Instant vacation: The world’s best travel photos
Cappadocia, Turkey: Hot-air ballooning is a popular tourist activity in Cappadocia, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Central Anatolia. The area is characterized by a distinctive volcanic landscape and large network of ancient underground dwellings.
Instant vacation: The world’s best travel photos
Wuhan, China: People view springtime cherry blossoms at Wuhan University in central China’s Hubei Province.
Instant vacation: The world’s best travel photos
Hameem desert, United Arab Emirates: A man guides his camels across the Hameem desert, around 170 kilometers (about 106 miles) west of Abu Dhabi.
Instant vacation: The world’s best travel photos
Instant vacation: The world’s best travel photos
Porto, Portugal: A view over Porto from a lookout point in Vitoria. “Miradouros” is the Portuguese word for lookout spots offering impressive views.
Instant vacation: The world’s best travel photos
Saint Petersburg, Russia: An aerial view of the Saint Peter and Paul Fortress, built in the 18th century on Zayachy Island, also known as Hare Island.
Instant vacation: The world’s best travel photos
Beijing: Beijing’s Forbidden City was China’s imperial palace for around 500 years, from 1420 until 1912. It now houses the Palace Museum.
Instant vacation: The world’s best travel photos
Petra, Jordan: The 43-meter-high facade of Al-Khazneh, also known as the Treasury, is one of the first sights to greet visitors to the ancient Jordanian city of Petra, built more than 2,000 years ago by the Nabataeans.
Instant vacation: The world’s best travel photos
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Annual Carnival celebrations got underway in Rio de Janeiro in February, with hundreds turning out for the Ceu na Terra (Heaven on Earth) street party on February 18.
Instant vacation: The world’s best travel photos
Siem Reap, Cambodia: UNESCO World Heritage site Angkor Wat is the largest religious structure in the world. The 41-acre temple complex was built to the Hindu god Vishnu by the Khmer King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century.
Instant vacation: The world’s best travel photos
Washington: A tourist visits the Jefferson Memorial, dedicated to American Founding Father Thomas Jefferson, on US President’s Day on February 20.
Instant vacation: The world’s best travel photos
Havana: Cuban children limber up during a baseball training session in Havana in February. Baseball is one of the country’s most popular sports.
Instant vacation: The world’s best travel photos
Moscow: Moscow’s Red Square is pictured during a February snowfall. St Basil’s Cathedral appears background left, and the Kremlin’s Spasskaya tower is on the right.
Instant vacation: The world’s best travel photos
Catania, Italy: Crowds gather in Catania on February 5 for a religious festival celebrating Saint Agatha, a Christian martyr and the city’s patron saint.
Instant vacation: The world’s best travel photos
Instant vacation: The world’s best travel photos
Tokyo: A bride and groom pose in traditional dress by a rapeseed oil field in Hamarikyu Garden in February. The flowers are expected to remain in bloom until the end of March.
Instant vacation: The world’s best travel photos
London: Chiswick House’s Magic Lantern Festival is an annual part of London’s Lunar New Year celebrations. The 2017 event takes a Silk Road theme and features more than 50 illuminations, an ice rink, street food stalls and a pop-up ice bar. The festival finishes February 26.
Instant vacation: The world’s best travel photos
Potsdam, Germany: Sanssouci was the summer palace of Frederick the Great, who was King of Prussia from 1740 until 1786. It was built in the Rococo style and is regarded as Germany’s answer to France’s Palace of Versailles.
Instant vacation: The world’s best travel photos
Gaza City: Palestinians enjoy the sunset on one of the city’s beaches. Gaza City is home to about half a million people.
Instant vacation: The world’s best travel photos
Valle del Cauca, Colombia: Agricola Himalaya owns the only tea crops in Colombia and exports to markets in the US and Latin America. Here, a worker picks tea leaves at the Bitaco farm.
Instant vacation: The world’s best travel photos
Dallol, Ethiopia: A sulfur lake is pictured in Ethiopia’s Danakil Depression. At 100 meters below sea level, it’s one of the hottest places on Earth. Temperatures here have been known to reach 125 F (51.6 C).
Instant vacation: The world’s best travel photos
Kathmandu, Nepal: A child wheels his bike through UNESCO World Heritage site Bhaktapur Durbar Square, a former royal plaza filled with temples, statues and other landmarks.
Instant vacation: The world’s best travel photos
London: A real peasouper: The south of England was wrapped in freezing fog mid-January, with London’s Houses of Parliament and the Elizabeth Tower — better known as Big Ben — pictured here in the gloam.
Instant vacation: The world’s best travel photos
Budapest, Hungary: Cold weather also gripped Budapest mid-January, where sightseers gathered under the stone pillars of Margaret Bridge to take photos of ice floes floating down the River Danube.
Instant vacation: The world’s best travel photos
Srinagar, Kashmir: Traditional wooden shikara boats are moored in the popular Dal Lake tourist spot. The Zabarwan mountain range lies beyond.