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At the end of a rocky spur jutting into the Gulf of La Spezia stands San Pietro church. It's been situated at this scenic spot since at least 1198, and is just one of the many cultural gems of Porto Venere, a northern Italian village of extraordinary beauty. With views like this, we can easily see how Porto Venere inspired poets and artists throughout history—including Lord Byron, who is said to have swum across the gulf to visit fellow poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. For that reason, among others, the Gulf of La Spezia is also known as The Gulf of Poets.

This seaside pool recalls the Victorian-era influence on the development of the Coogee area southeast of Sydney, Australia. Plenty of residents and tourists frolic, swim, and surf in the rolling waves of the Tasman Sea. But for those in the mood for a calmer, more relaxed dip in salt water, the seawall of this Coogee pool allows for a swim with less crashing of surf.

The mountains and salt flats of northern Chile's Atacama Desert may seem inhospitable to life, especially to a creature as seemingly delicate as a flamingo. But this land of salt flats, ancient volcanos, and extreme temperatures supports a surprising diversity of animal and plant life. In some areas of the reserve, Andean and Chilean flamingos flock in huge numbers to brackish lagoons. In other sections, the lack of discernable life approximates conditions on Mars. NASA tested their rover vehicles here, and there are numerous astronomical observatories taking advantage of the high altitude and clear skies.

While blanketing snows are a seasonal feature of Lake Silvaplana, the swift mountain valley winds rarely die down around here. The lake and its nearby ">While blanketing snows are a seasonal feature of Lake Silvaplana, the swift mountain valley winds rarWhile blanketing snows are a seasonal feature of Lake Silvaplana, the swift mountain valley winds rarely die down around here. The lake and its nearby namesake village see windsurfers and kitesurfers skim across these turquoise waters during summer. Winter offers excellent recreation as well: The soaring Swiss Alps slopes nearby offer world-class skiing and when the lake freezes over, Lake Silvaplana becomes part of the Engadin Skimarathon course. Some of those summer kitesurfers come back in winter, too, this time to glide across the lake's frozen surface.

The square courtyard and structures you see at the base of sheer, greenery-draped cliffs, is a reconstruction of an official post house built more than a thousand years ago in the ">The square courtyard and structures you see at the base of sheer, greenery-draped cliffs, is a reconstruThe square courtyard and structures you see at the base of sheer, greenery-draped cliffs, is a reconstruction of an official post house built more than a thousand years ago in the Tang Dynasty, destroyed by war, and rebuilt for a film in 2005. Those vertiginous cliffs, however, have been there a lot longer. This is Three Natural Bridges in the Wulong District of southwest China. Here, karst reigns supreme as a molder of incredible landscapes. The area is named for a trio of natural bridges that began life as caves, but erosion hollowed out their surroundings, and now they're said to be the largest natural stone bridge group in Asia. That the bridges are named for mythical creatures is only fitting: Sky Dragon, Azure Dragon, and Black Dragon loom over the landscape.