Lantau's relatively few residents, as well as its swaths of undeveloped verdant mountains and clean beaches, mean that it's an ideal and accessible getaway.

BBC: Beach camping in Hong Kong

The wild geography and topography around Killary, with its gorse-covered mountains, sweeping valleys and white sand beaches, presents both stark beauty and physical challenges.

BBC: A finish line few will cross

It is safe, decently priced and the landscapes are stunning - blue lakes and snow -capped mountains, glaciers and the ocean, fiords and beaches.

BBC: Falling into New Zealand, from 10,000 feet

Not to mention the climate, beaches and mountains.

NPR: Charlotte, N.C., a Sweet Spot for Housing

The Geopark extends roughly from Durness to Ullapool, and the landscape it contains has inspired many who have explored its 480 square miles of mountains, peatland, beaches, forest and coast.

BBC: The perfect trip: The Scottish Highlands

But while the country's stunning beaches, jagged mountains and lush vineyards have long served as a backdrop for films, as well as TV adverts, Cape Town Film Studios is now aiming to make South Africa a major destination for both location filming and top-quality studio productions.

CNN: The New Hollywood? Cape Town takes on Tinseltown

Rio de Janeiro is almost impossibly marvellous, with its curving white beaches and city neighbourhoods studded with green-shrouded mountains, all facing the blue depths of the Atlantic Ocean.

BBC: Living in: Rio de Janeiro