17 trips every traveler should take at least once

The question we're asked most is the simplest: Where should I go?

Now, we have 18 answers—and a fast track to make them real.

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Botswana: Bloom of the Southern Desert

From the wildlife of the Central Kalahari reserve—including antelope and the black-maned lions that hunt them—to the salt pans of Makgadikgadi and the wetlands of the Okavango Delta, Botswana holds some of the most spectacular vistas on Earth.

Not to be missed: a walk with Zu/'hoasi Bushmen trackers, and an afternoon among the meerkat.

Get the details of our trip to Botswana.

Brazil from Rio to Rainforest

Rio is on every traveler's wish list—even if they've already been. (Maybe especially if they've already been.) Cradled by those world-renowned beaches and mountains is one of the world's great colonial centers.

But the city's staggering diversity is trumped by that of Brazil itself: cool cosmopolitanism on the coast gives way to the great Amazonian rainforest, where more species of flora and fauna convene than anywhere else on the planet—including nine kinds of howler monkey and the endangered Amazonian dolphin.

Get the details of our trip to Brazil.

Croatia: The "Pearl" of Old Europe

There are few places that better capture the grand soul of maritime Old Europe than Croatia. Zagreb's ancient fortified center rivals Budapest and Vienna in its stony streets and baroque architectural flourishes; further south, Dubrovnik — currently playing King's Landing in the HBO series Game of Thrones, and formerly the capital of the Maritime Republic of Ragusa, rival to Italy's Venice and Amalfi — boasts the sternly lovely old town of Stari Grad, whose convents, palaces, and fountains were cut from the same lightly colored stone.

The latticed waterfalls of Plitvice Lakes National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, offer a delightful un-urban intermission.

Get the details of our trip to Croatia.

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