Why I love …
Celebrities on their favourite places
‘The wind makes Karst people stay in, and gives them character’: walker and author Nick Hunt
For the Stanford’s Travel Book of the Year nominee, the Bora wind influences every part of life on this wild plateau – straddling Italy and Slovenia – from the architecture to the inhabitants and their food
Singer Imelda May on New Orleans: ‘It has magic and mystery and voodoo’
Nola’s people, its doughnuts and po’ boy sandwiches, and above all its music make an intoxicating mix for the Irish singer
‘Los Angeles is the globe in a small space’: author Ryan Gattis
LA is the most diverse city in the US, says the thriller writer. And with regeneration, areas like Downtown are fizzing with cultural mashups and food fusions
‘Kathmandu is still a place of magic’: Sir Chris Bonington
Despite much change, the Nepalese capital’s staggering views and warm memories are as vivid as ever for the veteran mountaineer and leader of 19 Himalayan expeditions
‘Tribes and shamans become your hosts’ – India’s remote Arunachal Pradesh
Tourism is almost non-existent in this north-eastern Indian state, but visitors are given a warm welcome in jungle and highland villages, says travel writer Antonia Bolingbroke-Kent – just beware of the local moonshine
‘The myths and legends surrounding the South Downs are amazing’: writer Cressida Cowell
The beauty and ancient history of the landscape have always fired the imagination of the How to Train Your Dragon author
'Natural beauty … and the best bean sprouts in the world!' Why Ipoh, Malaysia, really sizzles
Novelist Selina Siak Chin Yoke’s childhood home in central Malaysia is in a pretty valley and has lively night markets that serve the finest of the stir-fry staple
‘The hospitality drew me back’: the joy of the Caucasus
Explorer Levison Wood’s trip over the Caucasus mountains took him 2,600 miles through six countries – with a warm welcome at every stop and barely a western tourist in sight
'Burgundy is pastoral, like a Constable painting – I love it': actor Lambert Wilson
The star of the new Cousteau film, The Odyssey, loves the area’s food and waterways. Its chateaux and abbeys are worth a look, too!
‘Herefordshire is just as lovely as the Dordogne’
For author John Lewis-Stempel, winner of the Wainwright prize for nature writing, Herefordshire is heaven on Earth
‘Valencia’s cathedral is home to the holy grail’: novelist Jason Webster
Once the ugly sister of Spanish cities, Valencia has blossomed, with outstanding food and architecture. And for five days a year, it’s a city that doesn’t sleep
Victoria Hislop: 'Patra represents the extremes of Greece – sublime and mundane’
It took the novelist a while, but she learned to love the chaos and joy of Greece’s third-largest city
'The longest walk I've ever had was in New York': author Anna Pitoniak
The novelist’s 32-mile stroll around Manhattan, in a day, provided a vivid portrait of NYC but it’s the Upper East Side’s low-key highlights that excite her most
‘Paris is where I learned, like Hemingway, to be poor and happy’
Vanessa Grall, blogger and author of Don’t be a Tourist in Paris, reveals her favourite out-of-the way museums, bistros and hotels
'I’ll sit outside with a cold beer, prawns and some oysters' – John Torode's Sydney
The chef and MasterChef presenter shares his favourite Sydney views, beaches, bars and seafood joints
‘Elba stole my heart – and inspired my latest novel’
Best known for Napoleon’s exile, Italy’s third-largest island also offers pretty beaches, good diving, charming towns and great food, says author Emylia Hall
‘People are dreaming big in Brno – the city has a real buzz’
World champion rock climber Adam Ondra started climbing when he was three, and is still inspired by the outdoors community of his home town
‘The rhythm of Jamaica has always had an influence on my music’
Growing up, saxophonist YolanDa Brown’s Jamaican parents always told her their homeland was like paradise – and the food, beaches, culture and music were everything she’d dreamed of
‘In Montana it feels like there’s lots of sky stacked on top of us, layer upon layer’
Director Alex Smith, whose film Walking Out premieres at Sundance London this weekend, on his love for his home state, ‘Big Sky Country’
‘Pembrokeshire is magically out of sync with modern times’
Tim Rees, founder of the Unearthed Festival, on his otherworldly, free-spirited home county
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