Japan, Nepal, Italy, the Maldives, Indonesia, Iceland, France, the United States, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Peru, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Tanzania and New Zealand: the landscapes behind each one, the best time to see them, and where Sri Lanka fits.
The most naturally beautiful countries in the world
1. Japan
Japan takes the top spot because its scenery changes so completely with the seasons and the latitude. Mount Fuji, a near perfect volcanic cone of 3,776 metres, rises above the Fuji Five Lakes. Kyoto has its bamboo groves and maple filled temple gardens, Hokkaido has deep powder snow and wild national parks, and far to the south, Okinawa has coral reefs and subtropical beaches. All over the country, hot springs called onsen let you soak with a view.
Cherry blossom season, usually from late March to early April, and the autumn colours of November are the most beautiful times to go. Start with our 10 places you need to visit in Japan, or copy the 7 day Japan itinerary.
2. Nepal
Nepal is home to eight of the world's fourteen mountains over 8,000 metres, including Everest, and nowhere else puts you so close to the high Himalaya. Trekking routes like the Annapurna Circuit and the walk to Everest Base Camp pass terraced valleys, glaciers and remote villages, while Pokhara sits beside the calm Phewa Lake with the Annapurna range reflected in the water. Down in the lowlands, Chitwan National Park has rhinos, elephants and tigers in the jungle.
The clearest mountain views come in October and November, after the monsoon, and again from March to April, when rhododendrons bloom on the trails.
The Annapurna range from Pokhara, Nepal. Photo: Jmhullot, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
3. Italy
Italy is better known for art and food, but its landscapes hold their own. In the north, the jagged pale peaks of the Dolomites are a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and lakes like Como and Garda sit at the foot of the Alps. Further south come the rolling hills of Tuscany, the colourful cliff villages of Cinque Terre and the Amalfi Coast, and the volcanoes of Vesuvius and Etna.
Spring and early autumn bring mild weather and fewer crowds. See our best places to visit in Italy or the 7 day Italy itinerary.
The Tre Cime di Lavaredo in the Italian Dolomites. Photo: Wolfgang Moroder, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
4. Maldives
The Maldives is a chain of around 1,200 low coral islands grouped into atolls in the Indian Ocean, and from the air it looks unreal: rings of white sand and turquoise lagoons scattered across deep blue water. Under the surface, the reefs are full of turtles, reef sharks and colourful fish, and some atolls are famous for manta rays and whale sharks. Most visitors stay on a resort island and spend their days snorkelling, diving and swimming straight off the beach.
The dry season runs from around December to April. The Maldives is also a short flight from Colombo, which makes it easy to combine with a trip to Sri Lanka.
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Komandoo island in Lhaviyani Atoll, Maldives. Photo: eNil, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
5. Indonesia
With more than 17,000 islands strung along the equator, Indonesia has an almost endless variety of scenery. At sunrise, Mount Bromo smokes in the middle of a vast volcanic crater on Java. Raja Ampat has some of the richest coral reefs on the planet, Komodo has its giant lizards and pink sand beaches, and Bali has emerald rice terraces and jungle waterfalls.
The dry season, from around April to October, is the best time for most of the country. For Bali, see the 7 day Bali itinerary and the best time to visit Bali.
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Mount Bromo at sunrise, with Mount Semeru behind. Photo: Thomas Hirsch, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
6. Iceland
Iceland is a young, raw island where you can see the forces that shape the planet at work. Waterfalls like Skógafoss and Gullfoss pour off black cliffs, glaciers cover a large part of the land, icebergs float in the Jökulsárlón lagoon, and geysers, lava fields and hot springs sit between them. The Ring Road loops around the whole island, which makes it easy to explore.
Summer brings almost endless daylight and open highland roads, while from around September to March the long dark nights are the best time to see the northern lights.
Skógafoss waterfall in southern Iceland. Photo: Martin Falbisoner, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
7. France
Beyond Paris, France has some of Europe's most varied landscapes. Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in western Europe, towers over the Alps at Chamonix. In Provence, the turquoise river at the bottom of the Gorges du Verdon cuts through limestone cliffs, and the lavender fields bloom purple in early summer. There are also the wild Atlantic cliffs of Brittany, the volcanic hills of the Auvergne and the beaches of the Riviera.
Late June and July are best for lavender, and spring and autumn for walking. The 10 day France itinerary is a good place to start.
The Gorges du Verdon in Provence, France. Photo: Benh LIEU SONG, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
8. United States
The United States has protected its wild places for a long time: Yellowstone, created in 1872, was the world's first national park. Today the country has more than 60 national parks, from the layered red rock of the Grand Canyon and the granite walls of Yosemite to the geysers of Yellowstone, the volcanoes of Hawaii and the glaciers and wildlife of Alaska.
With such a huge country, the best time depends on where you go. Spring and autumn suit the desert parks of the Southwest, while summer is the season for the northern parks and Alaska.
The Grand Canyon from Hopi Point, Arizona. Photo: Tuxyso, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
9. Switzerland
Switzerland packs the Alps at their most dramatic into a small, easy to travel country. The Matterhorn rises above Zermatt, the Jungfrau region has snowfields and glaciers above Lauterbrunnen's valley of waterfalls, and lakes like Geneva, Lucerne and Brienz shine below the peaks. Mountain trains and cable cars take you up to viewpoints that would otherwise take days of climbing.
Summer is best for hiking and green meadows, and winter for snow and skiing. Try the 7 day Switzerland itinerary.
The Matterhorn seen from Gornergrat, Switzerland. Photo: Ximonic (Simo Räsänen), CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons.
10. Costa Rica
Costa Rica is small, but it is one of the most biodiverse countries on Earth, and about a quarter of its land is protected. In a single trip you can watch the cone of Arenal Volcano above the rainforest, walk hanging bridges through the misty cloud forest of Monteverde, see sloths and toucans in Manuel Antonio, and surf on either the Pacific or the Caribbean coast.
The dry season, from around December to April, is the most popular time to visit, while the green season brings fewer people and the greenest forests.
Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica. Photo: Bernard Gagnon, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
11. Peru
Peru stretches from the Pacific desert over the Andes and down into the Amazon rainforest. Machu Picchu sits on a ridge wrapped in cloud forest, Vinicunca, the Rainbow Mountain, shows off bands of colourful minerals at over 5,000 metres, and Lake Titicaca is one of the highest navigable lakes in the world. Down in the Amazon, river lodges offer some of the best wildlife spotting in South America.
The dry season in the Andes, from around May to September, has the clearest skies for hiking. Take time to adjust to the altitude before any big hike.
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Vinicunca, the Rainbow Mountain, in the Peruvian Andes. Photo: Steve FUNG, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
12. United Kingdom
The United Kingdom has wilder scenery than many people expect. In Scotland, the Highlands are full of glens and lochs, and the Isle of Skye has the strange landslip ridges of the Quiraing and the rock pinnacle of the Old Man of Storr. England has the lakes and fells of the Lake District and the white cliffs of the south coast, and Wales has the mountains of Eryri, also called Snowdonia.
Late spring to early autumn, from around May to September, brings long days and the best chance of dry weather, though it pays to pack a rain jacket whatever the month.
The Quiraing on the Isle of Skye, Scotland. Photo: Colin, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
13. South Africa
South Africa combines dramatic coastlines with some of the best wildlife watching in the world. Table Mountain rises straight up behind Cape Town, the Garden Route runs past lagoons and forests along the south coast, and the Drakensberg mountains form a huge green wall in the east. In Kruger National Park, you can see lions, leopards, elephants, rhinos and buffalo on a self drive or guided safari.
The Cape is at its best in the warm, dry summer from around November to March, while the dry winter months from around May to September are best for safaris in Kruger.
Table Mountain seen across the bay from Bloubergstrand, South Africa. Photo: Danie van der Merwe, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
14. Tanzania
Tanzania has the classic African landscapes. Kilimanjaro, at 5,895 metres the highest mountain in Africa, rises alone above the plains with snow on its summit. On the Serengeti, more than a million wildebeest and zebra move across the grasslands in the Great Migration, and the Ngorongoro Crater holds a whole ecosystem inside a collapsed volcano. Then there are the white beaches and coral reefs of Zanzibar.
The long dry season, from around June to October, is the best time for safaris, and the timing of the migration varies through the year, so plan around where the herds are likely to be.
Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa, Tanzania. Photo: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
15. New Zealand
New Zealand looks like a whole planet's worth of landscapes squeezed into two islands. On the South Island, Milford Sound's cliffs plunge into a fiord in Fiordland National Park, the Southern Alps rise to Aoraki Mount Cook, and glaciers come down close to the rainforest on the west coast. The North Island has volcanoes, geothermal valleys around Rotorua and the walk across the Tongariro Alpine Crossing.
The southern summer, from around December to February, is the warmest time for hiking, while autumn and spring are quieter.
Milford Sound in Fiordland National Park, New Zealand. Photo: Krzysztof Golik, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
