Hidden in the winding streets of old Cairo, this 17th-century Ottoman house features detailed woodwork, calm gardens, and rooms arranged around courtyards that show how families lived centuries ago.

Set near the Pyramids and overlooking the Giza Plateau, this massive new museum is built to tell the full story of ancient Egypt — all under one roof. It will house the complete Tutankhamun collection, including many pieces never seen by the public before.

Built in 1694 as the residence of the future Yongzheng Emperor, the site was later converted into a Tibetan Buddhist monastery and remains one of the most important of its kind outside Tibet. The complex is a series of richly decorated halls and courtyards filled with incense smoke and prayer wheels. Inside the Falun Dian stands a bronze statue of Tsongkhapa, founder of the Gelug (Yellow Hat) school. The highlight for many is the towering 18-metre-tall Maitreya Buddha carved from a single piece of sandalwood, housed in the Wanfu Pavilion.

Pemba is a small gem of the Zanzibari archipelago north of the main island, with incredible marine life and small farming villages. Lands are rich in cloves, coconut, and cassava, and tides allow for some great diving here. At times, the tides are so low they make the island inaccessible by dhows — the vessels used by locals.