Cuba

Timeworn but magnificent, dilapidated but dignified, fun yet maddeningly frustrating – Cuba is a country of indefinable magic.

Cuba is like a prince in a poor man’s coat: behind the sometimes shabby facades, gold dust lingers. It’s these rich dichotomies that make travel here the exciting, exhilarating roller-coaster ride it is. Trapped in a time warp and reeling from an economic embargo that has grated for more than half a century, this is a country where you can wave goodbye to everyday assumptions and expect the unexpected. If Cuba were a book, it would be James Joyce's Ulysses: layered, hard to grasp, frequently misunderstood, but – above all – a classic.

Bereft of modern interference, Cuba’s colonial cities haven’t changed much since musket-toting pirates stalked the Caribbean. The atmosphere and architecture is particularly stirring in Havana, Trinidad, Remedios and Camagüey where grandiose squares and cobbled streets tell erstwhile tales of opulence and intrigue.

Cuba Republica de Cuba - Capital Havana - Area 109,884 km2 - Population 11,209,628 - Attractions Habana Vieja, El Malecón, Valle de vinales, Varadero, Live Music Scene

Egypt

With sand-covered tombs, austere pyramids and towering Pharaonic temples, Egypt brings out the explorer in all of us. Visit the Valley of the Kings in Luxor and see the glittering finds in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. Hop off a Nile boat to visit Dendara, Edfu or one of the other waterside temples, cross Lake Nasser to see Ramses II’s masterpiece at Abu Simbel, or trek into the desert (white or black) to find the traces of Roman trading outposts.

Egypt once ruled an empire from Al Qahira – Cairo. The metropolis is packed with soaring minarets and medieval schools and mosques, some of the greatest architecture of medieval Islam. At the same time, Egypt’s native Christians, the Copts, have carried on their traditions that in many respects link back to the time of the pharaohs. Tap into the history in Cairo's early churches and in remote desert monasteries.

Egypt has empty beaches with nothing but a candlelit cabin, and a teeming coral reef offshore. The coast along the Red Sea has a rugged desert beauty above the waterline and a psychedelic vibrancy below. There is even more space and just as much beauty in Egypt’s vast deserts. Whether you’re watching the sun rise between the beautiful shapes of the White Desert or the shimmering horizon from the comfort of a hot spring in Siwa Oasis, Egypt’s landscapes are endlessly fascinating.

Egypt مِصر - Capital Cairo - Area 1,010,408 km2 - Population 100,075,480 - Attractions Pyramids of Giza, Siwa Oasis, White Desert Camping, Nile Cruise, Abu Simbel, the Library of Alexandria, Rea Sea Diving