Atlas

Beautiful places

Coasts, mountains, gardens and buildings worth the journey, for the view and for the architecture.

9 places

Amalfi Coast, Italy

Pastel houses climb the cliffs in steps above the Tyrrhenian Sea, topped by a church dome tiled in colour. Every lane ends in a view.

Best: Late spring or early autumn

Cyclades, Greece

White walls and blue domes line the rim of a flooded volcanic caldera. Evenings gather on the west-facing edge for the sunset.

Best: Dawn for empty lanes, then sunset

Kyoto, Japan

A pavilion covered in gold leaf stands over a still pond, framed by pines. The water is part of the composition.

Best: Early morning, or late November for the maples

Lombardy, Italy

Terraced villas and clipped gardens face a long Alpine lake. Arrive by boat and every landing opens onto a different garden.

Best: April and May for gardens in bloom

Granada, Spain

A palace city of carved plaster, still water and shaded courts, set against the Sierra Nevada. Light and water do much of the decorating.

Best: Book timed entry to the palaces early

Paris, France

An opera house of marble, gilt and a grand staircase built for being seen on. Marc Chagall painted the auditorium ceiling in 1964.

Best: An evening performance, dressed for the stairs

French Polynesia

A volcanic peak rises from a lagoon in several shades of turquoise, with thatched bungalows reaching out over the water on stilts.

Best: Dry season, May to October

South Tyrol and Veneto, Italy

Pale limestone towers turn pink and orange at sunrise and sunset, a glow known as enrosadira. Meadows and wooden huts sit below.

Best: Sunrise, early summer or autumn

Namib Desert, Namibia

Some of the tallest dunes on earth glow red above a white clay pan and the black skeletons of ancient trees. Shadows draw every line.

Best: First light, when ridgelines cut sharp