Santa Clara will forever be remembered as the site of the last battle of the Cuban Revolution, where Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara led a group of rebels in a mission to derail an armoured train, resulting in the definitive defeat of the Batista regime. And though bullet holes still bear witness to the hardships of the revolution, today, Santa Clara is a youthful and ferociously creative city, whose large student population contributes to the vibrant nightlife and artistic scenes, and a forward-thinking mentality, making it a unique place in Cuba.

Located in the North Rhine-Westphalia region of the country, modern Dortmund is vibrant and cultural, known for its good shopping, beer and football. But there is another, altogether gentler, side to this former industrial powerhouse. Dortmund has great theatres and cultural centres, a range of fascinating museums and, with half the city given over to parks and gardens, enough green areas to sooth the senses.

Moscow is a city of contrasts where the bohemian and the glamorous merge in an idiosyncratic fusion – do not be surprised to find a golden-domed 16th-century church next to an ultra-modern glass skyscraper or a Soviet blockhouse. Here, salty fish eggs (caviar) are washed down with bubbly champagne, and worn-out commuters travel by the elaborately decorated, elegant metro, one of the city's main attractions.

Fluffy white clouds roll across skies that always seem to gleam in a spectrum of blue in the Poconos. The majesty continues with a palette of rustic orange in the fall, the pristine white of snowfall in the winter, and the verdant emerald of forests and hillsides in the summer. Reigning for decades as a popular vacation area for citizens of New York and New Jersey, the Pocono Mountains must be seen in person to be believed. Lakes and rivers to explore, land to hunt, and various ski resorts provide an unforgettable outdoors experience.