The Waimangu Volcanic Valley on New Zealand’s North Island is a hotbed of geothermal activity. It’s where you’ll find the world's largest hot spring by surface area, and the world’s second largest in terms of discharge. Waimangu Cauldron, or Frying Pan Lake, as it’s more commonly known, is shallow (20 feet/6m) but covers an area of 409,029 square feet (38,000sqm). The thermal area of Waimangu, which means “black water” in Maori, was only created in 1886 after the powerful eruption of Mount Tarawera. With acidic waters at between 50-60°C (122-140°F) this isn’t a place you want to get too close to – a better idea is to board a scenic flight to admire it in all its steamy glory from above.

Paris’s sprawling museum, the Musee du Louvre is officially the most visited museum in the world. It welcomed a whopping 7.8 million visitors through its iconic pyramid entrance in 2022. A former fortress and palace, opening as a museum in 1793, the incredible space is home to the world’s most famous painting, Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, along with 35,000 other pieces of art, including masterpieces by the likes of Edouard Manet, Titian and Rembrandt. The hallowed institute, also one of the world’s largest museums, began capping daily admissions in 2022 at 30,000 people. It also introduced timeslots to even out visitor numbers.

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Vietnam is full of awe-inspiring beauty but Son Doong Cave in Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park takes it to another level. The main passage of this vast cavern is just over three miles (5km) long, with parts of it reaching up to 656 feet tall (200m) and 541 feet wide (165m). In total it’s over five-and-a-half miles (9km) long. Even more mind-blowing is that within its depths lie a primeval rainforest and underground river, and it has its own microclimate. You can’t just wander in, however. The cave can only be explored on a guided tour, and numbers are limited to 1,000 visitors a year to protect this extraordinary and fragile natural wonder.

Northeast Greenland National Park is one of the world’s last pristine wildernesses, but you’ll have to join an expedition cruise to experience this icy landscape, of which 80% is permanently covered by the Greenland Ice Sheet. Measuring 375,300 square miles (972,000 sq km) and almost entirely untouched by humans, the high-Arctic ecosystem is the world’s largest national park and its largest protected land area. It’s roughly the same area as Spain and France combined. Those who do get to see it will be awed by its carved icebergs, otherworldly rock formations, snow-cloaked mountains and immense tundra. This is where polar bears and the extremely rare polar wolf roam. Narwhals, walruses and beluga whales also inhabit its frigid waters.

Now we move from ice to the icing-sugar sand of the Seychelles, where you'll find the world's smallest national park. Moyenne is a privately owned island, just off the coast of Mahe. It sits within Sainte-Anne Marine Park but enjoys its own autonomy as a national park thanks to its late owner, a British conservationist called Brendon Grimshaw, who set up a trust to preserve and protect it from development. It’s possible to visit this lush speckle of an isle – you won’t need long to navigate its walking paths, as it’s only around a third of a mile long (less than half a kilometre), but you'll see a diverse amount of tropical vegetation. Moyenne has around 40 endemic plants, along with a healthy population of giant Aldabra tortoises.

Thirteen years after the Burj Khalifa officially opened in downtown Dubai, the gleaming mega-tall skyscraper still holds the world record for the tallest building on the planet. The captivating tower sits at 2,716 feet (828m) and has 163 floors. It also lays claim to a litany of other record-busting features including having the highest outdoor observation deck in the world. When it opened in 2010, the Burj took the mantle from Taipei 101 in Taiwan, which stands at 1,666 feet tall (508m). Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah Tower was set to dwarf Dubai’s iconic tower but work on its construction has stalled.

These are the world's tallest buildings with observation decks

Speedsters will find plenty to rev their engines at Ferrari World on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi. This theme park has 40 rides and driving experiences but it’s Formula Rossa that most thrill-seekers steer a course to. The coaster’s cars go from 0 to 149 miles per hour (240km/h) in just 4.9 seconds while racing up to 170 feet (52m) in the air. The Ferrari-branded theme park is home to many more record-breaking attractions, including Flying Aces, the world's highest loop ride, while the park's space-frame structure is the largest ever built.

Another reason why thrill-seekers should put the UAE on their wish list is the Jais Flight, a jaw-dropping zipline that zooms riders over the rugged Jebel Jais mountain in Ras Al Khaimah. Riders are attached to the wire before they’re launched to zoom headfirst at speeds of up to 99 miles per hour (160 km/h) at a height of 5,512 feet (1,680m). It runs for just under two miles (2.83km) and lasts for three minutes, where riders (assuming they can open their eyes) get a bird’s eye view of the range’s rugged landscape.

The wood oven in Restaurante Botin has been firing for over 300 years, roasting suckling pigs and lambs in the age-old Castilian style – in fact it’s never put out. This Madrid institution on Calle Cuchilleros was founded in 1725 and has been recognised as the world’s oldest restaurant by the Guinness Book of Records. Not only is its characterful interior the picture of an 18th-century tavern but its recipes, which also include line-caught hake and Castilian soup, give you a taste of the past. It also boasts an atmospheric wine cellar, lined with some rare vintages.

Bright and brash, this behemoth in the Genting Highlands, just north of Kuala Lumpur, is the largest hotel in the world and proud of it. The First World Hotel is part of Resorts World Genting and has 7,351 guest rooms set across its two main rainbow-coloured towers. As you’d expect, there’s a wide choice of rooms, from the bijou standard room to the world club rooms featuring 420 square feet (39sqm) of living space. The three-star hotel leads into the wider resort which has a shopping mall, casino, indoor theme park and golf course.

These are the highest hotel rooms in the world

For those who prefer a more boutique experience, the Eh'hausl Hotel might be more appealing. This luxurious bolthole in Amberg, a charming medieval town in Bavaria, holds the Guinness World Record for the smallest hotel. Behind its red facade, there’s room for just two people, though it squeezes in space for a small whirlpool, flat screen TV and a mini spa. It's only 8.2 feet wide (2.4m) with a total floorspace of just 173 square feet (53sqm) over a few floors. But the little lodging has an extensive history. The building dates back to 1728 and its name translates as “the marriage house” as it was built to circumvent a law that only allowed couples to marry if they owned a house.

Talking of tiny... Who doesn’t love a miniature village? Bekonscot Model Village & Railway in Buckinghamshire claims to be the world's oldest model village. This diddy delight opened in 1929 and exploring it is very much like stepping back into 1930s England. Across its 1.5-acre gardens are seven miniscule towns from the 1930s, with Bekonscot Town the flagship. In total there are more than 200 buildings, 3,000 inhabitants, 1,000 animals and hundreds of moving vehicles, with an intricate level of detail to them all. Peek inside the diminutive dwellings and you’ll find yet more cute little features.

Test your nerves at New Jersey's squeal-inducing Six Flags Great Adventure theme park. It's home to the record busting Kingda Ka, officially the tallest roller coaster in the world thanks to its inverted, U-shaped loop, which shoots up to 456 feet (139m), or around 45 storeys. It's also the fastest roller coaster in North America, with riders whizzing from 0 to 128 miles per hour (206km/h) in just 3.5 seconds, before plummeting down towards the ground in a 270-degree spiral. 

You'd have to seriously push yourself to try out all 50 slides and 105 attractions and experiences at Dubai's world leading water park, Aquaventure at Atlantis, the Palm. Stay at the hotel though and you can give it a good go during your holiday, as guests get free entrance. Brave the Blackout to slide down an almost vertical drop or take the Leap of Faith for another high-speed drop before whizzing through a shark-filled lagoon. Ride the rapids along the longest lazy river in the region, leap off cliffs at Immortal Falls or take it easy on Aquaventure Beach. The already voluminous waterpark got even bigger in 2021, when new areas Trident Tower, Splashers Lagoon and Splashers Cove were added.

Created at a time before humans had domesticated animals or cultivated crops, Gobekli Tepe in Turkey is regarded as the oldest known monumental structure on Earth. These intriguing oval and rectangular limestone structures, which include elaborately carved T-shaped pillars, were erected 11,000 years ago – that’s a whopping 6,000 years before Stonehenge. It’s thought this hilltop structure in upper Mesopotamia, near Urfa, was used by hunter-gatherers as a kind of temple or meeting place for rituals.

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Since the late 19th-century the daredevil Swiss have launched themselves from the Faulhorn to Grindelwald Oberall by toboggan. Hailed as the world's longest toboggan run, this spectacular route runs for nine miles (15km) from an elevation of 8,792 feet (2,680m) and can be completed in 30 minutes by serious sledders. The Big Pintenfritz is named after local character Fritz Bohren, who ran the Hotel Bellevue in Grindelwald (known as the Pinte) and Berghotel Faulhorn from 1888 to 1926. He's said to have raced down the slopes between the two establishments by sled. To do the full course, you have to haul your sled from the first gondola cableway station to get to the run's start on Faulhorn's summit. It’s only accessible by foot.

On 1 March 1872, Yellowstone became the world’s first ever national park during the presidency of Ulysses S Grant in order to protect the extraordinary landscape. There are many more record-breaking things about this vast wilderness, which spreads 3,472 square miles (8,992sq/km) across Wyoming, Montana and Idaho. It has 10,000 hydrothermal features – more than the rest of the world combined. It's home to 67 mammal species and has the largest concentration of wildlife in the country’s lower 48 states. The park is especially famed for its bison and is also the only place in the US where these bulky beasts have lived continuously since prehistoric times.

Surprising facts about America's national parks

This almighty structure is the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace of Yamoussoukro in the Ivory Coast and it’s the world's largest single church building of any denomination, according to the Guinness Book of Records. Built in the country’s administrative capital Yamoussoukro between 1986–89, the Catholic basilica’s sprawling exterior measures 322,291 square feet (30,000sqm). It has a capacity for 8,000 seated worshippers inside and can contain crowds of hundreds of thousands on its outside grounds. It was the passion project of then President Felix Houphouet-Boigny and was modelled on the Vatican City’s St Peters.

Got a serious head for heights and an adrenalin craving? Make for the Macau Tower and push yourself to the limit on its record-making bungee jump – it's the world's highest from a commercial building, according to the Guinness Book of Records. The brainchild of New Zealand extreme sport pioneer AJ Hackett, Skypark Macau Tower’s bungee jump sees those who are game leap off a platform at a height of 764 feet (233m) from Macau's lofty tower. In winter you can even make the jump at night. After that, the landmark's other thrilling attractions – the skyjump, skywalk and tower climb – will barely get your heart racing. 

Walt Disney World Resort’s Magic Kingdom Park is the world’s most popular theme park – it attracted 17.1 million visitors in 2022, which was still down a few million on pre-COVID years – in 2019, 20.9 million people paid a visit. With the iconic Cinderella’s Castle at its heart, this enchanting attraction in Orlando is packed with thrilling coasters, delightful kids' rides and entertainment at every turn – just make sure you brace yourself for the crowds. If you don't like busy places, this probably won't be the "happiest place on Earth" for you.

London oozes history and culture so it stands to reason that the city is home to the world’s oldest theatre site. The Theatre Royal Drury Lane is the world’s oldest theatre site in continuous use. A dramatist called Thomas Killigrew built the original Theatre Royal in 1663 under a royal charter from King Charles II. It’s here that Nell Gwyn, who later became a long-term mistress of the king, made her stage debut. The original theatre burnt down in 1672, a second one was demolished and the third iteration also went up in flames. The fourth and current building opened in 1812. A Grade I listed Regency building, it was designed by architect Benjamin Dean Wyatt.

You'll definitely want to remember which car park you parked in when spending the day on Praia do Cassino Beach in Brazil's seaport of Rio Grande. Covering over 150 miles (241km) of the coast, this is the longest sea beach in the world. The sandy stretch sweeps south to the Chui Stream and Brazil's border with Uruguay. Parts are busy, developed and home to large casinos – hence its name – while other sections are empty and natural. An old rusting shipwreck lies on the sands at one point.

How many of the world's most beautiful beaches have you visited?

Crazy about Christmas? You’ll find all your festive dreams come true as soon as you step through the doors of Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland in Frankenmuth, Michigan. Kitsch doesn’t begin to cover the sparkly scenes within what is the largest year-round Christmas store in the world. The vast showroom covers 2.2 acres, while its total grounds measure 27 acres – including three giant Santas, a snowman and Christmas Lane, which is lit up by 100,000 fairy lights every evening. The family-run enterprise, which started in 1945 and has 700 employees in peak season, is clearly onto something as it welcomes two million customers every year.

With the creation of its collection dating back to 1471, when Pope Sixtus IV donated some bronze statues to the people of Rome, the Capitoline Museums in Rome's Piazza del Campidoglio is often recognised as the world's oldest public museum. Subsequent popes donated priceless treasures too and now this collection of museums is home to an extraordinary array of Roman, medieval and Renaissance sculptures, as well as some paintings. One of its most precious items is a 2nd-century bronze statue of Marcus Aurelius on horseback; as well as the Capitoline wolf with Romulus and Remus. Located on Capitol Hill, the museums are completely surrounded by ancient history too.

If you hate food waste, look away now. Each year in Bunol, near Valencia in Spain, 20,000 people gather to lob around 331 pounds (150,000 kg) of tomatoes at each other in the streets during La Tomatina, billed as the world's largest annual food fight. The curious festival has its origins in an innocuous tomato slinging fight that took place at a street parade in 1945 and became a tradition. The now world-famous spectacle is held on the last Wednesday of August and attracts tens of thousands of people every year.

Prepare to be creeped out at this eerie island on Teshuilo Lake in the Xochimilco canals, just south of Mexico City. La Isla de las Munecas — or the Island of Dolls – is a niche record breaker, for sure, but a fascinating one. With around 4,000 sinister and mutilated dolls hanging from trees and covering its buildings, it is home to the biggest collection of haunted dolls in the world. The spooky site is said to have taken shape in the 1950s when a man witnessed a young girl drown. The next day a doll washed up in the same spot, after which he strung up dolls to ward off evil spirits.

Towering above the basin of the Narmada River and the Sardar Sarovar dam in Gujarat state, surrounded by the Satpura and Vindhyachal hills, the Statue of Unity depicts independence leader Sardar Vallabhai Patel. It was unveiled in 2018 and cost around £314m ($389m). At 597 feet (182m) it is twice the size of the Statue of Liberty and claimed the record for being the world’s tallest statue from China’s Spring Temple Buddha, which sits at a comparatively piddling 420 feet (128m) high. 

Established in 1732, Bertrand bookshop in Lisbon is the store of dreams for all bibliophiles. People have come to browse its well-stocked shelves and gather to put the world to rights for hundreds of years. The culture-packed city is full of beautiful bookstores brimming with tomes, but this tile-adorned store on the corners of Rua Garrett and Anchieta in the Chiado district is the oldest of them all – and officially the oldest in the world, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. Take a pew on one of its sofas or in the literary-inspired cafe and drink in its bookish atmosphere.

Measuring almost 753,473 square feet (70,000sqm), hilltop Prague Castle reigns supreme as the largest ancient castle in the world, according to the Guinness Book of Records. It’s also one of the oldest. It was first founded by Prince Bonivoj in the late 9th century. Added to over the centuries, it’s now a dizzying complex of churches, towers, halls, palaces and gardens. It’s an absolute jewel in the picturesque capital’s crown, well deserving of multiple visits. Today it’s home to the Bohemian Crown Jewels, which are locked away in St Vitus Cathedral, and the castle is also the official home of the Czech Republic's president.

Scale the heights of glamour (both literally and figuratively) at Address Beach Resort in Dubai, a chi-chi high-rise hotel by Jumeirah Beach that’s crowned by the world’s highest outdoor infinity pool. Set 964 feet (294m) up, this stunning swimming spot offers sweeping views from its 77th-floor vantage point. Swimmers (who have to be guests at the hotel) can lap up the eye-popping views of Ain Dubai and the Arabian Gulf and gaze down on skyscrapers as they paddle or pose. There’s plenty of room to do both in this 311 foot-long (95m) pool. 

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