number of locations in the centre of the city. Tuk Tuk is an other way of transportation (taxi), it is an open air ride, however the polution is very high and the weather is very hot and humid it is not recommented to ride with it. It will be a noisy ride also  inhale all  gas from cars in front of you.. In comparison to other mega-cities, Bangkok is also a very safe city and has one of the lowest crime rates in the world.

Berlin is Germany's largest and capital city and has become a popular destination for visitors. The Berlin Wall divided the city for twenty-eight years until it was torn down in 1989. Berlin is full of energy with a lively nightlife; more than a hundred and sixty museums; over fifty theatres and innumerable historical monuments. Much of Berlin has been rebuilt and restored and there is both old and new architecture side by side.

Unter den Linden is the city’s principal thoroughfare and the best surviving examples of Prussian architecture can be seen there. Schlossbrucke features eight clusters of marble statutes. Also on Unter Den Linden is the restored Neue Wache, a memorial to victims of fascism and militarism. The famous Brandenburg Gate is at the western end of Unter Den Linden.

Shopping provides a different sort of entertainment. Everything you can think of can be brought in Berlin from haute couture to books. The Kurfürstendamm houses major department stores, and designer boutiques. There is a good selection of Berlin Hotels, ranging in price depending on location. Luxury hotels are widespread but there is also plenty cheaper accommodation available.

Cultural Attractions include theaters and museums. With the range and quantity of restaurants on offer, eating out is a delight. The Tiergarten is Berlin's central park and covers an area of more than 630 acres. This is an ideal place to recharge.

It's really no wonder that the capital Vienna is the most popular tourist hotspot in Austria and arguably even the world – it's beautiful, it's diverse and it offers something for practically every type of personality out there. Whether you like museums, opera, theatres, architecture, the Viennese cuisine or coffee houses, outdoor activities such as hiking or skiing, Vienna has you covered.

The citizens of Vienna are as equally diverse, with its inhabitant's religions varying from Roman Catholic, to Muslim, to Jewish and even many agnostic minded people. With such a diverse set of people all living together, you would think tensions would be high, however it is not. Everyone co-exists merrily and Vienna welcomes foreign tourists into their beloved city with open arms.

Some of the more popular modern attractions include (in addition to the cities numerous breathtakingly beautiful architecture spots) the Stephansdom, Hundertwasserhaus, the view from the Donauturm, the Sacher Hotel, and the Austrian United Nations headquarters. Those are to name just a few as there are just so many different things to do in Vienna that offer both historical perspective type experiences or just plain old fun.

Sweden's capital is one of the most beautiful major cities in the world, a mirage of saffron- and terracotta-coloured buildings shimmering between blue water and bluer skies all summer, or covered with snow and dotted with lights in winter. It's also a vibrant, modern city, famous for producing sleek designs, edgy fashion and world-class nightclubs.

The old town, Gamla Stan, is a compact little maze of cobblestone streets apparently built for small, thin people with very sturdy ankles. The stucco walls of its red, orange and vanilla buildings sag toward each other exhaustedly over countless souvenir shops and ice-cream parlours, while the Royal Palace crowns the tiny island. Just to the south of Gamla Stan is another island neighbourhood, Södermalm, where high waterfront hills are graced by lovely old residences and the main drags are lined with bohemian shops, art galleries and rollicking clubs. On the other side of Gamla Stan is the main city centre, a buzzing metropolis whose boutiques and restaurants can hold their own against just about any big city on the continent.

Surrounding all of this is every Stockholmer's pride and joy - the 24, 000 or so rocky islands that make up the archipelago (skärgård).

Stockholmers themselves are almost uniformly polite and friendly, making travel both easy and rewarding. Around 16% of greater Stockholm's 1.2 million people are immigrants, which creates a much more multicultural and diverse cityscape than many travellers might expect.

Nice, France, is a near perfect holiday destination for a short city break - it's the Queen of the Riviera; the capital city of the Côte d'Azur; a superb winter and summer holiday resort and, thanks to cheap flight airlines, an inexpensive holiday destination that is extremely easy to get to.

Sitting proudly at the head of the Baie des Anges, Nice owes its fantastic climate to the circle of hills that protect it from grim northerly winds, including the fearsome mistral that can create havoc in less well protected holiday resorts to the west.

Nice has been home to famous artists like Matisse, giving the resort a touch of cultural class. It is also home to some of the world's leading galleries and museums. Food lovers will delight in the food market in Nice, the quaint cafes, and the huge selection of restaurants.

Nice holiday resort is split in two by the Paillon, a river torrent that runs to the sea, often underground. The western side of Nice is the elegant modern city where most of the hotels can be found; to the east is the old city of Nice, with its narrow alleys and enticing shops, cafes and bars. The old town is also home to the attractive port and the castle hill.