What to See When You Finish Your Bucket List

There are more than 50 Chinatowns in the United States but the one that’s generally considered the best in the country (and, arguably, the world) was also the first: San Francisco’s. With a history that stretches back to the mid-1800s, today it spans more than 20 blocks, its famous alleyways home to art galleries, tea houses, temples and churches and festivals throughout the year. Even those who’ve never visited will recognise the Dragon Gate, an elaborate, green-tiled entry point that sits on Grant Avenue at the district’s southern end.

But, like Chinatown itself, much has changed over the past 150-plus years. “There are more regional Chinese cuisines represented than ever,” writes Jew. “And there are fusions of culture you’ll only find in Chinatown… The bakeries offer pork buns and cow’s ear cookies alongside apple pie. Each generation’s resourcefulness flavours the food. Chinatown grew out of fear but rose up by reaching across boundaries. And that is how it will continue to thrive.”

Queen Maud Land is remote, even by Antarctic standards. South African tour company, White Desert, runs three camps there, on the world's coldest continent, where guests can stay for a day, week or even longer during summer. Think hiking, crossing icy terrain on “fatbikes” (off-road bicycles) and cross-country skiing, before retiring to one of six heated igloo-like solar-powered pods. In line with its “leave no trace” ethos, the company is committed to a net-zero operation, reusing and repurposing most of its waste.

Set on a 24,000-hectare former sheep station in the remote Flinders Ranges and now converted into a luxury stay, Arkaba Conservancy hosts guests in an 1850s homestead with five guestrooms to choose from. Embark on an all-inclusive outback experience, with guided wilderness treks and wildlife safaris, while refuelling on sumptuous meals made with locally sourced ingredients, which may include Yarra Valley caviar and Barossa Valley prosciutto.

“I want only the pure taste of beef, no smoke,” restaurant owner Pablo Rivero told The New York Times. It may seem out of step with what we’ve come to expect from the classic Argentinian grill experience (isn’t it all about fire and smoke?) but if Rivero is saying it, it’s got to be right. For more than 20 years, he’s been the mind behind Don Julio, a rustic neighbourhoodrestaurant that seats fewer than 100 people in Buenos Aires’ boho-cool barrio of Palermo and took the 14th spot in last year’s World’s 50 Best Restaurants list.

If you book a table at the diner, where wine bottles signed by customers line the walls and a grill measuring more than 10 square metres is the focal point of the dining room, you’ll soon understand what all the fuss is about. And if you haven’t called ahead? Join the queue outside and wait and hope: a number of seats are set aside for walk-ins (and the patient will be rewarded with a glass of prosecco in line). As for what to order once you’re inside, trust Rivero – a rump or skirt steak are his top picks.

Wandering along the canals and riding gondolas are all staples of a trip to The Floating City but one thing that’s often overlooked is Venice’s thriving food scene. Explore the city's food culture starting with golden hour at Osteria Al Ponte for a Campari spritz overlooking the famous waterways. From there, nab a table at Osteria Al Portego for the best fritto misto (fried mixed seafood and vegetables) and if there’s room for dessert, a trip to La Mela Verde for licorice gelato is the cherry on top.

Sabi Sabi is located on a 5400-hectare private game reserve, offering four luxury lodges with a range of accommodation. While spotting the Big Five (lion, leopard, rhino, elephant and buffalo) is never guaranteed, your chances are maximised on a private safari tour thanks to the property’s prime location in South Africa’s vast Great Kruger National Park. There's also an on-site spa, two pools and community tours so no two days are the same. The lodge gives back by providing employment to local communities and supporting a digital learning centre and orphanage.

The Hotel Chelsea in downtown Manhattan has been in business since the 1930s. Home to musicians, artists, poets and actors, the hotel became a space for creating magic, with notable former residents including Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and Madonna. Reopened in 2022 with the addition of a swanky new bar and renovated guestrooms, The Chelsea’s iconic character and heritage remain preserved, perfect for visitors who want a glimpse of a different side to New York.

“There are 17 glacial lakes in this park and when people come to visit they usually ask to see Black Lake,” says Tanja Pejović, tour guide and co-founder of Montenegro Wonders. “It got its name because it’s surrounded by pine trees and from the peaks it looks black. But locals recommend Vražje Jezero – The Devil’s Lake when we translate it. From a hill above this lake you can see the most beautiful sunset. Some people even kitesurf here when it’s windy.”

That’s only one of the ways to be awed by nature in this reserve, which was formed by glaciers and spans more than 300 square kilometres of the Dinaric Alps in the country’s north. The adventurous go canyoning in Nevidio Canyon or rafting in Tara River Canyon (Europe’s deepest gorge). There’s also mountain biking and countless hiking trails, including to Prutaš peak (“We call it the king of Durmitor’s viewpoints,” says Pejović) and to Bobotov Kuk, the region’s highest mountain at 2522 metres above sea level.

But perhaps one of Durmitor’s most rewarding treasures is also the most surprising: the food. “There’s a road in the park with some small cottages where local produce is sold,” she says. “At the end of August you’ll find delicious wild strawberries, blackberries and raspberries. I recommend everyone try the cow’s and goat’s cheeses, as well as the kajmak, a cream cheese.”

Rome’s Colosseum receives seven million visitors a year, none of whom can experience the structure’s original purpose as an entertainment venue. Over on Croatia’s coast, a perfectly preserved 1^st-century amphitheatre gives the Italian version a run for its money. Not only is it free from the kind of crowds that frequent Rome’s Colosseum, performances are still held in the 20,000-spectator-strong structure during the warmer months.

Turnstiles, ticket machines, timetables – there’s little to spark the soul in most railway stations. But one, in Portugal’s second city, is a place that travellers, art lovers and historians seek out rather than scuttle through. “Inside São Bento are 22,000 azulejos, blue-and-white hand-painted tiles,” says tour guide Mónica Marabutt Nogueira. “It’s a station with that normal, busy atmosphere but it’s also full of history.”

That history is one of kings, conflict, culture and a particular kind of evolution – from horse-drawn carriages to the first train here, in 1896. Head to the main hall to capture the best of it and swing your head from ceiling to floor. “Most locals started looking up to admire the tiles because the tourists did,” says Nogueira. “For some, the number of people going in just to see the azulejos is still a surprise.” And her key tip? “Be there early in the morning, before the crowds. People forget that it’s a train station.”

Choquequirao, a stunning Incan site dating back to the 15th century, is three times the size of the infamous Machu Picchu, despite being known as its “little sister”. Its relative obscurity is likely due to the fact it takes several days of vicious hiking to reach it – a fact that’s looking to be rectified by a cable car project promising to bring visitors to the top in just 15 minutes.

Nothing stays the same in the vast, constantly shifting dunes of Namibia’s most impressive corner, the world’s oldest desert. Near Sossusvlei, waves of burnt-orange dunes reach over 300 metres high and elsewhere the desert captures a truly desolate beauty of dust-veiled plains and skeletal trees.

For when you’ve been to been to the Blue Lagoon, Iceland

Iceland is a country of high geothermal activity, with outlets for its energy extending far beyond the famed Blue Lagoon. At Mývatn Nature Baths, there are far fewer crowds immersed in the alkaline and mineral-rich waters than at its popular counterpart. The site also has a steam bath section, where holes in the floor allow the sulphur-rich vapour to seep.

Isolated, windswept and utterly stunning, this is the stretch of South Australia that peeks over the edge of the wild Great Australia Bight. Unlike Victoria’s Great Ocean Road, there are no clusters of campsites and summer traffic jams here – just the virtually unexplored surrounds of the Nullarbor.

As Dubrovnik heaves under the weight of summer crowds, Slovenia’s seaside city of Piran glitters with a similar stately glory and discernibly less visitors. Known for its painstaking and traditional salt collection methods, the city also boasts the same charming architecture that’s captured the imagination of visitors to Croatia’s ancient city, including terracotta-topped Venetian buildings.

The powerhouse national park of Yosemite, that captures giant, ancient sequoia trees and the stunning namesake glacial valley within its borders, receives almost 17,000 visitors a day. That’s roughly the annual average for Isle Royal, a national park at the eastern tip of Michigan, edging on the Canadian border. Although it’s notably more difficult to reach (visitors must arrive by boat or seaplane), there are rewards aplenty, including peaceful lakes and thick forests.

Forts, temples and its own mahal, the small town of Orchha in Madhya Pradesh packs a lot into a small space. The Medieval city bears both Bundelkhandi and Mughal influences, across architectural wonders such as Orchha Fort, Royal Chhatris, Raja Mahal and the intricate Chaturbhuj Temple.

Greece scoops a stack of attention for its glittering seas and quaint island towns but Cyprus, in all its rustic glory, holds a number of ancient wonders that rival the Acropolis. Ancient Kourion, overlooking the island’s southern cliffs 20 minutes west of Limassol, has been overlooking the southern bay since the 2nd century. The amphitheatre is the site’s highlight, with a backdrop of the sparkling Mediterranean.

Turkey’s answer to Easter Island adorns the highest peak in the Eastern Torres mountain range, in the country’s far, desolate east. Built as a monument to himself, King Antiochus I created an additional mound to the backing of the tomb and adorned the entrance with heads of Hellenistic and Armenian-age kings, some measuring over nine metres high.

More than 1500 people scale the stripes of Peru’s Rainbow Mountain daily. In Arizona’s pretty Painted Desert, surrounds are decidedly more low-key. Sunrise and sunset are the best times to admire the full spectrum of colour that springs to life on these dimpled deposits of clay and sandstone, dipped in different tones over millions of years of natural erosion and sun damage.

UNESCO names this sprawling site as one of the greatest archeological sites in the world, with some parts of the ancient capital of the Achaemenid empire dating back as far as 518 BC. Wander down avenues lined with grand, carved columns, strain your neck peering at soaring sphinx-like characters and marvel at the artistry of stonemason work from 2500 years ago.

Daily visitors to the Taj Mahal are now capped at a staggering 40,000. Skip the crush and take the epic 20-hour journey south to Palitana, a holy pilgrimage spot for followers of Jainism, where a staggering 823 temples compose the city, built over 900 years beginning in the 11th century.

A cluster of 11 churches hewn from rock in the Ethiopian Highlands, the site of Lalibela is sacred to Coptic Christians, who still worship inside these ancient structures. Carved vertically from rock faces in the 12^th century, one of these still-functioning sites is the largest monolithic church in the world.

A gathering of mud huts and towering temples carved into bedrock, Al Ula is Saudi Arabia’s answer to Jordan’s rose city of Petra – both are the work of Arab caravan-traders the Nabataeans – without the exxy entry fee and camel rides.

Four hours drive west of Myanmar’s old capital of Mandalay is Bagan, a collection of over 2000 intricately adorned temples. Although earthquakes have damaged some over the centuries, spires of varying heights and sizes still pierce the sky over a vast 40-square-kilometre area, majestically populating the fertile valley.

Giza’s gargantuan cenotaphs are as crowded as the city they live in. If you’re willing to get adventurous to avoid crowds, try Sudan’s mystical Nubian pyramids in Meroë. An hour’s drive from the capital of Khartoum, off a sandy, dirt road, the gathering of pointed structures loom in a mystical group – some 200 of them – left completely untouched for more than 2000 years.